Karen's Gift Read online

  “I would love to go to a party with you,” said Elizabeth. “Whose party is it? And when?”

  “It is our class Mother’s Day party. Mommy was going to come, but she cannot leave work,” I said. “It is this Friday afternoon.”

  “I am so sorry, Karen,” said Elizabeth. “But I have an important meeting on Friday. If it were a regular day, I would have been happy to take some time off.”

  “I know. That is what Mommy said too,” I replied.

  “I really am sorry,” said Elizabeth. “Do you think Nannie might like to come?”

  “She is busy,” I replied. “But that is okay. I will find someone to come to the party.”

  The truth was, I was tired of asking people. I was tired of feeling disappointed. But I had promised Hank I would find a grownup for him to bring to the party. That meant I had to find at least one person.

  I hoped Hank would not mind sharing that person with me.

  Do Not Worry!

  The next person I thought of asking to the party was Kristy. She is a very good big sister and she always tries her best to take care of me.

  I went to my sister’s room. She was not there. Then I remembered that she had a baby-sitting job. I would have to ask her the next day.

  At school the next day, I tried to keep my distance from Hank. I did not want to tell him the bad news about Nannie until I had good news from Kristy.

  “Class, I would like you to review your work folders,” said Ms. Colman. “Please pick a project you are proud of. We will display those projects on our Mother’s Day bulletin board.”

  Good. That was a sit-at-your-desk project. I sit in the front of the room. Hank sits in the back. So I was safe.

  At lunchtime I made sure I was surrounded by my friends at all times. I sat between Hannie and Nancy in the cafeteria.

  “I am going to get a drink of water,” said Hannie.

  “No! You cannot leave. There will be an empty seat next to me. Hank might sit down,” I said.

  “But I am thirsty,” said Hannie.

  “Here, drink my apple juice,” I replied.

  I was thirsty too. But I did not care. I was giving my juice away for a worthy cause.

  After recess Ms. Colman announced that it was class cleanup time.

  “I am going to divide you into two groups,” said Ms. Colman. “One group will go outside to clap erasers. The other group will stay here and straighten up our shelves.”

  Ms. Colman called our names. I got lucky again. Hank’s name was called to go outside and clap erasers. I got to stay in and straighten the shelves. (I was so relieved that I did an extra-good job.)

  I did not cross paths with Hank all afternoon. I was about to step on the bus to go home when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around.

  “Hi, Karen. I have wanted to talk to you all day,” said Hank.

  Boo. There was no way out. I answered him in my most cheerful voice. “Do not worry,” I said. “I kept my promise. I asked Nannie about the party.”

  That was not enough for Hank.

  “Well, what did she say?” he asked.

  “She said no,” I replied. “But I will invite Kristy tonight. I know she will be happy to be our guest.”

  “Our guest?” said Hank. “But you already have a guest. You have your mom. I thought the other guest would be for me.”

  “Um, there has been a little change of plans,” I said. “Mommy cannot come. My stepmother cannot come. Nannie cannot come. You and I are in the same boat.”

  “I sure hope Kristy will say yes. Maybe she can bring a friend. That way we could each have someone at the party,” said Hank.

  “Do not worry!” I replied. “Something will work out. I, Karen Brewer, am on the case.”

  An Unusual Guest

  That afternoon I decided to walk one dog at a time again. It was easier. But it still took awhile. It was too late for me to go to Hannie’s for the TV special. Boo. But at least I could still talk to Kristy.

  When I walked into the house, Kristy was getting ready to go out.

  “I need to talk to you,” I said. “It is important.”

  “Can you talk while I am getting ready? I cannot be late for my baby-sitting job,” Kristy replied.

  “I am sure you can get ready and answer my question at the same time,” I said. “Here is the first part of my question. Do you think you could get out of school on Friday afternoon?”

  “I do not have to get out of school,” said Kristy. “We already have a half day on Friday.”

  “All right! Can you come to my class Mother’s Day party? I know you are not my mother. But Mommy cannot come. And Elizabeth and Nannie cannot come. You are the next-best mother I have.”

  “Thank you very much for asking, Karen,” said Kristy. “I would love to come if I were free. But I am not. I already made plans. And I am sorry, but I cannot change them.”

  Bullfrogs! I was starting to feel upset. I felt bad that no one could come to my party. And I had told Hank not to worry because I would find us a guest.

  “What am I going to do?” I asked. “I really need to bring someone.”

  “Sam and Charlie have Friday afternoon off too. You can ask one of them,” said Kristy.

  “But kids will be bringing their mothers and their aunts and sisters. Women like that. I do not want to bring two guys,” I said.

  “What is the difference? It is only a party. Guys can help celebrate Mother’s Day too,” Kristy replied.

  You know what? She was right. Mrs. Colman had not said no boys allowed. Bringing one of my big brothers could be fun. Maybe I would ask both of them. Then Hank and I would each have a guest.

  Kristy had her backpack on and was heading out the door.

  “Thank you!” I said. “I will go find Charlie and ask him right now.”

  Charlie had plans for Friday too. I had one big brother left. I found Sam in the den.

  “Hi!” I said. “I know that you have Friday afternoon off from school. Would you like to come to my class party?”

  “Karen, I really wanted to use that afternoon to catch up on my schoolwork. Can you find someone else?” asked Sam.

  “No. Everyone else I have asked is busy.”

  “What kind of party is it, anyway?” asked Sam.

  “Um, it is a Mother’s Day party,” I said. “But you do not have to be a mother to come!”

  “That is a good thing for me,” said Sam.

  “Will you come? Please?”

  I asked as sweetly as I could. I was asking for Hank and for me.

  “I am thinking,” said Sam.

  Hmm. I needed to do something to make it worthwhile for Sam to come to my party.

  “I know what! I will pay you!” I said.

  “I could use the money. But I could not take money from my little sister,” said Sam.

  “Sure you could. You would be doing a job for me. So I will pay you,” I said. “And truly I do not mind. I am walking lots of dogs. I have the money. You would really be helping me. And my friend Hank. He does not have anyone to bring to the party either.”

  “All right,” said Sam. “If you are sure you do not mind. I will come to the party and I will let you pay me.”

  “Thank you!” I said. “Thank you very much. I promise you will have a good time.”

  I decided to call Hank. I wanted to share the good news with him as soon as I could. There was no answer. I would have to wait and tell him at school in the morning.

  I went to my room and wrote a note to myself in my planner. It said: Buy gifts soon!

  There was not much time left till Mother’s Day. I needed to go shopping. But first I had to make a little more money. And I had to do a little more thinking about what to buy.

  Money Troubles

  On Wednesday when I got to school, I told Hank about Sam. (I did not tell him I had to pay Sam to come as our guest. I did not think Hank would like that.)

  “You invited a guy to a Mother’s Day party?” said Hank. />
  “Why not? Ms. Colman did not say we could not do that,” I replied. “Sam is fun. You will have a good time. I promise.”

  “All right,” said Hank. “Thanks.”

  Hank did not look too happy. But he knew it was the best we could do.

  “Please open your math workbooks,” said Ms. Colman.

  I opened my book. But my mind was not on the math in my book. The numbers I was thinking about were dollars and cents.

  That morning before school I had tried to figure out my money. When I subtracted the money I needed to buy two great gifts from the money I expected to earn, there was not much left over. There was no way I could buy the kinds of gifts I wanted and still pay Sam to come to the party.

  Ms. Colman was giving our class a multiplication problem. As soon as I finished it, I switched back to my own math problem. I kept adding and subtracting. How much did I want to spend on gifts? How much did I need to pay Sam? How much was I going to earn?

  What I earned was always less than what I wanted to spend.

  We had just finished our math work when Mr. Mackey showed up.

  “Good morning, everyone,” he said. “Today you are going to start painting the hands you made.”

  “What are you going to paint on your hand?” asked Natalie.

  “I do not know. I am still thinking about it,” I replied.

  I had not thought about it at all yet. I had been so busy walking dogs and worrying about money and party guests that I had forgotten about the project.

  I picked up my papier-mâché hand and stared at it. When I started seeing dollars and cents signs written on the papier-mâché, I knew I was in trouble.

  Then I thought of something. Maybe I did not have to earn all the money right away. Maybe I could borrow some money from Daddy and pay him back later. All I had to do was get more dog-walking jobs. That way I could pay Daddy back fast.

  But did I have time to walk more dogs? I was already missing important things like after-school specials and I really missed seeing my friends.

  There was only one way I could sign up more dogs. I would have to do my job better. I would have to be super-speedy. It had not worked the first time. But I had been doing the job for a little while now, so I felt sure I could get the dogs to move faster.

  Okay, dogs. Get ready. Starting this afternoon, we are going to walk like we have never walked before!

  Where’s Maggie?

  I picked up Duke first.

  “Hello, Duke! How is my good dog?” I asked.

  Woof! Duke was happy. So was I. I had a new, improved dog-walking plan. I explained it to Duke while I put on his leash.

  “We are going to walk faster today. Walking fast is extra-good exercise,” I said. “Come on. I will show you!”

  I led Duke out the door and closed it behind me. He was pulling to run to the sidewalk.

  “Wait,” I said. “I have to double-lock the door.”

  I reached into my pouch for the key. But I did not feel it. My heart did a flip-flop. Where was it? I had used the key to open the door. Then what had I done with it?

  I did not remember putting it back in my pouch. I looked through the window. The key was sitting on the hall table. I had been rushing so much that I had left it there. Now I was locked out.

  I remembered that my family keeps an extra set of keys for the Hsus. Thank goodness.

  “Come on, Duke,” I said. “We have to go to my house.”

  Duke did not want to go to my house. He wanted to walk around the block the way we always did.

  “All right,” I said. I followed him down the street. When we finished our walk around the block, I checked my watch. There was no time to go home for the extra keys. I did not want to be late for my next job.

  “You will just have to come with me,” I said to Duke.

  I went to the Kilbournes’ and picked up Astrid. Walking Duke and Astrid was just as hard as before. All they wanted to do was roll around and play. By the time they were ready to walk, I was already late for my next appointment.

  I could not figure out which would be worse: walking all the dogs at once, or arriving late to pick up a dog.

  I decided being late was worse. I did not want any messy accidents.

  “Come on, Duke. Come on, Astrid,” I said.

  We picked up Maggie next. At first she was a little scared of Astrid and Duke. They are much bigger than she is. But they are very friendly dogs. Soon Maggie was jumping up and trying to play with them.

  “Not now!” I said. “We have to get Gracie and Garbo.”

  I picked them up and then counted the number of leashes I was holding. I counted five leashes and five dogs. What was I thinking?

  “Attention, everyone!” I said. “It is very important that you all listen to me.”

  Suddenly there was a tug on one of the leashes. Duke had spotted a squirrel. He started after it. The other dogs followed. I had to wrap my arms around a tree so I would not be pulled down the street. How did I ever think I could walk all these dogs at once?

  When the dogs stopped pulling, I unwrapped myself from the tree. Then I unwrapped the leashes that were tangled around my ankles. I was so confused. I did not even know which leash belonged to which dog!

  I decided to count the leashes. There were five. Then I counted the dogs. One, two, three, four. No! There had to be a mistake. But how could there be? I am very good at counting. I tried again. I counted only four dogs! That is when I saw an empty collar hanging from one of the leashes.

  It was Maggie’s collar. She had slipped out of it and was trotting down the street all by herself.

  “Maggie, come back!” I called.

  But Maggie is a puppy. Puppies slip out of collars. And puppies do not always listen well.

  I was scared. What if she ran into the street? A car might hit her. I had to run after her. But I could not leave the other dogs behind. And now they were lying down and would not move. Even if I could make them come with me, Maggie might get scared and run farther away.

  I needed help. Fast.

  Daddy to the Rescue

  Somehow I convinced Astrid to stand up. The other dogs followed. I quickly led them to my house. On the way it started to rain. By the time I walked in the door, I was soaking wet. So were the dogs. All four dogs shook themselves off in our hallway.

  In no time, Nannie was there with an armful of towels.

  Then Daddy came out of his office.

  “Karen, what happened?” asked Daddy. “Why are all these dogs here?”

  Just then, Shannon came racing down the stairs. She must have been in David Michael’s room. David Michael was right behind her.

  “I need help!” I said. “You know the Kormans’ puppy, Maggie? She got out of her leash and ran away!”

  “It was smart of you to come home,” said Daddy. “Stay here and help Nannie with these dogs. David Michael and I will go look for Maggie.”

  “Take treats!” I said.

  “Excellent idea,” said Daddy.

  I was glad to hear that. Everything else I was doing seemed to be wrong.

  Daddy and David Michael put on slickers and hurried outside to look for Maggie. Nannie and I gave the other dogs treats and water.

  “I hope they find Maggie soon,” I said. “I do not know what I would do if something happened to her.”

  Thank goodness we did not have to wait very long. A few minutes later Daddy and David Michael returned with Maggie trotting between them.

  “Maggie, I am so happy to see you!” I said. I thanked Daddy and David Michael.

  “We thought Maggie might have gone home,” said Daddy. “So we looked there first. We found her sleeping under a bush in her yard. She came out to get the treat.”

  “No one was at the Kormans’ house, so we brought her back here,” said David Michael.

  Elizabeth walked in then. She was greeted by Shannon and five other dogs. We told her the whole story.

  “I think I know where the Hsus’ ext
ra key is,” said Elizabeth. “I will go find it for you.”

  “I guess it is time for me to take the dogs home,” I said.

  “David Michael and I will keep you company,” said Daddy.

  Things were looking a lot better. Maggie was safe. I had the key to the Hsus’ house. It had even stopped raining.

  When we got home again, Daddy asked if he could talk to me in his office.

  “Karen, why were you walking so many dogs?” he asked.

  I reminded him that I had wanted money to buy presents for Mommy and Elizabeth.

  “Remember, you told me I might be able to find more dogs to walk. Well, I did. It was easy,” I said.

  Then I told Daddy about Hank and how I was going to help him. “His mother lives in Florida. He does not have anyone to bring to the party. So I asked Sam to come. I promised I would pay him. And so now I need even more money.”

  “You are trying very hard to be nice to everyone,” said Daddy. “But I think you have taken on too much at once.”

  “I think you are right,” I replied.

  Daddy helped me decide what to do. I would keep walking Duke until the Hsus came home. Then I would walk dogs only when I had the time and someone really needed me.

  “Here is one more idea,” said Daddy. “How about taking me to the party instead of Sam? You will not have to pay me anything. I would love to come.”

  “Really?” I said.

  “Really,” said Daddy. “And I will be happy to help you buy nice gifts for Mommy and Elizabeth. That way you will not have to walk so many dogs.”

  “I am glad I came home when I needed help,” I said.

  “You can always come to me when you need help, Karen,” said Daddy.

  I put my arms around Daddy’s neck and hugged him.

  “Thank you,” I replied.

  A Secret Phone Call

  On Thursday afternoon Mr. Mackey helped us finish making our papier-mâché hands. I had spent our last art class doodling and worrying. So now I had to work fast.

  I looked at the hand I had made. An idea was coming to me. I had been walking five dogs. I would draw one dog on each finger.