When Dawn had to choose an animal, she didn't hesitate. "A dolphin," she said. "I'd be perfectly happy skimming through the water and playing in the waves." I can see Dawn as a dolphin. She's certainly at home in the ocean, since she practically grew up on the beach.

Dawn was our alternate officer, which meant that she could take over for any other officer who had to miss a meeting. So far we haven't

filled her job, and so far that's been okay. We've been attending meetings pretty regularly.

Now, so far all the members I've told you about are thirteen and in the eighth grade, like me. But two members of the BSC are younger. They are Jessi Ramsey and Mallory Pike. They're best friends, and they're eleven and in the sixth grade. They are junior officers, which means that they take mostly afternoon jobs, since they aren't allowed to sit at night except for their own families.

We didn't have to ask them which animal they'd choose. We knew they would both want to be horses. Jessi, who studies ballet seriously (and is very talented) said she'd be a Lipizzaner, which is a kind of stallion that is trained to dance in a special way. And Mallory, who loves to read and write (and wants to be an author someday), said she'd be a horse "just like Black Beauty in the book."

Jessi is African-American, with coal-dark eyes and long dancer's legs. She has a little sister named Becca and a baby brother named John Philip (everybody calls him Squirt). Her Aunt Cecelia lives with the family, too.

Mallory has red hair, freckles, glasses, and braces. She's going to be very, very pretty someday, but right now she can't see that. Mal comes from a gigantic family: she has seven