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

That was the end of that. I tried to come up
with another subject, but my mind was blank. It didn't matter, though, because by then we had reached the door and we were clustered around it, shooting nervous glances at each other. "I don't know if I'm ready for this," said Kristy. "I mean, that last manager sounded really mean. What if Mr. Morton hates the idea and just kicks us out? Then we'll have to go tell everybody we failed."
That didn't sound like Kristy. She's not usually a worrier.
"We can still back out," said Mary Anne. "I mean, itТs not like we actually have an appointment or anything. He'd never know if we just turned around and left right this minute." She looked as if she wanted to bolt.
But then, Kellie sealed our fate. She reached up and banged on the door. "Knock, knock," she cried. "Anybody home?"
"Oh, my lord," Claud said under her breath.
Kellie giggled, as if this were a big game. The rest of us looked at each other wide-eyed. "We can't leave now!" whispered Logan. Then we heard footsteps, and the door swung open.
"Well, hello," said the man who had opened the door. "What have we here?"
He was friendly looking, dressed in jeans and a white shirt. He folded his arms and
looked us over. "Can I help you with something?"
None of us had said a word yet. He must have thought we were nuts, standing there silently in our perfectly pressed clothes.
"Uh Ч we're looking for Mr. Morton," said Kristy. "The mall manager?"
"You've found him," replied the man. He snick out his hand. "Ted Morton, at your service." I was surprised Ч he was much younger than I expected.
Kristy stuck out her hand, and they shook. "Kristy Thomas," she said. Suddenly, she sounded more like the Kristy I knew. Confident, secure, and ready to take on the world. "These are my friends," she went on. She introduced us all, including Kellie. "We were wondering if you might have some time to talk to us about a project we have in mind."
"Of course, of course," he said. "ThatТs what I'm here for." He opened the door wide. "Come on in," he went on. "I don't know if I have room for everybody to sit, but please try to make yourselves comfortable."
He led us into his office, which was messy, with files and stacks of papers spread out all over the desk. There were only a couple of chairs, and Kristy grabbed the one nearest to his desk. Mr. Morton sat in his own chair, behind the desk. The rest of us leaned against
7Q
the cabinets or just stood near the wall. I took Kellie's hand and stood with her next to a copy machine that sat in one corner.
Mr. Morton leaned back in his chair and smiled around at us. "You look like an enterprising bunch of kids," he said. 'Tell me about your project."
"Well," said Kristy. "ItТs more of a business than a project. See ..." She began her speech. She told him about Project Work, and a little about the BSC. Then she started to explain about the day-care center, and why we thought it would be a good idea. At one point, she interrupted herself to introduce Kellie and tell him why she was with us, and then she went back to explaining how we thought the center could be set up. She told him that a group of store-owners were already ready to take responsibility for running it, probably so he wouldn't be able to dismiss us as just a bunch of kids. "So thatТs it!" she said.
Mr. Morton was silent for a few beats. Then he grinned at Kristy. V/I like it!" he said. "I like it a lot. Ifs a terrific idea."
I let out a breath I had been holding for what seemed like five minutes.
"I had a feeling you'd like it," said Kristy. "I mean, being a parent yourself, I knew you'd understand."
"Parent?" repeated Mr. Morton. "I'm not
even married. I don't have kids."
"Oh!" said Kristy. "I thought you did. I've seen you on the security videotapes a bunch of times, talking to some kids. I just assumed they were yours."
"Nope!" he said. "Not mine. Probably, um, just some young customers . . ." He stood up and started to pace around a little. He looked excited. "Okay, here's the deal," he said. "I have an empty storefront by the games arcade. I'll let your group use it for half of the regular rent. If you can convince your bosses Ч and the other merchants Ч to come up with the rest of the rent, you can have your center."
"YESSS!" shouted Kristy, pumping her fist in the air. Then she caught herself. She looked down and smoothed her skirt, blushing. "I mean, thank you very much. ThatТs great news."
Five minutes later, we were at the ice cream parlor and Kellie was licking a chocolate cone. In fact, we all treated ourselves (I ordered pure fruit sherbet) and had a regular celebration. Everything had happened so fast, we could hardly believe it. But it was definitely not a dream. Our day-care center was going to become a reality!
Chapter 9.
"Phew! There sure is a lot to do," said Kristy, looking over a sheaf of papers that April had just handed her. It was the following Tuesday, and we were in the middle of our second planning meeting for the day-care center. All the members of the BSC were there Ч our bosses had agreed to let us take extra time off for the meetings Ч plus April and two other store-owners who had agreed to help us start the center.
April had left her part-time employee, a woman named Sarah who usually works Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, in charge of Toy Town. She and I had hurried over to the store that would soon house the day-care center, where we had met the others. Mr. Williams, who manages the Cheese Outlet, was there, and so was Ms. Snyder, who's a salesperson at Lear's, the main department store in the mall. Both of them had already talked
to April about wanting to help, and they were eager to get started. But April had been the most enthusiastic. She had spent the last few days running around doing research.
The papers Kristy was looking over were regulation lists and application forms that April had picked up from the people who are in charge of licensing for day-care centers. "I guess this isn't something you can just casually jump into," Kristy said now, after she had read through some of the material. "There's a lot to figure out. Like, if kids are going to bring food with them, we'll need to have a refrigerator. And thatТs the least of it. We also have to hire enough staff to cover the requirements for kids at all different age levels. Plus we have to set up different areas for babies, toddlers, and school-age kids. And there are a ton of health regulations."
"We can do it," said April. "Ifs just a matter of working through these forms and setting things up correctly." Then the licensing people come and do inspections, and after that we'll be on our way."
Mary Anne looked around the room we sat in. It was a big rectangular space, with a storeroom and a bathroom in the back. The walls were a sort of dingy light green. "At least there's plenty of room," she said. "But this place sure could use some sprucing up. Painting with bright colors would help a lot."
"I think our next step should be making up a list of things we'll need," said Ms. Snyder. "Paint is an example, and so is the refrigerator. Then we can try to get donations from the merchants. I've already talked my boss into the idea of Lear's donating some used office equipment Ч we'll need a desk and a file cabinet."
"I spent some time last night writing a note about how the center will work," said Mr. Williams. "I hope you all don't mind. I think it will help a lot when we present the idea to the other merchants." He passed around a letter he'd written. It outlined the idea of the day-care center, which we had worked out during a short meeting the day before. The center would be run as a co-op. Store-owners who were interested in being part of it would get together to pay the rent each month, at least at first. Hopefully, once the center was running, it would make just enough money, through fees charged to parents, to cover the rent plus the salaries of the employees. The center wouldn't operate to make a profit. We agreed that the fees should be as low as possible, so it would be affordable for everyone. "This looks great," said Logan, after he had read through it. "I'll bring one over to Casa Grande and ask my boss to pass it around."
"I'll take one, too," said Jessi. "My boss is pretty excited about this."
Mr. Williams had plenty of copies of his letter, and we all took a few to pass out.
As my friends and I left the meeting, I noticed that Kristy looked a little down. "Is something wrong?" I asked her. "I mean, everything seems to be going well, don't you think?"
"Oh, things are great with the day-care center," said Kristy. "But right before the meeting we had our own meeting in security. I was so sure that the shoplifting would stop after we caught those kids, but it hasn't."
"ThatТs what Ms. Munro told me," said Mal. "She said stuff is still disappearing. Not from the bookstore so much, though. itТs mostly little things, like from the drugstore."
"ThatТs right," said Kristy. "Except itТs not only little things that are being stolen. What Ms. Munro may not know is that some big things have been reported missing, too. Things like computers and VCRs. They've been taken during the night, and somehow they're getting past the security cameras."
"Maybe they didn't catch all the shoplifters last week, after all," said Logan.
"No," said Kristy, looking miserable. "They're sure they did. They interviewed all those kids, and they're positive about it. The
thefts happening now are being done by someone else."
"What's security going to do?" asked Claudia.
"Keep on reviewing the tapes, I guess," said Kristy. "And they're going to put on more patrols."
I was glad to hear that. Knowing that major shoplifting was still going on made me nervous.