Ann Martin - Mary Anne And Too Many Boys

"Don't get Rum Raisin," Margo said. "It looks like vanilla ice cream with flies."

Stacey and I led the kids to a small picnic area while Mr. and Mrs. Pike sat at the counter and ordered coffee. Stacey was the only one

of us without an ice-cream cone — because of her diabetes — so she was munching on an apple.

"Tough trip/' she said, and sighed. "It's a good thing Nicky was in a separate car from the triplets or it would have been World War Three."

I nodded. For some reason Nicky and the triplets manage to fight over everything, and I noticed that Nicky was sitting as far away from them as possible.

"How's your Pistachio Crunch?" Stacey asked me.

"Fantastic." I used to feel guilty about eating ice cream and candy in front of Stacey, but she handles her diabetes so well, I hardly think about it anymore.

Mr. and Mrs. Pike wandered out with the remains of their coffee then, and joined Mal and the triplets at one of the long wooden picnic tables.

Stacey sat on the grass and turned her face up to the sun. A few people glanced over at us curiously, probably wondering if we were part of the huge Pike family. I scanned the two picnic tables then, and something seemed out of place. What was wrong?

I did a quick head count. And came up with eleven. Eleven? There should be twelve of us.

The eight Pike kids, Mr. and Mrs. Pike, Stacey and me.

"Ohmigosh/' I muttered under my breath.

"What's up?" Stacey asked lazily. She was stretched out like a cat, enjoying the warm sun.

"Stacey," I said, not taking my eyes off the kids, "we're missing somebody."

She sat up fast. "Are you sure?" She did her own head count, without waiting for my answer.

"I'm sure." I gulped. "There are the triplets and Mal and Vanessa and Nicky and — " And no Claire, I added silently.

"Where's Claire?" Mrs. Pike said loudly.

"I was just wondering the same thing," I said, as Stacey scrambled to her feet. "Have you kids seen her?" The triplets solemnly shook their heads, and Mrs. Pike glanced nervously at the parking lot.

"Maybe she went back to the car," she said a little breathlessly. I know she was really worried, even though she was trying not to show it.

Mr. Pike stood up. "I'll check the car. Stacey, why don't you look around the play area." (There were a couple of swing sets at the far side of the parking lot.)

"I'll go back inside," I said suddenly.

"Maybe she had to go to the bathroom."

Mr. Pike nodded and hurried off, his expression tense. Claire is only five years old, and at that age, kids shouldn't be out of your sight for even a minute.

I quickly checked the restroom, the water fountain, and the phone booth. No sign of her. I was about to dash outside when I spotted her at the counter, happily spinning on a stool.

"Claire!" I said, rushing up to her. "We thought you were missing." I hugged her, my heart still doing flip-flops in my chest.

"I'm not missing," she said seriously. "I'm right here. All my ice cream leaked out, so I came back to get another cone." She held up an empty cone. The bottom was jagged as if she had bitten it off.

"We can fix that," a boy behind the counter said. "What kind of ice cream did you have?"

"Vanilla. I always get vanilla."

He handed her a new cone and winked. "Make sure you eat this one from the top down, not the bottom up."

We hurried outside, just as Mr. and Mrs. Pike were coming through the glass double doors. They swept Claire into their arms and hugged her, just like I had done.

We piled back in the cars, and after endless rhyming, Vanessa shrieked with joy.

"There's the cow sign!" she said, jabbing me in the ribs and forgetting to make a poem. The cow sign is one of the Pike kids' favorite landmarks. It's a billboard with a three-dimensional purple cow, and they look for it every year.

"And there's Crabs for Grabs!" Jordan yelled a few minutes later. Crabs for Grabs is a seafood restaurant on the outskirts of Sea City.

"And the suntan girl!" Adam and Byron shouted together. The suntan girl is another billboard that they always watch for. "And there is Sea City!"

We're finally here, I thought. I started to relax and then caught myself. Who knew what would happen next!

Chapter 4.

"The wind chimes are still here!" Jordan shouted.

"And they left the swing up!" Adam said, throwing himself into a white wicker swing on the front porch.

"The honeysuckle bush is blooming, just like before," Vanessa said dreamily. She buried her face in the soft blossoms for a moment.

"Okay, gang," Mr. Pike said firmly. "I know you want to run around and look at everything, but what do we have to do first?"

"Unpack?" Nicky suggested.

Mr. Pike nodded, and there was a chorus of groans.

I took a deep breath of salty air while Mrs. Pike unlocked the front door of the house. The Pikes rent the same place every year, and it looks like something out of Hansel and Gretel. It's a giant gingerbread house, which Mrs. Pike says is Victorian style. It's painted yellow with white trim, and has carved railings and posts and eaves and edges. Best of all, it has a big front porch, so you can sit for hours and look at the ocean (if you're not busy running after eight kids). The Pikes love it because they have the beach right in their own front yard.

After we helped unload the car, Stacey and

I headed upstairs for the yellow bedroom we'd shared the last time. It's very old-fashioned (maybe a little too much for Stacey) and has two high, dark wood beds, a bare wood floor, and yellow flowered wallpaper. It also has a great view of the ocean, and I stood and watched the sun glittering on the water for a moment before I tackled my suitcase. I saw a lifeguard talking to some little kids splashing in the surf, and I thought of a lifeguard we met here the last time. His name was Scott, and Stacey had an incredible crush on him. Unfortunately he was much too old for her (I tried to tell her so at the time), and besides that, he was interested in another girl.

She must have read my mind because she joined me at the window, eyeing the little group on the shore. She watched them for a minute and then said softly, "Thank goodness I'm more grown up this time."

I knew exactly what she meant. "You have to admit it was an interesting vacation."

"Interesting!" Stacey hooted. She curled up on the bed, her knees tucked under her chin. "I can't believe I made such an idiot of myself over Scott." She paused, inspecting a frosted-pink fingernail. "Of course, it wasn't a total loss. You met Alex and I met Toby."

"That's right." I sat down next to her. "Do you think they ever think about us?"

Stacey twisted a lock of blonde hair around her finger and frowned. "Probably just once in a while. Toby was really cute, wasn't he?"

I nodded. Toby was one of those totally cool boys (really Stacey's type), but I preferred Alex. Alex was the first mother's helper I ever met who was a guy! Alex was great with kids, and we hit it off right from the start.

"Whatever happened to that ring he gave you?" Alex and I exchanged rings on our last night in Sea City, but it didn't mean there was anything really serious between us. (Plus, I didn't know Logan then.) We found this place where you can buy rings and have stuff engraved on them for five dollars each. Alex has a ring with my initials and I have one with his.

"Um, I'm not sure. It's either in the bottom of my dresser drawer, or in a shoe box in my closet."

Stacey pretended to be shocked. "I thought you slept with it under your pillow every night."

I knew she was just teasing. I don't even think of Alex in a romantic way, especially since I've met Logan. I guess Alex played an

important part in my life, though, because he was the first boy I was ever interested in.