Chapter Four
Kristy
Today I sat for the Perkins girls. Unlike normal, they could think of nothing to do. Mrs. Perkins had taken Laura to the pediatrician, so I only had to watch Mariah and Gabbie. I went through a list of things that we could do-but they didn't want to color, or play dolls, or dress up, or do play-doh. Finally, I suggested a trip to the library and that was met with something that couldn't be called enthusiastic but it was better than the flat out no's from the other games…
While I was sitting for Kerry and Logan, Kristy had a job with the Perkins. The Perkins girls are really cute. Mariah's five and a half, Gabbie is two, and Laura is just a baby. Mariah and Gabbie are really cute and talented-they know dozens of songs and can dance and Mariah has taken theatre classes. They live in Kristy's old house, across the street from Claudia.
Kristy walked home from school on Tuesday with Claudia and then went straight to Perkinses. She rang the door bell and waited. She heard pounding feet running towards the door and Chewbacca barking. Chewy is a big lovable black lab. Gabbie threw the door open.
"Hi Kristy Thomas!" Gabbie cried. Gabbie calls everyone by their full names.
"Hiya Gabbie." Kristy said. Mrs. Perkins appeared holding a bundled up Laura.
"Hi Kristy," she said smiling warmly. "Come on in."
"Thanks. Hiya Laura." Kristy said, taking one of Laura's hands. Laura stared at Kristy and then her face began to crumple. She began to whimper.
"Oh, Miss Laura. What's wrong?" Kristy cooed, but Laura's cries began to get louder.
"I'm sorry." she said to Mrs. Perkins.
"It's not your fault Kristy. Laura's just been touchy lately. I'm going to take her to the pediatrician and then I have stop at the post office. I should be back before five."
"Okay."
"Mariah and Gabbie still need their snack-peanut butter and crackers are fine. The emergency numbers are on the bulletin board. Since I'll be at the doctor's office, if there's an emergency you can try calling there or try Mr. Perkins office number. It's on the board too."
"Okay."
"Do you have any questions?"
"Nope."
"All right then. Girls?" Mrs. Perkins called. Mariah and Gabbie came out of the den.
"I'm going to go now. You be good for Kristy."
"Bye mommy. Bye Laura." Mariah said, giving each of them a kiss. Gabbie did the same and Kristy had to smile. What great kids.
Mrs. Perkins left and Kristy turned to face the girls.
"Are you two hungry?" she asked.
"Yes. I would like some crackers and juice please." said Mariah politely.
"Me too, please." Gabbie echoed.
"All righty then. To the kitchen." Kristy said. The girls followed her into the kitchen and Kristy got out the crackers and juice.
"Would you like peanut butter?" Kristy asked.
"Yes please." Mariah said and Gabbie nodded. So Kristy poured out three cups of juice and made 9 peanut butter and cracker sandwiches.
"Here we are." Kristy said, setting a plate and cup in front of each girl.
"Thank you."
"Yes, thank you Kristy Thomas."
"You're welcome." Kristy said, sitting at the table. She quickly ate her snack but the girls were much slower. Kristy watched the way they ate. They both did the exact same thing. Break the sandwich in half, lick the peanut butter off, put the crackers together again, chew, swallow, take a drink, and start over. They reminded Kristy of her brother Andrew, who eats very slowly and methodically as well.
The girls finished their snacks and Kristy began to clean up.
"What do you girls want to do today?" she asked, rinsing the plates.
"I don't know. We can't play outside." Mariah said, pointing to the soggy grass and puddles on the sidewalk from the rain this morning.
"Do you want to color some pictures?" Kristy asked.
"Yeah!" Gabbie cried.
"Not really. I colored three in school today."
"No, not really." Gabbie said, changing her mind to think the same way as her sister.
"What about playing dolls?"
"No thank you. Our dolls are on vacation right now."
"Oh? Where did they go?"
"Well, Barbie has gone to Hawaii with Ken, Sally has gone to Europe and Michelle is in Tokyo."
"Okay. What about dress up? You girls love playing dress up." Kristy shut the dishwasher and looked at the girls. Mariah was shaking her head, her blonde curls bouncing. Gabbie was imitating her sister only her straight hair was swishing from side to side.
"Bored with that game too? How about play-doh?"
"I did play-doh this morning." Gabbie said. Kristy sighed.
"Well, it's not actually raining. We could go to the library."
"Well, okay." Mariah said, thinking about it.
"Yeah." Gabbie said.
"Great. Now, why don't you girls find your coats?"
Mariah and Gabbie went off and Kristy wrote a note to Mrs. Perkins in case she and Laura came back early. The girls reappeared with their coats and boots on.
"Okay girls. Let's get going." Kristy put on her coat and locked the door with key that was hanging by the back door. She decided to grab an umbrella, just in case.
Kristy and the girls reached the library quickly because it was cold outside so they had waked fast. Inside the nice warm lobby, Kristy helped the girls take off their coats and they hung them up.
Inside the library, Kristy said hello to Mrs. Kishi, who is the head librarian.
"Hello Kristy. Are you here with the girls for the puppet show?"
"Puppet show?"
"Yes. A man from Stanford is here and is doing a puppet show on Rapunzel."
"Great. Thanks for telling me."
"No problem. Enjoy the show."
Kristy caught up with the girls and told them about the puppet show.
"Oh boy!" Mariah said, smiling. "I've never even heard this story."
"Yeah!" Gabbie said, jumping up and down.
"Okay then, let's go." Kristy said, leading the way to the children's room. Once Gabbie and Mariah were settled in front of the puppet show, Kristy went to the adult section and searched through the newspaper for the sports section. She had just found it when something else caught her eye.
STONEYBROOK MANOR CLOSED DUE TO OUTBREAK!
Kristy picked up the article and took it and the sports section to a chair near the children's room. She began reading the article and was soon finished. What the article said was that Stoneybrook Manor, the old age home in town, had been closed to all visitors due to a vicious influenza outbreak that had happened a couple days earlier. Kristy put the paper down and her mind wandered to Logan. She wondered if Logan had the same type of thing, although she doubted it because the article said that anyone with a strong immune system could probably withstand the effects of the flu virus. She knew that Logan was normally strong and healthy, but of course, she knew that something had caused him to get sick. She put the thoughts out of her mind after making a mental note to tell me and then pulled out the sports section.
Soon the girls' puppet show was over and she helped them pick out a couple books each. She led them to the check-out desk and handed Mrs. Kishi her card.
"Did you girls enjoy the show?" she asked, while scanning the books.
"Yes. Rapunzel has very beautiful hair. It was sooooo long." Mariah said and Gabbie nodded.
"Yes, Rapunzels' hair is quite beautiful. And what about you, Kristy, did you find anything?"
"I was looking at the newspaper and I saw the article about Stoneybrook Manor."
"Yes, I read that too. Sad story. Hopefully it doesn't spread to everyone else though."
Kristy nodded and helped the girls put the books into bags, still talking to Mrs. Kishi while helping them.
"Yeah, although Logan Bruno is down with the exact same thing right now."
"Is that right? Poor dear. Well, let's just hope it doesn't get any worse than that."
"Yeah. Okay girls, it's time to get going. Your mom and Laura will be home soon. See you later Mrs. Kishi."
"Good bye Kristy. 'Bye girls."
"'Good bye." Mariah and Gabbie said politely. Kristy helped them with their coats and led the way home.
On the way, her mind wandered back to Logan and me. Kristy didn't know at the time that I was sitting for Logan.
"Kristy?" Mariah asked, tugging at the sleeve of her jacket.
"What?" Kristy looked down at Mariah.
"What are you thinking about?"
"About Logan Bruno. Do you know him?"
"Yes. He's baby-sat for us. Even Laura."
"Yep."
"Why are you thinking about Logan?"
"He's got the flu. He wasn't even in school the past two days."
"Poor Logan. Can I make him a get well card?" Mariah looked so sincere that Kristy had to smile.
"I'm sure Logan would love that."
Kristy and the girls walked home quickly and as soon as Kristy got the girls coats and boots off, they were off making a get well card for Logan. Kristy watched them and smiled.
The girls finished just as their mother came home.
"Hello girls. How did things go Kristy?"
"Great. We went to the library for a puppet show."
"Lucky girls!" Mrs. Perkins exclaimed to the girls who smiled and nodded.
"Look what we made Mommy!" Mariah thrust out the card. Mrs. Perkins took it and smiled.
"How nice. Who's it for, though Loves?"
"Logan Bruno. Kristy told us he has the flu."
"Oh. Well I'm sure this will help him feel better."
Mrs. Perkins paid Kristy and Kristy promised to give the card to Logan.