Ann Martin - The Truth About Stacey

Jamie looked at me with wide eyes.

Kristy jumped in immediately, understanding just what I meant. "That's right," she said. "We should celebrate this afternoon. We'll have a special Big Brother Party for ourfavorite big brother — you."

"A party for me?" said Jamie, his voice squeaking.

"Yeah, we'll invite everyone," I added. "Kristy, do you think your mother will mind?"

"Nah."

I dashed to the phone and begandialing . In ten minutes I had spread the news to Claudia, Mary Anne,Charlotte , and the Pike kids. I'd also called a few other baby-sitting charges, but they weren't home.

"Well," I said to Kristy and Jamie when I was finished, "Claudia's on her way over, Mary Anne will come when she finishes the batter for the cranberry bread — she says she can bake it tonight — Charlotte's coming, and Mallory Pike is going to bring Claire and Margo

over." (There are eight Pike kids. Mallory's ten, and Claire and Margo are four and six.)

"Terrific!" cried Kristy. She was rummaging around in the kitchen and had pulled out a bag of marshmallows, several apples, a can of juice, and a carrot which I assumed was for me. "Claudia's bringing over something from her room," she added. "Pretzels, I think. Jamie, what would you like to do at your party? Play games?" She began to slice the apples.

Jamie nodded.

"What games?" I asked.

Jamie looked blank.

"Put a record on the stereo in therec room and spread a bath mat on the floor," Kristy instructed me. "We can play musical rug. It's easier than musical chairs. I'll explain later."

"All right," I replied. "And we can have egg races, you know, with spoons. And the kids can make paper masks. We'll have a contest for the funniest one."

"Good idea. Then when it's time to calm everyone down, we'll see if we can get Mary Anne to read The Little Engine That Could. She makes it really funny, using all these different voices."

"Oh, boy!" exclaimed Jamie."Oh, boy!"

At that moment, Claudia arrived.Charlotte was right behind her. I gave her a hug. The

Pikes showed up next, and just after Mary Anne arrived, Charlie walked in with David Michael. I was so excited about the Big Brother Party that I was only a little disappointed that Sam wasn't there.

The little kids — Jamie, David Michael, Claire, and Margo — gathered excitedly in therec room which I had decorated hastily with a roll of green crepe paper. The members of the Baby-sitters Club looked on proudly. Mallory wandered between the two groups. ButCharlotte hung back.

"Everything okay?"I asked her. She nodded shyly. "Why don't you come over here withme. " I led her to the group of kids. "This is Jamie. You know Jamie Newton, right?"Charlotte nodded again. "He's our guest ofhonor . He's going to become a big brother."

Jamie beamed.

"Make way for the food!" called Kristy, carrying a tray of food in from the kitchen. Charlie followed her, bringing napkins, plates, and paper cups. Then he left. I don't think Big Brother Parties held any interest for him.

"Eat now, games later!" Kristy announced. She turned to Mary Anne and Claudia and me. "Take the food away in twenty minutes, no matter what," she whispered. "Otherwise,

they'regoing to spoil their appetites for din-

ner."

Everybody helped themselves to the food. Claudia gave Jamie a paper crown to wear while he ate. When twenty minutes were up, we returned the food to the kitchen. Then the games began.Charlotte wouldn't join in musical rug or the egg races, but she did enter the mask contest. Claudia had just finished awarding prizes for the masks (we had decided that each of the kids should win a prize) when the phone rang.

"Kristy!" Charlie called from the kitchen."Phone! It's Mr. Newton!"

"Aughh!" shrieked Kristy.

"Jamie,it's Daddy!" I cried. "Come on!"

The entire party ran into the kitchen. Charlie made a fast getaway.

Kristy grabbed up the phone. "Hello? Mr. Newton? ... She did? ... She did? Oh, that's great! If s super!. . .How much? . . . Wow. . . .Yeah, sure. Here he is." Kristy handed the phone to Jamie. "Your daddy wants to talk to you."

Jamie took the receiver and held it to his ear.

"Say hello," prompted Kristy.

"Hello.Daddy? . . .Fine. We're having a

party. . . . Okay. . . . Okay. . . . Okay. . . . 'Bye."

Kristy took the phone back. "When do you think you'll be home?" she asked Mr. Newton. "Oh, okay. Well, we'll give Jamie dinner. You can pick him up any time. . .. You're welcome. And congratulations! 'Bye."

Kristy hung up the phone and faced us.

"What is it? What is it? What is it?" I cried.

"It's a— "

"Girl," supplied Jamie quietly.

We all began shrieking.

"She weighs nine pounds," added Kristy, "and her name is Lucy Jane."

More shrieking.

In the midst of the noise and excitement, I realized that Jamie was gone. I dashed out of the kitchen and checked the bathroom. No Jamie. Frantically, I ran through the first floor of theThomases ' house. I found him in the laundry room sitting next to Louie, crying.

I stepped in and sat beside him on the floor. "What's wrong, Big Brother?" I asked.

"The baby's here."

"And you wanted a boy instead of a girl, right?"

Jamie shrugged.

"Don't you like her name? I think Lucy is a pretty name."

"It's okay."

"It's a big change, huh?"

Jamie nodded.

"Your family will be different."

"Yup," said Jamie. "And that's not all."

"What do you mean?"

"Something else will be different. There will be lots of changes."

"What else will be different?" I asked.

"Kristy can'tbaby-sit me anymore."

"What do you mean?" That cold feeling crept into my stomach again.

"Mommy called a girl and said, 'We need an older sitter for the new baby.' "

"Was the girl named Liz Lewis?" I whispered.

"I think so. But . . . but. . . ." Jamie's tears started to fall again. "I want Kristy!"

I pulled Jamie into my lap and sat with him for a while. Louie leaned against me and looked at us with mournful eyes.

I tried to be calm and rational. Jamie was just three years old. He had only overheard one end of a phone conversation. He wasn't even sure that Liz Lewis was the name he had overheard. Furthermore, just because Mrs. Newton had talked to someone about finding older sitters didn't mean she wasn't going to use the Baby-sitters Club anymore.

So why did I feel as if an ice chest were sitting in my stomach?

I knew why. It was because it made sense that Mrs. Newton would want someone older to take care of a newborn baby. And Liz Lewis and Michelle Patterson could provide that for her.

The Baby-sitters Club couldn't.

Still, I felt that Mrs. Newton was being a traitor. After all, Kristy was Jamie'sfavorite baby-sitter, and the rest of the members of our club were theNewtons ' other regular sitters. We could handle caring for an infant. We were very responsible. And I was willing to bet that Liz and Michelle's sitters, even if they were in high school, weren't responsible at all. The

moreI thought about the Baby-sitters Agency, the angrier I felt.

Later, when the Big Brother Party was breaking up, I told Kristy what Jamie had overheard. She looked aghast. "And you know what?" I said suddenly, the anger building up inside me again.

Kristy shook her head.

"This" — I narrowed my eyes and set my jaw — "means war."

Chapter 6.

I was all set to launch a war against the Babysitters Agency. So was Kristy. We were ready to let loose with every single plan or idea she had come up with. But Claudia put her foot down (so did Mary Anne), and while we were wasting time trying to decide what to do, the Baby-sitters Agency got one more step ahead of us.

The club hadn't even had a chance for a proper meeting to discuss Jamie's bad news, since Monday's meeting had been held hastily after the Big Brother Party, and Kristy and Mary Anne weren't present because they were at theThomases ' watching Jamie and cleaning up. Then on Tuesday, the very next day, the Baby-sitters Agency carried out another step in their scheme to take away our club'sbusi -