For the annual fair, people from neighboring towns come with goods to sell in Pickens. A young girl listens to her mother remark that the fair is rather quiet compared to other opening days. She also catches her mother staring out the window at a young man who seems to be a "full-blooded Indian." (Native American) The girl finds a reverence for the man’s full-bloodedness is rare among their town of people who are mostly of mixed ancestry.  The girl thinks of her Aunt Moon, an unrelated woman whose real name is Bess Evening, and who has a special vision about the past. Aunt Moon also dries special herbs and knows how to read the planets.  During that first day at the fair, the girl and her friend Elaine find a man in the women’s bathroom. They also see more strange things like chickens laying green eggs. They tell Aunt Moon about the eggs and take her to the fair to show her. Aunt Moon catches sight of the dark young man that the girl’s mother was observing earlier. Later that day, the girl’s mother and father dress up for the waltz contest. In the young man’s presence, all the women seem more animated than usual. However, it is Aunt Moon who steals a dance with him. People begin to gossip about her, and the women in town shun Aunt Moon by avoiding her at all costs in public. Yet Aunt Moon remains strong as ever and the girl flashes back to moments where she admires Aunt Moon’s independence and has come to call her Aunt Moon.  Back in the present, the men of the town pay special attention to the young man, whose name turns out to be Isaac, when he beats them all in a game of poker. The next time she sees Aunt Moon, Isaac is with her. Isaac tells the girl a little bit of history about the fairgrounds.  Later on, the girl’s father forbids her from seeing Aunt Moon. The women in town begin to boycott Aunt Moon’s herbs and buy medicine from the pharmacy.  While Aunt Moon goes out of town with Isaac, a terrible storm spooks her dog and the men in town shoot it, thinking it has gone crazy. When Aunt Moon returns she is devastated. The Korean War swings around and many men, including the girl’s father enlist in the army.  Aunt Moon becomes pregnant and the women initially gossip about her repeating history as she too, was a child born out of wedlock. Yet they change their minds and shower Aunt Moon with sympathy when Isaac suddenly disappears and leaves poor Aunt Moon on her own.  Now grown up, the girl decides to get a job in the city and then enroll in school. The fair rolls around again and she goes with her cousins and dances with a boy named Jim. She lets him kiss her but strangely feels nothing. After saying her goodbye to Aunt Moon before leaving for the city, she witnesses Isaac in the window kissing Aunt Moon. In shock, she runs home. She discovers from her mother that Isaac was in jail for trading illegal medicine from corn. In the bathroom to rinse off the kiss from Jim Tens, and then packs for the city feeling independent.