"Martin, Ann M - Baby-sitters Club Mystery 014 - Stacey and the Mystery at the Mall" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin Ann M)

"Mine!" said Sandy from behind me. He was frowning, and he held out his hand for the horse.
"Unfortunately, Sandy thinks everything in the store belongs to him," said April, scooping him up. She hugged Sandy and kissed the top of his head. "Makes it difficult to sell things sometimes."
"Two-year-olds can be that way," I said. " 'Mine' is their favorite word, isn't it? I babysit a lot, so I'm used to it." I told April a little about the BSC.
"What a great idea," said April. "I could sure use a BSC in my neighborhood!"
"So," I said, eager to start working, "what would you like me to do today?"
"LetТs see," said April. "I've been thinking about changing the display tables. Why don't you put away the farm and set up this doll-house in its place?" She showed me a carton containing a snap-together dollhouse, and a
few other boxes that held furniture and brightly colored plastic people. "The farm stuff goes in these," she said, handing me some empty boxes. "After you've done that, you can take your break, and then maybe I can give you another lesson on the cash register. Does that sound okay?"
'It sounds great," I said. I got down on my knees and started to take the barn apart. I didn't really feel I would need a break that afternoon, but all the Project Work jobs followed the same schedule. Mr. Withum had told us about it that day in class. "You'll work for two hours every afternoon," he had said, "with a fifteen-minute break at some point. Please be sure you're on time, and don't abuse your break privileges." My friends and I had already planned to visit each other on our breaks.
I was busy separating the animals into various piles when April returned. "By the way," she said. "I forgot to mention one important thing. While you're in the store, I'd like you to keep an eye out for shoplifters. Merchandise walks out of this store all the time, especially the little things up front near the cash register."
"ThatТs awful," I said.
April shrugged. "ItТs a fact of life," she said. "All stores have to deal with it. Lately, though,
it seems as if itТs happening more than ever." She looked over at Sandy, who was tearing into a pile of puzzles. "Oh, no, Sandy!" she said, running to stop him.
"He can help me," I said, "if you want to keep him busy, that is."
"That would be great," said April. "Sandy, want to help Stacey with the farm?" she asked.
"Hoss!" said Sandy, pointing at the horse I held in my right hand.
"Good!" I said. "Can you find the right pile for the horsie?" I handed it to him. Sandy and I spent a peaceful half hour packing up the farm animals. Then, just as I was pulling the dollhouse pieces out of their boxes, Claudia turned up.
"You look like you're having a good time," she said. "What a great job. You get to play all day!"
"How's your job?" I asked.
"Ifs the coolest," said Claud. "You wouldn't believe how much I've learned in one day! They have these amazing new acrylic paints over there. I've already decided to save up for them."
"You're going to become their best customer," I said, smiling.
"I know," she admitted. "But I don't mind spending my money there. The owners are really nice people." She frowned. "I can't believe anybody would steal stuff from them, but they said they have a problem with shoplifting. It's been much worse lately."
"April said the same thing about Toy Town," I said. "ItТs a shame."
Claudia picked up the mother doll from the pile on the table. "I wish I'd had a dollhouse like this when I was little," she said, checking out the mother's tiny plastic shoes. "Mine," said Sandy.
"Oh," I said. "I forgot to introduce you to Sandy. He's April's son."
"Nice to meet you," said Claudia, bending down to say hi to him. She handed him the' doll. "And now I've got to run. My break's almost up."
"See you on the bus!" I said. I spent the next half hour putting together the dollhouse. Sandy helped, and we had a great time. Just as I was setting the dollhouse father in the kitchen and the mother in the garage (this was a liberated doll family, I had decided), April came over to take a look. "Wonderful," she said. "Why don't you go ahead and take your break?" She picked up Sandy. "And you, young man, can help me at the cash register."
I left the store and decided to head down the hall to see Mal at the bookstore. I found her in the children's section, of course. She
was arranging books on the shelves. "Stacey!" she said, when she saw me. "Isn't this the coolest store? I love it here. Look at this book that just came in. Aren't the illustrations fantastic?"
Mal's face was flushed. I was glad to see her so happy. A bookstore really is the perfect place for her. I looked at the book she handed me, which was an updated version of Little Red Riding Hood. "Cool," I said. "I can see you making a book like this someday."
"That would be awesome," said Mal. "Can you imagine going to a bookstore and seeing books with your name on them?"
A woman walked by just then, and smiled at Mal. "Whoa!" said Mal. "ThatТs Ms. Munro, my manager. She's really nice, but she probably wants me to get back to work." Mal watched as the woman moved away. "She walks around the store like that all day, watching for shoplifters," she added. "Apparently itТs kind of a problem here. And Jessi stopped by before and told me that her bosses at Cinema World are upset because people are always trying to sneak into the movies."
I handed the book back to Mal. "Ifs awful," I said. "Until I worked here, I didn't know there was so much of that kind of thing going on at the mall. But it happens at Claud's store, and at Toy Town, too." We looked at each
other and shrugged. ''Well, see you later!" I said. "I'll let you get back to work. I'm going to head upstairs to see Mary Anne."
At Critters, Mary Anne was working on a window display. She held up a dog toy shaped like a hamburger. "Don't you think this would look good near that other one, the one that looks like a hot dog?" she asked. She squeezed the toy and it squeaked. We giggled.
"Hey, Mary Anne," I said, suddenly curious. "Do people ever steal stuff like that from here?"
"Funny you should ask," she said. "That was one of the first things the store owner told me to look out for. I didn't really believe him, but I guess itТs true. Personally, I can't imagine a dog- or cat-lover stealing anything, but according to him, it happens all the time." I shook my head, frowning. "Not only that," Mary Anne added, "but Logan stopped by here on his break, and guess what he told me? There's even shoplifting going on at the food court."
I raised my eyebrows. Mary Anne nodded. "ItТs true," she said. "People walk off with pretzels and stuff while the workers are busy getting the rest of their orders."
"Speaking of busy," I said, glancing at my watch, "I'd better get back to Toy Town. My break's just about over." I said good-bye to
Mary Anne and headed for the escalator.
"Hey, Stacey!" I turned to see Kristy walking toward me. She was wearing a black baseball cap that said "Washington Mall Security" in gold script, and a walkie-talkie hung from her belt.
"Hey, Officer Thomas," I replied. "Enjoying your job?" We stepped onto the escalator together.
She grinned. "ItТs great." "I hear there's a lot of shoplifting going on around here," I said.
"ThatТs right. But we're on the case." Her walkie-talkie made a crackling noise, and she grabbed it just as we reached the bottom of the escalator.
"I have to run," I said. "I'm going to be late."
Kristy nodded as she put the walkie-talkie to her ear. "See you on the bus," she said.
Back at Toy Town, April was busy at the cash register, and a line of people was waiting to be helped. "What can I do?" I asked.
April nodded toward the back of the store, where, a boy was playing noisily near the train set. "Encourage him to use the display toys," she said. "I try to leave enough out, but the kids always go for the new stuff."
I walked back and discovered that the boy, who looked about seven, was tearing into a
new package of Legos. Another package, already opened, was at his feet. "How about leaving those on the shelf?" I said. "We can check out this train set instead."
He just stared at me.