know. We don’t know anybody’s name here.”
“Well, we don’t go to this school,” Lisa reminded her.
“So why are we working so hard for it?” Carole asked a little grumpily.
Lisa shrugged good-naturedly. “Come on, Carole. You know why—” she broke off suddenly. “Hey, here comes somebody who can personally answer that question for us. Unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, I think Stevie has actually arrived.”
Lisa wasn’t the only person to see Stevie.
“Hey, there she is!” a voice cried. Then total confusion broke out.
Dozens of questions were thrown at Stevie before she was even close enough to hear them.
“Stevie, you’ve got to come over here!” someone yelled.
“Are we going to dress in costumes?” another voice asked.
Lisa and Carole ignored the uproar. They’d just spotted a couple of very familiar faces.
“Kate!” Carole cried. She ran to greet her friend.
“Christine!” Lisa shouted, waving furiously as she ran next to Carole.
“Italians!” Carole said, suddenly slowing.
“Wow!” Lisa said.
Stevie grinned proudly when she saw all that had been done to set up the fair while she’d been at the airport.
“You’re all fantastic!” she announced, trying to be heard over the shouts of her friends and schoolmates.
“We need more staples!” one girl said.
“And blue crepe paper,” a boy added.
“The booth I’m working on won’t stay level because the ground’s slanted,” somebody complained.
“What are we supposed to do with all the Nerf balls?” another boy asked.
Stevie looked blank for a moment. “Nerf balls?”
“Which is going to be my booth?” someone else wanted to know.
“Yeah, we got a whole case of Nerf balls,” the boy continued. “Are they prizes, or what?”
“Where
is
the hammer?” a girl wailed.
“Hold it, hold it,” Stevie said with the voice of authority. “I’m here and I will answer all your questions. I have also brought reinforcements. Everybody, I want you to meet six friends of mine. Enrico, Marco, Andre, Gian, Kate and Christine. Every one of them is a master craftsman and can help us.”
Stevie’s classmates appeared skeptical.
“Any of you guys know anything about how to make a level booth on unlevel ground?” Stevie asked her reinforcements.
“Shims,” Kate said promptly. “I’ll help.” She followed the person who was having trouble with the booth and tried to explain about props and shims as they walked.
Within a few minutes, Stevie had everybody assigned to a job. Enrico, it turned out, had been in charge of decorations for a horse fair in Italy and he had some ideas for what to do with the red and white crepe paper. He said blue wasn’t necessary. Andre wanted to see how the booths were constructed, so he joined a crew who were about to assemble the next one. Christine agreed to help the boy who was setting up the archery booth. Stevie was pretty sure Christine was trying to keep a straight face at the idea. Gian agreed to help Lisa find some extra staples so they could put up more posters about the fair on their way to the shopping center, where they planned to buy more staples. Carole returned to her job of setting up the mini-bowling alley in the center booth.
Everybody seemed to have something to do except Stevie and Marco.
“Let me show you around here,” Stevie said. She took him over to the oval course.
“And what’s this for?” he asked, puzzled.
“That’s where we’re having the pony cart rides for thekids in the hospital,” Stevie explained. “Max has agreed to lend us the cart and ponies. Some of the kids may even be able to ride the ponies in a saddle. I don’t know. Maybe it’s crazy, but as far as I’m concerned, horseback riding has always been a way to make me forget my troubles. I just wanted to share that with these kids. Some of them have really big troubles—a lot bigger than mine ever were. Do you think I’m out of my mind?”
Marco smiled. “Maybe a
“Well, we don’t go to this school,” Lisa reminded her.
“So why are we working so hard for it?” Carole asked a little grumpily.
Lisa shrugged good-naturedly. “Come on, Carole. You know why—” she broke off suddenly. “Hey, here comes somebody who can personally answer that question for us. Unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, I think Stevie has actually arrived.”
Lisa wasn’t the only person to see Stevie.
“Hey, there she is!” a voice cried. Then total confusion broke out.
Dozens of questions were thrown at Stevie before she was even close enough to hear them.
“Stevie, you’ve got to come over here!” someone yelled.
“Are we going to dress in costumes?” another voice asked.
Lisa and Carole ignored the uproar. They’d just spotted a couple of very familiar faces.
“Kate!” Carole cried. She ran to greet her friend.
“Christine!” Lisa shouted, waving furiously as she ran next to Carole.
“Italians!” Carole said, suddenly slowing.
“Wow!” Lisa said.
Stevie grinned proudly when she saw all that had been done to set up the fair while she’d been at the airport.
“You’re all fantastic!” she announced, trying to be heard over the shouts of her friends and schoolmates.
“We need more staples!” one girl said.
“And blue crepe paper,” a boy added.
“The booth I’m working on won’t stay level because the ground’s slanted,” somebody complained.
“What are we supposed to do with all the Nerf balls?” another boy asked.
Stevie looked blank for a moment. “Nerf balls?”
“Which is going to be my booth?” someone else wanted to know.
“Yeah, we got a whole case of Nerf balls,” the boy continued. “Are they prizes, or what?”
“Where
is
the hammer?” a girl wailed.
“Hold it, hold it,” Stevie said with the voice of authority. “I’m here and I will answer all your questions. I have also brought reinforcements. Everybody, I want you to meet six friends of mine. Enrico, Marco, Andre, Gian, Kate and Christine. Every one of them is a master craftsman and can help us.”
Stevie’s classmates appeared skeptical.
“Any of you guys know anything about how to make a level booth on unlevel ground?” Stevie asked her reinforcements.
“Shims,” Kate said promptly. “I’ll help.” She followed the person who was having trouble with the booth and tried to explain about props and shims as they walked.
Within a few minutes, Stevie had everybody assigned to a job. Enrico, it turned out, had been in charge of decorations for a horse fair in Italy and he had some ideas for what to do with the red and white crepe paper. He said blue wasn’t necessary. Andre wanted to see how the booths were constructed, so he joined a crew who were about to assemble the next one. Christine agreed to help the boy who was setting up the archery booth. Stevie was pretty sure Christine was trying to keep a straight face at the idea. Gian agreed to help Lisa find some extra staples so they could put up more posters about the fair on their way to the shopping center, where they planned to buy more staples. Carole returned to her job of setting up the mini-bowling alley in the center booth.
Everybody seemed to have something to do except Stevie and Marco.
“Let me show you around here,” Stevie said. She took him over to the oval course.
“And what’s this for?” he asked, puzzled.
“That’s where we’re having the pony cart rides for thekids in the hospital,” Stevie explained. “Max has agreed to lend us the cart and ponies. Some of the kids may even be able to ride the ponies in a saddle. I don’t know. Maybe it’s crazy, but as far as I’m concerned, horseback riding has always been a way to make me forget my troubles. I just wanted to share that with these kids. Some of them have really big troubles—a lot bigger than mine ever were. Do you think I’m out of my mind?”
Marco smiled. “Maybe a
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