He tapped power from the 220 line in the barn and ran the thick black rubber cable to a nice shady space not far from the chestnut tree. There weren't neighbors nearby to watch this effort or it might have gathered a crowd. Even so Delores and her mother watched expectantly and not without some puzzlement. Despite the shade her father sweated, his shirt dark with moisture under the arms and in an upright swatch from his chest to his belly. Sometimes when he caught her eye he smiled.

There was a trick or two to getting the whirly ride set up just right. You had to be plumb level or the spider arms would shudder slightly and groan and the wheels of the blue cars would skid or balk a little by turns. Still he got it going all right.

"Have a ride," he said to Delores when he was done. He gestured toward the blue cars on their track like someone pointing to a dance floor.

"You too, love," he told her mother, "It's strong enough for both of you if you ride across the way from her."

At first it was very strange for them, mother and daughter on opposite arms, one at three o'clock and one at nine. They were not certain whether they were chasing each other or balancing each other, and if chasing each other who came first and who behind. It was also very quiet at first, only the wobbly rubber noise of the greased black wheels along the burnished track and the softly urgent straining of the electric motor. For awhile they may have wondered if they should have made a noise, whether squealing or laughing brightly, and how exactly they should let him know when they had had enough.

He watched them happily, the ride was running smoothly and it was a bargain really, though he wasn't really one to show a range of emotion. In time he discovered a small basket weave suitcase tucked next to the wheel of the trailer, the straw colored basketry frayed and torn but the latch and hinges still shiny brass. Inside there was a record player with a large speaker and two different records with tunes to play along with the ride. It was a surprise. They waved when they wanted him to stop.

...