A Katie Kazoo Christmas (7 page)

Katie smiled. It was more likely that Suzanne didn’t want to miss out on a chance at being on TV. In fact, Suzanne was already talking to the reporter.

“We have this cooking club,” Suzanne told her. “And this week, we all decided to bake cookies for the shelter.” She smiled brightly for the camera.

Katie sighed. Suzanne would probably be boasting about being on TV for weeks to come.

But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that everyone was having fun together on Christmas Eve. Even Mrs. Derkman and Mr. Brigandi. They were doing the twist in the middle of the dance floor.

Katie smiled. Wow! Imagine Mr. Brigandi and Mrs. Derkman dancing together instead of arguing.

Now
that
was a switcheroo even the magic wind couldn’t manage. It took
Christmas
magic to make that happen!

 

Katie Carew and Jeremy Fox stood outside Louie’s Pizza Shop and read the sign in the window.

“
Christmas
pizza?” Jeremy asked. “What’s that? Does he use green dough or something?”

Katie made a face. “
Ewww.
I hope not,” she said.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Jeremy said. He opened the door and walked into the restaurant. Katie followed close behind.

Katie was really hungry. She’d been shopping for Christmas gifts all morning. So far, she’d bought only one present—a Christmas tree-shaped doggie toy. It was for her cocker spaniel, Pepper.

As Katie walked into the pizza place, she spotted her best friend Suzanne Lock. Suzanne was sitting at a table with Jessica Haynes, a girl from Suzanne’s class. Katie’s other friends, George Brennan, Kevin Camilleri, and Manny Gonzalez, were seated at the next table. Katie smiled. Louie’s was the perfect place for kids to hang out while their parents shopped.

“Hi, Jeremy. Hey, Katie Kazoo!” George called, using the super-cool nickname he’d made up for Katie last year in third grade. “You’re just in time. Louie’s making a special Christmas pizza for us. Sit down.”

“No way. Katie’s sitting with
us
,” Suzanne told George. “You guys can have Jeremy.”

Katie and Jeremy looked at each other. They had been having fun together all day. They didn’t want to sit at different tables.

“How about we push these two tables together?” Katie suggested. “Then nobody has to split up.”

“Whatever,” Suzanne said with a shrug. But she didn’t sound too happy about it.

“What’s in the bag?” Jessica asked Katie.

“A Christmas present for Pepper,” Katie told her. “I’m going to wrap it and put it under the tree for him. I don’t want him to feel left out on Christmas morning.”

“Katie, Pepper’s a
dog
,” Suzanne said with a laugh. “You don’t have to wrap his gift. It’s not like he’ll know the difference.”

“I’m going to wrap it,” Katie insisted. “Pepper
will
notice. He knows a lot more than you think he does.”

Nobody argued with her. There was no point. All of Katie’s friends knew she thought Pepper was the smartest dog in the world.

“Pepper’s really going to like that toy,” Jeremy said, defending Katie. “Almost as much as I would like a snowboard for Hanukkah.”

“Snowboards are so cool!” Kevin exclaimed. “Do you really think you’re going to get one?”

“I sure hope so,” Jeremy told him. “I’ve been wishing for one for a really long time.”

“You’d better be careful what you wish for,” Suzanne warned him. “Wishes don’t always come true the way you think they will.”

Katie gulped. She couldn’t believe Suzanne had said that. Was it possible that she knew about the wish Katie had made—the one about being anyone but herself?

“Two years ago, I wished for a baby sister,” Suzanne continued. “And I got one. You all know what a pain Heather is. Having a baby in the house is
nothing
like I thought it would be.”

Phew
. Katie smiled. What a relief. Suzanne didn’t know about her secret after all.

Just then, Louie came over with their pizza. “Here you go, gang,” he said as he put the tray on the table. “A Christmas special.”

Katie looked down at the pie. Louie had arranged spinach leaves in the shape of a Christmas tree. He’d cut mushroom slices into small pieces and placed them like ornaments on the spinach-leaf tree.

Mmmm
, Katie thought.
This pizza looks great!

“It’s so Christmassy!” Suzanne exclaimed.

“I’m starving!” George declared as he started to grab a slice of pizza. “Louie, can we have some paper plates, please?” he asked.

Louie walked over to the counter and grabbed six dishes.

“What are these for?” George asked him.

“To put your pizza on,” Louie replied.

“What happened to the
paper
plates?” Kevin asked.

“I’m not using them anymore,” Louie replied. “I’m trying to save some trees.”

“Huh?” George asked.

“Paper is made from trees,” Louie explained. “The earth needs trees to keep the air and land healthy. I don’t want any trees to have to die just so I can use paper plates.
These
plates can be washed and used again and again.”

“They’re kind of like your Christmas present to the planet,” Katie told him.

Louie grinned. “Exactly.”

“Merry Christmas, Earth,” Katie said as she put a slice of pizza on her plate.

“More latkes, Katie?” Mrs. Fox asked as she held up a platter of fried potato pancakes.

“No thank you,” Katie replied. She was really full. First she’d eaten three slices of Christmas pizza at Louie’s for lunch. Now, here it was dinnertime, and she had just finished a whole stack of potato pancakes at Jeremy’s house.

“Try them with the applesauce,” Jeremy suggested. “Latkes and applesauce go great together.”

“Okay, maybe just one more,” Katie agreed. She took another pancake from the tray. “Do you eat these every night of Hanukkah?”

“Some people do,” Mrs. Fox told Katie. “But we eat them only on the first night of Hanukkah.”

“I’d never fit in my pants if we had these for eight nights in a row,” Mr. Fox joked. He rubbed his chubby belly. “I wonder if this is how Santa Claus got his belly.”

“I never heard of latkes at the North Pole,” Katie answered. “I think Santa’s stomach is full of cookies.”

“Santa doesn’t know what he’s missing,” Mr. Fox teased. He speared two more latkes from the platter.

Mrs. Fox laughed. “I’m so glad your mother agreed to let you spend the first night of Hanukkah with us, Katie,” she said.

“Me too,” Katie said. “I can’t wait to see what gift Jeremy is getting tonight.”

“Neither can I,” Jeremy agreed excitedly. “I
really
can’t wait!”

“Okay, I get the message,” Mrs. Fox sighed. “But before we get the presents, why don’t we light the menorah? After all, it symbolizes what the holiday is about.”

“Hanukkah is about the miracle of the oil,” Jeremy told Katie.

Katie looked at him curiously. She didn’t know what he was talking about.

“A long time ago, the Jews fought a big war against the Greeks,” Jeremy explained. “They won the war, but their temple was left a mess. Even the holy lamp—the one that was supposed to always stay lit—wasn’t burning anymore. The Jews had enough oil to light the lamp for just one day. But somehow, that oil burned for
eight
days. It was a miracle.”

“That’s exactly right, Jeremy,” Mr. Fox said proudly.

Katie followed Jeremy over to the kitchen counter where Mrs. Fox had placed a silver candleholder. There were spots for nine candles. But Mrs. Fox had placed only two candles in the holder—one on the end and one in the middle.

“We use the candle in the middle to the light the others,” Mr. Fox explained. “Tonight we are lighting the first candle, because it’s the first night of Hanukkah. Tomorrow we’ll light two candles. And then three. By the eighth night, the whole menorah will burn brightly.”