Ann Martin - Jessi And The Jewel Thieves

I tried to compose myself as the cab sped toward Stacey's. I didn't want to seem upset in front of her, or even tell her about what had happened. I had the feeling that she might not like my playing detective, and I knew that since she was feeling responsible for me she would probably try to talk me out of it. On the other hand, I didn't feel I could back out on Quint now; we were in this together.

I was calmer by the time the cab pulled up in front of Stacey's building. In fact, I was able to act normal, and I don't think she noticed a thing. We headed up to the apartment, and I asked her if I could call Mallory to find out how Becca was doing.

"Sure," she said. "Dad and I are going to

be in the living room, watching a movie. You can use the phone in the kitchen."

I did want to ask Mal about Becca, but I was also dying to tell her what had happened that night. I knew she'd be fascinated. I dashed into the kitchen, grabbed the phone and dialed quickly. Mal answered. "It’s me!" I cried, knowing she'd know who "me" was.

"Jessi!" she said. (See?) "How's New York?"

"You won't believe what happened," I replied. "But first, tell me how Becca's doing."

"Wellll. . . not so great, actually. She's having a tough time." Mal sounded pretty serious, so I sat down and got ready to listen. My news would have to wait.

Chapter 6.

Mal had reason to sound a little overwhelmed. She might have been exaggerating just a tiny bit — I mean, "calamitously?" — but from what I heard, Becca was quite a handful.

When I called her that night, she sounded as if she were about ready to hand in her Babysitter's License.

"Jessi," she said, "you know you're my best friend. And you know I love your family. But your little sister can be a — "

"A real pain," I said. "I know. I love her too, but I had a feeling this weekend wasn't going to be easy for you."

"I really feel sorry for her," said Mal. "I mean, she does feel awful and lonely and abandoned. But what can I do? I've made everything as nice as possible for her, but I can't make you and your family appear out of thin air."

"I know," I said. "But we'll be back soon. I guess that's what you have to keep telling her."

"It doesn't do any good," said Mallory, sighing. "She wouldn't eat dinner tonight, and she wouldn't play with the other kids after dinner, and now she says she can't sleep."

"No dinner?" I asked. I was surprised. Becca usually has a good appetite.

"Well, she did manage to swallow some of the chocolate pudding we had for dessert," admitted Mal. "Once I coaxed her into it." She giggled a little. "Now, if only I could get her to sleep — "

"Try Charlotte's Web," I suggested. "Read a chapter aloud to her. That always works." I spoke quickly. I was a little impatient with all this talk about Becca. I mean, I did care how she was doing, but I had more important things on my mind. It was time to change the subject. "Mal," I said, "listen to what happened." I told her what Quint and I had seen and heard. I didn't leave out any details, either. It made a good story.

"Wow," breathed Mal when I'd finished. "This is awesome! You actually saw two guys planning a jewel heist. I can't believe it."

"Me neither," I said. "But it really happened. It's just like a movie, isn't it?"

"Yeah," answered Mal. "Except for one thing. When you watch a movie, you get to go home later on and forget about it. But this is as if you and Quint are in the movie! Jessi, those guys might be after you. What are you going to do?"

I heard the fear in Mal's voice, and somehow it made me want to pretend I wasn't scared at all. "We're going to crack the case, that's

what we're going to do. We'll take care of the thieves before they can do anything to us. All we need is a little concrete evidence, and then the police can take it from there." I sounded so confident that I almost convinced myself.

"Well," replied Mal, "all I can say is good luck. And be careful! Those guys could be dangerous." She paused for a second. "Jessi?" she said. "Becca's calling me. She's supposed to be sleeping on a cot in Vanessa's and my room, but she's saying she can't get to sleep. I better go."

"Okay. Good luck, yourself. Remember, Charlotte's Web usually does the trick: Try the chapter where Wilbur first meets Charlotte."

Mal told me later that her conversation with me was a real bright spot in her evening. It was good, she said, to talk over the "Becca problem" with someone who knew Becca well. It was also good to be distracted by my news about the jewel thieves. Ever since I'd left, Mal had been thinking about nothing but Becca and her needs, and she was beginning to get tired of the subject. Especially since, no matter what Mal did, Becca refused to cheer up.

This had started as soon as I'd left Becca in the Pikes' driveway. As I'd walked toward Stacey's house, Mal had taken Becca's hand. "Come on, Becca," she'd said. "Let's go inside and drop off your bag. Then we can join the

scavenger hunt. Everyone's waiting for us!"

"No," said Becca. She put her duffel bag down on the driveway and sat on it. "I'm staying right here until my family comes back."

Mal almost giggled, but she managed not to. "Becca," she said. "You can't do that. It's going to get chilly when the sun goes down. And besides, you'll want dinner and a bed later on."

"Will not," said Becca. "I'm an orphan, and orphans don't need anything from anybody."

"You're not an orphan," said Mal patiently. "Your family will come back soon, and meanwhile you're an honorary member of my family. And even orphans need to eat and sleep and — get hugs." Mal reached down as she spoke and gave Becca an especially nice hug. Becca burst into tears. Mal squeezed her harder, and then gently helped her up and into the house.

Once Becca had been persuaded to part with her duffel bag (which wasn't easy), Mal rounded up the other kids and told them it was time for the scavenger hunt. "Becca and Claire will be one team," she said. "I'll help them until I have to go to the Baby-sitters Club meeting."

Claire jumped up and down. "Yea!" she said. "I get to be on Becca-silly-billy-goo-goo's

team!" Claire is five, and she can be pretty silly sometimes.

"Vanessa and Nicky and Margo will be another team," Mal went on.

"I have to be with two girls?" asked Nicky. "Ew!" Nicky's eight, and like most eight-year-olds, he pretends that girls are poison. In reality, he loves his sisters and likes the attention he gets from them. Vanessa is nine, and she's kind of dreamy. She wants to be a poet when she grows up. Margo, who's seven, is much more practical than Vanessa. In fact, at times she likes to try to run the Pike household. She's been in a bossy phase lately.

"And the triplets will be the last team," Mal went on. She would have liked to separate the triplets and put them on different teams, but she knew they wouldn't stand for it. Jordan, Adam, and Byron, who are ten, stick together like glue. They're identical in looks only, though. Adam and Jordan are both crazy about sports, while Byron is more quiet and sensitive. Jordan takes piano lessons. Adam wants to learn how to scuba dive someday. The triplets can be a handful, but that day they were no match for Becca.

"I don't wanna go on a scabenger hunt," said Becca as soon as Mal had finished making up the teams.

"It's scavenger hunt," said Mal. "And I bet

you don't even know what one is. It'll be fun, I promise. See, what we have to do is find the things on these lists. The first team to find all their items wins." Mal had made up three lists, with pretty simple things on them. This was going to be a short scavenger hunt.

She passed out the lists. "Oh, no," said Margo, looking at her team's list. "Where are we going to find a feather duster?"

"I know!" said Nicky. He put his head next to Margo's and started to whisper excitedly. The scavenger hunt was on.