The Babysitters' Club – AC Style!
By Whinnie
Hello there, y'all! I don't have much to say, so I'll let the story do it. LOL, I know, I'm always making you laugh, right? Okay, maybe I DO have something to say... You see, I wrote this story months ago, but I never planned to publish it on till now. The price board and everything else is okay, but the villager list is WAY out of shape. Every week, a new villager moves in and another moves out. From now on, I'm going to post the updated villager list in every chapter so we don't get confused.
Brampton Residents:
Liz (lives in Acre B1)
Tutu (lives in Acre B1)
Boots (lives in Acre B2)
Goldie (lives in Acre B2)
Chow (lives in Acre C1)
Velma (lives in Acre C1)
Yuka (lives in Acre C2)
Anchovy (lives in Acre C4)
Monique (lives in Acre C5)
Pompom (lives in Acre C5)
Midge (lives in Acre D5)
Teddy (lives in Acre E2)
Buzz (lives in Acre E4)
Prince (lives in Acre E4)
Tabby (lives in Acre F1)
Whitney (lives in Acre B3, Brampton; bottom right corner)
Megan (lives in Acre B3, Brampton; bottom left corner)
Amani/Amoon (lives in Acre B3, DinoTown; top left corner with Tahani)
Tahani/Hani (lives in Acre B3, DinoTown; top left corner with Amoon)
Dump - Acre A1
Post Office - Acre A2
Train Station - Acre A3
Nookington's Department Store - Acre A5
Brampton Museum - Acre D1
Khaos Cafe - Acre D2
Police Station - Acre D3
Lake - Acre E3
Music Store - Acre E4
Wishing Well - Acre E5
Tailor Store - Acre F3
Kapp'n's Dock - Acre F5
Chapter 4 - Heartbroken - Chapter 4
Whitney laughed with her best friend, Sara, as the two girls flipped through a magazine in the school library. It was the first month of school, a Monday to be exact, and both the girls, along with Bernice, Amanda, and Erikha-Lee, were spending numerous amounts of time together after having been seperated for two months, due to summer vacation. Bernice was in the bathroom, Erikha was at the front desk looking for a book, and Amanda was helping her little brother use the computer. It was after school hours, but they didn't seem to care; all that mattered was having fun. Suddenly, Whitney looked at her watch and nearly screamed, almost destroying the silence in the quiet but large room.
"I'm sorry, Sara," she apologized. "But I've to go. Today, I'm supposed to babysit the Kemma kids, and I've to be there 4 o'clock sharp!" Sara just nodded, completely understanding, and let her go after promising to tell the others. Quickly, the pink-haired girl packed up, ran out of the school building, and boarded the train three minutes before it left to Oaklea, another nearby village.
Everything was quiet except for her feet as Whitney stepped off of the train and onto the blue sidewalk; the enviroment was peaceful, leaves slowly fell off the colourful fruit trees, and birds and bugs silently went about enjoying the silence the tiny town had to offer. The girl greatly enjoyed all this, and promised herself to come after one of her hectic evenings to enjoy as she looked up the map in the Acre, locating the Kemma's house in Acre E-5. "This is just great," she thought to herself. "Heaven knows what'll happen if I fall off a cliff on my way here." Luckily, as she completed the long walk which consisted of 6 Acres, she didn't fall off a cliff, bump into any bees or their honey-filled hives, and managed to get away from Crazy Redd's tent.
Just as she was about to knock on the door of the aqua-coloured roof of the Kemma's house, Mr. and Mrs. Kemma stepped out while their child, a boy, was in the living room playing with his blocks.
"Oh, dear," Mrs. Kemma said when she found Whitney at the door, surprised. "I'm afraid we didn't know you were there," she apologized, slightly embarassed. Whitney, however, just said it was okay and entered the family's beautiful house. It was made of beautiful oak, and all the furniture was made of real wood, including the leather sofa and beds.
A few minutes later, both of them left. Whitney was left alone with 6-year-old Ben. After he had finished eating his afternoon snack (he had just arrived from school,) she had read him a short story and let him nap on the couch. Now, she was sitting on the floor of the family room, reading a few chapters of her new mystery book. Then, out of the blue, the phone rang. Whitney got up from her spot on the carpet, dashed toward the kitchen, and picked up the wall phone. "Hello?" she spoke into the receiver.
It was Goldie, and she sounded strange. "Whitney, we're calling an emergency meeting in a few minutes by the Brampton lighthouse," she said without any pleasantries. Before the confused girl could ask anymore, the dog added in, "Tabby didn't say why."
"But I won't be able to make it until 4:45, when my sitting job ends," she said. "So... could you reschedule for 5 o'clock?" the green-eyed girl asked. Goldie just muttered, "Sure," and hung up.
Whitney spent the rest of her sitting job pondering on what had happened. Quarter to 5 came quickly, and soon Whitney found herself on a train back to Brampton.
As soon as the train stopped and the doors opened, Whitney ran out of the car, down the steps, and down the path which led to the centre of the town, the square where Megan's and her houses were located. After unlocking the door to her house, she quickly tossed her bag on the hook by the door, and then ran back out with her gingham umbrella and dark green raincoat. First she passed Goldie and Boots's houses, then the large peach tree, Glowing Pond, a cliff, the Museum, and finally she reached the beach. After walking two more Acres to the east, she was at the lighthouse and the stone bridge was in front of her. Tabby looked stressed as she stared at the water, Bertha was standing beside her, Midge was sitting on the muddy grass, while Liz and Goldie were leaning on the lighthouse as it cast its bright light out over the ocean's shore, monitoring the dreary, blue waves and watching carefully for any boats. A few minutes later, Amoon and Tahani arrived, panting.
"Where's Maddie?" Whitney asked as she bent over, catching her breath. Amoon and Tahani did the same. But what Bertha said next was enough to stop their breathing altogether. "She's... not coming," the bull replied in a grave voice.
"Why not?" Tahani asked. Tabby was now crying, her salty tears dripping out onto the ocean. Liz then took a deep breath, sighed, and said, "Maddie's gone. Left Brampton for... forever."
The three girls gasped. Even Goldie and Midge looked surprised; both showed the shock on their faces. Obviously, the others hadn't told them.
"Yes," Liz said. She looked at Tabby, and the orange cat reluctantly handed over a white envelope with tear stains on them. Liz opened the flap, took out the letter inside, and showed it to the girls.
Dear Tabby,
Hi there, girl! How are you today? I feel very bad for doing this, but it's something I must.
There's some grave news. And you won't like it that much... In fact, you won't like it at all. I know that, in my letters I write to you, I usually stir up a conversation, but since I've not much time, I have to get to the point. My father will be here in a few minutes, so I must hurry or never finsih this letter at all.
My father is planning to take me away. I know. He doesn't want me staying in Brampton, where he says it's 'infested' with nobodies and idiots. Of course, it's entirely not true. I tried to reason with him over the phone, and even told him that I'd live in DinoTown or some other near place if he didn't want me living here, but he said that I MUST come back to Calcutta, India, or press the town charges against me. For what, I don't know.
I'm entirely sorry about everything, and will cherish everything: every moment I've spent with you and the gang, every nanosecond, time, and memory... I'm sorry that we've only been able to do so little within these two months in Brampton. Very, very sorry. I promise to make it up to you one day... I vow to do that.
Sorry to do this. But I must go now and pack, then mail this letter off at the post office. Here, I'm sending you some of our latest snaps with the gang together, and you can have the duplicate of my favourite, rare stamp - I bought one at the post office yesterday.
Lots of love to all of you,
Maddie girl! (Please forgive me!)
P.S.: My address is 4 Nummb Lane. Maybe, one of these days, the mailman might be able to sneak one of your letters to me. Try to keep in touch with each other!
Tears were now flowing freely down Tahani's cheeks, and Amoon had a frown instead of sporting her trademark smile. Whitney just had an unbelievable look on her face. No one could say anything as the rain poured down in sheets. Then, it turned to thick hail. Still, no one made any move to get up and leave.
Then, Tabby got up and immediately sprinted to her house. No one wanted to break the silence, so Whitney made a motion with her hand. The girls all split up in different directions to their own residence, and then later came back with nightbags, backpacks, and sleeping bags. It took Amoon and Tahani a lot longer, because they had to go back to DinoTown and get their things. All met in front of Tabby's house, where she stood and nodded. She took a key out of her pocket, which was attached to a keychain of a picture of Maddie and Tabby, then stuck it in the keyhole and opened the door. Everyone filed in, wiping their shoes on the mat, and then took them off and silently entered.
"There are two bathrooms on each floor," Tabby said, finally speaking. Her house was beautiful; a retro TV was stationed in the living room, along with a couch, fireplace, blue bookshelf filled with French dictionaries and mystery books. The dining room was huge, and consisted of a square, yellow table, with green and blue matching chairs; there was also a lamp to light up the room. "I have three bedrooms upstairs, so a few of you'll have to sleep on the couch." Tabby gave them instructions on what they'd do, where and what they'd eat, where the kitchen was, and so on and so forth. Then, she went to her kitchen, made some hot chocolate for everyone, and then took a shower. Whitney didn't like showers that much, so she just took up a quick wash. So did Amoon, because of her cold. However, Tahani and Liz loved the water, so they went for a long, hot bath. Bertha promised to clean up later. The girls then curled up in the family room, the fireplace heated, and told stories of Maddie and each other as they sipped hot chocolate, and munched on cookies and noodles.
That day ended off with a heartbroken group of girls.
Ouch! That wasn't good at all, don't you agreed? Sorry, but I just had to put in the part when Maddie left my town - she was a very good friend of mine, yes, very good friend... Well, I've nothing to say except that I'll see you in the next chapter!
-- Whinnie