Lara Bergen: Sophie the Chatterbox

Mindy’s face got pinchy mad. Lily’s face did, too. But Sophie was too busy pumping her fist to look at them.

Being honest was awesome!

Ranger Fawn picked Sophie for butter churning. Then — yay! — she picked Kate, too.

Then she picked a bunch of their other friends.

Then she picked Toby and Archie.

Too bad.

Their group gathered around the butter churn. Ranger Fawn poured a big jug of cream into it.

She showed them how to move the stick up and down. That was easy.

Then she told them to have fun and take turns. That was hard.

Grace’s mom was in charge of their group. She tried to make it work, but she had never been in charge of Toby and Archie before.

Toby and Archie were very bad at taking turns.

“Me first!” Archie yelled.

“No, me first!” Toby hollered.

They both grabbed the butter churn handle — and they did not let go.

“Boys, boys, boys,” Grace’s mom said gently.

“Everyone will have a turn. Let your friend go first,” she told Toby. “Then you can go.”

Sophie shared a look with Kate. Grace’s mom did not know Archie and Toby at all!

Toby looked at her and shrugged. He let Archie grab the handle. Then Archie started churning the butter as fast as he could.

“Okay, next,” Grace’s mom told him.

But Archie did not stop. So Toby grabbed his arms to pull him away. The butter churn rocked….

“Boys!” Grace’s mom yelled. She did not sound gentle anymore. “That’s it! You’re done!”

A few other kids went. Then at last it was Sophie’s turn. She couldn’t wait! She gripped the handle tightly. And she churned and churned and churned….

Then she stopped.

Boy, were her arms tired! Churning butter was much harder than it looked.

“What’s the matter, Sophie? Tired already?” Toby jeered.

Sophie glared at him. She wanted to say no, but she could not lie. She was Sophie the Honest, after all.

“Yes,” she muttered. Then she started to stick out her tongue.

But before she could, Ranger Fawn was there.

“The hoecakes are done,” she said. “How’s the butter coming?”

Sophie wiped her forehead. “I think it’s ready,” she said.

She stood back and let Ranger Fawn lift the lid. The ranger dipped a scoop into the churn, and Sophie grinned. She could not wait to see the homemade butter!

But what came out did not look like butter. It looked like melted ice cream.

“Aw …” Sophie sighed.

So did Kate, and Grace, and some others.

Then Mindy looked over.

“She should have let the experts do it,” Mindy said, rolling her eyes.

Not everybody heard Mindy. But Sophie sure did. She put her hands on her hips. “Mind your own beeswax, Mindy!” she said.

Then she spun around fast. She’d churn that butter and show Mindy! The only thing was … she forgot that the butter churn was right there behind her.

If only the lid had been on it. Then maybe all the white stuff would not have spilled out when Sophie knocked it over. But it did spill out. Everywhere. Even on Ranger Fawn’s black boots and Grace’s mom’s silvery shoes.

Oops.

Sophie had a rule. She did not cry at school. But Sophie was not at school. She was in George Washington’s kitchen.

She could feel her throat get tight. Her eyes got hot and leaky.

Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Ranger Fawn’s.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry. Accidents happen,” Ranger Fawn told her.

That’s the truth! Sophie thought.

She sniffed and felt a little better.

While Grace’s mom shook out her shoes, Ranger Fawn got a mop and a bucket. She dried the floor and her boots. Then she poured more cream into a jar.

Everyone took a turn shaking it. By the time they were done, the cream had changed. A lot.

“Is that butter?” Sophie asked.

“Yes, sirree!” said Ranger Fawn.

She set the hoecakes on the table. The other group had made them with cornmeal, water, and salt. They looked a little bit like pancakes. But they did not taste like them at all.

Thank goodness for butter and honey! Sophie thought.

“So, what do you think of the hoecakes?” Ranger Fawn asked the class.

Sophie spoke up. “To be honest, they taste like they came from the workshop.”

“Oh, Sophie …” Ms. Moffly shook her head.

But Ranger Fawn grinned and nodded. “The truth is, I don’t like them much, either. How about we go out to the barn now?” she said. “We can see some animals. Then you guys can have lunch.”

“Yay!” the class cheered.

As they walked outside, Kate took Sophie’s arm.

“The barn — that reminds me! I have to tell you something big, Sophie!” Kate whispered.

Something big?

Sophie looked at her. “What?” she asked at once.

Kate started to speak. Then she looked around and closed her mouth.

“I better tell you in private — so no one else hears. After school,” she said.

Sophie waited for Kate to tell her the big news. But it was not easy.

Sophie waited through the field trip.

She waited on the bus back to school and the bus home.

She waited until she got to Kate’s house.

Then she could not wait anymore.

“You have to tell me now!” she cried as they walked into Kate’s kitchen. “Honestly! I can’t wait anymore!”

“I will, I will. In a second,” Kate told her. She had a giant smile on her face. “Hi, Mrs. Belle! We’re home!” she called out.

A cheerful voice called back to them. “Hellooo! I’ll be right there!”

Mrs. Belle lived in their neighborhood. She had three kids, but they were all grown up. She came over to Kate’s in the afternoon and stayed until Kate’s mom got home from work.

Kate’s mom worked in a doctor’s office, but she was not a doctor or a nurse. Sophie was pretty sure her job was to keep people quiet in the waiting room.

Sophie liked Mrs. Belle. She knew a million card games. And she let Sophie and Kate watch TV game shows with her.

She also made stuffed cabbage. It smelled pretty bad. But it actually tasted good.

Mrs. Belle walked into the kitchen. She was wearing her favorite tracksuit. It was bright yellow, like her hair. Sophie knew that it had to be her favorite, since she’d dyed her hair to match.

Mrs. Belle gave Kate and Sophie a hug. “So, how was school today, girls? What did you do?” she asked them.

Kate shrugged. She said the usual: “Okay,” and “Not much.”

Sophie usually said the same thing. But now that she was Sophie the Honest, “Okay” and “Not much” were not enough.

Sophie took a breath. She cleared her throat.

“To be honest, Mrs. Belle, school was hard today. Before we went on a field trip, we had a spelling quiz first thing. And I thought I knew all the words. But guess what? I studied the words from last week by accident. But then the day got better, because we got to go on our trip. That meant we got to miss meat loaf for lunch. So that was very good. Then I scared Toby and Archie away, and Kate and I got the back seat of the bus. But then I opened my lunch bag. And my mom packed me egg salad. And it stunk up the whole bus….”

Sophie stopped and took another breath. Then she went on.

“Anyway, we walked all over the place where George Washington was born. And I guess we learned some stuff. Stuff like if you ever go on a field trip, do not wear fancy shoes. And that George Washington’s teeth probably fell out because he ate hoecakes that tasted like wood. And that he did not have a TV. But even if he did, I bet it would have gotten burned. And that even presidents can have the most boring jobs in the world.”