Ann Martin - Mary Anne And Camp

The animal dancers were next, and I admit that I held my breath. I think Jessi was a little bit nervous, too. And Ricky and Hannie were concentrating so intensely that they forgot to smile when they walked into the center of the ring.

But when the dance began and things went smoothly, they relaxed. Marge's cartwheels earned applause, as did Becca's walking on her hands. And it was amazing. Whatever Jessi had done, the four of them looked as if they knew exactly what they were doing and had practiced it a million times. It was only if you knew what had gone on that you realized Ricky and Hannie were doing a lot of spinning in place and cross-the-ring swoops.

By the end of the dance, all the wild animals were smiling and they took their bows to cries of "Bravo" from the audience.

The downs came tumbling out next and, thanks to Claudia and Shannon and Dawn's hard work, Natalie's clown costume was just as goofy as the others. The kids had (with the help of Claud's keen artistic eye) painted on great clown faces. They chased each other and "tripped" over their big feet and brandished squirt guns and pillows and

had a great time. When they were done, they were completely out of breath, covered in water (and a little oatmeal), and laughing as hard as the audience. They took their bows in classic down form: Whenever one of them bent over, another would pretend to kick him in the rear, arid send him sprawling.

And the specialty acts? Well, Nancy's "leg" fell off again the moment Karen started sawing, and the crowd burst into laugher and applause. Karen's face grew very red, but when she realized that the crowd enjoyed it, she turned into an old stage performer before our eyes. She picked up the leg and stuck it back in the hole in the box — upside down.

Karen sawed the box in half with her cardboard saw. (The box was really two boxes joined together, with Nancy scrunched up in one box with her head sticking out of the side.)

The crowd applauded and Karen bowed. Nancy jumped up and poked her legs through the bottom of her box and took a bow, too. Well pleased with the roar of approval, the two girls took a final bow and left the ring for the high-board act.

It had definitely improved. I'm not sure what Logan had done, but the high-board act had become a clown act all on its own, with Bobby pretending to be afraid to climb all the

way up and Chris trying to persuade him. It ended with both boys on the board, doing silly, crazy, tricks, and falling off in the end into a big pile of hay.

Then Vanessa announced the final act: Dr. Dog.

"Oh dear, oh dear," said Hannie. "Something is wrong with poor Pow!"

"Yes!" said Margo. "All Pow will do all day long is NAP, POW."

Pow looked at Margo. "That's what he does, don't you, Pow. You just NAP."

Slowly Pow sat down and then slid his front paws out. He rolled over on his side and lay still.

"Oh dear, oh dear, what should we do?" said Margo.

David Michael said, "We must send for Dr. Dog!"

"But he is so far away!"

"Don't worry," said Hannie. "We can send brave Noodle and Shannon to FETCH him. She bent toward Noodle and pointed to Linny and Charlotte, who were waiting at the other end of the ring with Carrot.

"FETCH Dr. Dog and LINNY, Noodle. Shannon, go."

Noodle got up and started to trot to Linny. Shannon stayed where she'd been told to sit at the beginning of the show, her tongue

hanging out, looking cheerfully around at the audience.

"I will go, too!" David Michael cried. He ran to Noodle. Over his shoulder he said, "Here, Shannon!"

Shannon jumped up instantly and raced after David Michael.

When they reached Charlotte and Linny, David Michael told Shannon to sit. (Noodle was already sitting).

"What do you want?" asked Charlotte. "Would you like to SPEAK, SHANNON to Dr. Dog about something?"

Shannon wagged her tail.

"Yes, Shannon, SPEAK to Dr. Dog."

You could almost see a little light go off in Shannon's brain. "Arf!" she said happily. "Arf, arf."

"That sick, huh?" said Charlotte. "We'd better get going, Dr. Dog."

The doctor hurried back to the patient. Charlotte sat down on a bale of hay next to Pow (who had begun to wag his tail).

"Dr. Dog must think," announced Charlotte. She leaned over and whispered, "Say your prayers, Carrot." Carrot put his paws in Charlotte's lap and lowered his head.

"Good boy," Charlotte whispered loudly.

Carrot took his paws down and barked loudly.

"Look, Pow is getting UP, POW. He's cured," cried Hannie.

Pow jumped up.

And the audience broke into the loudest applause yet. Of course the dogs all barked and jumped around.

Mal, I thought, you are a genius.

Everyone came running out from the barn then, and the parents gave them three ovations. Then people milled around, eating and drinking and talking. They seemed reluctant to leave and it was almost dark before the last group of parents and kids drifted toward their cars. Most of the kids had asked if we could do it again.

Best of all was Alicia, who let go of her mother's hand to come tearing back to me. She threw her arms around my legs (crutches and all). " 'Bye, Mary Anne," she said. "Camp was the funnest thing I ever did. Can we have camp again?"

"Next year, Alicia," I promised. "Next year!"

Chapter 15.

I woke up the morning after the circus feeling cheerful and contented and generally pleased with the world. And not just because Camp BSC had been such a success.

There was another reason: we were going to pick my father up from the airport that afternoon.

And we were going to spend the morning making it look like the wild and crazy bachelor girls were the neatniks of the earth.

Okay, so housework doesn't make me cheerful. Who does like doing it? But I enjoyed the morning with Dawn and Sharon. We sang and goofed and told jokes — and mopped and swept and did a gazillion loads of dishes and laundry and everything else. Even with a sprained ankle, you can get quite a lot done!

By the time we left for the airport, our house was spotless.

We made Dad a big bouquet of flowers from

the garden. And we all flung ourselves at him when he came through the door into the waiting area at the airport.

"How are my girls doing?" he said, laughing and hugging us hard.

"Great," I said, and I meant it.

That night, after dinner, I had a long talk with Dad, though. I told him what had happened and how much I had missed him. "It really kind of surprised me, Dad," I said. "I mean, I'm practically grown up, but ..."

My father nodded thoughtfully.

"Do you have to travel?" I asked. "Do you have to stay away so long?"

"Well, yes, I do."

"Oh." My heart sank. I almost wanted to cry. Don't be silly, I told myself. Your dad is here now. Worry about him being away when the time comes.

My father hadn't finished yet, however. "Maybe, though, I can arrange to travel less. Or make shorter trips. And things will settle down once the details of this merger have been sorted out."

"Oh," I said again, feeling a little more cheerful. It wasn't exactly the solution I would have chosen. But it sounded better than nothing.

"You have to promise me something, though," said my father.

"Sure. What?"