Ann Martin - Mystery At Claudia's House

"You're right," I whispered, after I'd taken another peek. "The mailman's here. She's taking the mail from him, she's looking through it — "

"And she's putting a letter into her pocket!" said Derek, a little too loudly.

"Shh!" Both Mary Anne and I turned to him with our fingers over our lips.

"Sorry," he whispered, looking sheepish.

By then, Janine had turned and gone back inside. She didn't seem to have heard a thing.

"Wow," said Derek. "That was good stuff. I'd do just about anything to get my hands on that letter! I bet it would tell us everything we need to know."

"Maybe," I said. "But I'm not about to steal Janine's mail."

"Yeah, right," said Derek, looking disappointed. "Oh, well. I guess we just wait some more, then."

We settled in behind those bushes. Derek kept an eye on the house, but Janine seemed to have settled in, too. There were no signs of activity. After a while, Todd started to get squirmy; it's hard for a four-year-old to sit still for very long. "Todd," I heard Mary Anne whisper (he was sitting on her lap), "can you say your alphabet for me?" That kept him occupied for a few minutes. Then he made up a song about numbers, colors, and shapes. Soon, though, Mary Anne began to run out of ideas. She was beginning to seem a little desperate, when Derek suddenly sat up straight.

"There she is!" he hissed. "She sure looks different, though."

"Wow," breathed Mary Anne, peering through the bushes. "I'll say. She looks almost like — "

"Claudia," Derek chimed in.

I had been trying to get a look, but my foot had fallen asleep and I couldn't get up. Finally, I peered through the bushes from where I was sitting. "Hey! That's my red sweater," I said.

"Shhh!" said Derek and Mary Anne.

"Sorry," I said, covering my mouth. But it was true. Janine was wearing my sweater again.

"Boy, I see what you mean about the makeup,” whispered Mary Anne, turning to me. "She's putting on a lot of it these days, isn't she?"

I nodded. "I keep trying to tell her that subtle is better, but she can't seem to get the hang of it." Even from where I was sitting, I could see Janine's red lipstick and blue eyeshadow.

"Okay, time to move out," said Derek suddenly. Janine had turned right at the end of our driveway, and was walking quickly down the street. "She looks like she's on her way to meet somebody," Derek went on. "She keeps checking her watch."

Mary Anne and I glanced at each other, impressed. Derek was pretty good at this!

We followed Janine as she walked down Bradford Court. It wasn't easy to keep ourselves hidden while we kept Janine in view, but we managed. Mary Anne was carrying Todd piggyback, since he's kind of a slow walker.

"Want me to take a turn?" I asked.

"I'm okay for now," she said. "He's light."

"Turning!" said Derek. Sure enough, Janine had turned left off Bradford, and then, after checking the traffic, she'd crossed the street

and taken a quick right onto Rosedale Road.

"She must be going back to school for something," I said. I was disgusted. As if Janine doesn't spend enough time at Stoneybrook High. Now she had to drag all of us there, too. Then I realized that I was being ridiculous. After all, we'd chosen to follow her!

"Aha!" said Derek. "See? What did I tell you? There's the person she's meeting."

I looked, and my mouth dropped open. There, in front of the school, was the most gorgeous guy I've ever seen. He was tall and strong-looking. He had black hair, and he was dressed in a way cool pair of jeans and a beautiful blue shirt.

"That can't be one of Janine's friends," I said. "He doesn't have a plastic pen-holder in his pocket, or a slide rule in his hand."

But Janine walked right up to him. They shook hands and smiled at each other. Then they started to walk away together — and they didn't go into the school!

"Claudia!" I heard Mary Anne's voice as if it came from a great distance. I was still staring at Janine and that hunky guy. "Claud, I hate to say this, but it's after five! We have to get the boys home and then get to the BSC meeting. Mrs. Masters promised to be home by five-twenty."

I couldn't believe it. We had to leave, just when things were really starting to happen. What could Janine possibly be doing with a boy like that? I was mystified — frustrated, too. I wanted to solve the mystery now!

Chapter 11.

"He really was very good looking," said Mary Anne. "You guys would have thought so, too."

It was about 5:45. We'd taken care of all the club business during the first few minutes of our meeting, and then I'd filled everyone in on the latest news on Janine. Mary Anne had added a few comments here and there, to back me up.

"This is so awesome," said Mallory, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to Jessi. "Do you think that guy is some kind of spy or something? Maybe Janine is passing secret results to him. She's always working in the chemistry lab, isn't she?"

"Well, yes," I said. "But it's hard to imagine that there'd be any major scientific breakthroughs in the chem lab at Stoneybrook High."

"You never know," said Mal.

"She's right," agreed Jessi. "The other day I was reading about this discovery made by a kindergarten teacher in Louisiana — "

Just then the phone rang. I was so involved in our conversation that-I'd almost forgotten the reason we were gathered in my room. Kristy was leaning back in her director's chair, but she rocked forward and grabbed the phone. "Hello, Baby-sitters Club. Can I help you?" Kristy's always so businesslike. "Well," she said, after she'd listened for a moment. "Normally the jobs just go to whoever is free. But I think in this case that can be arranged. Why don't I call you back as soon as we've checked those dates?"

mKristy hung up and turned to me. "That was Mrs. Masters. She said she needs a sitter for Thursday and also for Saturday, and that Derek has asked especially for you."

! "I guess he's just as curious about Janine as we are, by now," I said. "He probably wants to stay on the case until it's solved. And I could sure use his help. He really is a good detective."

"Is this all right with everyone else?" asked Kristy. She looked around the room. I Jessi and Mal nodded. Stacey gave the thumbs-up sign. "Fine with me," said Dawn. "Just as long as you keep us posted on the mystery."

Mary Anne checked the record book. "You're free," she said to me.

"Okay, then," said Kristy. "Claud, go ahead and call Mrs. Masters."

While I made the call, the others started talking about my sister again. When I hung up, Stacey turned to me. "What are you going to do now that you know more about Janine's secret?"

"I'm not sure," I replied. "For one thing, I still don't really know what her secret is. For another thing, I'm not about to tell my parents what I saw. They'd just be mad at me for spying and sneaking around, and anyway, I don't believe in ratting on people."

"Maybe you should approach Janine and tell her what you know," said Dawn. "Then you could ask her to explain why she's meeting that guy."

"No way," I said. "I've tried asking her questions. She just freezes up. I think we're stuck. We started out being sneaky, and now we have to keep being sneaky."

"Hmm," said Jessi. "Well, I guess Derek's the best person to help you, in that case."