Karen's County Fair

  I gave Tia a funny look. She had never cared about fancy foods or clothes back in Nebraska. I decided Tia had changed.

  Mrs. Stone Is Tired

  Today was Tia’s fourth day at Farm Camp. When we arrived in the morning, we gave Ollie his bottle right away. Then we combed and brushed him.

  “Tia,” I said. “Maybe Mrs. Stone would let us give Ollie a shampoo?”

  “We are going to have to wash him right before the fair,” she answered.

  “Will we use baby shampoo?” I asked.

  Tia laughed. “We need something stronger than that. At home we use Woolrite.”

  “Woolrite?”

  “Yes,” Tia explained. “It’s the same stuff we use to wash wool sweaters.”

  “Oh,” I said. I guess that made sense. “After we wash him, I am going to put bows in his wool.”

  Tia shrugged. “If that’s what you want to do, Karen,” she said. “But people don’t usually put bows on livestock.”

  “I want to,” I insisted.

  “Okay,” Tia answered. “But now we should see if Ollie will let us put a leash around his neck.”

  Ollie would not. Every time we tried, he ran away. First he ran to the vegetable garden. He walked all over the lettuce, and even nibbled some.

  “Karen!” yelled Chris. “Keep Ollie away from the tomatoes. We are growing big ones for the fair.”

  “I am trying to.” I panted. I was out of breath from chasing Ollie. “Ollie, come here.” Ollie kept nibbling the lettuce. Chris lunged forward and caught him.

  The next time Ollie saw his leash, he ran right into the Stones’ farmhouse. Someone had left the kitchen door open by mistake. Luckily, lambs do not eat brownies. But the cooking group was not happy.

  “Karen,” Pamela shrieked. “Get your lamb out of here!” Pamela held a mixing bowl high above her head. She danced around the kitchen. Ollie followed her. Finally, Tia and I caught Ollie and dragged him outside. But not before Pamela gave us a mean look.

  After that, the cooking group would not let us taste anything they made. (I did not care too much. They could keep their salty old brownies.)

  We did not try to halter Ollie again that day. Instead we visited Nancy and her sewing group. They were still cutting up pieces of fabric. Nancy showed us the colors they chose for the quilt — red, green, and white.

  “Don’t you want brown for the bear?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Nancy said. “And a lot of green for the background.”

  As I was leaving camp that day, I bumped into Mrs. Stone.

  “Oh, hello, Karen,” Mrs. Stone said. “I am sorry I did not see you. I am not myself today.”

  “Are you sick?” I asked. Mrs. Stone did not look well. She had dark circles under her eyes. And she kept yawning.

  “No, I just feel very tired. Ollie has woken me up at four in the morning for the past few days. He stands under my bedroom window baahing. He won’t stop until I give him his bottle. I can’t understand it.”

  Uh-oh, I thought to myself. No more extra bottles for Ollie.

  A Bad Day

  It was now Friday afternoon. Camp was over until Monday. That meant we would not see Ollie. Tia and I would not sing songs, play games, work in the garden, or see the other campers (except Hannie and Nancy) for three days. Boo and bullfrogs!

  “I cannot believe Farm Camp is already half over,” I complained to Tia. We were sitting on a bench in Daddy’s garden.

  Tia agreed.

  “I love Farm Camp!” I exclaimed. “What are we going to do until Monday?”

  “Could we go to the mall?” Tia asked. (I had told Tia about all the stores there.)

  I raised my eyebrows. “On this beautiful day?”

  Tia gave me a funny look. She looked disappointed and a little mad at the same time. Then something awful happened. Tia burst into tears.

  I did not know what to do. I had never seen Tia cry before. “What is the matter?” I asked. “Are you homesick?” I touched her shoulder.

  Tia sniffled and shook her head. “No, I am not homesick.”

  “Then what is wrong?” I handed Tia a wrinkled tissue from my pocket.

  “Oh, Karen,” Tia began. She blew her nose again. “It is just that when I came to visit, I was hoping to see things I cannot see at home. I do not mean to be selfish. But I can play outside anytime. And as for Farm Camp. Well, it is fun. But I live on a farm. I have never been to a mall or a city.”

  I nodded. No wonder Tia had been acting strange. She was unhappy. I felt awful. “I am very sorry,” I said. I promised her that the rest of her visit would be different.

  Tia smiled. “Does that mean we can go to the mall?”

  “Of course,” I answered. “I will go find Nannie right now. Maybe she will drive us there.”

  I found Nannie, Daddy, and Kristy in the kitchen. I told them how Tia had been feeling. They understood right away. Best of all, they helped me plan things for us to do.

  Kristy said she would walk us around the mall. (Charlie would drive us there.) She said Hannie and Nancy could come along, too.

  And guess what? Daddy said he would take us to New York City. We would spend a whole Saturday there. I ran to tell Tia. She was so excited that she jumped up and down.

  To the Mall

  We’re off to see the maaalll

  The wonderful, wonderful mall

  The mall, the mall, the mall, the mall

  The wonderful place to be

  I was singing the tune from The Wizard of Oz. But I was making up the words. It was Saturday. Tia, Kristy, Charlie, Hannie, Nancy, and I were in the Junk Bucket. And guess where we were going?

  Washington Mall is far away. Charlie had to drive almost half an hour to get there. But I kept everyone happy with my singing. Tia laughed and laughed at the songs I made up.

  Finally, Charlie turned off the highway. I made sure he drove past the big white marble fountain in front of the mall. I wanted Tia to see it. The fountain shoots a spray of pink water into the air. (Tia was impressed.)

  Soon we were inside the mall. Tia, Hannie, Nancy, and I ran ahead.

  “Girls! Let’s stay together,” Kristy called.

  “Okay,” I said. I made Tia close her eyes. Then I took her arm and led her down the main aisle. “What do you smell?” I asked.

  “Pretzels … donuts … pizza,” Tia answered.

  “Good!” I said. We were passing the food court. Tia opened her eyes and looked at all the stands.

  “Oh, Karen, the food looks so good,” she said.

  My friends and I decided we were hungry.

  First I ate a pretzel. Then I bought a donut with strawberry jelly inside. Yum. Tia bought a slice of pizza. Nancy bought an ice-cream cone. Hannie bought popcorn.

  After we ate our snacks, we stopped at the pet store. We pressed our noses to the window to look at the kittens. Some of the kittens pressed their noses against the glass, too.

  “Look at the one with gray and black stripes,” Tia said.

  “I like the one with the long red fur,” I said.

  “Boo-Boo would not be happy if we brought home another cat,” Charlie reminded us.

  “Oh, I do not want another cat,” I said. “What would Moosie think?”

  After the pet store, we took Tia to the BookCenter. The BookCenter is the greatest bookstore in Stoneybrook, maybe even the whole world.

  Tia, Hannie, Nancy, and I walked down the aisles. We saw rows and rows of picture books. We read some to each other. (The manager lets kids do that.)

  We looked at books about dolls, cats, dogs, trees, dinosaurs, and famous people. I picked up a farm book. Maybe it could tell me how lambs win blue ribbons.

  “Girls,” Kristy called. “There is a puppet show here today. It is about to start.”

  “Let’s go,” Nancy said.

  We found seats near the stage. Actually we sat on brightly colored cushions. Guess what the show was? Cinderella. One of my favorite fairy tales. Tia’s too. We both cri
ed a little during the last scene when Cinderella and the prince were married. They rode away in a beautiful carriage led by four white horse puppets.

  When the show was over, we clapped and clapped.

  “Can we peek in the toy store?” I asked Kristy as we were leaving.

  “No,” said Kristy. “We do not want to be late for dinner.”

  I did not really care. It had been a perfect day. This time, Tia thought so, too.

  Movie Night

  Tia and I had a great week at Farm Camp. I was happy that Tia was acting like her old self. She laughed and told jokes. She also helped me with Ollie. I could now lead Ollie on a rope — most of the time. I spent every morning brushing and petting him. And I told him what a wonderful lamb he was. (Animals need to feel loved.)

  Tia and I were very busy. But not too busy to sing songs, help in the garden, and visit Hannie and Nancy.

  Hannie’s group spent a lot of time watering their tomato plants. They were also growing zucchini and eggplants. But the tomatoes looked the best.

  Nancy’s group was busy sewing their squares of fabric together to make bigger squares. Soon they would be ready to sew all the squares onto the backing — the bottom layer of the quilt.

  I did not visit the cooking group too much. They had never forgotten the time Ollie ran into the kitchen.

  Mrs. Stone kept asking how I was doing with Ollie. “Oh, fine,” I always answered.

  After camp, we did what Tia wanted to do. That meant we stayed inside and watched TV or videos.

  On Wednesday we had Movie Night. We made popcorn and lemonade. We invited Hannie, Nancy, and my big-house family into the TV room. Then Tia and I served the snacks. “The popcorn and lemonade are on the house,” I announced.

  “That means we do not have to pay for them,” said Andrew.

  “I know what it means, Andrew,” David Michael replied.

  “Quiet, please,” I said. “The show is about to begin.” We watched Little Women and everyone loved it, except Emily. She fell asleep. Tia loved the New York scenes.

  “That movie took place about one hundred years ago. New York does not have low buildings like that any more,” I said.

  “Some neighborhoods in New York do,” Daddy reminded me.

  “Yes. But a lot of the buildings are tall,” I said.

  “As tall as the Empire State Building?” asked Tia.

  “Well, no, mostly shorter,” said Daddy.

  That gave me an idea. “Daddy, can we go to the Empire State Building?” I asked.

  “Would you like that, Tia?” Daddy said.

  “Sure!”

  “Okay, we will go,” Daddy said. “Right to the top.”

  “Yippee!” I shouted.

  * * *

  On Friday after camp, Tia and I went to the library. We checked out some books on New York City. I showed Tia pictures of the tall buildings, the huge parks, and the gigantic department store called Macy’s. “It is the world’s largest store,” I said.

  “Everything in New York looks big,” Tia said.

  “It is,” I agreed.

  New York, New York

  Our trip to New York began Saturday right after breakfast. Tia and I drove to the train station with Daddy. We parked the car, then stood on the platform waiting for the train to arrive.

  “Toot! Toot!”

  “The train is coming!” I shouted. I was very excited. I love trains.

  We climbed on the train and found three seats together. Tia and I talked all the way to New York.

  As the train approached the city, it went underground. We could see only darkness outside the window. Soon the train stopped with a big screech. “We’re here!” I shouted.

  We walked into Grand Central Station. Tia said it was the most crowded place she had ever seen. We all held hands. We did not want to get lost.

  Out on the street, we saw many yellow cabs. Most of them were honking. Daddy hailed one. We piled into it. “The Empire State Building, please,” he said.

  The cab took us down Fifth Avenue. Daddy pointed out the New York Public Library. “Look at the giant lions in front,” I told Tia.

  Tia turned and stared at the two lion statues. “I thought you meant real lions,” she said, laughing.

  From the street, it is hard to tell how tall the Empire State Building really is. But from the top, it is easy. Daddy pointed out other tall buildings. “There is the United Nations, the Met Life Building, and the Chrysler Building,” he said. “And there’s the World Trade Center.”

  “The World Trade Center is taller than the Empire State Building,” I told Tia.

  I could have stayed on top of the Empire State Building forever. But it was getting pretty windy.

  “Is anyone hungry?” Daddy asked. We were. When we were back on the sidewalk, we all bought hot dogs at a stand. They were delicious.

  “Next stop, Central Park,” Daddy said.

  Central Park was full of people, pigeons, and trees. We followed signs to the Central Park Zoo.

  Tia loved the zoo. We spent a long time watching the polar bears swim and somersault in their huge pool. Then we went into a building with a jungle inside. We saw parrots and other tropical birds.

  “These birds have the brightest feathers,” Tia said.

  “I do not think I want to live in the jungle,” I said. “It is too hot and humid.”

  It was not much cooler outside. But at least the seals looked cool. We watched them splash in their fountain and catch food in mid-air.

  “I wish I could eat that way,” I said.

  Daddy and Tia laughed.

  We left the zoo and walked past a pond filled with toy sailboats. “Look over there,” said Daddy.

  Tia gasped. In front of us was a huge bronze statue of Alice in Wonderland. She sat on a mushroom throne. Tia climbed on Alice’s head. I sat on her lap.

  After awhile Daddy looked at his watch.

  Uh-oh. I knew what that meant. We had to catch our train.

  At the station, we bought bagels and cream cheese to eat. (Daddy said that was real New York food.)

  “Why do bagels have holes in the middle?” Tia asked. I giggled.

  We bit into our bagels as the train pulled out of the station. “Delicious,” I said.

  Tia nodded. “I love New York,” she added.

  County Fair

  Today is the last day of Farm Camp. Boo. But we were going to spend all day at the county fair. Yea!

  The cooking group finished baking their brownies yesterday. They were decorating them to look like hamburgers. (That was Bobby’s idea.) They put gobs of chocolate frosting and almonds on the top and bottom of each brownie.

  “Now they look like they are in sesame seed buns,” Bobby said proudly. (I did not think they looked very good.)

  The produce group had their tomatoes and zucchini all ready. Their tomatoes looked very red and round. The zucchini were a little on the small side. So small that Charlotte did not want to enter them in the contest. But Chris insisted.

  “Well, all right,” Charlotte finally agreed. She did not sound too happy. Charlotte is one of those people who always likes to do her best.

  “Karen, Tia!” Nancy called. “Come see our baby quilt.”

  Tia and I followed Nancy into the sewing room. The quilt looked beautiful, even if it did not have a lamb on it. In the middle was a bear sitting on the grass. (The green squares were the grass.) He was eating a pot of honey.

  “It looks really great,” I said. In fact, the quilt looked so good, I was even a teensy bit jealous.

  “Come see Ollie,” I said to Nancy. Tia and I had shampooed Ollie the day before. We had cleaned his hooves and brushed him. I had even fluffed up his wool and tied blue ribbons in it.

  Nancy, Hannie, and the other campers thought he looked cute. Tia did not.

  “No other lambs in the contest will be wearing bows,” she said.

  Why not? I wondered.

  “Children, are you ready to leave?” Mrs.
Stone called.

  “Yes!” we yelled.

  Kristy, Hannie, Nancy, Tia, and I hopped in the back of Mrs. Stone’s van with Ollie. Ricky’s mother drove the other campers and Mallory in her van.

  It took half an hour to drive to Greenvale.

  “Look!” I shouted. “A Ferris wheel. We must be here!”

  We drove to the fairgrounds. Balloons were tied to the front gates.

  “Karen, make sure to keep Ollie on his leash,” Mrs. Stone said as we piled out of the cars.

  “I will,” I answered.

  Inside the fairgrounds, we saw big tents with white and yellow stripes. There were little kids carrying balloons and grown-ups in straw hats. We smelled hot dogs, cotton candy, popcorn, and French fries.

  “I’m hungry,” said Bobby.

  “I want to go on the rides,” said Ricky.

  “Oh, look, there’s a merry-go-round,” said Hannie.

  “And a little train,” Chris added, pointing.

  “And a sign for llama rides,” I exclaimed. This fair was gigundoly cool.

  A Royal Princess

  “First you have to register for the contests,” said Mrs. Stone. “After that, you may explore the fair.”

  Mrs. Stone asked Tia and me to wait for her. She was helping the other kids first. Boo.

  “Why don’t you take Ollie and look at the other animals while you wait?” Mrs. Stone suggested. “I will meet you in front of the sheep arena in half an hour.” Kristy showed us where the animal arenas were.

  First, Tia, Ollie, and I looked at the pigs. We saw pink pigs and brown pigs, little pigs and big pigs, clean pigs and muddy pigs.

  “Pigs roll in the mud to keep cool,” Tia explained. “They will have to be washed before they enter the contest.”

  Next we walked to the cattle arena. The cattle were in stalls. Some ate hay. Some slept. Some flicked flies away with their tails. None of them noticed us. They did not notice Ollie either. Not even when he butted one of them. Tia and I had to drag Ollie away.

  “It is time to meet Mrs. Stone and the rest of the kids,” said Kristy.