Claudia's not worried when she hears her newest babysitting charge, Betsy Sobak, is a great practical joker.

The phone rang again and Mary Anne picked it up. As she spoke, she kept raising her eyebrows and making faces at us. At last she said to the caller, "I'll get right back to you." She hung up. "That," she told us, "was Mrs. Sobak. She needs another sitter."

"Boy!" I exclaimed. "If I were Mrs. Sobak, I wouldn't have the nerve to call us again. Her daughter nearly killed me."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "She didn't nearly kill you."

"Besides," added Mallory, "when I met Mrs. Sobak, I sort of got the impression that she doesn't think Betsy misbehaves. She just thinks she's kind of...well, she called her high spirited. And I-Oh! Oh, my gosh! Have I ever got an idea!" Mallory suddenly cried. "Kristy, if I'm free, please can I take the job with Betsy? See, there's been a lot of practical joking going on in my house-"

"You mean, you'd play jokes on Betsy?" exclaimed Kristy.

Mallory nodded. "Bad idea?"

Kristy frowned. "I don't know about that, Mal. Playing tricks on a little kid....I just don't know. It seems sort of mean. On the other hand..." Kristy's voice trailed off and I could tell she was thinking-hard. "You were certainly patient with Betsy, Claud," she said at last.

"Yeah, and look what she did to her," Mallory chimed in.

"I know, I know," said Kristy, and her eyes were beginning to gleam. "Well, maybe that would work. Obviously, we have a problem and we have to do something about it. I suppose we could declare a practical-joke war on Betsy Sobak. An unofficial one, of course. I mean, we can't tell her about it. But maybe it would teach her something. Mary Anne, is Mallory free to take the job?"

Mary Anne checked the appointment calendar in the record book. "Yup," she replied. "I'll call Mrs. Sobak."

Kristy looked at me. "The war is on," she said with a grin.

I felt a lot better

Claudia and the Bad Joke
Published by Scholastic Inc. 1996
ISBN: 0590435108