by Suzy Kline
Table of Contents
Title Page
Acknowledgements
Copyright Page
Dedication
Ancestors
Ida’s Box
All Aboard!
The Missing Earring
Room 3B Sets Sail!
Sid the Squid, Lost at Sea?
As always, special thanks to my editor, Cathy Hennessy, for helping me create this book, to the third graders at Southwest School in Torrington, Connecticut, who went with me on the riverboat at Essex in the spring of 2000, and to Snyder-Goosen’s Second Grade Sailors in Fair-port, New York. I love my honorary sailor’s hat. It was great to be on board at Dudley Elementary for a week. Keep sailing through school!
PUFFIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers,
345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England
First published in the United States of America by Viking,
a division of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 2001
Published by Puffin Books,
a division of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 2003
9 10
Text copyright © Suzy Kline, 2001
Illustrations copyright © Frank Remkiewicz, 2001
All rights reserved
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE VIKING EDITION AS FOLLOWS:
Kline, Suzy.
Horrible Harry goes to sea / by Suzy Kline ; illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz.
p. cm.
Summary: The students in Miss Mackle’s third-grade class enjoy a boat trip
on the Connecticut River after a class discussion of ancestors reveals
that Sidney and Ida both have connections to the sea.
eISBN : 978-1-101-12694-3
[1. River boats—Fiction. 2. School field trips—Fiction.
3. Connecticut River—Fiction.]
I. Remkiewicz, Frank, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.K6797 Hntf 2001 [Fic]—dc21 2001017988
http://us.penguingroup.com
Dedicated to my first granddaughter,
Mikenna Rose Hurtuk,
who just came ashore February 18, 2001,
in Rockville, Connecticut.
I love you, Grandma Sue
BOOKS ABOUT HORRIBLE HARRY AND SONG LEE
Horrible Harry and the Ant Invasion
Horrible Harry and the Christmas Surprise
Horrible Harry and the Drop of Doom
Horrible Harry and the Dungeon
Horrible Harry and the Green Slime
Horrible Harry and the Holidaze
Horrible Harry and the Kickball Wedding
Horrible Harry and the Mud Gremlins
Horrible Harry and the Purple People
Horrible Harry Goes to the Moon
Horrible Harry Goes to Sea
Horrible Harry at Halloween
Horrible Harry in Room 2B
Horrible Harry Moves Up to Third Grade
Horrible Harry’s Secret
Song Lee and the Hamster Hunt
Song Lee and the “I Hate You” Notes
Song Lee and the Leech Man
Song Lee in Room 2B
Ancestors
My name is Doug. I’m in third grade. I write stories about things that happen in Room 3B. Usually, the stories are about Harry, who likes to do horrible things, or Song Lee, the nicest person in our class.
I never thought I’d write about Ida.
I mean, why would I?
She hardly says anything.
She plays with Song Lee and Mary.
She takes dance lessons after school.
She wears her hair in a ponytail that looks like a neat bush on top of her head.
Big deal.
Well, one morning in November, we found out something about Ida that none of us knew before. I couldn’t believe it! No one could.
It all started on a Tuesday, when Ida walked into class carrying a black box. It was about the size of a loaf of bread.
“Ooooh,” Mary oohed. “A box with a lock. What’s inside?”
“You’ll see,” Ida replied as she walked over to her desk. The bush on her head bounced around like it was in a wind storm.
Mary followed her. “Does that little key you’re wearing open the lock on your black box?”
“Yes,” Ida said, fooling with her gold necklace. “This key opens it up.”
Now four of us stared at the gold key.
“Open it!” Sidney shouted.
“Yeah,” Harry agreed. “Maybe there’s a snake inside.”
“Ida.” Mary quivered. “Is there something ... horrible in that box?”
Before Ida could reply, the bell rang.
“Please be seated,” Miss Mackle said.
After the Pledge of Allegiance, and lunch count, the teacher announced, “Boys and girls, it’s time to share our homework.”
I opened my backpack. Just about everybody put something on their desk. Even Harry, but it was too small to see what it was.
“Boys and girls,” the teacher said, “For the past few days we have been talking about our ancestors. Who can explain what that word means?”
“It means our dead relatives,” Harry blurted out. Then he flashed his white teeth.
While Miss Mackle made a face, Mary reworded things. “Ancestors are people in our family who lived before us. They are our family roots ... our family tree.”
“Thank you, Mary,” the teacher replied. “You know class, when we learn about our ancestors, we learn more about ourselves. For homework, you were to talk to your parents about your ancestors, and bring something to class about one of them. Who would like to go first?”
Everyone’s hand went up except Song Lee’s and Ida’s. I expected Song Lee not to raise her hand. She was shy about going up in front of the class. But I had no idea why Ida didn’t raise hers. So I asked.
“I want to be last,” she whispered back. “Mine is really special.” I nodded as she squeezed her gold key.
“Me! Me! Me!” Sidney called out, waving his hand in the air as if he had just fallen in the middle of a frozen lake.
“Sidney,” Miss Mackle replied calmly.
Sid raced up to the front of the room and put a patch over his left eye. “My grandmother told me about our family tree. And three hundred years ago one of my ancestors was a pirate! His name was Rupert, and he had red hair just like me. He sailed off the coast of Cape Cod. Isn’t that cool?”
Everyone raised their eyebrows. Even Harry. It was definitely cool.
Sidney continued. “My grandmother also told me the reason why he wore one gold earring. When a pirate dies and is washed ashore, whoever finds his dead body is supposed to dig him a grave and bury him. The gold earring pays for the guy’s hard work.”
“Fascinating!” Miss Mackle exclaimed.
“Was Rupert’s dead body washed ashore?” Harry asked.
“No,” Sidney groaned. “Grandma said when his ship docked one day, he met a woman named Rose, married her, and wasn’t a pirate anymore. Bummer.”
“Bummer,” Harry agreed.
When it was Mary’s turn, she unfolded a quilt. “My great-grandmother Gilda made this in Israel. Her family saved scraps of cloth and sewed them together to make blankets. Mom said they didn’t waste anything.”
“It’s so colorful!” Miss Mackle exclaimed.
I went up next. “My great-grandfather Benjamin was president of a bank in Indiana. He was real good with numbers. But Mom told me there was something cal
led the Great Depression in 1930 and his bank closed. He was sad about that.”
Then I showed everyone my piggy bank. “Grandfather Ben gave this to my mom and she gave it to me. I save my pennies and nickels in it now.”
After I sat down, it was Harry’s turn.
He held up a dog tag on a long silver chain. “This belonged to my great-grandfather Sam Spooger. He was a captain in World War II. Mom said when he was in Italy, an artillery shell fell off the rack. Right in front of ten army men!
“Those huge bullets are heavier than a bowling ball! If one of those babies hit the ground, you’d be blasted to smithereens. Well, my great-grandfather caught it with his bare hands before it touched the ground. He saved his men, but he lost his thumb. He was a hero.”
Miss Mackle put her hand over her heart and sighed.
When Song Lee went up to the front of the room, she spoke in a soft voice. Slowly, she opened her big bag. “My great-grandfather Chung Hee Park was a painter. He painted this picture of the countryside in South Korea where my family lived. Korea means land of high mountains and sparkling streams. And that is what Great-Grandfather Chung Hee liked to paint.”
Song Lee finally smiled as she headed for her seat. I think she was relieved her turn was over.
“Thank you for sharing your ancestor’s beautiful painting!” Miss Mackle said. “And thank you, boys and girls, for sharing such inspiring stories!”
Finally, Miss Mackle called the last person. “Ida?”
Ida picked up the black box and walked to the front of the room.
Everyone sat up and waited to find out what was inside her locked box.
Ida’s Box
We all watched Ida use the key on her gold necklace to unlock the box. When it clicked, our eyes doubled in size.
But instead of opening the box, she pulled down our world map. “My great-great-grandmother,” Ida said, “was born here in India.” Everyone looked at the country she pointed to. “It kind of looks like an ice cream cone.”
Everyone leaned forward as Ida slowly removed the lid from her black box. “Her name was Persis, and she sailed on the Titanic!”
“Oooooooh,” everyone oohed.
“Did Purse die in the icy water?” Sidney asked.
“No, Persis was a survivor,” Ida said proudly. “The things in this black box are replicas. Mom told me that means copies. They’re not the originals. But it gives you an idea of what it was like to be on the Titanic. There are postcards, and a menu, and even telegrams warning about the icebergs.”
“Ooooooh,” we oohed again.
Miss Mackle closed her grade book. “Amazing! Your great-great-grandmother sailed on the Titanic!”
“She was a dancer like me,” Ida added with a big grin. “She danced in the general room until midnight. That’s where the third-class passengers played instruments.”
“Rupert sang sea chanteys like yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!” Sidney blurted out.
“If Elvis was there, he’d be playing his guitar,” Dexter chimed in. Then he shuffled his feet and tapped his fingers on his desk.
Mary snapped at both Sidney and Dexter, “Shhhh! It’s not your turn!”
Ida continued, “Great-Great-Grandmother Persis was 98 years old when she died. I don’t remember her because I was just a baby then. But Mom showed me her scrapbook. When she finally got to America, she met my great-great-grandfather in New York City. He was an African-American. My ancestors are from India and Africa.”
Harry left his seat without permission and got the T encyclopedia. I knew he was looking up the Titanic.
“When she was on the lifeboat, she sang a lot,” Ida added. “Mom told me it helped calm the people.”
Five minutes later, when we were still talking about the Titanic, Harry found what he was looking for. “Here it is!”
Everyone shot out of their seat and ran over to Harry. Miss Mackle didn’t say anything. She came over too.
“Look at that big baby!” Harry exclaimed. “It covers two pages. It says the Titanic was as long as four city blocks. Hey, Doug, that’s how far it is from my house to your house.”
“Wow,” I sighed.
While some of us gathered around Harry, others gathered around Ida to look at the postcards, menus, and telegrams.
“Who would like to go to the library and check out some books on the Titanic?” Miss Mackle asked.
Six of us darted over to her desk for the green library passes. Little did we know that Ida’s box would take us to sea, ourselves!
All Aboard!
That morning six of us rushed to the library and checked out books on the Titanic. When there were no more, our librarian, Mrs. Michaelsen, suggested Harry and I look at a book on the Mayflower. “That’s a great ship too,” she said. Then she helped Sidney find one about a pirate ship.
“Thanks!” we replied, and we took the books back to class.
The rest of that morning we drew pictures of ships and collected facts about them. Song Lee and Mary and Ida used Magic Markers to make a giant Titanic ship. They used a map from Ida’s box to draw the rooms. They even made the Turkish bath room and the smoking room. Song Lee used a ruler.
Sidney kept singing yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. Then he made up his own verses:A pirate’s tough but he can sing.
He wears a patch and a gold earring.
He climbs up rope and sails the sea
With a yo ho ho and a yo ho hee!
Harry and I clapped. “Not bad, Sid the Squid,” Harry said. Then we got back to work.
“Let’s make a list of numbers about the Mayflower,” I suggested.
“Neato,” Harry said, taking a stub pencil from behind his ear.
“Here’s two,” I said. “The Mayflower set sail in 1620, and there were 102 passengers on board.”
“Here’s another: a storm lasted 14 days,” Harry said.
“The Pilgrims were on the ship for 65 days,” I added.
“Here’s the poop deck,” Harry said. “See? It’s this top deck. That’s probably where they went to the bathroom.”
“Nope. Not there,” I said. “I read about it. When they had to go to the bathroom, they did it downstairs in chamber pots.”
Harry thought about it for a minute. Then he called out, “Hey, Ida! Did your great-great-grandmother have a chamber pot!”
Ida stopped coloring. “Yes, she did. It looked like a big porcelain vase with a lid, and had flowers on it. It was a beautiful potty.”
As soon as Song Lee started giggling, Ida and Mary did too. Then they added a chamber pot to their drawing.
“Hey Sid!” Harry hollered. “Where did pirates go to the bathroom?”
Sidney pointed at something in his pirate’s book. It looked like a see-saw, but half of it was hanging over the water.
“See this wooden plank with big holes in it?”
We nodded.
“That’s it!” Sid replied. “Pirates sat on it. They went to the bathroom right into the ocean.”
“Eeyeew!” most of us groaned.
Suddenly Harry jumped up. “You know what we should do?”
No one said anything.
“We should set sail on the sea!” Harry held his hands up high and then made a three-finger salute.
Mary stopped drawing the library room of the Titanic. “What? Room 3B go to sea?”
Harry shrugged. “Why not?” Then he raced over to the plastic tub of brochures Miss Mackle kept about our
“What?” Sidney asked.
“What?” Mary repeated.
They were both standing over Harry while he rummaged around. Finally he pulled out a bright red-and-blue brochure. There was a picture of a riverboat on the cover. “This!”
Miss Mackle came over. “Oh, yes, that’s the riverboat at Essex. It cruises up and down the Connecticut River.”
“Oooooooh,” Ida replied, looking at the picture of the riverboat with the two red, white, and black smokestacks. “I wish we could go to sea, too!”
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“Why not?” Harry said.
Mary brought up one reason. “Because it costs money. We would have to pay for the bus and boat.”
“That’s true,” I agreed.
Miss Mackle picked up the brochure and looked at the schedule for late fall trips. “Actually, we have money left in our field trip fund. ”We could ... go to sea. Lots of our ancestors did.”
Harry and Ida started jumping up and down.
The rest of Room 3B cheered.
“Let’s do it!” Miss Mackle exclaimed.
“All aboard!” Ida and Harry called.
The Missing Earring
November 24 was the day we set sail. We met at 7:30 A.M. in front of the school. It was dark enough for Harry to use his pocket flashlight. When he saw me, he shined it in my face. “Sit with you on the bus,” he said.
“Sure,” I said. I was counting on it. Then I noticed what Harry was wearing. An orange life jacket.
“Where did you get that thing?” I asked.
Harry patted his life jacket and then secured the buckle. “I got it at a tag sale with my own money. Cool, huh?”
“Cool.” Then we slapped each other five.
Ida’s mother, Mrs. Burrell, was one of the six chaperones. Miss Mackle was happy she was coming along because Mrs. Burrell was a nurse. Ida and her mother both had yellow raincoats on.
Sidney’s stepdad got on the bus with Sidney. Mr. La Fleur was wearing a pith helmet and a black jacket with silver letters on the back that said: George La Fleur TOMBSTONES.
Sidney had a pen and a pad of paper. He was drawing a pirate ship.
Just before the bus took off, Miss Mackle passed out white sailor hats for everyone to wear. Each hat had our name printed on the front in black ink. “I couldn’t resist these,” she exclaimed. “I got them on special at the Army Navy store. They’ll make great name tags!”