Lou Lou and Pea decided their next step should be to tell Abuela Josie about the fake diary. Pea’s abuela was sure to believe them now that they had proof, and with her on their side, everyone else would believe them, too! They’d visit Abuela Josie on Monday afternoon, but in the meantime, Pea said they should keep their discovery a secret. Lou Lou knew it would be hard for her not to share the exciting news with everyone, but she also knew Pea was right.
On Monday at school, Lou Lou smiled inside every time she heard someone talk about the Bonanza. When a boy in Math was sad because he couldn’t perform his magic show at the celebration, Lou Lou said three chrysanthemums so she wouldn’t tell him not to ditch his rabbit-in-a-hat quite yet. And when she overheard a teacher lament that she couldn’t throw her daughter’s birthday party in the gazebo, Lou Lou quickly walked away.
Lou Lou had permission from her parents to go straight to Pea’s house after school. She met her best friend on her front steps.
“Should we go straight to Abuela Josie’s?” Lou Lou asked.
“No, come inside first. I have two things to show you!” Pea held the door open for Lou Lou.
When they entered Pea’s kitchen, Lou Lou immediately spied a beautiful red vaquera hat on the table.
“You finished it!” she said, hurrying to get a closer look. The hat had turned out beautifully with the rhinestone-dotted brim, a shiny new silver chain, and a cluster of black-and-brown feathers on one side.
“Rooster,” Pea explained when Lou Lou gently touched a feather. “They were a better fit on this hat than peacock.”
“Abuela Josie is going to love it!” Lou Lou said. “It’s exactly right for her.”
“As Christian Dior said, a hat ‘is very often the best way to show your personality.’”
“She’ll have double the personality once we’ve taken back the Bonanza and her lucky hat is returned,” said Lou Lou. “She can wear that one for her stunt and her new hat for the rest of the celebration.”
“Yes!” Pea beamed. “I thought we’d give this to her today.”
Lou Lou had been so distracted by the hat that it was only now she noticed a brown bag also on the table. From the butter stains on the paper, she guessed immediately what was inside.
“Jeremy’s caracoles!”
Pea nodded. “He brought them over yesterday evening.”
“How do they taste?” Lou Lou asked.
“I haven’t tried one yet. I was waiting for you!”
Lou Lou couldn’t believe Pea’s patience. If Jeremy had brought the pastries to Lou Lou first, she definitely would have sampled them already.
Pea took out two caracoles and put them on little blue plates.
“Papá?” She reached for another plate when her father walked into the kitchen.
“No, thank you,” said Henry Pearl. “I’m watching my figure. It’s almost swimsuit season.” He patted his trim belly and Lou Lou giggled.
Lou Lou wasted no time biting into the caracol, and Pea did the same. They watched each other as they chewed.
“Wow! It’s perfect!” said Lou Lou halfway through her first mouthful.
Pea finished chewing. “¡Increíble! They taste just like Señora Basa’s! She’d be so impressed. She always said, ‘No hay nada mejor que un caracol delicioso.’”
Lou Lou raised her eyebrows.
“There’s nothing better than a delicious caracol,” Pea translated.
“We should congratulate Jeremy,” Lou Lou said. “He’ll definitely win the caracoles contest now!”
“Let’s call him later! But first let’s go see Abuela Josie. After, I want to stop by Marvelous Millinery and clean the cabinet before my hats come back.”
“Great! I’ll help you,” Lou Lou offered, even though she hated cleaning and doubted the cabinet was very dusty.
Pea gently lifted the new vaquera hat from the table and Lou Lou grabbed the paper bag. They went outside for the short walk, but before they left Pea’s steps, Lou Lou saw they had an unwelcome guest. Amanda Argyle was playing hopscotch on the sidewalk in front of Pea’s house.
“What’s she doing here?” Lou Lou asked Pea. Her ears burned.
“I have no idea. And why is she playing hopscotch by herself? That can’t be very fun,” Pea observed sadly.
“Pea! Don’t feel bad for Amanda. She’s not a nice person!” replied Lou Lou.
“I know. But still, it must be lonely,” Pea said.
“I’m not lonely!” Amanda overheard and stopped hopping. “I hang out with my daddy and well … my daddy and … okay, maybe I am … WHATEVER! I didn’t come here to talk about that. I came to tell you something important.”
“What exactly would that be?” Lou Lou put her hands on her hips and gave Amanda a hard stare.
“I thought you might want to know that I love the cupcakes at Cupcake Cabana,” Amanda replied. “My favorite flavor is mud pie. I go to Cupcake Cabana every Saturday to get a mud pie cupcake.”
“We often go on Saturdays, too. Maybe we can go together sometime.” Pea tried to be friendly.
“Wha…? You’d really want to go with me?” Amanda said. Then she shuddered as if she was shaking off a bee. “That’s not the point!” she screeched.
“So what is the point?” asked Lou Lou.
“The point is that I was at Cupcake Cabana this past Saturday. You didn’t see me, but I saw you.”
“And?” It took Lou Lou a moment to realize the significance of this. When she did, she said, “Oh. Oh no.”
“That’s right. I heard everything you said. Everything.”
Pea’s eyes went wide and Lou Lou’s ears were aflame. Chrysanthemum, chrysanthemum, chrysanthemum, she thought, but this didn’t make her any calmer.
“Daddy changed the diary to say that honeysuckle is the secret ingredient in caracoles. I guess we got it wrong when we wrote agave, so thanks for the correction.” Amanda’s tone made it clear that this wasn’t a real thank-you.
“So you admit that you and your father wrote the diary! Meaning that it is a fake!” Lou Lou tried not to shout.
“Maybe.” Amanda smirked. “But that doesn’t matter anymore, does it? Now that we fixed our mistake, you have no proof. It’s just your word against ours. And who is going to believe you two over my daddy, the vice-mayor of the city?”
Lou Lou didn’t know what to say. Amanda was right. No one would believe Lou Lou and Pea, particularly since they’d already gotten in trouble for accidentally borrowing the diary. All Lou Lou’s hopes of reclaiming the Bonanza flew off toward Verde Valley. She looked at Pea, who was at a similar loss for words.
“And since I know the secret ingredient, now I can definitely win the caracoles contest. Daddy decided that only Verde Valley contestants can enter.” Amanda’s news kept getting worse. “So you can tell your spooky friend with the weird hair to give up. Bye-bye!” As always, Amanda whipped her braids around when she began to leave. Then she turned back, whipping them in the opposite direction.
“Is that a Bonanza hat you’re holding?” She pointed at the red vaquera hat. Pea clutched it protectively to her chest and shook her head. “That better be true, because the hats don’t belong to you anymore. That reminds me, all of your hats look super-amazing on me!” Amanda added insult to injury.
Pea regained her powers of speech. “Yves Saint Laurent said, ‘Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it.’ The same is true for girls and hats, Amanda. So maybe you should focus less on the Bonanza hats and more on being nicer to people.”
“Good quote, Pea,” Lou Lou said. She looked at Amanda. “And as Petunia Prairie said, ‘Make sure to let your succulents dry out completely between waterings.’”
“Huh?” said Amanda.
“Never mind,” Lou Lou replied.
Amanda whipped her braids around a third time and set off down the block.
Lou Lou’s knees felt weak. She had to sit down on Pea’s steps.
“This is so unfair! Our whole plan is ruined,” she said. Then Lou Lou noticed Pea’s tears.
“My hats,” said Pea. “They’re gone forever.”
Lou Lou jumped up and hugged her best friend. “No!” she said. “There’s got to be a way to fix this!”
“I’m not sure there is,” replied Pea. “I’m afraid the bad guys might win this time, Lou Lou.”
“We won’t let that happen!” Lou Lou assured Pea, but she had no idea how they’d pull this off. Still, they couldn’t let the bad guys win. Not on Lou Lou and Pea’s watch.