"That sounds great," I said, mustering a tiny smile, "but this doesn't have anything to do with my birthday. I just want a cat to keep me company. Then I wouldn't feel alone when you're not here."
"I don't know, Mary Anne. We've never had a pet before. We'd need a litter box and a carrier. And what would we do with the cat if we went on vacation?"
"Get Mallory Pike to come feed it?" I suggested.
"Well," said my father, "I'll think about it. Do you know any vets? We'd need a vet, too."
"The Thomases go to Dr. Smith," I told him. "They really like her."
Dad sipped his coffee and stared into space. At last he said, "Okay, I've thought about it. You may get a cat."
All I could say was, "What?" I couldn't believe he'd made the decision so fast.
"You may get a cat," Dad repeated. "If you'll use some of your baby-sitting earnings to buy dishes and toys and a litter box, I'll buy the carrier and pay for food and the vet bills. Consider it an early birthday present. After all, thirteen is an important birthday."
"Oh, Dad! Thanks!" I flung myself at my father, giving him a fierce hug.
"We probably should have gotten a pet a long time ago," he said. "The only two things I ask are that you take care of the cat as much as possible — "
"Oh, I will, I will!"
"And that you get the cat, or a kitten, from the animal shelter. Give a home to a pet that really needs one. Most of the animals in the pet store will eventually be sold, but the animals in the shelter are in a bit of trouble."
"No problem," I said. "I'd rather get a stray, too."
Suddenly I had an excuse to do something I'd sort of been thinking about ever since I woke up. I went into the kitchen, closed both doors, and called the Brunos' house.
Logan's little sister answered, shouted, "Lo-gan, it's for you — a gi-irl!" and giggled nonstop until Logan got on the phone.
"Hello?" he said.
I cleared my throat. "Hi, ifs me."
"Mary Anne?"
"I thought you always knew my voice," I teased him.
"I didn't expect to hear from you, that's all. I thought you were mad at me."
"You did?"
"Well, actually, we all thought you were mad at us. I'm really glad you called." Logan sounded relieved.
I bit my lip. "Is that why no one called me last night?" I asked.
"Well . . . yeah. We were sure you never wanted to speak to us again. We're really sorry about what we did. We should have known better."
"Wow," I said. "I thought all of you were mad at me — for being so, you know, ungrateful. And spoiling the party."
"Oh, boy," said Logan, letting out his breath. "Sorry."
"Me, too. . . . But listen. I have some good news. Dad said I could get a cat! Want to meet me at the animal shelter and help me pick one out?"
"Sure! When? Today?"
"This afternoon. Dad and I have to buy a few things first."
So that morning my father and I went shopping for cat stuff, and that afternoon, we met Logan at the Stoneybrook Animal Shelter. Dad waited in the car so Logan and I could go looking alone.
The shelter was clean and the people were nice, but I sure wouldn't have wanted to be an animal stuck there. It was like an orphanage for pets. Row after row of wire cages, each holding a lost or homeless dog or cat. Most of them looked frightened and nervous.
A woman led Logan and me into the cat area.
"I think I'd like a kitten," I told her.
"Well," she said, "I'm afraid it's the wrong time of year for kittens, so we don't have many. Just one litter. They're over here. Someone left these four kitties outside the shelter a couple of weeks ago without their mother. We weren't sure they were going to make it. But now they're all healthy and frisky."
I peered inside a cage that was larger than most others. The four kittens were snoozing in a relaxed heap on an old blanket. There were two red tabbies, one splotchy, patchy calico, and a gray tiger cat.
"Are they old enough to be separated?" I asked.
The woman nodded.
"Then I want the gray one, please," I said.
Logan nudged me. "Don't you want to play with them first or something? Maybe you'd like one of the others better."
"Nope," I said. "I've always wanted a gray tiger cat, and I've always wanted to name it Tigger after the tiger in Winnie-the-Pooh."
This seemed to make sense to Logan.
The woman opened the cage, gently pulled the sleeping kitten from its litter mates, and handed it to me. "It's a boy," she said.
Dad and Logan and I took Tigger home in his carrier, and he cried all the way. He didn't seem to want milk or kitten chow or anything, and refused to leave the carrier, so Logan and I left him in it and watched him fall asleep.
When Tigger was as limp as a little rag doll, Logan reached into his pocket, pulled something out, and handed it to me. It was the silver-wrapped box he'd had at Stacey's party.
"Happy birthday," he said. "I wasn't sure I'd ever be giving this to you. After last night, I thought we were through. I really didn't think things could work out between us. But you took the first step and called me today. I know that wasn't easy. Anyway, happy birthday."
While Tigger napped, I opened the box and found a delicate silver bracelet.
"Oh, thank you," I breathed.
"You're welcome," Logan said softly. "Want to come to the Fifties Fling with me next month?"
Did he have to ask? Of course I did!
Chapter 15.
Saturday had turned out to be a pretty good day after all, what with Tigger, Logan's birthday present, and Logan's invitation to the dance. But I wasn't through with my apologies. I knew I had to call Stacey, too. So, late in the afternoon, with a now frisky Tigger playing in my lap, I picked up the phone and dialed her number.
"Stacey," I said, a lump rising in my throat, "it's me, Mary Anne."
"Oh."
I couldn't read that "oh" at all. Had it sounded surprised? Annoyed? Sarcastic? But before I could decide what to say next, Stacey mumbled, "I guess you're wondering why I haven't called."
"Well," I replied, "I thought you might be wondering why I hadn't called."
Then Stacey and I proceeded to have the same sort of conversation that Logan and I
had had that morning. Each thought the other was mad, we both apologized, and then we cried a little. I promised to try to be more outgoing (after all, the kids at the party had been my friends), and Stacey promised to try to be more understanding.
"Ow!" I cried as she was finishing her promise.
"What? What?"
"Something bit me!" (Tigger, of course, with his baby teeth, which were like needles.)
I told Stacey all about Tigger then, and she suggested that we hold a special meeting of the Baby-sitters Club at my house the next day so everybody could see him.
It turned out, though, that she had another reason for wanting to hold a meeting at my house, but I didn't find that out until Sunday.
On Sunday afternoon at three o'clock, the doorbell rang.
"Time for our meeting," I told Tigger. I picked him up and carried him to the door so he could meet the first club member.
When I opened the door, though, I found the entire club on our doorstep, along with the remains of my birthday party — a chunk of cake, and all the presents.
"Surprise," whispered Kristy, Dawn, Clau-dia, and Stacey.
I giggled. "Come on in."
Tigger watched my friends with wide, bright eyes as they settled themselves in the living room. Dad stuck his head in the room, said hello to everybody, and then sensibly retreated to the den.
"You sort of missed the birthday part of your party," Stacey explained, "so we decided to bring it over. You can open your presents, and we'll meet Tigger."
"There are so many presents!" I exclaimed.
"Everyone at the party brought one. And they all wanted you to have them, even after you'd left. So here they are."
"Wow," I said. "Well, you can play with Tigger while I open them."
But Tigger didn't want to play with my friends. The wrapping paper was much more interesting. He rolled on his back, leaped in the air, and batted at the ribbon with his paws.
"He sure is lively," said Claudia.
"I know. We have to have the vet look him over, though. I mean, since he was a stray and all. The shelter gave us this little book on cat care and it said that kittens should be checked for worms and mites. Plus, the vet has to tell
us when he's old enough to get his shots."
"Are you going to take him to Dr. Smith?" asked Kristy.
"Yes, I think so. Oh!" I had just opened Dawn's present. It was a blue shirt that matched my famous-cities skirt. "Thank you! This is perfect!" I cried.
I kept on opening. I'd never seen so many presents. Kristy gave me a Smash tape. (They're our favorite group.) Stacey gave me a pair of famous-cities socks. (They were really wild.) And Claudia gave me some jewelry she'd made in her pottery class. "I can't believe you made this," I said. "It looks professional."
Most of the other gifts, especially the ones from the boys, were silly. Alan Gray gave me a wind-up dinosaur that shot sparks out of its mouth, and Austin gave me a pin shaped like a cow. When I'd opened everything, Stacey said, "Well, let's kill the cake. You haven't even tasted your own birthday cake, Mary Anne."
I always feel bad eating sweets in front of Stacey, but she doesn't seem to mind. So I divided the cake into four small pieces and Kristy, Claudia, Dawn, and I ate every last crumb, while Stacey polished off a couple of rice cakes. (Yuck.)
"Maybe we'll turn you into a junk-food ad-
diet yet," Claudia said to Dawn.
"I don't think so." Dawn made a face. "Now that I've eaten all that sugar, the only thing I want to do is brush my teeth." She settled for rinsing her mouth out.
"You know what?" I said to the members of the Baby-sitters Club. "I think this has been one of my best birthdays ever — and it's not even my birthday yet!"
"Mew," announced Tigger. He was sitting up perfectly straight with his tail wrapped around his front feet, gazing at me with round eyes.
"And you," I said, picking Tigger up gently, "are part of what made my birthday so great."
Tigger looked at me for another moment and then yawned.
Everybody laughed.
"Come to order. Please come to order!" said Kristy. She was wearing a visor and she adjusted it on her head as she settled into Claudia's director's chair.
It was the next afternoon (my birthday), time for a real club meeting. Before she could say another word, the phone rang.
"Hello, Baby-sitters Club," said Stacey.
I listened as Stacey asked questions, and could tell she was talking to Mrs. Pike. We
fixed the Pikes up with a sitter, and the phone rang again immediately. It turned out to be one of those days.
After we lined up a sitter for Jenny Prez-zioso, Mrs. Barrett called. Then 10181/8 mom, Mr. Newton, and Mrs. Rodowsky. By the time we hung up with Jackie's mother, our heads were spinning.
"Oh," groaned Kristy, and the phone rang again.
This time I answered it. "Hello, Baby-sitters Club."
"Hello, my name is Mr. Morgan. I live across the street from Mariel Rodowsky. She recommended your group to me. I need a sitter on Saturday night."
"How many children do you have?" I asked.
"Four. All boys."
"And how old are they?"
Mr. Morgan gave me all the information, and I hung up the phone with a sinking feeling — not because this new client had four boys, but because I knew none of us was free on Saturday.
"We've got to do something about this," I said. "We're in a jam. No one can take the job. Logan would be perfect for the Morgans. He's good with boys and he lives right nearby."
"But he doesn't want to join the club," said Kristy.
"I know. But couldn't we make him some kind of special member? Someone we could call when we need help, but who doesn't have to go to the meetings? That way everyone would be happy. Our club would look good because we'd be able to provide sitters instead of saying no one's available, Logan would get a job every now and then, and we wouldn't be embarrassed at the meetings."
"Well," said Kristy, "it really isn't a bad idea."
"Isn't a bad idea?! It's a great idea!" exclaimed Dawn. "Call him, Mary Anne."
"All right," I said. I waited for the usual nervousness to run through me, but I felt fine. I dialed Logan.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Guess who."
"I don't have to guess, I know," Logan replied. I could almost hear him smiling.
"Then guess where I am."
"At a Baby-sitters Club meeting."
"Very good! And guess what I'm going to ask you."
There was a pause. "To join the club?"
"No. I have a better idea. See, a whole bunch
of people have called today and, as usual, we're really busy. A new client just phoned — a man who lives across the street from the Rodow-skys. He's got four boys, and none of us can sit. We don't want to turn him down the very first time he calls, so I thought of you. Do you want this job?"
"Yes, but . . . Mary Anne, I've got to tell you the truth. I don't want to come to your club meetings."
"Why not?" I asked, my heart thumping.
"Because they're too embarrassing. I didn't like being the only boy. And Claudia told that story about the . . . you know."
So Logan didn't want to say "bra strap" either.
"I know," I replied. I was glad that was the only reason he didn't like the meetings. "Well, to be honest, we were embarrassed, too. So that's why I was thinking you could be some special kind of club member — "
"An associate member," whispered Kristy.
"An associate member," I said. "And we'll only call on you when we really need extra help. You won't have to go to the meetings."
"Really?" said Logan. "Hey, great!"
"So you want to do it?"
"Definitely."
I put my hand over the mouthpiece. "He'll do it."
"I'll make it official," Kristy announced, gesturing for the phone. "Hi, Logan," she said. "I hereby make you an associate member of the Baby-sitters Club. . . . You do? Okay, sure. We'll need to meet them and stuff, but that's great."
Kristy handed the phone back to me, and I hung it up, wishing I could have said a more private good-bye to Logan.
"Guess what," said Kristy. "Logan knows a couple of other guys who might want to be associate members."
We all began talking. Then we called Mr. Morgan with the news that Logan Bruno would be baby-sitting.
I sat back and let the excitement sink in. Our club had boy members. Well, one anyway. I had Logan. The Fifties Fling was coming up. It was my thirteenth birthday. And when I went home after the meeting, Tigger would be there to greet me.
About the Author
ANN M. MARTIN did a lot of baby-sitting when she was growing up in Princeton, New Jersey. Now her favorite baby-sitting charge is her cat, Mouse, who lives with her in her Manhattan apartment.
Ann Martin's Apple Paperbacks are Bummer Summer, Inside Out, Stage Fright, Me and Katie (the Pest), and all the other books in the Babysitters Club series.
She is a former editor of books for children, and was graduated from Smith College. She likes ice cream, the beach, and / Love Lucy; and she hates to cook.
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Logan Likes Mary Anne ! Page 8
