Ann Martin - Hello, Mallory

Jessi led me through the messy living room and into the messy dining room.

"Mama," she said, "this is Mallory Pike. She's in some of my classes at school."

I stepped forward and held out my hand the way Mom and Dad have taught us to do when we meet new people.

For just a second, Mrs. Ramsey looked surprised. Then her face relaxed into a smile. "Nice to meet you, Mallory," she said.

"Call her Mal, Mama," Jessi said, glancing at me. "That's her nickname."

"Do you live nearby, Mal?" asked Mrs. Ramsey.

We don't exactly. I tried to explain where our street is.

"We're going upstairs, Mama," Jessi said a few minutes later. "I want to show Mal my toe shoes and my room."

"Good luck finding either one," called Mrs. Ramsey as Jessi and I ran upstairs.

Jessi's room was actually in pretty good shape. At least, her furniture was in place and her posters were on her walls. And while it didn't look as if she'd unpacked her suitcases yet, I noticed that the books on her shelf were neatly organized.

"Wow," I said, gazing around. "Besides ballet, I guess you like horses and horse stories."

"Any stories, actually."

"Oh, me, too!" I said. "I love to read. You know, we have a lot in common. I mean, the reading and the horses. I don't take ballet lessons, though."

"We both wear glasses," Jessi pointed out.

"Yeah, but you're not wearing them now."

"I only need them for reading."

"My mom won't let me get pierced ears," I said. "Will yours?"

"Nope. But — get this — I have to have braces."

I couldn't believe it. "Me, too!" I cried again. "Next year. And we're both the oldest in our families. Hey, do you like kids?"

"Definitely," replied Jessi. "I was just starting to baby-sit for my little cousins when we left Oakley."

"Too bad."

I was about to telljessi about the Baby-sitters Club and my test when she said, "What's your favorite horse story?"

"A Morgan for Melinda," I answered without even needing to think about it.

"Oh. I never heard of that. Mine is Impossible Charlie."

"I never heard of that. Let's trade," I suggested.

"Great!"

I looked at my watch then. "Oh! I have to leave!" I cried. I explained about the test in a rush as Jessi and I ran downstairs. "Sorry I have to go," I said, "but bring your horse book

to school tomorrow and I'll bring mine."

"Deal!" said Jessi happily. "You can see my toe shoes the next time you come over."

As I ran to the Kishis' house I felt as light as a bird. And I was full of confidence. Babysitting test? No sweat. I was ready for anything.

Chapter 5.

As I had said, I wasn't sure who was going to give me the baby-sitting test. Maybe just Kristy and Claudia, or even Claudia by herself. But when I stepped into Claudia's room, I found all four girls there. They were sitting around pretty much like they had been the day before, and they were dressed pretty much like they had been the day before, but they looked very serious.

"Hi, Mallory," said Kristy from her director's chair. "Have a seat." She pointed to Claudia's desk. I noticed that it had been cleared off, except for a pad of blank paper and a couple of sharpened pencils.

I began to feel nervous, just like I do before a big test at school. What were they going to ask me?

Claudia's desk faced the wall, of course, but the chair had been turned around to face the room. I sat gingerly on the edge and pressed

my knees together. Kristy, Mary Anne, Dawn, and Claudia were looking at me gravely.

"Well," said Kristy. "I guess we better get started. The test is going to be in two parts — oral and drawing."

"Oral and drawing?" I repeated.

"Yes," said Claudia haughtily. "Oral means spoken."

I bet you anything in the world Claudia herself hadn't known the meaning of that word before today.

"I know it does," I replied quietly. "I was wondering about the drawing part. I'm not a bad artist, but —"

"Don't worry about that right now." Kristy brushed the problem away. "That's the second part of the test. First is the oral part."

"Okay." I folded my hands and bit my lip. I'm sure I was blushing.

"Now," began Kristy, "the thing about babysitting is that it's important to understand children —"

"Not just the kids you're sitting for," Dawn interrupted, "but children in general."

"Right," agreed Kristy briskly. "So it's important to know psychology and, um, child development." She paused. "And it's important to know how to handle any situation."

"Especially emergencies," said Mary Anne.

"Plus, you should know how to prevent problems and accidents."

I knew the girls were thinking about Nicky and his broken finger.

"Okay," I said slowly.

"So," saidKristy, "let's begin with the basics. Mary Anne, you get ready to keep score."

Mary Anne, who was sitting on the bed, opened the notebook to a blank page and poised a pen above the top line. "Ready," she told Kristy.

My heart was thumping along like horses' hoofs. I hoped nobody else could hear it. If the girls could hear it, they'd know I was nervous. And if they knew I was nervous, they might think it was because I didn't know much about baby-sitting and kids after all. Which wasn't true, of course.

Kristy cleared her throat. "At what age," she began, "does a baby cut his first tooth?"

I relaxed. That was easy. "Eight months," I replied.

"Wrong," said Kristy. She looked at Mary Anne. "Jot that down." She turned back to me. "It's seven months."

"But Claire cut her first two teeth when she was eight months old," I insisted. "I remember because —"

"Second question," said Kristy loudly. "Which

teeth does the baby usually cut first?"

"The middle ones on the bottom?" I guessed. Those had been the ones Claire had cut first, but maybe she wasn't normal or something.

"Are you asking us or telling us?" said Claudia.

"Um, telling you."

"Well, you're right," Kristy barked. "One point."

Whew.

"Third question," Kristy went on. "What is the difference between creeping and crawl-ing?"

I almost replied, "Huh?" because I didn't know anything about creeping, except that my mother usually calls bugs "creepy things," or "creepy-crawlies," but I was pretty sure Kristy wasn't talking about bugs. However, I did know something about crawling.

"Um," I said, "well, see, crawling is how a baby gets around before he can walk. You know, on all fours."

"Wrong!" cried Kristy again. "Dawn, you want to explain the difference?"

"Crawling," said Dawn obediently, "is when a baby pulls himself along with his tummy on the ground. Creeping comes later and is done on all fours." She sounded as if she were reciting from a textbook.

What did this have to do with anything? I wondered.

"Let's move on to something else," said Kristy.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Kristy had just opened her mouth to ask question number four, when Claudia's phone rang.

"I'll get it," said Claudia. No one else lunged for the phone. I guessed that was because the girls weren't having a meeting, so this was probably a private call for Claudia, not a job call.

Even so, we all listened to her end of the conversation. It sounded pretty exciting. After the "Hi's" and the "How are you's?" at the beginning, Claudia's face changed. "Really?" she shrieked. "No kidding? Oh, that's great! That's great!" There was a pause. "Oh, of course we're available. We'll change our schedules if we have to." She sounded fairly dignified by the time she said good-bye, but as soon as she hung up the phone, she began shrieking again and jumping up and down.

"Guess who that was!" she exclaimed.

"Who?" cried Kristy, Mary Anne, Dawn, and even I. I couldn't help it.

"Mr. Perkins. He was calling from the hospital. Mrs. Perkins had the baby this morning.