Ann Martin: Dawn's Big Move

"Forty!" Jamie said. "Forty times up and down the driveway!"

"Yea, Jamie!" Stacey cheered.

Don't encourage him! was what Claudia wanted to say. But she didn't. "Um, you guys feel like practicing for this Run for Your Money thing?" (Okay, not exactly inspiring, but hey, Claud's not an athlete.)

"Yeeeeeahh!" Char and Becca cried.

"No-o-o-o!" Jamie protested.

"Can Becca and I run a three-legged race?" Charlotte wanted to know.

"A three-legged race?" Jamie said. He looked horrified — but interested.

"Sure!" Claudia said. "Come over, Jamie. I'll explain it."

Success. Jamie decided to join in. Stacey ran into the Newton house to get some rope. Becca and Charlotte grinned at Lucy.

And that was when a herd of wildebeests stampeded up the driveway.

Well, that's what it sounded like. Actually, it was Jessi, Mal, and the Pike kids. But that's nine people altogether. Nine loud people.

"HI!" they called.

"Waaaaah!" Lucy shrieked.

"I found some rope!" Stacey shouted cheerfully, from the doorway.

"Oooh, a bike!" said Claire Pike, climbing onto Jamie's two-wheeler.

"Nooooooo!" Jamie roared. He ran to Claire and pushed her off.

"Owwwwww!" Claire cried.

It took some serious baby-sitting skills to clear up this situation. Claudia fed Lucy, Stacey separated Jamie and Claire, and Jessi and Mal kept the rest of the Pikes out of trouble.

(As I mentioned before, Mal has seven siblings. There are ten-year-old triplets — Adam, Byron, and Jordan. Then there's Vanessa, who's nine. She wants to be a poet, so she likes to speak in rhyme. Nicky is eight, but wants desperately to be ten like his brothers. Next is seven-year-old Margo, followed by Claire, who's five.)

When everyone was finally quiet, Claudia said, "Okay, there are a lot of events to choose from. You'll all be on the same team. In each event, a team from Stoneybrook plays a team from Lawrenceville, okay?"

"The whole team ties their legs together?" Nicky asked.

"That's hard," Margo said.

Adam groaned. "I guess you guys took your moron pills this morning."

"Listen up," Claudia replied. "In something

like the three-legged race, the officials will record the time it takes each pair to finish. Then they add up the times to find which team was fastest. Now, let's start by practicing some events, then splitting into teams for a mock competition, okay?"

About halfway through the explanation, the kids began tying their legs together, in pairs: Adam-Jordan, Mal-Jessi, and Jamie-Claire (who became the Red team); and Byron-Nicky, Vanessa-Margo (who were the Blue team with Becca and Char). Stacey helped each pair tie one person's right leg to the other's left. (Adam and Jordan had refused help, and they ended up tying their right legs together.)

Claudia had the easy job. She sat in a lounge chair, held Lucy, and watched.

The kids began to practice. Jamie and Claire fell before they moved an inch. Mal and Jessi took it slow, but Jessi kept pointing her toes, which made Mal giggle, so they collapsed. Char and Becca couldn't stay upright, so they decided to crawl. Byron and Nicky yelled at each other but couldn't figure out how to move. Adam and Jordan kept running around in circles, laughing their heads off.

Claudia was giggling so hard, she almost dropped Lucy.

The kids kept at it for awhile. Then they split into teams and held a race. Four pairs

were actually able to reach the finish line, in this order: Becca-Char (Blue), Adam-Jordan, Jessi-Mal (both Red), and Byron-Nicky (Blue).

Well, Jordan was steaming. "You stepped in front of us!" he shouted at Becca and Char.

"Did not!" Becca replied.

"No fair," Byron mumbled, his eyes almost tearful. "Jessi and Mal are sitters, not kids."

"Yeah!" Adam shouted. "I call a do-over!"

"Guys, it's only a game," Stacey insisted.

"Uh, let's move on to something else," Claudia said, frantically reading the newspaper article. "How about a ... rolling race?"

This time the kids had to roll to the finish line in pairs — holding hands, with heads pointed toward each other and feet pointing outward. Since the yard is pretty small, they did it two pairs at a time. (Mal and Jessi tactfully stayed out of it.)

You can imagine what that was like. Byron and Nicky rolled into the Newtons' garden and squashed three flowers. Becca and Charlotte rolled into each other. Jamie and Claire managed to knock over the bike and get into another fight.

In the middle of the practice, Mrs. Barrett walked by with her three kids. Instantly the older ones, Buddy and Suzi, replaced Jessi and Mal on the Red team.

After a few tries, most of the kids finally

figured out the rolling. Stacey organized them into races, and Adam and Jordan won. They were the fastest.

"No fair!" Margo shouted. "They're bigger!"

"Yeah," Nicky said. "We should get a handicap."

"But you'll be racing on the same team/' Stacey reminded them. "This is only a practice."

"Uh, how about the leap frog race?" Claudia called out.

Well, everyone knew how to play leap frog. The teammates lined up and leap frogged in turn till someone reached the finish line.

When the Blue team won, there was an explosion. "Buddy didn't jump with both feet!" Becca screamed.

"Did too!" Buddy protested.

Even Charlotte was upset. "You did not! You cheated."

"Well, Vanessa did the same thing!" Jordan yelled.

"Liar liar, pants on fire!" Vanessa cried.

"I don't want to be in this stupid thing," Buddy said.

"Yeah," Jamie agreed. "I want to ride my bike."

"Run for Your Money silly-billy-goo-goo," Claire mumbled.

Claudia, Stacey, Jessi, and Mal shared a

Look. "What about making up our own events?" Claudia suggested. "Silly stuff, like, I don't know. . . ."

"Water-bomb!" Adam bellowed.

"What's that?" Margo asked.

"It's like hot potato," Adam said. "Only you use a water balloon. Whoever lets it break is out."

"We have balloons in the kitchen cupboard!" Jamie shouted.

"Wait!" Claudia called out. "We can't do this without bathing suits!"

"We're wearing them already!" Adam exclaimed. "We were going to go to the pool."

"I'll get mine!" Jamie said, running inside.

"No fair!" Buddy complained.

"Let's go see if we can find some rain gear inside," Jessi suggested.

"Yeah!" squealed the Barrett kids.

As they ran indoors with Jessi, the Pike kids stripped to their suits.

"Stacey, can you keep an eye on Lucy for a minute?" Claudia asked.

"Sure."

Claudia raced inside and found the balloons. She filled four of them in the kitchen sink (not too full) and brought them out. Buddy and Suzi followed, dressed in ponchos, with Jessi close behind.

The teams lined up and Claudia threw the

first balloon in the air. Up it went, all wobbly-looking. And down it came — on Nicky's head.

Splooosh! "Owwww!"

The triplets exploded with laughter. Claudia was sure Nicky would burst into tears. But he said "Oops" and started laughing, too.

The second balloon ended up watering the next-door neighbors' lawn. The third rolled under Charlotte's leg, where it — well, died a wet death. The fourth actually stayed in the air a long time, at least six or seven passes.

Next came the race of the giants. Each "giant" was a little kid perched on the shoulders of a big kid, with beach towels or old tablecloths wrapped around each pair so they looked like one huge person.

Jamie's big idea was the "Baby Jester" contest. Whoever made Lucy laugh the most was the winner. Lucy loved that — until Buddy's turn. His idea of jesting was a frantic dance, with a frozen grin, flailing legs, and some authentic war screams.

Lucy was horrified. The contest ended then and there.

Oh, There was one other event. Teddy bear volleyball. That had ended with little mounds of white cotton stuffing all over the yard, along with a limp Paddington skin.