Karen's Big Move

  “You are the best teacher in the whole wide world,” I said. “I bet there is no teacher in Chicago anywhere as good.”

  “Oh, Karen,” said Ms. Colman, “I do hope you like your teacher there. I bet he or she will be lots of fun and have lots of interesting projects.”

  “What if I do not like my teacher?” I asked. Suddenly my eyes got teary. “What if I miss everyone in Stoneybrook?” I knew Daddy had said I could come back. Even so, moving seemed scary.

  Ms. Colman gave me a gentle hug.

  “It is hard to leave the people you love,” she said. “But you will meet lots of new, interesting people.”

  Hannie and Nancy were standing close by.

  “Don’t worry,” said Hannie. “We will send you E-mail every day.”

  E-mail. That was a good idea. And Seth had said there would be a computer I could use when we got to our new house in Chicago.

  “We will E-mail you twice a day on weekends,” Nancy promised. “We will tell you everything that is going on. It will almost be like you are here.”

  Kristy and Scout were waiting for me at the door.

  “Karen,” called Kristy, “are you ready? Charlie is waiting for us outside in his car.”

  “I guess I am,” I said. It was time for me to go to the big house. I had more good-byes to say there.

  I waved good-bye to Ms. Colman. “See you sometime next fall,” I said.

  More Good-byes

  Charlie drove Kristy and me to the big house. I sat in the back of the car with Scout.

  “I will miss you, girl,” I whispered in her ear.

  When we pulled into the driveway, I saw that Mommy and Andrew had already arrived. Andrew ran toward me.

  “Karen!” he cried. “Seth picked up the trailer for the back of the car. It makes a really cool noise when you jump in it.”

  “Seth is at home packing up the trailer,” Mommy told me.

  Once again I got that funny feeling in my stomach. We were really leaving. And it was time to say good-bye to my big-house family.

  Kristy opened the door and we walked inside. The big house seemed quiet — too quiet. Maybe Nannie was in the pantry, making her chocolates. Maybe Sam and David Michael were still at school.

  “Anybody home?” called Charlie. No one answered. Charlie headed for the kitchen. Kristy and Scout did too. Mommy and Andrew and I stood alone in the center of the living room. Mommy shrugged.

  “I guess we will have to wait until everyone comes home,” she said. She sat down on the couch.

  We did not have to wait long. Suddenly everyone in my big-house family ran into the living room.

  “Surprise!” they called.

  Another surprise! Elizabeth carried in plates of food and set them on the tables. Nannie carried in a plate of chocolates. In the center was the big one shaped like a flower, the chocolate we had made a few days before.

  “Is this the party you were talking about?” I asked. “The one you said you could not remember?”

  “This is the party,” she replied with a wink.

  Just then Hannie and Nancy arrived. More kids from the neighborhood showed up too. Someone handed me a cup of juice. Someone else handed me some chips.

  Kristy set a pile of presents on the coffee table.

  “You have a lot of loot here, Karen and Andrew,” she said. “You better start opening them, or we will be here all night.”

  Everyone gathered around as Andrew and I opened our presents. There were round, squashy packages from Sam and Charlie. Inside were baseball caps.

  “Chicago Cubs caps,” Sam pointed out. “You will not be able to see our games this summer, but maybe you will see a Cubs game.”

  “All right!” said Andrew. He clapped the cap on his head.

  Kristy had picked presents especially for Chicago too. She got Andrew a kite and me a set of wind chimes.

  “Because you are moving to the Windy City,” she said.

  Everyone was so thoughtful. I started to cry. Mommy handed me a napkin to wipe off my glasses.

  Just then Scout jumped up on the table and grabbed a slice of ham in her mouth.

  “Hey!” shouted Kristy. She ran after Scout. Sam and Charlie ran too. Everyone started to laugh. I looked at my big-house family, at Daddy and Elizabeth, at Nannie and Emily Michelle and David Michael. They were all laughing, but I was feeling sad. It was hard to say good-bye.

  Andrew was watching me. He took my hand.

  “You and I can fly the kite,” he said. “We will have fun in Chicago. Really we will.”

  I hoped Andrew was right.

  Good-bye, Stoneybrook!

  The next day, I woke up bright and early. It was Saturday, moving day. I still had something to do before we left, something important.

  I got out my markers and a fresh piece of paper and sat down at my desk. At the top of the paper, I drew a skull and crossbones (the scary picture that is on a pirate flag). At the bottom I wrote, “Keep away. This means you!”

  It was a very good sign. I put tape on the back and stuck it on the drawer of my dresser. That is where I had hidden all my prized possessions. I did not want some strange girl ruining my things.

  After that, I got dressed and looked for Andrew. He was in his room, saying good-bye to his own things.

  “Good-bye, bed,” I heard him say. “Good-bye, lamp. Good-bye, closet.”

  Out the window, I could see Seth in the driveway. He was strapping our bikes to the rack on top of the car. Mommy came into Andrew’s room. She had jobs for us to do.

  “Karen,” she said, “could you please strip all the sheets off the beds? And Andrew, I have packed some snacks for the car. Could you please take them out to Seth?”

  I pulled the sheets off Andrew’s bed. When I went back in my room, I looked at the sign I had hung on my dresser. Hmm. The skull and crossbones looked a little meanie-mo-ish. Maybe the sign was not really a good idea. Maybe it would even make the girl who was staying in my room want to look in the dresser. I took down the sign and crumpled it up. Mommy came in the room with clean sheets.

  “Well,” she said as she stretched the sheets over my mattress, “time to go.”

  “Really?” I gulped.

  “I’m afraid so,” she said. She smoothed the hair off my forehead. “It is going to be a good move, Karen,” she said. “You will see. You are moving with your family. We will all be going together.”

  Mommy took my hand and we joined Seth and Andrew. I started to climb into the car. Just then, Nancy ran out of her house in her pajamas to say good-bye.

  “Oh, Nancy,” I said. I hugged her hard. “We are really moving.”

  “Come back soon,” she said. She was crying. I started to cry too. “And don’t forget,” she said. “Watch out for gangsters.” We laughed and cried at the same time.

  I climbed into the backseat of the car with Andrew. (Rocky and Midgie and Bob and Emily Junior were caged up behind us.) Seth started the engine.

  “Good-bye, Nancy!” I called.

  “Good-bye, little house,” said Andrew. “Good-bye, driveway. Good-bye, trees.”

  I kept my eye on our house as we drove down the street. When Seth turned a corner, I could not see it anymore.

  “Good-bye, Stoneybrook,” I said.

  We were on our way.

  Hello, Chicago!

  It took us a long time to drive to Chicago. Andrew and I played a lot of car games. (My favorite was license plates. I spotted license plates from forty of the fifty states!)

  By the time we reached Chicago, it was Sunday afternoon. We drove past lots of tall buildings. Andrew pointed to the tallest one of all.

  “Is that where we are going to live?” he asked.

  Seth laughed. “No,” he said. “That is the Sears Tower, the tallest building in the city. In fact, it is the tallest in the whole country. The buildings you see here are mostly office buildings. We will live in a different part of the city.”

  Seth drove us to a neighborhood wher
e the buildings were a little smaller. He parked the car on the street.

  “We are going to live here?” I asked. The buildings still looked awfully big to me. They were much bigger than the big house.

  Seth pointed to some windows that were very high. I counted up. The windows were on the fifth floor.

  “That is our apartment,” said Seth.

  “Where is the yard?” asked Andrew.

  “There is no yard,” said Mommy. “When you live in a city, you do not always have a yard.”

  “Then where will I fly my kite?”

  “We can walk to the lake,” said Mommy. “And we will go to the parks.”

  Andrew and I helped Mommy and Seth unload the trailer. We carried the boxes into the lobby of the building. Then we rode the elevator up to our floor. When Seth unlocked the door to our apartment, I peered inside. The living room was very big.

  “Wow!” said Andrew.

  I ran ahead to look at the bedrooms. One bedroom had a lot of toy cars lined up on a shelf, and a bedspread with dinosaurs on it. That would definitely be Andrew’s room. Next to that was a room with a frilly, pink canopy bed. I flopped down on the mattress. I had never slept in a bed with a canopy before.

  Someone had left a note on the pillow.

  “Welcome to Chicago,” it said. “I hope you like staying in my room. Make yourself at home and have fun. Your friend, Jillian.”

  Hmm. Maybe I should have left a note like that in my room. I was glad I had at least torn up the sign with the skull and crossbones on it.

  “Karen!” Mommy called me from the living room. She needed my help moving more boxes.

  The four of us spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking. By dinnertime we were very hungry.

  “There are some restaurants near here,” said Seth. “We could take a break and get a bite to eat. It might be fun to go for a walk in our new neighborhood.”

  The restaurants were on a street with a lot of stores. The people I saw did not look exactly like the people in Stoneybrook. Our waitress had a green streak in her hair. Andrew stared at her while she took our order.

  “Your hair is green,” he said.

  “Is it?” she said. She patted the top of her head. “I always forget. Last week it was blue.”

  “Wow,” said Andrew.

  After dinner, we went into a bookstore. Mommy bought me a map of Chicago. After she had paid for it, we unfolded it.

  “Our house is right here,” she said, pointing to a spot on the map.

  By the time we returned to our apartment, I was very tired. Mommy and Seth stayed up to do some more unpacking. But Andrew and I got ready for bed.

  “Can I hang up my wind chimes before I go to sleep?” I asked.

  “Maybe we should hang them inside your room,” said Seth. “That way, they will not disturb the neighbors. We can open the window so the wind comes in.”

  Finally I was settled in the big canopy bed. Andrew knocked on the wall between our rooms. I knocked back.

  “Good night,” I called out.

  I could hear people walking around in the apartment above ours. From below, I heard music playing loudly on a stereo. A breeze rustled my wind chimes. A siren screamed by. Chicago certainly was a lot noisier than Stoneybrook.

  At last I fell asleep.

  Seeing the Sights

  The next morning when I woke up, I was not sure where I was. The wind chimes tinkled in the breeze. The ruffles fluttered on my canopy. Oh, yes. I was in Chicago, in my new room. I walked to the kitchen. Mommy was fiddling with the buttons on the coffeepot.

  “I wonder how this thing works,” she said.

  Seth came in the front door of the apartment. He was carrying a bag of bagels he had bought at a deli nearby.

  “Breakfast!” he called.

  I took a bagel with lots of things on it.

  “That is called an everything bagel,” said Seth. “It has poppy seeds, sesame seeds, onion, salt, and more.”

  Yum. I hoped we would have bagels every morning.

  That day we still had lots of unpacking left, but Mommy had a good idea.

  “I think we should do some sightseeing,” she said. “We can do a little bit every day. Seth does not have to start work until Friday, and Karen does not have to start school until next Monday.”

  “What about me?” asked Andrew.

  “You will start preschool the week after,” said Mommy.

  “Then I want to go to that tall building today,” said Andrew.

  “I think that can be arranged,” said Seth. “There are a lot of fun places to visit in the Loop.”

  “The Loop?” I asked.

  “That is what they call the area downtown,” said Seth.

  I was glad we were going to go sightseeing. That sounded like fun.

  Seth was right about the Loop. We rode the el train to get there. We had to climb up a tall flight of stairs to reach the track. (Mommy explained that it is called the el train because it is elevated, which means it is very high above the ground.)

  When we got downtown, we went first to a building called the Water Tower. Inside were lots of stores. There was also a waterfall! We rode in glass elevators up to a big department store called Marshall Field’s.

  “Cool,” said Andrew. “This is like a rocket ship!”

  Mommy let me buy a sweater in Marshall Field’s. It had blue and green stripes.

  “Just like our waitress’s hair,” said Andrew.

  After the Water Tower, we took a bus to the Sears Tower. We rode in another elevator to get to the top. It was such a long ride that my ears popped! On the top floor was an observatory. The people on the streets looked like ants, and the cars looked like toy cars. Then Andrew and I took turns looking out a telescope at the city below.

  Before we headed home, we stopped to buy hot dogs at a little store next to the el station.

  “These are called red hots,” said Seth. “Chicago is famous for them.”

  Red hots were very good. Andrew and I each ate two.

  On the ride home I took out the sweater I had bought at Marshall Field’s. Mommy pointed out the window.

  “Oh, look, Karen,” she said. “Can you see that redbrick building over there?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “That is your school.”

  My school? The building did not look like a school to me. It was big — much bigger than Stoneybrook Academy.

  I put the sweater back in the bag and hugged it to me. I could not wait to get back to our apartment. I wanted to E-mail Hannie and Nancy. I wanted to tell them about the big school I would be going to.

  The train rumbled noisily on the track.

  “Here is our stop,” said Seth.

  I followed him out of the train. I wished I could still go to Stoneybrook Academy. Why did everything in Chicago have to be so big?

  Museum Fun

  The rest of the week was a little bit like a vacation. Mommy and Seth and Andrew and I had a lot of work to do around our new house. But we also did a lot more sightseeing. One morning Mommy told us we were going to the museums. Andrew was not sure this was going to be fun.

  “Museums?” he said. “Do they have red hots at the museums?”

  But the museums turned out to be very interesting. First we went to one called the Art Institute of Chicago. Outside the front door were two big stone lions.

  Inside, we saw an Egyptian tomb.

  “Spooky,” said Andrew.

  We walked past a mummy. I grabbed the back of Andrew’s neck and said, “Boo!” Andrew screamed and swatted at my hand.

  “Karen,” he said when he realized it was me. “That was not funny at all.”

  After that we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. That was really cool. We saw a coal mine. (Well, it was not a real mine. It was an exhibit built to look like a mine.) We even got to go down a mine-shaft.

  “Wow,” said Andrew. “It is really dark in here.”

  My favorite exhibit was a fairy-tale cas
tle, with tall turrets and lots of rooms with tiny dollhouse furniture inside. I saw a miniature bearskin rug and a gold grandfather clock that really worked. The castle even had a library with a little dictionary and shelves and shelves of tiny books.

  “Bor-ing,” said Andrew. “Can we have red hots now?”

  “So, what do you think?” Mommy asked as we left. “Do you like Chicago?”

  “It has good museums,” I admitted. I wanted to go back to the apartment. (I still did not like to call it home.) I wanted to E-mail Hannie and Nancy and tell them about the fairy-tale castle. Maybe someday they could visit me in Chicago. Maybe I could show them all the things I had seen.

  As soon as we returned, I checked my E-mail. Letters were waiting for me from both Hannie and Nancy. I read Hannie’s first.

  “Dear Karen,” it said. “Today I saw Kristy. She was outside walking Scout. She is such a pretty dog. And so friendly. She licked my face and got slobber all over my best jacket.”

  Scout licked Hannie’s face? That was not fair. Scout was my dog. At least, she was in my family.

  Suddenly the things I had done in Chicago did not seem very interesting. Suddenly I just wanted to go home.

  Bikes and Balls

  The week sped by. On Thursday morning we took a bike ride along Lake Michigan. The lake was only a short ride from our house. A bike path ran alongside it.

  “Look!” cried Andrew. “Kites!”

  On the beach, people were flying kites in the strong Chicago wind.

  “Karen,” said Andrew, “you and I could come here and fly my new kite.”

  “Maybe,” I said. I did not want to say yes. Actually, I did not want to do anything more in Chicago. I had begun to hope that I could leave. But I did not say anything about this to anyone. I did not know how.

  Andrew and Seth and Mommy pedaled ahead on the path. I pedaled slowly. Mommy fell back to join me.

  “Karen,” she asked, “are you okay? Usually you ride so fast.”