Karen's Easter Parade

  The author gratefully acknowledges

  Gabrielle Charbonnet

  for her help

  with this book.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1 Mommy’s Surprising Announcement

  2 My Two Families

  3 Big Plans

  4 Preparing for Diana

  5 Diana Arrives (Yea!)

  6 Riding Bikes

  7 Easter Eggstravaganza

  8 The Late, Late, Late Show

  9 Helping Merry

  10 Egg Hunt

  11 Sam the Easter Bunny

  12 A Bee in a Bonnet

  13 Bubble Gum Blues

  14 Diana’s Other Bad Idea

  15 No Floats?

  16 Nikki’s Knickknack Shack

  17 The Worst Easter Ever

  18 No Contest?

  19 An Easter Surprise

  20 The Best Easter Ever

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  Mommy’s Surprising Announcement

  “Hello, hello, hello!” called Mommy as she opened the front door.

  “Mommy!” Andrew and I cried. (Andrew is my little brother.) We raced to the door.

  “Would you help me with these bags, please?” said Mommy. She handed Andrew and me each a grocery bag. We carried them to the kitchen.

  “Hi, Merry,” said Mommy.

  “Hi, Lisa,” said Merry. Merry is our nanny. She helps take care of Andrew and me while Mommy is at work. “Did you have a good day?”

  “I had an excellent day,” said Mommy as she put a fresh gallon of milk in the fridge. “In fact, I had an extra-specially good day.”

  “Wow! What happened?” I asked. Maybe Mommy had met someone famous. Or maybe she had won a contest!

  “I have some fun news,” said Mommy. “But I want to wait until Seth is home. I will tell everyone over dinner.”

  “Oh, boy!” I said loudly. “It is a million years till dinnertime.” (Mommy did not remind me to use my indoor voice, so I knew she must be in a very good mood.)

  Mommy smiled at me. “I know it is hard to be patient, but I cannot tell you anything until Seth is home.”

  I sighed and started to put cans on a shelf in the kitchen. Mommy was right. It is very hard to be patient — especially for me. But I would try.

  You are probably wondering who Seth is. He is married to my mommy. That makes him my stepfather. And now you are probably wondering who I am. Well, hold your horses. I will tell you.

  My name is Karen Brewer. I am seven years old and live in Stoneybrook, Connecticut. I have blonde hair and blue eyes and freckles on my nose. I will tell you more about me later. And, believe me, there is plenty more to tell!

  While Mommy read the day’s mail, I helped Merry set the dinner table. Getting dinner ready was not going to make Seth come home from his workshop any earlier. (Seth is a carpenter who makes beautiful furniture.) But it felt like it would.

  I rushed back and forth from the kitchen to the dining room, putting out forks, knives, and spoons. We were going to have spaghetti. Because everyone in my little-house family eats spaghetti in a different way, everyone got a different combination of utensils. Mommy cuts her spaghetti into pieces with a fork and knife. Seth twirls it on his fork against a spoon. I eat mine long, but I do not twirl it against a spoon. (I use the plate.) And Mommy cuts up Andrew’s for him and he eats it with a spoon. So here is who got what:

  Mommy — fork and knife, no spoon

  Seth — fork and spoon, no knife

  me — fork, no spoon or knife

  Andrew — spoon, no fork or knife

  It was hard to keep all that straight. But I did. Plus, I remembered to set out napkins and glasses. And by the time I had done all that — Seth arrived!

  Merry went home and my family sat down to dinner.

  “Mommy, now will you tell us your fun news, please?” I begged.

  “All right, Karen,” said Mommy, smiling. “I can see that the suspense is killing you. Well, today I got a phone call from Ellen.” Ellen is Mommy’s sister. “She and her family will be celebrating Easter with us here in Stoneybrook.”

  “Yippee!” I shouted, leaping out of my chair. This was a fabulous surprise. I started dancing around the dining room. “Diana is coming! Diana is coming!” I sang.

  Diana Wells is my cousin. She is my age. We are like twins. We had a magical adventure together one summer in Maine. I love Diana!

  Mommy and Seth laughed.

  “Okay, Karen, settle down,” Mommy said. “I have more to say.”

  “More?” I gasped. I put my hand on my chest.

  “Diana will be spending a whole week with us by herself,” said Mommy, “before the rest of her family arrives. And she will be here in just two days.”

  “Two days!” I shrieked. “Two days from now!”

  This time Mommy did say, “Indoor voice, Karen.” But she said it with a smile on her face.

  My Two Families

  Now I will tell you more about myself. A long, long time ago, when I was little, I lived in a much bigger house. I lived there with Mommy, my daddy, and Andrew. Mommy and Daddy did not get along. One day they decided that they did not want to be married to each other anymore even though they loved Andrew and me very much. So they got divorced. Mommy and Andrew and I moved to a little house. Daddy stayed in the big house. (It is the house he grew up in.)

  After awhile Mommy met a nice man named Seth Engle, and they got married. Seth came to live in the little house with us.

  Then Daddy met a nice woman named Elizabeth Thomas, and they got married. So Elizabeth is my stepmother. She moved into the big house with Daddy.

  In my little-house family, there are four people and four pets. The people are Mommy, Seth, Andrew, and me. The pets are Emily Junior, my pet rat; Bob, Andrew’s hermit crab; Midgie, Seth’s dog; and Rocky, Seth’s cat.

  In my big-house family, though, there are more people than pets. The people are Daddy, Elizabeth, Andrew, and me. But that is not all! Elizabeth was married once before, and she has four children. They are Sam and Charlie, who are so old they go to high school; Kristy, who is thirteen and is the best stepsister in the world; and David Michael, who is seven like me. Plus, there is my little sister, Emily Michelle, who is two and a half. Daddy and Elizabeth adopted her from a faraway country called Vietnam. Finally, there is Elizabeth’s mother, Nannie, who came to live at the big house to help take care of everyone. Whew! Nannie has her hands full, with all those people! And I have not even told you about the pets yet.

  First there is Shannon, David Michael’s huge Bernese mountain dog puppy. Then there is Pumpkin, our black cat; Crystal Light the Second, my goldfish; and Goldfishie, Andrew’s goldfish. And when Andrew and I are at the big house, Emily Junior and Bob are with us too.

  Andrew and I like spending time with both of our families (and they like spending time with us). So we switch houses almost every month. We spend one month at the little house, then one month at the big house. At first it was confusing, but we are very used to it now. The trick is to have two of all our most important things, and to keep one at each house. For instance, we each have two bicycles, one at the big house and one at the little house. I have two favorite stuffed cats, two toothbrushes, two sets of pajamas, and even two pieces of my special blanket, Tickly.

  And of course Andrew and I have two mommies, two daddies, two cats, two dogs … the list goes on and on. Because we have two of so many things, I gave us special names. I call us Andrew Two-Two and Karen Two-Two. (I thought of that name after my teacher, Ms. Colman, read my class a book called Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.)

  I also have two best friend
s. Hannie Papadakis lives across the street and one house over from the big house. Nancy Dawes lives next door to the little house. Hannie and Nancy and I call ourselves the Three Musketeers, and our motto is “All for one and one for all.”

  Once I saw a movie called The Four Musketeers. It was about the Three Musketeers and their new friend, who became the fourth Musketeer. Could that happen to us now? Could Diana become the fourth Musketeer?

  I hoped so, and I was almost sure it would. I loved Diana so much that of course my friends would too.

  Big Plans

  “You will love Diana,” I said to Hannie and Nancy.

  It was Friday morning. We were playing on the playground at Stoneybrook Academy before school began. I had been telling my two best friends all about my best cousin.

  “I cannot wait to meet her,” said Hannie.

  “Me neither,” said Nancy. “Any friend of Karen Brewer’s is a friend of ours.”

  I smiled.

  “What are you guys doing for the holidays?” I asked.

  “Hannie is coming to our Passover seder on Thursday night,” said Nancy. A seder is a long dinner, with readings and singing and a fun game of find-the-matzoh-bread for the kids. I know, because I have been to seders at Nancy’s house before.

  “Nancy is coming over to my house for dinner on Easter Sunday,” said Hannie.

  “Oh,” I said. Even though I would be with my favorite cousin on Easter, I suddenly felt left out. Hannie at Nancy’s Passover seder, and Nancy at Hannie’s Easter dinner — and I was not invited to either. Easter boo and Passover bull-frogs!

  You know what? My friends could tell I was upset.

  “Oh, Karen,” said Nancy. “My mom called your house last night to invite you to the seder. But your mother said Diana was coming to visit, so you could not go.”

  “My mother invited you to our Easter dinner,” said Hannie. “And your mom said the same thing to her.”

  “So do not think you were not invited,” said Nancy.

  I smiled. “Okay,” I said. I felt much better. I did not mind not going to Nancy’s house or Hannie’s house. I would be happy with Diana. But I did want to be invited.

  “And maybe we can still spend part of Easter Sunday together,” said Hannie. “All four of us — the Three Musketeers, plus Diana. There is going to be an Easter parade downtown during the day.”

  “Really?” I said. “Let’s all ask our parents if we can go!”

  “Okay,” said Nancy. “I saw a parade last year. I hope this one has marching bands, and floats, and people selling cotton candy, and lots of fun parade-y things.”

  “Me too! It will be a blast!” I said. “An Easter blast!”

  Preparing for Diana

  That afternoon I leaped off the school bus almost before it stopped. I yelled good-bye to Nancy and burst through my front door. The next day was Saturday, the day Diana would be coming. I had to get ready!

  Merry was waiting for me with a snack. I wolfed it down. Then I raced to my room.

  First, I cleaned it. Not that it was too, too messy. But I will tell you a secret if you promise not to tell anyone else. Sometimes when Mommy asks me to clean my room, I do not really put all my things away. I shove them under my bed. Or in my closet. Flat things go under the rug. And they stay there. But I did not want Diana to find a bunch of old clothes and game pieces and papers crammed under my bed and in my closet and under my rug. So I dragged everything into the middle of the room, and put it all away. Mommy would be so proud.

  One of the things I found under the bed was a T-shirt with the words PACKETT FAMILY REUNION on it. It made me remember when I met Diana. That was in Maine, at Mommy’s family reunion. (Mommy was a Packett before she got married.) Everyone there got a T-shirt just like mine.

  Diana had flown up from Pennsylvania with her family, and I had driven up with Mommy, Seth, and Andrew. (It was a very long drive. I remember how hard it was to be patient in the car.) When we finally got there, Maine was beautiful, and the reunion was fun, fun, fun!

  But the best part of the trip was not the reunion. It was the magic garden that Diana and I found. Let me explain. In the attic of my aunt Carol’s house (that was where we were all staying), Diana and I discovered an old diary that had been written over a hundred years before. It had belonged to a girl named Annemarie, and it told about her summer with her cousin Polly. Annemarie and Polly were just like Diana and me — cousins, and almost like twins. From the diary, Diana and I learned about a magic garden nearby. Using clues (I am an excellent detective), we were able to find the garden. And the most amazing thing was that we found the “memory boxes” that Annemarie and Polly had hidden in the garden wall. They were filled with lockets and pictures and other treasures.

  It was definitely one of the best adventures I had ever had. And it all came flooding back when I found the Packett Family Reunion T-shirt underneath my bed. For a long time after I came home from Maine, I had slept in that T-shirt. Then I got a new nightie with a pink bow at the neck. I had somehow forgotten about the T-shirt. Now it was rumpled and dusty and musty-smelling.

  I ran downstairs and tossed the T-shirt into the laundry pile. It would be nice and clean and fresh-smelling for the next night, when I would wear it for Diana. Since Diana and I were practically twins, we often thought the same things at the same time. I was sure that Diana would remember to wear hers too.

  Diana Arrives (Yea!)

  “Do I look nice, Mommy?” I asked. I was wearing a blue corduroy dress, with white socks and black shoes. A matching blue ribbon held up my hair. I started to pull on my coat.

  “You look very nice, sweetie,” said Mommy.

  “Goody,” I said. I wanted to look extra-special nice. We were going to the train station to pick up Diana. She was coming all the way from Pennsylvania without her parents.

  “Mommy, when can I visit Diana by myself?” I asked in the car on the way to the station.

  “Someday, maybe,” said Mommy from the front seat. (I knew this meant “Not anytime soon.”) “But you know, Karen, Diana is not riding the train all by herself. Her parents hired a chaperone to go with her.”

  “What is a chaperone?” I asked.

  “A chaperone is an older person who can take care of a child and make sure they do not get into any trouble,” said Mommy.

  “You mean a baby-sitter,” I said.

  Mommy turned around and smiled at me. “Well, yes,” she said. “But chaperone sounds older.”

  I nodded.

  “Diana’s chaperone on the train is a college student from Stoneybrook who is coming home for Easter break,” explained Mommy. “Diana’s parents paid for her ticket, and she agreed to look after Diana on the trip.”

  “Oh,” I said. That sounded like a good plan.

  When the train pulled into the station, I held up a sign I had made out of poster board. It said:

  I waved the sign back and forth over my head. People started filing out of the train cars. Then I saw her.

  “Diana!” I shouted. “Diana, over here!”

  Diana ran toward me. We leaped into each other’s arms and hugged tight.

  “Karen!” she screamed.

  “Diana!” I screamed.

  We hugged again, then screamed each other’s name again, then hugged some more. I felt so, so happy.

  Mommy, Daddy, and Andrew joined us. With them was a teenager in a sweatshirt and a plaid fuzzy jacket. She was dragging a large dark green suitcase and carrying a smaller backpack with animal stickers all over it.

  “Karen, this is Diana’s chaperone, Deborah,” said Mommy.

  Deborah said hello to me, and I said hi to her. Then Deborah saw her own parents, who had come to pick her up.

  “Here is your backpack, Diana,” said Deborah, and she handed it to Diana.

  “Okay,” said Diana grumpily. “I had not forgotten it, you know. I knew I had left it in the overhead rack. I was planning on going back and getting it.”

  “Okay,” sa
id Deborah. “Do you want your juice box?” She held out a box of apple juice.

  “Juice boxes are for babies,” said Diana.

  Deborah shrugged and smiled at all of us. “Good-bye.” Then she ran off to join her parents. I noticed that Diana had not said good-bye to Deborah. (She had not said “thank you” when Deborah gave her the backpack either.)

  Hmm.

  Riding Bikes

  As soon as we got home, Andrew and I showed Diana around the little house.

  “This is my room,” I said. “I cleaned it up especially for you. There is nothing under the bed even. And we are going to set up a cot for you right here, next to my bed. So we can talk at night. Remember how we slept out on the screened porch in Maine?”

  Diana nodded and glanced around my room. She did not seem very impressed with how clean it was, or with any of my neat things. But maybe she would like our pets.

  So I called Rocky and Midgie and showed Diana Emily Junior in her big cage. Andrew even let Diana hold Bob for a few minutes. Diana seemed to like the pets a little bit.

  After lunch it was time for Andrew’s quiet time. (Usually he does not fall asleep, so we do not call it nap time anymore.) Since I am seven, I do not have to have quiet time.

  “Want to go on a bike ride?” I asked Diana.

  “Sure.” She did not sound very excited, though. She had not seemed very excited about anything (except hugging me at the train station) all day.

  As we rode around the neighborhood, we did not talk very much. Something was bothering Diana. Because I was her best cousin, I could tell these things. I wondered what was wrong. Then I remembered once when I was at overnight camp, and I had felt sad and homesick. Was that how Diana felt now?

  “Are you okay?” I asked her.

  “Yes,” Diana said. “I am fine.”

  “I mean, if you miss your family and are homesick, I would understand,” I said. “Really.”

  “I said I was fine. I am not homesick. I am a big girl now. I turned eight last month, for your information. I am not a little seven-year-old baby anymore. I am even old enough to ride the train by myself. I did not need a baby-sitter at all.”