“Gimme!” Amanda stuck out her hand, palm up, at Lou Lou and Pea. She flipped one of her braids over her shoulder.
“Hello, Amanda,” said Principal Garcia. “Please sit down and have some horchata.”
“We’re not here for horchata. We just want to reclaim what is rightfully ours.” The vice-mayor’s voice boomed from around the corner before his dark eyes appeared.
“He means Giles’s diary!” added Amanda, even though everyone knew that. “Which is SO not a fake. And it belongs to us!”
“Doesn’t it belong to our city?” Pea asked.
“Quick thinking,” Lou Lou whispered.
“That’s true,” said Principal Garcia.
“Even so, you can’t just steal it from the City Archives,” Andy said.
“Also true,” said Principal Garcia.
“We didn’t steal it!” said Lou Lou. “We just accidentally borrow—”
“Whatever!” screeched Amanda. “Just give it back!” Principal Garcia nodded to Pea, and she took the diary from her bag and handed it to Amanda. Amanda stuffed it into her red-and-pink-argyle-print backpack.
“It doesn’t matter who has the diary. What matters is that we can prove it’s fake and you’re using it to take the Bonanza away from El Corazón,” Lou Lou said.
Andy Argyle let out a sinister laugh. Principal Garcia’s kitchen didn’t have the acoustics of the Heliotrope but the Ha! Ha! Ha! still seemed to echo all around them. “Ah yes, your ridiculous accusation based on the color of Diego’s horse,” he said. “Let’s dispense with that now. Amanda, tell them.”
Amanda smirked and pulled from her bag a book with the title Equine Rainbow. She opened to a marked page and read aloud: “‘Chestnut’ and ‘sorrel’ are often used interchangeably in the equine world to describe a horse with a red-hued coat. ‘Chestnut’ has English origins, whereas ‘sorrel’ is Western. And there you have it!” Amanda slammed the book closed.
“What my darling daughter says is true. Chestnut and sorrel are the same color. So there is no error in the so-called fake diary.” Andy Argyle made air quotes around the word fake.
“It seems that one horse’s sorrel is another horse’s chestnut, niñas,” said Principal Garcia to Lou Lou and Pea. “And it’s not surprising that Giles used the English term in his diary. He was from England after all.” His voice softened. “I know you’re disappointed about the Bonanza—believe me, I am, too—but there is no proof that the diary is not one hundred percent real.”
Lou Lou didn’t know what to say. Her ears were burning, but as much as she disliked and distrusted the Argyles, she couldn’t disagree. She glanced at Pea, who was wide-eyed and now had her hands clasped tightly in front of her on the table.
“I trust that clears this up,” said the vice-mayor to Principal Garcia. He turned his dark eyes toward Lou Lou and Pea. “Amanda and I don’t appreciate being called liars. And I really don’t appreciate your thievery! How exactly did you steal the diary from the City Archives?”
“We didn’t steal, we borrow—”
“They probably had help from their friends!” Amanda cut Lou Lou off. Her tone was mean, but Lou Lou also detected a hint of jealousy.
“Perhaps you had assistance on the inside,” Andy Argyle said. “Tell me how you did it!”
Lou Lou racked her brains for an answer that wouldn’t cast suspicion on Kyle.
“My History of Art class went to the City Archives to look at photographs of early murals,” Pea said. Pea obviously didn’t want to tell on Kyle either.
“I see! So you pilfered the diary then!” replied Andy Argyle. Lou Lou wasn’t sure what pilfered meant, but she knew it couldn’t be good.
Pea was quiet. She had managed to save Kyle without really lying since she truly had once gone to the City Archives with her class. Brilliant! thought Lou Lou, until she realized that now Pea was going to get in trouble.
“I—” Lou Lou started to say, but Pea kicked her lightly under the table. Clearly, she knew Lou Lou was also about to claim responsibility, but Pea was the best of best friends and was trying to keep Lou Lou out of trouble.
“You’ll have to be disciplined for this,” Andy Argyle said to Pea. “And you, too.” He looked at Lou Lou. “Even if you didn’t actually participate in the theft, you’re still part of this plot to undermine us! Wouldn’t you agree, Principal Garcia?”
“Now, now,” said Principal Garcia. “Maybe we can just let this go, Vice-Mayor Argyle. You have the diary back, and the girls only thought they were doing the right—” Just then, Pea’s phone rang. She’d placed it on the table when she’d retrieved the diary. The caller came up as Mamá. Before Pea could answer, Andy Argyle snatched the phone.
“No, wait!” said Lou Lou. But it was too late.
“Hello, this is Andy Argyle, vice-mayor and Bicentennial Bonanza Boss, speaking.” He sneered at Lou Lou and Pea.
“Ha! You’re in big trouble now!” cackled Amanda. Lou Lou’s hands were cold from the horchata glass, so she used them to cool her fiery ears.
“I’m afraid we’ve got a big problem,” the vice-mayor said into the phone. “Did you know that your daughter and her friend are diary thieves?”
As Andy Argyle explained what he thought had happened, Lou Lou looked over at Pea. She had her head in her hands. Lou Lou felt terrible. She was still certain something fishy was up with the Argyles. But none of this would have happened if she hadn’t been so eager to borrow the diary and so hasty in telling Principal Garcia about Diego’s horse.
“Your mother would like to speak to you, Peacock. And she doesn’t sound very pleased.” Andy Argyle handed Pea her phone. Amanda giggled. “Let’s go, Amanda, darling,” the vice-mayor said. “We have what we came for.” He turned and walked out of the kitchen.
“I told you! Big trouble!” Amanda gloated, pointing a skinny finger at Lou Lou and Pea. She spun around, nearly hitting Lou Lou in the face with one of her long braids.
“Lo siento, lo siento, Mamá,” Pea was saying into the phone. As much as Lou Lou hated to admit it, Amanda was right. They were definitely in big trouble now.