"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" said Dawn. "We"ll make a list. Then we"ll estimate how much everything we want is going to cost and see how that stacks up next to how much money we have in the treasury."
"How much money do do we have?" asked Kristy. we have?" asked Kristy.
"We"re doing pretty well," Dawn said. "But we can"t buy everything."
"Refreshments," said Claud. "Snacks for morning and afternoon. The kids should bring their own lunches, but we can have fruit juice and milk for them to drink."
"We can buy some of that stuff as we need it. After the parents pay the fees for our camp, we can buy refreshments out of the fees," Shannon pointed out.
Mal said, "The important thing is having everything set up so it goes smoothly the first day. If the kids have fun the first day, then if something goes wrong after that, they are less likely to notice."
"First impressions are important," Kristy said seriously.
My hand was flying across the page as I wrote. We kept firing ideas around the room, stopping only when the phone rang. Claudia agreed to make fliers that we could give or mail to our clients as soon as possible. We discussed field trips and activities and menus.
And then Kristy said, "Circus! Circuses!"
As you know by now, Kristy is full of ideas.
So when she leaps into the middle of a conversation with these random words and sentences, we don"t automatically a.s.sume she"s crazy. Instead we wait. Because we suspect that she"s having one of her Ideas.
She was. "A circus," Kristy explained. "That should be the theme of Camp BSC. It can be part of the activities, see? Making costumes, athletic activities, decorations, props... and then at the end of the camp we can give a circus."
"Excellent!" exclaimed Claudia. She"d loved circuses when she was little and once had had a circus birthday party. It hadn"t turned out quite the way she"d expected, but clearly it hadn"t made her dislike circuses.
"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my," Shannon quoted from the movie The Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz.
"Karen and her friends went to a circus camp once. That"s where I got the idea." Kristy said modestly. Karen is her younger stepsister, Karen Brewer. "They loved it, so they should love this, too."
The phone rang one last time. Kristy took the call and we scheduled one more appointment.
Then Kristy looked at her watch. "This meeting of the BSC is officially adjourned," she said.
But we didn"t leave right away. Claudia said, "Can we have candy apples? I love love candy apples. Are they hard to make?" candy apples. Are they hard to make?"
Dawn said, "Candy apples? Do you know what that does to your teeth?" But she was smiling.
"Cotton candy," said Mal dreamily. "Even with braces, I know I could handle cotton candy."
"I want to be a ringmaster," Kristy said. She grinned good-naturedly when we all started laughing.
Just then there was a knock on the door.
"Hey, come on in," Claudia said.
It was her sister Janine. "I believe you should know that Kristy"s brother is here."
"Ohmigosh!" Kristy leaped to her feet. "Thanks, Janine. The meeting really is is adjourned." adjourned."
"Wait for me!" Shannon said. She was getting a ride home with Kristy.
Kristy and Shannon raced out the door. The rest of us followed a little more slowly. I confess, I was feeling pretty excited about Camp BSC.
And I knew, with the club involved, it was going to be one super circus camp. Lions, tigers, bears, and all.
Chapter 4.
School was out. Just like that. And I hardly noticed it. I mean, I was glad that taking tests and having to get up at the same time every morning and all of that was officially over for the summer.
But with Camp BSC starting the following Monday, I was almost too busy to take it in.
Ever since our brainstorming session, we"d been working pretty hard getting everything organized. Twenty-two children had signed up for the camp. They were Kristy"s stepbrother Andrew Brewer, Alicia Gianelli, and Jamie Newton, all four years old. The oldest were Vanessa Pike, Haley Braddock, and Linny Papadakis, who are nine. In between were Mal"s sibs Nicky, Margo, and Claire; Kristy"s stepsister Karen Brewer, and her best friends Hannie Papadakis and Nancy Dawes (all seven); the twins Marilyn and Carolyn Arnold (eight); Matt Braddock (seven); Jessi"s sister Becca; Charlotte Johanssen (eight); Kristy"s brother David Michael (seven); Bobby Gianelli (seven); Ricky Torres (seven); Natalie Springer (seven); and Chris Lamar (seven).
Whew.
More about our BSC campers: Ten of our campers attend Stoneybrook Elementary School: the Pikes, the Arnolds, Haley, Becca, Charlotte, and David Michael. Eight of them attend Stoneybrook Academy: Karen, the Papadakises, Nancy, Bobby, Ricky, Natalie, and Chris. And eight of them had gone to a circus camp before! Karen, the Papadakises, Nancy, Ricky, Natalie, Chris, and Bobby (who"d gone to a different circus camp from the other seven).
So maybe a circus camp wasn"t a totally totally original idea, but we all loved it, especially Claudia. She kept calling our barn the "Big Top" and suggesting that I train Tigger for. the "Lions and Tigers Act." original idea, but we all loved it, especially Claudia. She kept calling our barn the "Big Top" and suggesting that I train Tigger for. the "Lions and Tigers Act."
But goofing aside, Claudia had designed these super tie-dye shirts for us to wear. We hadn"t told the kids about the circus idea yet, though. We decided to wait until they"d settled in the first day and then announce it.
By Sunday night, we"d done all we could do. The only big question remaining was the weather. Would it rain?
It didn"t. I woke up extra early and opened my eyes and started smiling immediately. No matter what else happened during the day, the sun was shining. It was a sign, I decided, that Camp BSC was going to be a success.
Dad and Sharon left, wishing us luck, and Claudia arrived with a last minute load of art supplies, which she hustled out to the a.s.sortment of tables we"d set up by the barn. We"d lined the tables with cups filled with colored pencils and crayons and paper for everyone to draw on. That was going to be the first activity of the morning for the kids, until everybody had arrived and settled in. We"d even decided to have a theme for the kids to draw. Today, the first day, we"d suggested that they draw their favorite circus animal.
Logan showed up next on his bicycle (he looks very very handsome on a bicycle), followed by Mal and Jessi, along with four more Pikes and one more Ramsey. handsome on a bicycle), followed by Mal and Jessi, along with four more Pikes and one more Ramsey.
Dawn, who"d been hovering by the front door with me, gave Logan a friendly punch on the shoulder, Kristy-style, and said, "I think I"ll go check out those circus animals." She grinned at me, gave me an exaggerated wink, and then grinned even more as I felt myself start to blush.
But I was glad to have a minute alone with Logan to say h.e.l.lo, which is about all we got to say, because more clients arrived, via Kristy, in her grandmother"s car, the Pink Clinker.
I whipped out my roll book again and checked off the names as more and more people showed up. Jamie Newton arrived and announced that he had to go to the bathroom, and Logan said, "See you later," to me and held his hand out to Jamie. "This way," he told Jamie.
"Nineteen, twenty," I counted off the names and made sure that everyone I"d checked off had actually arrived. Two people to go.
And there they were: Bobby and Alicia Gianelli.
Bobby saw all the activity at the tables and took off at once, shouting, " "Bye, Mom!" over his shoulder.
Alicia, who had just turned four, stood holding her mother"s hand, and she reached with her other hand and locked it in place on her mother"s wrist.
"Hi, Mrs. Gianelli. Hi, Alicia," I said, checking off the last two names. I put the roll book away and said, "Welcome to Camp BSC."
"Hi, Mary Anne. It looks like a lot of fun, doesn"t it, honey?" Mrs. Gianelli said to Alicia. Alicia didn"t answer. She just stared up at her mother with big brown eyes.
"Do you know what a circus is, Alicia?" I asked.
Alicia shifted her gaze from her mother to me. She nodded.
"We"re drawing our favorite circus animals today. You want to come with me and help me? I can"t make up my mind. An elephant? Do you like elephants?"
"Camels," said Alicia.
"Camels? Camels could be in a circus," I said.
Alicia let go of her mother"s hand. I reached out and took Alicia"s hand in my own. "Camels would look very good in circus costumes. And you know what, Alicia? See Claudia over there? Claudia is an artist and I bet she could think of some great camel costumes."
We started walking toward the tables, but we hadn"t gone three steps before Alicia twisted around. "Mommy!" "Mommy!" she said in a panicked voice. "Mommy, don"t go!" she said in a panicked voice. "Mommy, don"t go!"
"Would you like to see the tables and some of the artwork?" I said. "We"ll have juice a little later this morning. And we have a surprise announcement this afternoon for all the campers."
I was talking as much to Alicia as to Mrs. Gianelli and Mrs. Gianelli did the same, exclaiming over how much fun everything sounded and laughing at some of the funny hat drawings Claudia came up with for Alicia"s camel. Alicia seemed to enjoy it, but I noticed that she kept making eye contact with her mother.
Poor Alicia, I thought. She"s afraid to be separated from her mother. "It"s okay, Alicia," I said. "Camp BSC is going to be lots and lots lots of fun." of fun."
Then Kristy said to me, "Everybody"s here. Let"s let them color for a little longer, then move on to the next activity.... Hi, Mrs. Gianelli. You should see the lion Bobby drew for his circus animal. You will, I guess, because everyone"s going to bring their drawings home at the end of the day."
"I suppose I can go now," said Mrs. Gianelli in an undertone.
Kristy looked surprised. "Sure!"
Claudia said, turning so that Alicia couldn"t hear her, "I think she"s fine now. Don"t worry."
Mrs. Gianelli left. I watched her go. "Poor Alicia," I said softly. "It must be so scary to be a little kid and have to be left on her own like this."
"But it"s not like Alicia doesn"t know us," Claudia said practically. "And it"s not like it"s the first time her mother has ever left her with one of us."
Alicia had raised her head from her coloring project and was watching her mom"s car pull away. I saw her look down the table toward where her brother Bobby was sitting. Then she bent her head over her coloring again.
I reached out and gave her shoulder a gentle, rea.s.suring pat.
Then Jamie Newton"s piece of paper blew away somehow and I ran to help him catch it and forgot about Alicia for the time being.
I forgot about Alicia until we decided to make an excursion to the park, right after the mid-morning juice (during which, miraculously, no major juice mishaps occurred).
Everyone was instantly excited about the field trip to the park. "Cool," shouted Haley, signing rapidly to her brother Matt. (Matt is deaf. We"ve all learned some sign language, but none of us can talk with our hands at top speed the way Haley and Matt do.) "Monkey bars, monkey bars, all the way up to Mars," sang Vanessa Pike. Marilyn Arnold giggled and added, "Swing high, swing low, to the park we go!"
That set everybody off. We paired the kids into buddies and divided the buddies among us, and set off amid some of the most awful poetry you"ve ever heard.
All except Alicia. I saw Hannie Papadakis, who"d been paired with Alicia, say, "Come on, Alicia."
"No," I heard a firm, small voice say and I turned to see Alicia standing. by the table where she"d been coloring. Her arms were folded. Her face was turning red.
Mal, who was nearest, turned to her. "Alicia? Don"t you want to go to the park?"
"The park, the trees, if you please," I heard Vanessa calling out up ahead.
"No." Alicia"s tone was firm, but her voice also sounded a bit shaky. Up ahead, I saw Kristy look back and then slow down. The whole "park train" did the same.
Mal said to her group of campers, which included Karen and Nancy, "Wait a minute." I nodded at the twins, Marilyn and Carolyn, who were standing nearby with Becca and Charlotte, and said, "Hold up, you guys."
I went back to join Mal, who had squatted down beside Alicia. "Alicia, is something wrong?" Mal said. "Do you need to go to the bathroom first?"
"No," said Alicia for the third time. She looked at me. "I have to stay here," she said.
"But don"t you want to go to the park?" Mal said. "It"ll be fun. We can ..."
Whatever Mal had been going to say was lost in a truly amazing howl as Alicia opened her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut and began to cry.
"Alicia! What"s wrong?"
"Not the park. I cannnn"t," was what we heard.
"Are you afraid of something in the park?" asked Mal.
Alicia shook her head. She kept crying.
"Shhhh," I said. "You don"t have to go to the park if you don"t want to. Shhhh." I grabbed one of the paper napkins I"d stuck in the pocket of my shorts (a good baby-sitter is always prepared) and used the napkin as a tissue. I wiped the tears from Alicia"s cheeks.
"Mommy," sniffed Alicia. "What if Mommy comes back for me? What if I"m not here?"
My heart broke for Alicia. She looked so little and scared and forlorn standing there.
"Your mom won"t be back until after lunch. This afternoon," said Mal. She held out her arm, and pointed to her watch. "Not until the big hand is on the twelve and the little hand is on the five, see?"
The tears began to well up in Alicia"s eyes again. By this time, of course, all of Camp BSC was gathered around us, watching us as if we were a performance of some sort. But some of the campers, I noticed, were also getting restless.
"Will we get to the park at least by dark?" demanded Vanessa.
I said quickly, "I"ll tell you what. I"ll stay here with Alicia. You guys can handle the trip to the park without me, can"t you?"
"Well," said Kristy. She didn"t look happy. Kristy hates it when her plans get changed.
Mal said, "It probably would be a good idea, at least for today."
"Okay," said Kristy. She"s stubborn, but when it comes to baby-sitting she knows that being flexible is key.
"Come on, Hannie, you can be our partner," said Karen instantly and Nancy nodded. "Then we"ll be the Three Musketeers."
Camp BSC left for the park. Alicia and I watched them go, and then I persuaded Alicia to take a short walk around the barn (but only after I explained to her that we would be able to see Ker mother from the barn, if her mom arrived).