Karen's Home Run Read online

  Kristy did not know what to do. “Someone might get hurt,” she said.

  “No cage,” repeated Andrew.

  So Kristy and Bart folded back the sides. The pitcher threw the ball. Andrew swung. He missed. But the bat was still in his hands!

  “Yea!” I cried.

  Andrew swung two more times. He struck out. But he never let go of the bat. I was very proud of my brother.

  I was also nervous. Now the Krushers had two outs, and I was up at bat. I looked at the pitcher. I looked at the ball. I watched the ball as it came toward me.

  THWACK! I hit the ball and ran to first base.

  Five innings later, I hit a double. I earned two runs for my team. In the end, the Bashers beat the Krushers, twelve to eleven. But I knew I had played well.

  The next day, I would march proudly in the parade with the Krushers.

  Memorial Day

  I just love holidays. Like I said before, Memorial Day is not a huge holiday for either of my families. But when I woke up on Monday morning, I was gigundo excited.

  I checked outside. The sun was shining. No clouds!

  I looked at my softball uniform. I had laid it on a chair the night before.

  I imagined myself marching through Stoneybrook with the Krushers.

  Then I thought of the cookout. After the parade, Daddy and Elizabeth were going to have a cookout party at the big house. All of our neighbors (plus Nancy’s family and Grandma B) had been invited.

  I leaped out of bed and took off my nightgown. Then I put on my Krushers uniform. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I thought, Home Run Karen. I had been Home Run Karen once before. Maybe I could be her again.

  How, I wondered, could I ever have thought of riding in the Bicycle Brigade? The Krushers had played very well the day before. We had almost beaten the Bashers. And that was gigundo hard to do.

  Then I realized something. I had decorated my little-house bicycle for the parade. Mommy and Seth were not at home. The bicycle was locked in the garage. I could not have ridden in the Bicycle Brigade even if I had wanted to!

  * * *

  The parade was going to start at noon. Everyone at the big house was VERY busy in the morning. Here are some of the things that happened before my family left for the parade:

  Andrew spilled orange juice down the front of his Krushers T-shirt. Nannie had to wash it and dry it fast. (She may have set a record.)

  The grasshopper eyes fell off the front of the Junk Bucket. Charlie and Sam had to make new ones.

  Kristy and Elizabeth dressed Emily to be the parade princess. At the last moment, Kristy looked at Emily and said, “Let’s curl her hair.”

  Emily’s hair is very short. But when it had been curled, and when Kristy put the crown on her head, Emily looked like … a real princess!

  I walked her into the bathroom. I stood her in front of the mirror. “Look. There you are,” I said. “You’re Princess Emily.”

  “Tinky,” said Emily Michelle. (But she was smiling.)

  At eleven-thirty, Sam yelled, “Okay, everybody. We’re ready to roll!”

  My big-house family set off for the parade.

  The Stoneybrook Parade

  Downtown Stoneybrook was a mess! I had never seen so many people in one place. And most of those people were wearing costumes or uniforms.

  “Where do we go?” I asked Daddy. I was feeling a teensy bit nervous.

  “Don’t worry, sweetie,” said Daddy. “We’ll find your places.”

  It took awhile, but we did. Emily stayed with Charlie in the Junk Bucket. They were waiting for the cheerleaders.

  Sam saw his band and joined them.

  Then Nannie spotted her bowling team. She joined them.

  And then Kristy said, “Karen, Andrew, David Michael. You stay right here with me. The other Krushers will find us.”

  “Okay if Elizabeth and I leave now?” asked Daddy. “We want to find a good spot to watch the parade. I want perfect pictures.” Daddy patted the camcorder, which was slung over his shoulder.

  “It’s okay,” said Kristy. “I’ll watch everybody.”

  Daddy and Elizabeth left. The Krushers began to show up. Our cheerleaders showed up, too. Guess who was almost the last Krusher to arrive. Linny Papadakis. And he was pulling Hannie in a wagon. She was wearing her uniform. Hannie had not broken her ankle. But she had twisted it — badly. Her foot was wrapped in an Ace bandage. It was so fat and puffy that she could not wear a sneaker on that foot. When she walked, she had to use crutches.

  “But,” Hannie said to me, “I would not miss the parade for anything. I want everyone to know that I am a Krusher.”

  “Me, too,” I said. I grinned at Hannie.

  A few minutes later, Hannie and I heard music playing. Sam’s band was leading the parade. Behind the band drove a fire truck. Behind the fire truck marched Brownies, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Boy Scouts. Then came some men in uniforms. (I am not sure who they were.)

  Finally a woman walked over to Kristy. She said, “Get your team ready. You follow the Bashers.”

  The Bashers got to march right in front of us, all through town, carrying a sign that read: STONEYBROOK SOFTBALL CHAMPS — BART’S BASHERS.

  Oh, well. I did not care too much. The people watching the parade clapped just as hard for the Krushers as they did for the Bashers.

  I waved to everyone. Soon I saw Daddy and the camcorder. I waved to the camcorder, too. I could not wait to see myself on videotape that night. I could pretend that I was an actress in a TV show.

  At the end of the parade route, the Krushers gathered around Kristy. We watched as the rest of the parade trickled in. There was Nannie with her bowling team. There was the Junk Bucket, carrying Charlie, Emily, and the cheerleaders…. And, finally, in rode the Bicycle Brigade!

  I saw lots of kids I knew. And did their bicycles ever look fancy! Nancy was the only bike rider in a costume, though.

  Soon after the last of the kids had ridden in, a voice blared out of a microphone. It was the judge of the Bicycle Brigade.

  “I am happy to announce the winners,” he began. He named the third-place winner and the second-place winner. (I did not know those kids.) And then he said, “First prize goes to Nancy Dawes.”

  “Yea!” I screamed. I was best friends with the contest winner! Not just anybody could say that.

  Two Home Runs

  Mmm. Hot dogs … hamburgers … potato salad. Good smells were everywhere. Daddy was grilling things on the barbecue. Elizabeth and Nannie carried salads out of the big house. Our neighbors came over bringing soda, juice, brownies, cookies, cakes, and ice cream.

  “Hey, it’s a feast!” I said to Hannie and Nancy.

  “A pit-out!” added Nancy.

  We giggled.

  Hannie was hobbling around on her crutches. Nancy had pinned a big blue button to her shirt. The button said: #1. Two blue ribbons hung from it. On one ribbon was written: BICYCLE.

  On the other ribbon was written: BRIGADE, in the same up-and-down letters.

  Grown-ups kept coming over and talking to us. To Nancy they would say, “Congratulations! It is so nice of you to give your prize to Stoneybrook Manor.” To Hannie they would say, “Your poor, poor foot. I hope you will be off the crutches soon.” To me they would say, “You’re the baseball champ. You hit a double yesterday.”

  The Three Musketeers felt pretty proud.

  We spent the afternoon together. First we ate lunch. We each chose two brownies, a slice of cake, a scoop of ice cream, and a soda.

  “I don’t think this is a balanced meal,” said Hannie. But we did not care.

  Later we all got in the hammock at the same time. We rocked back and forth so hard that … “Whoa!” cried Nancy.

  The hammock tipped over and we fell out. (Nobody was hurt.)

  David Michael, Linny Papadakis, Amanda and Max Delaney, Andrew, Emily, and some other kids decided to form their own Memorial Day parade. Daddy videotaped it. The Three Musketeers just wat
ched, though. Hannie’s foot was hurting, so she was sitting down. Nancy and I sat with her. The Three Musketeers belong together.

  When everyone was finished eating (and digesting), Mr. Dawes called, “How about a game of softball?”

  “Yes!” shouted most of the kids and some of the grown-ups.

  We divided into two teams. Daddy and Mrs. Papadakis and Mr. Dawes were on my team. (I was not used to playing with grown-ups.) Mr. Dawes decided that home plate would be a tree stump, first base would be this huge oak tree, second base would be a holly bush, and third base would be an old T-shirt.

  The other team was at bat first. (I was stuck in the outfield again. I tried hard to pay attention.) After two people had struck out, Andrew marched over to the tree stump.

  Charlie was pitching. Sam was catching. When Sam saw Andrew with the bat, he yelled, “Everybody duck!”

  A few people did.

  But guess what. Andrew hit the ball with a loud SMACK. Then he dropped the bat gently on the ground.

  He had hit a home run!

  Later, when the umpire yelled, “Strike three!” the teams changed sides.

  “You’re up at bat first, Karen,” said Daddy.

  “Okay.” I stood in front of the stump.

  David Michael pitched to me.

  I swung and … I hit the second home run of the game. I was Home Run Karen again.

  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 © 1991 by Ann M. Martin

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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, 1991

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-05594-8