Ann Martin - Baby-Sitters Club 021

Carolyn shrugged.

"Tell Claudia what your project is called," Mrs. Arnold went on.

"The World of Electricity," replied Carolyn.

Mrs. Arnold beamed.

Claudia tried to smile back, but found it difficult. Instead, she took a look at the twins. Like I had done, she tried to find some difference between them, while they were still wearing their bracelets. (She was pretty sure they were planning to take the bracelets off as soon as their parents left.) She thought she noticed some differences in their faces, but it was hard to tell, and she didn't want the girls to think she was staring. And their clothes were impeccable. Not a scuff or a tear anywhere.

"Well, we should be on our way," said Mrs. Arnold. She showed Claud the emergency numbers and told her what she could fix for lunch after Marilyn returned from her lesson. Then she went on, "You're ready for your lesson, aren't you, Marilyn?" Marilyn smiled sweetly. She showed her mother that her piano books were stacked on the bench in the front hallway.

"And Carolyn, you have everything you need for your project?" "Yup." "All right. Then we'll be off." Mr. and Mrs. Arnold left. Before they had even backed the car down the driveway, Carolyn turned to Marilyn and said, "Snuff bat crawding fowser. Der blem, tosh?" "Tosh," answered her sister.

Sensing what was coming, Claud said, "I guess this is the part where you guys take your bracelets off and try to confuse me, right?" The twins hesitated, and for just a moment, Claud thought they might leave the bracelets on, just to spite her (which was what she was hoping for).

But no such luck.

"That's right!" cried Carolyn.

In a flash, the bracelets were off and twin talk was in full swing.

"You two just go ahead and play," Claud told them. "I don't care if you don't want me to be able to tell you apart." (Boy, is Claudia a cool one.) "Anyway, I'll be able to tell you apart at eleven." "How come?" one twin couldn't help asking.

"Because at eleven, Marilyn will leave for the music school. Carolyn will be the one who stays to work on her project." The twins looked at her. More twin talk followed.

"Well," said Claud, "I've got a good mystery to read. If you guys are just going to talk to each other, I'm going to read. You can look in the Kid-Kit, if you want." So for the next hour, Claud read and the twins ignored her and played together. At eleven, Claud said, "Okay, Marilyn. Your ride will be here any minute. Why don't you get your books? Carolyn and I will wait outside with you." "Okay!" One twin bounced to her feet and gathered up the piano books.

At last Claud knew which girl was which. She and Carolyn followed Marilyn outside and sat on the front stoop with her. Five minutes later, a car slowed down in front of the Arnolds' house, and the driver honked the horn.

"There's Mr. Bischoff," said Marilyn. "He's going to bring me home, too. See you later!" She ran across the lawn.

"Okay, Carolyn," said Claud to the remaining twin. "We better go inside so you can get to work on The World of Electricity." (Although what Claud knows about the world of electricity you could fit on the head of a pin.) Carolyn went into the rec room. She opened a door and slid a display out of a closet.

"What are you going to do to your project today?" asked Claudia.

"Just fix the letters on the display and then read. I have to find out more about some experiments I could show the kids. Here are my books." Claudia felt relieved. Not only did she know which twin was which (at least until one-thirty), but she wasn't going to have to work on The World of Electricity. She went back to her mystery while Carolyn fooled around with the display.

At eleven-thirty, the phone rang.

"I'll get it!" said Claud. She dashed into the kitchen and picked up the receiver. "Hello, Arnolds' residence." "Yes, hello. Mrs. Arnold?" "No, I'm afraid Mrs. Arnold can't come to the phone." (Us baby-sitters know never to say that the parents aren't home.) "This is Claudia Kishi. May I help you?" "Well . . . perhaps. I'm Margaret Cohen. I teach piano at the music school. I've got a very tone-deaf Arnold twin here, so I'm wondering where Marilyn is." It took Claud a moment to figure out what Ms. Cohen meant. Then she sputtered, "You mean Carolyn's there? The girls switched! I don't believe it!" "Is there any way to, um, switch them back?" suggested Ms. Cohen. "I really need to work with Marilyn today." "Well, I'm sorry. I can't bring Marilyn over. I - I can't drive yet," replied Claud. "Has Mr. Bischoff left already?" "Yes, I'm afraid he has." "Oh." Claudia was fuming, but she tried not to show it. "I'm sorry," she said again. "I guess Carolyn will just have to stay there until one o'clock. Do you mind keeping her?" "Nooo. . . . But, well, I'll have to speak to Mrs. Arnold about this. Will you please tell her to call me?" "Of course," replied Claudia.

When she'd hung up the phone, she peeped into the rec room. Marilyn was reading a comic book. She hid it quickly when Claudia walked noisily into the room. She picked up one of the science books instead.

"You can stop pretending now, Marilyn," said Claudia.

Marilyn at least had the grace to blush and look embarrassed.

"That was Ms. Cohen on the phone. She is not pleased that you skipped this rehearsal. . . .Don't you like playing the piano, Marilyn?" Marilyn looked surprised by the question. "I like it," she assured Claudia. "And Carolyn likes science. Really. We just wanted to play a trick." "Well, you did that, all right. 1 think you also got yourselves into trouble. Ms. Cohen is upset, you're missing an important rehearsal, and Carolyn is wasting time she could be spending on The World of Electricity. Now, I can't punish you," Claud went on. "That's not part of my job. But I can make sure 1 can tell you guys apart for the rest of the afternoon." Marilyn widened her eyes. "You can? How?" "Like this." Claud took a Magic Marker out of the Kid-Kit. Before Marilyn knew what was happening, Claud had drawn a happy face on the back of Marilyn's right hand. She knew it would wash off eventually. (Of course, when Carolyn returned later, she immediately drew a face on her hand, but it didn't look like Claud's, so Claud could still tell the girls apart.) That was the only good thing about the day. When the Arnolds came home later, Claudia had to tell them about the mix-up, and they were not happy.

"I'm disappointed in both of you," said Mrs. Arnold to the twins.

"We know it must be tempting to play tricks and jokes," added Mr. Arnold, "but you have to choose the right times for them. A time when Marilyn misses a piano rehearsal is not a good time." "And Claudia," Mrs. Arnold continued, "I must admit that I'm a bit surprised at you. We trusted you to be in charge of our daughters. We understand that it's difficult to tell them apart when their bracelets are off. Still. . . you were supposed to be responsible for them while we were out." "I know," Claud replied, and she could feel her face burning. (This was so unfair!) "I'm very sorry. I'll understand if you don't want me to sit for you again. Or if you don't want anyone from our club to sit for you again, either." She hated to add that last part, but felt she had to.

"Oh, no, no," said Mrs. Arnold quickly. "Nothing like that will be necessary." (Darn.) Claud wondered if the Arnolds had been having trouble getting sitters lately, but of course she didn't say anything. She just offered not to take the Arnolds' money (they gave it to her anyway) and got out of there as fast as she could.

"Mallory, you can have the twins!" was the last line in Claudia's notebook entry.

Chapter 7.

Well, that was very kind of Claudia, but I didn't want the twines. They were making my life miserable. I dreaded Tuesdays and Thursdays. I dreaded them so much that sometimes I would forget, for a moment or two, about wanting pierced ears and a decent haircut. I even considered asking Kristy if I could quit the job at the Arnolds'. But I knew I couldn't do that. Couldn't ask Kristy, I mean. That would be as good as asking to be kicked out of the club. As far as I knew, no one in the club had ever backed out of a job she was signed up for just because the kids were difficult. And certainly, no one had ever been kicked out of the club.