Karen's New Bike Read online

  Boo again. Pamela Harding is my best enemy. And Ms. Colman gave her the important job.

  “Finally, Stoneybrook will hold a bike sale,” said Ms. Colman. “It will be held the day of the bike-a-thon. The money that is raised will also be donated to the hospital. If any of you wants to get rid of a second-hand bike, you will need to take it to Town Hall on the day of the sale. I will let you know when that will be. Are there any questions?”

  I did not have any questions. I was too busy dreaming about my new bike. I imagined I was riding it in the bike-a-thon. I was pedaling and pedaling. Faster and faster. I took off like an airplane. Up, up, up over the other bikers. My bike was flying through the air. I was just like E. T.

  At recess, Nancy said, “I can hardly wait to start signing up sponsors.”

  “Me, too,” I replied. “Also, we will need to get in shape for the bike-a-thon. We have to have a very strict exercise program. I think we should start right now.”

  I marched over to the monkey bars. Hannie and Nancy were right behind me. We each did three pull-ups. Then we did deep knee bends. We did jumping jacks. We ran around the playground.

  Ringg! It was time to go inside. Thank goodness. I was getting tired.

  Karen’s Announcement

  Clink clink! I tapped my glass with my spoon.

  “I have a Surprising Announcement to make,” I said.

  Dinner at the big house was over. I wanted to catch everyone before they left the table.

  “We are all ears,” said Elizabeth.

  “There is going to be a bike-a-thon in a few weeks,” I said. “I need sponsors so …”

  “Wait a minute,” said David Michael. “You are not the only one who needs sponsors. I am going to be in the bike-a-thon, too.”

  Uh-oh. David Michael and I could not both ask everyone to sponsor us. How would they choose? Who would Kristy pick? What about Charlie? And Nannie?

  My big-house family was already giving me money for stationery. What if they did not want to give me any more? They would give it all to David Michael. Then what? Daddy must have read my mind.

  “I have an idea,” he said. “Elizabeth and I will sponsor both of you. Then you can write your names on pieces of paper. The rest of the family will pick your names from a hat. That way you will each have an equal number of sponsors.”

  This sounded like a very good idea. But wait. There was one problem.

  “What about Emily? She cannot sponsor anyone,” I said. “What if she picks my name?”

  “I will pay for Emily,” said Elizabeth.

  “All right!” I said. I quickly counted in my head. “That means we each have five sponsors.”

  Then I remembered I had not called the little house yet. Mommy and Seth would sponsor me for sure.

  “Excuse me,” I said. “May I use the phone? I want to call Mommy.”

  Daddy said it would be okay for me to call.

  “Hello, Mommy. Guess what? I am going to be in a bike-a-thon. It is to raise money for Stoneybrook Medical Center. Will you sponsor me?”

  Mommy said she would. I asked to speak to Seth. I told him my story. He promised to sponsor me, too.

  “Um, Seth. Do you think I could call Granny and Grandad? Maybe they would like to be sponsors.”

  Granny and Grandad are Seth’s parents. They live on a farm in Nebraska. I once visited them all by myself.

  Seth said he was sure they would like to hear from me. He gave me their phone number.

  “Daddy! May I use the telephone some more?” I asked.

  “All right. But just one more call. Other people would like to use the phone, too,” Daddy replied.

  I dialed the number. Granny answered.

  “Hello, Granny!” I said. I asked her how she and Grandad were feeling. Then I told her about the bike-a-thon. She said they would be happy to sponsor me. Yippee!

  I had nine sponsors. And I had not even talked to my neighbors yet.

  I could see I was very good at making money. Maybe I would become an important banker some day. I would raise lots of money and give it to good causes. I would be front page news. The headline would read:

  KAREN BREWER

  Most Generous Person in America!

  Karen’s New Bike

  On Saturday morning, I handed Nannie a package wrapped in red gift paper. I had put glitter on the outside. Nannie smiled.

  “I think I know what this is,” she said. “I hope I am right because I am in the mood to write letters today.”

  Nannie untied the ribbon and peeked inside. “Oh, Karen! This stationery is beautiful!”

  I could tell she meant it. I had tried my best to make the stationery truly exquisite. I had made a few sheets every night. By the time I finished, it looked as pretty as the stationery in stores.

  Nannie found her wallet and handed me a new ten-dollar bill.

  “Thank you,” I said. “It has been a pleasure doing business with you.”

  I quickly delivered the rest of the orders. Everyone loved their stationery and paid me right away.

  I saved Daddy’s order for last. I knew I would find him working in his garden.

  “Look, Daddy,” I said. I held up the stationery. Then I held up all the money I had made. “All this money is for my new bike. And you have not even paid me yet. Can we go downtown today? Please?”

  “We sure can,” said Daddy. “You have kept your end of our agreement. So I am happy to keep mine.”

  All right! I asked Kristy to come with me. She knows a lot about bikes. Daddy drove us in the van to the Stoneybrook Bike Shop. I ran straight to the Cougar Cat.

  “What do you think of this one?” I asked.

  “It is great-looking,” said Kristy. “But you need to sit on it to make sure it is comfortable.”

  I sat on the bike. The seat felt funny. And my knees were too high up, just like when I sat on my old bike.

  “Oh, no,” I cried. “It is not comfortable. And this is the bike I really, really want.”

  A salesperson came right over. “Hi, I’m Mike. Let me fix a few things. Then you can try it again.”

  Mike raised the seat. Then he pointed it a different way. He unscrewed the handlebars and moved them, too. I sat on the bike again.

  “It is perfect,” I said. “Thank you!”

  “Are you happy with it? Is it the one you want?” asked Daddy.

  I stood up and looked at the bike. It was pink and purple, just what I wanted. But then the bike next to it caught my eye. It was a blue and red Cougar Cat. It was pretty, too. Oh, no. Which one? Pink and purple. Blue and red. Pink. Purple. Blue. Red.

  Finally I put my hand on the handlebars of the pink and purple bike.

  “This is definitely the one I want,” I said.

  “Good choice,” said Kristy. “It is very pretty and it fits you just right.”

  I sat on my bike while Daddy paid for it.

  “All done,” he said. “The bike is yours. And this is yours, too.”

  He handed me a brown paper bag. “Here are two presents,” he said. “Mommy asked me to buy them for you.”

  I opened the bag. Inside were a beautiful new horn and streamers. Mike put them on the bike for me. Then Daddy loaded the bike in the van. As soon as we got home, I made everyone come outside to see it. I rode back and forth in front of the house.

  “Cool wheels!” said Charlie.

  “Hey, you know what? Now that I have a new bike, I can donate my old one to the bike sale,” I said.

  “That is a great idea,” said Elizabeth.

  “I think I can make the idea even better,” said Sam. “I will give your old bike a makeover. That way it will bring in even more money for the hospital.”

  “Thanks, Sam!” I said. I promised to help him if he needed me.

  Then I parked my bike in the garage and hurried inside to call Mommy.

  I Love My Bike

  After I finished talking with Mommy, I called Nancy.

  “I got my new bike!” I sa
id. “Do you want to come over?”

  Nancy said she could not wait to see my new bike. She asked her mommy to drive her to the big house.

  “I will bring my bike so we can ride together,” said Nancy.

  “Great. I will call Hannie. I am sure she will want to come, too,” I said.

  The minute Hannie heard the news, she said she was going to hang up and come over.

  “This bike is awesome!” said Hannie.

  “You got streamers, too,” said Nancy when she arrived. “Let’s go riding!”

  We put on our helmets, then started down the street. We were the Three Musketeers on wheels.

  “Look everyone, no feet,” I said. I pedaled and pedaled. Then I held out my legs and glided down the street. I glided past Callie and Keith. They are four-year-old twins.

  “How do you like my new bike?” I said.

  They both thought it was very pretty.

  Then Linny ran outside, looking for David Michael.

  “Notice anything new?” I asked.

  “Sure. You got a Cougar. Cool!” said Linny.

  Melody and Bill were in their yard. I made them come over to see my bike. They thought it was neat, too.

  “Let’s have a bike race,” said Nancy when the other kids had left. We lined up across the sidewalk.

  “On your mark,” said Nancy.

  “Get set,” said Hannie.

  “Go!” I said.

  I flew like the wind.

  “I won! I won!” I called. I patted my Cougar Cat and tooted the horn.

  “I know a game we can play,” said Hannie. “David Michael and Linny were playing it yesterday. It looked like fun.”

  Hannie found a stone and scratched a circle on the sidewalk. Then she made another circle in the center.

  “Grab a pebble,” she said. “We will take turns riding past the circle and throwing the pebble into the center. The one who gets a bull’s-eye wins. But you cannot go slowly. You have to ride by fast.”

  I thought the game was going to be easy. But the first time I rode by, I missed the circle completely. So did Nancy. Hannie won.

  The second time I tried it, I did great.

  “Bull’s-eye!” I called. I won the game.

  “Who wants to ride to the playground?” I asked.

  The Stoneybrook Playground is special. That is because the people in Stoneybrook raised money and built it together.

  “I want to go,” said Hannie.

  “Me, too,” said Nancy.

  “I will be right back,” I said. “I have to let my family know where we will be.”

  I pedaled to the house. It was probably just my imagination, but I seemed to be getting everywhere twice as fast on my new bike. Riding it was so much fun. It was the prettiest bike on the block. I was sure it was the most comfortable. The streamers were definitely the blowiest. The horn was the tootiest.

  “I love my bike!” I shouted into the wind.

  The Safety Bee

  It was Monday morning. I was back at school.

  “Everyone, please take your seats,” said Ms. Colman. “I would like to go over the bicycle safety booklets with you. I am sure you want to know how to ride safely. And, remember, if you pass the test you will see your name in the newspaper.”

  Ms. Colman looked in my direction. She knows I love to see my name in the newspaper. (I have been in the newspaper before.)

  Ms. Colman wrote some rules on the blackboard:

  We talked about each of the rules. Then Ms. Colman said, “You will need to know hand signals, too.”

  She drew funny stick figures to show us.

  When we finished practicing the hand signals, Ms. Colman said it was time for our Safety Bee.

  This was good news. I am very good at bees. I was even runner-up in the state spelling bee. That is how I got to be in the newspaper one time.

  We lined up on one side of the room. Ms. Colman asked us each a question. If we answered it correctly, we continued. If we missed it, we had to sit down. When my turn came, I had a very good question.

  “Karen, can you show us the hand signal for a right turn?” asked Ms. Colman.

  I stepped out from the line. I put on a make-believe helmet, rolled up make-believe pants, and got on a make-believe bike.

  “Okay, now I am turning,” I said.

  I put my left arm out and bent it upward.

  “Very good, Karen,” said Ms. Colman. “But will you please try to answer a little more quickly next time?”

  I promised to try.

  The Safety Bee continued. It was not too hard. A lot of kids were still standing when the bell rang for lunch.

  After school, Hannie and I decided to ride our bikes so we could practice the safety rules. I even put on pants so I could roll them up. We rode around the block a few times. We followed all the traffic rules. We made sure to signal when we stopped or turned.

  We saw lots of little kids along the way. They were riding their tricycles and Big Wheels.

  “We should start a bike safety school,” I said. “It is never too early to learn how to be safe.”

  Hannie liked that idea. So we set to work.

  Five students came to our school. They were Andrew, Emily, Callie, Keith, and Sari. (Sari is Hannie’s sister. She is Emily’s age.)

  We stayed on the sidewalk and kept away from driveways. We made sure everyone wore a helmet and their pants legs were rolled up.

  “First we will show you the hand signals,” I said. “Make believe we are playing Simon Says. Do what we do.”

  We showed them the hand signal for a right turn. No one moved. All they did was look at us.

  “What is the matter? Why are you just standing there?” I asked.

  “You did not say, ‘Simon Says,’ ” replied Andrew with a big grin on his face.

  Hannie and I looked at each other. Teaching little kids is not an easy job.

  But bike safety is important. We spent the rest of the afternoon trying.

  Taking the Test

  We studied bike safety all week at school. We even went on a class trip to the Hall of Safety at a local mall. It was a neat place. I played a video game that let me take a make-believe bike ride. I had to press buttons to signal and stop and everything.

  “Eeek!” I called. I was not paying attention and steered my bike down an open manhole. The screen flashed Game Over! Game Over! Boo and bullfrogs.

  On Thursday Ms. Colman brought in a chart that showed the parts of a bicycle. We counted twenty-nine parts. Thank goodness we only had to know six of them.

  We took a practice test on Friday. I got one answer wrong. I forgot the name of the place where the air goes in the tire.

  “That is the air valve,” said Ms. Colman.

  Finally Saturday came. It was the day of the test at Town Hall. It was the day we would register our bikes, too.

  David Michael and I practiced for the test over breakfast.

  Then Daddy said, “Are you ready to go, kids?”

  We were as ready as we would ever be. Andrew was coming. So were Elizabeth, Nannie, and Emily. At the last minute, Kristy said she could come, too.

  “I will cheer you on. And I will get to see how much I know about bikes,” she said.

  Daddy helped us put our bikes in the van. Then we drove to Town Hall. I had butterflies in my stomach. That is because I was nervous. What if I did not pass? My name would not appear in the paper. Worse than that, I would not be able to ride my Cougar Cat. That would be awful.

  I had to pass the test. I just had to.

  Inside Town Hall we saw arrows pointing down to the basement. Lots of kids were already there. I was the first of the Three Musketeers. Hannie and Nancy came in right after me. We stood in line together.

  The line was not moving too quickly so we practiced the hand signals while we waited.

  “Next in line!” called one of the testers.

  “Karen, that is you,” said Hannie.

  “Good luck,” said Nancy.
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br />   I walked to the tester’s desk and parked my bike. The tester introduced himself. He seemed very nice.

  “Hello. My name is Mr. Quinn. If you will just write your name at the top of this sheet, we can get started,” he said.

  I wrote my name and took a deep breath.

  “Here is your first question,” said Mr. Quinn. “What is the most important thing to wear when you go bike riding?”

  That was easy. “You should always wear a helmet,” I said. I decided to show off a little. “And if you are wearing pants, you should roll up the cuffs. That way they will not get caught in your bike and make you have an accident.”

  “Excellent!” replied Mr. Quinn. I was glad Mr. Quinn was such a friendly tester.

  He asked me some more questions. Then he pointed to different parts of my bike and asked me to name them. He pointed to the place on the tire where the air went in. Uh-oh. I was having trouble remembering the name again. I knew it started with V. And it sounded like Valentine. Only it was shorter.

  “Valve! Air valve!” I said.

  “Excellent!” said Mr. Quinn.

  Next he asked me to show him the hand signals. No problem.

  The next thing I knew, Mr. Quinn was saying, “Congratulations. You have passed the bike safety test.”

  Yippee! David Michael passed, too. So did Hannie and Nancy. Almost all the kids from Ms. Colman’s class passed.

  We got green badges that said, “Ride Safely, Have Fun.” We were told to watch for our names in the paper. Next stop, bike registration.

  Important Numbers

  Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. I was tapping my foot. That is because I was gigundoly bored. The line for bike registering was very long. It was taking forever. And the Three Musketeers were on different lines, since our last names do not begin with the same letter. Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap.

  “Next in line!” called a voice.