Karen's New Bike Read online

  “Why hasn’t Officer Benitez called back?” I asked Daddy.

  “You must be patient, Karen. The police might not call us until tomorrow,” Daddy replied.

  “Tomorrow! I do not think I can wait that long,” I said.

  “I think you can,” said Daddy.

  Daddy was right. I made it through the night and the next day at school. When I got home, Nannie said the police still had not called.

  “Maybe we should call Officer Benitez again to remind her,” I said.

  “I am sure she has not forgotten,” replied Nannie.

  That meant I could not call. Boo. I wandered outside and sat on the curb. I could hear the phone from there if it rang.

  I had not been sitting there very long when something gigundoly exciting happened. A police car pulled up to my house.

  Officer Benitez and another officer got out. His badge said Officer Myers. The two police officers had big smiles on their faces. In a minute I knew why.

  Officer Myers proudly lifted my bike from the back of the car and set it down in front of me.

  “Hooray! Yippee! Hooray!” I shouted.

  Nannie ran outside with Emily and Andrew behind her. They found me hugging my bike as if it were a person.

  Then I remembered my manners.

  “Thank you for bringing my bike back,” I said to the officers.

  “You are a good detective, Karen,” said Officer Benitez. “The bike was in the driveway just as you reported it.”

  “What will happen to the girl who took it?” asked Nannie.

  “It turns out the girl did not steal Karen’s bike,” said Officer Benitez. “Her parents wanted to buy her a bicycle. They could not afford a new one, so they watched for ads for second-hand bikes. One day they saw a flier posted in the grocery store. When they called the number they were thrilled to have found an almost new, expensive bike that would cost much less money than it would in a store. So they bought it. Now they understand that it was so cheap because it was stolen.”

  “If the girl did not take it, who did?” I asked.

  “We do not know that yet. Luckily the girl’s parents held onto the phone number they called in case there were any problems with the bike. We have the number and will be following up,” said Officer Benitez.

  “The number may provide clues to finding the other missing bikes,” said Officer Myers. “Right now we are just happy you have your bike back safe and sound.”

  “Me, too!” I said.

  I could not decide what to do next. Should I take my bike for a ride? Or should I call everyone to tell them the good news?

  I was not ready to leave my bike yet. And I wanted to tell everyone right away. So I carried my bike inside and sat on it while I called my friends and Mommy.

  Good News

  That night I started thinking about the girl I had seen riding my bike. I felt bad for her. She did not have a bike to ride anymore. I knew her family did not have enough money to buy her a new one. Hmm. I decided to find Sam.

  “How are you doing with my old bike?” I asked.

  “Come take a look. It is almost ready for the bike sale,” replied Sam. “I just need to test the brakes a couple more times to make sure they are safe. We cannot take any chances when it comes to brakes.”

  Sam led me out to the garage. At first I did not see the bike. Then Sam proudly pulled up the sheet that was covering it and said, “Ta-da!”

  The bike looked great. It was shiny red with white trim. It would be perfect for the girl to ride. I told Sam my idea.

  “Instead of giving the bike to the bike sale, maybe we could give it to the girl who had to return my new bike,” I said. “She is smaller than I am so this bike would fit her fine. And you made it look really beautiful.”

  “That is a terrific idea, Karen,” said Sam. “I will have it ready for you tomorrow afternoon.”

  I checked out my plan with Daddy. He liked it, too.

  On Friday afternoon, Sam said, “The bike is ready to go.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “It needs just one more thing.”

  I ran upstairs and found some red ribbon. I made two big bows and tied them onto the handlebars. Now the bike was ready.

  Charlie offered to help. He loaded the bike into the van and the three of us drove to the girl’s house.

  I walked to the front door and rang the bell. A woman answered it. The girl was standing next to her.

  “Hi,” I said. “I am Karen Brewer. The bike you had belonged to me.”

  Suddenly the girl and her mother looked worried.

  “Oh, I know you bought my bike and did not steal it,” I said. “So it is not fair that you do not have a bike to ride now. Would you like to have this one?”

  Sam was wheeling my old bicycle up the path. As soon as the girl saw it she started to smile.

  “It is beautiful,” she said. She turned to her mother. “May I keep it?”

  “Just a minute, Polly,” said her mother. “Could you please tell me how much this bike costs,” she said to me.

  “It does not cost anything,” I replied. “It is a present. To say thank you for taking good care of my other bike while you had it.”

  The girl looked at her mother. I could see how much she wanted to keep the bike. Her mother had to think for a minute. Then she said, “Thank you for this gift, Karen. You are very thoughtful.”

  “Now I can be in the bike-a-thon!” said Polly.

  “Great,” I said. “I am going to be in the bike-a-thon, too. I will see you there.”

  We waved good-bye. I got into the van with Sam and Charlie. Charlie stopped at a store downtown on the way home.

  “We want to buy you a really good lock for your new bike,” he said. “Then it will not be so easy to steal.”

  “Thank you,” I replied. I would feel better leaving my bike with a brand-new lock on it.

  The next day was Saturday. The phone rang early. It was Officer Myers.

  “I have good news,” he said. “The phone number led us to a stash of stolen bikes that were about to be sold. We are having the bikes identified now. Your friends, Timmy Hsu and Bill Korman, already have their bikes back. And the thieves are under arrest.”

  More good news! Now we could all be in the bike-a-thon. It was only two weeks away.

  The Bike-a-thon

  “I have so many sponsors I can hardly believe it,” I said. “If I finish the course, I will get a lot of money to give to the hospital.”

  I was standing outside Town Hall with Hannie and Nancy. We were in line waiting to hand in our sign-up sheets so we could enter the bike-a-thon.

  David Michael and Linny were ahead of us. Bill, Melody, Timmy, and Scott were behind us. Then I saw a girl walking by with a red bike that looked very familiar. It was Polly.

  “Hi, Polly!” I called. I introduced her to Hannie and Nancy. We talked for awhile. Then she joined some kids from her class.

  School had let out for the summer. But most of the kids from our class were at the bike-a-thon. Even Ms. Colman was there. She was going to ride, too.

  “Hi, Ms. Colman!” I called.

  “Next!” said a voice. It was Mr. Quinn.

  “Hi, Mr. Quinn,” I said. “I have a lot of sponsors.”

  “Excellent!” replied Mr. Quinn. He stamped my sign-up sheet and gave me my number. I was number eighty-one in the bike-a-thon. I pinned the number on my shirt.

  I waited for Hannie and Nancy.

  “Let’s try to ride together all the way,” I said. “But if we get separated, we can meet at the finish line.”

  We strapped on our helmets. Then we hopped on our bikes and started pedaling.

  We rode on a long, winding course around Stoneybrook. The streets were closed to traffic. Cups of juice were set up on tables along the way in case anyone got thirsty. Music from the school band was piped in over a loudspeaker to keep up everyone’s spirits.

  We pedaled and pedaled. And pedaled and pedaled. Once I thought I might have to get
off and walk my bike. We were going up a very steep hill. My knees were starting to ache.

  I am not going to stop. I am not going to stop, I told myself.

  I started to feel like The Little Engine That Could. And you know what? I made it up the hill!

  When I reached the top I realized I had lost Hannie and Nancy. I would just have to meet them later.

  I saw a table with juice at the top of the hill. I grabbed a cup, then kept on going. I rode and rode until I could see the finish line. Then I pedaled as fast as I could.

  “I am coming through!” I called. With my streamers flying in the breeze, I crossed the finish line.

  “I did it! I did it!” I cried.

  Both my families were there waiting for me. They were jumping up and down and cheering.

  “Way to go!” I heard Kristy call.

  I proudly handed in my number eighty-one and got a free ice pop. It was cold and delicious.

  I ran back to the finish line to find Hannie and Nancy and join my families.

  The bike-a-thon was over by early afternoon. The bike sale was over, too. It had been going on at the same time.

  Mrs. Titus, our school principal, asked us to be patient while the pledges were added up. Finally she announced how much money we had earned for the hospital and introduced Mr. Finney, the hospital director.

  “Thanks to you and to lots of others who helped out, the Stoneybrook Medical Center will be able to build a much needed new wing,” said Mr. Finney. “The bike-a-thon was a great success. You should be very proud of what you have done today.”

  I patted my new bike. I did feel proud.

  It was time to say good-bye to my friends. But I knew I would be seeing them soon. We had a lot of bike riding to look forward to.

  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 © 1995 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, 1995

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-05781-2