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early age. Friends and neighbors shook their heads in amazement. How fat and sleek the mule kept in spite of his work! How he pulled and plowed and cultivated on the hottest days! They wanted mules, too. And so, before very long, the Virginia countryside was dotted with the long-eared sons and daughters of Royal Gift.”

CHAPTER 14
BROWN SUNSHINE GROWS
    M olly’s essay was entered in the Tennessee state contest. By the next spring it had won the regional competition and was entered in the statewide finals. Winners wouldn’t be announced until school opened in the fall. Molly dared to be hopeful.
    Meantime, Brown Sunshine had turned two years old. His training was now more serious. By summer’s end, he was doing light work—hauling firewood to clear the Moores’ land.
    Also, Joe Henry Covington yearned to turn a little dirt himself. He figured that Brown Sunshine was strong enough and ready to plow a garden. Joe Henry even offered his walking plow to give Mrs. Moore a proper garden tool. But he knew he couldn’t drive a green mule and handle the plow at the same time. He needed help, and was delighted when a changed Freddy volunteered.

    â€œIt won’t be easy,” Mr. Covington explained, but Freddy was not convinced. Together they went to work.
    Molly was furious. Freddy had taken over her mule and her job! Mr. Covington hooked Brown Sunshine to the plow. He drove with a single jerk-line while Freddy grabbed the plow handles. This made Brown Sunshine uneasy. After only a few rows, they snagged a root with the blade. A handleflew up in Freddy’s face and smacked him under the chin, making him bite his tongue. His world spun—both his chin and tongue were bleeding.
    Molly ran to the house and made up her first ice pack. She hurried outdoors to find Mr. Covington holding his red bandanna under Freddy’s chin. Mr. Covington took the ice pack, gave it to Freddy, and pointed to a shade tree. “Take this, son, and sit in the shade, over yonder, till the bleeding stops.”
    Molly eagerly stepped in and took the plow in hand. Mr. Covington picked up the jerk-line and Brown Sunshine trusted Molly so completely that he moved off as if he’d been a plower for years.
    The system worked so well that Mr. Covington and Molly formed a business going about the neighborhood, plowing and planting. Even Freddy joined in. He loaded all the equipment—the plow, cultivators, disc, and shovels—onto a big wooden “groundslide” to transport from place to place. Brown Sunshine pulled the slide with great enthusiasm, and the daily work gave an obvious satisfaction to Molly and her mule!

CHAPTER 15
THE TALE OF BROWN SUNSHINE’S TAIL
    W hen school began that fall, it was announced that Molly Moore’s essay had won the state competition. Her achievement was published in newspapers across Tennessee. Molly was asked to go to Nashville to read her essay on TV, and to talk to the General Assembly on Youth Day.
    Molly and her mule received a lot of attention and publicity for the upcoming Mule Day. The committee in Columbia took notice and discussed Brown Sunshine as King for a Day. For Molly, it all seemed possible, yet incredible. Her mother made a scrapbook of the news articles, and Pops showed it to everyone who came to the house.
    Meanwhile, in midwinter, Tennessee experienced a cold snap for an entire week. One night Molly left the stock tank filled with water. She had insulated Brown Sunshine and Lady Sue’s stall with extra straw, which helped keep them warmer but didn’t stop the water from freezing. As Lady Sue and Brown Sunshine huddled together, Sunshine’s beautiful long tail rested in the stock tank. During the long chilling night, he never even felt the clutch of ice forming about his tail.
    The next morning, Molly sang her way down to the barn. With a cheerful “Up and at ’em,” and a slap on Sunshine’s rump, she sent him wriggling