Baby-Sitters On Board by Ann M. Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

show you how to play Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, too." To my surprise, Mr. Staples came along. To my greater surprise, he was good at Centipede. When we were tired of the video room (Mr. Staples said his ears were ringing), we went back up to the Sun Deck. There Mr. Staples showed me how to play shuffleboard. To my surprise, I was good.
I looked at my watch after we'd finished a couple of games. "Gosh!" I exclaimed. "I have to go! It's almost lunchtime. This was really fun. Will I see you on Treasure Cay?" I asked. (That was where the Ocean Princess was going to dock for the afternoon, but you didn't have to visit the island if you didn't want to.) "Maybe," said Mr. Staples. "Don't know what I'd do there, though." "Just look around," I said. "See a new place.
Treasure Cay is going to be almost like a deserted tropical island — I think. Anyway, even if it isn't, don't you just want to be able to say you've seen it?" Mr. Staples' almost-smile returned. "Guess so," he said.
"Good. . . . Hey, I've got the perfect woman for you," I told him. "I mean, if you ever decide you want to start, you know, dating again." "Who's that?" "My nannie." "No kidding." "Listen, why don't you eat dinner with Mom and Watson tonight? I know they'd like to meet you. And you could meet the rest of my family, too." "Well — " "See you later!" I called. I ran off before Mr. Staples could say no. I ran all the way to our cabin. When I opened the door, I stopped and stared in horror. Someone had done something to the cabin while I was gone, and I knew who that someone was. Dawn. What she had done was straightened it up to within an inch of its life. Everything was folded up, hung up, put away, or thrown away.
Dawn had spent the morning committing a crime of tidiness.
I banged my way into Mom and Watson's cabin without even knocking. "Mo-om!" I cried. "Would you please talk to Dawn? She is driving me ... CRAZY! No, better yet," I rushed on, "can I switch rooms? Can I stay in here? Karen could move in with Claudia and Dawn. Please?" Mom was the only one in the cabin. She was sitting at the desk writing a postcard. "Honey, do you really think that's fair to anybody?" she asked.
"If s fair to me." "What about to Claudia and Dawn? Do you think they want to share a room with a six-year-old? And what about Andrew? He depends on Karen." "Are you saying no?" "I'm saying I'd like you and Dawn to try to work out your differences." "We can't," I said flatly. I left Mom's cabin in a huff.
At lunch, I spread the word that our daily meeting was canceled.
But I made Claudia spread the word to Dawn.
Byron.
Treasure I could feel it in my bones.
We were going to find buried treasure on Treasure Cay. All the signs pointed to it. I had just finished reading Treasure Island, and what was one of the movies they showed on the boat yesterday? You got it, Treasure Island. I made Adam and Jordan, my brothers (we're triplets), watch it with me. They didn't want to at first (because Treasure Island, the book, is a classic, and they think all classics are boring). But finally they came along.
On the other hand, our little brother Nicky and his friend David Michael begged to come with us, but we didn't want them. You can't keep people out of a movie theater, though, so they sat with us anyway. By the time the movie was over, we'd forgotten all about who did and didn't want to see it, and who did and didn't want to sit with whom. All we could talk about were pirates.
"A really good pirate," said Adam, "wears red-and-white striped stockings and has a black patch over one eye and a wooden leg." "And a parrot that sits on his shoulder," added Nicky.
"And the parrot can squawk out, 'Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum,' " said David Michael.
"He wears one big gold earring," said Jordan. "The pirate, I mean, not the parrot." "And he's rude and mean," I finished up. "He steals a treasure, buries it, and won't tell anyone where if s hidden. Except he tells his best friend — " "Whose name is Old Bad