Hang the Moon

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It was the best kind of morning, sunny but not too hot, white clouds that looked like dumplings way up in the bright blue sky, birds chirping away at each other, and little yellow butterflies dancing around. I’d buttoned up my sailor suit and was buckling my shoes when the door opened. It was my daddy. The Duke. That’s what everyone calls him.“I got a surprise for you, Whippersnapper,” he said. “A present.”“A present? But it’s not my birthday.”“I don’t need some special occasion to give my own daughter a present. If I say today is a present-giving day, it is. And mark my words, girl, this present is going to change your life.”“What is it?”“Why you little sneak. Are you trying to trick me into telling you?” The Duke was using his pretend-to-be-angry voice and that made me laugh. “Then it wouldn’t be a surprise.” He smiled. “Up in the carriage house. Come with me.”If I live to be a hundred years old, I’ll never forget today. The Duke took my hand in his and the two of us walked down the hall, past the parlor where my stepmama, Jane, was playing scales on the piano with my half brother, Eddie. He loves that piano and didn’t even look my way. In the kitchen I told our cook, Old Ida, where we were going and she said she loves surprises and tugged one of my braids and then we went into the backyard.When something good’s about to happen, that makes me feel like skipping—I don’t understand why so many people walk when they could skip instead—but this morning, I couldn’t bear to let go of the Duke’s hand, so I behaved myself for once in my life—like Jane is all the time telling me to.The Duke and I walked past the stone wall we built together for Jane before Eddie was born—it’s low, like a bench, so I can sit on it, and wide enough for me to run along the top and then jump as high as I can into the air. Behind the wall are Jane’s pink and red and white peonies that look like big scoops of ice cream. She’s the only one allowed to pick them.We headed up the long driveway, under the big poplars, past our chicken house and icehouse and smokehouse and springhouse, all of them painted white with green tin roofs just like the Big House, and all of them empty now because we buy our meat and eggs in town and the iceman brings blocks of ice for the icebox in the kitchen. Still, it’s fun to go poking around in them. Eddie’s only three, five years younger than me, but as soon as he gets old enough to really play, they’ll make great cowboy-and-Indian forts.When we walked by the paddock, I gave a great big wave to the carriage horses, who were chewing away on grass and swatting at the flies with their tails. They’re getting fat because we don’t harness them up much now that the Duke bought himself the Ford, first automobile in all of Claiborne County. I feel a little sorry for the horses, but the Duke says in a matter of time only cowboys and fox hunters and circus riders will have horses.The carriage house at the top of the hill is also white and green and by the time we got there I was just about to bust from wanting to know what my surprise was. The Duke grabbed ahold of the door handles and said, “Close your eyes, Whippersnapper.”So I did. I heard that low, rumbly sound the big double doors make when they’re sliding apart.“Now open your eyes,” he said.So I did.That’s when I first saw it. A wagon. Sitting there pretty as you please on the brick floor right between the Ford and the carriage, an honest-to-goodness coaster wagon, with great big red wheels—bigger than dinner plates—and a shiny black metal pull handle and smooth wood sides with big black and red letters that read DEFIANCE COASTER.“Is that for me?”“You bet it is. Saw it in a catalogue and right away I said, that’s for my gal Sallie.” I looked up at the Duke. He was staring at the Defiance Coaster with a smile in his eyes. “You like it?”Most times, I’ve got so much to say that no one can get me to shut up, but right then, I was too happy to say a word, so I just nodded and then kept nodding about twenty times.“Had one of these wagons myself when I was your age. Couldn’t get me out of it. How about we take her for a spin?”“Me and you?”Old Ida all the time says I think the Duke hung the moon and scattered the stars. Maybe I do. Right then, I sure did.The Duke pulled the wagon out to the driveway and squatted beside it. I squatted next to him while he showed me how you steer