Baby-Sitters Club 042

by Ann M. Martin

  Dawn leaned forward. "Hey, Jessi, do you still have the notes you got?" I nodded. "They're right here," I said, digging into my new high-security dance bag.

  "Let's see them," she said. I handed them over, and she started to examine each one closely. "Boy, I can see why you're feeling scared," she said, after she'd read each one. She passed them around to the others. There was a pause while everybody read them - and while Stacey answered a couple of job calls.

  "Still, Jessi," said Kristy after a few minutes. "The idea was to scare you. You can't give this person the satisfaction." "I've got an idea," said Mallory suddenly. "What if we came to watch one of your rehearsals? We could be - what d'you call it? Objective observers? And maybe we could finger the suspect." I thought about it for a minute. "Our next rehearsal is on the stage where the performance is going to be held," I said slowly, figuring it out. "If you sat in the back of the theater, maybe no one would notice you." "It sounds like fun," said Stacey. "But that's in Stamford, too, right? How are we going to get there?" "No problem," said Kristy. "I bet Charlie would drive us." Just then the phone rang, and Kristy jumped to answer it. By the time the job had been assigned, I had decided that the plan sounded good. I agreed not to drop out of the production, at least not until my friends could observe a rehearsal.

  "Now that that's settled," said Kristy, "what about the pet show? I know I sounded kind of down on it in my notebook entry, but don't you all still think if 11 be fun?" She sounded like she needed to be convinced.

  "I do!" said Mary Anne. "And I know the kids do, even if it is stirring up some competition. They're having fun already." "I know," said Mallory. "I baby-sat for the Perkins girls yesterday afternoon, and you should have seen them trying to give Chewy a bath. What a mess!" Chewy is Chewbacca, the Perkinses' dog. He's a black Labrador retriever, and boy, is he a nut. He's the most energetic dog I've ever seen - and since he's also big and strong, sometimes he creates total chaos in that house.

  "First of all," said Mallory, "every time they finally wrestled him into the tub, he'd jump out again and shake water off all over the bathroom." "Oh, no!" said Dawn, groaning. "1 hope Mrs. Perkins was prepared for this." "She said that whatever the girls wanted to do was okay," said Mallory. "1 guess she figures that it's only water. Anyway, then they'd get him into the tub, and one of them would have to get in with him to try to hold him. The other one would pick up the bar of soap and start scrubbing. Then the soap would slip out of her hands and onto the floor, and Chewy - " "Would jump out to retrieve it, I bet!" finished Dawn. "That dog can never let anything drop to the ground without running to pick it up." "No joke!" said Mallory. "He looked pretty surprised the first time he picked up the soap. It must have tasted so gross! But he kept doing it again and again." "So did he finally get clean?" asked Stacey.

  "He was getting there," said Mallory. "But then Gabbie left the room for a minute and came back carrying R.C." That's R.C. for Rat Catcher, the Perkinses' brown tiger cat.

  "She must have thought R.C. needed a bath, too - because the next thing I knew, she'd dumped her in the tub with Chewy!" Oh, my lord.

  "R.C. jumped right out and streaked out the door, looking like a drowned rat. And Chewy chased after her. Water was flying all over the place!" said Mallory. By now we were hysterical, imagining the scene.

  "Of course, R.C. ran under the porch, and Chewy followed her. Both of them got covered with dirt. So the whole thing was a waste!" "I'm sure Chewy would have gotten dirty again by the time of the pet show, anyway," said Mary Anne.

  "That's what I tried to tell Gabbie and Myriah," said Mallory. "But they were too upset to listen. What a day! It took us the rest of the afternoon to clean up the bathroom." "I had kind of a similar experience with Linny Papadakis and his turtle," said Kristy.

  "He gave his turtle a bath?" asked Claudia.

  "No, he didn't exactly give Myrtle a bath," said Kristy. "What happened was - " But she was interrupted by a job call. Mrs. Barrett needed a sitter for Buddy, Suzi, and Marnie. Mallory got the job. Then Kristy went on with her story.

  "Linny spent all afternoon painting Myrtle's shell," she said. "He used these water-based poster paints, since I told him that his model paints might not be so good for Myrtle. You know what? He did a great job. Myrtle looked really cool when he was done." "What did he paint?" asked Claudia.

  "There were these red lightning bolts running down the sides of the shell, and yellow stars," said Kristy. "And all kinds of other stuff. We took Myrtle outside with us afterward, so that Linny could admire her once in awhile as he played." "Sounds like a disaster is coming up!" said Mary Anne.

  "You're right," said Kristy. "Linny got involved in a game of Statues with some other kids, and Myrtle crawled over to this little plastic pool in the side yard. By the time we got to her, all the paint had washed off." "Oh, poor Linny!" I said.

  "1 know," said Kristy. "He was really crushed. But at least he learned that he's got to keep Myrtle away from water if he wants the paint job to last." We talked about the pet show for the rest of our meeting that day - it was clearly the "main event" for a lot of kids in Stoneybrook. I only hoped we'd all live through it.

  Chapter 9.

  Poor Mallory. She realized the minute she entered the Barretts' house that she was in for a bad afternoon. As usual, Mrs. Barrett was running late (she's sort of disorganized), and she left without giving Mallory any instructions about the job. (We always get to jobs on time - or even early - so that parents can let us know if they have any special directions for us. But in Mrs. Barrett's case, arriving early hardly ever does any good.) Mrs. Barrett was divorced not too long ago, and I guess caring for three kids on her own isn't easy. I'll say one thing, though - it doesn't take a toll on her appearance. Mrs. Barrett is totally gorgeous. She looks like a model, with her beautiful chestnut-colored hair. Anyway, Mrs. Barrett rushed out as Mallory came in, leaving a cloud of perfumed air behind her.

  She also left three cranky kids. Buddy, who's eight, is usually in a pretty good mood - and he's always got a lot of energy. But that afternoon he seemed sulky and withdrawn. And five-year-old Suzi's round face looked crabby. She can pout with the best of them. Mallory said that Suzi's lower lip was stuck out about as far as it could go.

  Marnie, the baby (she's two), was wailing like a fire engine. Mallory scooped her up.

  "What is it, Mamie?" she asked. But the answer was obvious. Marnie's diaper was soaking wet.

  "C'mon, you guys," said Mallory to Buddy and Suzi. "Keep me company while I change your sister. Then we'll have a snack, okay?" Buddy shot Suzi a Look. "Do I have to?" he asked. "I don't even want to be in the same room with her." He pointed at Suzi, who pouted even harder.

  "Guess what, Buddy Barrett," said Suzi.

  "What?" said Buddy, flatly.

  "You're a nut!" Ordinarily, this joke gets a big laugh out of both of them. But this time, Buddy just shook his head.

  "Guess what," he said back to Suzi.

  "What?" she asked.

  "Your whole family's a nut," Buddy sneered.

  "Ha, ha!" said Suzi triumphantly. "You're in my family. That means you're a nut, just like I said." Mallory could see that this was going nowhere. "Okay, okay," she said. "C'mon, let's get this diaper changing over with. Suzi, where has your mom been keeping the diapers lately?" The Barretts' house is pretty messy. "A pigsty," Stacey called it, the first time she sat there.

  Sometimes we try to tidy up while we're there, but Mallory didn't think that was a good idea, with Buddy and Suzi in such bad moods. So she asked Suzi to lead her to the diapers (Suzi and Marnie share a room), and asked Buddy to help her distract Marnie while she changed the wet diaper.

  "Moonie, Meanie, Mownie!" said Buddy, dancing around the changing table and making faces while Mallory wiped Marnie's bottom. His technique wasn't the greatest, but Mal had to admit that it worked. Marnie was smiling and waving at him, instead of crying and kicking. She's usually not too crazy about having her diaper changed, so the distraction
helped a lot.

  "Thanks, Buddy," said Mallory. "Thanks, Suzi. You guys were a big help." She lifted up the newly dry Marnie, who was making what Buddy and Suzi call her "ham face," which she only does when she's happy. Then she led them back downstairs. "Now let's have a snack and you can tell me why you're both feeling so cranky today." "I'm not cranky!" whined Suzi.

  "Yes, you are, too!" said Buddy. "But I'm not. I'm happy!" He gave Mallory a big - and very fake - smile.

  Mallory shrugged and turned to get some crackers out of the cupboard.

  "Ow!" she heard, behind her. She turned around. Suzi was rubbing her shin. "He kicked me," she said, pointing at Buddy. Mallory gave Buddy a Look.

  "Buddy, don't kick your sister," she said, turning back to the cupboard.

  "Hey!" This time it was Buddy's voice.

  "What is it?" asked Mallory. She'd had just about enough of their squabbling.

  "She poked me!" said Buddy.

  "Did not!" yelled Suzi.

  "Gobbydoo," said Mamie, waving her hands in the air.

  Mallory put her hands on her hips. "Okay, that's it. I want to know what's going on between you two. You usually have a great time together. So what's the problem today?" Suzi looked at Buddy.

  Buddy glared at Suzi.

  "It's Pow," they both said at once.

  "I want to enter him in the pet show," said Buddy. "He's my dog. I got him for my second birthday, when he was just a puppy. Suzi wasn't even born yet then." "But Mommy said he belongs to all of us now!" said Suzi. "And I help you feed him sometimes. I want to put him in the pet show!" Pow is the Barretts' basset hound. Buddy sometimes likes to tell sitters that Pow is the meanest dog in the world. But he's not. He's sleepy and slow and puts up very well with the kids' teasing.

  Mallory sighed. She'd left her own house hearing a similar fight between her brothers and sisters. Ever since the Pikes had gotten their invitation to the pet show, they'd been squabbling over which one of them should be able to enter Frodo.

  Frodo is the Pikes' hamster. They got him when my family got Misty, which means that he and Misty are brother and sister. I'm not great at long division, but I do know one thing: One hamster doesn't, go evenly into seven kids. Mallory told me later she'd given up on helping her brothers and sisters decide which of them should enter Frodo in the show. It seemed impossible.

  "1 know you guys can work this out," said Mallory to Buddy and Suzi. Actually, she had her doubts about that, but she knew she had to say something. "It's really nothing to fight about. Let's finish up our snack and go outside to play." Being outside just had to be better than being cooped up inside with these sour-pusses, she thought.

  After the kids had eaten, Mallory tidied up the kitchen (including washing a sink full of breakfast dishes that Mrs. Barrett had left behind). Then she herded her charges out the door. Marnie climbed into her stroller, and Mallory pushed her down the front walk. Suzi ran to show Mal all the flowers that she and her mom had planted. Buddy tagged along behind them, making faces behind Suzi's back.

  Then Mal saw him smile and wave. She looked up to see Haley and Matt Braddock waving back. Mallory smiled with relief. Great! Now Buddy and Suzi would have something to do besides pick on each other.

  She called hello, and also made the "hello" sign to Matt. Matt's deaf, so we've all learned at least a little bit of sign language. Haley makes a great interpreter (she's fluent in sign) but it's nice to be able to "speak" to Matt directly, too.

  Matt signed back. Then he and Buddy signed quickly to each other.

  "What are they saying?" Mallory asked Haley.

  "Matt asked if Buddy wanted to play ball, and Buddy said yes," she answered. "Hey, can me and Suzi play, too?" she asked the boys, signing as she spoke.

  The game was organized within minutes, and Mal and Marnie settled in to watch.

  "And it's a high pop fly to center field!" yelled Buddy, after he'd hit a blooper over Matt's (the pitcher's) head. "A triple!" He ran around the yard, pretending to tag the bases.

  Then it was Haley's turn to bat. "Watch out," she said, swinging the bat. "I'm going to hit it out of the park!" She put down the bat to sign the same thing to Matt. He signed something back, laughing.

  "What do you mean, girls can't hit?" yelled Haley. She gave a mighty swing and missed completely. "Darn," she said. She shook back her hair and dug her feet into the grass. "Pitch me another one," she said, signing along. This time, she connected. Buddy (still standing on "third base") and Matt watched the ball fly over their heads. Haley forgot to run - she just stood there and watched the ball disappear.

  And disappear it did - right onto the porch roof. "Great hit, Haley!" said Mallory.

  "Yeah, just great!" said Buddy. "Now we've lost the ball. Why couldn't you have just hit it into the backyard?" he asked Haley. "Then Pow would have found it, no matter where it went." "Oh, Pow Pow Pow," said Haley. "That's all I ever hear about these days is what a great dog Pow is and how he's going to win the pet show." She frowned at Buddy. "I don't think Pow is that great a dog," she added.

  "Well, he's a lot better than no dog at all," said Buddy.

  Haley bit her lip. Just then, Matt came over and looked at her questioningly. She signed to him, letting him know what Buddy had said. Matt gave Buddy a dirty look. Then he signed back to Haley.

  "He says, 'So what if we don't have a pet?' " Haley explained. "We're still invited to the pet . show, you know." "But you can't win a prize," said Suzi.

  "Well, what makes you so sure you'll win any prizes with that fat old mutt?" asked Haley.

  Suzi burst into tears. "Pow is not a mutt," she wailed. "He's a purebred basset hound." Mallory decided it was time to step in. "Okay, you guys. Let's not fight about it - " she began. But Buddy was shouting at Suzi, drowning Mallory out.

  "You're right, he's a basset hound. But you're not going to win any ribbons with him, anyway. I am!" Oh, no, thought Mallory. Not that fight again. She stepped toward Buddy, ready to separate him from the others before he got any angrier.

  Just then, Haley shrieked. "You don't have to pinch me!" she said angrily to Suzi. Then she took Matt's hand and started to drag him out of the yard. "C'mon," she said, forgetting to sign as she spoke. "Let's get out of here." Matt seemed to know what she'd said even without the signs. He gave one last angry glance back at Buddy and Suzi, and stalked out of the yard at his sister's side.

  "Oh, great," said Mallory. "Look, it's time to quit this fighting." She sat Buddy and Suzi down on the porch steps. Mamie, still in her stroller, had fallen asleep - and the fight hadn't even woken her up.

  "Look, you guys. There's no rule that says that only one person can enter each pet in the pet show," said Mallory. She'd been thinking the problem over, and had come to realize that this was the only solution. "Why don't you enter Pow - together!" Buddy and Suzi looked at each other hopefully. Mal could see that they both thought it was a good idea, but neither one wanted to be the first to give in.

  "You could be in charge of his looks, Suzi," said Mal, trying to push the idea. "And Buddy, you could teach him some new tricks. How about it?" Buddy and Suzi smiled at each other. "Yeah!" said Buddy. "Maybe I can teach him how to roll over, just like Aunt Jo's dog does!" "And I can give him a bath, and paint his toenails pink, and put ribbons on him," said Suzi. "He'll look so, so beautiful!" They ran off to find Pow, leaving Mal alone on the porch. She shook her head and spoke to the still-sleeping Mamie. "Sweetie, that was a close one," she said. "I thought they were going to do each other in this time." Mamie shifted in the stroller and smiled in her sleep.

  Later that afternoon, her job over, Mal walked back to her house. She was hoping desperately that her brothers and sisters would have settled the Frodo issue while she was away. She couldn't take any more fighting that day.

  Luckily for her, they had. For some reason - nobody knew why - the triplets had suddenly given up their claim to Frodo. They'd said that Nicky could enter him in the show, and Nicky had generously agreed to share
him with Vanessa, Claire, and Margo.

  Mallory was too grateful for the peaceful atmosphere at home - and too tired - to wonder about the triplets' motives for very long. She knew they must be up to something. But she'd wait for the pet show to find out what they had up their sleeves.

  Chapter 10.

  "Claudia, do you mind?" "What, Stacey?" "Your elbow. It's in my ear!" "I can't help it, Stace! There's nowhere else to put it." "Can't you move over a little?" "Not with Mallory in my lap, I can't. Anyway, I don't think I'll ever be able to move my legs again - there's no feeling left in them." Mallory squealed. "Stop it, Claudia! I'm not really that heavy, am I?" she asked, trying to shift her weight.

  Six. of us were packed into Charlie's car, the Junk Bucket (Mary Anne couldn't come; she had a sitting job), and believe me, it was a tight squeeze. It was a rainy Saturday afternoon. We were on our way to Stamford. I had a rehearsal, and everybody else was coming to watch it.

  Kristy and I were in the front seat with Charlie; I got to ride up front so that I could give him directions to the civic center. Dawn, Stacey, Claudia, and Mallory were all jammed into the backseat, and they'd been complaining about how squished they were ever since we'd pulled out of Claudia's driveway. (We'd all met there to wait for Charlie and Kristy.) "Hey, who pinched me?" asked Dawn. Then there was a whole lot of squealing and giggling from the backseat, while everybody pinched everybody else.

  "Hey, chill out back there," said Charlie, looking in the rearview mirror. "How am I supposed to drive with all that racket?" They were, quiet for a moment. Then, as Charlie stopped for a red light, Dawn saw a cute guy walking across the street, holding a newspaper over his head to keep off the rain. "Woooo!" she said loudly. "Follow that guy!" "Dawn!" said Kristy, blushing. "Stop it! What if he hears you?" "He can't hear her," said Claudia. "The windows are rolled up. Watch - I'll prove it. Hey, gorgeous!" The guy turned around and stared at the Junk Bucket. All of us ducked down in our seats, giggling. "Can you believe it?" asked Claud. "Do you think he heard me? Oh, I'm going to die!" "Well, please don't die in my car," said Charlie. "What would I tell your parents? Now, come on, quiet down." "Okay, Charlie," said Claud. "I'm sorry." For a few minutes, there was silence from the backseat. Then the giggling started up again, as Stacey and Claudia discussed Jennifer Cooke's latest outfit.