I took the certificate in one hand. I shook Mrs. Moody’s hand with the other. I faced my class and smiled a great big smile.
“Thank you, Mrs. Moody,” I said. Then I made an announcement. “I would like to share my prize with Natalie Springer. The kite fight yesterday was not fair. If the wind had not made my kite hit Natalie’s, maybe Natalie’s kite would have stayed up a long time. Maybe she would have won the contest.”
I did not really believe that Natalie’s kite could have won the contest. But I felt bad for Natalie. She had had a hard week. First she had lost her grandfather. Then we had had our fight. I thought about the fight. She should not have let me take the blame for everything by myself. But I had made a mistake, too. I should have told my mother the truth. That would have been better than giving Natalie the silent treatment.
For the first time in days, Natalie smiled at me. I was glad I had decided to share my prize with her. So were the other kids. They were clapping for me and for Natalie.
“Congratulations, Natalie,” I said.
“Thanks, Karen,” she replied.
We held up the gift certificate together, so everyone could see it.
The Wonderful Kite
My classmates were packing their things and rolling up their kites. Not much was left of Natalie’s kite. But she put a few pieces of it in her bag anyway.
Natalie and I looked at each other. At the exact same moment we both said, “I’m sorry.”
Then I said, “I shouldn’t have stopped talking to you.”
And Natalie said, “I shouldn’t have let you take the blame for everything.”
You know what she said next?
“You should keep the gift certificate, Karen. I did not win it. You did.”
I thought about keeping it, but that was not what I really wanted to do.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I want to split it with you.”
“I am going to tell your mother the truth about the bathtub,” said Natalie.
She was? Maybe Natalie would tell my mother everything.
“Will you tell her it was your idea for us to be kite people, too?” I asked.
“Okay,” agreed Natalie. “I will tell her that, too.”
I was glad Natalie and I had made up. We would never be best friends. But fighting was no fun.
I even missed Natalie a little after she went home on Sunday. On Wednesday afternoon, Natalie called me at the little house to tell me she had used her half of the gift certificate.
“I got a caterpillar kite,” she said. “It’s really pretty.”
I wished I had my new dragon kite. I would have to think of a way to earn the money I needed to buy it. Maybe I could start a pet-washing business. I would start with Midgie. I could charge twenty or thirty dollars a bath. (Just kidding.)
“Hey, Karen?” said Andrew. He was standing outside my room. “It’s a windy day. Could you come fly your fish kite with me?”
“I’m busy, Andrew,” I replied.
“You don’t look busy,” said Andrew.
“I may not look it. But I am. I am thinking,” I explained. Little brothers do not always understand these things.
“But, look, it’s windy,” said Andrew again.
I looked out the window. It really was the perfect day for flying my kite.
“Oh, all right,” I said. “Let’s go.”
I carried the kite. I let Andrew walk behind me carrying the line.
When we were standing in the backyard, I launched my kite. As soon as it was in the air, Andrew started laughing and shouting and jumping up and down.
“I want to fly a kite, too!” he said. “This is so much fun!”
That gave me an idea. I already had a wonderful kite. Mine. My flying fish kite. I really did not need another one. I pulled my fish kite in.
I was going to use my prize to buy a kite for Andrew. Then we could fly our kites together.
“Come on, Andrew,” I said. “Let’s see if Mommy can drive us to Mrs. Moody’s Kite Store.”
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 © 1994 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, 1994
e-ISBN 978-1-338-05704-1
Ann M. Martin, Karen's Kite
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