On Thursday after school, Lou Lou and Pea went to see Abuela Josie. Pea’s abuela lived a few doors down from the Pearls in a little stucco house with a red roof. On Abuela Josie’s front door hung a brass horse’s-head knocker, and a horseshoe overhead brought good luck.
Pea knocked and her abuela opened the door almost immediately. “¡Hola, mijas! You’re just in time for pan dulces.”
“¡Qué estupendo!” Pea smiled at the mention of sweet treats, and she and Lou Lou both gave Abuela Josie a hug.
Inside, Abuela Josie’s house was filled with horse decorations and rodeo memorabilia. There were needlepoint horse pillows on the couch, a horse-head vase, and photographs from Abuela Josie’s vaquera days. Lou Lou paused to look at a photo of a young Abuela Josie at a rodeo. She was wearing her lucky hat, and Pea’s abuelo—a man with a bright smile who had passed away when Pea was little—had his arm around Abuela Josie’s shoulders.
The cozy kitchen smelled like baking and a plate of pan dulces rested on the table. Lou Lou and Pea sat down and Abuela Josie handed them steaming mugs of hot chocolate spiced with cinnamon and cayenne pepper. As she waited for hers to cool, Lou Lou glanced at the Bonanza program on the fridge.
“I couldn’t bear to take it down!” Abuela Josie said. “I was so excited about the Bonanza. The last time El Corazón hosted, I was just a teenager, and this year is muy, muy especial because it’s the Bicentennial. And we were supposed to get the lovely gazebo for Limonero Park … this whole thing is very sad.”
“Yes,” Lou Lou agreed. “I’m sorry about your lucky hat, Abuela Josie.” Pea stared into her mug. Abuela Josie put her hand over Pea’s and gave it a squeeze.
“Thank you, Lou Lou. I can’t say I’m not upset. But now that El Corazón has lost the Bonanza, I won’t be performing my stunt anyways, hat or no hat!”
“That’s so unfair! You’ve been practicing for months.” Lou Lou’s ears prickled with heat. She’d hoped Andy Argyle might make an exception for Abuela Josie’s performance since no one from Verde Valley could learn her stunt. But Lou Lou remembered the harsh words the vice-mayor had repeated at the Heliotrope: no exceptions.
“Eso si que es.” Abuela Josie sighed. Lou Lou gave Pea a meaningful look. It was time to start their diary investigation.
“Abuela, I’m doing some research for a Bonanza history project.” Pea chose her words carefully. She didn’t want to lie to her abuela, but Lou Lou and Pea had decided not to reveal their suspicions that the diary was a fake until they had more proof. No adult could tell them not to snoop if no one knew they were investigating in the first place! “May I look at the old family things in the attic?”
“Sounds interesting! Of course you may,” Abuela Josie replied. Lou Lou was relieved that Pea’s abuela didn’t ask for specifics about the “project.” “There is a box of heirlooms up there somewhere. I haven’t opened it in years, but you’re welcome to take a peek. I’m sure everything could use a little organizing and dusting, too!” Abuela Josie winked at Pea who would be excited about cleaning and tidying.
When they’d finished eating, Lou Lou and Pea picked up their mugs to go to the attic.
“Which do you like better, Abuela Josie? The red mug or the yellow mug?” Lou Lou asked. Pea raised her eyebrows, but nodded when Lou Lou scratched her head in a secret gesture. In order to make a new hat for Pea’s abuela, they needed to know what colors she liked.
“Definitely red,” replied Abuela Josie, though she looked puzzled at the question.
“Do you prefer felt to leather, or vice versa?” Pea asked.
“That’s an odd question. But leather, I suppose,” Abuela Josie replied. “I’d rather wear riding boots than slippers.”
Lou Lou and Pea climbed a narrow staircase up to the small attic at the top of the house. It had slanted ceilings and one tiny window that let in light, revealing an array of items scattered on the floor and on built-in shelves. The attic reminded Lou Lou a little of the crow’s nest, except it was filled with boxes and not nautical-themed.
Lou Lou and Pea looked through chipped plates, dusty books, and trophies from Abuela Josie’s vaquera days. Lou Lou hadn’t thought it possible for Abuela Josie to have even more horse-themed trinkets and housewares, but she was wrong. There was a large ceramic horse lamp that Pea carefully dusted, brass horse figurines, and rodeo scene snow globes.
Pea organized issues of Modern Equestrian by date while Lou Lou glanced at labels on boxes. They were in Spanish, so she read them aloud to Pea.
“Espuelas.”
“Spurs,” Pea translated.
“Aceite de Silla de Montar.”
“Saddle oil.”
“Diamantes de Imitación.”
“Rhinestones.”
Lou Lou checked the next three boxes: “Diamantes de Imitación, Diamantes de Imitación, and Más Diamantes de Imitación. At least we know where to find rhinestones for our next art project.”
“Take a few for Abuela Josie’s hat!” Pea said.
Lou Lou grabbed a handful of the glittering jewels and put them in her pocket. She stood on her tippy toes to see the label on the top box in the stack. “Herencias Familiares.”
“Family heirlooms!” said Pea. “That’s the one!” She helped Lou Lou bring the box to the floor. Lou Lou took a deep breath and Pea lifted off the top. Inside, the box was filled with pottery, silver, and other small treasures.
“There’s got to be something helpful in here!” Lou Lou said.
“I hope so! At the very least, everything could use a good cleaning,” replied Pea.
Lou Lou and Pea dove in, taking items from the box one by one. There was a water jug painted with colorful birds, a locket with an engraved honeysuckle blossom and the words Te amo, and even a love letter from Diego to his wife, Catalina. Pea polished all the silver to a high shine. The box was filled with interesting and pretty things, but Lou Lou and Pea were disappointed that there wasn’t anything useful to their investigation.
Lou Lou sighed. “I guess we’ll need to examine the diary. Nothing in here will save the Bonanza.”
“Or any of my hats, including Abuela Josie’s lucky one,” Pea added quietly.
“I know. I’m sorry, Pea. But we’re not giving up! And at least we’re making Abuela Josie a new hat.”
“Sí,” Pea said, though she still sounded sad. Lou Lou knew that a new hat for Abuela Josie, while a good idea, couldn’t take away the heartbreak of losing all the beautiful hats on which Pea had worked so hard.
Pea put the top on the Herencias Familiares box and Lou Lou helped her return it to the stack. As they headed for the stairs, the end of a bedsheet caught on Lou Lou’s foot and she pulled it to the floor, revealing a large, ornately framed painting of a dignified-looking dark-haired man in a fancy red coat sitting on a horse.
“You found the painting of Diego!” Abuela Josie appeared at the top of the stairs. “I came up to show that to you.”
Lou Lou recognized their city’s founder from the mural. “He’s very handsome,” she said.
“Yes. And speaking of good looks, that’s Tío Diego’s beautiful sorrel mare.” Abuela Josie pointed at the reddish-brown horse in the painting.
“What’s a sorrel?” asked Pea.
“It’s a plant,” Lou Lou replied. Then she realized that didn’t make sense when sorrel was used to describe a horse.
“True, but for horses, it’s actually a color,” Abuela Josie said.
“I’ll remember that,” said Pea. “I don’t think it’s in my color book.” Pea had a book called The Definitive Book of Color. It had proven useful for her art and for solving mysteries.
“Did you find what you were looking for up here?” asked Abuela Josie.
“We found some neat family things,” replied Lou Lou. But nothing that will prove the Argyles are lying, she thought. “Oh and these.” Lou Lou pulled the rhinestones from her pocket.
“May we use them for a fashion project?” Pea asked.
“Absolutely, Nieta! I think you should take this with you, as well.” She pointed at the painting. “Your tío Diego can remind you that you will always be a part of our city’s history, no matter which neighborhood is hosting the Bonanza. You too, Lou Lou.”
“Gracias, Abuela!” Pea gave her grandmother another hug. Lou Lou joined in with her own hug and thank-you.
“By the way, Abuela Josie, do you like ostriches or peacocks better?” Lou Lou asked.
“Faux fur or tulle?” Pea said.
“Silver or gold?” asked Lou Lou.
“You two are full of strange questions today,” replied Abuela Josie. “Silver. Faux fur. And definitely peacocks.” She smiled at Pea.
Lou Lou took one end of the large painting and helped Pea carry it down the stairs. As they left Abuela Josie’s house, Lou Lou looked at Diego’s brown eyes and serious but kind face. She could almost hear his voice saying, Salven la Bonanza, Lou Lou Bombay y Peacock Pearl!