Ann Martin - Baby-Sitters Club 025

"Doe. Dot till you picked hib up ad every-thig." "Does Kerry know he's my kitten?" Hunter shrugged again.

"Well, Logan certainly knows he's my kitten," I said.

"But I do't doe if Logad dows he's here." "Oh. Right. . . . Hunter, you know I'll have to tell your mom about Tigger, don't you?" I added. "Even though Kerry might get in trouble." Hunter nodded. "I doe." He looked worried and relieved at the same time.

It seemed like hours, of course, before the Brunos came home. That always happens when you're waiting desperately for something. But at last they arrived. And they were in pretty good moods. Nobody, it turned out, had had a single cavity, so they were going to celebrate.

But they were waiting for a day when Hunter was feeling better, and when Mr. Bruno could join them.

"How did everything go, Mary Anne?" Mrs. Bruno finally asked.

I couldn't see anything to do but to come right out with the truth. Hunter and I glanced at each other nervously. He knew what was coming.

"Mrs. Bruno," I began, and suddenly I found that I couldn't look at Logan. If he had known about Tigger all this time, then . . . then we couldn't be friends anymore. We just couldn't. "Mrs. Bruno, today Hunter couldn't stop sneezing, so I went looking for whatever was making him sneeze so much and - and there's a kitten in Kerry's closet!" This wasn't a lie, but it didn't point the finger at poor Hunter. He'd been right to show me Tigger, and I didn't want Kerry calling him a tattletale.

"A kitten!" cried Mrs. Bruno.

I finally glanced at Logan. He looked surprised. But was he surprised that a kitten had been found in Kerry's closet, or just surprised that Kerry had been found out?

"Yes," I said, "a kitten. And - and he's my kitten. He's been missing for five days. We've been searching for him everywhere." "Tigger is in Kerry's closet?" Logan exclaimed.

All Mrs. Bruno could do was cry, "What?" and head for the stairs. Logan, Kerry, Hunter, and I followed her. When she reached Kerry's room, she flung open the door, raced for the closet, slid the box out, and exclaimed, "There is a kitten!" "And it is Tigger," added Logan.

As if he didn't know, I thought.

Hunter began sneezing again, so Mrs. Bruno told him to go downstairs. Then she looked at Kerry. "Well," she said, "I think we have a little talking to do." Kerry nodded miserably, her eyes on the ground. She sat on her bed and Mrs. Bruno sat next to her. Logan and I kind of stood around, unable to look at each other.

"How did you get Tigger?" Mrs. Bruno asked.

"I - I just found him," replied Kerry. "And I didn't know he was Tigger then. Honest. I was riding my bike home last Friday and it was getting dark. Remember? The weather wasn't very nice that day. And I was a few houses away from Mary Anne's and I thought I saw something shiny by the side of the road. So I stopped. And it was this kitten. Its eyes were shining. I thought, Poor kitty, no one's taking care of you. So I just put him in my bike basket and rode him home. I wanted to have a friend. And I wanted to show you and Daddy that I could care for a pet. I really am responsible enough to do that. Look how well I cared for Tigger." Kerry jumped up. She began pulling things out of the closet. "See? With my own money I bought this food and this toy and these dishes and I never once forgot to feed Tigger. Or change his water. He's my friend." Even I had to admit that Tigger looked well cared for.

"But honey," said Mrs. Bruno, "you know we can't have a cat, no matter how responsible you are. Hunter's just too allergic." Kerry put Tigger's things back in the closet. Then she faced us, biting at one of her nails. "Um, I was also hoping to prove that Hunter would be okay as long as the cat stayed in my room. But - but I guess it didn't work." Mrs. Bruno closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she said, "Kerry, I'm a little confused. Did you know the kitten belonged to Mary Anne?" "Not at first," said Kerry. "I really didn't. I thought he was lost or that somebody had dumped him by the side of the road. Then Logan told us about Tigger and I figured it out, only I thought, well, Mary Anne isn't taking very good care of him if she lets him wander away. I decided he'd be better off with me." Mrs. Bruno didn't agree with that, of course, so she and Kerry kept talking. My mind began to wander. I thought of how different Logan had seemed lately, of how he'd sounded kind of irritated that us baby-sitters wanted him to come to our meetings about Tigger, and how he'd jumped right in and been so helpful when I got the ransom note. He must have known all along that Kerry had Tigger, so he was trying to protect her. The ransom note was perfect. Kerry hadn't sent it. Logan could help with the Tigger-napping all he wanted, look like a hero, and keep Kerry's secret.

I couldn't stand it any longer. "I have to go," I said huskily. I grabbed Tigger and headed down the hallway.

"But I haven't paid you yet!" Mrs. Bruno called after me.

"I'll get it tomorrow!" I shouted back.

Logan was at my heels. "Mary Anne, what's wrong?" he cried as I barged through the front door.

"You know what's wrong," I answered icily. "You knew about Tigger all along - and you didn't tell me." I placed Tigger in the basket on my bicycle and sped down the Brunos' driveway, without giving Logan a chance to answer me.

Chapter 15.

Wednesday afternoon - late.

Things happened fast. Everyone found out about Tigger quickly. (Of course, I made a lot of phone calls, carefully leaving out the part about Logan.) Then, instead of holding a club meeting, Claudia and Mallory and I walked through the neighborhood and took down as many of the Tigger posters as we could find. Dawn gave back everyone's portion of the reward money and returned the remainder to the treasury envelope. Later, I spent as much time with Tigger as possible - talking to him, cuddling him, playing with him. That night, he slept with me.

I did not let Tigger outside.

Thursday.

I did not talk to Logan. In school, we avoided each other. He sat with his guy friends at lunchtime.

"Is anything wrong between you and Lo-gan?" Kristy asked me as we sat down in the cafeteria.

I nodded.

"But you don't want to talk about it?" said Dawn.

I shook my head. I didn't want to speak. I was afraid I'd cry. Logan and I had had fights before, but this one was different. I'd never accused him of anything so awful. And I'd never felt so unsure about us. If Logan could keep Tigger from me, what did that say about our relationship? By the end of the day, I just had to know.

I waited for Logan at his locker.

"Hi," he said shortly when he saw me.

"Hi," I replied. I stepped aside so he could work his combination lock.

When his locker was open, I said, "Can I talk to you?" "Not now. I've got baseball practice." "Later? I'm not baby-sitting this afternoon. I'll be at home." "Will we have to sit outside?" "Yup." (Logan knew that.) He sighed.

"Come on. It's a beautiful day," I told him. "And I really do want to talk." "Okay. I'll be there. See you later." Logan closed his locker, turned, and strode down the hall.

Well, I thought, this is better than nothing.

I walked home with Claudia. When I reached my house, the first thing I did was pick up Tigger. "Oh, it's so nice to find you here when I get home from school," I told him. I lifted him up so we were eye to eye.

"Mrow?" asked Tigger.

"I don't know," I answered. "Logan's coming over this afternoon. He'll explain everything then, I hope." I made sure that a bottle of Logan's favorite soda was in the refrigerator. I made sure we had ice cubes. Soda over ice in a glass is much nicer than warmish soda in a can.

At five o'clock, our bell rang. I ran to the front door and threw it open. Logan stood on our steps, mitt in one hand, books under one arm.