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

Sometimes my friend Hannie and I play
Beauty Parlor and fix our dolls' hair. We make them look very, very lovely.
This beauty parlor was called the Seven Seas. I peeked inside. A lady was having her nails painted. A big girl about Kristy's age was having her hair trimmed.
I forgot all about my promise to Kristy. I stepped up to the desk and stood on tiptoe. "Hello?" I said to the lady there.
"Yes?" she replied, smiling. She peered down at me.
I put on my most grown-up voice. "I would like to have my nails painted, please, mad-ame," I said. "Just charge it to my cabin."
The lady opened her eyes wide. She looked a little surprised. "Just charge it?" she repeated.
I nodded. I know all about charging. Andrew and I have stayed in hotels lots of times with Daddy. Twice we stayed in a hotel in New York City, and another time in a hotel in Chicago. Whenever we're in hotels, Daddy hardly ever spends any money. He just says, "And charge it to our room, please." So I know you can do this. Except here on the Ocean Princess, I was guessing you were supposed to say "cabin" instead of "room."
The lady behind the counter leaned over a little further and peered at me dosely. "Do you have permission to charge things to your cabin?" she asked. "Did your parents say you could?"
Daddy had not said anything about charging. Neither had Elizabeth. They hadn't said I could, they hadn't said I couldn't. But before I answered the question, I had to straighten the lady out about something.
"I'm not here with my parents/' I told her. "I'm here with my Daddy and Elizabeth. Elizabeth is my stepmommy. Not my real mommy. My parents are divorced."
'Tsk, tsk," the lady ducked. She looked very concerned. "Poor little thing," she muttered. "Whaf s your cabin number, sweetie?" She was checking a long computer list.
"It's P nine," I told her.
"P nine . . . P nine. Your daddy's name?"
"Watson Brewer."
"Right-o. Okay. If you'll wait just a moment, Judith will take care of you. She's the one over there," the lady said, pointing. "See her name tag? Why don't you sit down while you wait?"
I sat.
Soon Judith called, "Miss Brewer?"
I got to my feet feeling very grown-up.
Judith showed me bottles and bottles of nail polish and told me to choose a color.
It was hard to make up my mind. Finally I chose light purple.
"Splendid!" exclaimed Judith. "That will look divine."
And it did. But a manicure takes much longer than I thought it would. First Judith soaked my fingers, then she cleaned my nails, then she fussed with the skin around my nails, then she put on some clear stuff, then she put on the purple polish, then she put on more clear stuff, and then I had to wait for everything to dry.
"Now you be careful," Judith said to me when she finally let me go. "That polish isn't quite hard yet."
'Til be careful," I promised. "Thanks, Judith."
While I was thanking Judith, the big girl who was having her hair trimmed was standing up and saying, "Thanks, Lynnette," to her hairdresser. She handed Lynnette some money. I guess she didn't know how to charge.
Lynnette glanced at the money. "Thanks.
Let me get this changed for you."
"Oh, don't bother," said the girl. "Keep the change."
"But this is a hundred-dollar bill."
The girl waved her hand in the air. "Oh, it doesn't matter. My aunt is a countess. I have tons of money."
"Well . . . well, thank you," said Lynnette. She and I both watched the girl leave the beauty parlor. I was amazed. A countess Ч like a person in a fairy tale!
I remembered that I was supposed to be getting my earplugs, so I ran down to Cabin P9. I opened the door quietly and tiptoed in. Sure enough, Daddy and Elizabeth were taking naps. I found my earplugs and started up to the Moondance Deck. Halfway there, I decided I was thirsty. Very thirsty. I hadn't had anything to drink since I was on the plane.
Where could I get something to drink? I wondered. I didn't want water from a fountain. I wanted something more special. I climbed the stairs from deck to deck slowly. Each time I reached a new deck, I stopped to look around. And on the Tropical Deck I saw something called the Moonlight Cafe.
A cafe is an eating place! Daddy and An-
drew and I ate at one in New York City. We sat at a little round table on the sidewalk. There was an umbrella over us. The pole went right through a hole in the middle of the table. Daddy said we could order whatever we wanted. I ordered crab's legs. But I didn't eat them.
The Moonlight Cafe didn't look anything like the cafe in New York, but I decided to try it anyway. I sat down at a table. The cafe was crowded. The waiter who came over seemed very busy.
He flipped open his order pad. "Yes?" he said. He didn't look at me.
"One Coke, please, sir," I told him. "And charge it to Cabin P nine. Watson Brewer."
"You got it."
The waiter brought my Coke. I drank it pretty fast. I realized I'd been gone an awfully long time for someone who was just supposed to be getting her earplugs.
As soon as I was finished, I ran upstairs to the Moondance Deck and found the swimming pool. Andrew and David Michael were in it, but Kristy was sitting nervously in a lounge chair.
"Karen Brewer!" she cried as soon as she saw me. "Where on Earth have you been? I
was worried!" She got up and ran toward me.
I thought Kristy was mad at me, but when she reached me, she gave me a hug. "Don't ever do that again!" she said. (Her arms were still around me.) "I was about ready to get a search party going. Or call the Boat Police or something."
"The Boat Police! Are there really Boat Police?" I asked.
"No," said Kristy, pulling away from me. "Just kidding. But where were you? You better have a good story."
"We-ell," I said slowly. I hoped a manicure and a Coke were good stories, but I had a feeling they weren't. Kristy probably thought I'd gotten lost, or gotten into some kind of trouble. I couldn't lie to her, though. I held out my hands. I told her what I'd been doing. When I was finished, Kristy burst out laughing.
"You were getting a manicure?!" she exclaimed.
I nodded.