"Babysitters Club 03 The Truth About Stacey" - читать интересную книгу автора (Babysitters Club)

need to hold a special planning session." "Great idea. I'll do anything for the club." "Hey, thanks!" said Kristy. She sounded slightly less grim.
"Sure," I said. "I don't want anything to happen to the club." Oh, boy. If she only knew how badly I didn't want anything to happen to it.
"Tomorrow morning, eleven o'clock, club headquarters," said Kristy. (The club headquarters, of course, are in Claudia's bedroom.) "I'll see you then," I said. We hung up. I thought about our club problem for a long time before I fell asleep that night.
The next day, Kristy was running in high gear. I'd never seen her so hyper. For one thing, instead of sprawling on the floor the way she usually did during a meeting, she took over Claudia's desk, sitting up very tall in the straight-backed chair. For another thing, she was wearing a visor. And she was holding a clipboard and had stuck a pencil over her ear.
Mary Anne, who was perched in a director's chair, exchanged glances with Claudia and me on the bed. I could tell that Mary Anne and Claudia wanted to laugh at Kristy's overzeal-ousness. But for some reason, I didn't.
"All right, the meeting will come to order," said Kristy brusquely. Mary Anne and Claudia calmed down. I gave my full attention to Kristy.
"Now," she began, one foot tapping insistently against a chair leg, "I've drawn up a list of ways to improve ourselves as baby-sitters and make us look better to our clients.
"Number one, we will do housework at no extra charge. Our clients will get the benefits of mother's helpers at baby-sitters' prices."
Claudia groaned. "I hate housework."
"Do you want to start losing jobs to Liz and Michelle?" Kristy asked her crisply.
"No," grumbled Claudia.
"Number two," continued Kristy, "we will offer special deals to our best customers."
I nodded my head vigorously.
"Number three, we will each make up a 'Kid-Kit' to bring with us when we sit."
"What's a 'Kid-Kit'?" asked Claudia.
"I was just about to explain," said Kristy. "It's something that will not only make us look like dedicated baby-sitters to the parents, but will be really fun for the kids. You know how you like to go over to your friends' houses because your friends always seem to have better stuff than you do? Better food, better things to do, and Ч when you were little Ч better toys?"
"Oh, yes!" I exclaimed. "In New York I had this friend named Laine. I loved to go to her apartment because her mother would buy Milky Way bars and keep them in the freezer. Biting into one of those was like biting into a frozen chocolate milk shaЧ "
I broke off, realizing that Claudia, Kristy, and Mary Anne were staring at me.
"Oh, well, that was before I got sick," I added. "Anyway, I know what you mean."
"Yeah," said Mary Anne. "I like Kristy's house because of her big family and Louie." (Louie is the Thomases' collie.)
"When I was a kid, I liked your house, Claud, because of all those board games you used to have," said Kristy, smiling. "Anyway, what we really like is the change of pace Ч new things or different things. So I thought, What better way to make a kid happy than to bring him some new things? Not really new, but new to the kid, and not to keep, of course, just to play with while we're there. The kids will want us to baby-sit because we'll be like a walking toy store. They probably won't even want us to leave, which should look good to the parents.
"See, what each of us will do is decorate a carton and label it 'Kid-Kit'. When we're going to sit somewhere, we'll fill it with games, toys,
and books of our own, plus some things like paper and crayons that we'll have to replace from time to time. We can pay for them with our club dues. Then we'll each bring the kit along with us. The kids will love it."
"Great idea!" I said.
"I do have two more thoughts," Kristy went on.
She was speaking hesitantly, and I noticed Claudia glance at her sharply.
"Number four is lower rates." (This caused another groan from Claudia.) "Just enough lower," said Kristy defensively, "to undercut the Baby-sitters Agency."
"But we don't know what they earn," I protested.
"We will soon," said Kristy. "I'll find out. And number five is ... is to do what the agency does Ч take on late jobs or jobs we can't handle by giving them to older kids. Sam and Charlie baby-sit sometimes, and Janine couЧ "
"NO!" cried Claudia. "No. Kristy, this is getting out of hand. The Kid-Kit is a good idea, but lower rates and housework and giving away our jobs? No, no, no. If that's what this club is going to become, then I don't want to be in it."
"Me, neither," said Mary Anne softly.
Not be in the club? If both of them left, there wouldn't be any more club. They didn't mean it. They didn't really mean it. What would I do without the club? Talking to Pete on the phone was nice, and sitting with the group in the cafeteria was fun, but those kids weren't true friends like Claudia and Kristy and Mary Anne.
I needed the club.
"You guys," I said, "I don't want the Babysitters Club to fall apart. We can't let Liz and Michelle beat us. We have to prove that we can succeed, too."
"Yes," agreed Claudia, "but not the way Kristy said. That's Ч that's Ч what's the word?"
"Degrading?" suggested Mary Anne.
"Yes. That's it. Degrading."
"Well, what do you think we should do," snapped Kristy, "since you know so much?"
"I think," said Claudia, "that we should use two of your ideas Ч the Kid-Kit and the special deals Ч and save the other things, especially number five, as last resorts."
"That sounds like a good plan," said Mary Anne. "Anyway, we wouldn't want to use up all your ideas at once."
"That's true," I said.
"All right," said Kristy, with a sigh. She sent me a troubled look. I shrugged. Kristy knew I
was on her side, but we both realized that we shouldn't overdo things.
"Come on," said Claudia. "Let's start making the Kid-Kit boxes now. It'll be fun! You guys each get a box from home, and come back here. I have pastels and fabric and paints and all sorts of things we can decorate them with." (Claudia loves art.)
"We'll make the best boxes ever!" I said, trying to sound enthusiastic. "In fact, we'll be the best baby-sitters ever! Let's get to work!"
Chapter 4.
The following Monday was a glorious, warm day that felt more like May than the middle of November. At exactly three-thirty, armed with my Kid-Kit, I rang the bell at Charlotte Jo-hanssen's house. Charlotte, who's seven, is one of my favorite baby-sitting kids. Her mother is a doctor and her father is an engineer. Charlotte is an only child who's very smart, but is shy and doesn't have many friends. I can sympathize when she gets lonely.
Dr. Johanssen answered the door. "Hello, Stacey," she said cheerfully, even though she looked quite tired. That Monday must have been one of her days off, because Dr. Johanssen is usually working at Stoneybrook Medical Center. Her schedule changes from month to month.
"Hi!" I replied.
"How have you been feeling?" Dr. Johanssen always asks me that. When anyone else asks, I get annoyed, but not with Charlotte's mother.