Stacey And The Mystery At The Mall (7 page)

side. "This is my daughter, Kellie," she said. "Her baby-sitter had to cancel today, so Kellie came to stay with me after school."

Kellie, who had the same dark eyes and hair as her mother, looked about six. "Having fun, Kellie?" asked Kristy, bending down to talk to her.

Kellie shook her head. "Uh-uh," she said. "It’s boring here. Mom won't let me do anything but sit and watch her work."

'This office isn't a great place for kids," Ms. Garcia admitted. "And I don't want her wandering around the mall by herself. Meanwhile, I haven't gotten a thing done this afternoon. You can see why I support your idea."

"How about if we take Kellie with us to Mr. Morton's office?" Kristy suggested. "It’ll free you up to work, and she might be able to help us convince him that this center is just what the mall needs."

"Great!" said Ms. Garcia. "Want to go, Kellie?"

"Sure," Kellie answered. I guess hanging out with a bunch of teenagers sounded like more fun than sitting in an office with her mom. She grabbed Kristy's hand. "Can we get ice cream after?"

Kristy glanced at Ms. Garcia, who shrugged and nodded. "Well, maybe," said Kristy. "We'll see."

"Mr. Morton's office is near the end of this corridor," said Ms. Garcia, leading us to the door and pointing down a hall. "It’s the third door on the left." She patted Kristy on the back. "Good luck!"

I have to say that walking down that hall was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences I've had in a long time. We seemed to feel more and more nervous the closer we got to that third door on the left. Kellie dung to Kristy's hand, and it looked to me as though Kristy was clinging right back. Mary Anne and Logan were also holding hands, and I noticed that Mary Anne's knuckles had turned white. Jessi and Mal were biting their lips, and Claud was toying with her (fake) pearl necklace. As for me, well, I was feeling kind of lightheaded, which made me wonder if I would have to break out my insulin kit right there in the manager's office. What if my blood sugar went crazy when Kristy was in the middle of her pitch? Thinking about it made me even more anxious, so I tried to distract myself — and the others — by starting a conversation about a movie playing at the mall that week.

"Did you guys see that movie poster?" I asked.

"I not only saw the poster," said Jessi, "I've seen the movie. Ten times. it’s not so great."

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, it’s 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 — 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 — 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. "That’s 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. "It’s 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 that’s 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 — and the other merchants — 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. That’s 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 — our bosses had agreed to let us take extra time off for the meetings — 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 that’s 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 — 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."

"That’s what Ms. Munro told me," said Mal. "She said stuff is still disappearing. Not from the bookstore so much, though. it’s mostly little things, like from the drugstore."

"That’s right," said Kristy. "Except it’s 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.

Back at Toy Town, I took over the cash register while Sarah slipped out for a quick break. April had stayed behind to talk to Ms. Snyder and Mr. Williams for a few minutes. When she came back, I asked her what she knew about the thefts.

"I heard about them," said April. "But nothing's been taken from here. Not big things, and not little stuff, either. As far as Toy Town is concerned, the shoplifting is over, thank goodness. But Cindy Snyder was just telling me that she heard some strange things have disappeared from Lear's — towels, she said, and a pair of boy's jeans that were on display. And she mentioned something about some sweaters, in kids' sizes. And three camcorders disappeared last night from that electronics store, and they can't figure out how they were taken. They were in a locked storage room." I shook my head. "It’s too bad," I said. "I

hope security can get to the bottom of this. I don't like the idea of thieves wandering around in the mall."

"You and me, both," said April. "Now, how about if we get some of this stock unpacked and priced?" She handed me a magic marker and a box of stickers, and showed me a price list that matched the contents of a large carton of merchandise. Then she went off to run the cash register.