Ann Martin - Stacey's Broken Heart

Anyway, Mrs. DeWitt drove the kids to the barn in her van. "Good luck!" she told Mary Anne and Claudia as the kids filed out of the van.

A few minutes later, Mallory arrived with her brothers and sisters. Then Jessi came with Becca. That day Abby was baby-sitting for Haley and Matt Braddock, who are nine and seven. She brought them along, and soon everyone was assembled in the barn, ready to create piñatas.

Abby laid out the materials she'd brought along: papier-mâché powder, strips of craft balsa wood, pipe cleaners, masking tape, glue,

crepe paper, construction paper, paint, markers, and fabric paint. She even had a bag of plastic swirly eyeballs. "You bought all that for thirty dollars?" Claudia said.

"Fifty. I threw in twenty of my own," Abby said as she pulled a thick book titled Party Crafts from the bag. "It says right here how to do everything."

Mary Anne found some rubber tubs in the barn and dragged in the garden hose. Abby ripped open the bag of papier-mâché with such zeal that everyone around her was lightly powdered with the stuff. Naturally Claudia, with her artistic flair, threw herself into the project. "You pour the powder while I pour the water," she instructed Abby. "The thickness has to be just right or it doesn't work."

While they poured and mixed, Mary Anne went into her house and found a stack of newspapers in the family's recycling bin. "This is an. unusual form of recycling," she said as she returned to the barn and set the stack down. "But it is recycling."

"Sure it is, and for a good cause," Abby replied, stirring the grayish-white papier-mâché glop.

Abby, Claudia, Mary Anne, Mallory, and Jessi helped the kids create the frameworks for their piñatas using balsa wood, pipe cleaners, masking tape, and some glue. Becca, Haley,

and Vanessa got together to work on a unicorn. Matt joined Nicky and the triplets to work on a piñata jet plane. Margo and Claire decided to make a teddy bear. And the Barrett and DeWitt kids teamed up to make a big dragon.

Claudia smiled as she watched the Barretts and DeWitts work, with Buddy and Lindsey directing things. Those two families of kids hadn't blended so well at first. But now they seemed to be getting along great.

"This was a good idea,” Claudia told Abby. "It's working out really well."

Abby grinned. "Piece of cake. See? You don't have to be a tyrant to make things work. Kristy turns everything into a major scene, like it has to be planned down to the last tiny detail."

"Well, things don't always run as smoothly as this," Claudia said. "Sometimes we're really glad she keeps things under control."

Abby spread her arms, gesturing toward the group. "Everything's under control, isn't it? No problemo."

As their older siblings worked on the dragon, Marnie and Ryan discovered the joy of squishing their fingers in the gloppy papier-mâché". They were having such a ball that Claudia let them do it for a few minutes. But then they started smearing it in their hair and

on their clothing. "That's enough," Claudia said, steering them away from the tubs. "Go help work on the dragon."

"No, they'll wreck everything," Suzi complained as the sticky toddlers headed toward the dragon.

Claudia gave Marnie and Ryan a quick course in being gentle to the dragon, taking their hands and softly patting it. "See?" she said. "Nice dragon. Gentle!"

"Roarrrr!" Marnie shouted, sending Ryan off in a gale of laughter.

Within half an hour, the forms were done and the kids started to wet their newspaper strips and lay them across the forms they'd created. This was when things began to get just the teeniest bit out of control.

The paper strips stuck to their hands and sleeves. Unknown to him, Nicky was now dragging around a long sticky tail, which Byron had stuck to the back of his pants. A paper strip wrapped itself around Marge's shoe. She struggled with it as if it were some kind of snake wrapping itself around her foot. At one point Claudia wouldn't have been surprised if the kids wound up looking like living mummies.

But, as time went on, the piñatas began taking shape, and they were coming out very well. (Most of them, anyway. Margo and

Claire's bear was extremely lopsided.)

"Our dragon rules," Taylor boasted as he worked on bringing its long tail to a point. "It's the best one."

"Is not,” cried Vanessa. "Dragons drool and unicorns rule!"

"No way!" Buddy protested. "That unicorn looks like a donkey."

"Does not!" Becca shouted back.

"They're all terrific." Abby stepped in to defuse the argument. "You're all doing a great job."

"Dragons rule, dragons rule," Taylor mumbled stubbornly.

"I'd better get more newspaper," Mary Anne said, heading for the door. "Want me to open this door, anyone? It's warm in here."

"Yeah, open it," Mallory said. "The smell of that papier-mâché is getting to me."

Mary Anne pushed the door open, letting in a flood of afternoon sunshine and a gentle breeze.

"That breeze will help dry the paper," said Claudia, who was now working on the teddy bear with Margo and Claire.

"Marnie! Stop!" Madeleine complained. Marnie was pulling off the triangular scales Madeleine was trying to glue to the dragon's back. "Someone make her stop!"

"Go away, Marnie," said Buddy as he

worked on the dragon's face. "You're making a mess."

"Marnie, stop!" said Jessi, Mallory, Abby, and Claudia, all at once. Wide-eyed at being the center of so much attention, Marnie put her hands to her face and smeared it with papier-mâché.

"Eeewww! Gross!" shouted Madeleine.

Claudia laughed and swept Marnie up in her arms, wiping her face. At the same time Ryan yanked at the hem of her shirt. "Up! Up!" he cried, holding his arms up. Claudia set Marnie down and picked up Ryan.

Just then, Margo and Claire let out a horrified yowl. "Teddy!" Claire shrieked as their papier-mâché piñata toppled to the right, caving in.

"It's ruined!" Margo wailed.

"We can fix it," Claudia assured her as she set Ryan down. Ryan toddled off and Claudia righted the fallen teddy. She set to work reuniting his broken balsa wood frame with pieces of masking tape. Then she overlaid the repaired frame with strips of papier-mâché". When she was done, Teddy looked better than he had before his fall.

"Thank you so, so, so much," Claire said, hugging Claudia.

"You're welcome." Claudia stood and blew a strand of hair from her face and wiped her

gloppy hands on her denim shorts. With her artist's eye, she surveyed the scene around her. Everyone was working diligently on the piñatas, quiet and absorbed in the project, at least for the moment. Colorful scraps of paper dotted the earth colors of the barn. A shaft of bright sunlight streamed through the open door. Claudia wished she'd brought her pastels and a pad so she could sketch the scene in color.

But, as she planned her sketch, she became aware that something was making her uneasy. What was it? Scanning the area, she tried to imagine what it could be. Then she realized. "Where's Marnie?" she asked, her eyes darting to every corner of the barn. "Has anyone seen Marnie?"

Jessi looked up from the newspaper she was tearing into strips. "She was standing next to Buddy a minute ago."