Part 2 (1/2)

”Wow,” I breathed. ”Excellent.”

Kristy drove her elbow into my arm and said, ”Have there been any other burglaries in the neighborhood?”

”Not to my knowledge,” said Sergeant Johnson. (I guess it's a rule that police officers have to talk that way, as if they can't just say yes or no.) At last the officers finished checking things out. Sergeant Johnson gave us his phone number so we could call him if we remembered anything we might have forgotten to tell him.

”Can we call you and find out what's happening?” asked Kristy.

”Sure,” Sergeant Johnson replied.

”Are wd going to see a lineup?” I asked. ”Identify the burglar?”

”Maybe it won't come to that,” said the sergeant. He nodded at Mrs. Rodowsky, and said good-bye. He and his partner got into their patrol car and drove away.

Mrs. Rodowsky looked at her watch. ”Oops,” she said. ”I have to go pick up Shea and Jackie at the community center.”

Kristy looked at her watch and exclaimed, ”Are we late, or what! 'Bye, Mrs. Rodowsky!”

”Good-bye, girls,” Mrs. Rodowsky called after us. ”Be careful!”

”We will,” I called back. To Kristy I said, ”But I don't think we're going to witness two burglaries in one day, do you?”

Kristy said, ”One is enough for me, thank you. Did you see how that guy looked at us as he ran by? It gave me the creeps.” . ”Definitely evil,” I said.

Looking at her watch again, Kristy began to jog. I fell into step.

”Listen, we have a great excuse for being late,” I said. ”If you want, I'll write you a note. Or maybe we should've asked the sergeant for one.”

Kristy didn't laugh at that. I should have known better than to make jokes about being late to a BSC meeting.

We jogged in silence the rest of the way. Kristy reached Claudia's front door ahead of me.

But I let her win. I figured it would make her feel better.

Chapter 4.

Stacey.

Kristy and Abby weren't all that late to the meeting. In fact, Kristy caught me goofing off, sitting in Claud's director's chair, tilting it back, pretending to give orders.

I thumped the front legs of the chair down so hard that they almost gave way beneath me. I jumped up guiltily. Amazingly, Kristy didn't even seem to notice. She only said, ”Thanks, Stace,” and dropped into the chair as if she'd just finished running a marathon.

”Well? What's the story?” Claudia demanded.

Kristy said, ”We've been talking to an old acquaintance - Sergeant Johnson.”

”Charlie got a ticket?” Mary Anne asked, wrinkling her forehead.

”No!” said Kristy. ”Charlie's a good driver.”

Abby burst out laughing. ”I'll give you a clue - it would be a crime not to tell you what happened.”

Claudia caught on first. ”Crime! You're involved in a crime!”

”No way!” shrieked Mal. ”That's great!”

Abby looked surprised and I almost started to laugh. Fortunately, Jessi demanded, ”What happened?” That was all the encouragement Kristy and Abby needed to launch into their tale of terror. Well, maybe not terror, but it was pretty exciting and a little scary, especially the part about how the guy running out of the house had fixed them with his evil, ski-mask-framed eyes as he ran by.

In between phone calls, we talked the burglary over from every angle. But we couldn't come up with any dues. And both Kristy and Abby finally had to concede that they couldn't even be sure that they'd recognize the burglar without his mask.

”So what now?” asked Mal.

”Nothing,” said Kristy. She suddenly looked serious and worried. Then she added slowly, ”In fact, I don't think I'm going to tell anyone at home about this. I mean, I don't want to worry Watson or anything. I want him to take it easy and not overdo things, so he can enjoy the trip to Shadow Lake.”

Mal suddenly looked glum. ”I'm glad somebody's going to be having a good time that weekend,” she said.

”I just hope it snows,” said Abby. ”I love to ski.”

”Are you good?” asked Claudia.

”The best,” said Abby. ”We used to go up to Lake Placid every winter and ski our brains out. It's an Olympic ski center, you know.”

”I know,” said Claudia, looking a little put out. ”I've been there.” She added, ”On the intermediate trails.”

”Really? Not bad. I actually think that the trails there are a little tougher than anywhere else in this part of the country.” Abby grinned. ”I always try to do a couple of intermediates to warm up, before I head for the high country.”

”How nice,” said Claudia.

I stared at her in surprise. She sounded annoyed. Claudia has always been the primo skier in the BSC. Was it possible that she was jealous of Abby? Or did she think Abby was bragging? (I had to admit, it sounded as if she was, but then Abby is so incredibly self-confident that maybe she wasn't bragging.) Mary Anne gave Claud a puzzled glance, too, but no one else seemed ,to notice.

I forgot about it the next moment, though, because Kristy said casually (very, very casually), ”By the way, Stacey, I almost forgot. Sam said to tell you h.e.l.lo.”

”h.e.l.lo back to Sam,” I said automatically.

The phone rang, and Kristy picked it up. ”h.e.l.lo, Baby-sitters Club,” she said.

I was grateful for the interruption. While everyone else sorted out the details of the job, I let my thoughts wander back to a certain summer vacation at Shadow Lake.

Sam, Kristy's brother, who is two years older than I am, had been acting as if he were about six during the whole trip. He'd been teasing me, following me around, and calling me ”dahling” in this stupid, exaggerated way. He was driving me crazy, but unlike a six-year-old baby-sitting charge, he couldn't be distracted with games, or sent off to take a nap.

I put up with it for a long time. Then Charlie had a little talk with his younger brother, and Sam worked up the nerve to have a little talk with me. We ended up dancing together at a dance at the Shadow Lake Lodge. And that led to dating, for awhile.