Ann Martin - Stacey And The Mystery At The Mall

"Kristy, you can't do that!" I said. I was so shocked I almost knocked over our bucket of paint. 'That's probably illegal, and ifs definitely wrong."

"I know," she admitted. "I didn't say I was going to do it. I just said I wished I could."

I knew what she meant. The mystery was frustrating. We were just going to have to keep our eyes open and wait for something to happen.

Chapter 12.

On Tuesday, Jessi went to work at Cinema World knowing that she would have a busy day. A birthday party was going to be held that afternoon at the theatre, and she was supposed to help supervise it. Cinema World has a special program called the Movie Club. When you join, you get a membership card, and every time you go to the movies, you show your card and the ticket-taker punches it. When you have ten punches, you start getting special discounts on tickets, free popcorn, and stuff like that. For kids ten and under, twenty punches on their Movie Club card

means that they can have a Movie Club Birthday Party.

The birthday girl or boy can invite up to ten guests to the party, and all the guests get to see the movie at half price. Afterward, the party moves to the Movie Club room (a small room off the lobby), where the kids can pig out on free popcorn and sodas.

Jessi's first task was to decorate the Movie Club room with the streamers, tablecloths, and party hats that Mrs. Powers, the mother of the birthday girl, had brought in. The kids — a bunch of six-year-old girls — were already watching the movie when Jessi arrived, and she only had fifteen minutes to get the room ready.

"Hannah insisted on these Ninja Turtle decorations," said Mrs. Powers, who was hovering around "helping" Jessi. "I wanted to do something tasteful, with a nice color scheme, but no. She had to have Ninja Turtles." She held up one of the tablecloths and sniffed.

"I think it's neat," said Jessi. "A lot of girls only like Barbie or the Little Mermaid. Hannah must be pretty special."

"Oh, she is!" said Mrs. Powers, her eyes lighting up with pride. "You should hear her read out loud to her little sisters. She's only in first grade, but she's already reading at a fifth-grade level!"

Jessi, whose back was turned to Mrs. Powers at the moment, raised her eyebrows. She wondered if the proud mama wasn't exaggerating just a bit. But all she said was, "That’s great!" She shook out the other tablecloth and covered a table with it. Then she stood on a chair to attach one end of a streamer to the wall. Mrs. Powers was still just standing there, holding the first tablecloth and talking about her wonderful Hannah.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh," Jessi said, pretending to listen to every word. She stepped down from the chair and checked her watch. The kids would be descending on the room within minutes. Jessi rushed around setting out soda and cups and putting up the rest of the streamers, and finally the room was ready. "Excuse me," she said to Mrs. Powers, who was still talking. "I'm just going to go get the popcorn. I'll be right back."

By the time Jessi returned with the popcorn, the ten kids were in the room, and the noise level was high. Hannah sat at the head of one of the tables, a huge pile of colorfully wrapped presents in front of her. She eyed them with pleasure. Her little sister, who looked about three, sat near her, squirming with excitement. "When are you going to open them, Hannah?" she kept asking. "Open mine first!" Most of the other kids were running around yelling a

phrase from the movie they'd just seen: "Ooohhhh, nooooo, not the alligators!" they shrieked. Mrs. Powers stood in the center of the room, looking as if she had a bad headache.

"Anyone for popcorn?" Jessi said, in a voice loud enough to be heard over the din.

"Yea!" the kids yelled. They rushed to sit down at the tables. Jessi scooped popcorn out of the big bag she'd brought and dumped it into plastic bowls. She passed the bowls around, and suddenly the room became a lot quieter.

"You're very good with children," said Mrs. Powers as she and Jessi stood watching.

"I've had a lot of experience," replied Jessi. She told Mrs. Powers a little about the BSC, and before long Mrs. Powers had pulled out a notepad and was taking down Claudia's number.

"We have another daughter, too," said Mrs. Powers. "Lea. She's only one and a half, though, so she's with her aunt today. it’s hard enough having Emily here, when she's so much younger than the others." She nodded toward Hannah's little sister, who had spilled most of her popcorn on the floor.

"Soon there'll be a day-care center at the mall," said Jessi. "If 11 be perfect for this type of situation. If it was here already, you could

have dropped both of your younger girls off there, and they'd be having a terrific time."

"What a wonderful idea," said Mrs. Powers. "I must say, this mall is certainly changing for the better lately."

Just then, Emily started crying over her spilled popcorn, Hannah began asking if it was time to open her presents yet, and three of the girls at the second table started a popcorn fight, giggling madly as they tossed handfuls across the table.

"Whoa," said Jessi, "I think it’s time to start the games."

Jessi had already set out some games the Movie Club kept on hand. She'd found Twister and Pin the Tail on the Donkey, and a small tape player and some cushions for Musical Cushions. (That’s a version of musical chairs which is a lot less likely to end in tears: instead of kids losing out as the chairs are taken away, the object of the game is for everybody to try to squish close enough together to fit on nine cushions, and then eight, and so on until everybody's all packed together on one little cushion. There's always a ton of giggling during Musical Cushions.)

"What would you like to play first, Hannah?" Jessi asked.

"Twister!" cried Hannah. "And I get to spin the dial!" She ran to take the dial from Jessi,

and the other girls lined up to play. Just as Hannah called out the first directions — "Right foot, yellow!" — Jessi heard a loud clanging noise coming over the loudspeaker mounted in a corner of the room.

"What is that?" asked Mrs. Powers, putting her hands over her ears. The noise was deafening.

'Tm not positive," said Jessi, "but I think ifs a fire alarm." She was trying to sound calm, but she felt terrified. Her boss had never given her instructions about what to do when the fire alarm went off, and there she was with a room full of young children. She took a deep breath, whispered "don't panic" to herself, and began to organize the kids. "Okay," she shouted over the clanging. "We're going to line up by the door now. Quick! Whoever7 s on line when I count ten will get an extra container of popcorn."

Mrs. Powers seemed to come to life then, and she helped Jessi herd the kids toward the door. Then, as Jessi rounded up a couple of stragglers, the clanging stopped and a voice came over the loudspeaker.

"Please evacuate the mall immediately," it said, over a crackly background. "A fire alarm has been sounded, and the mall must be evacuated. Please proceed calmly to the nearest fire exit."

"Nearest exit?" asked Mrs. Powers, a little wildly. "Where — ?"

Just then, the door flew open and Mr. Magee popped his head in. "Follow me," he said. "The exit’s right down the hall."

Jessi sighed with relief. She had no idea where the nearest fire exit was, and would not have been able to answer Mrs. Powers' question. But now all she had to do was get the kids moving and follow Mr. Magee, which was no problem at all. Except that Hannah, at the last minute, decided that she had to save her presents. She dashed back down the hall and into the room, and Jessi dashed after her.

"But my presents!" Hannah wailed, as Jessi steered her gently toward the door. "I didn't even get to open them, and now they'll all burn up!"