Karen's Pilgrim Read online

  “Eww!” we all said together.

  (We knew real Pilgrims would not say that. But pretend Pilgrims could.)

  When we returned to our classroom, Mr. Mackey, our art teacher, was waiting for us with his supply cart.

  “Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, we thought you might like to spend the afternoon making decorations to take home,” said Ms. Colman.

  Yippee! I felt as if the holiday had already started.

  Mr. Mackey let us take the supplies we needed. But he did not stay, because he had other rooms to visit.

  “Happy holiday, everyone,” he said.

  I was making a bouquet of paper flowers for Mommy and Seth. I had forgotten to get orange paper from Mr. Mackey. I knew some was in the supply closet, though. Pamela was already there. But I did not let that stop me.

  I looked in the closet. Only one piece of orange paper was left. Pamela and I reached for it at the same time.

  Since I was having such a good day already, I decided to be extra nice.

  “You take it,” I said. “I can use another color.”

  “No, that is okay. You go ahead,” replied Pamela.

  “I know what,” I said. “We can cut it in half.”

  “Good idea,” said Pamela.

  I was glad we were trying to get along. I do not like fighting so much. Even with my best enemy.

  While I was cutting the paper, Pamela said, “Your presentation was cool, Karen.”

  “Thank you,” I replied. “Your presentation was cool too. And you have a really neat poppet doll.”

  “You have some really neat new friends,” said Pamela.

  I smiled. I would rather have real live friends than a doll any day.

  I decided to make a few extra flowers to send Brianna.

  Karen’s Thanksgiving

  “It is my turn!” said Andrew.

  “Oh, all right,” I replied.

  I cranked the hand mixer three more times. Then I passed the bowl of cream to my little brother. The cream was just starting to turn to butter.

  Mommy, Andrew, and I were making dinner. (Seth had said he needed to spend the morning working at his shop.) We were cooking delicious Pilgrim dishes. We were trying to cook them the Pilgrim way. Well, almost. Our oven was indoors. We did not have big pots over fires. And we did not have to go to a stream for our water.

  Here is what we were making: cheate bread, butter, Indian corn pudding (we were using Remember’s recipe), roast turkey with stuffing, butternut squash, and apple pie for dessert.

  “Look, it really is butter!” said Andrew.

  I looked into the bowl. The milky white cream was now thick and yellow. We had made our very own butter.

  Mommy spread some on crackers for us to taste. “Next year we should not buy the cream. We should find a cow and milk her!” I said.

  “You are a true Pilgrim girl,” said Mommy.

  We had fun cooking and tasting all morning.

  It was almost noon when Seth came home. He was carrying three packages wrapped with colored ribbons. He gave one to Mommy, one to Andrew, and one to me.

  “Go ahead and open them,” he said.

  “Wow! You made wooden bowls for us just like Remember’s!” I said.

  “These are beautiful,” added Mommy. “Thank you.”

  We all thanked Seth. He had made a bowl for himself too. The bowls were going to make our Thanksgiving dinner even more like a Pilgrim feast.

  That gave me an idea.

  “When are we eating?” I asked.

  “Soon,” replied Mommy. “In fact, it is time for you to wash up and put on some holiday clothes.”

  Excellent! We were going to have an early dinner, just like the Pilgrims did. And holiday clothes were just what I had in mind.

  I ran to my room and closed the door. It was not long before my closets and drawers were half empty. My bed and floor were covered with clothes. But I had everything I needed. Except for one thing. I could get it from Mommy later.

  In a few minutes Mommy called, “Dinner is ready!” Mommy, Seth, and Andrew smiled as soon as they saw me coming down the stairs.

  “Karen is a Pilgrim!” said Andrew.

  “Welcome to our home, Pilgrim friend,” said Seth. “Will you be our guest for Thanksgiving dinner?”

  “I thank thee,” I replied.

  My clothes were not perfectly Pilgrim. But they were close enough. I had put on a long dark skirt. (I did not own any petticoats, so I had put a few skirts on to make me puffy.) I wore a button-up jacket.

  “Here, Karen. You need this more than I do,” said Mommy. She took off her white apron and tied it around my waist. That was the one last thing I needed.

  We all carried food to the table. It smelled delicious. Before we ate, Seth had some Thanksgiving things to say.

  “I am thankful for our health. I am thankful for this food. I am thankful for the freedom to enjoy this beautiful dinner with my family.”

  We held hands and sang a Thanksgiving song together. I sang it loud and clear.

  Now that I knew the real story of the holiday, it was the happiest Thanksgiving ever.

  The author gratefully acknowledges

  Stephanie Calmenson

  for her help

  with this book.

  About the Author

  ANN M. MARTIN is the acclaimed and bestselling author of a number of novels and series, including Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), A Dog’s Life, Here Today, P.S. Longer Letter Later (written with Paula Danziger), the Family Tree series, the Doll People series (written with Laura Godwin), the Main Street series, and the generation-defining series The Baby-sitters Club. She lives in New York.

  Copyright © 1997 by Ann M. Martin

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First edition, 1997

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-06036-2