Ann Martin - Mary Anne And Camp

"Where did you get that saw?" demanded Kristy, who had reached Karen first.

"F-from the barn." Seeing my friends and me converge on her at once had shaken Karen's confidence. '

"And what were you going to do with it?"

"Pretend to saw people in half. Kristy! This is a real saw because you need real things if you are going to have a real circus!"

"Karen." Kristy ran her hands through her hair so it stood up every which way. "I'm glad

you and your friends went to circus camp. But that doesn't mean you know everything about circuses. And let me tell you, a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing."

Karen frowned.

Kristy frowned.

I said, "Everyone who was at the circus camp learned things. But true performers always do what they are supposed to do. And you guys haven't done that. Now it looks like the circus might not go on."

Karen's eyes grew huge behind her glasses. Nancy sniffed. Then she wriggled, trying to get out of the box — and one of the stuffed legs fell off!

Well, that did it. The tension was broken. We all started laughing.

At least all us sitters did. The kids were silent. Awesomely silent.

Then Karen said in a small voice, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too," Nancy wailed. "Get me out of here."

"What are we going to do?" Vanessa asked.

"We keep practicing," said Kristy. "We run through the show and then we see what we can do to fix it up. Karen, we'll talk later."

Things didn't exactly improve after that. The high-board act that Bobby and Chris performed didn't involve any real saws. It also

didn't involve any interesting tricks. Clearly, Bobby and Chris hadn't been practicing either.

And the dog show was almost a real dog.

Hannie and Linny had tried to teach Noodle a whole bunch of new tricks. As a result, Noodle was thoroughly confused. Whenever they said anything, he looked around. Most of the time he just sat. Or raised his paw to shake hands.

"A real circus dog," Linny began to say in frustration, then stopped himself and looked around, "... um, takes a long, long time to train, I guess."

"I guess," said Vanessa.

"Carrot can still say his prayers," said Charlotte.

"Shannon speaks when you tell her to," said David Michael.

"Pow will lie down on his side when you tell him to nap," said Margo.

"Noodle will go fetch whatever you point to," volunteered Hannie. "That's his best trick."

"What are we going to do?" asked Vanessa again.

"We're going to re-edit our show," said Dawn. "We'll start from the beginning. But everybody has to cooperate."

"We've got a lot of work to do between now and tomorrow," Shannon said.

"Emergency meeting of the BSC," added Kristy. "Right over here." She pointed to one side of the ring.

"Okay, you guys, get your buddy from this morning and go sit over there." Logan pointed to the other side of the ring.

It was an amazing thing to ask twenty-two kids ages four to nine to do. But they did it. Lions and a tiger and an elephant and a goat and a camel and all the others sat down and waited while we had a quick emergency meeting of the BSC.

"What are we going to do?" hissed Kristy as we huddled together. Dawn and I exchanged glances. Wow. Kristy almost never asks that question. She usually has at least an opinion about what people should do.

Mal said thoughtfully, "I think I have an idea for the dog act. A sort of plot ..."

Jessi said, "We can rework the dance so that all Ricky and Hannie do is more or less stand still."

"With a cardboard saw, Karen might be able to pull off a pretty funny act," I said. Kristy was beginning to look more cheerful. We all were.

Logan said, "Why don't we use the high-

board act as part of the down act? I think I see a way we can do it. And a way we can include all the downs."

"We can do it," Dawn said.

"No problem," agreed Claudia.

"Okay, great." Kristy turned briskly. "Let's get to work. The show must and will go on!"

Chapter 14.

The show did go on.

On Friday morning, the moment the last parent had dropped off the last camper, Camp BSC went into fast forward.

I put Karen and Nancy to work making a cardboard saw. We all put last-minute touches on costumes. Jessi led the dancers through a revised version of the wild animal dance. Logan, Chris, and Bobby made many trips to and from the barn to where the high-board act was set up. Meanwhile, laughter and Pow's unmistakable baying came from the rehearsal of the four dogs and their trainers.

At midmorning we took a break for our last trip together to the park. The dogs went along this time, but I couldn't go. Alicia left happily, without a backward glance, and I actually thought, "Wow, they grow up so fast." I caught myself and had to laugh.

There was plenty for me to do at home while

Camp BSC was at the park. I made extra batches of circus punch (fruit juice and ginger ale and chunks of fruit cut into funny shapes) for the campers to have with their last lunch at Camp BSC. And I made sure enough candy apples were ready for a surprise dessert.

I'd just finished getting organized when the campers returned. They were no longer divided into the SMS and the SES factions. They were all rambling along together. And they were singing.

When I heard what they were singing I burst out laughing. Apparently the official song of Camp BSC had become any song with the word "bowling" stuck in at strategic places.

After lunch and quiet time (spent reassuring Vanessa that she was going to be a terrific ringmaster and promising Bobby and Chris that we would be right there if anything went wrong) we began to make the final preparations for the Camp BSC Circus. Together we popped up the popcorn, arranged the folding chairs and picnic table benches, and of course sampled plenty of the food to make sure that it tasted just right for the customers.

Then the parents began to arrive. And the grandparents. And the sisters and brothers and friends. Half a dozen adults brought video cameras, including Mr. Ramsey, who promised the members of the BSC copies of their very own.

"I know you'll want to have it to remember this by," he said, panning the crowd with his camera. "Looks like it's going to be a great circus!"

I said, "Thanks, Mr. Ramsey. That'll be

super." My eyes met Logan's. "And you're right. It's going to be a great circus." Vanessa put her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. It was a skill none of us had realized she had. It got our attention. And the crowd's.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. "So you're in charge of the refreshments?"

"Sharon! You got off work early!" I exclaimed.

"I wouldn't have missed this for the world. You and Dawn have been working so hard."

"Dawn's in the barn with the performers, helping them get ready," I said. "I'm so glad you came."

"Me, too." Sharon gave my shoulder another squeeze — and Vanessa gave another piercing whistle.

With an elaborate clearing of her throat, Vanessa said, "Ladies and gentlemen…"

Needless to say, the wild animal act was a huge success, especially when the animals

jumped through the hoop of "fire." And when Alicia stopped in mid-trick to turn and wave at her parents, it brought the house down.