Katie Kicklighter Read online

  KATIE KICKLIGHTER and the Quest for the Castle Gold

  Copyright © 2014 J.R. White & Jack Patterson

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be produced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Resemblance to actual living persons is entirely coincidental.

  First eBook edition: 2014

  ISBN: 978-1-938848-53-7

  Illustrations by Morgan Wolf-Holtman

  Published in the United States of America

  Green E-Books

  PO Box 140654

  Boise, ID 83714

  Dedication

  For Faith & Julia,

  my two favorite little adventurers

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One: Katie with a ‘K’7

  Chapter Two: Katie to the Rescue16

  Chapter Three: Dancing with a King27

  Chapter Four: Giant Beavers, Talking Feathers,

  and Galloping Snakes33

  Chapter Five: Lady Kicklighter and the Art Caper43

  Chapter Six: A Day That Went from Bad to Worse55

  Chapter Seven: Bowls of Ice Cream

  and Disappointing Dreams62

  Chapter Eight: Grey Skies and a Sudden Turn of Events71

  Chapter Nine: Surviving Last-Minute Disasters78

  Chapter Ten: The Trouble with Shoes88

  Chapter Eleven: A Mysterious Passenger

  and a Near Accident95

  Chapter Twelve: A Bridge to Cross102

  Chapter Thirteen: A Tall Tower and a Big Fall111

  Chapter Fourteen: A Book and a Broken Heart122

  Chapter Fifteen: The Old Man and the Riddle130

  Chapter Sixteen: Behind the Velvet Rope137

  Chapter Seventeen: The Key to Everything149

  Chapter Eighteen: A Tight Spot158

  Chapter Nineteen: Stinky Cheese and

  a Song in the Dark169

  Chapter Twenty: The Dark Comes to Light175

  Chapter Twenty-One: A Door Opens181

  CHAPTER 1

  Katie with a ‘K’

  IF YOU STOOD ON A HILL just above Winkleville, you would insist that it snored. A deep breath in, a deep breath out. Winkleville changed about as often as Harry Needlemeyer put on a new pair of underwear. And all you really need to know about Harry’s underwear changing habits is that if he ever got injured and went to the hospital, his mother would be embarrassed. But this story isn’t about Harry or his underwear or even the lazy little town of Winkleville. It’s about what happens when something — or someone — so different makes us wonder if we’ve been asleep our whole lives.

  Meet Katie Kicklighter, an alarm clock for fellow humans. If you ever thought a rock was just a rock, you hadn’t been on a walk with Katie. She’d stop in the middle of the woods, crouch down and inspect a rock with Trixie, her magnifying glass. After several moments, she would stand up and declare it to be the most unusual rock she’d ever seen. “I deem this rock to be Nimbus Maximus — a giant raincloud,” she would say, shaking Trixie as if she were a magic wand while she used her Latin vocabulary. To you and me, it would still look like a gray rock. But Katie could see things most people couldn’t — even if it wasn’t there yet.

  Katie never intended to visit Winkleville, much less live there. One day her parents were driving to the store when a bridge they were on suddenly collapsed. She went from a little girl whose parents were going to buy her a box of super crunchy and chocolaty puff crisps cereal at the grocery store to an orphan in one tragic afternoon. For a couple of years, she went from home to home, hoping some family would claim her as their own. Finally, her mother’s brother Thurston William Beauregard the Third — or Uncle Bobo — decided he would adopt Katie. Uncle Bobo lived alone and owned a large company that made clothespins named In a Pinch. For the first week after he adopted Katie, she went with him to work. While he fussed over paperwork and how cold his coffee was, she created games with the clothespins, including one that involved sneaking up behind her uncle’s secretary and snapping a pair of clothespins on her ears. That was the last day Uncle Bobo allowed Katie to come to work with him. Two weeks later, school started — and Katie was on her way to Winkleville, home of The Oglethorpe School.

  Katie fancied the idea of attending a boarding school. No parents to tell her what to do. No one to ask her if she did all her homework. Nobody to interrupt her game of Mystery Moment. But it wasn’t like that — at all.

  Each day, Miss Dingledine woke Katie up earlier than the birds that nested in the oak tree outside her window. It was an unfortunate job for Miss Dingledine, who received dirty looks each morning from little girls who would much rather return to dreams of rainbows and flowers than get up for school. But without Miss Dingledine, The Oglethorpe School wouldn’t have many girls in class. Katie would take a shower, fix her brown hair up with a fishtail braid, and put on her uniform — navy skirt, white blouse, maroon sweater. The Oglethorpe School required all girls to dress alike and boys, too (though the boys would’ve looked silly in skirts and instead wore pants). If Katie felt so inclined, she would sometimes try to get away with wearing mismatched polka-dotted socks instead of the standard navy-colored ones. Rarely could she go more than an hour without a teacher catching her and sending her back to her room to change.

  But today was different. She’d made it three hours into the morning without getting caught and did her best to hide her legs beneath her desk as Miss McGuffin, her social studies teacher, called roll.

  “Jeremiah Theodore Johnson the Fourth?”

  “Here.”

  “Katherine Finglestein Snodgrass Kicklighter?”

  “It’s Katie with a K,” she answered. She knew there was no other first letter to use when spelling her name, but it gave her a chance to say something different rather than respond the same as everyone else.

  “Herbert Daniel Longmire?”

  “Here.”

  Katie wondered why most parents at The Oglethrope School gave their children such dreadful names. Anyone named Herbert Longmire would’ve been teased mercilessly during recess by fellow classmates at her old school. But here? Everyone had a ridiculous name, a fact Katie was reminded of at the beginning of each class every single day.

  Miss McGuffin’s class came every day right after lunch. It was unfortunate timing. Katie wanted to stay awake, but she never could. Almost every day she would drift off to sleep before Miss McGuffin rapped a ruler on her desk, startling Katie. The other students giggled as Katie tried to figure out where she was. Miss McGuffin would wait until Katie was wide-awake and then say, “So, what’s the answer Katherine?”

  Today was no different.

  Crack. The pop of the ruler surprised Katie. She glanced around the room, squinting as her green eyes adjusted to the light.

  “Huh? What? Where am I?”

  “You’re where the biggest treasure in modern day history is. Now, you tell me where you are?”

  Katie licked her lips and looked up. She thought for a moment and squinted at the chalkboard in hopes that the answer might be there. It was blank.

  “We don’t have all day, Katherine,” Miss McGuffin said.

  “A pirate ship at the bottom of the sea?” Katie said.

  “Is that an answer?”

  “Only if I’m right.”

  Miss McGuffin stamped her foot. “Well, you’re not, young lady. I want to see you after class.”

  Katie perked up. “Did you say there’s a hidden treasure somewhere?”


  Miss McGuffin spun around. “I’m sorry. Did someone say something without raising their hand?”

  Katie put her hand in the air.

  “Well, go on, Katherine. What is it?”

  “Did you say there’s a hidden treasure somewhere?” she asked again.

  “Who knew it’d take six months of social studies classes to get you interested in the most fascinating school subject on earth?”

  “So, there is hidden treasure?”

  Miss McGuffin slapped her ruler in the palm of her own hand. “My, aren’t we suddenly inquisitive?”

  “Soooo?”

  “So, read your homework tonight and you’ll learn all about it.”

  Katie hung her head. Homework. Ugh. She preferred to learn about life outdoors instead of reading about it in books that she was quite certain were written to help people fall asleep. “You learn about life by living your own,” her father used to tell her. It’s exactly what Katie intended to do, though such a task seemed difficult while stuck at The Oglethorpe School.

  Riiiingggg.

  Class finally ended. Students shuffled their feet and grabbed their books and backpacks then headed for the door.

  Miss McGuffin cleared her throat. “Before you all leave, remember if you don’t have a passport, you must get one by Friday in order to go on our class trip in a few weeks. And don’t forget to study hard for your test tomorrow.”

  Katie already had her passport and ticket — and she couldn’t wait. A grin spread across her face at the thought of exploring new places. Her mother mentioned several times how she wanted to go to Prague. She never made it. But in a few weeks, Katie would take the trip for her.

  “Katie, come here,” Miss McGuffin called. She’d settled into her chair behind her desk. She folded her hands in front of her and leaned forward, waiting for Katie to comply with her request.

  “What is it, Miss McGuffin?” she asked, hoping she wouldn’t have to return to her room and change her socks.

  “It’s about the trip — and your grades.”

  Katie defended herself. “What? I’m making good grades.”

  “You’re making average grades,” Miss McGuffin corrected. “School policy requires all students to have a B average to go on this trip. Right now, you have a C in my class. If you don’t make an A on the test tomorrow, I’m afraid you’re going to have to stay behind.”

  Katie felt her cheeks getting hot. “Can I do extra credit?”

  “You can do what you were supposed to have already done — study hard and make good grades.”

  “But, I haven’t made an A on any test yet!”

  “That’s precisely my point. If you want to go to Prague, you’re going to need to make an A. Now, run along.” Miss McGuffin shooed Katie toward the door with the back of her hand. “I don’t want you to be late for your next class.”

  Katie shuffled toward the door. She felt a teardrop streak down her face.

  “Oh, Katie,” Miss McGuffin said.

  Katie brushed the teardrop off her cheek and turned around. “Yes?”

  “Change your socks.”

  CHAPTER 2

  Katie to the Resuce

  LATER THAT DAY, Katie — sporting her proper navy socks — exited her last class for the day, math. It was the subject she enjoyed the most. Her teachers found it odd that such a creative little girl could like math. They believed she was saying it just to be different, but she wasn’t. She found herself searching for number patterns everywhere she went. She could tell you how many bricks were used to build the outside wall of the school’s gymnasium only two weeks into her first semester. Without much thought to who was around her, she’d begin counting things — tree branches, leaves, windows, cars, people wearing jackets, people wearing mittens, cracks in the sidewalk. It didn’t matter to her what it was. If there were more than one of it, she would count it.

  However, she didn’t feel like counting since Miss McGuffin delivered the bad news. For weeks, Katie counted down to the trip to Prague. She always announced the number to her best friend, Margaret Elizabeth Summerton, the moment they met on their way back to their dormitory. But not today. Margaret — who went by Maggie — immediately knew something was wrong.

  “What is it, Katie?” Maggie asked.

  “It’s nothing.”

  “No, it’s something.”

  Katie looked at her friend and shook her head. “Apparently, I’m terrible in social studies.”

  “Well, that’s no need to be all blue.”

  Katie nodded and remained quiet.

  Maggie continued. “Everyone gets an earful from Miss McGuffin at least once a semester. It’s your first time and I doubt it will be your last.”

  “But it’s more than that.”

  Maggie whipped her head around, flinging her flowing blonde hair with it. “What do you mean?”

  Katie stopped and stamped her foot. “I mean, I can’t go on the trip to Prague if I don’t get my grades up.”

  “This is what is making you so sad? You can totally pass that class.”

  “It’s not just passing the class — I have to get an A or else I can’t go on the trip. And I haven’t made an A all year in there.”

  Maggie bit her lip and thought for a moment. “Maybe Trey can help.”

  When asked who was the smartest student in the fifth grade, the name on everyone’s lips was Winston Charlton Gallagher the Third. But Katie didn’t care for such a stodgy name that smacked of importance. Just saying the name “Winston” made her feel like she was talking to an eighth grader who looked down upon her with pity because she hardly knew anything. Substituting Trey made her feel more like equals in many respects. And the fact that Winston accepted Katie’s nickname without much of a fuss endeared him to her.

  “Did I hear someone say my name?” a boy asked.

  Katie and Maggie stopped and spun around to see Trey. He lumbered toward them, weighed down by the bulging backpack hanging from his right shoulder.

  “Trey!” Katie said. “Just the person I want to see.”

  He smiled. “Who do you want me to help you prank this time?”

  “No, no, it’s nothing like that,” Katie said.

  He slumped a bit and hung his head. “Oh, I thought it was something important.”

  Katie punched him playfully in the arm. “Just because I don’t want you to go on a mission with me to steal all the toilet paper in Dawson Hall doesn’t mean it isn’t important. In fact, it’s very important.”

  Trey looked up and eyed the two girls in front of him. “How important?”

  “My trip to Prague with the class depends on it — that kind of important,” Katie said.

  “Oh, so really important, huh?”

  “Yeah. So, will you help?”

  He yanked on the backpack strap and pulled it up. “Of course I will. Anything for you, Katie.”

  “Good. It’s settled. I’ll meet you in our downstairs study at 6:30. Don’t be late.”

  “You either,” Trey said as he turned and walked away.

  ***

  WITH THE PROMISE of Trey’s help, Katie became hopeful again. She decided that instead of crying and worrying about what might or might not happen, she needed to go on a walk with Trixie.

  Julius C. Walker Park was a two-block walk from the school and it had quickly become Katie’s favorite hangout. In the fall and winter, Katie grew fond of what the park offered. Giant pine and oak trees peppered around the rolling hills provided a scene fit for a postcard. But now it was spring and Katie’s fondness turned into true love. Daffodils bloomed at every turn. Rose bushes — pink ones, red ones, white ones — splashed the park with color. The joyful song of the Wood Thrush and the Magnolia Warbler turned Katie’s long walks into long skips along the park’s winding paths. The smell of fresh grass swirled with the sweet aroma from magnolia bushes made her wonder if she’d somehow been transported into heaven.

  While the idea of going to Prague excited Katie, the park had ca
ptured her heart. And on a day when her hope seemed crushed, she couldn’t think of a better place to be than among the vibrant colors, sounds and smells of Julius C. Walker Park.

  As the sun glistened in the afternoon sky, Katie skipped along a path before noticing a squirrel scratching at the ground. Carefully, she crept near the squirrel to study it more closely before it darted away. What were you looking for? she thought to herself. With the help of Trixie, Katie examined the ground and identified the scratch marks from the squirrel. She decided to dig down and see what he was after. It didn’t take long before — Aha! — a walnut. She put it back and covered it up.

  When she wandered off the path, she stumbled onto a rotten log. She kicked it over with her shoe to reveal a swarm of grub worms frantically burrowing into the wood to escape the bright sunlight. Well, look at you. Aren’t you an interesting little critter? She picked up a worm and examined it more closely beneath Trixie. Katie decided to study it further and put it down on the grass. For about a minute, she looked at the worm through Trixie. It didn’t take long before she smelled something.

  “What is that smell?” she asked aloud.

  She looked around and sniffed a few times, hoping to figure out what was burning. Unable to figure it out, she returned to her study of the grub worm before she shrieked.

  “Ahhh!” she cried. The worm was on fire.

  She puffed onto the worm as she tried to put out the fire. But instead, a nearby leaf also began burning. And then another leaf. And then another.

  Oh, no. What am I going to do? she thought.

  Katie knew what to do if she was on fire: stop, drop, and roll. But she had no idea how to put out a flaming grub worm. She pulled at her hair, frozen with fear. The last thing she wanted to do was squash the poor little guy. She looked around before she came up with an idea. The pond!

  She raced toward the water, pulling off her sweater as she ran. Once the reached the bank, she dunked her sweater.