Ann Martin - Kristy's Great Idea

All things considered, Stacey definitely had the easiest of the first four Baby-sitters Club jobs. Mary Anne's, which was next, was sort of scary, as you'll see. And it was pretty interesting ... at least to me.

Watson picked Mary Anne up at 8:45 Saturday morning and drove her to his house. He lives all the way across Stoneybrook, so it's hard to get to his place by bike.

According to Mary Anne, Watson was very nice to her in the car, which was to be expected. He always makes an extra effort to be nice to

me, since he knows I don't like to have him around, so of course he would be nice to my best friend.

Mary Anne says that Watson lives in a very pretty, big house. I guess he has a lot of money. He'd have to, the way he throws it around, buying Chinese food right and left, and taking my mom out on dates almost every night. Anyway, the house is large, and Andrew and Karen have neat rooms. And toys. Mary Anne had never seen so many — gigantic stuffed animals, dolls, a train that you could really ride around the backyard, cars, bikes, a playhouse, costumes to dress up in. It was incredible, kind of like being in Toys 'R' Us.

Watson turned out to be not only a very good father, but a very organized customer. The first thing he did was introduce Mary Anne to Andrew and Karen, whose mother had just brought them over. Then he showed her their rooms, took her back downstairs, showed her where all the stuff was for making lunch, and finally pinned up a list of phone numbers she might need.

And then he brought out Boo-Boo.

From what Mary Anne told me, Boo-Boo must truly be a boo-boo. What a mess of a cat. He was gray with big yellow eyes that were kind of handsome, but he was fat. He looked

like a pillow with legs attached. When he stood up, his stomach touched the ground, and when he tried to run, it swayed back and forth. He was gross.

"He weighs seventeen pounds," Karen said proudly.

"We think he belongs in the Guinness Book of World Records," remarked Watson.

Mary Anne couldn't figure out why Watson was showing Boo-Boo to her. Okay, he was really, really fat. So what? Certainly he didn't need to be fed.

Watson cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. "There are a few things you should know about Boo-Boo," he said.

Now, Mary Anne is not the bravest person in the world, and she said that right then she began to feel just the teensiest bit afraid. She put her finger in her mouth and bit at the nail.

"The first thing," said Watson, "is that Boo-Boo bites if provoked. And scratches."

"He's an attack cat," added Karen.

"It's best if you just steer clear of him," Watson went on. "I'd offer to confine him while I'm gone, but he doesn't like that much."

"He gnawed the laundry room door all up," said Karen.

"Just try to ignore him."

Mary Anne nodded.

"Whatever you do, don't touch him," added Watson.

Mary Anne nodded again.

"Well, I guess that's it. Any questions?"

"No, not really. Lunch at twelve-thirty, right?" said Mary Anne.

"Right."

"What about Mrs. Porter, Daddy?" asked Karen.

"Oh, I think she's on vacation," replied Watson. "No need to worry about her." He turned to Mary Anne. "Mrs. Porter is an elderly woman who lives next door. She's a bit on the eccentric side and Karen is convinced she's a witch. She isn't, of course, but she doesn't like animals and Boo-Boo seems to have gotten on her bad side. We try to keep the two of them apart. Okay, I'm off, kids." Watson kissed Andrew and Karen good-bye. "I'll be home by one-thirty," he told Mary Anne.

Mary Anne was just wondering how to entertain her charges when Karen began to talk. It turned out that she was a nonstop chatterer. "We're divorced," she announced.

"Yup," said Andrew.

"Our parents live in different houses."

"Yup," said Andrew. He sat down in a little wagon.

"Our mommy's going to get married again."

"Yup," said Andrew, pushing himself around the playroom.

"Then we'll have one mommy and two daddies."

"Yup," said Andrew. He backed into a bookcase.

"And if our daddy gets married again, then how many mommies and daddies will we have, Andrew?"

"Yup."

Mary Anne giggled. "Come on, you guys. It's a sunny day. Lef s play outside, okay?"

"Oh, great!" exclaimed Karen. "I have a new doll. Daddy bought her for me. She hasn't been out in the sun much yet. I think she should get a tan, don't you? Dolls can tan, you know. Of course, they're real anyway. They can do whatever people do. They can draw and breakdance and. . . ."

Mary Anne was beginning to feel dizzy. "Want to play outside, Andrew?"

"Yup."

Mary Anne took the kids into Watson's big backyard. Andrew brought the wagon and pushed Boo-Boo around in it.

"Is he allowed to do that?" Mary Anne asked Karen. "Your father said not to touch Boo-Boo."

"Oh, he meant you shouldn't touch Boo-Boo. You're a stranger. But Boo-Boo knows us. He wouldn't hurt us." Karen paused for a breath and went on. "You see that house? The one next door?"

Mary Anne peered over Watson's rose gardens and between the trees. Next door was a sprawling Victorian mansion, with gables and turrets and wooden curlicues on the porch. The paint was peeling and one shutter was crooked. Mary Anne said later that it looked dark and scary.

"Yes?" she said to Karen.

"That's where the witch lives, right, Andrew?"

Andrew plowed the wagon into a tree and Boo-Boo leaped out. "Yup."

"It's Mrs. Porter, and she's an honest-and-truly witch. Mrs. Porter isn't her witch name, though. Her witch name is Morbidda Destiny. The big kids on the street told me so. And she eats toads and casts spells and flies to witch meetings on her broomstick every midnight."

Mary Anne stared at the house, nibbling away at her nails again. She wasn't sure what to tell Karen. If she told her the stories weren't true, she probably wouldn't get off to a very good start as a baby-sitter. If she agreed with

Karen, she'd practically be lying to her. At last she asked, "Do you believe in the stories about Morb — Mrs. Porter?"

Karen nodded. "I have proof."

"You do?"

"Yup. The proof is Boo-Boo. Mrs. Porter made him fat. One day when Boo-Boo was nice and skinny, he went into Mrs. Porter's garden and dug up some of her flowers. Mrs. Porter came out and yelled at him and threw a fit. The next day he started getting fat."

"Yup," said Andrew.

"So now we have to keep Boo-Boo away from Mrs. Porter's house. We don't want her to cast another spell on him. Making him fat wasn't so bad, but she might do something really, really mean."

"Well," said Mary Anne, "we don't have to worry about it today since Mrs. Porter's not at home."

And it was at that exact second that Mary Anne saw a window shade snap up on the first floor of Mrs. Porter's house. A wrinkled face with a big nose pressed itself against the panes of glass.

Karen saw the face, too. "Augh!" she screamed. "That's Morbidda Destiny! She's home after all! Where's Boo-Boo? Where's Boo-Boo?"

Mary Anne began to feel afraid again. She knew there were no such things as witches (were there?), but the face at the window didn't look very friendly. And Andrew was crying, and Karen was panicking.

"All right." Mary Anne tried to remain calm. She thought about what Watson had told her — that Mrs. Porter was just an eccentric old lady. "Let's look for Boo-Boo, you guys," she said.

"We don't have to," wailed Karen. "I see him. He's — " Karen gulped. She pointed her finger. "He's in Morbidda Destiny's garden!"

"Well, I'll just go get him — somehow," said Mary Anne, remembering that she wasn't supposed to touch Boo-Boo, let alone pick him up.

"She's already gone from the window!" Karen cried. "She's coming to the door! I know it."