Hello, Mallory (4 page)

"Hi, Mallory," said Kristy from her director's chair. "Have a seat." She pointed to Claudia's desk. I noticed that it had been cleared off, except for a pad of blank paper and a couple of sharpened pencils.

I began to feel nervous, just like I do before a big test at school. What were they going to ask me?

Claudia's desk faced the wall, of course, but the chair had been turned around to face the room. I sat gingerly on the edge and pressed

my knees together. Kristy, Mary Anne, Dawn, and Claudia were looking at me gravely.

"Well," said Kristy. "I guess we better get started. The test is going to be in two parts — oral and drawing."

"Oral and drawing?" I repeated.

"Yes," said Claudia haughtily. "Oral means spoken."

I bet you anything in the world Claudia herself hadn't known the meaning of that word before today.

"I know it does," I replied quietly. "I was wondering about the drawing part. I'm not a bad artist, but —"

"Don't worry about that right now." Kristy brushed the problem away. "That's the second part of the test. First is the oral part."

"Okay." I folded my hands and bit my lip. I'm sure I was blushing.

"Now," began Kristy, "the thing about babysitting is that it's important to understand children —"

"Not just the kids you're sitting for," Dawn interrupted, "but children in general."

"Right," agreed Kristy briskly. "So it's important to know psychology and, um, child development." She paused. "And it's important to know how to handle any situation."

"Especially emergencies," said Mary Anne.

"Plus, you should know how to prevent problems and accidents."

I knew the girls were thinking about Nicky and his broken finger.

"Okay," I said slowly.

"So," saidKristy, "let's begin with the basics. Mary Anne, you get ready to keep score."

Mary Anne, who was sitting on the bed, opened the notebook to a blank page and poised a pen above the top line. "Ready," she told Kristy.

My heart was thumping along like horses' hoofs. I hoped nobody else could hear it. If the girls could hear it, they'd know I was nervous. And if they knew I was nervous, they might think it was because I didn't know much about baby-sitting and kids after all. Which wasn't true, of course.

Kristy cleared her throat. "At what age," she began, "does a baby cut his first tooth?"

I relaxed. That was easy. "Eight months," I replied.

"Wrong," said Kristy. She looked at Mary Anne. "Jot that down." She turned back to me. "It's seven months."

"But Claire cut her first two teeth when she was eight months old," I insisted. "I remember because —"

"Second question," said Kristy loudly. "Which

teeth does the baby usually cut first?"

"The middle ones on the bottom?" I guessed. Those had been the ones Claire had cut first, but maybe she wasn't normal or something.

"Are you asking us or telling us?" said Claudia.

"Um, telling you."

"Well, you're right," Kristy barked. "One point."

Whew.

"Third question," Kristy went on. "What is the difference between creeping and crawl-ing?"

I almost replied, "Huh?" because I didn't know anything about creeping, except that my mother usually calls bugs "creepy things," or "creepy-crawlies," but I was pretty sure Kristy wasn't talking about bugs. However, I did know something about crawling.

"Um," I said, "well, see, crawling is how a baby gets around before he can walk. You know, on all fours."

"Wrong!" cried Kristy again. "Dawn, you want to explain the difference?"

"Crawling," said Dawn obediently, "is when a baby pulls himself along with his tummy on the ground. Creeping comes later and is done on all fours." She sounded as if she were reciting from a textbook.

What did this have to do with anything? I wondered.

"Let's move on to something else," said Kristy.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Kristy had just opened her mouth to ask question number four, when Claudia's phone rang.

"I'll get it," said Claudia. No one else lunged for the phone. I guessed that was because the girls weren't having a meeting, so this was probably a private call for Claudia, not a job call.

Even so, we all listened to her end of the conversation. It sounded pretty exciting. After the "Hi's" and the "How are you's?" at the beginning, Claudia's face changed. "Really?" she shrieked. "No kidding? Oh, that's great! That's great!" There was a pause. "Oh, of course we're available. We'll change our schedules if we have to." She sounded fairly dignified by the time she said good-bye, but as soon as she hung up the phone, she began shrieking again and jumping up and down.

"Guess who that was!" she exclaimed.

"Who?" cried Kristy, Mary Anne, Dawn, and even I. I couldn't help it.

"Mr. Perkins. He was calling from the hospital. Mrs. Perkins had the baby this morning.

It's a girl and her name is Laura Elizabeth!"

With that, we all started shrieking and squealing and jumping around. The test was forgotten. I felt as if we were friends, instead of little me versus the four big baby-sitters. We were equal, and we were happy about an exciting event we'd been waiting for forever.

The Perkinses live right across the street from Claudia, in what was Kristy's house before she moved in with her stepfather. So we've only known the Perkinses for a few months, but they are the greatest family. They have two little girls — Myriah, who's six, and Gabbie Ann, who's almost three — and a dog named Chewbacca. Oh, also a cat named R.C. I've never sat for Myriah and Gabbie, but I see them around, and sometimes Claire or Margo plays with Myriah. Everyone likes the Perkinses, and for as long as we've known them, Mrs. Perkins has been pregnant. And now she had had another little girl.

All the club members began talking excitedly.

"Just think. Three girls," said Claudia.

"I helped Mrs. Perkins decorate the room," said Mary Anne.

"I wonder how much the baby weighs," said Claudia.

"I love the name Laura," said Kristy.

"Well," added Claudia, "Mr. Perkins is prob-

ably going to be needing extra sitters for Myriah and Gabbie during the next couple of weeks. First, while Mrs. Perkins is in the hospital, and then when she first gets home, because she'll be tired. Mallory and I are already signed up for Thursday afternoon, but, well, he said he'd call us at our meeting tomorrow to figure out some other times."

"Great," said Kristy. She sighed. "Another baby. I just love new babies. Remember when Lucy Newton was born?"

"Yeah," said Claudia and Mary Anne fondly. (Dawn didn't say anything. She hadn't known the Newtons then. But she did now. The Babysitters Club sits for Lucy and her big brother Jamie all the time.)

"Oh, well," said Kristy, snapping to attention. "Back to business."

Darn.

"We'll move on to the medical portion of the exam. Mallory, explain how and when to use a tourniquet."

"A tourniquet?"

"Yes."

I stared down at my hands. "Well, we've never had to use one at my house —"

"No excuse," said Kristy. "You might have to someday."

"But I was going to say," I went on, my

voice shaking, "that I think we learned about them in health class last year. They're — they're special bandages."

"Is that your complete answer?" Dawn wanted to know.

I nodded.

"I'll give her partial credit/' said Mary Anne.

I was about to ask what the rest of the answer was, when Kristy said, "And when do you remove a tourniquet?"

"When, um, the bleeding has stopped?"

"Wrong again! You never take one off. You always let a doctor do it."

"No fair!" I exclaimed, surprising everyone in the room, including myself. "That was a trick question."

"Well," said Kristy huffily, "I hope you never put a tourniquet on me."

"Me, too," I muttered.

"Let's go on to the drawing part," Claudia urged Kristy nervously.

"All right," she agreed. "Turn around and sit at the desk, Mallory," said Kristy. "We want you to draw a picture of the human digestive system."

"Why?" I cried.

"Because it's an important thing to understand. You might have to sit for a kid with colic one day."

"If I do, I'll give him soy formula," I said. I was dangerously close to crying. "Just draw." My picture looked like this:

"Half credit," said Dawn, when I was finished. "She left out the liver, the gall bladder, the pancreas —"

"And about a hundred other things. No credit," said Kristy. "The test is over."

"But I didn't get to tell you guys what I do know," I protested.

"Come to the Friday club meeting and we'll discuss the results," Kristy said firmly. "Of even/thing — since you and Claudia will be

baby-sitting at the Perkinses' on Thursday. We'll have to see how you do there." She pulled her visor down over her eyes.

I could tell it was time for me to leave. I was really disappointed. The girls hadn't been fair to me at all.

I could also tell I had disappointed the girls.

Chapter 6.

I didn't read Claudia's poorly spelled notebook entry until a long time after she'd written it. When I did read it, I was mad. But I was mad at myself because Claudia was right. I was a terrible sitter that afternoon. Only I don't think it was all my fault. Claudia made me nervous.

I met Claudia in front of her house at 3:25 and we walked across the street to the Perkinses'. The door was answered by Mr. Perkins, Myriah, Gabbie, and Chewy. Everyone seemed excited, even Chewy. (Well, Chewy always does, so I don't know if this counts.)

Mr. Perkins, who was grinning widely, handed Claudia and me each a pink balloon. "In honor of Laura," he said.

"We have a baby! We have a baby sister!" cried Myriah, who was dancing around the front hall.

"Her name is Laura Elizabeth," added Gab-bie.

"I know. I think that's wonderful."

"I am so glad the baby is a girl," Gabbie went on. "Now she can wear all my old clothes."

I smiled at Gabbie and she smiled back.

"We visited the baby last night," Myriah

informed me. She was still jumping up and down. "We went to the hospital and we saw Mommy and Laura Beth. It was so, so fun."

"I've got to get going," said Mr. Perkins hurriedly. "I just came home to get Myriah at school and pick up Gabbie. She's been with friends of ours today. Now I'm going back to the hospital. Emergency numbers are in the kitchen near the phone. I guess you know everything else by now, Claudia. I'll put Chewy in the backyard on my way out. He can stay there." Mr. Perkins kissed Myriah and Gabbie. "I'll see you at dinnertime, girls. Tonight you can visit Mommy and your sister again. Maybe we'll go to Dunkin' Donuts on the way home."

"Dunkin' Donuts!" exclaimed Gabbie. "Oh, boy," she said as her father rushed off. "I love donuts! And the little donut holes, too. I want a chocolate donut. What are you going to get, Myriah?"

"Oh, I'm not sure," said Myriah. "I just want to see Laura Beth again. And Mommy. Hey, Claudia, don't you think Laura Beth is a good nickname for our baby?"

"It's great," agreed Claudia.

I decided I better show Claudia that I could take charge. "Are you guys hungry?" I asked Myriah and Gabbie.

"Starved," Myriah replied.

"Well, let's go have a snack. What do you want?"

"Cookies," said Gabbie.

"A Popsicle," said Myriah.

"Mallory," Claudia spoke up, sounding very superior, "It's usually better not to ask kids what they want. Just give them something — something healthy. That way, there won't be any arguments, and the parents will be happy, too. The girls are going to have donuts tonight. That's enough sweet stuff for one day."

"Oh, right," I said, my face reddening.

But I was annoyed. There was Ms. Junk-Food Junkie talking away about health food. And practically scolding me in front of Myriah and Gabbie.

I pretended I didn't care. And that I'd known what I was doing all along.

"Apples for everybody!" I called, trying to smile, as I led the girls into the kitchen.

"But we don't have any," Myriah said.

I looked in the fruit bowl and the refrigerator. She was right. There were no apples.

Claudia shook her head. Then she said, "Hey, you guys. Guess what you do have — bananas and raisins. You know what we can do with bananas and raisins?"

"What?" asked Myriah and Gabbie.

"We can make banana-men." Claudia peeled a banana and stuck raisins into it to give it eyes, a nose, and a mouth.

"Hey!" cried Myriah. "Cool! Can I eat it?"

"1 want it!" said Gabbie.

"You can both have one," Claudia said. "We'll make another."

I felt completely left out. I might as well not have been there.

The afternoon didn't get much better. The next thing that happened was that I tried to pour a glass of milk for Gabbie and spilled it all over the kitchen counter. Then the glass slipped out of my hand and broke. Claudia had to take the girls out of the kitchen while I cleaned up the glass shards. Just as I was finishing, I heard Chewy scratching at the back door, so I let him in. After all, he'd been inside when 1 arrived.

Chewy tore into the house, tail whipping back and forth, and crashed his way into the living room, where he knocked three picture frames off a table with one sweep of his tail. Luckily, they didn't break.

"Mallory!" Claudia exclaimed. "What on earth?"

"Yikes! Chewy's a wildman!" Myriah shrieked.

"He was scratching at the door, so I let him

in," I said lamely. I made a grab for Chewy and missed his collar by inches.

"Mr. Perkins said to leave him outside," Claudia reminded me.

"Oh, yeah." Chewy rocked back on his haunches, stretching his front legs out, and barked playfully at me. "Come here, boy," I said. Chewy jumped away.

"I'll get him," said Myriah.

"And I'll help you," Claudia added. They dashed after Chewy as he headed into the dining room.

Gabbie and I looked at each other. Now what?

"Are you excited about seeing your mommy tonight? And your new sister?" I asked her.