Karen's Magician

  The author gratefully acknowledges

  Stephanie Calmenson

  for her help

  with this book.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1 Big House Saturday

  2 Two Interesting Families

  3 Mr. Wizard

  4 The Vanishing Penny

  5 Ms. Colman’s Announcement

  6 Andrew’s Worry

  7 Election Rules

  8 Morbidda Destiny

  9 Real Magic

  10 The Fight

  11 No Fair

  12 Election Day

  13 More Worries

  14 Vote 4 Karen

  15 The Winner Is …

  16 The Meeting

  17 The Rehearsal

  18 The Plan

  19 Fun Night

  20 Andrew’s Secret

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  Big House Saturday

  “One, two, three, jump!” I called.

  It was the first Saturday in November. I was playing with my little brother, Andrew. (He is four going on five.)

  I jumped into a pile of bright crunchy leaves. I sank down to the bottom. When I climbed out again, I was covered with leaves from head to toe.

  “I am the crunchy leaf monster!” I said. “I am coming to get you.”

  I flapped my arms and chased Andrew around the yard. Soon all the leaves flew off. I was not a crunchy leaf monster anymore. I was just me — Karen Brewer.

  Here are some things you might like to know about me. I am seven years old. I have blonde hair, blue eyes, and a bunch of freckles. I wear glasses, too. I have a blue pair for reading. I have a pink pair for the rest of the time.

  “Karen! Andrew! Lunch is ready,” called my big stepsister, Kristy.

  “We are on our way,” I replied.

  Saturday lunch at the big house is one of my favorite meals. All the leftovers from the week go out on the kitchen table. Then everyone lines up with a plate and takes whatever they want. I was going to take a little of everything. Being a leaf monster was hard work. I was hungry.

  Andrew and I lived at our little house in October. This was our first big-house weekend in a month. (I will tell you more about our two houses later.) We had a lot of catching up to do.

  “Shannon hurt her paw and had to go to the veterinarian last week,” said David Michael.

  David Michael is my stepbrother. He is seven, like me. Shannon is his big, goofy puppy.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “He stepped on a nail in the yard. He had to get a shot and wear a bandage for three whole days. But he is all better now.”

  “I am glad,” I said.

  “Elizabeth and I are going to the supermarket in a little while,” said Daddy. (Elizabeth is my stepmother.) “Whoever is going to be home for supper gets to vote on dessert.”

  “All those who want chocolate ice cream, raise your hand,” said Elizabeth.

  I raised my hand.

  “All those who want vanilla ice cream, raise your hand,” said Elizabeth.

  I raised my hand again. That is because I like both flavors.

  “You only get one vote, Karen,” said Daddy.

  I picked chocolate.

  “The vote is split down the middle,” said Elizabeth. “We will get chocolate and vanilla.”

  Hurray!

  We vote all the time at the big house. That is because there are so many of us. There are ten people, counting Andrew and me. So it is important to be organized.

  That is just one interesting thing about the big house. There are interesting things about the little house, too.

  So I will tell you all about my two houses.

  Two Interesting Families

  I used to live in one house. That was when I was little. Andrew and I lived with Mommy and Daddy at the big house in Stoneybrook, Connecticut. (Daddy grew up in the big house.)

  But Mommy and Daddy started fighting a lot. It was awful. Mommy and Daddy thought so, too. So even though they love Andrew and me very much, they decided to get a divorce from each other.

  Mommy moved with Andrew and me to our little house. Then she met a nice man named Seth. Mommy and Seth got married. Now Seth is our stepfather. Every other month Andrew and I live at the little house with Mommy, Seth, Rocky (Seth’s cat), Midgie (Seth’s dog), Emily Junior (my pet rat), and Bob (Andrew’s hermit crab).

  After the divorce, Daddy stayed at the big house. He met somebody new, too. Her name is Elizabeth. She and Daddy got married. That is how Elizabeth got to be our stepmother. She had four children from her first marriage. They are Kristy (she is thirteen and the best stepsister ever); David Michael (I already told you he is seven like me); and Sam and Charlie (they are so old they are in high school).

  The next thing that happened was that Daddy and Elizabeth adopted Emily Michelle. She came from a faraway country called Vietnam. She is my adopted stepsister. She is two and a half and I love her very much. That is why I named my pet rat after her.

  Nannie is Elizabeth’s mother. She came to live with us to help take care of Emily Michelle. Nannie is my stepgrandmother. I love her a lot.

  I guess that is all. No, wait. I forgot to tell you about the pets at the big house. I told you about Shannon, David Michael’s puppy. And Emily Junior and Bob live at the big house when Andrew and I are there. But there are also Boo-Boo (Daddy’s cranky old tiger cat), Crystal Light the Second (my goldfish), and Goldfishie (Andrew’s you-know-what).

  So now you know how Andrew and I got to have two houses and two families. We have two of lots of other things also. I have two bicycles (one at each house), and Andrew has two tricycles. We have two sets of toys and books. We have two sets of clothes and shoes. I have two pieces of Tickly, my special blanket. I have two stuffed cats. (Moosie lives at the big house. Goosie lives at the little house.) I even have two best friends. Hannie Papadakis lives across the street and one house down from Daddy’s house. Nancy Dawes lives next door to Mommy’s house. We are in the same second-grade class at Stoneybrook Academy. We call ourselves the Three Musketeers.

  Andrew and I are lucky we can have two of so many things. It makes going back and forth much easier. It is also the reason we get to have special names. The special names I gave us are Karen Two-Two and Andrew Two-Two. (I got the idea for those names from a book my teacher, Ms. Colman, read to our class. The book was called Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.)

  Now you know all about my two families. I told you they were interesting, didn’t I?

  Mr. Wizard

  I woke up in my room at the big house. I got out of bed and looked at the calendar on my wall. It was the second Saturday of November.

  “Yippee!” I said to Moosie. “Today is the day of the magic show.”

  Daddy was taking Andrew, David Michael, and me to Stamford, Connecticut, to see an exciting show. There were big advertisements in all the newspapers in town. They said:

  PRESTO! CHANGE-O!

  MR. WIZARD WILL AMAZE YOU WITH HIS MOST EXCITING MAGIC SHOW EVER!

  I got dressed fast and went downstairs. Andrew was already in the kitchen. He had his magic trick set on the table. Andrew just loves magic.

  He waved his wand across his bowl of cereal.

  “Watch me make this cereal disappear,” said Andrew.

  He put his spoon in the bowl and started eating. Soon it was all gone.

  “See? Magic,” said Andrew. He had a big grin on his face.

  We left to go to the show right after breakfast. It was at the Stamford Theater.

  “I wonder if he is going to pull a rabbit out of his hat,” said David Michael when we got there.

  “I bet he will,
” said Andrew. “I bet Mr. Wizard can do anything.”

  The lights in the theater dimmed. The curtain opened slowly. Puffs of orange and yellow smoke swirled around the stage. Out of the smoke, a man appeared. He was wearing a black cape and black magician’s hat.

  “Welcome, girls and boys, ladies and gentlemen. I am Mr. Wizard,” he said.

  Mr. Wizard tipped his hat. A white dove flew out. It settled on Mr. Wizard’s arm.

  Mr. Wizard waved a handkerchief in front of the dove. When he pulled the handkerchief away, the dove was blue. Then he waved his magic wand. The dove disappeared.

  “Wow!” said Andrew.

  Suddenly a table rose up from the center of the stage. On the table was a tank filled with water.

  “I will need to borrow a few things from the audience,” said Mr. Wizard. “When I point to you, please bring up a pen, a ring, or a penny if you have one. You will get it back at the end of the show.”

  I sat up tall. I wanted Mr. Wizard to point to me. I was wearing the ring that came in my cereal box last week. It would be perfect for a magic trick.

  Mr. Wizard was looking in our direction. Goody. He was pointing. I was about to stand up.

  Then Mr. Wizard said, “Young man in the green shirt. Have you a penny for me?”

  Mr. Wizard was not pointing to me. He was pointing to Andrew. Andrew jumped up and waved a penny in the air. He started to walk up to the stage.

  “Andrew, wait,” I whispered. “Isn’t that your special souvenir penny? Isn’t it the one that got flattened by the railroad train?”

  “Don’t worry,” said Andrew. “Mr. Wizard promised to give it back.”

  Andrew was beaming as he walked onto the stage. Mr. Wizard called two more people from the audience.

  “Please drop your objects into the tank,” said Mr. Wizard. “Then watch what happens.”

  Right before our eyes, the objects disappeared. But that was not all. They turned into goldfish!

  “Did you see that? It was amazing!” said Andrew when he got back to his seat.

  Andrew was right. Mr. Wizard’s magic was truly amazing.

  The Vanishing Penny

  “Bravo!” “Hurray!” “Yippee!”

  The audience clapped and cheered for Mr. Wizard when the show ended.

  “Who wants to go to the Rosebud Cafe for lunch?” asked Daddy.

  “I do!” I replied.

  “Me, too,” said David Michael.

  “Can we get my penny back first?” asked Andrew.

  I had forgotten all about Andrew’s souvenir penny. Mr. Wizard said he would give it back. But where was Mr. Wizard?

  “Let’s go backstage,” said Daddy. “We should be able to find Mr. Wizard there. He must have just forgotten to return it to you, Andrew.”

  We went up some stairs, then down a long hallway. A lady was standing outside Mr. Wizard’s dressing room.

  “We would like to see Mr. Wizard,” said Daddy. “We would like to get my son’s penny. It is a special souvenir penny.”

  “I am sorry,” said the lady. “Mr. Wizard is not seeing anyone right now.”

  “That is okay,” said Andrew. “Mr. Wizard can’t give my penny back anyway.”

  “Why? Do you think he wants to keep it?” I asked.

  “I think he does not have my penny anymore. He does not have the pen or the ring either,” said Andrew. “They vanished. That is because Mr. Wizard is magic, real magic.”

  “I am sure Mr. Wizard has your penny,” said Daddy. “I will write and ask him to please send it back.”

  We drove to the Rosebud Cafe. Andrew would not stop talking about Mr. Wizard’s magic. He was sure his penny was gone forever.

  We ate our lunch. Then we had a special treat. We got ice cream sundaes for dessert. I thought Andrew had forgotten about his penny by then. But when the waiter gave Daddy his change, there were three pennies in it. Andrew started talking about his penny again. He talked about it all the way home.

  “Where does magic make a thing go?” asked Andrew. “Where is my penny?”

  “Mr. Wizard has your penny,” said Daddy. “He was just very good at tricking us into thinking it was gone.”

  “But Mr. Wizard sawed a man in half. He made a lady float in the air. So he could make my penny disappear, too,” said Andrew. “It is gone. I know it is.”

  “Andrew, you have a book of magic tricks. You see how tricks work,” said Daddy.

  “The tricks in my book are easy tricks. They are kid tricks,” said Andrew. “They are not real magic.”

  “We will get your penny back for you, Andrew,” said Daddy. “I promise.”

  Andrew did not believe him. Before we went into the house, Andrew whispered in my ear, “My penny is gone.”

  Ms. Colman’s Announcement

  It was Monday morning. Hannie and I were waiting at the school bus stop.

  “Here comes the bus,” called Linny. (Linny is Hannie’s brother. He is nine going on ten.)

  The bus doors swished open and we climbed on. Hannie and I went to sit at the back with the other kids our age.

  The big kids sit up front. That is because some of them used to be bullies. Now, Jack, the bus driver, watches them. So riding on the bus is fun.

  Hannie and I played three games of tic-tac-toe and one game of dots. The next thing we knew, we were pulling up to our school.

  “Hi, Nancy!” I called out the window.

  Nancy was on the playground waiting for us. The Three Musketeers walked into our classroom together. Ms. Colman came in behind us.

  “Please take your seats, everyone,” said Ms. Colman. “We have a lot to do this morning.”

  Hannie and Nancy went to their desks at the back of the room. I used to sit at the back, too. But when I got glasses, Ms. Colman moved me up front. She said I could see better there. I think she was right.

  There are two other kids who wear glasses and sit up front. They are Natalie Springer and Ricky Torres. (Ricky is my pretend husband. We got married on the playground at recess one day.)

  “Karen, would you like to take attendance?” asked Ms. Colman.

  “Sure,” I replied.

  I stood by Ms. Colman’s desk. I quickly checked off me, Hannie, Nancy, Ricky, and Natalie. I looked around the room to see who else was there. Addie Sydney. Check. She was scraping a sticker off her wheelchair tray. Pamela Harding. Check. She is sometimes my best enemy. She was passing a note to her friends. There was one for Jannie Gilbert. Check. And one for Leslie Morris. Check. Audrey Green was there. Check. She once tried to be my twin. She dressed and acted exactly like me. I was glad she did not want to do that anymore. Terri Barkan. Check. Tammy Barkan. Check. They are twins for real. Bobbi Gianelli. Check. He is a sometimes bully. Hank Reubens. Check. Chris Lamar. Check. I kept going till I had checked off all the names.

  “Everyone is here,” I said.

  “That is good,” said Ms. Colman. “We are going to begin a new class project today. There is a very important day at the beginning of November. That day is Election Day. We are going to have our own elections in class.”

  “All right!” I called out.

  “Indoor voice, please, Karen,” said Ms. Colman. “And no calling out.”

  “Sorry,” I replied. (Whenever I get too loud, Ms. Colman reminds me to use my indoor voice.)

  “In the middle of December, our school is going to hold a Fun Night. We will have entertainment. We will sell tickets to raise money for our school,” Ms. Colman explained.

  I felt like shouting out, “Hurray!” But I did not do it. I shouted to myself so no one would hear me.

  “There will be a Fun Night Committee,” continued Ms. Colman. “Each grade will elect a representative for the committee.”

  I raised my hand. Ms. Colman called on me.

  “I would like to be the representative,” I said.

  “Whoever would like to be the representative, please let me know tomorrow. We will hold elections in a few weeks. This will be a goo
d way for us to learn about the election process. We will learn about campaigning. We will learn about voting.”

  I was way ahead of Ms. Colman. I was already planning my acceptance speech.

  Andrew’s Worry

  “Would you like some more tea?” I said to Hannie.

  “Thank you. I would love some,” Hannie said.

  The Three Musketeers were in my room at the big house. We were having a tea party. We were also having a serious talk about elections. Just like real grown-up ladies.

  “If I win the election, I will have a lot of ideas for Fun Night. I know everything about having fun,” I said.

  “Nancy, are you going to run?” asked Hannie.

  “I have not decided yet,” said Nancy. “How about you?”

  Hannie took a tiny sip of her tea. (It was really apple juice.)

  “No. I do not think I will run,” said Hannie. “I do not like so much attention. I do not like to be the center of things.”

  Knock knock.

  Andrew poked his head into my room. He had a worried look on his face.

  “Karen, where do you think my penny went?” he asked. “Is it even in this world anymore?”

  “I think Mr. Wizard has it,” I said. “Daddy told us Mr. Wizard is very good at tricks. Remember?”

  “I think Mr. Wizard is very good at magic,” said Andrew. “He made my penny disappear. I wonder where things go when they disappear by magic.”

  He closed the door behind him. We went back to our tea party.

  “I just cannot decide. Should I run? Or should I not run?” asked Nancy.

  “We could run together,” I said. “It would be fun.”

  “I am not sure about that. One of us would have to win. The other would have to lose. I would not like that,” said Nancy.

  “You should run if you want to,” I said. “We will still be friends.”

  “Maybe,” said Nancy. “But maybe …”

  Knock knock. It was Andrew again.

  “If my penny did disappear, could I disappear, too?” asked Andrew. “I could go where my penny is. I could bring it back.”

  Poor Andrew. He could not stop worrying about his missing penny.