Stella by Starlight By Sharon M Draper-pdfread.net

He made a clumsy bow, hat in hand. “Yours is the first house in
Bumblebee that I have the honor to stop at. I brung you some fabric, a bit
of thread, a new set of spoons, and a full set of fixin’ tools for your
husband.”
“Now, you know money’s tight, Mr. Oglethorpe,” Mama said, tapping
her foot, putting on her stern face.
“You ain’t alone, M’am. Times is rough all around. This here
Depression is downright depressin’!” He gave a hoot and slapped his
thigh at his own joke.
Mama looked him up and down. Despite his wide girth, his cheeks
looked hollow. “You hungry?” she asked.
“I ain’t had a good meal since I left Raleigh,” Spoon Man admitted.
“Even my mule is saggin’.”
“I tell you what,” Mama said. “I’ll send the children round to the
neighbors. If everybody brings a little bit of food, why, we’ll all have a
great supper, you can tell us about your travels, and you might could even
sell a couple trinkets while you’re at it.”
“Well, thank you, M’am!” Spoon Man said, tipping his hat to her again.
“I’d be mighty obliged.”
“Stella, Jojo, run go tell everybody to bring a little potluck if they can.
Tell ’em to bring the younguns, bring the old folks. We gonna have stories
and feastin’ tonight! Lordy! It’s what we all need right now.”
Stella and Jojo didn’t have to be told twice. They darted down the road,
and by the time they got back, the mule had been fed and tied to a tree
near the barn, Spoon Man was sitting on their front porch, and, by the
magnolia, Dr. Hawkins was helping Papa lay planks of wood across four
tree stumps. Mama threw a bedsheet over the whole thing, and like
magic, it had become a supper table! Then Papa added logs to the fire pit,
readying it for a toasty blaze.
Spoon Man, Stella noticed, simply sat there and watched the activity
around him, sipping from a cup of sweet tea, nibbling Mama’s sugar
cookies, and burping occasionally. The man was a burper, that was for
sure. But Stella knew his turn was coming—he was saving his energy for
the storytelling. Nobody in town could hold a candle to the Spoon Man
when it came to unfolding a tale.
Neighbors started arriving, armed with logs for the fire pit as well as