Little Miss Stoneybrook...and Dawn by Ann M. Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

couch, where Mary Anne was sitting, and climbed into her lap.
    â€œOh, Gabbie, I’m afraid not,” Mary Anne told her. “You have to be five years old to be in the pageant. You have to be five or six or seven or eight. And you’re two.”
    â€œI’m almost three,” Gabbie said hopefully.
    â€œI know, but you need to be five.”
    â€œYuck, yuck, yuck,” Gabbie replied, sliding out of Mary Anne’s lap. But she didn’t seem too upset.
    â€œYou know,” said Myriah excitedly, “there are lots of things I could do in the pageant. I know ballet for real. I mean, I’ve taken lessons. Gabbie just plays in my old shoes. She won’t take lessons until she’s three. But I know all the positions and I can dance to ‘Waltz of the Flowers.’ I know gymnastics, too. And I can act! I took creative theater. I was the baby bear in Goldilocks and the Three Bears . I had to say, ‘Who ate my porridge?’ and ‘Look who’s sleeping in my bed!’ and some other stuff.”
    Mary Anne was as excited as Myriah by then. “We’ll have to ask your morn about the pageant, though,” she reminded her. “You’ll have to work in order to get ready for it. And you might need some new clothes.”
    Both Mary Anne and Myriah were on pins and needles waiting for Mrs. Perkins and the baby to come home. As soon as they did, Mary Anne, Myriah, and Gabbie all rushed to them.
    â€œWhat a welcoming committee,” said Mrs. Perkins with a smile.
    â€œI missed Laura Loo, Mommy,” Gabbie said.
    â€œAnd Mary Anne wants to ask you something,” Myriah spoke up.
    â€œYes?” said Mrs. Perkins as she unzipped Laura’s little jacket. She placed the baby in an infant seat.
    Mary Anne nervously explained about the pageant and said she’d help Myriah get ready for it. She wondered if maybe she should have mentioned it to Mrs. Perkins before she got Myriah all excited. What if Mrs. Perkins said no?
    As it was, she didn’t say yes right away.
    Mary Anne and Myriah glanced at each other.
    â€œPlease can I be in it?” Myriah asked. “Mary Anne will help me.”
    Mrs. Perkins frowned. “Yes, you can be in it, honey —” she began.
    â€œHurray!” shouted Myriah.
    â€œâ€” and I’ll be happy for Mary Anne to work with you. But I want you to remember something. I want you to think about this.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œYou, too, Mary Anne,” said Mrs. Perkins.
    Mary Anne nodded.
    â€œIn any pageant, or in any game or contest, there are winners and there are losers. You might be a winner, Myriah, and that would be wonderful. Daddy and Gabbie and I and even Laurawould be very proud of you. But you might be a loser, too. There are going to be lots more losers than winners. And I want you to know that we’ll be proud of you if you lose. We’ll be proud of you for having the courage to be in the pageant, and for the work and rehearsing you’ll do.”
    â€œI know,” said Myriah, giving her mother a hug. “Thank you.”
    â€œOne more thing,” said her mother. “I think you should know that for some girls, this pageant won’t be just fun and games. I hope it’ll be fun for you, but for others it will be work. They’ll take it very seriously. You might be competing against girls who have been winners in other pageants, or who have won beauty contests or talent contests. They’ll know how pageants work. And they might — just might — not be very friendly. I want you to understand what you’re getting into, that’s all. Okay?”
    â€œOkay,” said Myriah. She smiled happily. (She was missing four teeth.)
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    Myriah really had listened and paid attention to what her mother said. But Mary Anne hadn’t. Not much anyway.
    As it turned out later, she should have. So should all of us baby-sitters. We kept talkingabout how