DISC: I DO NOT own any of the chars from BSC. They belong to Ann M. Martin. I Do however own anyone you don't recognize!
Enjoy!
"Kristy's Big Decision"
CHAPTER 6
By the time we had our next meeting of the summer, Anya had gone on a few more jobs with other sitters and she was quickly getting the hang of how the club worked.
It was the Saturday after our Friday meeting when we needed a sitter on short notice to baby-sit Karen and Emily Michelle.
I had softball practice, Mom and Watson were going on a date and Nannie had a bowling practice.
I thought of calling Claud or Mary-Anne, but then I Remembered they both had plans.
Mary-Anne was going to the movies with Dawn Schafer, who had returned that Wednesday and Claudia had a sitting job of her own at the Newtons.
Abby had left for Long Island the day before, so she wasn't available to help either.
Having no other choice, I called Anya.
After I had explained to her what was going on, she agreed to sit. She asked if she could bring Alex with her since Sara was going on a date of her own.
I asked my parents and they said it was fine.
Twenty-minutes later, Anya and Alex arrived.
Karen was overjoyed to see both of them. She gave Anya a hug the minute she saw her.
"Privyet!" She greeted proudly.
"Aw, privyet to you too. " Anya replied. "Are you ready for a fun night?"
"Yes!" Karen shouted excitedly.
"Karen," I reminded her. "Indoor voice."
Karen nodded and tried to calm down.
Once everyone had left, Anya gave the kid's dinner before seeing what they wanted to do for the rest of the night.
As for David Michael, he was sleeping over at the Pikes' and Andrew was in Chicago with Lisa and Seth.
Once dinner was over, Anya cleaned up the kitchen with Karen and Alex's help before gathering the three children in the living room.
"So what do you guys wanna do?" She asked.
"Can we watch "Anastasia?"?" Karen asked.
"Why don't we play a game?" Anya suggested. "Then after Emily goes to bed, we can watch it if you like."
Karen switched gears as fast as lightning.
"Okay! Let's play "Let's All Come in! She suggested.
"What's that?" Alex asked.
Karen was glowing with excitement as she explained the game to her new friend.
"I know!" She said. "We'll pretend we're princesses like you!" She said, glancing at Anya. She got a hopeful look in her eye. "Can you show us how to be a princess?" She asked. "I mean a princess like Anastasia? Please?"
"Be princess like Ana!" Emily announced happily.
"All right. " Anya replied. She grinned as an idea came to her. "There's only one way to do that. Karen, do you have the soundtrack for the movie?"
"Yup!" Karen replied. She ran upstairs and returned with her copy of the CD and my boom box. I had allowed her to borrow it until she got her own for her birthday.
After the boom box was plugged in, Karen put the CD in and flipped it to song number five.
"All right, are you guys ready?" Anya asked.
"Ready!" Karen said enthusiastically.
"Me too!" Alex said.
"Me too!" Emily echoed.
"All right. Here we go…" With that, Anya spent the next half an hour teaching her charges how to be a Romanoff princess.
They had a lot of fun and Karen even got dressed up for the occasion.
An hour later, Anya got Emily ready for bed while Karen and Alex played in Karen's room.
Once Emily was tucked in, Anya went back to the older girls. She was planning on letting Alex fall asleep downstairs so she could be closer to her.
As promised, she set up "Anastasia" for them and the three watched half of the movie together.
It wasn't long before thunder sounded in the distance.
Alex moved closer to her mother while Karen tried to be brave about it. She was almost eight after all and almost eight-year-olds weren't afraid of thunderstorms.
"It's okay." Anya assured the little girl shaking in her lap. "The thunder can't hurt you, sweetheart. You're safe with Mama." She whispered something in Russian to her and the seven-year-old calmed down soon afterwards.
When it was time for Karen to go to bed, she got ready without fuss.
She and Anya, along with Alex read from her "Anastasia" book for twenty-minutes after she was tucked in.
After Anya was sure Karen would be okay, she left her night-light on and went back downstairs to wait for Mom and Watson to come home.
As for me, I was sleeping over at Mary-Anne and Dawn's after practice.
As the hours wore on, the storm really started growing outside.
The wind started howling and the thunder crashed while lightning flashed.
As Anya settled down to read a book of her own, she heard a thud from upstairs, followed by a scream.
Taking the stairs two at a time, Anya checked on Emily before going for Karen's room.
When she entered, she found my sister on the floor. Her covers were strewn about and she looked terrified.
Kneeling down to Karen's level, Anya tried to gain her attention.
"Karen? What happened? Did the storm scare you?" She asked.
Karen gazed up to meet Anya's eyes as a sob escaped her lips.
She shook her head fiercely as more tears streamed down her face.
"Don't let him get me!" She cried desperately. "He was trying to hurt me!"
"Who?" Anya asked. "Karen, who are you talking…" Her voice trailed off in realization. She held her arms out to the scared little girl and hoped she would accept her comfort.
Karen dove into Anya's arms as more tears came.
Wrapping her arms around my sister, Anya realized she was shaking.
"Karen, it's okay now. " Anya assured her. "He can't hurt you now. You're safe with Anastasia. You're safe with me. Was it Rasputin? Did you have a nightmare about what he tried to do to me?"
"Yes!" Karen cried. She clung to Anya as though her life depended on it. "It was scary! He chased me down a street and he was going to hurt me! I think he thought I was you. I tried to get away, but I couldn't!" With that, she broke down in Anya's arms.
All Anya could do was hold her and try to soothe her. She understood Karen's fear better than she knew. She wasn't going to tell her this of course, but she knew Karen needed to know she wasn't alone.
"Shh, shh, it's okay, Karen. It's okay now. I know it was scary, but everything's okay now. He can't hurt you anymore."
"Stay with me, please!" Karen begged.
"Of course I will." Anya replied. "We need to go downstairs though."
Karen didn't argue. She just clung to Anya's shoulder as she stood up and headed for the stairs.
Once in the living room, Anya sat down on the couch and hugged Karen close.
She started singing the only song she could think of that would help Karen calm down and hopefully get her back to sleep.
"Dancing bears, painted wings, things I almost remember. And a song someone sings, once upon a December. Someone holds me safe and warm, horses prance through a silver storm…"
By the time Anya was done singing the song for the second time, Karen was calm and on her way back to dreamland.
Anya prayed she would have sweet dreams this time. She figured the reason Karen had experienced the nightmare was because they had stopped the movie right after Anya had experienced her own while on the ship.
That coupled with the real storm outside had probably caused it.
"Thanks, Anastasia." Karen mumbled before falling back to sleep.
"Shh, shh…" Anya soothed. She started to sing once again.
By the time Mom and Watson came home, Karen was fast asleep.
Anya explained what had happened and Mom tucked Karen back in bed.
I didn't find out about Karen's nightmare until the next day. I Hoped she would be okay.
I also hoped this was the end of her Anastasia obsession.
But knowing Karen, she wouldn't let a little nightmare stop her for long…