Ann Martin - Baby-Sitters Club 027

Claudia walked the girls and Chewbacca over to Jamie's house, spoke to Mrs. Newton, took Jamie by the hand, and then walked everyone back to the Perkinses'. Myriah assembled her team in the backyard. She stood in front of Jamie and Gabbie and said once more, "We have a missing kitten. His name is Tigger. It's our job to find him. Are you ready for that job, Private Eyes?" "Yes!" shouted Gabbie and Jamie.

"Then let's get going! Spread out, men!" The kids searched the Perkinses' backyard. R.C. was nowhere in sight. "Hey, Private Eye Myriah, can I look in the house?" asked Jamie.

"Sure," replied Myriah. "Good thinking!" Claudia stood around on the porch, where she could keep an eye on both Jamie and the girls. After a few minutes, Jamie returned triumphantly to the porch, lugging R.C.

"Good work!" shouted Myriah. "Where did you find him, Private Eye?" "In the bathroom! Napping!" "What are you going to do with him now?" Claudia asked the private eyes.

"Give him back to Mary Anne," said Myriah.

"Oh, okay. But Mary Anne isn't home now. She's baby-sitting." Myriah looked thoughtful. "If someone really found Tigger," she said slowly, "and Mary Anne wasn't home and neither was her daddy, what would happen?" "I think the person would just wait until someone came home. Don't you? I mean, if R.C. were Tigger - if you'd found Tigger - you'd wait until someone came home, right? You'd keeping calling the Spiers' house, or ringing their doorbell. And when someone finally answered, you'd give Tigger back." "Right," said Myriah. She and Jamie and Gabbie went back to their detective game.

Claudia sat on the porch and watched them. A funny feeling had washed over her. And that was due to the awful thought she was thinking. What if Tigger were dead? What if he were never coming back? What would I do? Claudia knew my mother had died when I was young. I don't remember her dying, but it had happened, and Claudia didn't want another death in my family. (Tigger definitely counts as family.) Claudia worried and worried. No one she was close to had died. Mimi had gotten very sick when she'd had her stroke, but then she'd recovered, even if she was a little confused now. But Tigger had been missing an awfully long time now, for a kitten. Five whole days.

Claudia had a bad feeling about things, overall. She wondered if it was too soon to ask me how I'd feel about getting another kitten, about getting a replacement for Tigger.

Chapter 14.

"Ah-choo! Ah-choo!" Guess where I was? Back at the Brunos'. Poor Hunter's allergies weren't any better than before. In fact, I thought he sounded worse.

"Thank you for coming on short notice, Mary Anne," Mrs. Bruno said to me. "Hunter was supposed to see the dentist today, too, but as you can hear, it probably wouldn't be a very good idea. He can have his teeth checked some other time." "Yeah, but us lucky ones still get to go today," said Logan, taking Kerry's hand. "Ah. I just love the dentist." Mrs. Bruno and I laughed, but Kerry shook her brother's hand away. "Mom," she said crossly, "do I have to go the dentist today? I'd rather stay at home." "Honey, you've barely left the house the last few days. Besides, we have an appointment, and there's no reason to miss it." "Hunter's missing it." "Hunter has a reason. He would probably sneeze and bite the dentist." Kerry managed a smile.

"Okay, Mary Anne, you're on your own," said Mrs. Bruno, heading for the door. "We should be back in a couple of hours." I smiled. "Don't worry about us. Hunter and I will be fine." "Yeah," said Hunter. "Just . . . fide. Ah-choo! Ah-CHOO!" Mrs. Bruno shook her head. Then she and Kerry and Logan left.

"Well," I said to Hunter, "what do you feel like doing this afternoon?" "Ridig by bike? Doe, that's probably dot - ah-choo! - a very good idea. Ub, we could go up to by roob ad play with by erector set. It's really deat. It has all this space stuff - a ludar bodule ad a bood-bobile." It took me a moment to figure those last two things out, but finally I said, "Oh, a lunar module and a moon-mobile!" "Right." Hunter nodded.

"Okay. Let's go." Hunter led me upstairs to his bare room. He pulled his erector set out of the closet. We began planning our space station, but right away, Hunter's sneezing grew worse.

Maybe he's sneezing because of my perfume, I thought. I hardly ever wear perfume, but at school that day, Claudia had dabbed some of hers onto my neck and wrists. I could still smell it. "Be right back," I said. I ran into the bathroom, ripped off a sheet of paper towel, wet it, and scrubbed at my wrists and neck. When I couldn't smell the perfume anymore, I went back to Hunter's room. But before I even entered it, I could hear him sneezing.

"Ah-choo! Ah-choo! Look, here's the door to the space statiod, Bary Adde," he said when he saw me.

"Hunter, that's great, but . . . just a sec." I was looking around his room. What could be making him sneeze so much? I closed his windows. Then I closed his door. I laid my sweat shirt against the crack at the bottom of the door to keep dust from coming in. Then it occurred to me that maybe Hunter was allergic to my sweat shirt, so I opened the door and tossed it into the hallway. I thought for a few moments, then took off my socks and shoes and tossed them into the hallway. That ought to do it.

"Ah-choo! Ah-choo!" Nope.

"Hunter," I said, "subthig, I mean something, is making you sneeze extra sneezes. I think maybe it's your erector set. You'd just gotten it out when you began sneezing. Maybe the pieces are dusty. Or maybe the box is dusty." "Doe," said Hunter, and he grabbed for a tissue. "Do't bother puttig it away. Ah-choo! It's dot the erector set. I doe what's bakig be sdeeze. Ah-choo! Cub od. I'll show you." Hunter led me into Kerry's room. What was he going to show me? A little dust bunny under her bed? No, he opened Kerry's closet. He motioned to me.

"Ah-ah-ah-ah-AH-AH-CHOOOO!" Hunter sneezed the biggest sneeze I've ever heard from a five-year-old. "Look id the box," he managed to say.

Then Hunter backed away and I stepped into the closet. On the floor was a large cardboard carton. I peered inside. Down at the bottom was . . . Tigger! I gasped. "Tigger!" I cried. "Oh, Tigger!" I lifted him out of the box gently, as if he would break, and cradled him in my arms. Then I held him up to my face and felt the start of his Tigger-purr against my cheek. "Have you been here all along?" I whispered to him. I turned to Hunter. "Has he been here all this time?" But before Hunter could say a word, I turned back to Tigger, "Oh, I missed you so much. I really did. I thought you were, um," (I glanced at Hunter) "I thought you were . . . hurt. But, oh, it doesn't matter. I missed you!" Tigger was nuzzling my arm, and I felt as if I never wanted to put him down, but then I noticed Hunter. He was sitting on Kerry's bed, sneezing practically nonstop, a raggedy tissue in his hands.

"Oops," I said. "Tigger, I really hate to do this, but I'm going to have to put you back in the box. Later this afternoon, though, you're going to come home with me." "Is he yours?" asked Hunter as we left Kerry's room.

"Yes," I replied. For good measure, I closed her door behind us. Then I went to the bathroom and washed my hands and arms and face. I couldn't believe that I was abandoning Tigger, even if it was only temporarily, but he looked fine, and Hunter came first. After all, I was baby-sitting.

As you might imagine, I had an awful lot of questions. So I decided to talk to Hunter. The two of us sat at the kitchen table. (I thought the kitchen was probably the most dust-free room on the first floor.) Hunter wasn't much help, though.

"How long have you known Tigger was here?" I asked him.

"Just sidce this bordig. I foud him by accidet. Kerry said dot to tell iddybody she has bib. She says they'll be bad because of by allergies. But I just had to tell subbody." "You did the right thing," I told Hunter. "Does anyone else know Tigger's here?" Hunter shrugged. "Do't doe." "How did Kerry get Tigger?" "Do't doe." "Did you know Tigger's my kitten?" I asked.