Kristy and the Walking Disaster Read Free

to mark it down in the record book, and to collect dues for our treasury. What do we use our treasury money for? Two main things. 1. Entertainment, such as club sleepovers and pizza parties. 2. Funds for supplying our Kid-Kits.
    The Kid-Kits were my idea. I thought that a good way to entertain the kids we sit for would be with a box of fun. So we each decorated a cardboard carton and filled it with our old games, books, and toys. Then we bought some stuff like coloring books, activity books, and
    crayons. We take the Kid-Kits on our sitting jobs so the kids can play with them and not be bored. We use the treasury money to replace things that get used up.
    How did Dawn, Jessi, and Mal join the club? Well, Dawn joined not long after she moved here from California. She and Mary Anne had become friends quickly, our business was growing, and we needed extra help. So Dawn became our alternate officer. That meant that she could take over the duties of any other member if someone had to miss a meeting. That didn't last long, though. Unfortunately, Stacey had to move back to New York City. (This was especially unfortunate since she and Claudia had become best friends, and now they really miss each other.)
    Anyway, after Stacey left, two things happened. Dawn became our new treasurer - and we realized we needed lots more help. Our club was doing a ton of business. (Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. But we did have a problem.) We'd already signed up two associate members, kids who don't come to meetings, but who are good sitters we can call on in a pinch. They are Shannon Kilbourne, who lives across the street from me in my new neighborhood - and Logan Bruno, Mary Anne's boyfriend! But they weren't enough.
    We needed a regular member to replace Stacey. My friends and I thought and thought. We liked Mallory Pike, whom we already knew is good with kids, even if she is younger than the rest of us, but the problem was that her parents don't allow her to sit at night, except at her own house. Finally, we took on Mal and her friend Jessi. We figured that if they could take over a lot of our afternoon jobs, the rest of us could handle the nighttime stuff. So far, it's working just fine. Jessi and Mal are our junior officers.
    There's one other thing I better tell you about - our club notebook. The notebook is different from the record book. It's a sort of journal. We're all responsible for writing up every single job we go on. Then, once a week, we're supposed to read about the jobs in the notebook. It's really helpful. We can find out if the kids we sit for are having problems the rest of us should know about, or how one of us sitters handled a sticky situation, and other important things, like if any kid has food allergies or special fears. The notebook was my idea and I know it was a good one. I also know that most of the other club members think writing in it is a big bore. Well, too bad. Writing in the book is one of our few club rules.
    "Okay," I said, from the director's chair, "the treasury is in good shape. Anything else?"
    "Aw, look at Tigger!" Dawn said suddenly. Tigger was sitting in one of Claudia's shoes, which was pretty cute - but 1 was trying to conduct a meeting.
    "Anything besides Tigger?" I said sternly.
    Five heads snapped to attention. And just then the phone rang. 1 was nearest to it, so I answered it. "Hello, Baby-sitters Club. . . Hi, Mrs. Rodowsky." (I heard Dawn groan, and 1 waved my hand at her to make her quiet down.) "Tuesday?" I repeated. "Okay, I'll get back to you . . . Yes . . . Okay, good-bye."
    1 hung up. Mary Anne had opened the record book to the appointment pages. "This coming Tuesday?" she asked.
    I nodded.
    "Let's see. You're free, Kristy, and so are you, Dawn."
    "You can have the job, Kristy," said Dawn quickly.
    1 grinned wickedly. "Is Jackie too much for you?" 1 asked.
    "Nooo. Not exactly. You know 1 like him. His brothers, too. It's just. . , Well, you never know what's going to happen at the