Katie Kicklighter

by Jack Patterson

  “Hey!” cried a man who was fishing nearby. “You’ll scare all the fish away.”

  “Sorry. I’m trying to save a worm,” she replied. She pulled her sweater out of the water and ran back to the spot where the fire sparked. But before she made it there, she froze. It was no longer a small fire but a roaring fire — one that required more than a sweater full of water to douse it.

  Fortunately, the Winkleville Fire Department was located just off the edge of the park. She sprinted toward the firehouse to let them know what was happening. Two firemen carrying small extinguishers followed her back to the site in the woods. By now, it had grown several feet in every direction. But it was no match for the firemen. They hosed the area down and squelched the flames. Less than a minute later, the only sign that anything had happened was a white residue from the extinguishers that coated the ground.

  One of the firemen knelt down to pick up Katie’s magnifying glass.

  “Is this yours, young lady?” he asked.

  Katie nodded. She fought back tears as she stared at Trixie’s blackened handle.

  “Hasn’t anyone ever told you not to set things on fire with a magnifying glass?”

  “I didn’t mean to,” she protested.

  “Of course you didn’t — but you still could’ve burnt down this entire beautiful park. Just be a little more careful next time and pay attention.”

  Katie nodded again. If she’d been told to be careful once in her life, she’d been told a thousand times. It was a constant refrain sung to her by almost every adult in her life. She shuddered to think how she would’ve felt if she burned Julius C. Walker Park to the ground. Scorching a little patch made her feel bad enough.

  With her walk ruined, Kate decided to walk home and get cleaned up before dinner. As she was strolling along the sidewalk, she noticed a small piece of paper flickering beneath the tire of a parked bike.

  What’s this? she wondered. She picked up the piece of paper and read it:

  Tonight, April 20th Only

  6:30 PM

  A Special Performance of

  THE KING AND I

  Sheridan Auditorium

  The King and I? It was her parents’ favorite play. They once saw it on a special trip to New York City and retold their experience almost as often as they told the story of Katie’s birth. Her stroll turned back into a skip.

  ***

  AT 6:30 THAT EVENING, Trey met Maggie in the downstairs study area of the girls’ dorm.

  “Where’s Katie?” Trey asked.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her since this afternoon. I’m sure she’ll be down shortly.”

  An hour went by. Katie was nowhere to be found.

  CHAPTER 3

  Dancing with a King

  KATIE SETTLED INTO HER SEAT on the back row of the Sheridan Auditorium. Before her parents died, she’d heard them talk countless times about watching The King and I performed at the London Palladium, the finest venue in all of England. While not the Palladium, the Sheridan Auditorium was home to all of Winkleville’s best plays. With plush chairs to sit in and exquisite wood paneling throughout the building, the playhouse felt like a palace to Katie. And tonight, the stage looked like one, too.

  Sitting all alone, Katie didn’t bother to look around her. She remained fascinated by the action on the stage below. When the character, Anna, began singing, “Getting to Know You,” Katie hummed along before she couldn’t contain herself any longer. Her mother used to twirl around in circles and belt out the magical tune — and she began to do the same.

  She pretended like she was dancing with the King herself, unaware of those around her. With her eyes barely open, Katie spun down the mostly empty aisle — until she came to the end. It was then that she began to make a scene.

  Katie never saw Mrs. Cooper or her husband as she pranced past them, stomping on every one of their toes. She didn’t realize her dress swept Billy Foreman’s bag of popcorn onto the floor. No, she didn’t have any idea any of this was happening, for she was dancing with the king. It wasn’t until she ran into the immovable Mr. Chuck Hightower that her fantasy abruptly ended.

  Mr. Hightower owned a bakery in downtown Winkleville. It was so well known that many travel magazines that wrote about places in upstate New York and television shows on travel channels always mentioned the Hightower Bakery. Mr. Hightower was once on his way to international stardom as one of the head bakers at Valencia Bakery. But at a fancy banquet, he once served a cake to the mayor’s wife that contained a fly in the middle of it. She panicked when she saw it and created such a fuss that the table flipped over and the entire party was ruined. Since leaving New York City as a disgraced chef, Mr. Hightower spent all his spare time eating his delightful treats. Katie would’ve never guessed a fly in the mayor’s cake years ago would lead to her own embarrassing moment.

  With Mr. Hightower wedged into his seat, his legs couldn’t avoid a collision with Katie as she flitted toward him. He leaned back in his seat and braced for the contact.

  Oooph!

  Katie’s legs crashed into Mr. Hightower’s knees, sending her sprawling into the aisle. Down the stairs she tumbled. She hit the base of the balcony wall with such a thud that the beautiful music screeched to a halt as everyone in the room looked upward toward the balcony to see what caused such a noise. Katie’s head popped up.

  “I’m fine, everybody. Keep singing,” she said as she stood up.

  The music resumed — and so did Katie. She drifted up the stairs, unfazed by what just happened. It wasn’t until the song ended that she returned to her seat, out of breath and tired.

  At intermission, Katie slumped in her chair and gaped at the majesty of the building. The organ pipes shimmered as the light reflected off the gold cylinders stretching toward the ceiling. The hum of the audience’s conversation caused Katie to drift off into her own world again. She closed her eyes as she imagined herself meeting a king in a distant land who would suddenly fancy her and ask for her hand in marriage. She disappeared into the make believe world until someone shook her, ruining her daydream.

  “Katherine! Katherine Kicklighter!”

  Katie heard the familiar voice of a man, but she refused to exit her imaginary place.

  “Katherine Kicklighter!”

  Finally, Katie opened her eyes. “It’s Katie — with a K,” she said before she realized who she was talking to. The man knowingly stared back at her. “Oh, Mr. Buxton. I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you.”

  Mr. Buxton rested his chin on his thumb and stared at the most talked-about student in The Oglethorpe School teacher’s lounge. He waited a moment before he finally spoke.

  “I’m surprised to see you here tonight,” Mr. Buxton said.

  Katie twisted from side to side as she looked up at him. “Well, The King and I was my parents’ favorite play. I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

  “Anything?” he asked.

  Katie nodded. “Anything.”

  “Not even a trip to Prague?”

  Katie’s eyes grew as large as cupcakes as she looked at Mr. Buxton. “The test! I forgot about the test. I’ve gotta go!”

  She pushed her way past Mr. Buxton and ran up, up, up the stairs to get out of the auditorium and then down, down, down the stairs to exit the building. She ran so fast through the doors that she sent a pile of playbills swirling into the air.

  My study group!

  CHAPTER 4

  Giant Beavers,

  Talking Feathers,

  and Galloping Snakes

  KATIE REACHED HER DORM out of breath. She raced through the front doors to find Trey and Maggie packing up their books and getting up from the table.

  “Please don’t leave!” Katie begged.

  “What happened to your hair?” Trey asked.

  Katie grabbed her head with both hands and felt the tangled and matted mess that was her hair. “Oh, this?” she asked while laughing.

  “Yes,” Trey said. “Why do you look like f
ell in a river and dried your hair by sticking your head out of an airplane?”

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  “Try me.”

  “Well, I decided to go for a walk before dinner and ended up setting a worm on fire before I set the park on fire. Then I found a brochure advertising The King and I tonight at The Sheridan Auditorium. So, I went to that and halfway through the first act pretended like I was dancing with the King when I tumbled down the balcony, and the entire performance stopped to check and make sure I was fine. Then I ran into Mr. Buxton, who reminded me that I wouldn’t be going to Prague if I didn’t make an A on my test tomorrow. I ran here as fast as I could, hoping you would still be here and still be my friends after I did a dreadful thing in forgetting about our study time.”

  Trey cocked his head and stared at Katie with an inquisitive look on his face. “You know how to set a worm on fire?”

  Katie stared at him. “Of all the things I just told you, that’s what you think is the most important?”

  “No, I just didn’t know you could do that.”

  “If you’ll promise to stay and help me study, I’ll show you what I did so you won’t do what I did. The idea of setting animals on fire makes me sick.”

  Trey shook his head. “I should’ve known you did it by accident.”

  “So, will you stay?” Katie asked.

  Trey nodded.

  Katie looked at Maggie, who had remained quiet as she gawked at Katie’s wild hair. “Will you stay, too?”

  “If I can wear two blue shoes,” Maggie answered.

  Katie shook her head. “You and your rhymes. Must you talk like that all the time?”

  Maggie thought for a moment. “Slip on a banana peel and make a deal. You wear matched socks on purpose for a day and I won’t rhyme for one either.”

  “Not sure if I can do that.”

  “Maybe I’ll eat my hat.”

  “Let me think about it,” Katie responded. “I’ll get back with you on that one.”

  Maggie shook her head. “Get back with me when? In between setting the park on fire or stealing the show in a live theater performance? I have no idea how you do it.”

  “Do what?” Katie asked.

  “Make life that interesting. I’ve never seen someone who can fit so many adventures into such a short period of time like you. It’s got to be a gift.”

  Katie laughed. “It’s called life. I don’t know it any other way. But if you want to experience this kind of life with me in Prague, I need your help with this test.”

  Maggie smiled. “Prague will never be the same. Sit down and let’s get started.”

  ***

  AFTER AN HOUR of identifying countries and cities on several maps, Maggie suggested they get more serious about their studying.

  “It’s great that we know maps, but I doubt Miss McGuffin is going to give us all A’s because we know where Washington, D.C. is,” Maggie said. “We need to study some other things, like political leaders.”

  “Sounds good to me. Let’s start with this name: John Adams,” Trey said. “Katie, do you know who John Adams is?”

  Katie laughed. “Seriously? We’re going to be asked about John Adams.”

  Trey nodded. “It’s part of the study sheet she gave us.”

  “That’s funny because I don’t remember her ever talking about my good friend John.”

  Maggie shook her head and smiled. “Katie, I don’t think she’s referring to anyone you’re friends with.”

  “I only know of one John Adams — and let me tell you that boy is trouble,” Katie began. “When I was six years old, I went searching for frog eggs with him near a creek behind my house. We looked and looked and couldn’t find anything in the water but bugs. Then we came up on some bushes right near the water’s edge. For some reason, John started beating the bushes with a stick. That’s when a beaver came flying out of the bushes straight toward us. It must’ve thought that John’s arm was a piece of wood because it started to gnaw on him. John tripped and fell — and before you could say ‘big beaver’ it was on top of him. I reached up and grabbed the beaver’s tail and flung it into the water so we could get away.”

  Trey sighed. “Not that John Adams. The real John Adams.”

  “My friend John Adams is real,” Katie shot back.

  “I don’t doubt that he exists, but if you tell a story about hunting frog eggs with your friend on the test tomorrow when Miss McGuffin is wanting you to talk about one of our founding fathers who helped write The Declaration of Independence, you’re not going to Prague.”

  Katie slumped in her chair. “These political people are so boring. My John Adams is far more interesting.”

  “Is that so?” Trey asked. “Well, did you know that John Adams was the first Vice-President of the United States and that his job was to oversee the Senate? But he wasn’t supposed to say anything. Instead, John Adams couldn’t keep his mouth shut and interrupted senators all the time by debating with them.”

  Katie giggled. “I think I might could’ve been friends with that John Adams, too.”

  “The real mystery would’ve been who would stop talking first,” Maggie said, a comment that made all three roar with laughter.

  “John Adams was also the second President of the United States and the first to actually live in The White House,” Trey continued.

  “I didn’t know that,” Katie exclaimed.

  “Wait, there’s more. John Adams was also very competitive, especially with Thomas Jefferson. In 1796, Adams beat Jefferson by three electoral votes to win the election and Jefferson became his vice-president. Then in 1800, Jefferson beat Adams by eight electoral votes. Later on, Adams and Jefferson became pen pals, writing back and forth on a number of different topics. They died on the same day, July 4th, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing of The Declaration of Independence.”

  “Wow!” Katie said. “That is interesting.”

  “I hope you can remember all this for the test tomorrow,” Maggie chimed in.

  “What do you know about Benjamin Franklin?” Trey asked.

  “The guy on the hundred dollar bill?” Katie asked.

  “Yes, not your friend Ben Franklin, who you told us about a few weeks ago who tried to float to the moon on a lawn chair full of helium balloons.”

  “Hmmm.”

  “Well, here are some things you need to know about Benjamin Franklin,” Trey began. “He was born in 1706, the fifteenth child in a family with seventeen kids—”

  “Galloping snakes!” Katie yelled. “Seventeen kids!”

  “When he turned seventeen, he ran away from home.”

  “Why would he do that? I’d be thinking, I finally got my own room,” Katie quipped.

  “He learned how to print newspapers and bought the Pennsylvania Gazette when he was twenty-three years old. Then in 1732, he published a book called Poor Richard’s Almanack that contained things like poems, sayings, calendars and weather predictions for that year. It was part of what made Benjamin Franklin so popular.”

  “That’s cool.”

  “Yeah, but that’s not all. He became Philadelphia’s postmaster and also started an army and a fire department for the city. He also served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and was the elder statesman.”

  “Didn’t he fly a kite that was struck by lightning?” Katie asked.

  “He sure did, Katie,” Trey answered. “In fact, he was quite an inventor. He invented bifocals, swim fins, lightning rods, a stove that could heat your house without smoking it up, and the odometer to help him tell how far he traveled while taking mail back and forth between Philadelphia and Boston.”

  For the next few hours, Trey continued sharing interesting facts about people and places that were going to be on Miss McGuffin’s test. And somehow, Katie remained interested until she fell asleep right before 11 o’clock — just in time for Miss Dingledine to wake up Katie as she made her rounds. Nobody stayed out of their room past
curfew in Miss Dingledine’s house, not even girls who needed an A on Miss McGuffin’s test to join their class on a trip to Prague.

  CHAPTER 5

  Lady Kicklighter

  and the Art Caper

  THE NEXT MORNING, Katie barely touched her breakfast as she thought about her test.

  Maggie munched on a poppy seed muffin. “Nervous, Katie?”

  “I feel like two little people are inside my stomach and they’re having a nasty fight,” she said.

  “Well, in that case, drink some orange juice. I hear that fights in your stomach aren’t as exciting if everyone is swimming.”

  Katie laughed. “I just don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t pass this test.”

  “You’re going to do fine. Just don’t worry about it.”

  “I can’t help it, Maggie. All last night I dreamed about Benjamin Franklin chasing me around with a kite and shocking me. It was dreadful.”

  “Looks like you survived — and you’ll survive Miss McGuffin’s test.”

  Katie forced a smile and stared out the window at the kids who were already on their way to class.

  “Ready to go?” Maggie asked.

  “No, you go on ahead. I’ll catch up.”

  Maggie stood up with her cafeteria tray. “Don’t be late. You know how Mister Buxton hates it when you’re late.”

  Most agonizing about today for Katie was the fact that her test was at the end of the day. She had to start her day with Mister Buxton, who rarely caught her mismatched socks. His English class was interesting, but she doubted anything could keep her mind off the social studies test looming at the end of the day.

  Along with her mismatched socks, Katie also wore a pair of long white gloves. On her walk to class, she imagined that she lived in the Colonial Days and pretended to carry a parasol over her shoulder to shield her from the sun. If Katie didn’t receive such odd looks every day from other students, she might have noticed the befuddled expressions on every person’s face she passed. She twirled her parasol and smiled politely at all the gentlemen. In her mind, they were smiling and tipping their caps to her. She’d totally missed the seven boys who stuck their tongues out at her and called her funny names.