The next day’s non-emergency PSPP was the second somber PSPP of the week. The arrival of Friday meant they were one day closer to El Corazón’s handover of Bonanza preparations to Verde Valley. To cheer themselves up, Lou Lou and Pea decided to have PSPP at Marvelous Millinery so they could work on Abuela Josie’s new hat.
Lou Lou sipped her tea while she watched Pea stitch together red leather to make the top piece of the vaquera hat. “How can I help?” she asked.
“You can put some rhinestones on the brim,” replied Pea. Lou Lou washed scone crumbs from her hands, then Pea showed her how to attach the jewels.
As they worked, they discussed their investigation. But they didn’t come up with any great ideas for examining Giles’s diary.
“Maybe Andy Argyle will bring the diary to the park tomorrow and we can read it when he has his back turned,” Lou Lou suggested.
“Maybe.” Pea didn’t sound convinced. She opened a bag of faux-fur pom-poms and held up a few against the leather.
“Those are pretty,” said Lou Lou.
“I’m not sure they’re right for the hat,” Pea replied. “But they are lovely accents. As Karl Lagerfeld said, ‘You cannot fake chic but you can be chic and fake fur.’”
* * *
The next morning, Lou Lou followed her usual Saturday routine. By seven-thirty, she was awake, dressed, and down the crow’s nest’s rope ladder. After Lou Lou visited her garden, she sat down to breakfast at the SS Lucky Alley kitchen table made from the hull of a small boat. Lou Lou and her parents discussed the Bonanza over banana pancakes.
“It certainly is tragic,” said Lou Lou’s mom. “Everyone in El Corazón was looking forward to hosting the celebration, and we’ve spent so much time preparing.” She glanced at a box filled with her origami birthday cakes that she would now have to give to Verde Valley. “And poor Peacock losing her beautiful hats! What will happen to the honeysuckle, honey?” Lou Lou’s mom didn’t seem to realize that sounded funny.
“I’m not sure yet,” said Lou Lou. She checked the antique chronometer on the shelf above the stove. “But I’ll know soon. It’s time to go to Limonero Park!”
“Aye, aye, matey!” said Lou Lou’s dad. “You go ahead. We’ll be there once I finish baking catamaran cookies.”
Lou Lou grabbed her red hoodie from the ship’s-mast coatrack. “Great! I’m sure Pea will be happy to have fresh cookies when we get back.” She knew Pea loved the sailboat-shaped sugar cookies topped with blue and white sprinkles.
“Before you go, Lou Lou, I have a joke for you,” her dad said. “What kind of sweater did the pirate wear?”
“I don’t know, Dad.” Lou Lou was reminded of Kyle’s bad jokes.
“Arrrgyle, of course!” her dad replied. Lou Lou mustered a grin before she shut the door behind her.
When Lou Lou reached Limonero Park, it was already busy with the handover of the Bonanza preparations. Many of Lou Lou’s neighbors were there, just like at the Heliotrope. But unlike the Heliotrope gathering, there was no festive feeling in the air. Instead the people of El Corazón moved about the park with sad eyes and heavy hearts. Lou Lou saw Kyle giving his goats to another ruddy-faced boy.
“Please take good care of them, Tommy,” Kyle said. He hugged Jupiter around the neck, and the goat nibbled on Kyle’s hair.
Nearby, Danielle Desserts and her snooty-girl posse were teaching a group of Verde Valley girls to do the Sugar Mountain Sisters’ Shimmy.
“Sashay, sashay, jazz hands!” Danielle commanded. “No, no, no! I said ‘jazz hands’ not ‘spaghetti fingers’! Try it again!” Even though Danielle was being her usual bossy self, Lou Lou sympathized with the sorrowful note in Danielle’s voice. She’d worked hard on the Sugar Mountain Sisters’ Shimmy, and it couldn’t be easy to have to give up dancing in its debut performance.
Before she tracked down Juan to ask about the honeysuckle, Lou Lou looked for Pea. It didn’t take long to find her best friend. Pea stood forlornly between two lemon trees, surrounded by a multicolored sea of hatboxes and bags.
“Hi,” said Lou Lou, putting her arm around Pea’s shoulders. “¿Cómo estás?”
“Bien,” Pea replied, but from her sorrowful tone and her quivering chin, Lou Lou didn’t believe that she was doing well.
“Where’s Mr. Vila?” Lou Lou asked.
“He went to get the rest of the hats. In the meantime, I’m waiting to give these to Verde Valley.” She nodded at the boxes and bags. Following Pea’s gaze, Lou Lou saw the hats Pea had named Lady Lou Lou’s Luxury and Bombay Bazaar. Lou Lou felt a familiar warmth in her ears. She definitely believed the diary was a fake, the Bonanza was stolen, and Verde Valley had no right to take Pea’s beloved hats. But even if the Argyles weren’t lying, Lou Lou still felt upset that Pea would lose her hats.
“Have you checked on your honeysuckle yet?” Pea asked.
“No. I wanted to check on you first,” Lou Lou replied.
“I’ll be all right. I promise,” Pea said.
Lou Lou scanned the park to find Juan. He was over near the long row of honeysuckle talking to Andy Argyle, and from the way Juan was waving his hands, things didn’t look good.
“We can’t just dig up the plants without damaging them,” Lou Lou heard Juan say as she approached. He gave the shovel in Andy Argyle’s hand a dirty look.
“We’ll have to take our chances, won’t we? The honeysuckle belongs to Verde Valley now,” replied the vice-mayor. Lou Lou marched to Juan’s side, not bothering to say any chrysanthemums or try to cool her fiery ears.
“But—” she began.
“What do we have here? A little girl who wants to get her way, just like that hat girl at the Heliotrope. El Corazón seems to be filled with them.” This made Lou Lou even angrier. She hated being called little. “No BUTS,” Andy Argyle added.
“I don’t want their stupid plants, Daddy.” Amanda Argyle stomped over to her father. She was wearing Pea’s hat again. Lou Lou hoped Pea couldn’t see Amanda. Pea’s day was already bad enough. “I took some cuttings when I was here before. We can grow far superior Verde Valley honeysuckle.” Amanda twirled her braids around her fingers and looked smug.
“‘Superior’? Did you say superior?” Lou Lou said. “And do you really think you have enough time—” Juan put a hand on her arm, and Lou Lou got the message. Silence might mean they could save their plants.
“If you say so, darling daughter,” said Andy Argyle. “You can keep your silly honeysuckle,” he said to Juan and Lou Lou. “Come on, Amanda. Let’s go find some of the more interesting Bonanza creations.” Andy Argyle spun on a shiny-shoed heel.
Lou Lou helped Juan water the honeysuckle and went to rejoin Pea. But before she reached the other side of the park, she nearly ran headlong into Jeremy.
“Whoooaaa there!” Jeremy put up his hands to avoid a collision. He backed up a step to peer down at Lou Lou, and one of the red spikes of his hair flopped over. “Hello, my clumsy friend.”
“You’re the one who wasn’t looking where you were going,” said Lou Lou.
“You’ve got a point. Sorry about that,” Jeremy said. “With all that’s going on today, I guess I was distracted. It’s such a bummer to lose all of this.” He looked around at the park.
“It’s so unfair! Even if the Bonanza does belong in Verde Valley, the Argyles are really taking this too far,” Lou Lou replied. “Anyway, Pea and I have our suspicions about their story and the diary. We’ve decided to investigate!”
“Uh-oh, the Argyles better watch out!” said Jeremy. “When it comes to investigations, Lou Lou Bombay and Peacock Pearl mean business.”
“What will happen with the caracoles contest?” Lou Lou asked. “Can you still enter?”
“I hope so!” said Jeremy. “It’s always been open to the whole city, not just the Bonanza host neighborhood, and I haven’t heard any different. Hey, do you and Peacock want to come over later? I’ve tried some new ingredients and I wanna know whatcha think. You can also tell me more about this investigation.”
“Sure!” Lou Lou decided that her dad’s catamaran cookies could wait. “Pea will need some cheering up, and caracoles might just do the trick.”
“¡Excelente! Hasta luego!” Jeremy loped off toward the far edge of the park.
When she rejoined Pea, the hatboxes and bags were gone and Kyle was showing Pea his cosmic kung fu. “And then a crater chop.” Kyle waved his hand through the air. “Followed by a shooting-star side kick.” Kyle threw a leg out to the right.
“Hi, Lou Lou Bombay,” Kyle said. “I was just showing Peacock what I would have done if I’d been here when they took her hats away.”
“I’m so sorry, Pea.” Lou Lou hugged her friend.
“Vice-Mayor Argyle said he would keep them himself until the Bonanza so Amanda could try on every one.” Pea wiped her eyes with her handkerchief.
“Maybe a snack and working on our diary investigation will make you feel better!” Lou Lou told Pea about Jeremy’s taste-testing offer.
“Sounds good,” Pea agreed.
“Did you say ‘investigation’? That’s right up my cosmic alley. Nobody handles an investigation better than Comet Cop!” Kyle said.
Lou Lou rolled her eyes. “I suppose you can come, too, Kyle.”