Strawberry Moon Read Online Free PDF

spinning wheel teeteredand crashed to the ground. Pirate fled to the windowsill, his fur bristling.
    I stared in horror at the spinning wheel. It lay on its side, the wheel turning slowly. I was terrified that it was broken.
    The bedroom door opened. Panic swept over me. I didn’t look at Grandmother. My heart thudded so loudly I could feel it in my ears. I squeezed my shoulders, waiting for the whack of her cane.
    There was a long silence. Then Grandmother bent over and picked up the spinning wheel. “It doesn’t appear to be broken. Thank God for small mercies,” she said.
    Grandmother sat down at the spinning wheel. After a minute, the wheel hummed smoothly. “Sit beside me,” she said. Her feet flew on the treadle, and her fingers worked nimbly.
    I sat on a chair and watched Grandmother spin for a long time. The only sound in the cabin was the hum of the wheel. My shoulders relaxed. A distant memory tugged at me. “Grandmother, did you spin in the house in England?”
    At first I thought she didn’t hear me.
    Whirr whirr whirr
went the wheel.
    Then she said, “I kept the spinning wheel in your bedroom. I spun every night after your mother died. You missed her so much. The sound of the spinning wheel was the only thing that would put you to sleep.”
    â€œI think I remember,” I said softly. Grandmother stood up. “Now you try,” she said briskly.
    â€œI can’t,” I said.
    â€œNonsense,” said Grandmother.
    Reluctantly I sat in her chair. She stood behind me and put her wrinkled hands on top of mine. “Take it easy at first. You do everything too vigorously.”
    I chewed my lip. Up and down, up and down went my feet on the treadle. The wheel spun faster and faster. Slowly the bobbin filled with yarn. In a sudden burst, I told Grandmother about the coat and hat at The Landings.
    â€œIf you work every day, you could have all the wool spun by the fall,” said Grandmother.

    The fall. A cold feeling spread through me. I swallowed. I had to tell Grandmother that I wasn’t going back to England with her. My heart thumped. I bent over the wheel and concentrated on my spinning.
    I was too afraid to tell her now. But I would tell her soon.

8

    I checked on the baby fox just before bedtime. He wouldn’t lift his head, and for a second I thought he was dead. I put my finger on his chest and felt a tiny heartbeat. I dipped the corner of my apron in the milk and squeezed drops on his nose and chin. His eyes blinked open and shut, but this time he didn’t drink.
    I shivered. The thick log walls kept the shanty cold even though it had been a sunny day. I mounded up hay around the little fox. My head pounded. What should I do?
    Tap tap tap
. Grandmother’s cane! She was right outside the shanty!
    â€œEllie, are you in here?” called Grandmother.
    The shanty door gave a sudden creak. A strip of light slid across the wooden floor. I held my breath and tried to stay perfectly still.
    â€œWhereever could the child have gone?” muttered Grandmother. I heard the door swing wide open. Then there was a long silence. My heart thudding, I turned around.
    Grandmother and I stared at each other. “So this is where you keep disappearing to,” she said finally.
    I felt sick. I knew that Grandmother would tell Papa about the fox. And Papa would kill him, the way he had killed the rest of the litter.
    Grandmother’s black dress rustled as she crossed the shanty floor. She stared down at the baby fox in silence.
    â€œMax said there were six babies, but he was wrong,” I blurted out. “I found it in theden.” I looked up at Grandmother’s cold gray eyes. “I know you’ll tell Papa, but I don’t care. I’m going to keep it.”
    Grandmother raised her eyebrows, the way she did when she found the sticks and leaves in her strawberries. Hot tears pricked the back of my eyelids. For a few minutes, when