Ann Martin - Dawn On The Coast

Just then my mom came home. She usually doesn't get home from work until5:45 or so, but that day she was early.

"Hi, Dawn!" she called up the stairs.

I could hear her kick off her shoes in the living room, drop her purse on the couch and her keys on the kitchen table. That's my mom, all right. I love her, but she is a little on the disorganized side. Mom padded up the stairs and plunked herself down on the one corner of my bed that wasn't covered with stuff.

"What's this?" she said, picking up my list. When she saw what it was, she laughed. "I guess you didn't learn that from your old mother," she said.

It's true. If Mom ever bothered to make a list, she'd probably just lose it.

"How was work today?" I asked her.

Mom sighed and looked vaguely across the bed at all my things.

"You're going to have such a good time," she said.

I suddenly realized that when I went off toCalifornia , Mom was going to be left all alone in Stoneybrook.

"Mom, are you going to be all right?" I asked. "I mean, all alone?"

She tucked her legs under her, like she had so many times lately when we found ourselves sitting in my room talking.

"Of course I am, sweetie," she said. "What? Are you worried about me? Don't worry. I've got Granny and Pop-Pop while you're gone. And Trip's already asked me out to dinner. . . ."

"The Trip-Man!" I groaned. Trip is a man who was dating my mother. I call him the Trip-Man. He's a real conservative type. Tortoise-shell glasses, you know what I mean. How could I leave Mom alone with him?

"Mom," I said, "I feel kind of funny going off to be with Dad and Jeff, and you having to stay here."

"It's only for your spring vacation," she said. "Besides, think of what an adventure I'm going to have without you. I'll probably mis-

place my keys and not find them the whole time you're away. And when I go out with Trip, I'll probably end up wearing one brown shoe and one red."

I threw my arms around Mom and gave her a quick kiss.

"Oh, Mom," I said. "I'm so glad that you and I stuck together. What if you were here and I was there? What if the family was even more split up than it is now? I'll never leave you. Never."

Mom didn't answer me, she just stared across my bed at the suitcase and all my clothes. Her eyes got a little misty, but right away she turned to me and said, "You didn't start anything for dinner yet, did you?"

Weekday dinners are usually my job.

"Not yet," I said. "I was thinking maybe barley casserole ..."

"Let's go out," Mom said suddenly. "What do you say? We'll go to Cabbages and Kings and have one of those wonderful tofu dinners."

"Or the avocado salad," I said.

"Aaaah, avocado ..." My mother closed her eyes at the thought. "Think of all those wonderful California avocados you're going to be gobbling down soon. Come on. Let's go celebrate. Avocados, here we come."

I grabbed my sweater and Mom stood up,

puzzled, and glanced around the floor.

"Where're my shoes?" she said.

"Living room," I answered.

Mom fumbled in her pockets for her keys.

"Your keys are on the kitchen table," I said. "And your purse is on the couch."

Mom looked a little sheepish.

"What am I going to do without you?" she laughed. "You have to admit. We make a good team."

We walked down the stairs, gathered up Mom's things, and headed out the door. When I got home that night I would have to finish packing my things. But, for then, I left them strewn across my bed. It wasn't every night that Mom and I could decide to drop everything and go to Cabbages and Kings for a close, warm mother-daughter meal. And besides, on Sunday I'd be leaving Stoneybrook for two whole weeks.

Chapter 2.

What a party. I was the first one to get to Kristy's that night and, when I arrived, things were still a little quiet and calm. Kristy lives in a mansion. No kidding. But you practically need a mansion to hold all her family. There's Kristy and her mom and three brothers, and then there's Watson Brewer, Kristy's stepdad. He and Kristy's mom got married last summer and he has two kids of his own. (They come to stay every other weekend.) That would be plenty, but there's also Boo-Boo, the cat, and Shannon, the puppy.

I knocked on the big wooden door and Kristy let me in. She was wearing her usual — jeans, sneakers, a turtleneck. (What did I tell you?) She shut the door quickly behind me, so that Shannon wouldn't escape. Shannon jumped up on me and licked my arms. She really is a great puppy. She's still young, so her paws are too big for her body.

"Hi, Shann," I said. I petted her soft head and scratched behind her ears.

The doorbell rang again.

"Move it, Shannon," said Kristy. "It's probably Mary Anne."

The madness had started. When Kristy opened the door, it wasn't Mary Anne at all.

It was Karen and Andrew, Kristy's stepsister and stepbrother.

"We're here!" Karen shouted into the house. She dropped her overnight bag on the hallway floor. "Daddy! Everybody! Here we are!"

Karen is only six years old, but she's got lots of confidence and is never at a loss for words. Andrew looked up at me and smiled.

"Hi, Dawn," he said. "Are you baby-sitting us?"

Andrew's only four and sometimes I have baby-sat for him, although, of course, Kristy takes all the jobs in her own house if she can.

"Not this time, Andrew," I said. "But I think you are going to see lots of baby-sitters tonight."

"Hi, Karen. Hi, Andrew. Oh, hello, Dawn." Kristy's mother bustled into the room and gave Andrew and Karen each a warm hug and kiss. "Take your stuff up and stash it in your rooms," she said. "It's going to be a full house tonight. Kristy's expecting a few guests."

Karen bounded up the stairs with her suitcase and Andrew stumbled after her, trying to keep up.

Kristy put her hands over her ears. "Aughhh!" she cried. "It sounds like wild horses!"

The doorbell rang again. This time it was Mary Anne, and Claudia was right behind her.

"Come in, come in." Kristy opened the door a crack, then hustled them in, but Shannon was too quick for her. The frisky puppy darted between Claudia's legs and scampered right outside.

"Shannon!" Kristy called, and ran out to catch her.

While Kristy was chasing after Shannon, Mallory and Jessi arrived. Jessi saw what was happening and took a ballet leap into the yard, just as Shannon was about to run into the bushes.

"Gotcha!" she said as she grabbed Shannon's collar. We all started clapping and Jessi took a deep bow. "Grand jete," she smiled. "You just never know when one is going to come in handy."

Well, one crisis down, but another was on the way. While Kristy led Shannon back into the house, Karen came screaming down the stairs.

"Ben Brewer!" she shouted. "Ben Brewer! He's clanking his chains!"

For a six-year-old girl, Karen has one wild imagination. She's convinced there's a ghost in the house named Ben Brewer, and she tells stories about him all the time. As I looked up, Sam and Charlie were sneaking around the bend at the top of the steps. They're Kristy's

older brothers. Sam is fifteen and Charlie's seventeen.

"Shhh," Sam whispered to Charlie. He slipped down the stairs after Karen, grabbed her up from behind, and lifted her over his head.

"Aughhh!" screamed Karen.

Mrs. Brewer stuck her head back into the room to see what was going on. David Michael, Kristy's brother who's seven, was right behind her.

"No horseplay on the stairs," said David Michael. (It was obviously a rule he had heard many times.)

"That's right," said Mrs. Brewer.

Just then, the front door opened behind us and bumped Claudia and Mary Anne on their backsides.

"Excuse me. Excuse me." Someone was pushing his way through the crowd. It was Watson Brewer, home from work. "Well," he said, as he took a look at the chaos that greeted him. "Five more daughters, huh? Where did I get them all? Hello, girls."