Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls (7 page)

After dinner that night, it was Mimi's turn to help me with my homework.

“Mostly math,” I told her ruefully as we settled ourselves at the kitchen table. “We're having a test on Thursday, and Mr. Peters gave us review problems. Plus, he gave me extra work. Only me, Mimi. No one else,” I grumbled.

“And what is this work, my Claudia?”

“Memorizing the times tables. Mr. Peters knows that someone helps me with my homework, and he said for me to drill tonight. You're supposed to go through the deck of flash cards twice with me. Boring, boring. I haven't done that since fourth grade.”

“It is just a review, my Claudia. The memorization helps. When you know the tables just like that” (Mimi snapped her fingers) “your math will go much faster.”

“Well, I like anything that makes it go faster.”

Mimi smiled. “All right. We will go right through the deck. The cards are not in order.” She held one up. “Six times seven.”

“Forty. I mean, forty-two.”

“Eight times three.”

“Twenty-four.”

“Good girl.”

We were about halfway through the box when the doorbell rang. Mimi knew I needed a break. “Why don't you answer the door, my Claudia?”

I leaped to my feet. When I reached the door, I peeped out the front window to see who was there and was surprised to see Mr. and Mrs. Goldman from next door. They're an older couple who don't have any children and travel a lot, so we don't see much of them. As far as I could remember, they'd never come over without calling first.

“Mom!” I yelled as I unlatched the chain. “Dad! It's the Goldmans.”

“Hi,” I said, opening the door.

“Claudia, dear,” said Mrs. Goldman. She was clutching her husband's arm and looked terrified. “We're sorry to disturb you,” Mr. Goldman said.

My parents appeared behind me. “Eileen, Arnold,” said my mother. “Please come in. Is anything wrong?”

The Goldmans stepped into the foyer. “We think we've been robbed,” said Mr. Goldman shakily. “We went out to dinner, and when we came back just now, the front door was open a crack—”

“—and I'm positive I left a light on in the living room,” said Mrs. Goldman tearfully, “but the house is dark.”

My heart began to pump faster. It sounded as if it were beating right in my ears.

“We were afraid to go inside,” said Mr. Goldman. He was twisting his hat practically into knots.

“We're glad you came over,” said my mother. “I think it was wise not to go in the house. You just never know.” She patted Mrs. Goldman's arm.

“I'll call the police,” said Dad. “And I'll fix some tea,” added Mimi, who had joined us.

Two policemen showed up quickly before Mimi even had a chance to pour the tea. They listened to the Goldmans' story, then went next door to check the house. When they returned, one said, “Well, I'm afraid you
have
been robbed. The place is a bit messy upstairs. However, the intruder, or intruders, is gone now. I think you can return safely.”

Mr. Goldman nodded.

“Tell me, sir,” said the younger policeman, “did anything unusual happen today? An odd phone call, anything like that?”

Mr. Goldman shook his head. “No, I d—”

But his wife interrupted him. “Wait. There
was
a funny call, Arnold. Two, actually. They came when you were working in the cellar.” She turned to the policemen. “He has a wood shop down there,” she explained. “Late in the afternoon, the phone rang. When I answered it, I said hello twice and then the caller just hung up. It happened again about a half an hour later.”

I knew my eyes were opening wider and wider. “The Phantom Caller,” I croaked. The young policeman looked at me sharply. Then he nodded ever so slightly at his partner.

Well, as you can imagine, I had to get on the phone immediately and begin telling people about the Phantom. The first person I called was Stacey. I could almost hear her jaw drop.

“What did he get?” she squeaked.

“A pearl necklace and a gold brooch. Both very valuable. The brooch was an antique.”

“I just don't understand,” said Stacey. “How does he know?”

“Beats me. The police did say one interesting thing, though.”

“What?”

“They said they're not sure this robbery fits the Phantom's pattern. They said it may be a copycat crime. You know, just some local punk who wanted to get a little fast cash and is covering his tracks by disguising the crime as the Phantom's. The police said they were very surprised to see the Phantom working a neighborhood like ours.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“It means usually he sticks to millionaires.”

“Oh.”

After I talked to Stacey, I got on the phone with Kristy and told her the news. She said she would call Mary Anne. Then Mimi made me return to my homework. We were almost finished with the flash cards when the phone rang. Mimi answered it, then handed it to me. “It is Kristy,” she told me. “Please speak only for a few minutes.”

“Okay. Thanks,” I said, smiling at Mimi as she handed me the receiver. Mimi is the only one who lets me take phone calls during the homework sessions.

“Claudia,” said Kristy, not even answering my hello, “we have a big problem.”

“What?” I asked with a groan.

“I should never have told Mary Anne about the Goldmans, although she would have found out anyway.”

“What happened?”

“She told her father about the robbery, and he's forbidden her to do any baby-sitting until the Phantom is caught.”

“Oh,
no
.”

“And she's got three jobs lined up this week.”

“Oh, no.”

“Yeah. I think her father is actually just mad that she was on the phone after dinner and not discussing homework. You know his silly rule.”

“I know.”

“But we still have to cover for her. I'm calling an emergency club meeting during recess tomorrow.”

“Okay. I'll see you in school.” We hung up.

When we finally finished my homework, Mimi came upstairs and sat for her portrait again. I was working on her eyes, which were the hardest part for me. When Mimi looks at me, I see all sorts of things expressed in her eyes. I wanted very badly to show that on the canvas, and it was difficult.

“How are you and Janine getting on?” asked Mimi, remembering the conversation we'd had the last time she'd posed for me.

“The same,” I said.

“You know, my Claudia, that in order for things to change,
you
must change them. You will grow to be an old woman like me if you wait for others to change things that do not please you.”

I thought about that. I thought about the times Janine had tried to talk to me and I had brushed her off. I thought about the times I had been cross with her without telling her why I was cross. But all I said to Mimi was, “When I'm an old woman, I hope I'm just like you.”

Mimi smiled. I added flecks of light to the pupils in Mimi's portrait, and her eyes looked almost right.

The next day, school was buzzing about the Goldmans' robbery. Word had spread quickly. Was it the Phantom or not? Had he really come to Stoneybrook? Should our parents buy fancy alarm systems for our houses? Should we put our valuables in safe-deposit boxes at the bank?

The one thing everyone agreed on was that if the robber really was the Phantom, we didn't have anything to worry about
personally.
He usually only struck when a home was empty, and he had never injured anyone. No one had even seen him.

I spent math class that day trying to design a plan of attack on Trevor Sandbourne. It was Tuesday. The Halloween Hop was on Friday, just three days away. I knew that I could not, as Stacey had suggested, ask
him
to the dance, but I could try to attract his attention, get him to notice me.

At noontime, I bought the hot lunch—meat loaf, green beans, and mashed potatoes (all prime candidates for a food sculpture). Dessert was—what else?—red Jell-O. As I was walking toward the table where Stacey, Dorianne, Emily, and the boys were sitting, I noticed Trevor just a couple of tables away from them.

Aha, I thought. I can start doing something to get Trevor to notice me. I decided to take a shortcut to my table, which would involve squeezing by Trevor. Maybe I could say hi to him while I was at it.

I approached him, holding my tray tightly. Trevor was sitting at the end of his table. I squeezed around behind him, and just as I did so, the kid seated in back of Trevor stood up suddenly. I lost my balance—and my plate of Jell-O slid off my tray and landed Jell-O-side-down in Trevor's lap. Very slowly, he looked at it, then at me, while red stuff oozed to the floor.

His face turned as red as the Jell-O.

I knew mine was red, too.

What I didn't know was what I was supposed to do. Every kid at Trevor's table was staring at me. A bunch of other kids was staring, too. At long last, I balanced my tray on one knee, handed Trevor my napkin, and said, “Sorry. I'm sorry.” Then I fled to an empty seat next to Stacey. I crumpled into the chair and buried my face in my hands. “I am so embarrassed,” I whispered. “Is everyone still looking at me?”

Stacey glanced around. “No. They're watching Trevor clean up his pants. By the way, you left the Jell-O plate in his lap.”

“Oh, no. Oh, no.”

“Hey, good going, Claudia!” Rick exclaimed.

“Yeah, that was really coordinated,” added Howie.

“Shut up, you guys,” I said. My face was still flaming.

“Oooh, touch-ee,” said Pete.

Honestly, boys can be such pains. Well, some boys can be. Rick, Howie, and Pete would probably bring this incident up periodically until we graduated from high school. Maybe for the rest of our lives.

I decided that I would try to paint a picture
about embarrassment. The main color would be red.

I was glad that we needed to have an emergency meeting of the Baby-sitters Club because it helped me to forget that I had just blown the Halloween Hop and would be sitting at home like Kristy and Mary Anne on Friday night.
They
didn't care about not going to the dance, but I sure did. (Stacey, I happened to know, was going to be invited to the dance by Pete. Pete had told Rick, who'd told Howie, who'd told Dorianne, who'd told me. And Dorianne and Emily were both going to go.)

Kristy gathered the club members beneath an unused basketball hoop on the playground. Before she could even open her mouth, Mary Anne spoke up. “I just want to tell you guys that I'm really sorry. This is all my fault. I'm causing problems, and I feel terrible.”

“It's not you, it's your father,” said Kristy.

“I know, but you three have to take over all my work.”

“Don't worry about it,” said Stacey.

“That's right,” I added. “Every business faces problems sometimes. Mimi says that solving problems strengthens character.”

Mary Anne smiled. “Mimi is usually right.”

“Okay,” said Kristy, rubbing her hands together. “Let's get to work.” She opened our appointment book, which she'd been carrying under one arm. “Hmm. Mary Anne, you're supposed to be sitting for the Marshalls for an hour this afternoon, for Claire and Margo Pike tomorrow, and for Charlotte Johanssen on Saturday morning, right?”

“Right.”

“Well, let's see. Today is usually my day to watch David Michael, but I switched with Sam since Claudia and I are sitting at the Newtons' starting at five this afternoon. If Mrs. Marshall really just needs someone from three-thirty to four-thirty, I could do that.”

“Okay,” said Mary Anne. “Here, let me take the book and keep track of all this stuff. It's my job anyway.”

Kristy handed the book over.

“Now,” said Mary Anne. “Let's take care of the Pikes. Claudia, you're not down for any jobs tomorrow.”

“No, but I have my art class.”

“Oh, right.”

“I could skip it,” I said reluctantly.

“No, I'll take your job, Mary Anne,” said Stacey.

“But you're down for Charlotte.”

“Oh, not anymore. Dr. Johanssen called last night to cancel. I didn't have a chance to change the book.”

“Great. Okay, the Pikes are taken care of. That leaves Charlotte on Saturday. How come Dr. Johanssen canceled tomorrow? Maybe she'll cancel Saturday, too.”

“I don't think so,” said Stacey. “It was just that some meeting was called off tomorrow. It's not going to affect Saturday.”

Mary Anne sighed. She looked at the book again. “Claudia?” she asked.

“Sure, I'll watch Charlotte.”

Mary Anne snapped the book shut. “I've been thinking,” she said firmly. “I shouldn't be part of the Baby-sitters Club anymore.”

“What?”
Kristy and Stacey and I cried.

“It's not fair,” Mary Anne went on. “Who knows how long it'll be before the Phantom is caught. Dad could keep me on baby-sitting probation for years.”