"Babysitters Club 015 Little Miss Stoneybrook...And Dawn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Babysitters Club)

Kristy patted her back.
"There are too many boys around here," said Karen, obviously thinking of Kristy's big brothers, as well as Andrew and David Michael. And probably mad that Andrew had chosen to play with someone other than Karen herself.
"Well, us girls will just have to stick together, that's all," replied Kristy. And that was what made her think of the Little Miss Stoneybrook pageant.
"Hey," Kristy went on. "Do you know what a pageant is?"
Karen pulled back and looked at Kristy. She gulped. She sniffed. She wiped her eyes. "Like Miss America?" she replied.
"Exactly."
"Where the beautiful, beautiful ladies dress up in sparkles and sit on pianos and sing songs?"
"Yes."
"I saw the Miss America pageant on TV."
"Well, guess what. There's going to be a Little Miss Stoneybrook pageant right here in
town. You can be in it if you're a girl and you're five to eight years old."
Karen's eyes grew huge. Her tears stopped. She began wiggling all over like a puppy. "Me! That's me! I'm five to eight! I mean, I'm six. Could I be in the pageant? Could I wear sparkles and stuff?"
"You'd want to be in the pageant?" Kristy asked her, just to make sure.
"Yes, yes, yes! What would I have to do?"
"Well, for one thing, you'd need some sort of talent. A talent show is part of the contest."
"I could sit on a piano and sing! Or I could tap dance, or - or twirl a baton, or make a doll talk."
"But Karen," Kristy said, "you don't know how to do those things. You've never taken lessons."
"I can sing!" Karen exclaimed. "Anyone can do that. Listen to this. The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round. The wheels on the bus go round and round. Oh, you know the rest, Kristy. A million verses. The driver on the bus says, 'Move on back, move on back.' I could make up more verses. And what do you mean, I can't tap dance?"
Karen found her black patent leather party shoes and stomped across the wooden floor of
the hallway. "See?" she said. "I can too tap dance."
Kristy told Karen about the beauty and poise parts of the pageant and meeting the judges and everything.
Karen grew more and more excited. "If I win I get a crown, right? And maybe a big bunch of roses?"
"Well, don't count on winning," replied Kristy. "I mean, you just never know." But then she went on, "If you did win, you'd get to be in another pageant, the county pageant."
"Oh, I just have to be Little Miss Stoney-brook!" cried Karen. "I have to!"
I suppose that at that moment, Kristy felt like I did when Mrs. Pike offered me the special job with Claire and Margo. Here was her chance to prove how great she was with kids.
So when her mother and Watson came home later with their birdbath, she and Karen told them about the pageant.
"Please can I be in it?" Karen pleaded. "Please, please, please? With a cherry on top?"
"Oh, honey," said Kristy's mother. She glanced at Watson. "I hate the idea of beauty pageants. Won't you be disappointed if you don't win?" she asked Karen.
"With a cherry and whipped cream and nuts
on top?" was Karen's reply. "I'll get to sing and everyone will watch me."
Watson shrugged. "If that's what she wants, I don't see what harm could come from entering her in the contest. I'll have to check with her mother first, though. And, Kristy, are you prepared to take the responsibility of getting Karen ready for the pageant?"
"Oh, sure," replied Kristy, thinking that (as far as she was concerned) that was half the point.
So Watson called his ex-wife and they talked things over. They decided Karen could enter the Little Miss Stoneybrook pageant.
Kristy and Karen were both thrilled.
When I found out, I was nervous. I felt as if suddenly the contest had become Claire, Margo, and me against Kristy and Karen.
Chapter 5.
"I'll clear the table," said Jeff.
It was dinnertime, and Jeff had been unusually helpful ever since Mom had said she'd see if he could go back to California after all. Helpful and pleasant.
"That's okay. It's my turn tonight," I replied, jumping up.
"No, no. I'll do it." Jeff was already on his feet.
I glanced at Mom, who was still picking at her eggplant. She hadn't eaten much that night, although she'd seemed to be in a good mood. She'd told us all about a baby shower that had been held that day at the company where she works. One of Mom's friends was going to have a baby in a few weeks.
"It was fun," she'd said, "but by the time it was over, I thought if I heard one more person say, 'Oh, isn't that cute?' I'd get sick. That's what everyone kept saying. Each time Kelly
opened a present, we all said, 'Oh, isn't that cute?' Even 7 did. Even when she opened the gift 7 gave her!"
Jeff and I had laughed.
Now I watched Mom poke at her food.
"You all finished?" asked Jeff. He was hovering at Mom's elbow. The rest of the table had been cleared.
Mom put her fork down. "Yup. All done. The eggplant wasn't very good, was it?" she asked.
"It was fine," Jeff and I replied together.
"Thank you for being such polite children," said Mom with a smile.
"Hey, am I completely off the hook tonight?" I asked hopefully. "If you don't need me in the kitchen, then I'll go start my homework."