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

'Tay-see!" shouted Sandy, waving his stuffed dog at me. "Play with me!"
April smiled at me. "Could you?" she asked. "I'll be checking the shelves, to see if we need, to re-stock anything. You two can play right up front here, and you can run the cash register if we have customers."
"Okay," I said. I was glad to have the distraction of playing with Sandy. I could still keep an eye out for shoplifters, but maybe I wouldn't be quite so nervous. "LetТs see your dog," I said to Sandy. "What does a doggie say?"
For the rest of the afternoon, I was so busy I forgot to be nervous. I still checked out every customer who came into the store, but I stopped worrying about whether he might be armed and dangerous. Sandy kept demanding
my attention, but I was able to keep him entertained and also watch the store.
Or so I thought. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
As I was getting ready to leave, April approached me with a worried look on her face. "Stacey, have you seen the Gamester?" she asked. "Or did you sell it to someone?"
I shook my head. "I didn't sell it. And the last I saw, it was right there, on the Ч "I looked at the counter, where the Gamester had been. It was gone.
"I didn't sell it either," said April. "It must have walked out of here." She shook her head. "Darn," she said. "I guess I'll have to report it to security. I'll see you tomorrow, Stacey Ч and don't worry. It wasn't your fault."
I felt awful. I knew I had watched as well as I could, considering that I was entertaining Sandy and all. But obviously I hadn't watched closely enough.
On the bus going home, I told my friends what had happened.
"ThatТs terrible!" said Kristy. "Those shoplifters must be really good." She banged her fist into her palm.
"Still, I might have caught them, if I hadn't been taking care of Sandy, too," I said. Then, suddenly, I had an amazing idea. "Hey!" I
exclaimed. "You know what the mall needs? A day-care center."

"Definitely!" said Claudia. "What a great idea! It could be near the middle of the mall, like the food court, and it could be for shoppers and for store-owners like April."
My friends and I spent the rest of our ride talking excitedly about my idea. I was happy to think about something positive, instead of being preoccupied with the disappearance of the Gamester. A day-care center might "not solve the shoplifting problem, but it would sure help with a lot of other problems in the mall. And if the members of the BSC put their minds to it, I knew we could make it happen.
Chapter 7.
"You know how I said all my friends were enthusiastic about my idea for the day-care center? Well, that wasn't totally true. There was one exception: Kristy. I noticed she was a little quieter than usual during the bus ride that afternoon, and she didn't seem so eager to talk about the idea. I wasn't sure why. Maybe she was preoccupied with the shoplifting problem. Maybe she was just tired. Or maybe she was having a hard time accepting the fact that I had come up with a great idea Ч one she wished she had thought ofl-Kristy's used to being the idea person, and I think itТs hard for her sometimes when somebody else comes up with one.
Anyway, by the time we climbed into the bus on Tuesday afternoon, Kristy had recovered from whatever was wrong. She had obviously given the day-care idea a lot of thought overnight, and she couldn't wait to
talk about the details. As soon as we found seats on the bus, Kristy whipped out a little notebook and a pen. "Okay," she said. "This day-care center will be great, but there are a lot of aspects we need to figure out."
Claud, who was sitting next to me, nudged me with her elbow and grinned at me. I smiled back. We're used to the way Kristy takes an idea and runs with it.
"First of all," said Kristy, "I can't see why the people at the mall wouldn't go for it. I mean, itТs perfect. I'm sure business would increase if people had a place to leave their kids while they shopped. And if 11 be great for employees at the stores, too. But where would the center be? And who would pay the rent for it? And who would run it?"
"There's a huge empty storefront over by the games arcade," said Logan. "It would be ideal. And I bet the store-owners would chip in for the rent Ч or maybe they could work out a deal with the mall management."
"There must be a lot of other store-owners like April, who are parents, too. I bet we could organize a group of them to run the place," I said.
"What about equipment?" asked Mary Anne. "You know, toys and stuff. And mats for naptime."
"Naptime!" said Jessi. "That reminds me.
You know whatТs strange? My manager told me he thinks somebody's been sleeping overnight in the movie theatre!"
"Weird," I said. It was weird, but I was too busy thinking about the day-care idea to pay much attention to what Jessi had said. Instead, I turned to Kristy and said, "We'll need art supplies and books, too."
"Good point," said Kristy, making a note. "Maybe we could get people to donate a lot of these things."
"We could have a fund-raising drive," added Jessi. "For start-up costs."
"I guess the first thing to do is for us to talk to our bosses," I said. "We can see if they think it's a good idea, too. Maybe they'll have some thoughts about what to do next."
And thatТs how we left it. When the bus pulled up to the mall, we piled out, eager to start on our new project.
But as it turned out, I didn't get a chance to talk to April Ч not right away, anyway. When I walked into the store, I found her looking frazzled. "Oh, Stacey," she said. "Boy, am I glad to see you. I've been so busy here today that I haven't had a break in hours. Could you run the register for a while? I'll be in the back."
"Sure," I said. I looked over at the counter and noticed that another Gamester was on display. April saw me looking at it.
"I know, I know," she said. "ItТs tempting fate. But it won't sell if ifs not on display, so I'm stuck leaving it out."
"I'll keep an eye on it," I said. I realized that might be easier today, since Sandy didn't seem to be around. "Where's Sandy today?"
"I'm trying out a new sitter," said April. "But she's only available on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so ifs not really the ideal solution."
"I wanted to talk to you about that Ч " I began, but just then a young boy and his mother came up to us and asked about video game cartridges.
"I'll let you handle this," said April, heading for the back of the store. "Call me if you need
me."
I showed the boy where the cartridges are displayed, and then headed back to the counter. On my way, I stopped to straighten up a display of rubber stamps. I was putting the last one in its place when I heard a loud commotion just outside the store. I ran to the doorway to look out, and had to jump out of the way as two police officers Ч a man and a woman Ч ran by me. I looked past them and saw a bunch of people running down the middle of the mall, past the benches, the main escalator, and the big white marble fountain.
"WhatТs going on?" I asked a woman who was running by.
"Don't know!" she shouted over her shoulder, still running.
People were converging on a spot near the store that sells giant cookies Ч three doors down from Toy Town Ч and the whole mall seemed to be watching to see what was happening. Store-owners were peering out through their windows, or standing in their doorways. On the upper levels, people were leaning over the balconies to watch the action. Shoppers walked quickly or ran toward the growing crowd. "Hey!" I heard an older man cry, as somebody knocked into him. The next thing I knew, he was sprawled on the floor, trying to. get up. I wanted to help him, but I couldn't leave the store.
I yelled for April, and she came running. By then, several people had stopped to help the man. "WhatТs going on?" asked April. She looked out at the crowd. "WhatТs happening?"
"I can't figure it out," I said.
Just then, I heard shouting, and I saw two teenaged boys break away from the crowd. They started to run in my direction, but the woman police officer chased after them and grabbed them. "You're under arrest," I heard her say loudly. "You have the right to remain silent Ч"
I turned to April. "Wow!" I said. "I bet they caught the shoplifters."
We looked back at the crowd, and saw that the police seemed to be arresting another boy Ч a tall guy, with black hair Ч and two girls. Several security officers were on hand, surrounding the kids. "They must have gotten the whole gang!" I exclaimed. I looked at the boy more closely, and realized I had seen him in the store when I first came in.