"Martin, Ann M - Baby-sitters Club - Super Special 01 - Baby-sitters on Board!" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin Ann M)

"Quietly," I added.
"Whoopee," whispered Jordan, and everyone laughed.
"Okay, you guys," I said. "Lead the way Ч quietly."
The boys led the way. I followed them. When I got bored, I snapped a few pictures.
Click. I caught the five of them bent over their map, studying it.
Click. I caught Adam peeking under a tarpaulin.
Click. I caught Nicky and David Michael scaring themselves as they backed around the same corner from different directions.
Click, click, click, click.
After awhile, though, even picture-taking began to wear thin. I was bored. I looked at my watch. It was only quarter of eleven.
I sighed Ч loudly.
"What's the matter?"
I was sitting in an indoor lounge that looked like a hotel lobby. Around me, the boys were
poking into things, peering behind potted plants, and calling out, "Hey, this would be a good hiding place for a stowaway," or, "I know! That arrow on the map must be the arrow that points down those stairs."
I looked up. Standing nearby was a beautiful girl Ч the one I'd seen in the Seven Seas Beauty Salon on our very first day aboard the Ocean Princess. She looked as lovely and as sophisticated as ever.
I was fascinated. There was the possibility that her parents had been killed. Plus, I knew that both Mallory and Karen had noticed her, too. Mallory had told me she was an actress and Karen had told me her aunt was a countess and she was loaded with money.
I tried to remember the girl's name. Alexandra?
"Oh," I replied, embarrassed. "Nothing's the matter. Not really. I'm just a little bored. I'm baby-sitting for these boys and I've been following them around all morning."
"Yech," said Alexandra. "Children. . . . Haven't I seen you before?"
I was surprised she remembered. I mean, I just don't think I'm all that memorable. I nodded my head. "In the beauty salon the other
day. You were waiting to get your hair done."
"Oh, yeah/' said Alexandra. "Right. Honestly, that woman butchered my hair. You'd think that on a ship as luxulrious as this one, they'd have a decent hairdresser."
"Gosh," I said, looking at her thick, wavy hair. "I think she did okay. Your hair looks great to me."
"Well, thanks," Alexandra answered, patting her head uncertainly. "My brother said it looks like someone took a hacksaw to it."
I laughed, but something about what Alexandra had just said didn't sound quite right. I couldn't think what was wrong about it, though.
Oh, well.
"Listen," I said, "my name's Mary Anne Spier."
"I'm Alexandra Carmody. But call me Alex."
"Okay, Alex," I said.
"So, what trip is this for you?" she asked.
"What trip?" I repeated blankly.
"Yeah. I've been on thirteen other cruises. This one's my fourteenth." (Maybe she'd gone with her aunt. Or when she was filming a movie.)
"Wow. This is only my first."
"Once we sailed all the way from New York to England."
"Gosh. . . . Who's 'we'? Your brother and you?"
"Oh, no. Just my, um, guardian."
"Oh." Alex looked pained, so I changed the subject. "Guess who is on this boat," I said dramatically.
"Who?"
"Spider."
"From the Insects?"
"Yup."
Alex frowned. "No, he isn't. I happen to know him really well. He's a good friend of mine."
I'd forgotten. She was an actress. Of course she'd know. How exciting to be in on the personal lives of famous people!
Suddenly I wanted to find out all about Alex. I decided to do something really daring. I hoped it wasn't mean. "So," I said, "how come you're traveling ..."
Before the words were out of my mouth, I realized what was wrong with what Alex had said before. In the beauty parlor she'd said she was traveling alone. I was sure of it. But
today she had mentioned her brother. If he'd seen her haircut, then he was on the Ocean Princess, too. And that meant Alex wasn't alone after all.
I quickly changed my question. "How come you aren't traveling with your parents?" (I had to know if they'd been killed. I just had to. I was dying of morbid curiosity.)
Alex hung her head. "My parents were Ч were killed. In a car accident. Six months ago. Now I'm an orphan."
"Oh!" I cried. I was horrified. "I'm so sorry. Thaf s terrible."
"I know." Alex's eyes filled with tears. "You can't imagine how it feels."
"No," I replied. "Well, maybe I can. Just a little. See, my mom died when I was a baby. I never knew her. I guess I'm a half-orphan." The idea had just occurred to me. "I wish I had known her."