Baby-sitters Club - The Mystery At Claudia's House Part 4

Claudia, you look sophisticated even when you're gardening." I smiled. "And Janine is beginning to look like quite a young lady," Mrs. Braddock went on. "I saw her at Pizza Express the other night, and she looked radiant."

"Pizza Express?" my mother and I repeated "Janine?" my mother added.

"Mm-hmm," said Mrs. Braddock. "Let's see, it was Thursday night, I guess. The night before last. Yes, it was, because I was on my way to the movies. I waved at Janine through the window, but I guess she didn't see me."

My mother and I exchanged a look. "Well, I'm sure she didn't," said my mother. She and Mrs. Braddock talked for a while longer, and then Mrs. Braddock handed us three huge loaves of bread from her basket.

"I'd better go deliver, the rest of these," she said, shaking her head. "We'll be supplying bread to the whole neighborhood for a while." She laughed.

Mom and I smiled and waved at her as she left the yard. But as soon as she was out of sight, Mom put down her hand and stopped smiling. "I can't believe it," she said quietly.

"What?" I asked, knowing perfectly well what she was talking about.

"It's just so unlike Janine to -" She stopped herself. "I'll have to talk to your father about this," she said, and I saw I wasn't going to get any more out of her. But I knew that she knew Janine had not told her the truth about Thursday night.

My dad returned from the golf course at about one that afternoon, and my mother grabbed him practically the second he stepped out of the car. She asked him to come into the house so they could talk. I stayed outside, raking, but I could hear their voices through the open kitchen window. Mom sounded pretty upset.

At three o'clock Janine came home from the library (at least, that's where she said she'd been), and that's when the fireworks started. This time, I could hear every word, since I was in the kitchen getting a snack. Mom and Dad nabbed Janine as she came into the house, and sat her down in the living room for a talk.

"It's not that we mind if you go to Pizza Express," I heard my mother say. "But the fact that you misled us, and said you were going to the library..."

Now, if I had been in that situation, I could have handled it much better than Janine did. I would have confessed to going to Pizza Express, since Mom had just said that she didn't mind that. But I would have said I had finished early at the library and decided to stop off for a slice on the way home.

Janine, however, doesn't have much practice handling parents. She's never had to fib, or make up white lies. She's always just been naturally good. So she blurted out the truth. "I did mislead you, and I feel terrible about it," she said. I heard her sniff, as if she were trying not to cry. "I just thought you wouldn't approve, that you wouldn't understand."

"Not approve of your eating pizza?" asked my father. "That's ridiculous. All teenagers eat pizza."

"I don't," said Janine miserably. "Or at least, I never did before. I was always too busy studying. And you're always so proud of how well I do in school. I don't want to disappoint you."

"Oh, honey," said my mother. "We care about you, not just your grades. And the only way you could disappoint us is by betraying our trust, which is what you've done."

I heard Janine sniff again. "I know," she said, in a tiny little voice. "I'm sorry."

"First you miss dinner and forget to call, and now this," my mother went on. "I'm afraid 'sorry' isn't enough."

"That's right," agreed my father. "But I think two days at home might teach you something."

"You mean I - I'm grounded?" asked Janine. She said the word as if it were in a foreign language, which in a way, it was - to her.

"Yes," said Mom firmly. "Your father and I agree that you should be grounded for two days. We're sorry to have to do this, but - "

"I understand," said Janine quietly.

In the kitchen, I put my hand over my mouth. I couldn't believe this was happening. Janine was being punished, and I wasn't! Not that it was all that much of a punishment. I mean, Janine spends most of her time studying anyway. Grounding her for two days wasn't going to change her life radically. Except that she wouldn't be able to go to the library, or Pizza Express for that matter.

Later that afternoon, I slipped into Janine's room to sympathize with her. "Tough break," I said.

"I deserved it," she replied. "I lied to them."

"But why?" I asked. "They don't care if you go out for pizza. They just said so."

"I don't want to talk about it, Claudia," said Janine stiffly. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have some homework to do."

That was it. I went back to my room in a huff, and right then and there I made a decision. I had not yet unraveled the entire mystery, and I was going to find out what Janine was up to. Then, maybe, if she was nicer to me, I could help her keep out of trouble. If not, at least I could satisfy my own curiosity.

I decided that the best way to find out what was going on would be to put a tail on Janine. A tail like in the detective stories. Someone who would follow her and observe her behavior. And who better to do that than the members of the BSC? Our club already has a great record in solving mysteries.

I reached for the phone and dialed Stacey's number. "Hi, Stace," I began. "You'll never believe what happened!"

Chapter 9.

Stacey and I spent quite a while on the phone that night, plotting and planning. I also talked to Kristy, Dawn, and Mallory. When I woke up on Sunday morning, I knew that by then every member of the BSC must know about what had happened to Janine. And we were gearing up to find out what was behind her strange behavior.

I put on my robe and slippers and headed down the hall to Janine's room. "Hi," I said, rubbing my eyes and yawning. "Aren't you coming downstairs for breakfast?"

Janine was already up and dressed and hard at work on her computer. "I already had some yogurt and fruit," she said. "I decided that if I'm going to be stuck in my room, I might as well make the best use of the time."

Janine is unbelievable. Most normal average teenagers - like me - would never even think of "making the best use of the time" while they were grounded. I'll bet if you polled grounded kids about their main activities, "sulking" and "painting my toenails" would probably be high on the list. But Janine has never been normal or average. I don't know why I even expected her to act any differently than she always does. And trust me, it's not that unusual to find Janine doing homework at nine-thirty on a Sunday morning.

Sometimes it's so hard to believe she is actually my sister.

As I went downstairs, I felt my stomach begin to rumble. I could smell bacon frying and waffles cooking, and suddenly I was starving. "Morning!" I said to my parents as I entered the kitchen.

"Morning, sweetie," said my mom.

"Ready for waffles?" asked my dad, flipping a couple of them onto a plate.

"Definitely," I said. And then, for the next few minutes, I didn't say anything except maybe "yum" and "pa.s.s the b.u.t.ter, please." I was too busy stuffing my face with those delicious waffles. After the second one, I started to slow down. I was getting full. "I have to sit at the Masterses' later," I said to my mother, "but if you need more help in the garden this morning, I'm available."

My mother raised her eyebrows. "Thank you, honey. It's nice of you to offer," she said, sounding a little surprised. "But it looks like rain. I think I'll clean out the bas.e.m.e.nt, instead."

"I could help with that," I told her. "After I clean up the kitchen, of course."

My .mother looked kind of stunned. I don't usually offer to work around the house. I mean, I do the ch.o.r.es I've been a.s.signed, but that's about it. And even then, to be honest, I often have to be reminded. No wonder my mom was surprised. But I guess she didn't want to look at a gift horse's teeth, or however that expression goes.

"Well, I'd be glad for your help," she said. "There's a lot to do."

I spent that morning being helpful and charming and polite, the "good sister." I only had two days to bask in the glow of my new status, so I wanted to make the most of it.

I could tell that my parents appreciated the new me, but I could also sense that they were a little bewildered about my sudden personality change.

The fact is, I'm the only one who worries about "good sister/bad sister." I know that, in reality, my parents love me and Janine equally. I know that they don't value her good grades over my artistic talent; both are given equal weight. And it's not that I'm a terrible person, or that I'm usually rude and lazy. My parents would probably think I was nuts if I explained what I was up to when I took on all those extra little jobs that Sunday morning. So I , didn't explain. I just worked. And it felt good. But to be honest, I also knew I would be relieved when Janine's punishment was over arid she could take back the "good sister" role. That's just the way my mind works.

Anyway, by that afternoon, I was already tired of being good. I don't know how Janine stands it! I was glad I had a sitting job, so I could get out of the house. In fact, I decided to walk over to the Masterses' instead of asking for a ride. That way I'd have to leave even earlier.

The sky was awfully gray when I stepped outside, but I didn't feel like going back in for an umbrella or a raincoat. I decided to chance it, even though it's a bit of a walk to the Masterses' '. I walked quickly, thinking about what I might do that afternoon with Todd and Derek. I'd heard what our Kissing Expert had been up to lately, and I wanted to avoid any similar activities. I tried to think what else would interest the boys.

Suddenly, I realized something that made me smile. Derek might not really be a kissing expert, but he was an expert in something else: detective work! After his guest appearances on Kid Detectives, he probably knew all kinds of stuff about tailing people and cracking mysteries. He'd be perfect for helping me figure out the mystery at my house. I ran the rest of the way to the Masterses', partly because I was excited and partly, because it had started to rain. I was out of breath by the time I got there, but I managed to act professional with Mr. and Mrs. Masters. Then, as soon as they left, I pulled Derek and Todd into the living room. I knew Todd would probably be less interested in the Janine mystery than Derek would be, but I also knew Todd thinks anything his big brother does is fascinating.

"Listen, you guys," I said. "I want you to be my deputies."

"Do we get to wear stars?" asked Todd. I guess he's seen a cowboy movie or two on TV, so he knew just what a deputy is.

"Sure, I'll get you some stars," I said. "Now, Derek, I need your expert advice. You know a lot about how to be a detective, right?"

"Sure," said Derek. I had the feeling he was glad this conversation wasn't going to be about kissing.

"Okay, here's the situation," I said. I talked for a long time. I told the boys about Janine, and what she's like: How she never used to care about clothes or makeup. How she has no social life because her schoolwork comes first. How she's always been a model child - until now. And how she's changed.

Derek listened closely. "Wow," he said, when I'd finished. "Something big is going on."

"I know," I replied. "Do you think you can help me find out what it is?"

"Definitely. It'll be a piece of cake."

"Cake!" said Todd. "I want some!"

Uh-oh. "Gee, I don't know if there is any," I said. "But come on, let's see what we can find." Derek was already thinking hard about The Case of The Weird Sister, so I figured I better keep Todd occupied.

I took him into the kitchen and we looked around in the breadbox, in the refrigerator, and in the cupboards. I didn't see anything even resembling a cake. "How about a cookie?" I suggested.

"No!" cried Todd. "Cake!"

Four-year-olds can be very stubborn. "Here's a nice banana," I said, picking one out of a fruit bowl on the counter. "Wouldn't you like a banana?"

"Cake," insisted Todd.

"But there isn't any cake. I was beginning to panic. Any minute, Todd could throw a tantrum. Then a light bulb went off in my head. "How about a Popsicle?" I asked, smiling.

"Yea!" said Todd. "A blue one!"

At that moment, Derek ran into the kitchen. "I've got it," he said. "Janine was abducted by aliens and brainwashed. Then they brought her back to Stoneybrook. She's like a totally different person now. That's why she's acting so strange."

"Derek," I said, "that doesn't sound like something you learned from Kid Detectives. That sounds like something you picked up from reading those magazines in the checkout line at the supermarket."

"Okay, okay," he said. "I've got another theory. How about this? Janine is a kleptomaniac. She's stealing all the time. She can't help herself, but she knows she should disguise herself when she goes into certain stores."

"Hmmm ..." I said. "I like that idea a little better. It would explain the clothes and the makeup." Then I thought for a second, and realized it was ridiculous. A kleptomaniac? Janine? "I don't think so," I said.

"I could prove it if we could follow her," persisted Derek.

"Yeah, let's!" said Todd, licking his Popsicle and looking up at his big brother.

"Not today," I said. "It's pouring." It was, too. The rain was coming down in sheets outside the kitchen window. "Plus, Janine's grounded and she's not leaving the house today. Anyway, we need to think of some more realistic ideas about what she could be up to." We spent the rest of the afternoon playing around with every wild and not-so-wild idea we could imagine. For every idea, Derek had a plan: how to follow Janine, how to catch her in the act, how to prove she was a bank robber, or a jewel thief, or whatever. I was impressed by how much Derek knew about detecting. Maybe we couldn't do much that rainy day, but we had a good time.

Chapter 10.

Just as school was ending on Wednesday, Mary Anne reminded me that she would be sitting for Derek and Todd that afternoon. "I'm looking forward to it," she said. "Maybe we'll play detectives, since they seem to like that so much."

''Believe me, they do," I said. "Well, have fun. Say hi to Derek and Todd." I headed home. I was planning to work on stringing those beads again.

When I entered our house, I found Janine in the kitchen. She was eating rice cakes and reading a thick, boring-looking book. I pulled my after-school snack - a Devil Dog - out of my backpack, and sat down with the latest issue of Seventeen, Janine and I didn't seem to have much to say to each other lately. She wasn't ready - or willing - to tell me what she was up to, and I was tired of asking.

The kitchen was pretty quiet. "Is mom still mad at you?" I asked, finally. The night before, Janine had come home late for dinner again, and Mom had been furious. Janine hadn't been grounded this time, but I knew that, for her, Mom's being mad at her was almost worse.

"No, not really," said Janine. "I apologized again this morning, and she said she forgave " She turned back to her book after she answered me, as if to let me know that she didn't want to talk.

I stood up, feeling a little mad at her, and went to my room. "Sisters aren't supposed to keep secrets from each other," J muttered to myself, as I set out my bead boxes. "Sisters are supposed to be best friends, and tell each other everything." But I knew that Janine and I were different. Oh, we get along most of the time. In fact, lately we've been getting along better than ever, except for the past couple of weeks. But the two of us are very, very different, and I know we always will be. So I had to get used to the idea that Janine wasn't about to tell me her secrets.

But boy, was I dying to know what they were! As I sat stringing beads, I couldn't stop thinking about what could possibly get perfect Janine in so much trouble. "Green, white, blue," I said out loud as I strung. "Green, white, blue." Then suddenly I threw down the necklace. I couldn't take it anymore! Janine's secret was making me crazy. I grabbed the phone and dialed the Masterses' number. "Mary Anne," I said, when she answered, "it's me, Claud. Can I come over?"

"Sure," she said. "We're kind of bored."

"Perfect," I said. "I know just what to do about that!"

I raced over to the Masterses' house and banged on the door. Mary Anne, Derek, and Todd let me in, and immediately I began talking. "Okay," I said. "Here's the situation. Janine is at home now, but my bet is that she won't stay there much longer. Are you guys ready to tail her?"

"Yeah!" yelled Derek and Todd.

"Um, okay," said Mary Anne, a little nervously. "But what if she sees us?"

"She won't," said Derek, sounding confident. "I know all the tricks. Just watch me and do what I do."

"Are we ready to go, then?" I asked.

"Just a minute," said Derek, holding up one finger. He ran to his room. When he returned he was wearing a hat like the ones detectives wear in old movies. "I got this when I was on the show," he said proudly. "The director gave it to me."

"Nice," I said. It really was a neat hat. The only thing was that it didn't exactly make Derek look inconspicuous. You don't see too many eight-year-olds in fedoras wandering the streets of Stoneybrook. But it didn't matter. If Derek wanted to wear the hat, it was fine with me.

"Let's go!" he said.

Mary Anne glanced at me and started to say something. "Maybe we shouldn't - "

"Oh, come on, Mary Anne," I said. "It's just for fun. We'll have a good time!" Sometimes Mary Anne is too timid for her own good.

"Yeah, come on!" said Todd, grabbing her hand. Derek took her other hand and gave her that Waldo grin.