Karen's Birthday Page 4

  “I want to get some pictures of you two,” said Seth.

  “Say ‘Trick-or-treat!’ ” said Mommy.

  Andrew and I smiled and said, “Trick-or-treat!”

  Click. Seth took our picture. He took a few more as we walked out the door.

  “Remember you must stay together on our street,” said Mommy.

  “And be sure you are back before it gets dark,” said Seth.

  When we got outside, Hannie’s mother was just dropping her off.

  “You look like a real cool cat!” I called.

  “I like your dinosaur costume, too,” said Hannie. “Look. Here comes Little Red Riding Hood.”

  Nancy was running across the lawn.

  We waved to our parents, then headed down the street all by ourselves. On the way, we saw some of our friends.

  Bobby and his little sister, Alicia, were with Mr. Gianelli. Kathryn and Willie Barnes were with their parents.

  We waved hi to them. So far, we were the only kids on our own. I felt very grownup.

  Ding-dong! We rang another bell.

  A couple who had moved in not long ago opened the door.

  “Trick-or-treat!” my friends and I called.

  “I like your costumes,” said the woman. “What kind of dinosaur are you?”

  “We are an ultrasaurus,” I replied.

  “A two-headed one!” said Andrew.

  Hannie flipped her long leopard tail.

  Nancy looked behind her and said, “I better hurry. The wolf is after me!”

  The woman held out a jar of pennies. The man held out a basket of candy. We took some candy for ourselves. Then we each took a few pennies for our goodwill bags. (Ms. Colman was going to send what we collected to a charity for needy children.)

  We went from house to house to house. We stayed on our street. And it was still light out by the time we were ready to head home.

  For the first time, I really and truly felt like the grown-up seven-and-a-half-year-old I was. I had gone trick-or-treating alone with my friends and my little brother. We had followed the rules and had not gotten into any trouble.

  And that was not all. I had a bag full of candy and plenty of pennies to share.

  About the Author

  ANN M. MARTIN is the acclaimed and bestselling author of a number of novels and series, including Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), A Dog’s Life, Here Today, P.S. Longer Letter Later (written with Paula Danziger), the Family Tree series, the Doll People series (written with Laura Godwin), the Main Street series, and the generation-defining series The Baby-sitters Club. She lives in New York.

  Copyright © 1996 by Ann M. Martin

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, BABY-SITTERS LITTLE SISTER, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First edition, 1996

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-05949-6