Here's a Penny Read online

  Here's a Penny

  Carolyn Haywood

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Table of Contents

  ...

  ...

  ...

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Contents

  1. A Brand-New Penny

  2. Really Truly

  3. Patsy's Twins

  4. Another Kitten Hunt

  5. Chocolate and the Queen of Hearts

  6. More Surprises

  7. Penny Earns Some Pennies

  8. Overall Trouble

  9. Peter the Ballplayer

  10. How the Sailboat Got Its Name

  Preview of Penny and Peter

  1. Crabs, Crabs, Beautiful Crabs

  About the Author

  Illustrated by the author

  AN ODYSSEY/HARCOURT YOUNG CLASSIC

  HARCOURT, INC.

  Orlando Austin New York San Diego Toronto London

  Copyright © 1944 by Harcourt, Inc.

  Copyright renewed 1972 by Carolyn Haywood

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced

  or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,

  including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval

  system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work

  should be mailed to the following address: Permissions Department,

  Harcourt, Inc., 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777.

  www.HarcourtBooks.com

  First Odyssey/Harcourt Young Classics edition 2005

  First published 1944

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Haywood, Carolyn, 1898–1990.

  Here's a Penny/written and illustrated by Carolyn Haywood,

  p. cm.

  "An Odyssey/Harcourt Young Classic."

  Summary: Follows the adventures of six-year-old William, an adopted boy

  nicknamed Penny for his copper-colored hair, as he attends a Halloween

  party, adopts kittens, and finds an older brother to join his family.

  [1. Adoption—Fiction. 2. Family life—Fiction. 3. Brothers—Fiction.

  4. Friendship—Fiction.] I. Title: Here is a Penny. II. Title.

  PZ7.H31496He 2005

  [Fic]—dc22 2004055250

  ISBN 0-15-205227-5 ISBN 0-15-205225-9 (pb)

  Text set in Bodoni Classico

  Designed by Kaelin Chappell

  Printed in the United States of America

  A C E G H F D B

  A C E G H F D B (pb)

  To

  Caroline Fleischer

  My most amusing critic

  Contents

  1. A BRAND-NEW PENNY [>]

  2. REALLY TRULY [>]

  3. PATSY'S TWINS [>]

  4. ANOTHER KITTEN HUNT [>]

  5. CHOCOLATE AND THE QUEEN OF HEARTS [>]

  6. MORE SURPRISES [>]

  7. PENNY EARNS SOME PENNIES [>]

  8. OVERALL TROUBLE [>]

  9. PETER THE BALLPLAYER [>]

  10. HOW THE SAILBOAT GOT ITS NAME [>]

  1. A Brand-New Penny

  They called him Penny. His name wasn't Penn or Penrose or Penrod or anything that would make you think of Penny. His real name was William.

  Before Penny came to live with his daddy and mother, his daddy had said, "When we get our little boy, let's name him William. Then we can call him Bill."

  "Not Billy?" asked Mother.

  "Not Billy, nor Willy, nor anything else that ends in ee. Just plain Bill," said Daddy.

  "Very well!" replied Mother. "Plain Bill it shall be."

  But this is how he happened to be called Penny.

  Long before Penny arrived, his mother and daddy decided that more than anything else in the world they wanted a little boy.

  "A little red-haired boy," his mother used to say.

  "With freckles on his nose," Daddy would add. And then Mother and Daddy would look at each other and laugh, just because they had said it so many times.

  One day Daddy received a telegram from the head of a big hospital. It said that they had some babies that needed fathers and mothers, so Mother and Daddy got right on the train and went to see the babies.

  They looked at the babies, one by one. They were all sweet and cuddly. There was one with black hair and one with hair like a fuzzy peach and there was one with no hair at all.

  "Maybe it will be red when he gets it," said Daddy.

  "No," replied Mother, "we have to be sure."

  And then she spied Penny. He was sound asleep in his little basket. He was the color of a ripe apricot and his head was covered with red gold ringlets.

  "Here he is!" whispered Mother. "Here's our little boy!"

  Daddy looked at him very carefully. "Is that a freckle on his nose?" he asked.

  Mother leaned over and looked at the tiny button of a nose. "I think it will be, by the time he is six," she replied.

  Mother picked him up and the sunlight fell on the baby's head.

  "My goodness!" said Daddy. "He looks like a brand-new copper penny."

  Mother cradled the baby in her arms. He opened his eyes and stretched his mouth into a funny toothless grin. "He's just a dear, precious little penny," she said.

  And so they named him William. But they called him Penny.

  Now, Penny was six years old with freckles on his nose. He was in the first grade and he loved to go to school.

  Patsy, the little girl next door, was in the first grade, too. Every morning Penny would stand on his toes and lift the brass knocker on Patsy's front door. Then he would hear Patsy's feet pattering, and in a moment she would pop out of the door. Then off to school they tramped.

  One morning Penny was full of excitement. "I'm going to get a kitten," he said, the moment Patsy appeared.

  "How do you know you are?" asked Patsy.

  "My mother said I could get one," replied Penny. "He's going to be a black kitten, with a white nose and white paws."

  "How do you know?" asked Patsy.

  "'Cause that's the kind I want," said Penny.

  "Well, you can't always get kittens just the way you want 'em," said Patsy. "You have to take 'em the way they come."

  "Who said so?" asked Penny.

  "My mommy said so," replied Patsy.

  "Well, anyway, my kitten's going to be a black kitten, with a white nose and white paws," said Penny.

  "I wish I could have a kitten," said Patsy.

  "Why don't you get one?" asked Penny.

  "My mommy won't let me have one," answered Patsy. "She says she doesn't like cats."

  "I'll let you play with mine sometimes," said Penny.

  "I want one of my own," said Patsy, kicking a pebble. "I think it's mean of you to get a kitten when I can't have one."

  Patsy pouted and there were tears in her eyes. After a while she said, "Well, anyway, I'm my mommy and daddy's real little girl."

  Penny didn't know what that had to do with kittens, so he didn't say anything.

  Patsy stood still and looked at Penny. "I said, 'I'm my mommy and daddy's real little girl,'" she said in a very loud voice.

  Penny just looked at Patsy. He didn't know what he was supposed to say, so he just said, "Uh-huh."

  "But you're not your mommy and daddy's real little boy," shouted Patsy.

  Penny felt his cheeks grow hot. "I am so Mother and Daddy's real little boy," he replied.

  "Oh, no you're not!" cried Patsy. "You're just 'dopted."

  "I know I'm 'dopted," said Penny. "My mother told me so. But I'm her real little boy."

  "No,
you're not," said Patsy. "You can't be. Not really truly."

  Penny turned away from Patsy and ran. He wanted to get away from her as fast as he could.

  "Not really truly!" cried Patsy. "Not really truly!"

  Penny ran faster. Patsy was way behind him now but he could still hear her calling, "Not really truly!"

  Penny's little legs flew. His cheeks were hot and his ears were bright red. He never looked back to see where Patsy was.

  When he reached the school, he went right into his classroom. He didn't even stop to say good morning to Miss Roberts, his teacher. He went right to his desk and took out his scrapbook. He made believe that he was very busy. He was really blinking his eyes to keep back the tears. He had to bite his lip to keep it from trembling.

  When Patsy came in, Penny didn't look at her. He didn't look at her once all morning. Over and over in his head he could hear her calling, "Not really truly! Not really truly!"

  Once Miss Roberts said, "What is the matter with Penny today? He doesn't look very shiny."

  Penny didn't look up. He just hammered a nail very hard. He was building a bed for Judy, the big doll that belonged to the first grade. He could hardly wait for school to be over. He wanted to go home to Mother. He wanted her very, very badly.

  At last the bell rang. Penny was the first one out of the door. He didn't wait for Patsy. He ran faster and faster and faster all the way home.

  The back door was open. Penny dashed in. Minnie, the cook, was baking cookies. "Land sakes!" she cried. "You look ready to burst."

  "Where's Mother?" gasped Penny.

  "Upstairs," said Minnie.

  Penny stomped up the stairs. "Mother," he called. "Mother, where are you?"

  Mother was sitting in the study, darning Daddy's socks. When she saw Penny's face, she dropped the sock. Penny threw himself into his mother's arms. The tears that he had kept back all morning rolled down his cheeks. His mother's arms held him tight. "There, there," she murmured. "Tell Mother what's the matter."

  It was a long time before Penny could speak. He just cried and cried and the tears made his

  mother's neck all wet. She held him close and said in a very soft voice, "Tell Mother, Penny. Tell Mother what it is."

  At last Penny seemed to run out of tears. "Patsy says I'm not your really truly little boy," he gulped.

  "Patsy is mistaken," said his mother, wiping his eyes.

  "She says when you're 'dopted you can't be really truly," said Penny.

  "Nonsense!" said Mother. "There is only one thing that makes a little boy 'really truly."'

  Penny sat up and looked at his mother. His blue eyes were big and round. Teardrops still hung on his eyelashes. "What does, Mother?" he said.

  "Why, his mother's love for him," said Mother. "His mother's love for him makes him her really truly little boy."

  "And does his daddy's love for him make him his really truly little boy?" asked Penny.

  "It certainly does," replied Mother.

  Then his mother told him how she and Daddy had talked about him long before he arrived. How they looked for just the little boy they wanted, with red hair and freckles on his nose.

  Penny snuggled into his mother's neck. "Did you look at other little boys?" he asked.

  "Indeed, yes," said Mother.

  "But they didn't suit, did they?" said Penny.

  "No. They were very nice," said Mother, "but we waited until we found you. And you were just what we wanted."

  "That's the way I'm going to 'dopt my kitten," said Penny. "I'm going to wait until I find a black one with a white nose and white paws. And I'll love him so much that he'll be my really truly kitten."

  "Of course," said Mother.

  "I guess I'll go get a cookie," said Penny, as he slid off of his mother's lap.

  When he reached the door he turned around. "I guess I'll take a cookie over to Patsy," he said. "And I'll tell her she's mistaken."

  2. Really Truly

  Every time Penny heard of a cat having kittens he would say, "Is there a black one with a white nose and white paws?" Over and over again he received the same answer. "Oh, no! There isn't any black one with a white nose and white paws."

  Penny's daddy took him to see so many kittens that Daddy finally said he wouldn't have believed there could be so many kittens in the world. There seemed to be every kind that you could imagine, but no black one with a white nose and white paws.

  After a while Daddy began to feel discouraged. But not Penny. After each trip to look at kittens he would say, "You found just 'zactly the little boy you wanted, didn't you, Daddy?"

  And Daddy would reply, "Oh, my, yes!"

  Then Penny would say, "Well, I'll find my really truly kitten, too." And the next Saturday afternoon Daddy and Penny would go look at another litter of kittens.

  One Saturday afternoon Penny and his daddy were walking home from what Daddy called "a kitten hunt." They were walking under some trees when Penny heard a tiny "Mee-u."

  Penny looked around to see where the sound came from. He didn't see anything. Then he heard the sound again. "Mee-u."

  "Sounds like a kitty," said Penny.

  Daddy stopped and looked around. There was the sound again.

  "Yes, it does," said Daddy.

  Daddy looked up in the tree above him, and there on a branch was a kitten. It was the most unhappy-looking kitten Daddy had ever seen. And Daddy had seen a great many kittens. It was afraid to move and it opened its little mouth and cried, "Mee-u! Mee-u! Mee-u!"

  "Why, there it is! Up in the tree!" said Daddy. "I'll see if I can get it down."

  Daddy stretched out his arms and stood on his toes. Just as he was about to take the kitten, the kitten moved away.

  "Now, what do you know about that!" said Daddy.

  "He's a silly old kitten, isn't he?" said Penny.

  "Mee-u! Mee-u! Mee-u!" cried the kitten.

  Daddy looked up at it. "Now see here, pal!" he said to the kitten. "I can't climb the tree. Come over here like a good fellow."

  "Mee-u! Mee-u! Mee-u!" cried the kitten and moved still further away.

  "Now, what do you know about that!" said Daddy.

  "Maybe if you lift me up, I could reach him," said Penny.

  "Well, that's an idea," said Daddy. "Let's try it."

  Daddy lifted Penny up as high as he could. "Just reach right out for him," said Daddy. "Don't be afraid of him."

  Penny reached out and took the kitten off the limb of the tree.

  "Have you got him?" asked Daddy.

  "Yep!" said Penny. "I've got him."

  Daddy set Penny down and they both looked at the kitten.

  "He's not very pretty, is he?" said Penny.

  "He certainly is not pretty," said Daddy. "In fact, he looks like a scrap of a moth-eaten coat."

  "What kind of a kitten do you s'pose he is?" asked Penny.

  "I haven't an idea," said Daddy. "But he looks as though his mother had tried to hide him in a pot of mustard."

  "What shall we do with him?" asked Penny.

  "Oh, just put him down," said Daddy. "He'll find his way home."

  Penny put the kitten down. His little legs seemed to wobble. "Mee-u," he said, and he rubbed against Penny's foot.

  "I think he likes me," said Penny.

  "Well, come along now," said Daddy. "Let's get going."

  "Do you think he belongs to anyone?" asked Penny.

  "If he does, they certainly don't feed him very much," answered Daddy. "He's as thin as a pin."

  Penny stooped down and stroked the kitten. It purred.

  "Come along, Penny," said Daddy. "It's getting late."

  Penny took hold of his daddy's hand and started for home.

  In a few moments Penny looked back. "I wonder where the kitten went," he said. "I don't see him anywhere."

  "Mee-u!" said the kitten.

  Penny looked down, and there was the kitten right at his feet.

  "Oh, there he is!" cried Penny. "Look, Daddy, her
e he is."

  "I see him," said Daddy. "I'm afraid he has decided to come with us."

  "Do you think he is going to follow us home?" asked Penny.

  "I think he has something like that on his mind," replied Daddy.

  "But he's not the kind of kitten I want," said Penny.

  "I know that," said Daddy. "But perhaps you are the kind of little boy he wants."

  "But he can't be my really truly kitten," said Penny. "Because my really truly kitten is black with a white nose and white paws."

  "Oh, I know that," said Daddy.

  "Well, what shall I do?" asked Penny.

  "We can try saying 'Scat' to him," said Daddy. So Penny and Daddy said "Scat" very hard. The kitten said, "Mee-u," and rubbed against Penny's foot.

  "He probably doesn't speak English," said Daddy.

  "He looks awful hungry," said Penny. "Maybe we ought to take him home and give him some milk."

  "Maybe so," said Daddy. "One thing is certain. We ought to go home and it looks to me as though the kitten has made up his mind to go wherever we go."

  Penny picked up the kitten. It was so thin he could feel all of its tiny bones. The kitten curled up contentedly in Penny's arms.

  When they reached home, Penny ran into the house to show the kitten to his mother. "I've got a kitten," he cried.

  His mother looked so surprised when she saw the kitten that Penny said, "Oh, he's not my really truly kitten, but he was up in a tree and when we rescued him, he followed us. We had to bring him home to give him something to eat. We couldn't let him starve. I'm not going to keep him."

  "I see!" said Mother.

  Penny gave the kitten a saucer of milk. He filled up like a little hot-water bottle and looked fatter already. Before Penny went to bed, he put the kitten to bed in a little box in the laundry.

  In the middle of the night Penny woke up. He thought of the kitten. Maybe the kitten is

  lonely in the laundry all by himself, he thought. He wished that he had him upstairs.

  Penny got up and tiptoed down the back stairs. When he reached the laundry, the kitten was standing by the laundry door. He looked as though he had been waiting for Penny.