Ann Martin - Little Miss Stoneybrook...and Dawn

"What about next week's youth?" Kristy whispered to me.

I tried not to giggle.

The announcer went on to tell the audience how the pageant would work and how the judges would score the contestants. Then he introduced the judges (the owner of Bellair's Department store, the woman who ran the Stoneybrook Dancing School, and some doctor). After that, the head judge, a woman named Mrs. Peabody, joined him on the stage. Mrs. Peabody had once owned a charm school. Finally he said, "I'd like to send heartfelt good wishes to each and every little miss who is backstage right now."

"Oh, gag me," whispered Kristy.

Somehow, now that we were actually at the pageant, and it was as stupid as Mallory and Jessi had said it would be, I didn't feel quite so serious or competitive. I could tell Kristy didn't either. I was glad for that.

"The girls have worked hard," the announcer continued, "and I wish we could crown them all. Unfortunately, only one little miss will go on to Stamford to participate in the county pageant. She will receive a one-hundred-dollar savings bond and, of course, will be our grand winner. We will also select a first and second runner-up. The second runner-up will be awarded a fifty-dollar savings bond, and the first runner-up will be awarded a shopping spree in Toy City."

"Oooh," sighed every single contestant and every single child in the audience. I had to admit that the Toy City spree seemed like a pretty good prize. Even I would have liked it. I could get great stuff for our Kid-Kits.

"And now," the announcer continued, "it's time to meet our lovely contestants." He paused while somebody somewhere stuck a cassette in the stereo system, and a recording of marching music blasted into the auditorium, then was quickly turned down.

"All right, girls," said Ms. Bunting softly.

The contestants were lined up in their age order, and one by one, Ms. Bunting aimed them onto the stage, leaving just enough time for each to say her name and age, then curtsy and shake Mrs. Peabody's hand before sending the next one out.

There were three little girls in front of Claire. Just as I heard Myriah greeting the audience, I saw Ms. Bunting send Claire onto the stage. I didn't have a very good view of her, but I could hear her all right and this is what she said: "My name is Claire Pike and I'm five years old. . . . Oh, hi, Mommy! Hi, Daddy! Hi, Mallory! Hi - "

The announcer prodded Claire toward Mrs. Peabody, but Claire forgot to greet her and walked right offstage.

I groaned. Mary Anne, standing nearby, reached out and squeezed my hand. I looked at her gratefully.

Margo did better than Claire. She remembered everything, but she was nowhere near as dazzling as Sabrina Bouvier, who had been onstage just before her. Sabrina looked as if she might have been born on a stage. She smiled glamorously at the audience and the judges, curtsied prettily, and shook Mrs. Pea-body's hand smoothly.

Okay, I thought, after all the little girls had been introduced. So Sabrina was gracious and sophisticated. So what? She might not have any talent at all. Or maybe she'd be really, really stupid and not able to answer her question. I didn't have much time to think about that, though. The talent show was beginning and I had to help Claire and Margo into their costumes.

Backstage was a madhouse. All around us were cries of, "My socks! Where are my socks?" or "Help! Fix my hair!" Here and there were little bursts of song. Not far away, I could hear Charlotte muttering something about giant blueberries and a girl named Violet.

I managed to get Claire into her costume just as the first contestant was winding up her rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," which

she was singing in a red, white, and blue sequined leotard. She had a terrible voice, like fingernails on a blackboard. (Claudia and 1 looked at each other and giggled.) Then I helped Margo with her painter's pants and handed her the banana.

The second contestant, who had sung a song which she'd written herself called "I Love My Dog," ran offstage - and Myriah ran on. She was wearing a pink leotard, a pink tutu, and her tap shoes, and she was carrying a gigantic lollipop. She looked calmly at the audience. Then out came her voice, clear and loud: "On the goo-oo-ood ship Lollipop ..." And her feet went tappety-tappety-tap. I was extremely impressed. She looked like she should be on TV or something. When she was done the audience applauded loudly. They even cheered and whistled. Myriah smiled toothlessly and ran off. She was a hit.

"And now, Little Miss Claire Pike!" cried the announcer.

"Go on, Claire," said Ms. Bunting.

"I don't wanna," whimpered Claire, but she went anyway.

For a moment, she just stood on the stage in her sailor outfit. I thought maybe she had succumbed to stage fright, but at last she whispered, "I'm Popeye the sailor man."

"Louder!" I called to her.

Claire raised her voice. She finished the song and danced the hornpipe. She looked totally uninspired. But then she began the song again, this time with the gestures. When she made her first face, the audience laughed. Claire hammed it up. The audience laughed harder. Claire hammed it up even more. We had a comedienne on our hands.

Kristy flashed me the thumbs-up sign and I grinned.

After Claire came a girl who played the piano (sort of), and a girl who tried to twirl a baton but kept dropping it. Then Karen Brewer, looking beautiful, ran onstage wearing the exact same outfit she had worn when she was the flower girl in her father's wedding. What, I wondered, was Karen going to do? Sing a love song or something? No. She opened her mouth and let loose with, "The wheels on the bus go round and round." She sang fifteen verses, most of which she must have made up herself, possibly right there on the stage. Verses like, "The people on the bus are tired and hot . . ."or "The dog in his carrier says, 'Let me out!' ..." The judges began to look at their watches.

Kristy and I looked at each other and

shrugged. We weren't sure how Karen had done.

Two more girls performed, one of whom, a ballerina, was pretty good. Then Sabrina Bouvier made her entrance. I am not kidding - she was wearing a long black evening gown and white gloves that went up over her elbows. Her hair was piled onto her head like Ms. Bunting's. She sang some song I'd never heard of called "Moon River."

She was awful.

But she smiled a lot and the judges seemed to like her.

At long last it was Margo's turn. She padded onto the stage, banana in hand, sat down, and peeled the banana with her feet.

I heard snickering in the audience. It was the triplets.

Margo professionally ignored them. She launched into "This Is the House That Jack Built." Since the stanzas of the poem get longer and longer, her performance went on for quite some time. In all honesty, I'm not sure that everyone understood just what she was doing with the banana, but they appreciated all her memorizing. Margo didn't miss a beat or a word. She left the stage with applause ringing in her ears.

(Another thumbs-up from Kristy.)

All you have to know about the rest of the talent show is that there were four more contestants including Charlotte, and none of them was much good - especially not Charlotte, who completely forgot this passage from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which she'd tried to memorize. She ran off the stage in tears. In fact, she refused to go on the stage again at all, and began crying so hard that Claudia had to go into the auditorium and find her parents so they could take her home.

Claudia looked crushed but decided to stay around to see what happened.

"Bummer," I said.

"Yeah," agreed Claudia. "Well, now I'll just have to root for Claire and Margo and Karen and Myriah. No playing favorites."

The beauty parade came next, and I'm ashamed to say that by this time, the contestants were growing good and wary of each other. It was every little miss for herself. I heard Margo tell Claire to break a leg (and she really meant it), and I heard Claire reply, "I hope you fall off the stage."