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

"How did you pay for it? And the Coke?"
"I charged them to our cabin."
Kristy shook her head. "You're too much," she said.
She gave me another hug. Then she got out her camera. "Hold out your hands again," she said. "Let me take a picture of you with your manicure."
I held out my hands and put on a great big grin, even though I am missing two teeth.
Kristy snapped my picture. Then she snapped pictures of Andrew and David Michael in the water.
I put on my earplugs and jumped in the pool. I am so, so glad that Kristy is my big sister.
c Hi A IP T E R
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r 6
I
'11 tell you something: I have never woken up on a ship before. It was kind of interesting going to sleep in my bunk last night. The ship was rocking back and forth very gently. I felt like I was falling asleep on a giant waterbed. And then this morning I woke up to feel the sway, sway, sway of the ship.
Except for our alarm clock, which rang at 7:30, I'd never have known it was morning, though. Our cabin is in the middle of the ship, so there's no window for the sun to shine through. And of course, since I wasn't at home, there were no shouts of, "Claudia, get a move on!" or "Mimi, I can't find my sweater!" There wasn't even the nice smell of coffee.
Nevertheless, as soon as the alarm went off, I sprang up. Luckily, I remembered just in time that I was on the top bunk. I lowered
C/cuxdUo-
myself to the floor, stepping on Kristy's hand on the way down.
"Ow!" she cried.
"Sorry," I said, "but if s time to get up anyway. Hurry, you guys."
It was our second day on the Ocean Princess, and later in the morning, the ship was going to dock at New Providence Island in the Bahamas. We were going to spend one glorious day in the town of Nassau. I couldn't wait. Think of it. Me, Claudia Kishi, in the Bahamas. It was almost as good as saying I was in Hawaii, or on the shores of Tahiti. Tropical beaches, white sand, palm trees, cloudless blue skies, shells, maybe a cute guy. . . .
I woke up Dawn, who was sleeping in the bottom of the other bunk bed. (We were using the top of the bed for all the clothes I'd brought that I couldn't squeeze into our tiny closet or the dresser drawers.)
Then the three of us got dressed quickly, but silently. Well, I got dressed quickly. This was because while I'd been lying in my bunk the night before I'd planned exactly what I was going to wear. I put on my new blue-and white bikini and over that, a pink sundress with spaghetti straps at the shoulders and big
blue buttons down the front. Then I accessorized. I tied a pink-and-blue scarf around my waist, knotting it in the middle, added my snake bracelet and feather earrings, wound my hair up on top of my head, and finally put on these white sandals with long laces that you crisscross up your legs and tie in a bow.
When I was dressed, I sat at the desk and watched Dawn and Kristy. Dawn took off her nightgown, folded it, and placed it in a dresser drawer. Kristy slipped her pajamas off, leaving them in a puddle around her feet. Then she stared at Dawn, waiting for a reaction. After a moment, she stepped aside and Dawn whisked them off the floor and handed them to Kristy. "There," she said. "Are you satisfied? You wanted to make me mad and it worked, okay?"
"Oh, for heaven's sake, chill out, you guys," I told them. "Kristy, grow up."
Kristy stuck her tongue out at me.
That morning we ate breakfast at the Flamingo Cay Restaurant with Kristy's family. We sat at two tables Ч Kristy, Dawn, Karen, Andrew, David Michael, and me at one; Mr. and Mrs. Brewer, Sam, and Charlie at the other.
Breakfast at our table was just a little strained,
but I forgot about our problems as soon as our orange juice was served. The waiter brought over a tray with six little glasses of juice, each one on a plate. My juice was the only one that was also on a napkin. When I lifted my glass, I saw that something was written on the napkin. It said, "I think you are beautiful." And it was signed, "A Secret Admirer."
"Kristy!" I yelped. "Dawn! Look!"
I showed them the napkin.
"Who could have written it?" asked Dawn.
"The waiter?" suggested Kristy.
"No way," I replied. (Our waiter was about eighty-seven years old.) Then I got a flash of inspiration. "You guys," 1 whispered, and everyone leaned forward, even the little kids. "You know who's on board the ship?
"Who?" they asked.
"Spider. You know, from the Insects. Mal-lory Pike told me so. She saw him yesterday with her own eyes."
"No!" cried Kristy and Dawn.
"Yes!" I said. "I forgot all about it until right now. What if this note's from Spider? A rock star. Wouldn't that be amazing?"
"It would be amazing, all right," agreed Kristy drily.
I made a face at her. Then I glanced at Dawn. Dawn wasn't listening to our conversation anymore. Her eyes were glued to something across the room. I looked where she was looking and saw a Gorgeous Guy.
I nudged Kristy and pointed to Dawn. "Psst," I whispered. "I think Dawn's on the prowl!"
We started giggling and couldn't stop.
It turned out that I was right. Later that morning when the ship docked at Nassau, Dawn walked off like a zombie. "See you guys later," she said vaguely.
(Kristy's mom and stepfather had told Dawn and Kristy and me that we didn't have to stick with them. They said that Nassau wasn't that big a place, and we were old enough and responsible enough to go off on our own, as long as we returned to the Ocean Princess by five o'clock.)
No sweat.
The only thing was, Dawn the zombie had her eye on Mr. Gorgeous, and Kristy seemed to want to stay with her family. I could have stayed with them, too, but I knew this was the first vacation they'd taken since Kristy's mother had married Watson. So I felt that I
should leave them alone and let them be a family.
"Well," I said brightly, as our feet touched solid ground again, "I'm going shopping. See you at five o'clock!"
I headed for the nearest store.
I just love to shop.
But I felt a little lonely and left out. I hadn't exactly expected to spend my first day on a tropical island alone. I guess I could have joined up with Stacey or Mary Anne and the Pikes, but I also hadn't expected to spend my first day on a tropical island baby-sitting.