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

I paid.
Then I flew back to our table.
"Claudia! Claudia!" I cried. "I think I just saw your Secret Admirer!" I told her what had happened and tried to remember what he had looked like, but I really hadn't noticed. "I guess you missed him again," I said sadly.
"Not necessarily!" exclaimed Claudia. "See you guys later."
It was her turn to fly.
"Boy," said Marc, "this is the most fun I've had on the whole trip. You guys sure do exciting things."
He and the Pike girls smiled chocolate-soda smiles at one another. There's nothing like new friends.
I only wished that Claudia could find her new friend Ч whoever he was. But I wasn't holding out much hope. He was always around, yet he always kept himself hidden. However, Marc was right. It had been an exciting morning. I couldn't wait to talk to Claudia later.
Claudia.
I simply couldn't believe what Stacey had just said. Not the part about my Secret Admirer. I already knew I had one. What I couldn't believe was that Stacey had been standing right next to him, and all she could say about his looks was that she thought he had brown hair.
There was nothing to do but leave the Scooper-Duper right then and hope to see a brown-haired boy nearby. For a moment, I looked longingly at the five mouthfuls of melted ice cream that were still left in my dish. Then I jumped up and ran into the hallway. At least I didn't have to waste time paying my bill. My Secret Admirer had taken care of that for me.
I felt like someone in a spy novel. I burst through the doorway of the ice-cream parlor, skidded to a stop in the hallway, and looked left and right. To the left was a dead end. I
took off in the other direction Ч and almost smacked into a boy who stepped out from behind a pillar.
He had blond hair.
"Whoa!" he said, and I tried to catch my breath. "What's going on?"
"Did you see a brown-haired boy come out of here a couple of minutes ago?" I gasped.
"Was he running like you?"
"I don't know. He might have been. Did someone run by?"
"Yeah, at full speed. He came out of the icecream parlor."
"Oh, please. What did he look like?" I asked.
"Hmm. Red hair, I think. Great sneakers. I really wasn't paying attention."
Great sneakers? What was wrong with everybody? Why couldn't they be a little more observant? I didn't have a thing to go by. Not even hair color. All I knew about my Secret Admirer was that he had nice shoes and either brown or red hair. Some clues.
There was no point in looking any further.
"What's going on?" asked the boy.
"Huh? Oh. . . . Well, see, this guy has been sending me notes signed 'Your Secret Admirer.' And he's bought me presents and stuff,
but I don't even know who he is."
"If you did, he wouldn't be a Secret Admirer," the boy pointed out. "He'd just be an admirer."
I smiled. "That's true."
"So who did you think you were chasing just now? I mean, what made you think that guy was your Secret Admirer?"
The boy and I were walking slowly through the hallway, heading for one of the open decks. I explained to him what had happened in the ice-cream parlor.
"You look pretty disappointed," said the boy.
I had just realized something else Ч my admirer was not Spider. If he was, Stacey would have recognized him for sure. She wouldn't have missed something like that. Darn. My admirer had vanished again and he wasn't Spider. A double blow. No wonder I looked disappointed.
But all I said to the boy was, "I just wanted to see him. That's all."
"Your admirer?"
"Yeah."
"Isn't it more fun if you don't know who he is?"
"Maybe. But in a few days this trip will be
over and we'll be going home. I might not ever get to know him."
We'd reached the deck and were standing at the railing, looking out to sea. That day was the first one we'd had since the storm that wasn't perfectly clear. It wasn't overcast, but big, puffy clouds were looming on the horizon.
"Maybe he's shy."
"What?" My thoughts were drifting around like seaweed.
"Maybe your Secret Admirer is shy," said the boy. "Maybe he's afraid you won't like him, so he's being really nice to you before he introduces himself."
I brightened. "You know, I'll bet you're right! How come I didn't think of that? You're a complete stranger, and you have it all figured out."
"I'm a boy," said the boy.
I nodded. That made sense. "My name is Claudia," I told him.
"I'm Timothy."
We paused.
"So ..." I said.
Why were we suddenly having trouble making conversation? It had seemed easier when we didn't know each other's names.
"So . . ." said Timothy.