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

I stood around in the store until I was sure Kristy and her family were gone. Then I stepped outside and took my first good look at Nassau. Little streets lined with shops twisted and turned in several directions. Palm trees and flowering plants were everywhere. The smell of the blossoms mingled with the salty air. I breathed in. Heavenly.
I wished I'd thought to bring a sketch pad with me. I could have made some terrific drawings of the beach and the people and the crowded streets. Oh, well. At least I had my camera. I could take lots of pictures to show
Mimi, my grandmother. She's never been to the Bahamas.
I began walking and taking pictures, but after three shots, I realized something odd was going on. Every time I looked through the viewfinder, especially if I turned around, searching for a shot behind me, I thought I saw a figure jump out of the way. The fourth time that happened, I glanced up to see who it was, but I couldn't tell. The streets were too crowded.
People in Nassau sure are poMte, I thought. In Connecticut, they'd probably walk right in front of you and ruin the picture, not jump out of the way.
I walked until I came to a place called the straw market. Everywhere, island women were selling handmade straw crafts Ч mats and baskets and hats and bags. They were selling coral jewelry and embroidered linen, too; the most beautiful napkins and hand towels and pillowcases I'd ever seen. I know how to do embroidery Ч sort of Ч but not like this. Even Mary Anne would be impressed, I thought, and she does lots of needlework.
The crafts were spread out on tables or on cloths or mats on the ground. I kept stopping to examine things. Twice, when I knelt down to look at some baskets, a shadow fell over me. When I glanced up to see who was casting it, no one was around. When I looked back at the ground, the shadow was gone.
Weird, I thought.
I bought a straw bag for my mother, an embroidered glasses case for my sister, Janine, and a coral necklace for Mimi. Finding something to bring back for my dad would be more difficult, but I'd keep looking.
When I finished my shopping, I sat down on a bench to change the film in my camera. Then I decided to look at the gifts I'd bought. I pulled the straw bag out of my tote Ч and a note fell out.
I grabbed for it. "I still think you're beautiful," the note read. "Your Secret Admirer."
If I hadn't been sitting down, I Would have had to find a seat fast. My knees went all weak. Where were my friends when I needed them? I was dying to show them note #2.
But I was on my own.
I looked at my watch. There were hours until 5:00.1 decided to visit the Seafloor Aquarium.
The most interesting thing that happened there was that when I stepped up to pay the admission fee, the woman taking the money waved me through, saying, "Go on ahead, miss. The young gentleman paid your way."
My mouth dropped wide open. What young gentleman? I looked all around, but could only see some families and lots of little kids. I spent an hour at the aquarium, but I wasn't looking at fish; I was looking for my Secret Admirer.
Finally I gave up.
I went back to the little shops I passed when
I'd first gotten off the Ocean Princess. It was time to buy a souvenir for myself. And to look for something for Dad again. I found the perfect thing (for me) in a jewelry store Ч a pair of mother-of-pearl earrings. But they were much, much too expensive.
"Sorry," I said sadly to the clerk when he told me the price. "I guess I, um, can't afford them. Thanks anyway."
I left the shop feeling sort of sad. I'd spent the day alone, I hadn't gotten a present for my father, I didn't know who my admirer was, and I couldn't afford the beautiful earrings.
I found an outdoor restaurant, sat down at a table, and ordered a Coke with an umbrella in it. When the Coke arrived it was served on a white china dish. The umbrella was in the Coke. A box was next to the dish.
I looked at the box and up at the waiter. He just shrugged. When he left, I opened the box. Inside, on a bed of cotton, lay the mother-of-pearl earrings Ч and a note that read From Your Secret Admirer.
When I returned to the Ocean Princess that afternoon, my mind was whirling, and I felt dazed with excitement Ч and mystery.
Stacey.
What a day we all had! We compared notes that evening at our first official vacation meeting of the Baby-sitters Club. We held the meeting in the room Kristy, Dawn, and Claudia were sharing. (Mr. and Mrs. Pike had given Mary Anne and me two hours off, and we needed the break.)
Each of us had some sort of story to tell: "Watson taught David Michael how to do the crawl," said Kristy. "David Michael's a terrible swimmer. He could only dog-paddle, but Watson took him to this really calm little bay, and you should see my brother swim now! I never knew Watson was such a good teacher."
"I spent the entire day with Vanessa and Nicky," said Mary Anne. "I was kind of hop-
ing Mallory would join us, but she's been spending an awful lot of time by herself. . . . Have you gotten the feeling she's hiding something?" Mary Anne asked me.
I shook my head slowly. "Not Mallory. She's not a sneak."
"That's not what I mean," Mary Anne replied. "Not exactly. I mean ... I don't know."
"Well," I said, "I'm surprised I'm not a prune. Talk about swimming, Kristy, I spent practically the whole day in the water with Vanessa and Margo. They are tireless. I don't know how mothers keep up with their kids. . . . What'd you do today, Dawn?"
Dawn lowered her eyes and looked shy, which was unlike her. "I sort of followed this cute boy around . . ." was all she'd say.
"That's a switch," said Claudia, "because a boy followed me all around today, only I don't even know whether he's cute." Claudia told us about her mysterious and elusive Secret Admirer.
When she was finished, Kristy asked, "Any club business?"
We were too keyed up to think of a single thing.
"What about presents for the Pikes and Watson and Mom?" she went on.
At first, nobody said a word.
Finally, Claudia suggested, "Candy?" just as Dawn said, "Flowers?"
"You guys are hopeless," Kristy told us. "This meeting is adjourned."
I looked at my watch. More than an hour was left of our two-hour break, and after my day spent baby-sitting and in the club meeting, all I wanted was to be alone for awhile. So Kristy went off with Mary Anne, Claudia went off with Dawn, and I went off by myself. I went all the way up to the Sun Deck. It was too late for sun, of course (besides I'd already had plenty of it that day), but I wanted to get close to the night sky and see the stars over the ocean. I'd seen a New York City night sky, a country Connecticut night sky, a New Jersey beach night sky, but never an out-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean night sky.
Apparently, a whole lot of other people had the same idea Ч even though there were really no stars to be seen. Sometime between leaving Nassau and ending our dub meeting, the sky had clouded over and a wind had blown up.
I walked around the deck until I found a spot near the entrance to the swimming pool where no one else was standing. I stared out at the ocean swells, then up at the cloudy sky. I breathed in the salt air.
"Ahhh ..." I said.
I didn't even realize I'd spoken out loud, but I must have because a small voice said, "It's nice, isn't it?"
I whirled around. Sitting behind me in the shadow of a doorway was a little boy in a wheelchair. (Mallory had said something about seeing a kid in a wheelchair. It was funny Ч she seemed to have noticed an awful lot about the people on the ship.)
Even though I'd wanted to be alone, I smiled and stepped over to the boy. It's just impossible for me to ignore anyone who's sick or hurt or handicapped. I guess that's because I have diabetes myself. I understand what it's like to be ill sometimes, to have to remember to take medication, to be in the hospital. . . .
"It's beautiful," I said to the boy. "I just love the ocean."
"Me too."
"Would you like me to push you closer to