Baby-Sitters Beware (13 page)

"That’s awful," Stacey cried. "Why wasn't the trail better marked?"

"Someone on the ski staff saw us and came to help," said Abby. "He found the first 'DANGER/CLOSED' sign half-buried in the snow about ten feet from the trail head."

Claudia said, "He said there's no way it could have landed there by accident. And that it was there this morning before they opened the trails, and at lunch when the ski patrol checked them again."

I put my hands to my head. "Three wipe-cuts in one day. Abby, you are the only one who hasn't had bad luck."

Stacey said, "You think it was just bad luck?"

I stared down in my hot chocolate. No answers there. I finally said, "Bad luck. Or worse. If I didn't know better, I'd think our mystery had followed us up here."

When we were warm enough and dry enough, and couldn't drink another drop of hot chocolate, we made our weary way back to the cabin.

And found the door standing wide open.

"Don't go in," said Claudia urgently. "What if there's a — a maniac lurking?"

For a moment, I almost believed her. Then I said, "Claud, if anybody is there, I'll scream. You guys run for help."

Of course, no one was there. But the cabin was freezing.

"Mitch must have come to deliver wood and left the door open enough for the wind to catch it," I said, after we'd checked out the cabin and made sure that nothing was missing or had been disturbed.

Everyone else looked relieved. But I was still spooked. Mitch is the caretaker, and he is very neat and responsible. It wasn't like him to be so careless. ,

When Watson came home, he spooked me even further. "Firewood? Mitch? No, there's no reason for Mitch to be here. We have plenty of firewood." He turned around and began putting his coat on again.

"Watson," I said. "Where are you going?"

"To find Mitch. See what’s going on."

"Wait! I'll go," I volunteered.

"That’s nice of you, Kristy. But I don't think this'is your job." Watson walked after him.

I hurried to the door. How could he go out again when he'd been out all day, skiing and

doing who knew what else. He must be exhausted. I had a sudden, horrible vision of him falling down in the snow on the way to the lodge, his hand to his chest, trying to breathe. ...

"Watson, stop!" I shrieked. I leaped off the porch and down the path in two giant steps.

Watson turned, looking very surprised.

"Stop," I panted. "You have to stop doing this."

"Doing What?"

"This! Too much! The doctor told you not to exert yourself. He said you were supposed to take it easy. And all you do is ... is ..."

"Kristy," said Watson, putting his arm around me and pulling me into a hug. "Is that what this is all about — helping me with the luggage, jumping up to fetch things for me, always bringing me slippers and sweaters?"

I nodded.

"Oh, Kristy." Watson held me at arm's length. "I'm not doing too much. I had a check-up before we came here. Everything is going perfectly. In fact, I'm supposed to start exercising seriously on a regular basis. I'm even thinking of taking up jogging."

"The doctor said you could?" I asked.

"The doctor said I should. And there's a doctor on staff at the lodge. She lives here in

Shadow Lake. So even if something did go wrong, which I very much doubt, a doctor would be on hand."

I sighed. I felt a little silly. Watson was taking care of himself. I just hadn't trusted him.

You know what? I didn't want Watson disappearing the way my father had. I wanted Watson around for a long, long time. Like forever.

I gave Watson a quick hug. "Okay," I said. "I'm freezing."

"Go in the house," said Watson, giving me a quick hug back.

I dashed up the stairs. When I reached the top Watson said, "Kristy?"

I turned. Watson smiled at me. A family, fatherly smile. "Thanks," he said.

Chapter 15.

Mary Anne.

Archie had watched his Aladdin video (which I think he's seen a hundred times — he knows all of the genie's lines, even though I don't think he understands more than half of them) and had gone to bed quietly. He was sound asleep now.

I sent Shea and Jackie to take their baths, told them I'd be upstairs to check on them (I didn't want Jackie to flood the bathroom accidentally) and promised them popcorn and hot chocolate when they were clean and in their pajamas.

Then I stood at the kitchen window and stared out at the Segers' house, thinking about Logan, who was at the football banquet. I thought about the new sweater I'd bought for our special date tomorrow night. I wondered if Logan had sent me those strange notes. And why.

If he had sent them, maybe he wasn't the Logan I thought I knew.

The idea made me feel very lonely and confused.

I was thinking so hard about Logan (and listening to the sounds of Jackie and Shea running bathwater) that the battered Ford Escort had pulled into the driveway and stopped before I noticed it. For a moment, I thought Mr.

Seger had come home. Then I remembered that right after I'd arrived at the Rodowskys', I'd seen a woman go to the front door of his house and ring the bell, and that he'd left with her, in her car. His car was still in the driveway.

Some instinct made me turn away from the window. A moment later, I'd turned out the light and rushed back to the window.

If was the same kind of car that Kristy and Abby had described the burglars as driving.

I knew that with the light out, no one could see me standing at the window. But I still peered out cautiously. The streetlights gave off enough light for me to see pretty clearly.

Noah Seger got out of the passenger side of the car. From the other side, a very short person emerged.

Short. Just like the burglar Kristy and Abby had seen.

Noah and his friend looked around carefully. They even looked over at the Rodowskys', which made me shrink back.

But they didn't see me. Noah nodded and said something.

Then they went into the house. Except they didn't use the door. They pried open the window!

I didn't think. I just leaped for the phone and called the police.

"Sergeant Johnson, please," I said breathlessly. "It's urgent."

I told Sergeant Johnson what I'd seen.

"I'll be right over," he said. "Don't do anything. Stay where you are."

I wasn't about to argue. Besides, I was babysitting. That was my first responsibility.

I hung up the phone, checked on Jackie and Shea, who were now in their PJs and playing a computer game. I promised them popcorn and hot chocolate later. Then I went back to the kitchen and stared at the dark house across the way.

It was unnerving. Where were the police?

Almost without noticing what I did, I picked up the phone and called Logan. He answered. He'd just come home from the football banquet. He didn't sound all that happy to hear from me, I thought, but I couldn't worry about that now. I told him what I'd seen and he said he'd come right over, too.

Things became a little crazy after that. Oh, the police car didn't arrive with its light flashing and its siren blaring or anything like that. In fact, it glided up to the curb silently, like a shark. Sergeant Johnson, and his partner, Sergeant Tang, had just gotten out of their car when another car pulled up.

Oh, my lord. It was Mr. Seger. Mr. Seger got out of the car, saw the police car, and sprinted for it. The car he'd been in drove away.

The Rodowskys pulled into their driveway.

A bicycle came careening after them.

I threw open the front door. "Logan," I said. "Mr. and Mrs. Rodowsky."

The Rodowskys hurried out of the car and followed Logan up the walk. Sergeant Tang, Sergeant Johnson, and Mr. Seger were right behind them.

"Is something wrong?" asked Mrs. Rodowsky. "Are the boys all right?"

"They're fine," I said. "But I saw someone breaking into the house next door."

Before I could say anything else, Sergeant Johnson said, "I want everybody to stay here."

"Please," Mr. Seger began.

"It'll be all right, Mr. Seger," said Sergeant Tang.

"Shea and Jackie are playing computer games," I told the Rodowskys. "They're all ready for bed. Archie is asleep. I called Logan when I saw the burglars — after I called the police — because, because ..."

Mr. Rodowsky patted my shoulder. "I understand." He said to Mrs. Rodowsky, 'I'll just go take a look at the boys."

The police officers had gone outside again. "The kitchen," I said, suddenly remembering. "We can see from the window over the sink."

We reached the kitchen window just as Sergeant Tang and Sergeant Johnson reached the side door of the house.

The door opened.

The two officers crouched down.

Someone leaned out, looked around, stepped back inside. Then he began to back out of the house.

It was Noah and his friend. And they were carrying a television set.

"Noah," gasped Mr. Seger, and in spite of what Sergeant Johnson and Sergeant Tang had told us, we found ourselves outside with Noah and the police in Mr. Seger's driveway.

Noah was saying, "Oh, no. I can't believe this. . . . I'm sorry. It’s just a joke ... a ..."

"Burglary is no joke," said Sergeant Tang.

"It’s my own house! How could I ..."

Mr. Seger made some small, distressed sound and Noah's Voice trailed off. Then Noah said, "You're right. I was taking the television to sell. We took some stuff once before, too,

James and me, when some kids saw us."

James didn't say anything. He just folded his arms and looked unhappy.

"I thought it was you, but I didn't know why," said Mr. Seger.

"I owe money," said Noah. "Lots of money. I don't know how I am going to pay it back."

"You could have asked me," said Mr. Seger. "I would have given it to you. We could have -worked something out."

Noah hung his head. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

Sergeant Tang said, "I think if we go down to the station and have a little talk, we might be able to work something out."

"Am I going to go to jail?" asked Noah, looking very frightened and very young.

"We'll talk," said Sergeant Johnson.

As Mr. Seger and Noah and James walked to the patrol car with Sergeant Tang, I said, "Uh, Noah? Could I ask you a question?"

Noah turned to look over his shoulder. He seemed surprised to see me, as if he hadn't noticed me before. "What?"

"Have you and, uh, James, been bothering me and my friends? I mean, two of my friends saw you, and we're all members of a club together, the Baby-sitters Club, and some

strange things have been happening to us, and I wondered ..."

Noah said, "I wouldn't pick on a bunch of kids."

Kids. Well. Who did he think had helped catch him?

But I didn't say anything.

James asked, "Were you one of the kids I saw?"

"No," I asked. "It was two of my friends."

"Oh," said James, losing interest in me altogether.

"You've done a good job here," said Sergeant Johnson. "Once again, the Baby-sitters Club has helped solve a crime." He grinned. "Maybe you should change your name to the Crime Busters Club."

Logan and I smiled. Sergeant Johnson left. Mrs. Rodowsky went back in the house.

So the burglars hadn't been the ones who were haunting the BSC, I thought, as I watched the police car drive away. I slid my hand into Logan's, forgetting for a moment about the anonymous notes.

If Noah and James weren't the BSC stalkers, then who was?

Chapter 16.

Logan.

We met in the den at Shannon's house, which has a sliding glass door that looks out over the backyard. The view was of snow, lots of it, and a leaden gray sky. I could tell the sky held more snow. I just wondered where all that snow was going to go.

Mary Anne looked up quickly when I walked in, as if she were startled to see me, then looked away. I hurried past her and sat down by Mal, who was holding a big, black looseleaf notebook open on her lap.

"I've been telling everyone what happened last night," said Mary Anne, not quite meeting my eyes.

Jessi said, "Wow, I can hardly wait to babysit at night. That’s when all the good stuff happens."

We laughed at that. Then Shannon said, "It sounds as if we've solved one mystery and found another that's even worse."

"Yeah. If those guys weren't stalking the BSC, who is doing it? And why?" I asked.

Mal held up the notebook. "We can go over the dues and see if that helps," she said.

She flipped through the book and I saw that she'd put page dividers in it and everything. Mallory had done an awesome organizing job.

We went over our notes and clues, but it