Chapter 4
A Trip to Germany
“I can’t wait!” Betty said excitedly as she and Pam packed their things for the trip.
Pam smiled and said, “are you ready now?”
“Um-hm. Come on, then.” The two sisters, holding hands, walked downstairs and out the door. There they found Joe and Ronnie waiting for them. The four children walked across the street to Juanita Clare's house, a ten year old girl, who Pam often walked to school with. The four had arranged that all their friends meet at her house in the cellar so they could explain where they were going. Several bicycles were in the yard, so Pam guessed that most of their friends had already arrived.
Pam knocked and Mrs. Clare opened the door. “Oh, hello. Your friends are waiting for you in the cellar. The Holt children thanked her and walked down into the cellar.
“They’re here!” Allison Murray, a ten year old and a friend of Pam's said happily. After saying hi, Joe went to the front with Pam and the other Holt children sat down.
“Alright,” Joe said. “To begin with, our family is taking a trip to Germany.” He grinned.
“Germany!” Several children echoed.
“Yes. We’re starting next Wednesday. Dad doesn’t have to go into work, so that he could take a trip like this. We’ll be gone for four weeks. Pam and I are going to try to write to each of you at least once a week. Maybe we’ll even bring a souvenir back for you.”
“Oh, I wish I could go to Germany,” eleven year old Holly Meer said wistfully.
“Me too,” her brother Dan, who was twelve said.
“I wish you could all go,” Joe said, smiling. “But I’m afraid it won’t work out like that.”
“We will miss you,” Juanita commented.
“Ronnie?” Ronnie's friend, Jason Morris, who was eight, asked. “Are you going, too?”
“Are you going, Betty?” Jason's sister, Caroline asked.
“I’m afraid we both are,” Betty answered the the six year old girl.
"Anyway," Joe went on. "As you all know, we recently found a stray puppy, Ginger. We can't take her with us to Germany, so we thought one of you might would like to do it for us."
Allison raised her hand. "Oh, I would love to!" She exclaimed. She loved dogs almost as much as Pam, and had fallen completely in love with Ginger. She had no animal of her own, except for a rabbit, but she had always wanted one.
"Then Allison Murray gets it," Joe said, smiling.
"Hurrah!" She said.
After a while of talking about the trip, every child left for his own home. While Ronnie and Betty ran up ahead, Joe and Pam walked behind and talked. “It’s going to be such fun!” Pam said, smiling.
“It will. Just four more days!” Betty exclaimed, happily skipping down the road.
The next day, the telephone rang. Pam answered it. “Hello?….Oh, hi, Adam!” She put her hand over the mouthpiece for a moment to whisper to Joe. “It’s Juanita's brother Adam.” Then to Adam, “alright, what did you need?…You want us to come over?….Alright, I’ll see what mom says. Goodbye!”
“What did he want us over for?” Joe asked.
“He wouldn’t say. He just said for us children to come over right away,” Pam replied. And walking into the kitchen, she told her mother. “May we go, please, mother?”
“Of course. Just don’t be gone too long, dear.”
“Thanks, mom.”
The four children walked across the street to the Clare's home, in which the fourteen year old Adam lived. Once again Pam knocked, and Mrs. Clare opened it. “They’re down in the cellar,” she said, her eyes twinkling mischievously.
The Holt children tramped down the stairs, only to find the cellar lights off and no one in it. All of a sudden, the lights turned on and all of the Holts friends jumped out from hiding places and yelled, “surprise!"
Pam jumped in surprise. “Oh!” She said, startled. Then she grinned. “What is this? A going away party?”
Holly nodded and smiled. “It was Dan's idea. We decided to throw a goodbye party for you Holt children.”
“How thoughtful of you,” Betty said, smiling at Caroline.
After some time of games, and cake and ice cream, Juanita said, “now, for the presents!”
Joe received a brand new leather watch from Dan. “Thanks,” he said, grinning and pounding his friend on the back.
Then Corey Fill, a thirteen year old boy, walked up to Joe.”Here,” he said. He hand Joe something wrapped in white paper. Tearing it open, he found a pair of black binoculars inside. “These are swell!” He said, grinning. “Thanks a million, Corey!"
From Juanita, Pam got a bracelet which said ‘Pamela’. Purple and blue and red flowers were intwined in the letters. The bracelet was a deep blue. “Oh!” She squealed in delight. “How pretty! Thank you so much!” She gave her friend a quick hug. "Did you make this?"
Juanita nodded.
"Oh, it's so beautiful, Juanita! I love it!"
Juanita blushed and smiled. "I'm so happy you do! I hoped you would."
Holly walked up to Pam. “Here, open mine now.” Pam tore off the paper, and gasped with delight. “Oh, it’s so beautiful!” Inside lay a beautiful porcelain doll. It stood about six inches in height, and had blond hair that was in two braids and blue eyes. It wore German-style clothes with a beautiful dark green ribbons to hold the braids, and a white pearl necklace.
Next Allison gave her a a white pearl necklace, like the one her new doll wore. “They’re all so beautiful!” She said. "I love everything!" She smiled happily and hugged her three friends. "I shall miss you all ever so much!"
Then came Ronnie's turn. Adam and Jason walked up to him.
“This from both of us,” Jason said, handing him a small package. Eagerly Ronnie opened it. “Hurray!” He yelled. Inside was a red pocketknife. "I've always wanted a pocket knife! Thank you!"
“I didn’t have enough money for it by myself,” Jason said. “And sense Adam didn’t know what to buy, we decided to both buy it for you.”
“Thanks a bunch!” Ronnie said joyfully.
After they had bade all of their friends goodbye, the four children went home. They told their mother what they had been doing, and then they all set about working.
The rest of the week passed quickly. It was at the last minute that Pam remembered to pack the newspapers, and before she knew it, Mr, Holt was driving them to the airport. They bought their tickets, and were soon waiting to board the plane. They didn’t have to wait long before a voice boomed over the speaker, saying that the flight that they were going on was about to start.
They all grabbed their suitcases and headed for the plane. Inside, Pam sat beside Betty. Ronnie and Joe sat in front of them, and Mr. and Mrs. Holt sat behind Pam and Betty's seats. Pam's seat was beside the window, and she watched as the ground grew smaller and smaller. “What a beautiful view!” She said delightedly.
It wasn’t long before lunch, and they all sat down to eat. Joe and Pam struck up a conversation with a young boy and his sister. They were German, and were traveling with their parents back to Germany.
“We were visiting our grandparents who live in America,” the boy said.
“It’s always so nice to see them,” Anjelica, the girl, said, smiling.
“You two look an awful lot alike,” Joe commented.
“That’s because we’re identical twins. We’re both thirteen,” the boy, whose name was Martin said.
“Oh, how nice! I would love to have a twin brother or sister,” Pam said.
“Do you know any German?” Martin asked.
When Joe and Pam shook their heads no, he said, “would you like to learn some?”
“Oh yes!” Betty said. Joe and Pam turned to see Ronnie and Betty coming up from behind them. As they sat down beside their older brother sister, Martin said, "what do you want to learn to say first?”
“How do you say Germany?” Joe asked.
“Deutschland.”
“Daytchlant?” Ronnie repeted.
“Almost. It’s pronounced doy-tch-landt,” Anjelica said.
“Deutschland.” The children repeated it over and over until she had it memorized. “How do you say ‘how are you doing?’” Pam asked.
“Wie geht es dir,” Martin replied.
Once again, the children said it until they had it memorized.
“How do you say ‘hello’?” Ronnie asked.
“Hallo.”
“That’s easy,” Betty giggled. “How about goodbye?”
“Auf wiedersehen.”
“How do you say, 'Thank you’?” Pam questioned.
“Danke,” Anjelica answered.
The children learned several more words before their food came. Even while they ate they played it, and it wasn’t until sometime after that they tired of the game, and Martin suggested that he introduce them to his parents. They found them talking to the Holt children’s parents.
“Mother,” Anjelica said. She and Martin introduced the four children one by one. Then she introduced her parents to the Holt children. Their fathers name was Christopher Eisenhower, and their mothers name was Anette Eisenhower.
“Eisenhower,” Pam repeated the German families last name in her head. She liked the sound of it.
By the time supper had been eaten, everyone was tired, so most people on the plane went to sleep. When Pam was awoken by Anjelica, she said, “that didn’t seem like a very long night.”
Anjelica smiled. “That’s because it wasn’t. You lose a few hours of sleep when you’re flying from America to Germany, or something like that. I mean morning comes sooner, because of the time zones, or whatever they're called.”
“Oh, I forgot. Where’s Martin?” Pam asked.
“He’s over there,” Anjelica replied.
Pam turned her head. “Is he eating?”
“Ja,” came the reply.
“I’m hungry myself. I assume that they’ll come with my food soon?”
“Ja. I haven’t eaten, myself. But the stewards should be bring it soon.”
Anjelica sat down by her friend while they waited for their food, and Pam brushed her hair out and put it into a braid. Just as she finished this, a young lady with blond hair walked up. She was carrying two trays, and so Pam guessed she must be one of the stewardess's. Smiling, the stewardess handed Pam and Anjelica each a tray. It was then that Pam realized that Betty wasn’t beside her.
“Where’s Betty?” She asked.
“Oh, she’s sitting with your brothers and parents.”
The two girls walked over to each of their parents and sat down. During breakfast, Pam learned that Joe thought he had seen Mr. Clark on the plane. “Where is he now?” Pam asked.
Joe made a slight motion with his head toward the end of the big plane. “I think that’s him,” he said.
“Mother, may we please go over there and see?”
Mrs. Holt nodded, and the two children excused themselves and casually walked toward the man they suspected to be Mr. Clark. “Just act nonchalant,” Joe said through his teeth. Pam nodded. Mr. Clark had his face in a newspaper. Joe and Pam strolled by, looking as casual as they could. As soon as they were right in front of him, they saw the familiar bear tattoo on his left arm!
Just then, a loud voice boomed over the speaker: “Please be seated and buckled. We’ are about to land. Repeat: Please be buckled and seated!”
This sudden noise startled Mr. Clark, who jerked his head in the two older Holts direction. He made scowl at them but said nothing.
As the two walked back and buckled into their seats, Pam heard Betty say, "Hurray! We're in Frankfurt, Germany now!"