Karen, Hannie and Nancy: The Three Musketeers

  Big Sister

  While Karen was moping around the big house, Hannie was moping around her house, and I was moping around my house.

  What a dull, boring Saturday, I thought.

  I was lying on the couch in the family room. My feet were bare. I was bouncing them off the back cushions. Bounce, bounce, bounce.

  “Nancy?” said Mommy.

  Quickly I put my feet down. Mommy sat on the end of the couch. Daddy came into the room. He sat on the other end of the couch.

  “Sit up for a minute, sweetie,” Mommy said. “Daddy and I want to talk to you. We have something to tell you.”

  I sat up. Probably they were going to tell me to put my shoes on and start acting like I was seven.

  Mommy smiled at me. She put her arm around my shoulders. “I have good news,” she said. “At least, I think you will like the news.”

  “Are we going to Disney World?” I asked. Maybe Mommy and Daddy were feeling sorry for me. Maybe they were going to surprise me with a vacation.

  “No,” answered Mommy. “You are going to be a big sister, Nancy. I am going to have a baby. I’m pregnant.”

  “A baby? You are? I’ll be a sister? Oh, wow!” My thoughts and words were all mixed up. I could hardly believe my ears.

  “We’re glad you are happy,” said Daddy. “We thought you might be.”

  “Oh, yes!” I had forgotten how I had felt at Shadow Lake, when I just wanted peace and privacy. The last week had been too peaceful and too private. Without my friends it had been boring and lonely. But when I had a little sister or brother I would never be bored or lonely again.

  “When will the baby be born?” I asked.

  “Not for awhile,” said Mommy. “Not for about five months.”

  “Five months! I can’t wait five months!”

  “Sorry,” said Daddy. He smiled.

  “Can I plan the baby’s room?” I asked.

  “You may help us. You may also name the baby. Of course, we will have to agree to the name.”

  My mouth dropped open. This was better than a trip to Disney World.

  “Oh, thank you, thank you!” I cried. I hugged Mommy. I hugged Daddy.

  And then I called Karen on the phone. It was the only thing to do.

  “Karen!” I exclaimed. “It’s me, Nancy. Please do not hang up. I am sorry about the fight. Very sorry. And I do not want to be mad anymore. Guess what. My mother is going to have a baby!”

  Karen gasped. “Oh, my gosh. You are going to have a little brother or sister, just like you always wanted! Hey, Nancy. I have great news, too. Maybe you could come over. Do you think someone could drive you to the big house? I will call Hannie now. I will tell her I am sorry. Then she can come over, too.”

  Before I knew it, the Three Musketeers were at the big house. We were very happy to see each other. I told Hannie my news. Then we ran out to Karen’s backyard. We sat in the grass by a flower garden.

  “Together again,” said Karen, looking at Hannie and me.

  “Let’s always be best friends,” said Hannie.

  “Yes,” I agreed. “But let’s say that we do not have to be together every single second. And we can have other friends. But we will be best friends. There will never be any other Three Musketeers.”

  “Deal,” said Hannie and Karen.

  “Hey, Karen, what is your great news?” I asked.

  “Andrew learned how to read,” she answered. “Today he read Hop on Pop all by himself. You want to hear him?”

  Of course we did. So Andrew read to us. To the Three Musketeers who were together again.

  Matthew or Dana

  Ding-dong! rang the doorbell.

  “I get it!” called Sari. She ran down the hallway.

  “No, Sari. You are too little,” I said. I ran after her. Sari and I reached the door at the same time. Sari could not turn the knob. “Anyway, they are my friends. I should get to open the door,” I said.

  Sari pouted. “Meanie-Hannie.”

  “I don’t care if you call me names. Names do not bother me. Go find Mommy. Maybe she will give you a cookie. And Sari, you cannot come to my slumber party. It is only for big girls.”

  “Meanie-Hannie,” said Sari again. She walked away.

  I opened the door. Nancy and Karen were standing outside.

  “Hi, Musketeers!” I said. “Come on in.”

  The Three Musketeers were going to have a sleepover at my house. Our fight was finished. We had been friends again for an entire week.

  “Let’s go to my room,” I said. I helped Nancy and Karen lug their knapsacks and sleeping bags upstairs. They spread them on the floor. I put mine on the floor, too. I could have slept in my bed, of course. But a sleepover is more fun when everyone is crowded onto the floor.

  I closed the door to my room. “Ah, privacy,” I said.

  My friends and I played and played. Nancy and Karen had brought Merry and Terry with them. We decided the Doll Sisters should put on a show, so we made them perform the story of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff.”

  When the play was over, Karen held up a piece of paper. She said, “Look what I found. I found it in a magazine. It is a friendship test. You answer these questions. Then you score yourself. The score tells you if you are good friends or great friends or not-so-good friends or maybe enemies.”

  “Cool!” I said. Karen and Nancy and I each took the test. Our scores were very high. They meant that we were “close, loyal friends for life.” We were sure that was true, even though we had to make up about half the answers. For instance, we do not know a thing about cars, so we just had to guess at the answer to: Your friend asks if she may borrow your car. You say yes. Later, she calls to say that the fan belt broke. What do you do? We did not know what a fan belt was, or why anyone would wear one, or if the car was supposed to wear it, or what. So we just said we would forgive and forget. That seemed friendly.

  We had to stop playing for awhile at dinertime. Mommy and Daddy made us eat with the family. But afterward, we were allowed to take Popsicles back to my room.

  While we slurped away, Karen said, “Nancy? Are you still thinking about what to name the new baby?”

  Nancy nodded. “Yup. Matthew or Dana. Definitely Matthew or Dana.”

  I giggled. “What happened to Biff Bartholomew or April May?”

  “That was last week. I keep changing my mind.”

  “You know what name I like?” said Karen. “Roxanne. Isn’t that beautiful?”

  “I like Jilly,” I said. “Or Tom for a boy.”

  “Jilly,” Nancy repeated. “Jilly Dawes. That is a very nice name. Okay. Matthew or Jilly. Definitely Matthew or Jilly.”

  The door to my room opened then. Sari walked in. She had just barged in without even knocking. “Sari!” I yelled.

  Sari smiled at me. She was wearing her nightgown. She was ready for bed. “Night-night, Hannie,” she said. She blew me a kiss. Then she left.

  I turned to Nancy. “I hope you get a sister just like Sari,” I told her.

  Best Friends

  I was watching Hannie’s chest move up and down, up and down. She sleeps very heavily. Every now and then she would snore a little. Her snore sounded more like a snort, though.

  I rolled over and looked at Nancy. I think maybe she was dreaming. Her hands and her mouth were moving just a little bit.

  I coughed. I wanted my friends to wake up. The sun was shining. It was time to go outside and play. Also, I was hungry. I wanted breakfast.

  Our slumber party was almost over. Soon Nancy and I would leave Hannie’s house. But in three days we were going to have another sleepover. This one would be at the little house.

  Snort! snorted Hannie. She woke herself up.

  I giggled. “Hey, Hannie. You snore!” I whispered.

  Hannie looked horrified. “I do not!”

  “Do too,” said Nancy. (Her eyes were not even open yet.) “Actually, you snort. Like this.” Nancy opened her eyes. Then she began snorting. She did
not stop until Hannie threw a pillow at her.

  We were all laughing. “I am so glad we are friends again,” I said.

  “Me too,” agreed Nancy and Hannie.

  The Three Musketeers crawled out of the sleeping bags. We got dressed. We went downstairs to eat breakfast.

  Sari was in her high chair. “She waited for you,” Hannie’s mother said to us. “She wants to eat with the big girls.”

  Hannie did not get mad. She just smiled.

  We were finishing our breakfast when the phone rang.

  “Hannie, it’s for you!” called Linny. “It’s a … boy!”

  “Probably Timmy Hsu,” she said.

  She was right. Timmy is a very good friend of Hannie’s. He lives down the street.

  Hannie talked to Timmy for a few minutes. Then she said, “I will call you back, okay?” Hannie hung up the phone. She looked at Nancy and me. “Um, Timmy wants me to come over and play. What should I tell him? What are the Three Musketeers going to do today?”

  Nancy’s face reddened. She began to look uncomfortable. “I was going to go back to my house. And then I was going to eat lunch at Dapper Dan’s. With Carly. She invited me again after all.”

  “Melody asked me to go swimming,” I admitted. “I thought it would be okay. I did not know we were going to spend today together, too.”

  “I guess we aren’t!” said Nancy. “Hannie’s going to Timmy’s, you are going to Melody’s, and I am going out to lunch with Carly.”

  “And that is okay, right?” asked Hannie.

  “Fine with me,” I said. “We are still best friends, still the Three Musketeers. And we are going to have another sleepover soon.”

  “Goody,” said Hannie. She called Timmy back to tell him she could play.

  Nancy said, “Lunch is going to be really fun. I did not tell Carly and her big sister about the baby yet. They will be so happy to hear about Bugsy or Sweetpea.” Nancy folded her napkin carefully.

  “Bugsy or Sweetpea?” I yelped.

  Nancy grinned. “Just kidding. But I have changed the names again. I will call the baby either Amber or Brad.”

  “No. If you get a sister, name her Karen, after me!”

  “I think the baby should have a name all her own. Or all his own,” said Nancy.

  “Well, you don’t need to decide right away,” I said. “Today we have too many other things to think about. Come on. Let’s go.”

  The Three Musketeers got ready to spend the day with their other friends.

  Activity Pages

  Hooray! Summer is finally here. That means no school and no homework! But if you are left with nothing to do, never fear — the Three Musketeers are here. And they have plenty of games and projects for you to try. Turn to page 137 for answers to the puzzles if you get stuck.

  Friendship Bracelets

  The Three Musketeers wear friendship bracelets to show they are best friends. Here’s how to make bracelets for you and your friends. Remember: these bracelets are tricky to make. You may not get it right the first time, but keep trying. Best friends are worth the effort! Follow the pictures. They will help you.

  You will need:

  4 pieces of brightly colored embroidery thread — 1 yard each

  Here’s what you do:

  Tie the strings together in a knot about three inches from the top of the thread. This is the top of your bracelet.

  Tape the top of the bracelet to a hard surface to make it easier to weave.

  Pick up string A. Move it over and under string B and up through the loop you have created.

  Tighten the knot by holding string B tight and pulling string A up.

  Drop string B. Pick up string C. Pull string A over and under string C, just as you did with string B, to make a knot.

  Do the same thing using string A and string D. Now string A is on the right.

  That is one row. Keep going, repeating steps 3 through 7, always starting with the string on the left.

  You can stop when the bracelet will fit over your friend’s wrist with a little room to let it slip on and off. Don’t forget to tie a knot at the end of the bracelet when you are finished!

  Books about Friendship

  Karen loves to read. And she especially loves to read about friends. Here are some of her favorite books.

  Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

  Lad, a Dog by Albert Payson Terhune

  Henry and Beezus by Beverly Cleary

  B is for Betsy by Carolyn Heywood

  Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

  Popsicle Stick Boxes

  Need a place to store your secret stuff? Why not store it in your own Popsicle stick box? Here’s how to make a box just like Karen, Hannie, and Nancy made.

  You will need:

  50 Popsicle sticks

  white glue

  Here’s what you do:

  Place two sticks a few inches apart as you see in the picture.

  Put a drop of glue on the ends of each stick.

  Place two more sticks on top of the two with the glue so that they form a square. Be sure to press the ends so the glue will stick.

  Now put a drop of glue on each corner of the square and place two more sticks above the first two that were placed down.

  Repeat step 4, changing the direction of the sticks, and build up until the box is as high as you would like it to be.

  To make a flat lid for your box, lay out a line of Popsicle sticks side by side on the table. Glue them together in a straight line as you see in the picture.

  To make a handle for your lid, cut two Popsicle sticks in half. Glue the halves one on top of the other. Then glue the handle to the lid of your box. Voilà!

  Pet Rocks!

  Mom and Dad say you can’t have a live pet? Well, how about a pet rock? Here’s how to make one that looks like Karen’s pet rat, Emily Junior!

  You will need:

  a gray rock

  a permanent marker

  pink felt

  thin yarn

  white glue

  scissors

  Here’s what you do:

  Draw a mouse or rat face on the rock with the marker.

  Cut small strands of yarn to look like whiskers.

  Glue the whiskers under the nose. (Be sure to put the same number of whiskers on both sides.)

  Cut two triangles from the felt for ears.

  Glue the ears on the rock.

  Cut four small pink ovals for feet from the felt.

  Glue the felt feet to the bottom of the rock.

  Cut a long strand of yarn for the tail.

  Glue the yarn to the back of your rock to make your pet complete. Don’t forget to name your pet rock rat!

  Hannie’s Clothespin People

  Hannie makes dolls out of clothespins and other things she finds around the house. You can make clothespin people, too. It’s easy. All you need are some old fashioned wooden clothespins, glue, some pieces of material, some small household objects, and a lot of imagination. Before you know it, you’ll have a whole town of clothespin people.

  Use a permanent marker to draw a face on your clothespin. Now dress her up! Cut material and wrap it around for a dress. A button makes a smashing hat! Scraps of lace make wonderful scarves. Beads and string can make beautiful necklaces. For a more adventurous clothespin person, use aluminum foil to make a super space age astronaut’s space suit. Aluminum foil can also be rolled up to make antennae for alien clothespin people. Just paint your clothespin green and glue on the antennae. Be creative. There are millions of people to make from clothespins.

  Papier-Mâché Balloon Heads

  If two heads are better than one, why not make a spare? (Remember: making papier-mâché can be messy, so do this outside.)

  You will need:

  a round balloon

  a safety pin

  newspaper

  a bowl

  2 cups of water

  1 cup of flour

  tempera paints

 
paint brushes

  Here’s what you do:

  Tear the newspaper into strips.

  Blow up the balloon.

  Mix the flour and water together in the bowl. Stir until smooth.

  Take a strip of paper, drag it through the flour mixture until soaked, and wrap the strip around the balloon.

  Continue to wet and wrap strips until the balloon is completely covered, except for the knot, with a few layers of paper.

  Set aside to dry. This may take a while!

  When the papier-mâché is dry, use the safety pin to pop the balloon. Pull the balloon out of its shell. You will be left with a hard head.

  Use the paint and brushes to paint a face on your head. You can even glue yarn on the head for hair. Be creative!

  Finger Fun!

  Karen and Andrew love to spend their time making messy finger paintings. Here’s an easy recipe for your own finger paints! Kristy helps Karen make the paints. You should have a grown-up or baby-sitter help you, too.

  You will need:

  3 tablespoons sugar

  ½ cup cornstarch

  2 cups of water

  food coloring

  Here’s what you do:

  Mix the sugar and cornstarch together. Pour in the water and stir until everything is well blended. Cook the mixture on a low heat until it is hot. Do not let it boil. Divide the mixture into four or five portions. Let mixture cool. Add different colors of food coloring to each portion. Now, paint away!

  All that Glitters Glitter Paintings

  These paintings really shine!

  To make glitter paintings, use your regular tempera paint to paint a picture. Before the paint dries, sprinkle glitter wherever you’d like. The paint will glue the glitter to the paper when it dries.

  Terrific Travel Games

  Unfortunately, sometimes summer vacation can mean spending a lot of time in the car. Here are two games that will help pass the time as the miles fly by.