Karen's Magic Garden Read online

  The author gratefully acknowledges

  Gabrielle Charbonnet

  for her help

  with this book.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1 Emily Junior

  2 The Big Surprise

  3 On the Road to Maine

  4 Still On the Road to Maine

  5 Lobster Cove

  6 Cousin Diana

  7 The Princesses Explore

  8 Lobster, Clams, and Bread Pudding

  9 Exploring the Attic

  10 The Secret Diaries

  11 Long-Ago Cousins

  12 The Magic Garden

  13 The Two Wishes

  14 Getting Ready

  15 The Packett Family Reunion

  16 Family Games

  17 More Secret Diaries

  18 Long-Ago Memory Boxes

  19 New Memory Boxes

  20 Saying Good-bye

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  Emily Junior

  “Okey-dokey, Emily Junior,” I said. I picked up Emily Junior and put her down on the floor of my room. She looked at me. She wiggled her nose. Then she scurried over to my bookcase.

  “No eating books,” I called. Once Emily Junior had nibbled one of my books. That is because she is a rat. I know what you are thinking: Ew. But Emily Junior is not just any old ratty rat. She is my special pet rat. She is so special that I named her after my little sister, Emily Michelle.

  It was Wednesday. Which meant it was time to clean Emily Junior’s cage. This is what I have to do whenever I clean her cage:

  1. Take out Emily Junior. (Well, first I have to shut my bedroom door.)

  2. Take out her water bottle. (I refill it every day.)

  3. Take out her play wheel.

  4. Scoop out all the old cedar shavings and throw them away.

  5. Wipe her cage with paper towels.

  6. Put in clean cedar shavings, and the water bottle, and the play wheel.

  7. Put Emily Junior back in. (And fasten the lid on tight.)

  You can see what a hard job it is. But I have to do it. I am Emily Junior’s adopted mother.

  My name is Karen Brewer. I am seven years old. I have long blonde hair, blue eyes, and some freckles. Since it is August, I have more freckles than usual.

  “Okay, Emily Junior,” I called finally. “You have a nice clean cage.” I waited a moment. “You are welcome,” I said.

  Then I heard Mommy calling me.

  “Karen!” she called. “Please come to dinner.”

  “Oh boy!” I jumped up. I was gigundoly hungry. I was looking forward to dinner here at the little house.

  (I live at two different houses. A big house and a little house. I know you are wondering why. I will explain that in a minute.)

  At the little house live Mommy, Seth, who is my stepfather, Andrew, who is my little brother (he is four going on five), and I. Those are the people. The animals are Rocky, who is Seth’s cat, and Midgie, who is Seth’s dog, and Bob, who is Andrew’s pet hermit crab, and Emily Junior, who you know.

  I didn’t know it yet, but I was about to get a big surprise.

  The Big Surprise

  “Pass the potatoes,” I said. We were having mashed potatoes. They are my favorite kind of potato. (Except for french fries.)

  “What’s the magic word?” Mommy asked.

  I smiled. “Pleeaaase.” Mommy passed the bowl of mashed potatoes. “Please” is not a really, truly magic word. She just meant if I used it, I would get what I wanted. I took some potatoes and passed the bowl to Andrew.

  “It is nice to have you here again,” Seth said. He smiled at Andrew and me.

  “Thank you,” I said. I patted my mashed potatoes into a smooth flat mound. That is not really playing with my food. That is just how I like to eat them. “It is nice to be here.”

  You are probably wondering where I had been. I will tell you: I had been at the big house.

  A very long time ago, when I was little, I lived in only one house — the big one. I lived there with Mommy, Daddy, and Andrew. Then Mommy and Daddy decided that even though they loved Andrew and me very much, they did not love each other anymore. So they got divorced. Mommy and Andrew and I moved to the little house. Daddy stayed in the big house. (It is where he grew up.)

  Then Mommy met Seth, and they got married. That is how Seth became my stepfather.

  And Daddy met Elizabeth, and they got married. So Elizabeth is my stepmother.

  And now Andrew and I stay for a month at the big house and a month at the little house.

  Now here is the tricky part: At the big house are Daddy, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s four kids. (Elizabeth was married once before.) Kristy is thirteen, and she is my favorite big stepsister. Sam and Charlie are very old. They go to high school. David Michael is seven like me, but an older seven. Then there is Emily Michelle, who is my favorite little adopted sister. She is two and a half. (Remember, I named Emily Junior after her.) Daddy and Elizabeth adopted her from Vietnam. That is a country that is very far away. After that, Elizabeth’s mother, Nannie, came to live at the big house, too. She helps take care of every one. (Including me.)

  So that is a lot of people. There are also Shannon, who is David Michael’s puppy, and Boo-Boo, who is Daddy’s cat. Boo-Boo is cranky. I stay out of his way. I keep Emily Junior out of his way, too. (Emily Junior goes back and forth with me. And so does Bob.) And I haven’t even told you about Crystal Light the Second and Goldfishie. They are our pet dinosaurs. No, they are goldfish!

  “Seth and I have some news to share,” Mommy said. “Now that you are here, I can tell you both.”

  Andrew and I looked at each other. I did not know whether to feel scared or excited. I decided to feel excited.

  “What? What? What?” I cried. I was bouncing in my chair.

  “Indoor voice, Karen,” Mommy said.

  “What? What? What?” I whispered loudly.

  “My family is having a reunion,” Mommy said. “It will be the very first Packett family reunion. It will be way up in Lobster Cove, Maine, in about two and a half weeks. And we are going to go. It will be like a little vacation.”

  I was so surprised that I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head.

  “Oh, boy!” I said, trying to use my indoor voice. “Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!”

  A family reunion! I had never been to one. I love doing new things. And I would meet lots of Mommy’s relatives. I bet there would be a million cousins for me to play with. I just knew this was going to be the most gigundoly fabulous vacation ever. There was just one thing:

  “Where is Maine?” I asked.

  On the Road to Maine

  In case you do not know, Maine is way up high on the East Coast of the United States. It is above Stoneybrook, Connecticut, which is where I live. It is above Massachusetts. It is above Vermont and New Hampshire. It is so far north that if you miss Maine and keep going, you will be in Canada. Really. I am not making that up.

  Mommy lived in Lobster Cove when she was little. But she had not gone back there in a long time. So she was excited also. And Seth wanted to see some people there who make furniture. (He makes furniture, too. Out of wood.)

  Everyone in the little house was as excited as they could be. Especially me.

  * * *

  “Karen, did you pack Goosie?” Mommy asked.

  It was two weeks later. We were loading the car to go to Lobster Cove. It was so early in the morning that it was still dark and cool outside. I was sitting on the front steps. I did not feel one bit sleepy. I was so ready to go that I was having a hard time keeping out of Mommy’s way. Finally she asked me to sit on the front steps. So I
did. But I could not help wiggling and bouncing where I sat.

  “Karen?” Mommy repeated as she walked past me.

  “Yes,” I said. “I have Goosie right here.” I held Goosie up so Mommy could see her. Goosie is my little-house stuffed cat. Moosie is my big-house stuffed cat. I forgot to tell you that I have a special name for Andrew and me. I call us Andrew Two-Two and Karen Two-Two. I call us that because we have two of so many things. Two houses, two mommies, two daddies, two families. I even wear two different pairs of glasses. I wear blue ones to read with, and pink ones the rest of the time. I have two of lots of things, one at each house. I even have two best friends. Hannie Papadakis lives across the street and one house down from the big house. Nancy Dawes lives next door to the little house. And I have Goosie and Moosie. Having two of everything makes it easier to move back and forth every month.

  Andrew came out of the house and sat down next to me. He looked very tired. “Do you think Bob will be okay?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said. “Jessi will take good care of him.” Jessi Ramsey is a friend of Kristy’s. She was going to take care of our pets while we were away.

  While Andrew and I sat there, Mommy and Seth loaded Mommy’s car. This is what we packed:

  1. One suitcase for Mommy

  2. One suitcase for Seth

  3. One suitcase for me

  4. One suitcase for Andrew

  5. One ice chest with drinks and sandwiches and snacks

  6. One box of tapes to listen to

  7. One fun bag for me

  8. One fun bag for Andrew

  You can see why it took a long time to load the car. But at last we were ready. Mommy locked the front door of the house. Andrew and I scrambled into the back seat of the car. We fastened our seat belts. Mommy sat in the front seat next to Seth and fastened her seat belt. Seth started the car and backed out of the driveway. The sky was just barely turning pink. We were on our way to Lobster Cove.

  * * *

  If you have never driven from Stoneybrook, Connecticut, to Lobster Cove, Maine, you might not know that it takes a very long time. It does.

  After I waved good-bye to everything in Stoneybrook, I opened my fun bag. Inside were car games, coloring books, markers, a new book to read, and a brochure. The brochure told me about Maine.

  We were on the highway when the sun came up. We passed through two other towns. Seth turned on the air conditioner.

  I colored for awhile. I listened to tapes. I read until my head hurt. Andrew and I played three games of checkers. (I let him win once, but he could not tell.) I looked out the window.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  “We are almost halfway through Massachusetts,” Seth told me.

  “Who will be at the reunion, Mommy?” She had already told me, but I wanted to hear it again.

  “Aunt Ellen and Uncle Mark,” Mommy said. Aunt Ellen is Mommy’s sister. I met her once a very long time ago. But I do not remember her. I was only six months old.

  “And their daughter, Diana, who is seven, just like you,” Mommy went on. “And their other daughter, Kelsey, who is four, like you, Andrew. And my aunt Carol and uncle John, who own the house we are going to. And my cousins Michael and Denise and Mimi and Alison and Richard and Philip. And all their husbands and wives and children. And all of my father’s cousins and their wives and husbands and their children. About seventy people in all.”

  “Will there be many kids there? Besides Diana and Kelsey?” I asked.

  Mommy nodded. “Yes. I think there will be quite a few children there.”

  “Goody,” I said. “Is it a big house?” I had already asked this, too. We were going to Maine four days before the reunion started, to visit all our relatives. We would stay with Mommy’s aunt Carol and uncle John.

  “Yes,” Mommy said. “It is a very big house. And there is a very big yard to play in. You will love it.”

  “I know,” I said.

  I colored again and read again. Finally I was very, very tired of being in the car. I wanted our vacation to start.

  “Are we there yet?” I asked. Mommy had told me not to ask that. But I could not help it.

  Seth chuckled in the front seat. Mommy sighed. She said, “Not yet, Karen. We won’t be there until dinnertime.”

  Well, boo and bullfrogs. All this driving was wearing me out. I decided to take a nap.

  Still On the Road to Maine

  “Karen, wake up. It’s lunchtime.”

  Mommy was gently patting my shoulder. My eyes blinked open. What did I see? My favorite fast-food restaurant! Yea!

  Eating lunch there was a special treat. Andrew got a cool pencil eraser in his Junior Meal. I got a small ruler with a hologram on it. After we ate we played on the playground for twenty minutes. Then Mommy said, “Time to go.”

  To tell you the truth, I did not want to get back in the car. I had been in the car all morning. It is very hard for me to sit still that long and to keep using my indoor voice. (Being inside a car counts as inside, too.) But how else could I get to Lobster Cove?

  Andrew and I took turns with his eraser and my ruler. We sang songs. Mommy and Seth sang, too. Mommy sang “Que Sera, Sera,” which is one of my favorite songs. We played twenty questions. Seth is very, very good at twenty questions. I am good sometimes. Andrew is usually not very good.

  The scenery was soooo pretty. We left Massachusetts. Then we were in New Hampshire — Maine was next. There were many hills. It was fun to go up and down them. The hills were covered with green trees. Mommy said they were maples and pines and firs and oaks.

  But still I got bored with being in the car. I will tell you a secret: I whined. I could not help it. Finally we stopped and had a snack at a neato place called the Lighthouse. It looked like a real lighthouse. Mommy bought Andrew and me each a big seashell filled with saltwater taffies. They do not taste salty at all. Then we ran around on the grass for awhile.

  I was panting when I got back to the car. My tongue was hanging out. Like a dog.

  Mommy smiled at me and smoothed my hair. “Feel better?”

  I nodded.

  Being in the car made me very tired. I decided to rest my eyes. The next thing I knew, Mommy was saying, “Here we are in Maine! It won’t be too much longer now.”

  Andrew blinked. He had been sleeping too.

  “Look — there is the ocean,” Seth said, pointing out the window on Mommy’s side.

  We were on a road smaller than the highway. On one side was nothing but trees, trees, trees. On the other side was water, water, water. I squinted, but I could not see the end of the water.

  “Maine does not look that different from Connecticut,” I said. “Except there are more trees.”

  “Yes,” said Mommy. “There are fewer people in Maine and more trees.”

  I looked out my window. On the ocean were many tiny white boats. Some had sails and some had engines. There were big boats with nets rolled up on the sides.

  “Those are fishing boats,” Mommy said. “And there is a lobster boat.”

  “It has cages on it,” Andrew said.

  “Do I like lobster?” I asked Mommy.

  “I do not know,” Mommy said. “You can try it and decide.”

  At dinnertime we stopped at the Friendship House. That is a restaurant. I had spaghetti with meatballs. Andrew had another hamburger. Mommy and Seth had clam chowder and fried fish and french fries. I shared some of Mommy’s french fries.

  Then guess what we did? You guessed right. We got back in the car. I wanted to yell, Boo and bullfrogs! But I did not.

  Soon I saw a sign: Lobster Cove.

  “Yea!” I cried.

  Lobster Cove

  Seth drove through the town and up a hill on the other side. Finally he pulled into a long driveway and parked next to four other cars. The sun was starting to go down.

  I looked around. “Where are we? Where is Great-aunt Carol and Great-uncle John’s house?”

  Mommy pointed. “Right u
p there.”

  I saw steps leading up a small hill. They were made of stone. The hill was covered with huge rocks and trees.

  “Let’s leave the luggage until later,” Mommy said.

  I felt like a billy goat climbing those stone steps. There was a metal handrail, but I did not use it. I bounced up one step after another.

  “Be careful, Karen,” Mommy said.

  At the top of the steps was a lawn and some trees and the house. It was almost dark, so I could not see the house very well. But I could tell one thing: It was huge.

  “Wow,” said Andrew.

  In front of the house was the ocean. You had to cross some rocks and sand to get to it. In back of the house were bushes and trees and woods.

  The side door opened. A nice-looking woman came out, wiping her hands on an apron.

  “Hi, Aunt Carol!” Mommy said. “We finally made it!”

  There was a lot of hugging after that. Mommy’s parents, Grandma and Grandpa Packett, were there. I was glad to see them again. I had not seen them since they moved to Maine.

  I met so many new people I practically got dizzy. I kept smiling and saying hello. Everyone hugged Andrew and me. Besides us, almost twenty of Mommy’s relatives were staying at the big house.

  I liked Aunt Ellen, Mommy’s sister, right away. She had hair and eyes like Mommy’s, but different.

  “And here are my daughters,” Aunt Ellen said, putting her arm around two girls. “Diana is seven, and Kelsey is four.”

  “Just like us,” Andrew said.

  I looked at Diana. Diana looked at me. Then we smiled at exactly the same time. We looked alike! Not like twins. But more alike than Hannie and I do. Or Nancy and I. This is how we looked alike: Diana had long blonde hair. She had blue eyes. She even had freckles. And we were both wearing woven friendship bracelets. This is how we looked different: Diana was a little taller. She did not wear glasses. I had more freckles.

  Kelsey looked at Andrew. “Want to see my frog?” she asked. “His name is Prince Caliber.”

  “Cool,” said Andrew. They ran off.

  “Come on. I will show you where we are going to sleep,” Diana said.