Karen's Roller Skates

  This book is in

  loving memory of my grandmother

  Adele Read Martin

  August 2, 1894 – April 18, 1988

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1 Daredevil

  2 Saturday Morning

  3 Oops!

  4 Broken Wrist

  5 Emergency!

  6 The Bone Doctor

  7 Tea and TV

  8 Back to the Hospital

  9 Waiting

  10 The Bone Doctor Again

  11 Ricky’s Cast

  12 Karen’s Cast

  13 Karen’s Story Grows

  14 Karen’s Story Grows Some More

  15 Mr. Tastee

  16 Eek! Morbidda Destiny!

  17 Lucky Charms

  18 The Witch’s Autograph

  19 Home Safely

  20 Good-byes and Hellos

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  Daredevil

  “Look out! Look out! Coming through!” I shouted.

  I was on my new roller skates. I was skating fast.

  My little brother Andrew and my friend Nancy Dawes were on the sidewalk. They were not on roller skates. It was easier for them to jump out of my way than for me to stop.

  I am Karen Brewer. I am almost seven. I am a world champion skater. Well, maybe not a world champion skater. Well, maybe not a champion at all. But I am good. Very good.

  I got my skates a few weeks ago. I just knew I would like skating. Here are the things I can do:

  Skate forward

  Skate forward fast

  Skate backward (not so fast)

  Turn around

  Stop without falling down

  Try any trick I see

  Actually I am not really allowed to do number six. I can do some tricks I see, but my parents don’t like me to try every one. Daddy says, “You are a daredevil, Karen. Be careful when you’re skating. We don’t want any broken bones.”

  Maybe I am a daredevil. I like to try tricks. I like to try jumping and spinning. I like to leap over things. I like to fly over humps in the sidewalk.

  This is what I wear when I skate: shorts with a stripe up each leg; red-and-white-striped socks; a red-and-white jersey; a red headband; wrist guards; knee pads; and of course, my skates.

  My skates are so, so cool. They are red. They are the lace-up kind. The wheels are yellow. (Nancy says they won’t be yellow for long.)

  I love my skates.

  “Coming through!” I yelled again.

  Nancy and Andrew jumped away. We have had a couple of small accidents. Maybe that’s why Daddy calls me a daredevil. Maybe that’s why he warns me to be careful.

  I try to remember to be careful, but sometimes I forget. It is fun to go fast. It is fun to jump. When I go fast, I feel like I’m flying. When I do a trick, I feel breathless and happy.

  “Karen! Andrew! Time to come in!” That was our mother.

  “Nancy! Time for you to come in, too.”

  That was Mrs. Dawes. Nancy lives next door to Mommy’s house.

  It was a Thursday afternoon. Mrs. Dawes wanted Nancy to come in because it was time for dinner. Mommy wanted Andrew and me to come in because it was time to go to Daddy’s.

  My mommy and daddy are divorced. Andrew and I live at our daddy’s every other weekend and for two weeks in the summer. The rest of the time we live at our mommy’s. Usually we go to Daddy’s on Friday afternoon. But that weekend we were going a day early. Mommy and Seth were taking a vacation. (Seth is our stepfather.) They would be away for three days. They were going to the state of Maine.

  “ ’Bye, Nancy,” I said. “See you in school tomorrow.”

  “ ’Bye, Karen. ’Bye, Andrew,” Nancy replied.

  I skated up my driveway as fast as I could go. Andrew ran behind me. We were sorry we weren’t going to the state of Maine. But going to Daddy’s was almost as good. I would bring my skates with me.

  I was looking forward to a weekend of roller-skating.

  There was a new trick I wanted to try.

  Saturday Morning

  Stretch, stretch, stretch.

  Yawn.

  Sometimes it is hard to wake up. But not on a Saturday morning. On a Saturday morning you can roll around in bed. You can scrunch up the pillow. You can kiss your stuffed animals. But you do not have to get up unless you want to.

  I lay in my bed. I was sooooo happy it was Saturday. I kicked the covers back. Then I looked around for Moosie, my stuffed cat, and Tickly, my blanket. I found them on the floor.

  “Sorry, Moosie. Sorry, Tickly,” I said. I picked them up and hugged them.

  I don’t get to see Moosie very often. See, I have two of almost everything, one for Daddy’s house, one for Mommy’s house. That way, when Andrew and I go to Daddy’s, we hardly have to bring anything with us. Since Moosie stays at Daddy’s, I only see him every other weekend. Andrew and I have clothes and toys and books at Daddy’s, too. We have other clothes and toys and books at Mommy’s. (Actually, for a long time, I had only one Tickly. But I forgot Tickly so many times going back and forth between Mommy’s and Daddy’s, that finally I just ripped him in half. Now I have half of Tickly at the big house and half of Tickly at the little house.)

  The big house is Daddy’s. It really is a big house. And lots of people live in it. There’s Daddy and my stepmother, Elizabeth. There are Elizabeth’s four kids. Sam and Charlie are very old. They are in high school. Kristy is younger. She’s thirteen. She baby-sits. I just love Kristy. I’m glad she’s my big sister. David Michael is almost my age. He’s seven. As soon as I have my birthday, I’ll catch up to him.

  Guess who else lives in the big house? Shannon and Boo-Boo. Shannon is David Michael’s puppy. Well, she’s really everybody’s puppy, but mostly she’s David Michael’s. Boo-Boo is Daddy’s old fat cat. I don’t like him much. He does not do a thing except eat, sleep, meow, and claw the furniture.

  Do you want to hear something spooky? Next door to the big house lives a witch. Really! Cross my heart. Most people think she is just an old woman named Mrs. Porter. But I know she is a witch. Her witch name is Morbidda Destiny. She has a weird cat named Midnight. She grows magic herbs in a garden in her backyard. And several times I have seen her with a broom.

  My big-house best friend is Hannie Papadakis. She lives across the street and one house down. Hannie and Nancy Dawes and I are in the same class in school. (Since we go to private school and David Michael goes to public school, I only see him every other weekend. He can be a pain, so I don’t mind this too much.)

  The little house is Mommy’s. It really is a little house, and the only people who live there are Mommy and Seth and Andrew and me. Plus, Seth has a dog named Midgie and a cat named Rocky.

  Nancy Dawes is my little-house best friend.

  I like all the people at both houses, and most of the animals. So does Andrew. But sometimes we wish that our parents were not divorced and that we lived in just one house.

  “Then I could see you every day,” I said to Moosie.

  At last I got up. I put my skating outfit on. I ran downstairs to eat breakfast. It was a beautiful day. I wanted to try my new roller-skating trick.

  Oops!

  As soon as breakfast was over, I put on my skates. I do not have two pairs of skates. I do not have two skating outfits. So I have to remember to bring my skates and skating clothes with me when I go to Mommy’s or to Daddy’s.

  It is a pain in the neck.

  I am not allowed to wear my roller skates indoors. That is a rule at the big house. It is also a rule at the little house.

  I carried my skates outdoors and sat down on the steps in front of the
house. I put one foot in one skate.

  “Karen!” called Elizabeth.

  “Yes?” I answered. “I’m out front.”

  Elizabeth came to the door. She was holding Shannon’s leash. “Honey, would you take Shannon for a walk, please?”

  I did not know what to do. I was getting ready to go skating. But I wanted to walk Shannon, too. Then I got an idea.

  “Sure!” I replied.

  Elizabeth handed me the leash. I took off my skate and came back inside.

  “Thanks, Karen,” said Elizabeth.

  “You’re welcome…. Hey, Andrew!” I called.

  Andrew came running.

  “Want to help me walk Shannon?” I asked him. “I’ve got a great idea. I know how we can walk Shannon, and I can roller-skate, and you can ride your trike.”

  “How?” asked Andrew.

  “Like this.” I fastened Shannon’s leash to her collar. Then I gave the leash to my brother. “You can ride your trike and let Shannon run beside you,” I told him. “I’ll skate ahead of you so Shannon doesn’t get tangled up with me. Okay?”

  “Okay,” said Andrew.

  We got Andrew’s big-house trike out of the garage. He sat on it and I gave him Shannon’s leash.

  Then I sat on the sidewalk and put my skates on. I remembered that I had left my wrist guards in the house. Oh, well, I thought. I don’t really need them.

  “Ready, set, go!” I cried.

  I charged down the sidewalk. Andrew was behind me. He traveled more slowly. Shannon ran next to him. Andrew was careful that Shannon stayed away from the wheels of his trike.

  ZOOM! I whizzed along until I could coast. I saw a hump in the sidewalk ahead of me. Goody! I sailed over it. Maybe someday I will be a skier and go flying through the air off ski jumps.

  When I reached the driveway of the house next door, I skidded to a halt. Andrew stopped behind me.

  “Woof!” said Shannon.

  Andrew and I turned around. I skated back to our driveway. Suddenly I remembered the trick I wanted to try.

  “Hey, Andrew!” I said. “Want to see a really cool trick?”

  “Sure!” replied Andrew. He loves tricks. Magic tricks, skating tricks, diving tricks, any kind of tricks. Even April Fools’ Day tricks.

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”

  I skated into our garage. On a shelf I found two empty coffee cans. Perfect. I skated back to the sidewalk and set the cans down next to each other.

  “I,” I announced to Andrew, “am going to leap over these cans. I saw a woman on TV do it. She leaped over six. But I will try just two.”

  “Oh, Karen,” said Andrew. “Do you think you should?” He had stopped his trike and was sitting still. He looked very worried.

  I felt sort of nervous myself. But I just had to try the trick. I backed away from the cans. Then I skated forward as fast as I could. When I got near the cans, I jumped up, soared over them, and landed on my feet. I could hardly believe it.

  “I did it!” I shouted.

  “Hurray!” yelled Andrew.

  I turned around to grin at him. That was when I lost my balance. My feet shot out from under me. I put my hands out as I fell. I landed on them hard.

  “Ow, ow, ow!” I cried. “Andrew, I’m hurt!”

  Broken Wrist

  My bottom hurt where I’d sat down on it. But my right wrist hurt more. I looked at it.

  I screamed.

  My wrist was bent back at a funny angle. I couldn’t wiggle my fingers. When I tried to move my wrist, it hurt so much I gasped.

  “Andrew, my wrist is broken!” I cried.

  Andrew jumped off his trike. He and Shannon ran to me. When he saw my wrist, he began to cry. “Oh, Karen!” he said.

  “Get Daddy,” I whispered to him.

  Andrew left Shannon with me to keep me company. Then he ran into the house. I had never seen him run so fast.

  I sat on the sidewalk and tried not to look at my wrist. I could not help crying, though. Shannon put her paws on my shoulder and licked my tears away.

  “Thank you, Shannon,” I said in a wavery voice.

  “Karen!” Daddy called. He and Kristy came running out of the house. Daddy reached me first. He took one look at my wrist. Then he gathered me into his arms very gently.

  “Does this hurt? Does this hurt?” he asked as he picked me up.

  “Just don’t shake me around, okay?” I replied.

  Daddy walked carefully back into the house. Kristy held onto my left hand, the one that wasn’t hurt.

  “I should have worn my wrist guards,” I said. I sniffled loudly.

  “Don’t worry about that now,” said Daddy.

  Elizabeth met us at the front door. She held it open and Daddy carried me inside. He laid me on the couch in the living room.

  “It’s broken,” I said. “My wrist is broken.”

  Elizabeth looked pale. “Yes, you’re right, honey. I’ll go call Doctor Dellenkamp.”

  While Elizabeth called the doctor, Daddy and Kristy and Andrew sat with me on the couch. Kristy was still holding my hand. She made me smile by singing a song about a baby bumblebee.

  Soon Elizabeth came back.

  “Karen, honey,” she said, “Doctor Dellenkamp wants you to go to the hospital. She’ll meet us in the emergency room. Kristy, you stay here with Andrew and David Michael. Sam and Charlie are out.”

  “No,” said Kristy firmly. “I’m going to the hospital with Karen.”

  Kristy and her mother looked at each other for a long time.

  At last Elizabeth said, “Okay. You go. I’ll stay here.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” said Kristy. She gave Elizabeth a kiss.

  I like Elizabeth, but I was glad Kristy was coming to the hospital with us. She is the best, best big sister ever.

  Daddy carried me out to Elizabeth’s station wagon. “We’ll take this car,” he said. “You can lie down in the back.”

  “And I’ll sit with you,” Kristy added.

  Elizabeth covered me with a blanket. “I’ll see you soon, sweetie,” she said. “I know everything will be all right. And don’t try to be brave. Scream and yell and give Doctor Dellenkamp a hard time if you feel like it.”

  I managed to giggle. “Okay,” I said. Sometimes Elizabeth is funny.

  Daddy pulled out of the driveway. He pulled out so fast that the tires squealed. Then he raced through Stoneybrook to the hospital.

  “There’s the emergency entrance!” Kristy called.

  Daddy zoomed in. I began to feel scared. My wrist hurt. And I’d never been in a hospital before.

  Emergency!

  Daddy parked the station wagon. He parked it near the wide double doors that were under the EMERGENCY sign. Then he carried me through the doors and down a hallway. Kristy walked with us.

  “Did I ever tell you about the time I broke my ankle?” she asked.

  I nodded. I was beginning to cry again. I did not like the way the hospital smelled. It smelled like medicine. Yucky, bad medicine.

  Before Kristy could tell the story again, we came to a desk. A lady was sitting behind it. “Oh, my goodness,” she said when she saw my wrist.

  “Is Doctor Dellenkamp here yet?” asked Daddy. “I’m Watson Brewer and this is my daughter Karen. Doctor Dellenkamp said she would meet us at the hospital.”

  “Here I am!”

  I heard Dr. Dellenkamp’s voice in the hall behind us. Usually I do not like to hear her voice. This is because her voice is usually saying, “Okay, Karen, time for a shot.” But just then I was glad to hear it. Dr. Dellenkamp was going to make my wrist better.

  That’s what I thought. But the first thing she said was, “Karen, I won’t be setting your wrist. We’ll have to wait for the bone doctor. Fixing bones is his specialty. That’s what he does best. He should be here soon. While we’re waiting for him, you can go to the X-ray room. We need some pictures of your wrist bones. And Mr. Brewer, I need you to fill out some forms.”

 
; A nurse rolled a wheelchair over to us. “Here is your chariot,” she said to me. “And I am your chariot driver. I will take you to X ray.”

  “All by myself?” I said. I wasn’t sure what X ray was, and I didn’t want to go there. “Do I have to go?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Dr. Dellenkamp told me. “Kristy can go with you. How would that be?”

  Kristy looked at me. “Okay?” she said. “Your daddy has to fill out forms. Besides, I want to watch. I love hospital stuff.”

  I thought Kristy was crazy. But if she would come with me, I would go to X ray. “Okay,” I said.

  Daddy put me in the wheelchair.

  “Off we go,” said the nurse. “When we’re finished, I’ll bring you back to your dad.”

  The nurse pushed me down a hallway. I had never sat in a wheelchair. Everyone in the hall looked at me. I began to feel sort of important. The nurse pushed me into a little room with a lot of machines in it. A man wearing a white jacket and white pants was in the room. He looked like a doctor — and not like a doctor. There was no stethoscope around his neck.

  “Hi, there,” he said. “I am Tom. I am the X-ray technician. I am going to take pictures of the inside of your wrist — of your wrist bones.”

  “Yuck,” I said.

  Tom rested my arm on a table. He covered me with a bib that felt very heavy.

  “What’s this for?” I asked.

  “It’s to protect you from the X rays. We only want them near your wrist. Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”

  Then he moved one of those machines right up to my wrist. Click went the machine.

  “The biggest camera in the world,” said Kristy, who was standing in the doorway, watching.

  I giggled.

  Tom started moving my arm around and taking more pictures. Click, click, click. Sometimes it hurt to move my arm, so Tom tried to be very careful. And I tried not to cry. Tom was nice.

  “All finished,” Tom said soon. He took off the bib.

  “Now what?” I asked.

  “Your chariot will take you back to your father,” said the nurse.

  “Good-bye, Karen!” called Tom. “Feel better.”