Ann Martin - Jessi And The Jewel Thieves

Claud looked around her room. Being an artist herself, she loves to come up with art projects for kids. But what? She looked at a box of pastels, and shook her head. "Too expensive," she said. "I'll be sorry if I bring those and they get used up." A few tubes of acrylic paint were next to the pastels, but Claud figured they'd be too messy and too hard to clean up. "Papier-mâché?" she asked herself. "No, takes too long to dry and the kids get impatient." She glanced at a pile of magazines and thought about collages, but remembered how

hard it can be to clean sticky glue off even one child.

Then Claud's glance happened to land on a poster she'd put up over her bed. It was a fantasy illustration with lots of color and action. A beautiful maiden was caught in the clutches of a dragon, and a handsome prince was about to rescue her. We'd noticed that picture during our last meeting, and had talked about why the princess is always the one to get rescued. I remember Kristy saying that "just once," she'd like to see a prince who needed help.

Anyway, when Claud noticed the poster, she was struck with a great idea. "Dragons!" she said out loud. "We'll make dragons." She checked her watch and saw that she had only fifteen minutes to organize everything. She bustled around her room, grabbing art supplies. She pulled a box of poster paints out from under the bed. She rummaged through her closet until she found a shoebox that held buttons, old wooden spools, and other stuff she'd collected. In a cubbyhole of her desk was some glitter, and a bag of yarn was stashed in her sock drawer.

Then she dashed downstairs to check the garage. There, in the cardboard recycling bin, she found a few empty paper towel tubes,

several oatmeal containers, and some strong corrugated cardboard that could be cut and painted. "There, all set," she said. She packed everything into an old red wagon and headed over to the Pikes'.

"Claudia's here, Claudia's here!" yelled Margo when she saw Claudia trudging up the driveway. "What did you bring?" she asked Claud. "Presents?"

"Nope," said Claudia. "Art supplies." "Cowabunga!" shouted Nicky from the porch. "Are we going to make a mural?" Claudia shook her head. "What are we making?" asked Byron. He had run into the yard, along with Adam and Jordan.

"You guys aren't making anything this time," Claud said to the triplets. "You have plans today, remember? This is for the little kids."

"Boo," said Adam. "Yeah, boo," echoed Jordan. "We'll do something next time," Claudia told them. "And you're going to have a great time at the concert."

"Hi, Claudia," said Mal, who had followed the triplets outside. "Looks like you're all prepared for today." "I hope so. How's Becca doing?" "Much better," said Mal. "She ate about

forty-five pancakes this morning."

"I ate a hundred-'leventy-seven!" said Claire proudly.

"I ate a gazillion," added Margo. "Well, not really. I only had three."

"Three pancakes should give you plenty of energy for our project," said Claudia.

"What is it?" asked Becca. She had arrived on the porch by that time. "What are we going to make?"

"I'll tell you soon," said Claudia. "After the others leave. That way it can be a surprise for them when they come back."

It took awhile for Mr. and Mrs. Pike to round up their concert-goers, but before long everyone was loaded into the car. Claud, Becca, Margo, Claire, and Nicky stood in the driveway and waved good-bye to them until they were partway down the street.

"Tell us now!" said Nicky. "They're gone, so now we can start."

Claudia smiled. Bringing along a project had been a great idea. None of the kids seemed to mind being left behind, since they had something special of their own to do. "Okay," she said. "Why don't you help me unload the wagon, and I'll tell you what we're going to make."

Claire reached into a paper bag and pulled out some glitter. "Fairy dust!" she cried.

Becca found the yarn. "And beautiful hair for a doll," she said.

"Paints!" exclaimed Margo, pulling out the poster paints. "All my favorite colors."

Nicky reached in and pulled out the paper-towel tubes. "Hoo-hoo tubes!" he shouted. "Hoo-hoo tubes?" Claudia asked, puzzled. "That's what we call these," Nicky said. He lifted one to his lips and made a sound through the tube. "Hoo-hoo!" The other kids cracked up, and so did Claudia. Then everybody grabbed a tube and started hoo-hooing. Claud noticed that Becca was hoo-hooing as loudly as anyone.

"Okay, you hoo-hoos," said Claud, after the noise had gone on for a few minutes. "Time to get started. Guess what we're going to make."

"Dolls?" asked Becca.

"I know!" said Claire. "A little town, with people in it."

"A nature scene!" cried Margo.

"No, dummy," said Nicky. "A robot!"

"You're all wrong," said Claudia. "And Nicky, don't call your sister a dummy."

"Sorry," said Nicky to Margo. "So what are we making?" he asked Claudia.

"Dragons," she replied.

"Yea!" shouted the kids.

Then Becca said in a small voice, "But I don't know what a dragon looks like."

Claud heard a certain tone in Becca's voice that made her think Becca might still be feeling a little lost. She hurried to explain. "It looks like anything you want it to look like," she said. "Dragons can look like dinosaurs or horses or salamanders. They can be purple or red or green or all colors mixed together. They can be big or they can be baby dragons. It's up to you."

"I'm going to make the biggest dragon in the world," said Nicky. "Big enough to eat Stoneybrook." He started to pull supplies out of die wagon.

"Hold on," said Claudia. "How about if we bring this stuff into the garage, where it won't matter if we make a mess?" She helped the kids set up in the garage, and then sat back to watch. She was amazed, she told me later, at how creative they were. Kids are like that. As long as nobody tells them that they can't do something, they'll try anything. They used all the supplies Claud had brought, and added a few things of their own. Nicky found his collection of Popsicle sticks and used them for spines, and Margo brought out some of her Legos. Becca sat happily in the middle of all the

activity, making a baby dragon that she named Charlotte after the spider in Charlotte's Web. Claud saw no sign of the sad Becca who had moped and cried for so long. "It was almost like she'd forgotten she wasn't a Pike," Claud told me later. "She acted like part of the family, and the others treated her that way, too."

Building the dragons took quite a while. When they were done, the kids started to play "Dragon Kingdom," a game they made up on the spot. It involved picking a King and Queen of the dragons and then having dragon parties.

Claudia was so busy with the project that she forgot to keep track of the time, and before she knew it the Pike station wagon was pulling into the driveway. At that same moment, my parents arrived to pick up Becca.

"Mama!" Becca cried, running to give our mother a hug.

"Whoa," said my mom. Becca was covered from head to toe with green paint.

"Having fun?" asked my dad.

"Definitely," said Becca. She ran back to the garage to get her dragon. "See what I made?"

"Terrific," said my dad. "Now, how about if you get cleaned up so we can go on home."

Becca's face fell. "I don't want to go home,"

she said, pouting. "I'm having a good time here!"

Mal, who had climbed out of the station wagon, gave Claudia a Look and both of them had to stifle their laughter. I guess nobody can stay sad for long at the Pike home.

Chapter 14.

Half an hour had gone by since we'd left Heathes', and Quint wasn't speechless anymore. Now he was mad.

"I just can't believe it," he said. "Don't we have any rights? They can't make us stay out of a store like that."