Claudia and Mean Janine (9 page)

July was over. The play group was over. Summer vacation was half over. A new family had moved into Kristy's house. And Mimi was still improving. It was a different sort of summer—a summer of change.

I remarked on that to Mimi one hot, damp afternoon as we sat on the porch, trying to keep cool. Mimi was fanning herself with a delicate Japanese fan that she could open and close expertly with her left hand. I was aiming a tiny battery-operated fan directly at my face and neck, which were hotter than the rest of me, since my hair clung stickily to them. I couldn't find a good place to rest the fan, so I just held it and moved it slowly around.

“Time is change,” Mimi told me importantly.

I frowned. “I don't understand.”

“As long as there is time, there is change.”

“You mean things are always changing?”

Mimi nodded.

“Sometimes they seem to change faster than other times,” I said. “I mean, look at everything that happened just this month. We had a play group. Kristy moved out. That new family moved in—the Perkinses. You got sick, and then you got better….”

“Have you met these Perkinses?” asked Mimi.

But suddenly I found that I couldn't answer her. Over and over I heard myself say, “You got sick, you got sick.” A huge lump was building up in my throat. I turned my fan off and set it down.

“Mimi, I'm sorry,” I whispered, unable to look at her.

“Sorry? For what?” Mimi became very concerned. She snapped her fan closed and leaned toward me. “What is it, my Claudia? What is wrong?”

“I gave you the stroke, didn't I? I was rude to you that night, and then you went to your room and the next thing I knew, you had fallen on the floor.”

“Oh, my Claudia,” murmured Mimi. “Is that what you think?”

I nodded miserably. “It's the truth, isn't it?”

“No. It is not the truth. I had not been feeling
well for a long time. Very tired. Did you not notice?”

I thought hard. “I guess so.”

“Look at me, my Claudia. This is an old baby, I mean, body. It is winding down. All parts have been working hard for many, many years. So, one of them wore out. That is all.”

I tried to smile.

“Do you believe me?” asked Mimi.

“I want to.”

“I can't make you believe me, but I will tell you again. What I said is the true … the truth.”

“Honest?”

“Yes. Honest.”

I turned my fan back on, feeling lighter. I was just about to ask Mimi if we could use her tea things to make special iced tea, when we heard a car door slam in front of our house. A few moments later, Janine appeared.

“Hi,” she greeted me. She crossed the porch and gave Mimi a kiss on the cheek. “Hello, Mimi. How are you?”

“Fine, thank you,” replied Mimi, even though I knew she was as uncomfortably hot as I was.

“I'm starved,” said Janine. “I didn't get to eat lunch today. As soon as I have a snack, would you like to take a walk, Mimi?”

“A walk?” Mimi and I repeated at the same time. Mimi had rarely left the house since she'd come home from the hospital, except of course to go back to the hospital for therapy.

“We'll walk down the shady side of the street,” said Janine.

“Well …” began Mimi.

I thought about it. With her cane, Mimi was pretty steady on her feet. Her physical therapist had told her that light exercise would help. I didn't see why she couldn't go outside, as long as someone was with her. And it was
very
nice of Janine to make the offer.

“I think it's a great idea,” I told Mimi. “Wouldn't you like to take a walk? Janine will be with you.”

“All right,” said Mimi slowly. Then she began to smile. “A nice idea.”

I stood at the front door a while later, watching Janine and Mimi cross the front lawn, arm in arm. “Time is change,” Mimi had said. The more I thought about it, the truer it seemed. It was a smart thought from a smart woman. I remembered how, not long ago, I had compared Mimi to Lucy Newton. How could I have done that? Mimi wasn't like a baby. At least not anymore. She was my grandmother, and I was glad to have her back.

“Club notebook?”

“Check.”

“Club record book?”

“Check.”

“Treasury?”

“Check.”

“M&M's?”

“Check.”

We giggled. The members of the Baby-sitters Club were gathered in my room, preparing for a meeting. Kristy, taking charge, was seeing that we were prepared.

I passed around the M&M's, proudly wearing my newest pair of earrings. They were green, shaped like bottles, and said
coca-cola
on them.

Everyone crowded around for a look. “Okay,” said Kristy after a moment. “Down to business.”

But before she could say another word, the phone rang.

“I'll get it,” I said, reaching for the receiver. “Hello. Baby-sitters Club … Yes? … Yes? … Oh, sure. I just need a little information first.”

When I hung up a few minutes later, everyone was looking at me eagerly. They knew we had new clients. “Well?” asked Kristy.

“It's the people across the street in your old house,” I said.

“Mr. Perkins?”

“Well, it was his wife calling. She read the flyer we left in the mailbox, and she needs a sitter on Saturday afternoon. There are two little girls. Myriah is five and a half, and Gabbie is two and a half. I've got all the details.”

Mary Anne checked the calendar in our record book. Kristy ended up with the job for the new clients.

“Lucky!” I said. “We'll be dying to hear. Mrs. Perkins sounds really nice.”

Ring, ring.

“I'll get it this time,” said Dawn, diving across me. “Hello. Baby-sitters Club … Hi, Mrs. Pike….
Really?
You're kidding! … For two
weeks?
… When? … Oh.” (Dawn's “oh” sounded very disappointed.) “Well, I'm sure someone—What?
Two
someones? Okay. We'll have to do some checking. Permission and stuff. We might not be able to get back to you until tonight…. You would? Yeah, that'd probably make a big difference. Okay. And
thanks.
Bye.”

“What, what,
what?”
cried Kristy, even before Dawn had put the receiver back in its cradle.

“You will
never
guess,” said Dawn.

“So
tell.”
Kristy's eyes were bugging right out of their sockets.

“The Pikes are going on vacation this month. Two weeks in—”

“Sea City. We know,” said Kristy. “The beach in New Jersey. They go every summer.”

“Well,
this
summer,” said Dawn, “Mr. and Mrs. Pike want some time to themselves, so they're looking for two mother's helpers to come along on the vacation. Two of
us.”

“Aughh!” Everyone began squealing and jumping around.

“Which
two of us?” asked Kristy, suddenly sober.

“Any two. Mrs. Pike said she'll be happy to talk to our parents. But I can't go,” said Dawn. “I'm spending the first two weeks of August in California with my dad. Remember?”

“And we're going on vacation,” I reminded my friends. “The doctor said Mimi is well enough.”

“Well, I'm positive Mom won't let me go,” said Kristy. “She wants all us kids around for the rest of the summer. We had a family meeting about it just last night. She says we have a big job ahead of us: learning to get along as a family. She even wants Karen and Andrew to spend extra time at Watson's—I mean, at our house—so we can
really see what our new family is like.”

“Well,” said Stacey, “that leaves you and me, Mary Anne. I haven't got any plans. How about you?”

“Me, neither,” replied Mary Anne.

“It won't be easy to convince my parents to let me go,” said Stacey.

“Or to convince my father,” added Mary Anne.

“But I have this funny feeling,” Stacey went on, “that pretty soon you and I are going to be getting ready for surf, sun, and fun!”

“Yeah!” said Mary Anne enthusiastically. “Sea City, here we come!”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ANN MATTHEWS MARTIN
was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. There are currently over 176 million copies of The Baby-sitters Club in print. (If you stacked all of these books up, the pile would be 21,245 miles high.)

In addition to The Baby-sitters Club, Ann is the author of two other series, Main Street and Family Tree. Her novels include
Belle Teal
,
A Corner of the Universe
(a Newbery Honor book),
Here Today
,
A Dog's Life
,
On Christmas Eve
,
Everything for a Dog
,
Ten Rules for Living with My Sister
, and
Ten Good and Bad Things About My Life (So Far)
. She is also the coauthor, with Laura Godwin, of the Doll People series.

Ann lives in upstate New York with her dog and her cats.