Ann Martin - Baby-Sitters Club 057

Besides the five officers and two junior members, the BSC also has two associate members: Shannon Kilbourne and Mary Anne's boyfriend, Logan Bruno. They don't come to meetings but we call them if we have too many baby-sitting jobs and need a backup.

So that's our club. Now I'll tell you how it works. We meet, as I said, three days a week at Claud's house. If a client needs a sitter, he (or she) knows to call us during our meetings. This is great because all he has to do is dial one number to reach seven experienced sitters. Usually, one of us is available, and if not, we contact our associates.

While we wait for the phone to ring (and on some days it never stops!) we hold our club meeting.

Our president Kristy always sits in Claud's director's chair with a visor on her head and a pencil tucked behind one ear. She waits until the digital clock on Claudia's desk turns from 5:29 to 5:30, and then she calls the meeting to order.

Mondays are Dues Days and that's when Stacey collects our money. The dues pay for Claudia's phone bill and for Kristy's older brother, Charlie, to chauffeur her across town. (She used to live right across the street but Watson's mansion is on the other side of Stoneybrook.) We also use the money to buy supplies for our Kid-Kits.

Kid-Kits were one of Kristy's great ideas. We each got a box and decorated it, then filled it with old toys from our houses, and other things, such as books, stickers, scissors, and glue. The kids love them. I try to vary the things in my kit. You know, one week I'll bring puppets, another week Play-Doh. And when we run out of crayons or coloring books, Stacey gives us money to restock our Kid-Kits.

After Stacey has doled out the money and if there's any left over, we sometimes splurge on a pizza party or a trip to the movies.

Another of Kristy's great ideas was the BSC notebook. It's kind of like a diary in which each of us writes down our sitting experiences. Writing in it can be a pain, but we agree that the notebook is really useful. It lets us know what's happening in the lives of the families we take care of - if one of the kids is having trouble adjusting to a new baby, or the parents are going through a divorce. This way we can be prepared.

So that's our club and how it works. Since today was Monday, I knew we would be busy. I pedaled as fast as I could to Claud's house, raced through her front door and collapsed on her bed just as the clock turned from 5:29 to 5:30.

Kristy raised an eyebrow at the sight of me gasping for air but since I was on time she really couldn't say anything. Instead she adjusted her visor and declared, "This meeting of the BSC is officially called to order. As you know, today is Dues Day." Jessi joked, "I think we should all chip in to pay for an oxygen tank for Dawn." I put one hand over my heart and said dramatically, "If I die now, please tell the world I died happy because I was on time to the Baby-sitter's Club meeting." Everyone cracked up. Kristy swatted at me with her hand but before she could say anything the phone rang. I settled back between Mary Anne and Claud as Claud picked up the phone.

"Hello, Baby-sitter's Club. Your kids are our business." (Kristy gave Claudia a look. She likes us all to act very professional.) "Oh, hello, Mrs. Barrett," Claudia said as she tried to saw off the top of a huge bag of Gummi bears -with a letter opener. She'd stashed the candy in the lower drawer of her desk so her parents wouldn't see it. "Tomorrow afternoon? Great. I'll call you right back." Claud hung up the phone. "She needs a sitter tomorrow," she announced.

Mary Anne checked the record book. Mal and Jessi already had jobs and Stacey had a doctor's appointment. "Claud has an art lesson and I promised Logan I'd go the mall with him," Mary Anne said. "So it's either Dawn or Kristy." "You live much closer to the Barretts," Kristy said to me. "Why don't you take it?" "Sure." The Barrett kids, who I used to refer to as the Impossible Three, were now some of my favorites. I was glad to take the job.

For the next twenty minutes the phone did not stop ringing. Mal booked a job with the Arnold twins on Wednesday, Claud with the Hobarts Tuesday night, and Jessi with the Johanssens on Wednesday afternoon.

Stacey had just finished collecting everyone's dues when the meeting was over. I had hoped to discuss my list of ideas for my science project with the club, but realized I'd have to wait till the next day.

That was okay, because the really great idea didn't come to me until I baby-sat for the Barretts.

Chapter 3.

Woof! Woof! Pow, the Barretts' basset hound, met me on their front porch when I arrived to baby-sit on Tuesday. He was wearing a baby bonnet, and a plastic bottle was tied around his collar. He looked miserable.

"Come here, you bad dog," five-year-old Suzi Barrett cried as she ran around the side of the house. "You're supposed to take your nap now." "Hi, Suzi," I said, kneeling down to hug her. "Is Pow giving you trouble?" Suzi nodded. "I'm playing house and he's my baby." Then the front door flew open and Buddy Barrett, wearing a cowboy hat and chaps, shouted, "Hooray, it's Dawn!" He flung a loop of clothesline around my shoulders and shouted, "Got you!" "Oh, no!" I cried, pretending to be scared. "What's going on?" "I'm the sheriff," Buddy declared. "And you're under arrest." "No, she's not." Suzi put her hands on her hips and faced her brother. "Dawn is going to play house with me and Pow." "Dawn! Dawn!" another voice shouted from inside the house.

Marnie, the two-year-old, who has curly blonde hair and big blue eyes, raced down the stairs and through the front door and wrapped her arms around my knees.

I bent down and picked her up. "It's a good thing you showed up, Marnie," I said. "I think you broke up the argument Sheriff Buddy and Mother Suzi were about to have." When I first met the three Barrett kids they were impossible. Their hair was uncombed, their house was a total mess, and they acted pretty wild. But I soon discovered it was only because their parents were going through a rough divorce and Mrs. Barrett was having trouble getting a job and running the house at the same time. Things are much better now. The house isn't quite so messy, Mrs. Barrett has a part-time job, and the divorce isn't as awful as it was at first. The Barrett kids can still be rowdy, but they're a lot of fun.

Mrs. Barrett appeared in the front hallway, looking as if she had just stepped off the cover of some fashion magazine. I'm not kidding, she was absolutely gorgeous.

"Oh, hello, Dawn. I'm glad you're here," she said. "The kids have been looking forward to seeing you all day." I smiled at her and then ruffled Buddy's hair. "I've been looking forward to seeing them, too." I held up my Kid-Kit. "I've, got a surprise I want to show them." "Oooh, I want to see!" Suzi shouted, hopping up and down.

"Me, first," Buddy cried.

"Me, me," Marnie chimed in.

"Let's go into the living room and I'll show all three of you," I said.

Mrs. Barrett slipped on a light jacket that she'd taken from the hall closet. "I'll be at the dentist's office. I've written her name and number on the pad by the phone. I'll be back in about two hours," she told me. "There are crackers and some cans of juice on the kitchen counter. 'Bye, kids!" Buddy and Suzi waved good-bye but didn't look up. They were too preoccupied with what was in my Kid-Kit. I said good-bye to Mrs. Barrett and then carried Marnie into the living room. We sat in a circle around the box.

Buddy pulled out the paper bag holding my surprise and peeked inside. His face fell when he saw what it was. "It's a book." "But not just any book," I said mysteriously. "Open it up and tell me what you see." Suzi pulled back the cover and then squealed with delight. "Stickers! I love stickers." Buddy tried to sound out the words written across the top of the big vinyl-coated page. "Mah-reen. Werrrrld." He looked up at me with a grin and repeated it. "Marine World." "That's right, Buddy," I said. "Good job." The book was actually a fold-out map of Marine World. It showed several ponds, a walkway, waterfalls, and slides. In the middle of the fold-out was a piece of paper covered in stickers.