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

I nodded. I felt good about that. Honest I did. But not as good as if I'd found a treasure. And Nicky was disappointed that we hadn't seen the stowaway, either, although how he thought we were going to find him in the middle of Disney World was beyond me.
That night, my brothers and David Michael and I presented the bracelet to Dawn. She was so happy she cried. For a moment, I thought she was going to kiss me. (Disgust.) I'm glad she didn't.
Us guys decided to quit looking for treasure at the Magic Kingdom, but somehow I just couldn't make myself throw the treasure map away. I stuck it in the back pocket of my jeans.
Karen.
I am so sad. I'm happy . . . but I'm sad. Do you know what I mean? It's that feeling you get when your birthday finally comes and you're really happy that the waiting is over. And you're going to get presents and a cake and a party. But you're also really sad that the waiting is over. Because when the day ends, your birthday will end, too. And you won't have it to look forward to anymore.
That is how I felt on our last day at Disney World. I had a million things to look forward to Ч but when the day was over, our trip would be almost over, too. We were all flying home the next day.
Here are the things I was most especially looking forward to:
1. One more ride on Cinderella's Golden Carousel.
2. One more ride on Dumbo, the Flying Elephant.
3. The parade. (We kept missing it. We still hadn't seen it.)
AND!!
4. Breakfast with the Disney characters!
I am not joking! Mommy and Daddy and Andrew and David Michael and I were going to go on a steamboat called the Empress Lilly and eat breakfast. And guess who was going to walk around in the dining room: Pluto and Tigger and maybe some other characters!
The breakfast began at 9:00 a.m. and Andrew and David Michael and I were just a smidge excited. Oh, all right. We were really really really really really really really excited.
When we got to the Empress Lilly we waited in a long line outside. A lady took our names, and another lady gave name tags to Andrew and David Michael and me. We stuck them on our shirts. I wanted a name tag for my hitchhiking ghost who was still with me, but I didn't know what his name was. So I didn't say anything. I wondered if I should, though. That ghost still made my skin creep, so I thought I should be nice to him. He hadn't done any-
thing mean to me yet, though. He was just hanging around.
After lots and lots and lots of waiting, the line began to move and we walked toward the Empress Lilly. It was a beautiful white boat with a big paddle wheel.
"Daddy, where are we going to go?" I asked. I was looking beyond the boat to the water.
Daddy cleared his throat. There are only three times he does that: 1) When his throat is tickly. 2) When he's embarrassed about something. 3) When he has to tell us something he knows we won't like to hear.
"Well," he began, "we're not going to go anywhere. The Empress Lilly is just for show. It's not a working boat."
"Really?" I said. I felt disappointed. And I hoped my ghost wouldn't be mad. Maybe he'd been looking forward to a boat ride.
"Yes," Daddy told me. "But still, you get to go on board a paddle wheeler. And you get to see Pluto."
"Right! Oh, Daddy, if Pluto comes to our table, you'll take his picture, won't you?"
"Of course," said Daddy.
We filed onto the boat and a waiter showed
us into a dining room. He pointed to a table with five seats, and Daddy and Elizabeth and my brothers and I sat down. A basket of donut holes was in the middle of the table. Andrew and David Michael and I all pounced on the chocolate donuts. We left the cinnamon ones for Daddy and Elizabeth.
The room was very nice, but it looked like any old dining room. You'd never have known we were on a steamboat, except that you could see water out the window. I didn't have much time to think about that, though. As soon as the tables were filled up, a man strode into the middle of the room. He welcomed us to the breakfast. Then he asked if anybody was having a birthday.
"I am!" called a boy.
"Well, that's wonderful," said the man. He walked over to the boy and looked at his name tag. "Tomas," he said. "And how old are you today?"
"Eight."
"Let's all sing 'Happy Birthday' to Tomas."
The man raised his arms and began to sing. Everyone joined in. The grown-ups smiled at him. The kids looked at him like he was really special. Boy, what a lucky duck, I thought.
When the song was over, the man said, "Any other birthdays?"
I couldn't help it. I stood up. "Me!" I called. "It's my birthday!"
I have always wanted a whole dining room full of people to sing to me and smile at me and look at me like I'm special.
"Karen!" my father whispered loudly. "If s not Ч "
Too late. The man had come over to our table.
"Another birthday!" he exclaimed. 'Two in one day. That doesn't happen very often."
Daddy and Elizabeth smiled nervously.
"How old are you?" the man asked me.
"Seven," I told him.
David Michael snorted. It was really rude of him.
But the man didn't seem to notice. He just looked at my tag and announced that my name was Karen. Then everyone began to sing again.
I beamed. I loved it. I loved being right in the middle of things, with everyone thinking about me. I didn't care that it wasn't my birthday. It was probably my only chance ever to have about a hundred people sing to me.
The song ended. While the singing had been
going on, the waiters had been busy serving up plates of bacon, scrambled eggs, and potatoes. I looked down at my food. Then I lifted my fork.
"Karen," my father said in a low voice. "Don't you ever do that again, young lady. You told a lie."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"I have half a mind to make you wait outside with me until breakfast is over."
"Oh, no! Please, Daddy."