"Martin, Ann M - Baby-sitters Club - Super Special 01 - Baby-sitters on Board!" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin Ann M)

Then we started walking down Main Street again. Daddy bought us balloons and ice-cream cones. I could hardly eat my cone, though. I was too excited. That was because when we reached the end of Main Street, the Cinderella Castle stood before us. It was huge, and it looked just like a castle in a fairy tale.
"Oooh," I breathed. "It's beautiful."
"Does Cinderella really live there?" Andrew wondered.
I was about to say, "Of course not, silly,"
when I realized I wasn't sure myself. Andrew and I looked at Daddy.
"Well..." Daddy said slowly. "I'm afraid not. But if s still a pretty nice castle, isn't it?"
"Look at the turrets," said Elizabeth.
"The flags," said Daddy.
"The crenellation," added Elizabeth.
I was too excited to bother to ask about crenellation. Besides, it was time to make a decision. From where we were standing, we could walk right to Tomorrowland, Liberty Square, or Adventureland.
"Daddy?" I said. "Where's the Haunted Mansion? Can we go to the Haunted Mansion?" Kristy had been telling me about all the rides at Disney World, and the one I wanted to go on the most was the Haunted Mansion. Space Mountain sounded like a good roller coaster, Peter Pan's Flight sounded fun, Snow White's Adventures sounded maybe just a little scary, but the Haunted Mansion sounded like the ride for me.
I happen to know a lot about spooky stuff. At Daddy's house in Stoneybrook, there's a ghost on the third floor Ч old Ben Brewer. And next door lives a witch named Morbidda Destiny.
Daddy took a map out of his pocket. "You're in luck/Karen," he said. "The Haunted Mansion is nearby. It's in Liberty Square. Over this way."
We began walking. Just when I thought I could see the house on a hill not far away, I heard a horrible, moaning scream. "Oooo-weee-ooooo ..."
"What was that?" I shrieked.
I heard the scream again.
Elizabeth laughed. "I think it's coming from the Haunted Mansion, honey. We're in for a scary ride."
"I hope so," I said, but I said it in a very small voice. And I reached out and held tightly to Elizabeth's hand.
Andrew was so scared that Daddy had to carry him.
We walked up a path to a spooky old mansion. We began to pass tombstones. A line of people had formed at the front door to the house, so while we waited in line, I looked at the little graveyard.
"Dear departed Brother Dave," I read to Elizabeth from one of the tombs.
"He chased a bear into a cave," she finished.
I giggled. Then I read another. "Here lies
good old Fred. A great big rock fell on his head. R.I.P." I knew what R.I.P. meant Ч rest in peace.
The line began to move and we walked slowly into a dim room. The whole crowd of people took a ride down in a weird elevator. When we got off we climbed into little black cars. The cars were heading into darkness. I got into a car with Elizabeth. Andrew and Daddy climbed into the car behind us.
The ride began. It wasn't a wild ride that jerked you around corners or turned you upside down. Instead, the cars took us on a tour through the most haunted house I could imagine. We saw ghosts dancing in a cobwebby ballroom. We saw a face appear in a crystal ball. We saw wallpaper with bats' eyes all over it, and a scary, scary graveyard Ч much scarier than the one outside.
All the time we were riding, a deep voice was telling us about the spooks in the mansion. Just when I thought the ride was over, the voice said something about hitchhiking ghosts.
"Hitchhiking ghosts?" I whispered to Elizabeth.
She shrugged.
And at that moment we passed a wall of mirrors. I looked for our car. "There we are!" I said. "Look, Elizabeth. There Ч Hey! Aughh!"
I couldn't help screaming. When I looked in the mirror, I could see that Elizabeth and I were not alone. Sitting between us, right in our car, was ... a ghost!
"We've got a ghost! A ghost is next to us!" I shrieked.
We reached the end of the mirrors. The ride was over. But the ghost was still in our car. I was terrified.
"It was just a trick, sweetie," Elizabeth said. "That ghost was a hologram. It wasn't really there."
"I don't care what it's called," I said as we left the Haunted Mansion. "It was real. I saw it. And I know it's still with us. I can feel my ghost. He's making my skin creep." I shivered.
"Lef s go to Fantasyland," said Daddy. "That won't be so scary."
So we headed for Fantasyland. The first thing that happened there was that Andrew's shoelace came untied. He stooped down to fix it. When he straightened up, Snow White was standing next to him. She was just walking
around Disney World like Minnie Mouse had been. But I guess Andrew wasn't expecting to see her.
"Wahh!" he cried, bursting into tears.
Snow White felt terrible. You could tell.
It was a long time before Andrew calmed down. Then we went on lots of rides in Fan-tasyland. But you know what?
My ghost wouldn't leave me alone. He came along with me on every one. Nobody could see him except me. I could feel my skin creeping all afternoon.
Dawn.
Guess what? Last night I ran into Parker in the hotel after dinner, and he asked if I wanted to spend our first day at the Magic Kingdom together. Why did he even bother asking? Of course I did!
I got permission from Kristy's mom, and Parker and I met in the lobby at 10:00 the next morning.
I felt so grown-up I absolutely cannot describe it.
Claudia had helped me get dressed. She was in a great mood because her Secret Admirer had left her a stuffed animal at the door to our room during the night. Since she had brought along nearly every article of clothing that she owns, and I'd only brought along about one thirty-second of my wardrobe, I borrowed a
few of her things. In fact, I borrowed the entire outfit. (We're just about the same size.) Parker would never know. I mean, he'd never know the outfit was borrowed, not that Claudia and I are the same size.
This is the outfit Claudia helped me to choose: a white tank top under lavender overalls, lavender push-down socks, lavender high-top sneakers, and a beaded Indian belt, which we looped droopily twice around my middle. In my hair we put lavender-and-white clips that looked like birds. I thought they were just any kind of bird, but Claudia swore up and down that they were birds of paradise. Who knows? (I think she was making that up.)
Anyway, if I do say so myself (and I do), I looked pretty nice when I met Parker.