Summary: Little Joe takes out a girl who’s family recently moved from New York. Can he help her to find good in Nevada? And what does a pale moon have to do with anything?

Rating:  K+
Word count:   2116

It was a warm June day at the creek, and one of the last days of school.  Little Joe was glad Miss Jones had decided to take everyone out on a picnic for the afternoon.  Of course everyone had to bring their own lunches.  After lunch Little Joe and several of the other boys went fishing.  Most of the girls sat on rocks beside the creek and dangled their white bare feet into the cool water.  Little Joe and the boys were barefoot as well.  The water felt cool and refreshing.

He noticed Eliza Jane McCleary and Miss Jones sitting down on the rocks a ways away from the creek.  Both still had their shoes on.  Little Joe remembered Eliza Jane and her family had moved here from New York about a couple of months ago.  She usually kept to herself.  It seemed like she talked little with the other girls.  Maybe she was just shy and not comfortable making friends.  She sure seemed quiet and sweet.  She needed some friends.  A carnival was coming to town next week.  Would she be interested in going?  She was very pretty with blonde pigtails and big blue eyes.

“Hey, Eliza Jane,” Little Joe walked up to them.

He noticed her face flushed when she looked up at him.  In fact she always blushed whenever he talked to her.

“Hi,” she replied.

“How come you’re not going barefoot like everyone else?”

“Because there are bugs in the grass, and the water is cold.”

“Oh okay.  Would you like to try some fishing?”

“No. I don’t want to get wet.”

Poor girl.  Did she not know how to have fun?  Maybe going to the carnival would help.  There was also the summer dance in town in a couple of weeks.

“Hey, there’s a carnival coming next week.  Would like to go?”

“Really?”  Her eyes lit up.  “With you?”

“Sure I’ll take you.”

“Oh thank you.”

~~~~~~~~~~

It was a Friday night when Little Joe took the family buggy, picked up Eliza Jane and went to the carnival which was located just outside of Virginia City.  He noticed the sweetness of her floral perfume and thought about kissing her.  It was a partly cloudy evening with the moon peeking in and out from behind the clouds.  Adam probably had the perfect poem for this.  He often had his nose in those poetry books of his.

They watched different acts with a crowd of about 200 people.  Among the acts was a knife thrower.  Eliza Jane hid her face in Little Joe’s chest as the man threw knives around his assistant.

“It’s all right.”  He hugged her.  “He’s not going to hurt her.”

“I can’t watch.”

“Really.  He knows what he’s doing, and she trusts him.”

He liked feeling her warmth against him.  He almost kissed her right then.

After they had seen all of the shows they left in the buggy.

Eliza Jane questioned, “They don’t have rides?”

Little Joe shook his head.  “No.  I’ve never seen them have rides.”

“Back in New York the carnivals always have rides.”

“Oh.  I hope you still enjoyed it.”

“It was okay.”

“It was just okay?”

“There were no rides.  What’s a carnival without rides?”

“It’s still a carnival.”

Poor girl.  Maybe she would like the dance better than the carnival.  After all what girl would not enjoy a dance?

“I still miss the rides.”

“I’m sorry.”

Eliza Jane became quiet as they continued down the road.  Little Joe tried to think of a good moment to ask her to the dance.  He was starting to feel sorry for her.

“Hey, there’s going to be the annual summer dance next week,” Little Joe informed.  “Would you like to go?”

A bright smile showed on her face.  “Sure.  I would love to.”

“I’ll take you.”

“Oh thank you.”

Good. She was going to love this.

When they arrived at her home her father was there to meet them on the porch.  Then he smiled and went on inside as if to give them some privacy.  Little Joe leaned in to kiss Eliza Jane.

“Oh no!”  She stepped back.  “Not under a pale moon!”

“What?”

“Grandmother says it’s bad luck to kiss under a pale moon.”

“Bad luck for what?”

“She says bad things can happen in the dark.”

“Okay.”

What had he gotten himself into?  What did a pale moon or any kind of moon have to do with kissing?  Adam and Hoss had never mentioned anything about that to him.  Neither had Pa.

~~~~~~~~~~

Little Joe came home to see Adam reading a book while he sat in his blue chair by the fireplace.  Hoss sat on the hearth as he ate an apple with some crunching that didn’t seem to bother Adam.  Pa was at his desk working on some kind of paperwork.

“How was the carnival?”  Adam looked up from his reading.

“Well I enjoyed it.  I thought it was fun, but Eliza Jane was disappointed.”

“Disappointed?”

“Yeah.  It didn’t have any rides.  She said that the carnivals back in New York do.”

“I ain’t never seen a carnival with rides,” Hoss said between chews.

Adam added, “When I was in college I went to a couple of carnivals that had them.”

Little Joe replied, “You mean the carnivals in Boston have rides too?”

“Those two did.”

Pa stopped writing and answered, “The carnivals back east tend to be bigger and have more to offer than the ones out here in the west.”

“I hope she ain’t one of them people who always sees the bad in things,” Hoss said.  “There’s usually got to be some kind of good found in everything.”

Little Joe hadn’t thought about that before.  Was Eliza Jane one of those people?  Would she find something wrong with the dance too?  Oh please no.  She had to find something good about it.  Surely she couldn’t be unhappy with everything.  Could she?

He continued, “I hope so too.  Oh and get this.  When I tried to kiss her she said we couldn’t.  Her grandmother says it’s some kind of bad luck to kiss under a pale moon.  Now what’s a pale moon, and what does kissing have to do with it?”

Adam’s one eyebrow went up.  “That’s a new one.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever heard that before.”  Pa shook his head.

“I ain’t never heard that either.”  Hoss bit into his apple.

Next Adam thumbed through his book.  “There’s a poem in here about the moon.”  He stood up and read aloud with dramatic inflection in his voice, “The Pale Moon.

The light so pale in the night sky.

Yet brighter than the brightest star.

A large wandering solitary eye

Seeing all around and even afar.

The soft beams caress the valley

And chase the lurking shadows away.

A blanket of light covers every tree

And holds the darkness in sway.

In the morning comes the sun

As the moon fades softly to bed.

Night shadows slip away and run

While the valley in light is fed.

Little Robins all in chorus sing,

‘Always find good in every single thing.’

And there you have it, little brother.  Something about the pale moon.”

Little Joe asked, “What is that?”

“It’s a sonnet.  Surely Miss Jones teaches you kids poetry?”

“Of course she does.”

“Good.  I was getting worried.”

“Very funny.”

Adam clapped the book shut and sat back down.  Then he reopened it and returned to reading it silently like he was earlier.  Hoss started snickering.

“What’s so funny?”  Little Joe wanted to know.

Hoss laughed.  “You two!”

“Thanks.”

Pa said, “I take it you probably won’t be taking Eliza Jane out again?”

“Yes.  I told her I would take her to the summer dance.  That was before I tried to kiss her.”

Hoss grinned.  “Just don’t try to kiss her again under a pale moon, little brother.”

“Very funny to you too.”

Older brothers!  Sometimes they were annoying.  Still they were his brothers.  What if there really was a point in what they each shared?

~~~~~~~~~~

During the final days of school Little Joe started paying special attention to the words that Eliza Jane said.  Her desk often squeaked whenever she sat down or got up.  Miss Jones sometimes grinned like a cat who had just caught a rat.  The blackboard was covered with stains.  On and on her complaints went.  Little Joe remembered Hoss saying he hoped Eliza Jane wasn’t someone who found the bad in everything.  What if she was?

Little Joe picked up Eliza Jane in the family buggy and they went to the dance.  It was held in the ballroom of one of the hotels.  Adam and Hoss were there as well to dance with different ladies.

Little Joe noticed it was partly cloudy outside with the moon again peeking in and out from behind the clouds.  Would he be able to kiss Eliza Jane tonight?  Hopefully she wouldn’t bring up the pale moon again.  What did that poem say that Adam read?  There was something about the moon being pale.  Oh that may have been the title.  It ended with something about finding good in everything.  Hoss said that too.

Little Joe and Eliza Jane danced all evening long.  He enjoyed holding her close to him and smelling her floral perfume.  He really wanted to kiss her.  From time to time he noticed her looking at other people and even looking over at the musicians.  Okay.  What was she noticing?

He finally asked her, “What are you looking at?”

She replied, “Oh just different people here.  I noticed that one brother of yours keeps going back to the table and getting more food.”

“That would be Hoss.  He loves to eat.”

“Oh.”

“I hope you’re enjoying the dance tonight.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s just okay?”

Oh no.  Please don’t let this be.  She’s already found something wrong with it?

“Well the music isn’t really that good.”

“What?  It sounds fine to me.”

“The music back in New York is beautiful.  That piano player here isn’t really very good.”

“All right.  We need to talk.”

They stopped dancing as Little Joe lead Eliza Jane on outside onto the boardwalk.  How could he explain this to her?  Couldn’t she find the good in anything at all?  She always had these complaints.  That had to be a sad way to live.

“Isn’t there anything you like about the dance?”  He questioned.

A puzzled look crossed her face.  “Well I like being with you.”

“That’s good.  All I’ve been hearing from you are complaints.”

“I miss New York.”  Her big blue eyes turned sad.  “Nevada is not New York.”

A moment of silence followed.  So that was the problem.  New York had been Eliza Jane’s home, and now she was far away from there.  New York and Nevada were probably as different as night and day.

Little Joe replied, “You’re right.  It’s not.  Why did your family move out here?  I don’t think I’ve heard you say.”

“Because my papa said it was his dream to come out west.  Mama talked me into coming along.  I was thinking about staying with my grandmother back there.”

“Don’t you think it’s good when someone pursues their dream?”

“Yes.”

“Can’t you be happy for your papa for pursuing his dream?”

“I guess so.  I hadn’t thought of that.”

He put his hands on her shoulders.  “Listen to me.  A lot of us love it out here.  We see the good in it.  Can’t you find some good in it?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?  Take my brother Hoss for instance.  He sees the beauty in nature, wildlife, and in every sunrise and sunset.  He looks for the good in so many things.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Little Joe had a feeling that maybe Eliza Jane was considering it.  He hoped he was helping her to see things differently.  Maybe someday she would learn to love Nevada too.

The next thing he knew he leaned in to give her a kiss.

“Oh no!”  She stepped back away from him.  “Not under a pale moon!”

Oh great! Not this again.  How did that poem go?  Maybe he needed to borrow the book from Adam and read the poem to her

The End

Author’s Note:

Written for the 2021 Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament.   The game was Five Card Draw and the words and/or phrases I was dealt were:

Under a pale moon
Carnival
Dance
Go barefoot
Complain