Free What the Moon Said by Gayle Rosengren Page B

envelope from her reader. She made herself stand straight and tall. Then she took the envelope downstairs to Ma. “It’s a note from my teacher,” she said in a small voice.
    Ma looked surprised, but she didn’t ask what the note was about or why Esther hadn’t given it to her sooner. She just tore open the envelope and began to read. Esther, burning with shame, stared at the floor and tried not to cry. When she heard the rustle of the note being folded back into the envelope, she sneaked a quick peek at Ma’s face. There were two bright spots of red on her cheeks. Esther gulped and looked back at the floor. Ma was furious.
    â€œThis fine teacher of yours,” Ma said, “vill she buy these eyeglasses for you?”
    Esther’s head snapped up. Eyeglasses? “Wh-what do you mean, Ma?” Esther’s heart did a skip and a jump. Was the letter about eyeglasses? Not cheating?
    Ma tore the envelope across and then tore the pieces across one more time. “Your teacher says you cannot see vell. She says ve should buy you eyeglasses. Does she think ve are rich?” Ma sniffed. “Ve don’t have money for eyeglasses. Maybe after the harvest. But not now. Your teacher should mind her own business.”
    â€œYes, Ma,” Esther said automatically. But what she was thinking was, Miss Larson had not told on her. She hadn’t told! Relief made Esther want to laugh out loud. It was all right. Ma and Pa would not be ashamed of her after all. And she would never, ever cheat again.
    She felt as if she could run three times around the pasture and do ten cartwheels in a row. She felt as light as a balloon that could sail away on the tiniest breeze.
    Esther’s happiness continued all through the rest of the weekend. And when Monday came, she was not ashamed to face her teacher again. She knew Miss Larson had forgiven her. But even so, she was amazed by what happened that morning in school.
    When it was time for arithmetic, Miss Larson came to stand beside Esther’s desk. “From now on, Esther, I want you and Wesley to come up front to copy from the board. Then you may go back to your seats to do the work. All right?”
    Why, that would solve everything! “Yes, Miss Larson,” Esther said happily.
    â€œYes, Miss Larson,” Wesley echoed.
    â€œGood.” The teacher started to walk away but stopped and turned back only a step from Esther’s desk. “Oh, and Esther, when you finish your afternoon work, you may listen to the first-graders read aloud, one at a time, in the hallway.”
    Esther felt her mouth fall open. “You mean I-I can still help teach?”
    Miss Larson smiled. “Yes, Esther. If you want to.”
    If she wanted to! “Oh, yes. Yes, I do!” Esther had to grip the edge of her desk to keep from jumping out of her seat, she was so happy and excited. Wait ’til I write to Julia, she thought. Wait ’til I tell her I won the spelling bee
and
I’m going to help teach! Won’t she be surprised!
    Esther touched the birthday ribbon in her hair. She had pulled it back out of her drawer right after Ma read Miss Larson’s letter. It was a lucky ribbon after all!

7 A Sign of Warning
    July 4, 1930
    Dear Julia,
    I hate summer. I miss school and my friends. Vi is no fun. Ma told her she can make her own school clothes if she practices making patterns and sewing. Now that is all she does! I asked Ma if she would show me how to make patterns for clothes for Margaret. She said I am too old for dolls. Thank goodness I have Mickey to play with. He fetches sticks and runs races with me. We even play hide-and-seek. Only I am always the one to hide and Mickey always finds me.
    Ma has a big vegetable garden. I help her pull weeds. How come weeds grow so much faster than vegetables? I am sorry David lost his job. I hope he finds another one fast. It has been awful hot here. If we were in Chicago, we could go to the beach