Mary Anne Saves the Day by Ann M. Martin Read Free Book Online Page A

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    Then she turned around and stood next to her husband. “How do we look?” she asked me.
    I glanced at Jenny. Jenny was watching me.
    I blushed. “You look …” Somehow “very nice” didn’t sound like enough. “You look like a picture out of a magazine,” I finally said. And they did, all posed and stiff.
    Mrs. P. appeared confused, but recovered quickly. “Why, thank you, dear.”
    There was a pause. “You’re welcome,” I said, to fill the silence.
    â€œNow, we’ll be at the Elliot Taggarts’ this afternoon,” said Mrs. Prezzioso. “Their number is written on the message board in the kitchen, and the emergency numbers are right next to thephone. If we’re not home by six o’clock, you can give Jenny a sandwich for supper.”
    â€œOkay,” I said. Jenny and I walked her parents to the back door. “Have fun!” I called as they climbed into their car.
    I closed the door and leaned against it for a few seconds. “Well,” I said to Jenny, “what do you want to do first?”
    Jenny flopped on the couch in the playroom and pouted. “Nothing.”
    â€œOh, come on,” I said brightly, “there must be something you want to do. We have two hours to play.”
    Jenny stuck out her lower lip and shook her head. “Unh-unh.”
    â€œWell, in that case,” I said, “I’ll just play with the Kid-Kit by myself.”
    Kid-Kits were something Kristy had dreamed up to make us baby-sitters as much fun as possible for our charges. Each of us had decorated a cardboard carton, which we’d labeled KID-KIT . We kept the boxes filled with books and games (our own) plus activity books that we paid for out of our club dues. The kids we baby-sit for love the Kid-Kits and look forward to our visits because of them.
    But Jenny had never seen one. “What’s a Kid-Kit?” she asked.
    â€œOh, just something I brought with me.” I’d left it on the front porch so I could surprise Jenny with it after the Prezziosos left. I retrieved it and sat down on the floor in the middle of the playroom. I opened the box and began pulling things out: three books, two games, a box of Colorforms, a sticker book, and a paint-with-water book. I turned my back on Jenny and began peeling balloons off the back page of the sticker book.
    After a moment, Jenny left the couch and edged toward me and the Kid-Kit. She watched me put stickers in the book. Then she glanced at the things I’d pulled out. She opened the box of Colorforms. It was an old set of mine called Mrs. Cookie’s Kitchen. She touched the flat plastic pots and pans and food. Then she put the lid back on the box.
    â€œI can play with this stuff?” she asked.
    â€œSure. That’s why I brought it.”
    â€œI can play with anything I want?”
    â€œOf course.”
    â€œIs this a painting book?”
    I glanced up. “Oh … yes. Here, how about the stickers? Don’t they look like fun?”
    â€œI WANT TO PAINT!”
    â€œOkay, okay.” I looked at Jenny’s pristine white dress. I looked at the paint-with-water book.
    Wasn’t the point of painting with water that it wasn’t messy?
    I went to the kitchen and half filled a paper cup with water. Then I brought it to Jenny, opened the paint book for her, and settled her on the floor. “Okay, go to it,” I said. “All you have to do is brush water over the pictures, and the color will appear. Make sure you rinse the brush off pretty often so the colors don’t mix together. Okay?”
    Jenny nodded.
    â€œAnd … be careful,” I added.
    Jenny was sitting cross-legged, the book spread open in front of her. She dipped the paintbrush in the water and moved it slowly toward the book. Drip, drip, drip. Three wet spots appeared on her dress.
    I closed my eyes. It was only water. Still …
    â€œJenny,