"Martin, Ann M - BSC014 - Hello, Mallory" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin Ann M)

"Thanks," I said.
Claudia passed around the candy. Everyone took a lollipop except for Dawn, who tries to stick to health food.
"This is the first thing you should know about the club," Kristy said to me with a grin. "Our vice-president is a junk-food addict. She has stuff hidden all over her room. Lucky for us, she never minds sharing."
All I could do was smile. I couldn't think of a thing to say.
Kristy's grin faded. She rubbed her hands together in a businesslike way. "Well," she said, and I noticed that the others sat up a little straighter and paid attention. "We wanted you to come to the meeting today, Mallory, for two reasons. First, so you can see what our club is like and how it runs, and second, so we can decide, if, um, if . . ."
I knew she meant if I was good enough to be a part of the club, but I couldn't say so, and
I guess she couldn't, either. Not tactfully, anyway.
"What she means," Dawn spoke up, "is so we can get an idea of how much, um, how much . . ."
"How much experience you've had," Mary Anne finally filled in. She looked pleased with herself.
"Right," agreed Kristy, brightening. "And to find out how you handle certain situations. That kind of thing."
I nodded. "Well, I've been taking care of my brothers and sisters for years. I know how to change diapers and I know how to fix formulas. I've always —"
Ring, ring.
"I'll get it!" cried Kristy, Dawn, Mary Anne, and Claudia, all lunging for the phone.
Claudia reached it first.
I watched with interest. This was probably what a club meeting was really about.
"Good afternoon. Baby-sitters Club," said Claudia, sounding quite grown-up. "Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. . . . Tuesday? I'll get right back to you. . . . Okay. 'Bye." Claudia hung up and turned to the rest of us. "Mrs. Perkins needs a sitter for Myriah and Gabbie next Thursday from three-thirty to five-thirty."
Mary Anne was thumbing through the re-
cord book. She opened to the appointment calendar. "Claudia, you're the only one free. Want the job?"
"Sure!" she said.
"Oh," Kristy broke in. "Mallory, why don't you go with her? It can be a trial job for you, so one of us can see how you do."
"Okay!" I replied happily.
Claudia called Mrs. Perkins back to tell her who'd be sitting.
"And that's pretty much what we do at the meetings," Kristy said to me. "Just take job calls like that one and assign sitters. Oh, and collect dues and discuss problems."
I nodded again. Suddenly I remembered something. "Oh! I almost forgot to tell you," I said, feeling proud. "On Saturday, I babysat for six of my brothers and sisters by myself."
"You did?" said Dawn, looking impressed.
"How come?" asked Kristy.
I explained about Nicky's accident.
Kristy's eyes narrowed. So did her lips as she set them in a straight line. "Mallory," she said coolly. "That accident shouldn't have happened. You were in charge of Nicky. You should have been watching him."
"But I —"
"We can't have accidents happening when we're on the job," Kristy went on. She looked
at the other girls and they nodded in agreement.
"Mallory," Dawn said gently, "we have to be really careful about who we accept in the club. We've had some trouble in the past — with sitters who weren't too reliable."
"But I am reliable," I said. "And I was watching Nicky. And I know everything about taking care of kids." I probably shouldn't have said that last sentence, but I was desperate. There was this sinking feeling in my stomach.
"Well, there's one way to find out about that," said Kristy, frowning thoughtfully. "We'll give you a test. Can you come back tomorrow to take it?"
"S-sure," I stammered. A test? 1 had to take a test? "What kind of test?" I asked.
"It'll be a ... surprise," said Kristy, and I knew she didn't have any baby-sitting test ready. She was going to have to make one up.
I must have looked awful, because Mary Anne changed the subject then. "Guess what," she said brightly. "A family moved into Sta-cey's old house."
"Really?" asked Claudia with interest.
Mary Anne nodded. "I passed by when the moving van was unloading."
"I can't imagine anybody but Stacey living in that house," said Claudia.
"I can't, either," said Mary Anne. "I didn't see them, only the moving men, but my dad told me it's a black family."
A black family! Maybe it was Jessica Ram-sey's. That would be interesting. But I was too nervous to feel excited about it. All 1 could think of was the test. A baby-sitting test. Would I pass it? Or would I blow my chances with the club forever?
Chapter 4.
The only good thing about taking the Babysitters Club test the next afternoon was that I didn't have to worry about what to wear to it. I threw on a pair of jeans, a sweat shirt that said I'D RATHER BE WRITING MY NOVEL, and a pair of sneakers. I figured I wouldn't look any better or worse than Kristy, and she was the president.
All day I was nervous, nervous, nervous. What kind of test would they give me? A real-life test like when you have to jump into a swimming pool and pull someone to the side? A written test? Or would they just sit there and ask me questions? I might do well on a written test, but I wasn't sure about the other kinds. I thought I'd be awfully scared. And who was going to give me the test? Kristy had said to go to club headquarters, which was Claudia's room. Would just Kristy and Claudia
be there? Would everybody be there? Ooh, I am such a worry wart.
I felt like a baby.
I was so keyed up that I left my house forty-five minutes before test-time, and it only takes ten minutes to walk to the Kishis'. Halfway there, I realized what I could do with the extra thirty-five minutes. I could walk by Stacey McGill's old house and look for the new family.
So I did.
And guess what. Sitting right on Stacey's front stoop was Jessica Ramsey with a younger girl and a baby boy!