Karen's Big Sister

by Ann M. Martin

  I went to bed thinking about Ms. Colman’s party and feeling happy. I woke up on Saturday morning thinking about Kristy’s pin and feeling sad. A week had passed since I lost it.

  Kristy had not even mentioned the pin. She did not seem to miss it one bit. I decided that proved something. It proved she did not care much about it.

  Thinking she did not care made me feel a little better about losing the pin. I got dressed and went down to breakfast.

  “Nannie, can you help me with my blanket this morning?” I asked.

  “Of course,” replied Nannie. “You need one more practice lesson with me. Then you are on your own. You are doing very well.”

  I had forgotten how much I like knitting. I like the clickety-clack of the needles. I like watching a ball of yarn turn into a square of blanket.

  We worked together in the morning. Then, after lunch, I went to my room to work some more on my own. (I did not like knitting downstairs so much. I kept having to shoo Boo-Boo away from the yarn.)

  Clickety-clack. Clickety-clack. Knock, knock.

  Kristy was standing at my door.

  “Hi, Karen,” she said. “Do you know where my pin is?”

  Uh-oh. I was so surprised, I dropped a whole row of stitches in my knitting.

  “Your what?” I asked. That was a dopey thing to say. I knew perfectly well what Kristy was asking. Kristy looked at me suspiciously.

  “My pin, Karen. I would like to know if you have seen my pin,” she said.

  “No, I have not seen your pin,” I replied. “I do not know anything about your pin. Except that you would not let me borrow it.”

  “Are you sure?” asked Kristy.

  “I am absolutely, one hundred percent, positively sure,” I replied.

  “I am not sure I believe you, Karen,” said Kristy.

  “Why don’t you look in your jewelry box where you left it?” I asked.

  “How did you know it was in my jewelry box? The last time you were in my room it was on the dresser,” said Kristy.

  “Well, who leaves an important pin on a dresser?” I asked. “You must have put it in your jewelry box.”

  “I did not put it in my jewelry box,” said Kristy.

  “Oh, yes you did!” I replied.

  Uh-oh. I should not have said that.

  “You did see my pin!” said Kristy. “Please tell me where it is. I will not be angry as long as you give it back.”

  “I cannot give it back,” I said.

  “Why not?” asked Kristy.

  “Because I borrowed it and lost it.”

  “You what? You lost my pin? How could you?” shouted Kristy.

  Then she started to cry. A lot. I felt so bad, I started to cry, too. Finally Kristy stopped crying long enough to speak.

  “I am very, very angry at you!” she said.

  She ran to her room and slammed the door.

  Karen’s Note

  Clickety-clack. Clickety-clack. It was Sunday morning. I was in my room knitting fast and furiously.

  I had tried to talk to Kristy at breakfast. But she would not answer me. Daddy asked what was going on between us.

  “We are having a little disagreement,” said Kristy.

  She still had not told Daddy that I lost the pin. She said this was between the two of us. She did not want to be a baby tattle-tale. Thank goodness.

  I wanted Kristy to know that I was sorry, but that I would not have lost her pin if she had let me borrow it in the first place.

  I decided to write her a note. I put down my knitting and found paper and a gold marker. I wanted the note to be written in gold letters in memory of the pin. The note said:

  I put the note and the paper pin in an envelope. Then I looked for Emily. If I delivered the note myself, Kristy might not read it. But if Emily delivered it, Kristy would read it before she realized it was from me.

  Emily was not in her room. She was not downstairs either.

  “Where is Emily?” I asked Elizabeth.

  “Nannie took her to play with Sari for a while,” Elizabeth replied. (Sari is Hannie’s little sister. She is Emily’s age.)

  Bullfrogs. I needed Emily to help me. Just then Shannon ran into the room. Perfect. Kristy would never turn Shannon away.

  “Shannon, come!” I said.

  Shannon stood where she was. She turned her head and looked at me. At least I had her attention.

  “Okay, Shannon. If you will not come to me, I will come to you,” I said.

  I held the note out to Shannon. All she did was drool on it. I wiped off the note. I tried again. It was no use.

  “Wait here,” I said.

  I ran upstairs and found a piece of blue yarn. I punched a hole in the envelope and put the yarn through it.

  Then I ran downstairs again. I tied the yarn with the note attached to it to Shannon’s collar. I led her upstairs to Kristy’s room and knocked on her door.

  “Who is it?” asked Kristy.

  I did not answer. I just opened the door and pushed Shannon inside. She must have jumped on Kristy because I heard her groan.

  I waited to hear the sound of my note being opened. Instead I heard footsteps. I started to run back to my room, but Kristy caught me.

  “In case you had not noticed, I am not talking to you,” said Kristy. “And I am not reading any notes from you either!”

  Hmmph. How did she guess the note was from me? Oh, well. I went back to my room to knit some more squares.

  Friends

  It was bad enough when Kristy was not talking to me. But things grew even worse when she refused to be in the same room with me. As soon as I walked into a room, she walked out. Except at mealtime. Then she made sure she did not have to sit near me.

  After awhile, I started getting angry back at her. If I walked into a room and saw Kristy, I walked back out. One time we did not notice we were in the living room together because Kristy was bending down to look at something when I walked in. We almost crashed into each other trying to get out at the same time. (I thought I saw Kristy laugh a little. But I am not sure.)

  This went on for days. Finally, Kristy said, “It is time for us to stop acting silly. Only babies behave this way.”

  “Well, I did not start it,” I said. “I tried to talk to you and I tried to send you a note.”

  “You did too start it,” replied Kristy. “You took my pin. And you lost it.”

  “I already told you I was sorry,” I said. “But if you had not been so selfish and greedy about the pin in the first place none of this would have happened.”

  “I have every right to say no when you ask to borrow something. And you have no right to go ahead and steal it from me,” said Kristy. “Furthermore, it was mean of you to say I am only a stepdaughter.” Kristy paused. “I mean, it was really mean. I was serious when I said you hurt my feelings, Karen.” Kristy’s chin quivered.

  “Oh, Kristy,” I replied. “I am sorry. I did not mean that. And I did not mean to hurt your feelings. I said that because I was mad. And jealous. I felt bad because Daddy gave the pin to you instead of me. And I felt bad that you would not lend it to me.”

  “Well, I am sorry I did not lend you the pin. Maybe I should have trusted you with it,” said Kristy.

  There. We had both said we were sorry.

  “Friends?” I said.

  “Friends,” replied Kristy.

  Goody. Now that we were friends again, I wanted to do something for Kristy since I had lost the pin. I even thought of a way to replace her jewelry (sort of).

  The Gift

  I went to my room. I thought for a long time. Then I called Mommy. I made sure Kristy would not be able to hear me talking on the phone. If she heard me, the surprise would be ruined. I dialed the number at the little house.

  “Hello, Mommy?” I said.

  I whispered the rest of my conversation. I did not tell Mommy the whole story. I just said I wanted to give something special to Kristy. I told her what it was. She said it was okay with he
r.

  “Thank you,” I replied. “I will come over later to get it.”

  When Charlie returned I asked if he would give me a ride to Mommy’s house.

  “No problem,” he said. “We can go right now if you want.”

  We drove there in the Junk Bucket. (That is the name of Charlie’s car.)

  “I just have to get something in my room. I will be right back,” I said.

  Mommy was the only one home. (The only person that is. Our pets were home, too.) I kissed Mommy hello, then ran to my room. I opened my jewelry box and found what I wanted right away. I put it in my sweatshirt pocket, then ran downstairs again.

  “Thank you, Mommy,” I said.

  Charlie drove us back to the big house. We arrived just in time for dinner.

  “Where did you two go?” asked Daddy.

  “Charlie drove me to the little house. I wanted to get something,” I replied.

  As soon as dinner was over I followed Kristy to her room with my gift.

  “Um, there is something I would like to give you,” I said. “It is a present.”

  “Really?” replied Kristy. “What is it?”

  “Open the box and see.”

  Kristy opened the box. Inside was a bracelet. It was not an expensive bracelet. It was only costume jewelry. But it had once belonged to Mommy’s great-aunt. Then Mommy gave it to me. Now I was giving it to Kristy. I thought this would end my problems with Kristy.

  I was wrong.

  “Thank you,” said Kristy. “But I must tell you that I cannot accept this.”

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “It belongs to your mother’s side of the family,” said Kristy. “This gift cannot replace the one Watson gave me. When he gave me that pin he was telling me that I was really and truly part of his family.”

  “Fine,” I said. “I will take the bracelet back. And I will not be giving you any other gifts very soon!”

  This time I was the one who was angry. This time I was the one who was hurt. I stormed out of Kristy’s room.

  Making Up

  I went straight to my room to get my knitting. Knitting made me feel better when I was angry. Clickety-clack. I was glad Nannie had given me extra yarn. If I kept knitting this way, the crib blanket was going to be a lot bigger than I had planned.

  I was knitting in the den a few days later when Kristy walked in.

  “Those squares look very pretty,” she said.

  I did not say thank you. I did not say anything. Maybe Kristy was not angry at me, but I was still angry at her.

  I stood up and walked out of the room with my nose in the air. I will show you, I thought. But when I reached the door, I felt something tugging me back. My yarn was caught under the chair where I had been sitting. Oops.

  “Here, let me get that,” said Kristy, giggling. She thought this was very funny. I did not.

  As soon as my yarn was untangled, I walked out again.

  That night we had spaghetti for dinner. I did not want to sit near Kristy. But there were no other seats when I got to the table. I sat down with my knitting in my lap.

  “How is it going?” asked Kristy.

  I did not answer. I took a forkful of spaghetti and twirled it around on my spoon. Guess what I was thinking. I was thinking that being angry all the time was not so easy. For a minute I could not even remember what I was angry about. Oh, yes. Kristy did not accept the gift I gave her. I guess that was because she still felt bad about my losing her pin. Well, I still felt bad about it, too. I tried to make up for it with the bracelet. But that did not work. There was no way I could make up for losing the pin except by finding it. And that was not going to happen.

  Even if I happened to find the pin someday, it would not take away the fact that I had borrowed it without permission in the first place.

  I sighed. I was tired of not talking to Kristy. I was tired of being angry. After dinner I followed Kristy to her room one more time. I stood in Kristy’s doorway and said, “I am really sorry I borrowed the pin when you told me not to. And I am really sorry I lost it.”

  “I know you are sorry, Karen,” she replied. “You tried your best to make up for losing the pin by giving me the bracelet. But there is no making up for what you did. I appreciate your trying, though. And I forgive you.”

  “Do you really forgive me?” I asked. I needed to hear it one more time.

  “Yes, I really and truly forgive you. You know, someday we will forget all this terrible fighting. We will be just the way we were before the whole thing started.”

  “I am glad,” I replied. There was one thing left to do. “Um, Kristy. Will you come with me to tell Daddy about the pin? I am a little afraid to tell him myself,” I said.

  “Sure,” replied Kristy.

  I told Daddy the whole story. He was sorry I had been so upset about not getting the pin. But he was angry at me for taking it from Kristy.

  “Taking the pin was not right,” said Daddy. “But I am not going to punish you. I see that you and Kristy have worked this out on your own. I think maybe it has even brought the two of you closer together. And that is worth more than any piece of jewelry.”

  That was it. The fighting was over. There were no secrets from Daddy. I felt a whole lot better.

  Getting Ready

  Kristy and I had been friends again for ten whole days. That made me happy. I was also happy because there was only one more day until Ms. Colman’s baby shower.

  After school on Thursday, I hopped into the car with Daddy. We drove to each of my classmates’ houses to pick up Ms. Colman’s gifts and the food for the party. (We had volunteered to bring the food to school because many of the parents could not come to the party.)

  The packages were all beautifully wrapped with paper that was decorated with everything from rocking horses to rattles. They were tied up with ribbons and bows.

  The food looked and smelled delicious. (I got a sample brownie from Mrs. Harris. Yum.)

  One gift was not quite ready. Mine!

  “Will you help me finish the blanket now, Nannie?” I asked when Daddy and I returned home.

  “Of course,” replied Nannie.

  I needed to sew together two more rows of squares. Nannie and I worked at the same time on opposite ends of the blanket. (The blanket did turn out to be bigger than I had planned. That was because I knitted so much while Kristy and I were fighting.)

  Finally all the squares were sewn together. Nannie blocked the blanket for me. (She sprinkled it with water and ironed it lightly. That made it smooth and flat.)

  “I cannot believe I made that!” I cried when it was ready.

  My blanket was beautiful. I ran around showing it to everyone in my family. I even asked Daddy to take a picture of it for me to bring to the little house.

  It was time to wrap my gift. I neatly folded my blanket and put it in a shiny white box with pink tissue paper. I tied on lots of colored ribbons. Kristy helped me make the ribbons curly.

  “Ta-daa!” I said.

  “You are all set for the party,” said Kristy. “You should be very proud.”

  “Wait!” I cried. “The kids in my class forgot something. We forgot to make a card for Ms. Colman.”

  “That is no problem,” said Kristy. “You are good at making cards.”

  She was right. I make special cards for all occasions. I got out my supplies — paper, markers, scissors, glitter, and glue. I folded a sheet of paper in half and drew a picture of my blanket on the front. I added a border of baby bottles and rattles. Inside I wrote: Good Luck, Ms. Colman!

  The only thing left to do was to ask everyone to sign the card at school without Ms. Colman catching us.

  I showed the card to Hannie on the school bus the next morning.

  “That was a good idea,” she said.

  Hannie and a few other kids signed the card on the way to school. When we reached our class, Nancy and some more kids signed it fast before Ms. Colman arrived. Then we passed it under our desks for
the rest of the kids to sign.

  By recess, the card was ready. I hid it in my desk. (I had told Daddy where the card would be so he could put it with the gifts.)

  On our way to lunch I turned and looked at our classroom. In one more hour it was going to be all dressed up.

  At recess, we made believe we were choosing sides for a game. But really we were whispering about the party.

  “Do you think our surprise will work?” asked Hannie.

  “Do you think the room will be set up by the time we get back?” asked Omar.

  We would know in just a few minutes.

  Surprise!

  Recess was over. The classes on the playground were lining up to go inside. It was party time.

  Ms. Colman still had no idea what would be waiting for her when she entered the room. She led us into the building and down the hall. She opened the door and …

  “Surprise!” we shouted.

  “Oh, my!” said Ms. Colman. She was so surprised, she could not move. I took her by the hand and led her inside. The rest of the class rushed in behind us.

  The room looked great. Daddy, Mrs. Papadakis, Mrs. Harris, and a few other parents were waiting for us. They had hung the streamers and balloons everywhere. They had moved four desks together in the center of the room. The desks were covered with a tablecloth and the food and plates and things were set out on them. Two more tables were pushed together and covered with another cloth. Those tables were piled high with presents.

  “This is just wonderful,” said Ms. Colman. “Thank you all very, very much.”

  “I think you are thanking us too soon,” I said. “You have not even eaten any food, or opened any presents yet.”

  “I do not need a bite of food or a single gift to thank you for being so thoughtful,” replied Ms. Colman. “But now that you mention it, that food smells awfully good.”

  We lined up and filled our plates with things to eat. There were pretzels and chips. There were brownies and cookies and a cake with pink and blue icing that said, “Best wishes, Ms. Colman.”