#9 - The Ghost at Dawn's House (Chapters 10-12)
Chapters 1-3
Chapters 4-6
Chapters 7-9
Chapter 10:
Babysitting entry from Claudia! Or should I say babysiting entry. This is an early book, so her entry is actually readable and not the garble it became in later books. She does manage to spell 'babysitting' right...then loses one of the t's the next time around. I think it went along with the 'e' at the end of 'the' and the 'h' in 'night' that she also forgets. Lucy is also an angle...is she acute? Ohhhhhhhh bad joke. Claudia says she was trying to get Jamie in bed because there was a program on tv she wanted to watch and I'm guessing she didn't want him to see it? Probably Loveline; I caught one of my babysitters watching that when I was supposed to be asleep. That, and Beavis and Butthead.
Ok, so Claudia's babysitting, who else, the Newtons. I can take them in small doses, but Jamie sometimes gets on my nerves. This is one of those times. Claudia arrives and is greeted with three "Hi-hi!"s in a row. And it's now gotten to the point where Claudia says it back to him. Claudia says Jamie's bouncing up and down like "a yo-yo in blue jeans." Get that boy some Ritalin!
Jamie says he's learned a new song and sings the first verse to Claudia. It seems to be the only verse he knows because Mr. Newton cuts him off before he can repeat it. Is this one of the very few times we see Mr. Newton? Anyway, the song is "I'm in Love with a Big Blue Frog." I know I've heard that somewhere before, so I went looking on youtube. And, sure enough, I saw it on The Muppet Show:
Maybe it's a good thing Mr. Newton cut him off, because one of the verses, uh, definitely made me do a double take:
The neighbors are against it, and it's clear to me
And it's probably clear to you
They think value on their property'll go right down
If the family next door is blue
Then again, it's supposed to be a silly song.
Anyway, Lucy is already asleep, Jamie already had dinner, all he has to do is go to bed, so Claudia pretty much has it easy. WRONG. Jamie seems to have switched personalities with Claire Pike, because he's bouncing off the walls and refuses to go to bed. Like a normal 4-year-old, instead of bowing down and worshiping the beloved BSC member and following all her orders dutifully. Claudia now has her work cut out for her. The minute his parents leave, Jamie starts stalling. He tells Claudia he has something to show her, and starts pulling out old toys of his, asks to wear his pajamas that are already in the wash, usual stuff.
Maybe we underestimated Jamie, he's a sneaky little smartass. He tells Claudia he can get changed himself (after whining that his farm pajamas are babyish...did Stacey babysit for him last?) and tells her to face the wall and not peak while he gets changed. Well, he pulls a fast one on Claudia (come to think of it...how difficult would that be to trick Claudia?) and runs downstairs to the playroom. Claudia gives him the full name treatment (James Anderson Newton) and tells him to march his butt upstairs. But Jamie's not done with his tricks yet! He says he needs to brush his teeth, then go to the bathroom, then get a glass of water. Claudia tells him not to move a muscle and gets the water, comes back and finds him pretending to be frozen. *headdesk* Such a cliche kiddie joke.
She offers to read him a story...did she bring a pop-up book, or is she going to read Pat the Bunny? She suggests Harold and the Purple Crayon, Jamie wants Make Way for Ducklings because it's long. I remember Harold and the Purple Crayon being long too! Claudia decides not to argue and reads Make Way for Ducklings, which takes longer because Jamie keeps asking questions. She finally finishes, and he asks for another glass of water. Claudia has nerves of steel. She finally leaves him to fall asleep then goes down to watch the show that's apparently too hot for Jamie to be around. Five minutes in, Jamie has another question about the book and wants more water. D'oh!
Chapter 14:
Mary Anne and Dawn are lying down in the barn together (noooo, not that way!), pondering, and Mary Anne says she thinks she's too afraid of things.
Mary Anne, that's the understatement of the entire BSC series. Oh, and Dawn says she's afraid of the barn too. Mary Anne better get used to it, so many BSC events are in that barn's future! And then we're clobbered with some hardcore foreshadowing. Mary Anne's flipping through a teen magazine, squeeing over Cam Geary and says to Dawn, "I wish Cam lived here in Stoneybrook." Guess what the next book is.
Dawn challenges Mary Anne to show how brave she is and says she's got a great secret to show her and it'll be the surprise of her life. Nooooo, minds out of the gutter! She brings Mary Anne into the Secret Passage, all while Mary Anne is freaking out about what could be hiding in the dark. I don't know...Cokie, little girl outfits and braids, sad movies...
They go into the passage through Dawn's room, so Dawn can leave the wall open and let some light in so Mary Anne doesn't turn into a ghost herself. She sends Mary Anne in first, and makes sure not to mention Jared Mullray's crazy ghost, because then Mary Anne will never set foot in the house again. Which would make it kind of awkward when Richard and Sharon get married. And this has me thinking...is Mary Anne afraid of THE MANSION? Lord knows she's probably heard the story of Old Ben Brewer enough.
The coin isn't in the passage now, but it's been replaced with peanut shells! OMG, they must have been left there by some colonial people!! Because food lasts that long. Dawn makes the mistake of saying that Jared left them there, Mary Anne asks who Jared is, and Dawn lets it slip that he's the ghost. Well Mary Anne runs away as if Cokie showed up, brandishing a copy of Bambi, and nearly shuts Dawn in the passage as she frantically tries to close the door. Dawn slips out before Mary Anne could leave her in the darkness with Charlie and Janine the ghost.
Dawn tells her the story and shows her all the items, and tries to convince her that Jared Mullray is taking out his old vendetta against the Schaefers. Mary Anne doesn't sound too convinced. Oh, and Dawn did lock the passage entrance in her room with a lock after the Trip-Man suggested it. Don't know how, but it is locked. Before she could explain anything else, the girls hear a loud THUMP come from the passage, followed by another THUMP (what the hell are Charlie and Janine doing in there, causing all that noise?). Mary Anne's about ready to bolt again when Dawn says she's going back in, then stops herself and says she'll guard the passage. Don't know what good that'll do, but Dawn goes inside and shrieks. Lying at the bottom of the stairs is an old book called Great Dog Tales. So the ghost is weird, clumsy, and likes to read...a spectral Mallory?
Chapter 12:
Babysitting entry from Stacey, who's watching Stoneybrook's answer to the Weasleys. No, the Pikes aren't torturing her by making her watch everyone. It's only the kids from Vanessa down. Lord knows where Mallory and the triplets are. Vanessa and the two little girls grab the mail and run upstairs with it. What's in the mail, I don't know. Compromising photos of Stacey and Toby at Sea City for the Pike kids to use as blackmail? Oh, and Nicky's on the porch, reading and writing emo poetry about how he hates girls.
It's quiet, so Stacey does some chores that Mrs. Pike left for her, because the BSC gets paid extra if they do housework. With the BSC's wages, I'm assuming extra = 15 cents, 25 cents if they clean the entire house. Well, eventually, it gets too quiet, so Stacey starts to go upstairs to check on the girls. She's instead nearly blind-sided by a little shrieking things covered in white foam. Oh no! One of the Pikes has rabies! And if that isn't bad enough, some foam gets on Stacey's ~sophisticated~ Hawaiian shirt. Ugh, I do not like Hawaiian shirts. And they make me think of that quote from Homer Simpson about the only people who look good in Hawaiian shirts are gay guys and big fat party animals?
Stacey realizes the foam thing is Claire and when she asks if it is, it responds "Yes, it's (gulp) meeeeeeee!" And she doesn't have rabies, she's covered in shampoo. And she gulped some of it down? Ew, accidentally getting shampoo in your mouth sucks! Margo and Vanessa immediately say it isn't their fault, and since Vanessa is so freaked out, she doesn't rhyme her words. Whew. Makes it easier for us. Stacey pulls Claire into the bathroom, takes her clothes off (not a big deal for Claire, since she spends a lot of time au naturale), and starts rinsing the shampoo out. Stacey starts to panic because the foam isn't going anywhere. She tries rubbing it, and the foam gets bigger. Uh oh.
Margo and Vanessa confess that they didn't use the Johnson's Baby Shampoo (Stacey should know that stuff wouldn't make such a huge mess), and they show Stacey the bottle they used, Calladew's Shampoo. Stacey panics and thinks they stole some of Mrs. Pike's hair product, but no, it was a sample they got in the mail. The label says "CONCENTRATED" and "USE SPARINGLY" all over it, but Vanessa and Margo pulled a Claudia and didn't bother to read, choosing to dump the whole thing on Claire's head. They explain that they always get the samples, and last week it was gum, which the two older girls ate (they ate gum?!) without giving any to Claire. So they decided to be nice and give her all the shampoo. Uh, girls, you could have let her have all the shampoo without using it all at once! I think a 7 and 9-year-old could figure that out!
Stacey, who's rightfully ticked off, decides to go check on Nicky and orders the girls to keep rinsing Claire's head. Guess what, Nicky's gone. 45 minutes later, Nicky's still gone and Claire's head still looks like an opened tub of Cool Whip. Stacey then decides to call Dawn and asks her to help her find Nicky. Dawn mentions she kept hearing lots of weird noises in the Secret Passage (hmm...). But she doesn't put two and two together and runs over to the Pike's.
Stacey sends Dawn out to look for Nicky, and she goes upstairs to keep dousing Claire with water. It doesn't take long for Nicky to pop up when Dawn goes looking for him, and he shows up right on the edge of the Schaefer's property (hmm...). She asks him where he's been but he doesn't answer, instead chewing a big wad of gum.
Dawn drags him home and it's Vanessa's turn to be pissed. Stacey said she was going to tell Mrs. Pike what she and Margo did and Vanessa demands to know why Nicky isn't being punished. Well, I'm guessing it's because of that stupid two block rule? Nicky makes absolutely NO sense and responds "Oh, you're just jealous! You wish you had a dog friend who could rescue people from avalanches!" Holy shit, I think Mallory has competition for Weirdest Pike now (as if that's a real competition because that whole family's strange). They start arguing and Stacey tells them both to can it. Uh oh...50 lashes for her for yelling something rude to a child! Life blossoms should not hear words like that! Seriously, the BSC like never shows assertiveness.
Dawn, meanwhile, has other ideas. Dog friend? And that book she found in the Secret Passage? Think about it...
Chapters 4-6
Chapters 7-9
Chapter 10:
Babysitting entry from Claudia! Or should I say babysiting entry. This is an early book, so her entry is actually readable and not the garble it became in later books. She does manage to spell 'babysitting' right...then loses one of the t's the next time around. I think it went along with the 'e' at the end of 'the' and the 'h' in 'night' that she also forgets. Lucy is also an angle...is she acute? Ohhhhhhhh bad joke. Claudia says she was trying to get Jamie in bed because there was a program on tv she wanted to watch and I'm guessing she didn't want him to see it? Probably Loveline; I caught one of my babysitters watching that when I was supposed to be asleep. That, and Beavis and Butthead.
Ok, so Claudia's babysitting, who else, the Newtons. I can take them in small doses, but Jamie sometimes gets on my nerves. This is one of those times. Claudia arrives and is greeted with three "Hi-hi!"s in a row. And it's now gotten to the point where Claudia says it back to him. Claudia says Jamie's bouncing up and down like "a yo-yo in blue jeans." Get that boy some Ritalin!
Jamie says he's learned a new song and sings the first verse to Claudia. It seems to be the only verse he knows because Mr. Newton cuts him off before he can repeat it. Is this one of the very few times we see Mr. Newton? Anyway, the song is "I'm in Love with a Big Blue Frog." I know I've heard that somewhere before, so I went looking on youtube. And, sure enough, I saw it on The Muppet Show:
Click to viewMaybe it's a good thing Mr. Newton cut him off, because one of the verses, uh, definitely made me do a double take:
The neighbors are against it, and it's clear to me
And it's probably clear to you
They think value on their property'll go right down
If the family next door is blue
Then again, it's supposed to be a silly song.
Anyway, Lucy is already asleep, Jamie already had dinner, all he has to do is go to bed, so Claudia pretty much has it easy. WRONG. Jamie seems to have switched personalities with Claire Pike, because he's bouncing off the walls and refuses to go to bed. Like a normal 4-year-old, instead of bowing down and worshiping the beloved BSC member and following all her orders dutifully. Claudia now has her work cut out for her. The minute his parents leave, Jamie starts stalling. He tells Claudia he has something to show her, and starts pulling out old toys of his, asks to wear his pajamas that are already in the wash, usual stuff.
Maybe we underestimated Jamie, he's a sneaky little smartass. He tells Claudia he can get changed himself (after whining that his farm pajamas are babyish...did Stacey babysit for him last?) and tells her to face the wall and not peak while he gets changed. Well, he pulls a fast one on Claudia (come to think of it...how difficult would that be to trick Claudia?) and runs downstairs to the playroom. Claudia gives him the full name treatment (James Anderson Newton) and tells him to march his butt upstairs. But Jamie's not done with his tricks yet! He says he needs to brush his teeth, then go to the bathroom, then get a glass of water. Claudia tells him not to move a muscle and gets the water, comes back and finds him pretending to be frozen. *headdesk* Such a cliche kiddie joke.
She offers to read him a story...did she bring a pop-up book, or is she going to read Pat the Bunny? She suggests Harold and the Purple Crayon, Jamie wants Make Way for Ducklings because it's long. I remember Harold and the Purple Crayon being long too! Claudia decides not to argue and reads Make Way for Ducklings, which takes longer because Jamie keeps asking questions. She finally finishes, and he asks for another glass of water. Claudia has nerves of steel. She finally leaves him to fall asleep then goes down to watch the show that's apparently too hot for Jamie to be around. Five minutes in, Jamie has another question about the book and wants more water. D'oh!
Chapter 14:
Mary Anne and Dawn are lying down in the barn together (noooo, not that way!), pondering, and Mary Anne says she thinks she's too afraid of things.
Mary Anne, that's the understatement of the entire BSC series. Oh, and Dawn says she's afraid of the barn too. Mary Anne better get used to it, so many BSC events are in that barn's future! And then we're clobbered with some hardcore foreshadowing. Mary Anne's flipping through a teen magazine, squeeing over Cam Geary and says to Dawn, "I wish Cam lived here in Stoneybrook." Guess what the next book is.
Dawn challenges Mary Anne to show how brave she is and says she's got a great secret to show her and it'll be the surprise of her life. Nooooo, minds out of the gutter! She brings Mary Anne into the Secret Passage, all while Mary Anne is freaking out about what could be hiding in the dark. I don't know...Cokie, little girl outfits and braids, sad movies...
They go into the passage through Dawn's room, so Dawn can leave the wall open and let some light in so Mary Anne doesn't turn into a ghost herself. She sends Mary Anne in first, and makes sure not to mention Jared Mullray's crazy ghost, because then Mary Anne will never set foot in the house again. Which would make it kind of awkward when Richard and Sharon get married. And this has me thinking...is Mary Anne afraid of THE MANSION? Lord knows she's probably heard the story of Old Ben Brewer enough.
The coin isn't in the passage now, but it's been replaced with peanut shells! OMG, they must have been left there by some colonial people!! Because food lasts that long. Dawn makes the mistake of saying that Jared left them there, Mary Anne asks who Jared is, and Dawn lets it slip that he's the ghost. Well Mary Anne runs away as if Cokie showed up, brandishing a copy of Bambi, and nearly shuts Dawn in the passage as she frantically tries to close the door. Dawn slips out before Mary Anne could leave her in the darkness with Charlie and Janine the ghost.
Dawn tells her the story and shows her all the items, and tries to convince her that Jared Mullray is taking out his old vendetta against the Schaefers. Mary Anne doesn't sound too convinced. Oh, and Dawn did lock the passage entrance in her room with a lock after the Trip-Man suggested it. Don't know how, but it is locked. Before she could explain anything else, the girls hear a loud THUMP come from the passage, followed by another THUMP (what the hell are Charlie and Janine doing in there, causing all that noise?). Mary Anne's about ready to bolt again when Dawn says she's going back in, then stops herself and says she'll guard the passage. Don't know what good that'll do, but Dawn goes inside and shrieks. Lying at the bottom of the stairs is an old book called Great Dog Tales. So the ghost is weird, clumsy, and likes to read...a spectral Mallory?
Chapter 12:
Babysitting entry from Stacey, who's watching Stoneybrook's answer to the Weasleys. No, the Pikes aren't torturing her by making her watch everyone. It's only the kids from Vanessa down. Lord knows where Mallory and the triplets are. Vanessa and the two little girls grab the mail and run upstairs with it. What's in the mail, I don't know. Compromising photos of Stacey and Toby at Sea City for the Pike kids to use as blackmail? Oh, and Nicky's on the porch, reading and writing emo poetry about how he hates girls.
It's quiet, so Stacey does some chores that Mrs. Pike left for her, because the BSC gets paid extra if they do housework. With the BSC's wages, I'm assuming extra = 15 cents, 25 cents if they clean the entire house. Well, eventually, it gets too quiet, so Stacey starts to go upstairs to check on the girls. She's instead nearly blind-sided by a little shrieking things covered in white foam. Oh no! One of the Pikes has rabies! And if that isn't bad enough, some foam gets on Stacey's ~sophisticated~ Hawaiian shirt. Ugh, I do not like Hawaiian shirts. And they make me think of that quote from Homer Simpson about the only people who look good in Hawaiian shirts are gay guys and big fat party animals?
Stacey realizes the foam thing is Claire and when she asks if it is, it responds "Yes, it's (gulp) meeeeeeee!" And she doesn't have rabies, she's covered in shampoo. And she gulped some of it down? Ew, accidentally getting shampoo in your mouth sucks! Margo and Vanessa immediately say it isn't their fault, and since Vanessa is so freaked out, she doesn't rhyme her words. Whew. Makes it easier for us. Stacey pulls Claire into the bathroom, takes her clothes off (not a big deal for Claire, since she spends a lot of time au naturale), and starts rinsing the shampoo out. Stacey starts to panic because the foam isn't going anywhere. She tries rubbing it, and the foam gets bigger. Uh oh.
Margo and Vanessa confess that they didn't use the Johnson's Baby Shampoo (Stacey should know that stuff wouldn't make such a huge mess), and they show Stacey the bottle they used, Calladew's Shampoo. Stacey panics and thinks they stole some of Mrs. Pike's hair product, but no, it was a sample they got in the mail. The label says "CONCENTRATED" and "USE SPARINGLY" all over it, but Vanessa and Margo pulled a Claudia and didn't bother to read, choosing to dump the whole thing on Claire's head. They explain that they always get the samples, and last week it was gum, which the two older girls ate (they ate gum?!) without giving any to Claire. So they decided to be nice and give her all the shampoo. Uh, girls, you could have let her have all the shampoo without using it all at once! I think a 7 and 9-year-old could figure that out!
Stacey, who's rightfully ticked off, decides to go check on Nicky and orders the girls to keep rinsing Claire's head. Guess what, Nicky's gone. 45 minutes later, Nicky's still gone and Claire's head still looks like an opened tub of Cool Whip. Stacey then decides to call Dawn and asks her to help her find Nicky. Dawn mentions she kept hearing lots of weird noises in the Secret Passage (hmm...). But she doesn't put two and two together and runs over to the Pike's.
Stacey sends Dawn out to look for Nicky, and she goes upstairs to keep dousing Claire with water. It doesn't take long for Nicky to pop up when Dawn goes looking for him, and he shows up right on the edge of the Schaefer's property (hmm...). She asks him where he's been but he doesn't answer, instead chewing a big wad of gum.
Dawn drags him home and it's Vanessa's turn to be pissed. Stacey said she was going to tell Mrs. Pike what she and Margo did and Vanessa demands to know why Nicky isn't being punished. Well, I'm guessing it's because of that stupid two block rule? Nicky makes absolutely NO sense and responds "Oh, you're just jealous! You wish you had a dog friend who could rescue people from avalanches!" Holy shit, I think Mallory has competition for Weirdest Pike now (as if that's a real competition because that whole family's strange). They start arguing and Stacey tells them both to can it. Uh oh...50 lashes for her for yelling something rude to a child! Life blossoms should not hear words like that! Seriously, the BSC like never shows assertiveness.
Dawn, meanwhile, has other ideas. Dog friend? And that book she found in the Secret Passage? Think about it...