The Moon by Night Read Online Free Page A

be doing much vacationing for a while.”
    This was easy to believe. Daddy never was able to do much vacationing. And the idea of going all over the United States was fabulous because we’d never done much traveling. To the Island to visit Grandfather. A trip to Washington, D.C., last spring vacation. That was pretty much it. John and I liked the idea of travel, and Suzy was thrilled with the thought of all the new insects and animals she’d see. Suzy has wanted to be a doctor ever since she could talk, but sometimes I think she’d much better be a veterinarian.
    Rob went off and came back clutching Elephant’s Child, his filthy and favorite stuffed animal. Elephant’s Child has a music box that plays Brahms’ Lullaby and Rob has had him since he was a baby and even starting school couldn’t change his feelings about Elephant’s Child. John says Rob will probably take Elephant’s Child off to college with him and play Brahms’ Lullaby in the dormitory at night. And Rob, being Rob, probably will, and be so matter of fact about it that nobody will even laugh.

    â€œYes, Rob,” Daddy said, “you may take Elephant’s Child.”
    Aside from being pleased about new bugs and things on the camping trip Suzy didn’t say very much, but you could tell that she was thinking and sorting things out in her own mind the way she does, and the next night when I’d gone to bed early to study for a Social Studies test the next day, one of those stupid, multiple choice things, she came in wearing her polka dot pajamas and plunked herself down on the foot of my bed.
    â€œMaggy’s asleep,” she said morosely.
    I kept on reading. “Oh. That’s good.”
    â€œVicky,” Suzy said passionately, “what does he want to do it for?”
    â€œWho?” I asked stupidly. “What?”
    She punched at my book. “Daddy. Why does he want to go to New York?”
    â€œYou know,” I said. “He ex plained it all. He’s gone as far as he can with his research here, and if he really wants to go back to New York and be with a big hospital again—”
    â€œThe hospital here’s one of the best in the country!” Suzy defended.
    â€œYes, but it’s a litt le hospital, Suzy, and it doesn’t have a medical school or a nursing school—oh, you want to be a doctor, you ought to understand, you of all people—”
    â€œWe’ve been per fectly happy here,” Suzzy said. “Daddy, too.”
    â€œI know, but I just ex plained , and his practice is getting so big and he’s so busy and you know he’s been saying for years he doesn’t have enough time for study and research.”
    â€œWe’ll have to leave all our friends—and go to new schools—”
    It was all perfectly true, and I argued to convince myself as
much as Suzy. “Well, maybe it’s like John. John’s learned everything he can at Regional and next year he’s going on to M.I.T. Maybe that’s how it is with Daddy. He’s gone as far as he can here and he has to take the next step.”
    â€œAt least John’s not dragging the rest of us with him,” Suzy said. “I think it might have occurred to Daddy that we might be involved in this, too.”
    We were all certainly involved in it; it was probably the most involved spring we ever had, with Daddy and John poring over the Montgomery Ward catalogue and brooding over various tents and sleeping bags and air mattresses, and Mother being demanding about cooking equipment, and Aunt Elena coming up to Thornhill with designs for her wedding dress and Suzy’s and Maggy’s handmaiden dresses, and Uncle Douglas deciding to paint another portrait of Mother before moving out to California, and Daddy finishing up a million things at home and at the office and the hospital.
    So it was no wonder, now that Uncle Douglas and Aunt Elena were safely