Kristy and the Secret of Susan by Anne Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

for her," I said. "Go back further in time. Do you know the birthdate of one of your grandparents or something?" "I do," said the shorter boy.
Susan performed her trick again.
Everyone was aghast - the teasers, the Hobarts, the Pikes.
I felt extremely proud of Susan.
Chapter 8.
Stacey arrived at my house at a hectic time. Nannie was rushing out the door, afraid she'd be late meeting her friends. Sam and Charlie were standing in the kitchen, begging. They'd remembered that they'd promised to bring food - potato chips or something - to the party they were going to, and not only had they forgotten to pick anything up, but they were broke.
"Gee, you wouldn't be broke if you had a great job like mine," I said.
Boy. If looks could kill. Sam and Charlie gave me Dagger Eyes.
I shrugged. Then I led Stacey into the den. On our way I could hear Mom saying to my brothers, "You mean neither of you has any money?" In the den were Karen, Andrew, Emily, and David Michael. They were watching The Wizard of Oz on the VCR.
"Remember," I said, "you can only watch until Dorothy leaves Munchkinland. Then the TV goes off." "You're not in charge," replied David Michael, never taking his eyes off the set. "You don't make the rules tonight." Mom appeared in the doorway. "You can only watch until Dorothy leaves Munchkin-land," she said. "Then the TV goes off." "Darn," said David Michael.
"Bullfrogs," said Karen.
Sam and Charlie left then, each carrying a bag of potato chips, which Watson had probably given them. And then I left with Mom and Watson. They were going to drop me off at Susan's, and the Felders were going to bring me back later.
Stacey was alone with my little brothers and sisters. She sat on the floor and watched the movie with them. "Okay," she said after awhile. "Dorothy's outta there. Time to turn the set off." Some minor arguing followed.
"She's not out yet," said Karen. "She's on the Yellow Brick Road and she hasn't met the Scarecrow. So I think she's still in - " The Scarecrow appeared on the screen at that very moment.
"Okay," said Stacey. "Dorothy is now definitely out of Munchkinland." She switched off the TV.
"Aw, what are we going to do now?" complained David Michael.
"Play checkers?" suggested Andrew halfheartedly.
"I know!" exclaimed Karen, "We can play 'Let's All Come In.' We have to teach Emily the game." "Let's All Come In" is a game my little brothers and sisters play. Karen invented it, though, and she likes it better than any of the others. She usually has to coerce the others to play with her. That's because Karen takes all the best parts for herself and gives the other parts to everyone else. See, the game is supposed to take place in a hotel lobby. One person (usually me) has to be the clerk at the desk. Another person (usually David Michael) has to be the bellman (bellperson?), who takes people's luggage to their rooms. Karen gets to play all the guests, or to assign guest roles to Andrew and Emily. She always makes them play the roles like babies or pet dogs or something.
Anyway, since everyone dresses up and changes costumes frequently for "Let's All Come In," no one minds the game much. In fact, I think they like it, but they just won't admit it.
"Costumes, everybody!" cried Karen as soon as Stacey and the others had agreed to play.
They trooped upstairs to the playroom, where the most incredible box of dress-up clothes sits. Honestly. When I first met Watson and his kids, I couldn't believe the stuff in this playroom - and Andrew and Karen only visited their father two weekends a month. David Michael and Emily didn't even live in this house yet.
As you can imagine, in the trunk are costumes like you'd expect to see only in the fanciest toy store. So David Michael suited up in a pretty impressive bellman's uniform, and then Karen directed the others in their costuming.
"Now," she began, "I will be playing Mrs. Kennelworth, a very, very rich lady who is going to stay at the hotel. Emily, you will be my little girl.