Part 3 (1/2)

”I wanted to talk to you about that - ” I began, but just then a young boy and his mother came up to us and asked about video game cartridges.

”I'll let you handle this,” said April, heading for the back of the store. ”Call me if you need me.”

I showed the boy where the cartridges are displayed, and then headed back to the counter. On my way, I stopped to straighten up a display of rubber stamps. I was putting the last one in its place when I heard a loud commotion just outside the store. I ran to the doorway to look out, and had to jump out of the way as two police officers - a man and a woman - ran by me. I looked past them and saw a bunch of people running down the middle of the mall, past the benches, the main escalator, and the big white marble fountain.

”What's going on?” I asked a woman who was running by.

”Don't know!” she shouted over her shoulder, still running.

People were converging on a spot near the store that sells giant cookies - three doors down from Toy Town - and the whole mall seemed to be watching to see what was happening. Store-owners were peering out through their windows, or standing in their doorways. On the upper levels, people were leaning over the balconies to watch the action. Shoppers walked quickly or ran toward the growing crowd. ”Hey!” I heard an older man cry, as somebody knocked into him. The next thing I knew, he was sprawled on the floor, trying to. get up. I wanted to help him, but I couldn't leave the store.

I yelled for April, and she came running. By then, several people had stopped to help the man. ”What's going on?” asked April. She looked out at the crowd. ”What's happening?”

”I can't figure it out,” I said.

Just then, I heard shouting, and I saw two teenaged boys break away from the crowd. They started to run in my direction, but the woman police officer chased after them and grabbed them. ”You're under arrest,” I heard her say loudly. ”You have the right to remain silent -”

I turned to April. ”Wow!” I said. ”I bet they caught the shoplifters.”

We looked back at the crowd, and saw that the police seemed to be arresting another boy - a tall guy, with black hair - and two girls. Several security officers were on hand, surrounding the kids. ”They must have gotten the whole gang!” I exclaimed. I looked at the boy more closely, and realized I had seen him in the store when I first came in.

Something made me turn from the doorway and glance over at the counter. ”The Gamester!” I said. ”It's missing!”

”Go tell the police!” said April. 'Those kids must have just taken it.”

I ran to the crowd, and straight to the woman officer, who was writing something in a little notebook. ”I work at Toy Town,” I said, out of breath. ”We're missing a computer toy. It disappeared within the last few minutes.”

She nodded, but didn't speak. Instead, she turned to the cl.u.s.ter of teens who had been arrested and asked them to empty their pockets. One of the girls pulled out an expensive-looking lipstick, and another had hidden a scarf under her jacket. The policewoman told them to drop the stuff on the floor in front of them. Then she glared at the three boys, who hadn't moved yet. ”You, too,” she said. One of the boys, the one I had seen in the store earlier, started backing away. A security officer took a step toward him, and he shrugged and pulled something out of his pocket.

”The Gamester!” I said out loud. I watched as the guy handed it to the policewoman.

”That's from our store!” I said. ”Can I take it back there?”

The boy scowled at me.

The policewoman turned to me and shook her head. ”Sorry, but you can't. We'll have to keep it for evidence.”

I was disappointed. As soon as I had seen it emerge from the boy's pocket, I had started to imagine how good it would feel to walk back to Toy Town and hand the Gamester to April.

Mal turned up just then. ”This is wild,” she said. ”I can't believe they caught the shoplifters!”

Kristy, came up behind us, looking awfully happy - and proud. y'It was a sting operation,” she explained in a whisper. ”The whole thing was planned down to the last detail.”

”You knew about it?” I asked.

”Well, not until I got here today,” she admitted. ”But I was working as back-up when they made the bust.” She was trying to act cool, but suddenly she dropped the act and grinned. ”It was awesome,” she said.

”Does this mean the shoplifting is going to stop now?” Mal asked.

”Absolutely,” said Kristy. ”You can go back to work and breathe easier.”

Mal looked relieved - and I felt as if a weight had dropped off my shoulders. Working at Toy Town would be a real pleasure if I didn't have to worry so much about shoplifters.

When I returned to the store, April was talking to a policeman. ”That's wonderful,” she said, when he explained that they thought they had caught the entire gang.

The officer left, after handing April a sheaf of police reports to fill out, and we looked at each other and smiled. ”That's a load off my mind,” said April. ”I was actually a little worried sometimes about having Sandy in the store. I mean, what if he got in the way of someone who was armed, and he hurt him?”

”That reminds me,” I said. ”Remember I said I wanted to talk to you about something?” I explained my idea for the day-care center, and added some of the details my friends and I had come up with that day on the bus.

”That sounds terrific! You girls will need lots of help for a big project like that, but I can already think of four or five store-owners who would love to be involved,” said April, smiling. Then her face fell. ”The only thing is, you'll need permission from the mail manager, and I don't know if he'll agree.”

”Don't you think he'll like the idea?” I asked.

”I don't know. We used to bring up ideas like this with the old manager, Ms. Richards, and she never went for them. But now that there's a new guy on the job - well, you never know. I guess it's worth trying. You and your friends might have better luck.”

”There's a new manager?” I asked.

April nodded. ”He's been working here for about six months,” she said. She picked up the police reports and began to look them over.

I wanted to ask her a few more questions - such as how she thought we should approach the manager - but she looked busy, and anyway it was time to catch my bus home. I left the mall that day feeling hopeful. The shoplifters had been caught, and now we might have a chance to start working on our day-care center. Things were looking up.

Chapter 8.

Kristy's entry in her job diary was pretty accurate. We had each polled our bosses and co-workers about the day-care center, and everybody was wild about the idea. The only problem, apparently, would be getting the idea past the mall manager, Mr. Morton. It turned out that our idea wasn't all that original: as April had said, other people had suggested something like it more than once. The old mall manager had always turned them down flat. So now it was our turn, with a new manager, and we were feeling pretty tense. I mean, it's one thing to have a great idea, but it's another thing to request an official okay for it.

We had decided to approach Mr. Morton on Thursday, our day off. Ms. Garcia had told Kristy that Mr. Morton was always in his office on Thursday afternoons, and that he had let it be known that during that time he was available to talk to merchants or mall customers who had problems or questions. Kristy's brother Charlie had agreed to drive us to the mall in the Thomas/Brewer van, and he arrived at our school right on time. We had all taken a few minutes after our last cla.s.ses to spruce up, and I guess the effect was a little startling.

”Wow,” said Charlie. ”You guys look very - uh - ”

”Professional?” asked Kristy. ”Is that the word you're looking for?” She plucked nervously at the front of her white blouse.

”I guess it'll do,” said Charlie. He still looked shocked. ”Man, I can't remember the last time I saw you in a skirt,” he told his sister. Kristy blushed, and looked annoyed at the attention. ”But you look really nice,” Charlie added hastily. ”And so do the rest of you. Great tie, Logan.”

Now it was Logan's turn to blush as he looked down at the blue-and-red striped tie he was wearing with a white s.h.i.+rt and corduroy jacket. ”I borrowed this from my dad,” he said. It seemed like a good idea to wear one. We agreed to dress as if we were going on a really important job interview - not that any of us have actually been on a job interview before.” He laughed.

I had to admit we were a pretty spiffy-looking crew. Claud and I had chosen conservative dresses with nice pumps and traditional accessories: no wild jewelry or wacky hairstyles. Mary Anne looked demure in a navy-blue dress with a white collar, and Jessi and Mal had both worn skirts with new sweaters.

We didn't talk much during the ride to the mall, partly because we were feeling nervous but mostly because we had already spent so much time talking about the day-care center. We had agreed, during the bus ride home the day before, that Kristy would be our spokeswoman. She had rehea.r.s.ed her speech and knew exactly what she was going to say.

Charlie pulled up at the mall entrance and dropped us off. ”I'll be waiting here in an hour,” he said. ”Good luck!”

We jumped out and headed for our first stop: the security office. It's on the main floor, down a hall near the food court, back where the mall bathrooms are. Kristy had told her boss, Ms. Garcia, that we would stop by to check in and get directions to the manager's office.

”My, don't you all look nice,” said Ms. Garcia, after Kristy had introduced us. She was a small, wiry woman with black hair and flas.h.i.+ng brown eyes. ”I'm sure Mr. Morton will be impressed.” She turned to the little girl by her side. ”This is my daughter, Kellie,” she said. ”Her baby-sitter had to cancel today, so Kellie came to stay with me after school.”