Ann Martin - Kristy And The Haunted Mansion

"Ih, mi nadroj,” said Jordan.

"Mi mada," said Adam.

"Mi noryb," said Byron.

Mary Anne looked at them, mystified. "What?" she asked.

They repeated what they'd said, only this time they all spoke at the same time. Their words sounded even more like gobbledy-gook. Mary Anne shook her head and grinned back at them. "I don't know what you're saying, but it's good to see you guys."

"Hi, Mary Anne," said Mallory, coming into the front hall. "Don't mind these guys. They're talking backward. They've been doing it for hours."

"Ohhh," said Mary Anne, finally understanding. "I get it."

The triplets ran off, shouting, "Eybdoog!"

"Makes them kind of hard to understand," Mary Anne said to Mal.

"I know," said Mal. "But it keeps them busy, and I'm happy for that. Come on in. My parents already left. We're just hanging out until suppertime."

The rest of the Pike kids were in the rec room. Vanessa was sitting on the couch with a notebook in her hand. "Hi, Mary Anne," she said. "Guess what I'm doing."

"Writing?" asked Mary Anne. She knows that Vanessa plans to be a poet one day.

"Yup," said Vanessa. "I'm writing some new cheers for the Krashers. It looks like they're going to be playing lots of games this year, so I thought they should have their own cheers. Want to hear one?"

"Sure," replied Mary Anne.

"Krashers, Krashers, you're okay!" yelled Vanessa. "Hit that ball, make that play!" She beamed at Mary Anne.

"Very nice," said Mary Anne.

"Mary Anne! Mary Anne!" yelled Claire, just as Vanessa began another cheer. "Will you spin the dial for us? We want to play Twister."

Claire, who's five, Margo, who's seven, and Nicky were looking up at Mary Anne with expectant faces. (Remember Nicky? He's a Krasher — the one who went home with his parents that day instead of coming with us in the van.) They had already spread the Twister mat on the floor. "Sure, I will," said Mary Anne.

"While you do that, I'll see what we've got for supper," said Mal.

Mary Anne settled in for a game of Twister.

"I'm going first!" said Claire. "Margo got to go first last time."

Mary Anne saw the potential for a squabble, and decided to head it off. "I'm thinking of a

number between one and ten," she said. "Whoever guesses the closest gets to go first." Her method worked very well. By chance, Claire picked four, which was the number Mary Anne had been thinking of. Nicky picked five, and Margo picked nine, so Nicky got the second turn.

"Okay, Claire, are you ready?" asked Mary Anne. She spun the dial. "Left foot, red," she said.

Claire put her right foot on a red circle. "No, no, no, you dumbhead," said Nicky. "Your left foot."

"Your sister is not a dumbhead," said Mary Anne. "Here's a new Twister rule: you have to be nice to each other." Mary Anne can't stand it when people tease or insult or call names. "Claire, try the other foot," she said gently.

Soon Claire, Margo, and Nicky were all tangled up on the mat and giggling like crazy. Mary Anne heard the phone ring, but she figured Mallory would answer it, so she kept on spinning. A few minutes later, Mallory joined Mary Anne in the rec room. "That was Dawn. She was calling from home, because the Barretts canceled their plans." She raised her eyebrows at Mary Anne.

Mary Anne looked at her and saw that Mal was trying to tell her something without letting the younger kids hear it. "You mean — " she said, guessing that Buddy Barrett had not come home yet, which meant that Bart and Charlie and I and the other kids were still missing.

"Right," said Mal. "Dawn told me about that other call from Watson. He's called again, twice."

"And there's still no word?" Mary Anne asked.

Mallory shook her head, looking worried. "None," she replied. "Wow," said Mary Anne. "Mary Anne!" said Margo. "Spin!" Mary Anne spun. "Okay, Nicky," she said. "Right hand, yellow." "If s my turn, not Nicky's," said Claire. "Oh, right," said Mary Anne. "Okay, then you do that." She felt completely distracted, but she was trying not to show it.

Jordan came into the room then. "Mi yrgnuh," he said. "What?" asked Mary Anne. Adam and Byron were right behind him. "Emit rof reppus," said Adam.

Mallory translated. "You're hungry, and

you think it's time for supper?" she asked.

"Sey," said Byron. The triplets cracked up.

So did Claire, Nicky, and Margo, who had

just collapsed in a giggling heap. At that moment the phone rang again. Mallory ran to answer it, and Mary Anne helped the younger kids put away their game. "Go wash up now," she said. "Then we'll have supper."

Mary Anne headed for the kitchen, where she found Mal hanging up the phone. "That was Claudia," she said. "She's about to go over to the Newtons', but she wanted to let us know that Bart's father just called her."

"Did he know anything?" asked Mary Anne.

Mal shook her head. "No," she said. "He was hoping she did."

"Oh, no," said Mary Anne. She was beginning to feel seriously worried. And for the rest of the night, that was the state she was in: seriously worried. All through supper there were phone calls, and by the end of the evening it was clear that the Krashers and I had not made it home through the storm. Watson had alerted the police. The parents of the Krashers were all calling each other. Everybody was waiting to hear that the Krashers had been found. But no word came. And the rain just kept on pouring down.

Chapter 6.

"Kristy?" I turned to see who was tugging on my sleeve. It was Jackie. We were all in the kitchen at the old mansion, and Bart and Charlie and I were dividing up the food the old man had given us. We'd decided that we should try to save half of it for the morning, even though that meant we were going to stay pretty hungry that night.

"What is it, Jackie?" I asked.

"My mom is going to be really worried about me, isn't she?" Jackie looked as if he were about to burst into tears.

I didn't know what to say. It was true. Our parents were going to be worried sick, and there was nothing we could do about it.

Charlie jumped in. "Jackie, listen to me. All of you kids, come here and listen." The kids gathered around Charlie. Most of them looked scared. I heard sniffles, and saw Karen drag her sleeve across her eyes. "It's true that your

parents will be worried," Charlie said. "But here's the thing. They'll all call each other, and when they figure out that none of us has come home, they'll know that we're still together. That will make them feel better, especially since they know you're with Kristy and Bart."

Bart and I managed to smile at each other.

"And in the morning, we'll figure out a way to get out of here, and you'll all be home before you know it!" finished Charlie.

"Will my mom make me a cake?" asked Jerry.

"I bet she will," said Charlie. "I bet she'll make you anything you want."

Jerry smiled, and so did a lot of the other kids. Charlie had sounded pretty convincing. Then he added something that made everyone smile. "How about if we eat?" he asked. "And then, afterward, we can explore the rest of the house. After all, it’s not nearly bedtime. We can't watch TV or go for a drive. What else are we going to do tonight?" Charlie glanced at Bart and me as he spoke, checking to make sure his idea was all right with us. I gave him a nod.

Charlie was turning out to be great. He had done an excellent job driving through all that rain, he'd found us a place to stay after we'd gotten stuck, and now he was being terrific with the kids. I felt awfully grateful. As I mentioned, I'm usually a take-charge person, but this was one time when I was happy to have someone help me out. After all, the little kids weren't the only ones who were feeling scared and worried!

We seated the kids around the big kitchen table and passed out a few slices of apple and a big piece of bread to each of them. Bart and Charlie and I each took one slice of apple and a smaller piece of bread. For a few minutes, nobody said anything.