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

"Thank you," said the man.
"You're welcome." Kristy smiled at him and she and Claudia walked on.
I left the veranda then. It might have been a good fishing hole, but I was too exposed there. I found a flight of stairs and walked up one level to the Moondance Deck. At first it didn't seem like much Ч just the children's recreation area and pool, and more cabins. But after I walked by a cabin with its door open, I realized that they weren't just any cabins, they were luxury cabins Ч huge. I decided to
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wander through those corridors for awhile. Maybe I'd see the sophisticated girl again. If she was a big-time actress she probably had a luxury cabin.
I didn't see her. What I did see was more interesting than the girl, more sad than the old man, and very curious. I turned a corner, and coming toward me down the hall was a woman pushing a little boy in an impossibly small wheelchair.
"We're almost there, Marc," she was saying. "Just wait'll you see our room."
"I can't wait, Mom!" exclaimed Marc, but I could tell he wasn't feeling as excited as he wanted his parents to think he was. I know because I've done that with my parents. Sometimes you have to protect parents and their feelings.
I stepped aside and sort of flattened myself against the wall to let them go by, but it wasn't necessary. The woman stopped when they were still a few yards away from me and entered one of the cabins.
"This is it!" she announced, steering Marc into the room.
I didn't hear Marc's reply. That was because I was too busy noticing, for the first time, who
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and what had been behind Marc and his mother. The first person was one of the ship's stewards, wheeling a huge oxygen tank. He was followed by another steward with a second tank. And he was followed by a well-dressed man (Marc's father?) carrying a black box labeled: MEDICATION Ч REFRIGERATE. They all disappeared into the cabin with Marc and his mother, and the door closed behind them.
Wow. What was that all about?
I barely had time to scribble a few notes about Marc in my spying book before someone else came through the corridor, and when I saw him I nearly passed out.
The guy was about twenty years old with thick red hair. You know, that color that is so red you're just sure he was called Carrot-Top when he was little. He had flashing blue eyes, and when he grinned as he squeezed by, I could see that he was missing one of his bottom teeth.
Why did I almost faint? Because the guy was Spider from the Insects, my favorite group. I was sure of it. He's famous for that missing tooth. He lost it during a show when he hit himself in the mouth with his own electric guitar. I was just dying to ask him for his
autograph, but I couldn't work up the nerve. What if he was one of those famous people who hated to be asked for his autograph? I watched him disappear.
Little did I know, there was even more excitement to come. I had barely recovered from my Spider-sighting when I stepped onto the deck (for some fresh air) and what should I see but a sandy-haired boy who climbed out of a huge pile of coiled rope, looked cautiously in all directions, and then ran through a corridor into the ship.
A stowaway! I wrote in my notebook. I think there's a stowaway on board the Ocean Princess. It was almost too much to take. What an afternoon I'd had Ч Spider, a stowaway, and all those other people. I decided to keep my notebook with me at all times, if possible. I'd have to figure out some ways to hide it in my clothing. This was going to be one exciting voyage and I didn't want to miss a thing.
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love my big stepsister, Kristy. She is very, very fun. But here's one thing I don't love about her. Sometimes she doesn't believe the things I say. And just because I'm only six years old. I don't think that's fair. But it happens. Also, sometimes she says I'm too little to do things. I don't think that's fair, either. But it happens.
It was our first day on the big ship called the Ocean Princess. Andrew and I were really excited. We wanted to go swimming. We wanted to go exploring. And we wanted Kristy to go with us. But Kristy and her friend Clau-dia had gone off on a walk. Andrew and I hoped they would come back soon.
"Here they come! Here they come!" Andrew shouted a little while later.
I ran out into the corridor to see. Sure
enough, there were Kristy and Claudia.
"Kristy!" I called. "Me and Andrew want to go swimming. Will you take us? Daddy and Elizabeth say they want to take naps after they finish unpacking." (Elizabeth is Krist/s mother, my stepmother.)
"Sure," said Kristy. "You don't mind, do you, Claud?"
Claudia shook her head. "Maybe I'll go look for Dawn."
"Are you mad at Dawn, Kristy?" I asked as she helped me change into my bathing suit.
"No. Why do you think that?"
"I just do. I can tell."
"Were you eavesdropping?" Kristy asked. Now she was helping Andrew with his suit.
"No, honest," I said.
Kristy gave me one of her I-don't-believe-you looks.
"Never mind," I told her. "Let's go."
Kristy changed into her suit, too, and then we were all ready.
"Let me just get David Michael," Kristy said, stopping by her brothers' cabin. "I bet he'll want to come with us."
He did. A few minutes later the four of us were way up on the Moondance Deck, stand-
ing at the edge of the children's pool. And that was when I remembered something important.
"Uh-oh," I said. "Kristy, I forgot my earplugs. I can't go swimming without them. I'm not allowed. I'll get an earache." Then I had a terrific idea. "Can I go get them myself, please? I know the way back to our cabin. Really I do."
"Oh, no," said Kristy. "You're not going alone. I'll have to go back with you. I mean, we all will."
"No way," said David Michael. "We just got here."
"Please let me go, Kristy," I said. "Please?"
Kristy scrunched up her face. "All right," she said at last. "You can go by yourself. But come right back, understand?"
"I understand! And I promise!" I cried. I dashed down one flight of stairs, then another. I knew I had two more flights to go before I reached my cabin, but I had to stop and look around the Coastal Deck. I had to. From where I was standing, I could see a big restaurant. Even better, I could see a beauty parlor.
I just love beauty parlors.