Ann Martin - Dawn's Big Move

And soon . . . there were visitors!

Stacey and Kristy had arrived with their charges. (Stace was sitting for Charlotte Jo-hanssen and Kristy was sitting for the Barrett kids.) Mr. and Mrs. Pike had agreed to let them come over to help.

"I want to help with the cake!" Buddy Barrett insisted.

"I want to play!" shouted his sister Suzi.

"Oooh, you're making chocolate chip cookies?" Charlotte asked when she saw the game of catch.

"Give it to me!" Nicky screamed.

"Whoa . . . whoa, listen upl" Kristy put two

V-

fingers in her mouth and whistled.

It made Mal's metal whistle sound dainty. All noise instantly stopped. (Leave it to Kristy.)

"Okay, we have to organize here," Kristy said. "We need a decorations committee, a baking committee, and a planning committee for games."

The kids all began shouting at once. In no time, the kitchen crew had shrunk to Margo, Nicky, Claire, and Buddy. Adam, Jordan, and Char agreed to plan the games; and Byron, Vanessa, and Suzi became,the decoration team (with the "help" of little Marnie Barrett).

Of course, things didn't go perfectly. Byron almost fainted blowing up balloons. Marnie taped her fingers together and spilled Elmer's glue on the rug. Buddy dropped a head of garlic in the cake mix (unpeeled, thank goodness). The games committee argued over everything (Adam kept suggesting sports-type things, Jordan wanted only video games, and Charlotte insisted on quiet activities like dictionary and Twister). Vanessa disappeared into her bedroom and wasn't heard from for about an hour.

Finally around one o'clock everybody took a break. "All hands outside for playtime!" Kristy announced.

"Yeaaa!" the kids shouted. Everybody ran

out the back door (except for the food handlers, who had considerable washing up to do first).

Mary Anne ran upstairs to get Vanessa. She found her curled up on her bed, sniffling quietly, her eyes watery. A pad of paper and a pencil were lying next to her.

"What's wrong?" Mary Anne asked, sitting down.

"N-n-nothing," Vanessa said.

Out of the corner of her eye, Mary Anne glanced at the pad of paper. On it was a long farewell poem to me.

"Are you sad about Dawn leaving?" Mary Anne asked.

Vanessa nodded.

"Yeah, I'm going to miss her, too.

"She's your sister," Vanessa said sympathetically.

"I know. May I read it?"

"Uh-huh."

Well, you know Mary Anne. The waterworks began right away.

"Mary Anne, are you okay?" Vanessa asked.

Mary Anne wiped her eyes. "It's beautiful. Would you mind if I read it to the others?"

"You like it?"

"I love it."

Vanessa grinned. "Okay!"

They went out to the backyard. Somehow the four baby-sitters managed to gather the kids around the picnic table. Mallory was elected to read the poem (Mary Anne wasn't sure she'd make it through dry-eyed).

The poem went like this:

Dawn, Dawn, please don't go,

We all love you so.

Your nice to us, you make us smile

We love your hair, your laugh, your stile.

When you're away in California

We'll be so sad. We'll really mourn ya.

"That doesn't rhyme,"' Adam volunteered. "She's not dying," Jordan remarked. "Shhhhh!" Kristy said.

Mallory continued:

We wish you luck, though you upset us

Please, please, please, Dawn, don't forget us.

"Too many pleases," Adam murmured.

But his comment faded into the air. All the kids were looking sad. Mary Anne was dabbing her eyes.

Sigh. I have the best friends, don't I?

Chapter 11.

"On your marks ... get set ... go!" I was running, carrying a suitcase in each hand and a pack on my back.

My feet weren't even touching the ground. I passed Richard, Mom, and every member of the BSC except Mary Anne, who was ahead of me. But I couldn't see the finish line anywhere. When 1 pulled even with Mary Anne, she smiled at me. "Okay," she said. "You can stop now. . . . Dawn? Dawn?"

1 couldn't stop. 1 was flying. Signs whizzed by me: Ohio, Minnesota, Nebraska, Utah. Finally 1 made out a huge sign that said WELCOME TO PALO CITY. Dad and Jeff were next to it, but they didn't see me. "Dad!" I screamed. "Dawn?" Mary Anne said. My eyes snapped open. "Huh?" Mary Anne was leaning over my bed. "Are you okay? You were really tossing and

turning."

"Yeah, just a dream," I mumbled.

"Well, hurry and come downstairs. We're having a power breakfast!" With a big smile, Mary Anne left.

I sat up and let the dream fade from my mind. Time for a reality check. I was in my room, and it was Saturday, the day of Run for Your Money. I glanced outside my window. Clouds were whipping by, but the weather didn't look too bad.

Suddenly I was in the real world. This was going to be a big day, and I was psyched.

I put on my one-piece bathing suit, then threw a sweat suit over it, and jammed my feet into a pair of sneakers. As I ran downstairs, the smell of pancakes and eggs and bacon hit me full-force.

I could do without the pig parts, but I love pancakes and I was even in the mood for eggs.

Mom was racing around the kitchen, dressed in very chic running shorts, with a matching top, leg warmers, and brand-new white sneakers. Richard was wearing a baggy, stiff pair of jeans; a paint-stained sweat shirt; and his brown, hideous "comfortable walking shoes." Mary Anne was busily pouring orange juice and setting the table.

"Power up!" Richard called out, flapping pancakes onto a plate.

"The breakfast of champions!" Mom said, making a muscle with her left arm. She was cutting green peppers into these huge, unusual shapes.

"Can I help?" 1 asked.

"Sure," Mom said. "1 was making you a vegetarian omelet."

"Thanks," 1 said. "I'll take over if you want."

No protest from Mom. Now, I love her and she has many special talents. Unfortunately cooking is not one of them. 1 made sure to cut the peppers into sizes that wouldn't choke me, then went to work on the mushrooms.

Before long we were sitting down to the most humongous breakfast I've ever eaten. We chomped away like crazy, especially Richard. "I got up early for calisthenics and a jog," he boasted.

"Three pushups and halfway around the block," Mom said.

"Well, it's been awhile," Richard replied.

We scarfed down almost all the food and barreled outside. Mary Anne brought along a hat with a visor and three different bottles of sunblock (her skin is extremely sensitive to the sun). "Gentlemen, start your engine!" Richard called out as he turned the ignition.

"Dad, you are so goofy today," Mary Anne said.

"Gorsh!" Richard replied in a Goofy voice.

We sped to the high school, laughing all the way. Even before we arrived, we could feel the excitement. Three blocks away, cars were bumper-to-bumper, honking horns. Kids were leaning out of windows, cheering and waving banners. We ended up parking about a block away.

Well, you should have seen the high-school playing field. It was jammed. Things had been piled along the sidelines — potato sacks, boxes of bandannas for three-legged races, ropes for tug-of-war, hoses, balloons, buckets, balls, inflatable paddles. This huge blob (which I assumed was the Mondo Ball) was resting against the stands. Other stuff was still being piled on. On one side of the field were concession stands, and a couple of rides for kids (a Ferris wheel and rotating spaceships). The midway games — pinball and video machines, ring tosses, archery — were on the other side. Balloons and pennants waved everywhere — Lawrenceville's in the far stands, Stoneybrook's in the near ones.

Behind the south goalpost, the scoreboard looked like this:

Stoneybrook

Lawrenceville

"This is sooooo cool!" Mary Anne squealed.

"Nifty setup," Richard said.

We went straight to a sign-in booth. The woman there gave us a long timetable of events. She signed us up for tug-of-war, the baton relay, and the potato sack race.