So my friends said their good-byes to Dennis and Sean, to Carlos, Blair, and Cissy, and to Natalie and Peggie. As we left the Upchurches’ apartment and headed for the elevator, Kristy stopped in her tracks.
“You know something,” she said, “I don’t want to go say good-bye to Leslie Reames. We’ll probably get stuck in that penthouse listening to a lecture on wheat allergies … or what would happen to Leslie if she ate goat cheese.”
We laughed.
“Well, we have to go,” I said. “You can’t say good-bye to all the kids except Leslie.”
Reluctantly, we rode to the penthouse. But Martha was the only one there. Hooray! Unfortunately, now my friends had to pack their things. It was time for them to get ready to leave.
The packing was done silently. We weren’t mad, just sad.
We lugged Claudia’s boxcar into the living room.
My friends said good-bye to Mom and Dad.
Then my father gave me some money for a taxi, and we left the apartment.
“Thanks for everything!” said my friends.
“Come back soon,” my father replied.
“We loved having you,” added Mom.
Claudia looked at me mischievously and whispered, “Have fun and be careful.”
“Have fun and be careful!” Mom called, just as the elevator arrived.
We zoomed to the ground floor.
“Have a good day!” said Isaac as we trooped by.
I hailed a cab. The driver put Claudia’s boxcar in the trunk. My friends and I squeezed their duffels and knapsacks and souvenirs into the taxi.
The ride to Grand Central was pretty quiet. We weren’t sure what to say to each other. But as soon as we entered the train station we all began talking at once.
“What a weekend!” exclaimed Mary Anne.
“Oh, my lord, it’s been awesome!” said Claud.
“I’m glad we got to meet Laine,” said Dawn.
“This building is the hottest place I’ve ever been in,” complained Kristy.
“Worse than Bloomingdale’s?” I asked her.
“Hmm. That’s a close one to call.”
Unfortunately, my friends’ train was announced then. In a split second, every one of us burst into tears, even Kristy.
We hugged and cried and said how much we would miss each other and made all sorts of promises about writing and phoning and visiting.
Then I walked the members of the Stoneybrook branch of the Baby-sitters Club to their track.
“Good-bye,” said my friends together.
“Good-bye,” I replied. “Have fun and be careful!”
* * *
Dear Reader,
I loved writing Stacey’s Mistake, the first book in t he series that takes place in New York City. Since I’ve lived in New York for a long time, it was lots of fun creating Stacey’s life there — her neighborhood, her friends, her apartment. I love living in New York. It’s so exciting, and there’s so much to do. Like Stacey, I enjoy going to the theater and museums, and I love trying different kinds of food. When I was a kid, I liked reading books that were set in New York City. Some of my favorites were Stuart Little, The Cricket in Times Square, and Eloise. (By the way, Eloise was one of Stacey’s favorite books when she was little.) So if you’ve just finished Stacey’s Mistake and you’re ready for another New York adventure, how about trying one of these? From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, or Slake’s Limbo.
Happy reading,
Ann M. Martin
* * *
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ANN MATTHEWS MARTIN was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane.
There are currently over 176 million copies of The Baby-sitters Club in print. (If you stacked all of these books up, the pile would be 21,245 miles high.) In addition to The Baby-sitters Club, Ann is the author of two other series, Main Street and Family Tree. Her novels include Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), Here Today, A Dog’s Life, On Christmas Eve, Everything for a Dog, Ten Rules for Living with My Sister, and Ten Good and Bad Things About My Life (So Far). She is also the coauthor, with Laura Godwin, of the Doll People series.
Ann lives in upstate New York with her dog and her cats.
Copyright © 1987 by Ann M. Martin.
Cover art by Hodges Soileau
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC, THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First edition, 1996
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
e-ISBN 978-0-545-53515-1
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