Ann Martin: Kristy And The Walking Disaster

Kristy and the Walking Disaster

Ann M. Martin

Chapter 1.

"We're here! We're here!"

The front door to my house burst open and in barged Karen and Andrew. Karen and Andrew are my stepsister and stepbrother. Karen is six and Andrew is four, and Karen was the one doing the yelling. Andrew is sort of quiet and shy. In fact, he's very quiet and shy. He's the opposite of Karen. It's hard to believe they're brother and sister.

"Hi, you guys!" I called. I was on the upstairs landing, looking down. I ran to greet them. "I'm so glad you're here early. I'm glad your mom had to go out."

"Me too!" exclaimed Karen. She slung her knapsack on the floor.

Andrew put his down more gently. "Me too," he whispered.

I hugged Andrew and Karen, and then Karen ran off to check on things - her room,Shannon (our puppy), and Boo-Boo (our cat).

Andrew glanced at me and said, "Maybe David Michael wants to play catch." He looked terribly hopeful.

"He might," I said. "He's out in the backyard. Why don't you go see."

Are you confused yet? I'll stop here so 1 can introduce myself and explain who all these people are. My name is Kristy Thomas. I'm thirteen and in the eighth grade. One of the most important things to know about me is that I am the president, founder, and creator of a business called the Baby-sitters Club.

David Michael is my brother. He's seven. 1 have two other brothers. They're in high school. Sam is fifteen and Charlie is seventeen. Up until not long ago my three brothers and I lived with our mother in a small house across town here inStoneybrook,Connecticut . (Our parents are divorced.) Then my mom met this guy, Watson Brewer, a divorced millionaire. Practically before we knew it, she had married him and he had moved us into his house - which is a mansion.

Karen and Andrew are Watson's children. They live with us every other weekend and for two weeks during the summer. The rest of the time they live with their mother and stepfather.

To be honest, I didn't like Watson much at

first. Oh, all right. I hated him. I didn't want anything to do with him, even though he likes baseball as much as I do. I even refused to meet his kids. You know what brought us together? The Baby-sitters Club. Once, in an emergency, I got a job sitting for Karen and Andrew. By the time the job was over, I thought they were the greatest kids in the world. Now I am so, so glad they're my steps.

It was a Friday afternoon, almostfive o'clock . Mom and Watson were both at work. Sam was around somewhere. He was probably doing his homework. He likes to get it out of the way on Fridays so he can turn into a couch potato for the rest of the weekend. Charlie was out, but I was waiting for him to come home. Three times a week he drives me to and from meetings of the Baby-sitters Club, which are held from five-thirty untilsix o'clock in my old neighborhood on the other side of Stoney-brook.

I decided I better go check on the little kids. I never know what Karen might be up to. She's not naughty, but she's fearless and has a wild imagination. (Watson calls it "fertile," I guess meaning that any idea could grow there.)

Trying to keep track of all the people (not to mention animals) in my house is not easy, especially when Karen and Andrew are over.

Can you believe that my mom has been talking about wanting another kid? I can't. I love children, but there's plenty of confusion at our house as it is. Besides, my mother is at least thirty-seven.

I found Karen, Andrew, and David Michael in the backyard. They were trying to play three-man softball.

"This is so dumb!" David Michael was saying. (He was only saying that because he had just missed the ball.)

"David Michael," I said, "watch the ball when it's being pitched. Don't look at your bat. I know you want to connect the two of them, but believe me, you won't hit the ball if you don't look at it."

Karen pitched the ball again and David Michael watched it like a hawk. He swung. Crack! The ball sailed across the yard.

"All right! Home run!" I yelled.

I just love sports.

"Boy, thanks, Kristy!" exclaimed my brother. "That was a good tip. . . .I sure wish I could play softball or baseball on a real team, with a coach and everything."

"Me too," said Karen and Andrew.

"Hey, Kristy!" someone yelled.

"Coming!" I shouted back. It was Charlie.

He was home and ready to drive me to my club meeting.

"I gotta go, you guys. Behave yourselves, okay? Sam's home and Mom and Watson will be here soon. We'll talk about softball later."

I ran to our front drive and jumped into the car, next to Charlie.

"Ready to go visit your little friends?" he teased me.

I scowled. They are not little friends, and Charlie knows it. They are Claudia Kishi, Mary Anne Spier, Dawn Schafer, Mallory Pike, and Jessi Ramsey, and they are all different and special. And none of them is little. Claudia, Mary Anne, and Dawn are thirteen, like me. Jessi and Mal are eleven and in the sixth grade.

I used to live next door to Mary Anne (she's my best friend) and across the street from Claudia. Us thirteen-year-olds are eighth-graders inStoneybrookMiddle School . (Most of the kids in my new neighborhood go to private school, but Mom let my brothers and me stay in our regular public schools.)

Mary Anne Spier is the most sensitive person I know. Sometimes she's too sensitive. She'll cry over the slightest thing. And she's shy and quiet, like Andrew. But once she's your friend, you've got a friend for life. She is very loyal.

Maybe that's part of the reason Mary Anne was the first one of us to have a steady boyfriend. His name is Logan Bruno. Mary Anne lives with her dad and her kitten, Tigger. Her morn died a long time ago, so long ago that Mary Anne doesn't even remember her.

Even though 1 have a big mouth and I'm far from shy, Mary Anne and 1 are alike in some ways. For one thing, we look alike. We both have brown eyes and brown hair and are short. I'm the shortest kid in our grade, believe it or not, but Mary Anne has grown slightly. For another thing, we don't care much about clothes. Truthfully, I don't care a thing about clothes. My friends tease me because I always wear a turtleneck, jeans, a sweater, and sneakers. (Well, not in the summer, of course.) And Mary Anne used to have to wear this babyish stuff that her father picked out for her, but now he's not so strict and lets Mary Anne choose her own clothes, so Mary Anne is more interested in what she wears.

Boy, are Mary Anne and I different from Claudia Kishi! Claud is super-sophisticated - and totally great-looking. She's Japanese-American and gorgeous, with long, long silky, jet-black hair; dark, almond-shaped eyes; and a complexion that's to die for. She's funny and talented - you should see her artwork - and

she practically has boys drooling over her, but she doesn't have a steady boyfriend like Mary Anne does. One thing about Claudia that's a problem is that she's a terrible student. To make this worse, her older sister Janine is a true genius. Janine is in high school, but she already takes college courses.

Claudia and Janine live with their parents and their grandmother Mimi. Claudia's special likes are: junk food, mysteries (especially Nancy Drew mysteries), and, of course, her art. Her artistic flair runs over into her clothes. You should see how she dresses - wild! Baggy jeans, skintight pants, miniskirts, odd layers of things, bright colors, and weird jewelry. Also, she fixes her hair differently every day, and she does things like paint her toenails with sparkles. Once, she went to school with glitter in her hair.

Dawn Schafer, who is Mary Anne's other best friend, is originally fromCalifornia . She and her mom and younger brother Jeff moved here when us club members were halfway through seventh grade. They moved because her folks got divorced, and Mrs. Schafer had grown up here in Stoneybrook. A sad thing is that Jeff was so unhappy that not long ago he moved back toCalifornia to live with his father. Now Dawn's family is divided in half - and