The Girl Who Chased the Moon: A Novel - By Sarah Addison Allen Page 0,83
walked down the sidewalk.
When he passed Maddie, he smiled slightly and gave her a polite nod. She watched him walk away, then turned back to the giant and the girl. The giant handed the girl a paper bag. She took it and together they walked down the sidewalk. Maddie craned her head to look up at him as he passed.
She felt like she was in some strange fairy tale, like she’d just dropped into the ending of a story.
The door to the restaurant opened again and two men walked out. Silver sparkles from inside caught in the air and rolled in the wind past her. She took a deep breath, and it made her stand up straighter. Sugar and vanilla and butter. That relentless scent had been following her around all her life. Sometimes she could see it, like this, but most of the time she just felt it. When she was a kid, she could be sitting in class at school, or walking her dog Chester, or in the middle of a dreary violin lesson with her older brother, and the smell would suddenly appear out of nowhere and make her inexplicably restless. Even now, sometimes she would wake up at night and swear someone was baking a cake in the house. Her roommates thought she was crazy.
It was the familiarity of the smell that gave her the courage to pick up her backpack and walk to the window and look inside the restaurant. It was a plain, nondescript place, but packed.
Maddie’s eyes went to a woman behind the counter right away. There she was.
Julia Winterson.
The woman who’d given birth to her.
She was smiling, talking to a handsome man with blond hair sitting on the other side of the counter. Maddie had spent countless hours staring at the photograph from the private investigator. In real life Julia looked happier, more settled.
Maddie kept her eyes on her through the window as she slowly walked to the door. When she reached the door, she saw that there was a flyer taped to it that read:
Blue-Eyed Girl Cakes:
Specialty cakes for any occasion. Inquire within.
Someone else walked out and, seeing her, held the door for her.
“Are you ready?” the man asked.
The ending of one story. The beginning of another.
“Yes. I’m ready,” she said, then stepped inside.
A Year of Full Moons
The full moon in January: The Full Wolf Moon
According to lore, under this moon, wolves would howl in hunger outside Native American villages. When the moon is full in January, people tend to eat too much, drink too much, and play too much trying to fill a winter emptiness.
The full moon in February: The Full Snow Moon
February is traditionally when the heaviest snow falls. People often dream of places they’d rather be when they sleep under a full Snow Moon.
The full moon in March: The Full Worm Moon
In the spring, the ground softens and earthworms reappear … as do the robins who eat them. The lure of possibly getting caught while doing something daring or scandalous is hard to resist during the first full moon in March.
The full moon in April: The Full Pink Moon
This full moon marks the appearance of pink ground phlox, an early spring flower. The amount of hope in the air during a full Pink Moon makes it the best time to ask someone to marry you.
The full moon in May: The Full Milk Moon
The abundance of greenery to eat at this time of year gives cows and goats the potential to produce rich, fortified milk. People often think they are the most attractive under a full Milk Moon.
The full moon in June: The Full Strawberry Moon
June is typically when strawberries ripen and are gathered. The best time to seek forgiveness is under the Strawberry Moon. Sweetness seems to linger during this time.
The full moon in July: The Full Buck Moon
Bucks begin to grow new antlers at this time. Young men will butt heads and generally show themselves under this full July moon.
The full moon in August: The Full Sturgeon Moon
Native American lore says that the sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most easily caught during the full moon in August. This full moon tends to make people feel restless and overwhelmed.
The full moon in September: The Harvest Moon
This is the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox, bright enough to allow farmers to work late into the night, bringing in the last of their harvest. A time of introspection. People are often moody during this moon.
The full moon in October: The Full Hunters’ Moon
Historically, after the harvest, with leaves falling and fields bare, it was easier to see to hunt under this full moon. If you stare at a Hunters’ Moon with a question, it will become clear what has to be done.
The full moon in November: The Full Beaver Moon
Beaver traps were set during this time, before the waters froze, so furs would be in abundance for the cold months ahead. For some people, the full Beaver Moon is the last chance to do something they’ve wanted to do but put off, before the heaviness of winter settles over them.
The full moon in December: The Full Cold Moon
The full moon heralding long, dark, cold nights ahead. Unquestionably the best sleeping moon of the year.
Acknowledgments
As always, my undying gratitude to my family and friends for their love, support, and patience. I’ll stop talking about barbecue now. I promise. And special thanks to Andrea Cirillo, Kelly Harms Wimmer, Shauna Summers, and Nita Taublib. This book would not have been possible without your input. I’d give you the moon, but you already gave it to me.
About the Author
SARAH ADDISON ALLEN is the New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells and The Sugar Queen. She was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina, where she is currently at work on her next novel. To learn more about Allen, visit her website at www.sarahaddisonallen.com.
The Girl Who Chased the Moon is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2010 by Sarah Addison Allen
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Bantam Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
BANTAM BOOKS is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Allen, Sarah Addison.
The girl who chased the moon: a novel / Sarah Addison Allen.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-553-90654-7
1. Family secrets—Fiction. 2. North Carolina—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3601.L4356G57 2010
813′.6—dc22 2009042254
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