1 THE BULLY

Gavin slowly poked his head through the bush and looked both ways. 

Where did he go? thought Gavin. I hope I lost him.

“Gavin the Goober! Gavin the Goober!” yelled Tommy. “Time to pay up!”

Oh no, he’s still after me.

Tommy stood just a few feet away with fists clenched and a snarl on his face.

He was the meanest kid in the whole fourth grade, maybe even all of Willow Elementary! He liked to take lunch money from other kids just for fun!

But today was pizza day at school. Gavin’s favorite food was pepperoni pizza. Even though he was scared, he would not give Tommy his lunch money today.  

Gavin froze, trying to think of a way out of this mess. 

“Hey, Gavin!” yelled Shannon and Christian, waving. 

Gavin’s friends were just the distraction he needed. As soon as Tommy turned around, Gavin took off running! 

“Hey, you come back here!” yelled Tommy as he took off in a sprint.

Gavin’s heart pounded out of his chest as he heard Tommy’s footsteps drawing nearer.

“You’ll be sorry when I get you, Gavin!” 

Gavin didn’t give up; he just kept running and running. He ran through the trees, jumped over a ditch, and before he knew it, he found himself on a street he had never seen before. Quickly, coming to a stop, his hands fell to his knees. Panting heavily, he searched for a place to hide.

An odd little store in between two large buildings caught his eye. It was made of brown cobblestones with a red-painted door. The windows were dusty, and this store looked out of place on this street.

I’ll hide in there, thought Gavin.

He looked up and read the worn, brown letters “SOUL SHOES” painted on a wooden sign above the door. 

Gavin ran into the store, pulling the door closed behind him. A cheery jingle sounded as the door closed. He ducked down and peered out the window, watching for Tommy, but there was no sign of him.

“Whew! I lost him!” 

2 MR. COBBLES

“You lost who?” asked a deep, soft voice behind him.

Gavin jumped.

“You don’t seem to want to find what you lost,” said the man.

Gavin turned to see a tall, thin man with wiry white hair smiling at him. He wore a brown suit with gold buttons and a white shirt. The man reached up and straightened his blue-and-yellow striped bowtie.

“I am Mr. Cobbles,” the man said. “This is my store, Soul Shoes. How may I help you?”

Gavin stuttered nervously, but no real words could come out.

There was something odd about Mr. Cobbles, but he seemed very friendly.

 “Come sit down, my boy, and tell me what has brought you to my store,” asked the old man, smiling warmly. 

Gavin walked over to a wooden bench and sat down. 

“My name is Gavin,” he said. “I was running from a mean boy named Tommy. He wanted to take my lunch money again.” 

“Oh, I see,” said Mr. Cobbles gently. “You have a bully problem. We know a thing or two about bullies, don’t we, Captain?”

Gavin looked around. There was no one else in the small shop. Maybe Mr. Cobbles had an imaginary friend. He remembered when a girl named Amy had an imaginary friend in first grade. She would always bring two lunches and chat out loud.

“Ummm … who are you talking to?” 

 Suddenly, Gavin saw a flurry of what looked like feathers fly out from behind the shoe rack and land on Mr. Cobbles’ outstretched arm. 

“There you are, Captain,” said Mr. Cobbles.

Captain was a parrot!

“No to bullies. No to bullies. No to bullies,” squawked Captain.

A parrot in a shoe store, could this day get any stranger? 

Gavin rose from his seat and walked towards Captain for a closer look. He was a large bird, bigger than he had ever seen. He had a brilliant red head and blue and yellow feathers throughout his wings. His eyes were big, piercing globes that rolled around in all directions as he spoke. Captain tilted his head side to side to get a better look at Gavin. 

“No to bullies. No to bullies,” repeated Captain.

Gavin's heart started pounding, and his face fell to a frown thinking about Tommy.

“May I hide in here a little longer to make sure he is gone?” Gavin pleaded to Mr. Cobbles.

“Yes, my boy. However, that will only help you today,” said Mr. Cobbles. “I think you need a more permanent solution.”

3 SOUL SHOES

Curious, Gavin walked up and down the aisles. It wasn’t like any shoe store he’d ever visited before. The tall wooden racks were filled to the top with all sorts of shoes. Gavin couldn’t help but notice something really strange. He couldn’t find a single pair of sneakers on the shelves. There were no flip-flops or basketball shoes. There weren’t any shoes he expected to see in a shoe store. None of the shoes appeared to be from this century. Most looked very, very old. Some were boots but very worn. One pair of brown boots had a hole in the left toe. Others looked like some he had only seen in history books. 

“Mr. Cobbles, these are very different shoes,” said Gavin.

“Yes,” said Mr. Cobbles. “They are special. They are shoes worn by men from the past. Most of these shoes were worn before you were even born.

“What?” asked Gavin. “Really?”

His eyes widened as if they might pop out of his head. He spied one pair of boots that looked like boots he had seen from colonial days in his history book. 

They were tall brown boots with a brown cuff around the top and worn places around the toes.

Captain flew over to perch on the shoe rack. 

“Who wore these?” asked Gavin, pointing to the boots.

“Tea party. Tea party. Tea party,” squawked Captain, flapping his wings.

“Not yet, Captain. I will get to that,” said Mr. Cobbles.

Mr. Cobbles walked over to the boots.

“These were worn by a colonist in Boston, Massachusetts, way back in 1773,” said Mr. Cobbles, turning to Gavin. “You have something in common with him.”

Gavin leaned forward to hear more.

What could I have in common with someone from 1773? 

“Me?” said Gavin, raising his eyebrows.

“Yes,” said Mr. Cobbles. “You see, he and others were bullied by the King of England, King George.”

“It’s no fun to be bullied,” said Gavin quietly. 

“Let me tell you his story,” said Mr. Cobbles.

4 FIRST WALK

“The colonists left England to live in America, but King George still ruled over them. King George and his government made laws that the colonists had to follow without representation,” said Mr. Cobbles.

“How did King George bully them?” asked Gavin.

“He thought he could do whatever he wanted to the colonists,” said Mr. Cobbles. ‘He made them pay high taxes on things sent to the colonies. And he ignored them when they complained about the taxes being unfair. This was known as taxation without representation.”

“Wow, that’s mean,” said Gavin.

“Then, he decided to tax their tea,” said Mr. Cobbles. “And colonists really loved their tea.”

“What did the colonists do?” asked Gavin.

“They held a tea party. And the colonists who wore these boots helped throw it!”

Mr. Cobbles picked up the boots and carried them back to the bench. Captain fluttered along behind him.

“Come here, Gavin,” said Mr. Cobbles. “Do you want to go on an adventure, my boy?”

“What do you mean?” asked Gavin.

“When you put on these shoes, you will go back in history and have the chance to walk in this colonist’s life,” said Mr. Cobbles.

“Wow!” shouted Gavin. “Really? Like time travel?”

‘You can learn a lot walking in someone else’s shoes,” said Mr. Cobbles. “But, I must warn you, the danger will be real. There was a lot of anger between the colonists and England.” 

Captain flew to perch on the hat rack by Gavin's bench. 

“Danger is real. Danger is real. Danger is real,” cried Captain.

Gavin looked at Captain. You are an odd bird.

“I’ll be careful,” said Gavin.

“I have something else for you,” said Mr. Cobbles.

He handed Gavin a small pocket mirror. 

“What’s this for?” asked Gavin.

“You will look like the colonist who wore these boots. You become him when you walk in his shoes. Use the mirror to see yourself once you arrive,” Mr. Cobbles said.

He handed the boots to Gavin. 

“One last thing, when you wish to return, simply remove the boots,” said Mr. Cobbles..

Gavin excitedly put them on. 

His feet started to tingle.

Mr. Cobbles started to fade, causing Gavin to squint to see him.

Everything went black, and a cold chill washed over him.

An unfamiliar scene gradually came into focus before his very eyes.  

5 THE BIG MEETING

“Whoa,” whispered Gavin. “I can’t believe it. It happened. I actually went back in time.” 

The first thing he noticed was his fingers were starting to go numb. A very chilly wind blew over his body. It was really cold. It was getting dark, and he was shivering uncontrollably.

Then, he noticed his clothes. He lifted his leg to walk and looked down to see coarse, wool, black pants tucked into his boots. He wore a white shirt with a brown vest.  He also wore a brown overcoat, which he pulled together in the front to keep the chilly wind out. And everything seemed smaller around him.

He remembered the mirror Mr. Cobbles gave him. He excitedly pulled out the mirror and looked into it. His unrecognizable face staring back at him caused him to jump.

Whoa, I’m a man! Things aren’t smaller; I’m just bigger, he thought. And what a cool hat I have on.

He looked like a grown man in colonial Boston. He had curly brown hair and wore a broad-brimmed black hat. Wrinkles surrounded his now-brown eyes. He giggled at his big belly that strained against his white shirt.

“Gathering at the Old South Meeting House!” shouted a voice in the background.

It looked like a crowd of people — colonists! thought Gavin — were heading towards a building. It was the biggest building around.

Gavin joined in the crowd, wanting to see what was going on.

When he entered the house, he found the wooden pews packed with people. They were angrily talking about the ships in the harbor.

“They cannot unload that tea!” shouted one man.

“They must turn those ships around!” yelled another.

“Hello. Excuse me, but I’m from … umm … out of town. What’s going on?” Gavin whispered to a woman next to him.

“They tell us, if the ships in the harbor, sent from England, unload their tea, Boston shall have to pay the tea tax,” she whispered.

“Samuel Adams sent the owner of one of the ships to meet with Governor Hutchinson. He’s asking permission for his ship to leave the harbor with the tea,” said the man beside her. “The Governor has the final rule in Boston.”

Gavin nodded his head, finally starting to understand what was going on.

“Good evening, Sir, I’m James,” the man continued, tipping his hat towards Gavin. “This is my wife, Sarah,” pointing to the woman Gavin had been whispering with.

“’Tis Samuel Adams,” James said, pointing to a man in long coattails, talking to a large group of colonists. “He’s one of the most important leaders in Boston. He leads the resistance against England.”

Then, a man walked into the meeting hall.

“’Tis the owner of the Dartmouth ship who went to meet with the Governor,” said James, pointing.

The Dartmouth’s owner looked around nervously at the crowd. 

“The Governor hath declared my ships cannot leave the harbor without unloading the tea,” announced the man. “You shall unload the tea and pay the tax.”

“Bad news falls upon us,” whispered Sarah. 

Samuel Adams rose. “This meeting can do no more to save this country!” he roared. 

Then, colonists started shouting, “Hurrah for Griffin’s Wharf!” and “Boston Harbor — a Teapot Tonight!” 

The colonists stormed out of the meeting house. 

Where are they going? wondered Gavin. I don’t want to miss anything. I better follow them.

Gavin hurried to catch up. 

6 DRESSING UP

Gavin followed the colonists to what appeared to be a blacksmith’s shop. A raised brick hearth occupied a wall in the small, dark room. Iron bars lay against a table, and long-handled tongs rested on a heavy iron block.

They went inside, where many other people were waiting. 

“England has left us no choice!” shouted one man from the crowd. “We shall dump the tea into the harbor to keep it from coming ashore.”

“Here, here! We’ll throw them a right fancy tea party!” yelled another.

Gavin thought this was what Mr. Cobbles meant by ‘the colonists had a tea party.

“Here, ye can wear this,” said James, standing beside Gavin. “We shall all dress like Indians.”

He handed Gavin ragged clothes to put on. Gavin recognized the loose brown shirt, brown pants, and colorful feathered headdress from his studies on Native Americans.

“’Twill hide our identities so as not to get caught by the redcoats,” James said. 

He must mean the British soldiers. I bet they are called redcoats because of the red coats they wear, thought Gavin.

“Thanks!” said Gavin excitedly. “This is just like Halloween!”

James furrowed his brows with a questioning look.

“Never mind,” said Gavin.

He knew this would be much more serious than dressing up for Halloween.

Another colonist handed Gavin a hatchet.

He slowly took the hatchet and remembered Mr. Cobbles warning him about the real danger in colonial times.

“What’s this for?” asked Gavin. 

“Use it to open the tea crates,” he said. “Then dump the tea into the harbor. We shall not have a spot of tea left in the crates.”

“’Twill show England they cannot make us pay this tea tax!” yelled another colonist.

Wow! thought Gavin. Are they really going to dump all that tea into the sea?

He noticed some men rub their hands in coal dust from the shop, smearing it all over their faces and hands. 

Wow, this is exciting, thought Gavin. I can’t believe this is happening!

He started smearing coal dust all over his face, too. 

Gavin elbowed his way through the growing crowd of ragged, dirty men over to a corner and pulled out his mirror. He looked at his disguise and smiled in approval. His eyes and teeth shone bright white amid his coal-dusted face.

“Let us take our leave,” said James.

The crowd of men and Gavin pushed through the door, spilling out onto the road in the dark of the night. 

7 TAKE THAT ENGLAND

Gavin, James, and the colonists joined another group and marched towards the wharf. The docks swayed violently under his feet, and water splashed around his boots.

“Let us proceed!” ordered a man. He directed Gavin’s group to board the Dartmouth ship.

“’Tis time to dump some tea!” exclaimed one man. 

Gavin climbed onto the ship and watched a colonist open a tea crate with his hatchet. 

I’m a little scared, thought Gavin. What will England do to us? Visions of Tommy chasing him suddenly flooded his thoughts.

“Take that, England!” said one man.

“No more taxation without representation,” shouted the crowd.

These are brave men. If they can do it, I can do it too.

He walked towards a crate and swung his hatchet down, breaking it open and splintering the wood. 

He lifted the crate over the ship's side and dumped it into the harbor. He watched as the water turned brown before his eyes.

Wow! I actually did it.

Gavin and the colonists went from crate to crate until all the tea was dumped into the sea. They worked for hours in the chilly night air. His hands turned red and were chapped and sore.

The longer Gavin worked, the braver he felt. He liked that feeling.

“Whew!” shouted Gavin when he dumped his last tea crate into the sea.

He couldn’t believe he had been a part of the Boston Tea Party. 

James appeared out of the crowd and patted him on the back. 

“Pray, Sir, have you dumped enough tea?”

“Yes, James, we had a tea party tonight!” answered Gavin.

Hundreds of people had gathered on the wharf to watch. They were cheering for them.

Gavin walked off the Dartmouth in his Native American costume, feeling very braver than he had ever felt in his life. He looked down at his worn colonial boots, wiping the sweat off his face and smearing the coal dust.

8 AFTER THE PARTY

“What will happen now?” asked Gavin.

“Well, King George will be mad. But we had to stick up for our rights,” James replied.

“Aren’t you scared?” asked Gavin.

“Yes, but whatever happens is better than doing nothing, right?” 

Gavin nodded in agreement.

It does feel good standing up to England.

As they walked along the wharf, James spotted Sarah in the crowd.

James shook Gavin’s hand and said, “I must take my leave.” He ran towards his cheering wife.

Gavin took a final look at the tea floating in the sea. They had dumped a lot of tea. Pools of brown and black flooded the sea.

He pulled out his mirror. He wanted to see the face of the colonist whose shoes he wore one last time. He hoped he never forgot his face.

I think it’s time to go home.

He crouched down on the swaying dock and peeled off his wet boots.

The Dartmouth started to fade.

The colonists in the distance started to fade. 

The blackness came again, along with cold chills.

Mr. Cobbles' face started to appear out of the darkness.

He was back in the Soul Shoes store, among the dusty aisles of shoes.

9 HOME AGAIN

Mr. Cobbles was smiling at Gavin.

He took his boots and put them back on the shelf.

“Did you have a great adventure, my boy,” he asked.

“Did I ever!” shouted Gavin. 

Captain, fluttering his wings, was perched on the hat rack.

“Tea party. Tea party. Tea party,” squawked Captain in his shrill voice.

“Yes, Captain. I was a part of the tea party,” Gavin said, smiling. “I dressed like a Native American and helped dump all the tea into the harbor. We showed England we wouldn’t sit back and take being taxed. 

Mr. Cobbles smiled warmly.

“No taxation without representation! No taxation without representation!” chanted Gavin.

“Weren’t you scared?” asked Mr. Cobbles, raising his eyebrows.

“Yes. And the others were scared, too. But letting someone bully you is worse than being scared,” said Gavin.

Mr. Cobbles smiled.

“Sometimes it helps to walk in someone else’s shoes,” said Mr. Cobbles.

“What will happen to the colonists who dumped all that tea?” asked Gavin.

“Well, my boy, only one man, Francis Akeley, was caught and put in jail. No one else was arrested. And best of all, no one died during the Boston Tea Party,” said Mr. Cobbles. “It was a peaceful way to stand up to the King George.”

“Whew!” said Gavin. He hoped his new friends James and Sarah were not in trouble.

Then, Gavin looked down at his watch and jumped up.

“Whoa! I have to get going, or I’ll be late for school!” said Gavin.

“Goodbye, Gavin,” said Mr. Cobbles. “Come back anytime for another adventure, my boy.”

“I will!” said Gavin. 

Gavin waved goodbye to Mr. Cobbles and Captain and ran out the door, hearing the happy jingle as the door slammed behind him. 

10 FINDING BRAVERY

The following morning, the alarm clock rang, jolting Gavin from a deep sleep.

Gavin reached over to silence the loud alarm. He had been dreaming about his Boston Tea Party adventure.

Kitty was pawing at Gavin’s face. 

Gavin rubbed Kitty’s head and smiled. 

Today would be a good day.

He quickly got ready for school, ran by his mom and dad, grabbed a donut, and yelled, “In a hurry. See you later. Shannon is waiting for me.” Then, he ran out the door.

He saw Shannon waiting for him on the sidewalk.

“Hi!” said Gavin. He was smiling from ear to ear.

“Wow! Something’s different about you,” said Shannon. She eyed him curiously.

“I feel different,” said Gavin. “I’ll tell you about it later.”

As they headed down the street towards school, Shannon looked around anxiously.

“We better hurry if we’re going to get to school before Tommy shows up,” she said.

“No,” said Gavin. “I’m not running from him anymore.”

“Are you crazy?” said Shannon.

“I have to stand up for myself, Shannon,” Gavin said. “I’m not going to let anyone bully me again.”

“Wow,” Shannon said. “Maybe you have had too many donuts. The sugar has messed with your brain. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Gavin laughed, brushing off her concerns. 

Walking up to the school, they saw Tommy slumped up against the wall — waiting. He began walking towards them with that mean scowl permanently etched on his face. His bully buddies gathered behind him. 

Shannon stopped in her tracks, but Gavin gently reached for her hand and kept them walking, leading them toward the menacing group.

When Tommy reached them, he said, “You owe me twice the money today since you skipped out on me yesterday, Gavin.”

Gavin started to tremble, but then he remembered how the colonists had stood up to the British. They were scared but poured the tea into the harbor to show they would no longer be bullied.

He remembered how good he felt on his walk in the Boston Tea Party. He gathered all his strength, took confident steps in his blue sneakers towards Tommy, and looked him sternly in the eyes.

“No!” said Gavin. “I won’t ever give you my money again.”

“What did you say?” asked Tommy angrily.

“I said ‘No!’” shouted Gavin.

Tommy clenched his fists, stepped towards him, and suddenly stopped. 

Gavin realized then it was no longer just him and Shannon. He was surrounded by the other neighborhood kids, all glaring at Tommy and his gang. 

“If you fight Gavin, you fight us all,” said his friend Christian. The rest nodded in agreement.

Tommy looked at his bully buddies to find they had all taken a step back. He shook his head and said, “Nah, you aren’t worth it.” He turned and walked off, slumping his shoulders in defeat.

The small crowd erupted in cheers, and Christian patted Gavin on the back.

“That was really brave standing up to Tommy,” said Shannon.

“I was scared, but I know being brave means taking action even though you are scared,” said Gavin.

Gavin, Shannon, and the other kids happily walked together the rest of the way to school. 

Today, they all felt brave.