Part 7 (1/2)

Most of the time.

Anyway, I'll pick up the story of Friday a little further on - at the point where Kristy's version started matching the twins'.

”Claudia was so cool in that call-in,” Marilyn said. ”That was the best show.” ”Oh, boring. I liked the one about families/' Carolyn volunteered.

”If I did the shows/' Kristy said, ”I'd have more humor in them.” ”You should try out for that show, Kristy,” Carolyn said. ”You'd be great.” ”I did try out,” Kristy replied. ”Twice. But Claudia rejected me.” Marilyn's eyes widened. ”And she's your friendl” ”Hey, I'm not insulted,” Kristy insisted. ”I have more ideas. Great ones, too. If I can find a couple of helpers.” ' (She is so sly, isn't she?) ”How about us?' Marilyn asked.

”Yeah!” Carolyn piped up.

Bingo. Kristy was in business again. ”All right. I was thinking of, 'Marilyn and Carolyn and Kristy and the Major League Mystery.' Like, we go to a ballgame and a player is missing and we have to find him.” The twins just stared at her. ”That's pretty stupid,” Marilyn said.

”Or maybe, 'Stoneybrook - a Tour/ ” Kristy barreled on. ”We could talk about our favorite places, mention the library and some of the restaurants.” ”Boring, boring, I am snoring,” was Carolyn's critique.

Ill ”Kristy, we have to think of something kids will like/' Marilyn said.

”Like what?” Kristy asked.

”Dolls,” Marilyn suggested.

Kristy shook her head. ”That probably leaves out most of the boys.” ”Good,” Carolyn shot back.

”What about sports?” Kristy asked.

Carolyn made a face. ”Gross. Let's do something about movies.” ”Someone's already doing that,” Kristy said.

Carolyn thought for a moment. ”I know! A game show, like Jeopardy.” Marilyn rolled her eyes. ”Too hard.” Kristy saw a copy of Jeremy Thatcher lying open on the couch. ”What about book reviews?” The girls looked at Kristy as if she had suggested a foot-smelling contest.

”A book reading?” Kristy quickly suggested.

”Yeah!” cried Marilyn.

”I still think we should do a game show,” Carolyn said, pouting.

”Why not do both?” said the Great Stoney-brook Idea Machine.

Twin blank stares.

”I could read aloud for awhile,” Kristy went on. ”You know, something short and fun, like Where the Wild Things Are. Then we could put on a Jeopardy-type show - about kids' books! We provide the answers, and the listeners call in to guess the questions.” ”Yes!” Carolyn shouted.

”But Jeopardy has categories,” Marilyn reminded them. ”This is all one category.” ”Not necessarily,” Kristy replied. ”We could have 'Books That Have Been Made into Movies/ 'Romance Books/ 'Mysteries' . . .” ” 'Picture Books' and '

Chapter Books/ ” Carolyn offered.

”And then, at the end,” Marilyn said, ”we give the winner a grand prize, maybe a vacation to Bermuda!” ”Uh, it has to be something we can afford,” Kristy explained.

”A trip to Was.h.i.+ngton Mall?” Carolyn said.

”I was thinking of a gift certificate for an ice-cream sundae,” Kristy suggested, ”or a movie ticket.” ”Oh, all right,” Carolyn agreed.

”I want to ask the questions!” Marilyn called out.

”You mean, give the answers,” Carolyn corrected her. ”See, I'm the one who knows how to play, so I should - ” ”You can take turns,” said Kristy the Peacemaker, rising from the den sofa. ”Okay, we don't have much time. Let's get to work.” The three of them went into the kitchen.

The twins found a pad and pencils in a drawer. Over the next hour, Kristy and the girls picked five categories and thought up questions (I mean, answers) for each.

I saw them that Monday.

Ashley and I were blown away. We were preparing our fifth show, and our topic was ”What Are You Reading?” Guess what?

We said yes. Kristy's dream had come true.

Maybe now she'd leave me alone.

Chapter 13.

”Ready, Claudia? Ashley? Guests?” Mr. Bullock asked from inside the gla.s.s booth.

”Ready,” we replied.

”Ready, Mr. Garber?” Theodore ”Ted” Garber, author of the spooky, creepy, gross, and super-popular series Night Frights, cleared his throat and said, ”Ready!” I was still in shock. The week before, Ashley had been dying to get a real, live author on the show. She'd heard that Mr. Garber lived in Connecticut. On Friday she tried to invite him to the show, by calling his publis.h.i.+ng company.

She did not expect that he'd call back on Sat.u.r.day and say yes.

(I have to admit, I don't read Night Frights, but it felt very cool to be in the same room with a famous author.) The engineer held up his arm. The red light went on.”h.e.l.llllo, it's a warm, gorgeous, fantastic Thursday, and welcome to Tor Kids Only'! This is Claudia Kis.h.i.+, sitting with Ash-ley Wyeth, as always, and we have the coolest, most innnncrafible show for you today!” Not bad, huh? I was getting better and better at this stuff.

”Today's theme,” Ashley continued, ”is 'What Are You Reading?' Later we'll have a call-in quiz show - a Junior Jeopardy based on kids' books. We'll also have Regina, Cathy, and David, three seventh-graders who are collecting their own strange and spooky stories.” ”And in the middle,” I said, ”for a full half hour, we'll have our surprise guest, who will read from his new book, Night Frights Number Thirteen: Don't Get Out of Bed! Yes, fans, we have for you, here in the studio, live and in the flesh ... Mr. Ted Garber!” ”BOOO-AHHH-HAHHH-HAAAAHHH!” I nearly jumped through the ceiling. Ashley let out a gasp.

Through the gla.s.s I saw the engineers snickering and looking guilty. I guess that was their idea of fun - scaring innocent people with unexpected spooky sound effects.

So weird. I just glared at them.

”Uh, and now, take it away, Regina, Cathy, and David!” Ashley said.

Mr. Garber was smiling sympathetically at me. He looked as if he'd been scared, too (which I found very funny).

Well, the storytelling trio got off to a rocky start. (I think Mr. Garber made them a little nervous.) But their final story was fantastic. It was called ”Kokolimalayas, the Bone Man,” a Native American tale about a boy who defeats a monster made of bones. Kokolimalayas sticks out its chest and defies the boy to shoot. But the boy knows the monster's secret: its heart is in its fingertip. So he points his arrow and zzzing! 'Bye-'bye Bone Man.

”Bravo!” Mr. Garber called out when they were done.

They were thrilled by his response. They crowded around to shake his hand as I said, ”And now, the guest you've all been waiting for: Misterrrr Ted Garrrrrberrr!” (That was reverb. The engineers were in a wacky mood.) ”I wish I could talk like that,” was the first thing Mr. Garber said. ”Maybe then my kids would listen to me.” He performed a funny routine, and then started reading from his book. Off in the waiting room, I could see Kristy and the twins shuffling papers and fidgeting.

After the reading, we ”opened the phones,” and Mr. Garber answered callers.

At precisely 5:45, Mr. Garber finished up. I thanked him, gave Kristy a thumbs-up, and announced, ”And now it's time for Junior Jeopardy with Kristy Thomas, and the tremendous twins, Carolyn and Marilyn Arnold!” Kristy confidently grabbed the mike and held it right up to her lips. ”THOCKHOO CLOFFFO!” The engineers' eyes bugged out. As they fiddled with dials, I gently pulled the mike farther away from Kristy's mouth.