Ann Martin - Jessi's Babysitter

Aunt Cecelia is an old prune.

I arrived at the Rodowsky's right on time, parked my bike, and rang their front doorbell.

I heard running footsteps inside, then a whoosh, a crash, and a cry of, "Oh, darn, darn. Oh ... bullfrogs!"

I giggled. 1 knew that was Jackie.

"Jackie!" I called. "It's me, Jessi. Are you okay?"

Jackie opened the door, looking sheepish. "I was running to answer the bell and I slipped on the rug and fell on my bottom."

I smiled, shaking my head. Then I let myself in and helped Jackie straighten out the rug.

"Jessi?" called Mrs. Rodowsky. "Is that you?"

"Yes!" I replied. (I hoped she didn't think I had slipped on the rug.)

Mrs. Rodowsky was in a rush.

"Archie!" she exclaimed. "You're supposed to be in your soccer uniform. And, Shea, where are your piano books?"

The house was in turmoil for about five minutes — Jackie added to it by somehow getting his foot stuck in one of his old rain boots — but finally Mrs. R. and the boys were backing hurriedly down the driveway. I was left with Jackie and the rain boot.

"I know I can get this off your foot," I told him.

"But what if you can't?" whimpered Jackie.

"Jackie," I said, "have you ever heard of someone who got a boot stuck on his foot and never got it off?"

"No," replied Jackie, as I braced myself against a wall and pulled.

"I wonder/' said Jackie, trying not to slide forward. "You know, boots are sometimes called galoshes. Is one boot called a galosh?"

"I haven't the faintest — Oof! Well, there you go, Jackie. The boot's off. You're free."

"Thanks," he said gratefully.

Jackie wandered around the playroom, looking bored.

"What do you want to do?" I asked him.

"I don't know."

"Do you have any homework?"

"Nope. Well, not really. We're just supposed to think about whether we want to enter the science fair at school."

"Do you?" I asked him.

"Me?" squeaked Jackie. "Are you kidding? I have bad luck. I would never enter a contest. . . . Even though I think it would be fun to make a volcano."

"Fun to do what?" I repeated.

"Make a volcano. I saw that on The Brady Bunch once. You can build a model of a volcano, but it really works. I mean, lava really comes pouring out. That would be great. Lava everywhere."

The thought of "lava everywhere" made me sort of queasy. Even so, I said, "Jackie, you ought to make a volcano for the science fair! It would be a great project. Everyone else

would probably just have, you know, things like leaf collections, or bugs in jars, but you would build a volcano that would erupt. You'd win for sure."

Jackie looked skeptical. "I don't know," he said. "I bet some kids would do really, really, really good projects. I'm not very smart in science. Besides, like I said, I have bad luck. I can't show a project to judges and an audience. Things never go right for me. Something bad would happen."

"Jackie. That's no way to talk. You have to have confidence in yourself. A volcano — a spewing, dripping, running volcano — is a really terrific project. The kids would love it. More important, so would the teachers and judges."

"I don't know," said Jackie slowly.

"Oh, come on," I said. "This'll be great. Let's go to the library right now and see what kind of information we can find on volcanoes and how to make them. I'll leave a note for your mom in case she comes home early."

I didn't give Jackie a chance to say no. I just handed him his jacket, wrote the note, put on my own jacket, and marched Jackie to the public library. He barely said a word as we walked along.

When we reached the library, the first per-

son we saw was Mrs. Kishi, Claudia's mother! She's the head librarian.

"Hello," she greeted us, as we entered the children's section. "What are you two doing here?"

I explained Jackie's project to Mrs. Kishi.

"Hmm," she said, "let's look in the science section."

Claud's mom helped us find three books. One was about volcanoes, one was about earth sciences, and the third was a book of science experiments, including a chapter called "How to Make an Erupting Volcano."

"Gosh," said Jackie. "I didn't think we'd find this. It's exactly what I need. It has all the directions."

"You never know what you'll find in a library," said Mrs. Kishi, smiling. Then she left Jackie and me sitting at a table with our books.

Jackie began to read the exploding-volcano experiment. "You know," he said, "this doesn't look so easy. It says you have to make a frame out of wood and glass to put your volcano in. They didn't do that on The Brady Bunch."

"Well, we're going to," I informed him. "We're going to make the best project in your whole school."

"But there are words here I don't under-

stand. The book says you have to get different colored clay to make ig — iggy —"

"Igneous," I supplied.

"Okay. Igneous rocks. And . . . and metal —"

"Metamorphic rocks."

"And ... oh, boy."

"Sedimentary rocks."

"Whoa," whispered Jackie. "And then you have to get stuff called, um — "

Even I had to pause for that one. "I'm not sure what this is," I said at last.

"So where are we going to get it?" asked Jackie worriedly.

"It says you can buy it at a drugstore."

Jackie was quiet. He seemed stumped.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"On The Brady Bunch they just made a mound of papier-mache or something and put this goo in and — whoosh! Why do I need to know about rocks? And why do I have to make a glass box? That sounds hard. And expensive. I just spent all my allowance."

"First of all," I replied, "like I said, we're going to make the best project in the school. I bet the volcano on The Brady Bunch didn't win a prize, did it?"

"No," answered Jackie triumphantly. "It was just for fun."

"Oh," I said. "Well, ours will be special. Plus, I'm sure your parents will help you buy the materials for your project. Now, come on. Sit next to me. I have to learn all about volcanoes first. If you want to win in the science fair, you can't just make your volcano erupt. You have to tell the judges about volcanoes."

Jackie sat next to me while I learned about lava and fire and fountains and ash and gas and some pretty disgusting things. Jackie sat next to me and looked at the volcano experiment with a frown.

After about twenty minutes, I stood up. "Well," I said, "I think I've got a handle on volcanoes now."

"Good," replied Jackie, "because I don't."

"We'll check these books out and go home."

"Oh," said Jackie, brightening. "I don't have my library card."

"Never mind. I've got mine," I told him.

So we checked out the books and walked back to Jackie's house. When Mrs. Rodowsky returned with Shea and Archie, she found Jackie and me still looking through the books. Well, Jackie was looking (sort of). I was making a list of materials he would need.

"Jackie's entering the science fair?" said Mrs. Rodowsky, after I told her what we Were doing. She looked both pleased and surprised.

"Yes," I said happily.

"But, Mom, we need clay and glass and some stuff from the drugstore. It might be expensive," said Jackie.

"I don't think it will be too expensive," said Mrs. R. "Jackie, I'm so proud of you for wanting to work on a project. And, Jessi, thank you for inspiring him. I'm impressed that you convinced him to enter. Listen, would you mind helping Jackie with his project? The two of you seem to know what you're doing. Maybe you could arrange with the members of the Baby-sitters Club to be our only sitter between now and the science fair. That way you and Jackie will have plenty of time together."

"I think that's possible," I said. "I'll have to check with my friends, but I'm sure they'll understand."

"Great!" said Mrs. R.