“Our first caracoles contestant is Monsieur Bonsoir, owner of Verde Valley Bistro,” Andy Argyle announced.
A man stood up in the front row. He wore a chef’s hat and a white jacket and held a large brown paper bag full of caracoles. He handed one to each of the judges and they both took a bite while the crowd watched eagerly for a reaction. Mayor Montoya nodded and jotted something down on a notepad. Andy Argyle looked out into the audience and made certain everyone saw his frown. After Monsieur Bonsoir returned to his seat, the vice-mayor spoke into the microphone again.
“Next up is Gertrude Alvarado,” he said. No one moved, so Andy Argyle peered out into the audience. “Gertrude, are you here? GERTRUDE!” he yelled. Finally, a little old lady stood up.
“I’m here,” she called nervously. “But I just realized that I left my tin of caracoles at home. Perhaps I can go—”
“Disqualified!” The vice-mayor stamped his shiny-shoed foot and Gertrude’s face crumpled.
“Pobrecita. I wish we could give her a hug,” Pea whispered.
“I don’t think disqualification is necessary, Vice-Mayor Argyle.” Mayor Montoya flashed him a disapproving look.
“Right.” Andy Argyle cleared his throat and looked back at Gertrude. “Because I am incredibly kind, I will allow you to fetch your caracoles and return.”
Andy Argyle called more contestants and the contest continued. Lou Lou glanced at Jeremy to see if he seemed angry about being excluded. He was munching heartily on one of his own killer caracoles.
“Numbing my pain with sugar,” he said when he caught Lou Lou’s eye. He flashed a goofy grin and she smiled back.
“Now for the moment we’ve all been waiting for!” Andy Argyle said, and Lou Lou turned her attention back to the stage. “The next contestant is my darling daughter, Amanda Argyle!”
“Ugh,” Lou Lou said to Pea.
Amanda simpered, then practically pranced up to the stage to join her father. She wore a green-and-pink-argyle-print jumper, and her hair was in her usual braids. Even though the Bonanza hats would be given out to the crowd later that day, Amanda was already wearing Pea’s blue hat. Even Lou Lou could tell that the lovely hat clashed horribly with Amanda’s outfit. Lou Lou’s ears grew hotter by the second. She noticed Pea biting her bottom lip.
“I expected her to be wearing it, but I didn’t realize it would make me so sad and angry.” Pea shook her head. “I’m not going to let it ruin this day,” she said with renewed determination.
Amanda stood next to her father holding a tray covered with a red-and-white-argyle-print cloth. She had the fake diary tucked under her arm.
“I have a feeling these caracoles are going to be extra special,” Andy Argyle said to the crowd.
Amanda pulled the cloth dramatically off the tray to reveal the pastries underneath like she was doing a magic trick. She handed the tray and cloth to her father so she could get closer to the microphone.
“They’re extra special because we know the secret ingredient!” she boasted. “It’s in Giles’s diary!” She waved the little book in the air.
“Darling, perhaps we should wait until—” Andy Argyle started to say. But Amanda was unstoppable. She had to brag about what she knew right then and there.
“The secret ingredient is honeysuckle berries!” she cried, and handed a caracol to Mayor Montoya. Lou Lou’s anger was starting to get the better of her. How dare Amanda brag about the recipe! Lou Lou thought. How dare Amanda wear Pea’s hat!
“Lou Lou,” Pea’s voice cut into Lou Lou’s thoughts.
How dare the Argyles lie about Giles’s diary!
“Lou Lou!”
How dare they take the Bicentennial from El Corazón!
Lou Lou took a deep breath and said her chrysanthemums. “Yes?” she finally answered.
“Did you hear Amanda?”
“Of course, and I can’t believe the nerve of—”
“No, no,” Pea interrupted. “She said the secret ingredient is honeysuckle berries, not honeysuckle nectar. Didn’t you tell us that you can eat honeysuckle nectar, but honeysuckle berries are—”
“POISONOUS!” Lou Lou shouted.
The crowd turned in their seats to look at her.
“What did I tell you about causing trouble, little girl?” Andy Argyle boomed at Lou Lou. But Lou Lou wasn’t paying attention to him. She was staring white-faced at Mayor Montoya, who clearly hadn’t heard Lou Lou and was lifting her caracol to her lips.
“YOU CAN’T EAT THAT!” Pea stood up and shouted even louder than Lou Lou. Pea never raised her voice except for something very important. Mayor Montoya’s hand froze in midair.
“Don’t listen to her! Take a bite!” Amanda shrieked. Mayor Montoya seemed unsure of what to do, and she moved the pastry toward her mouth again. Lou Lou regained her composure.
“NO!” she yelled. “HONEYSUCKLE BERRIES ARE POISONOUS!”
The mayor raised her eyebrows. Her mouth formed an O and her arm went rigid. Mayor Montoya dropped the caracol onto the stage and came to stand next to the Argyles at the microphone.
“Is this true?” Mayor Montoya asked.
“Yes!” Lou Lou heard Juan call from the far side of the crowd.
“I don’t understand,” Mayor Montoya said. “Why would Giles’s diary say the secret ingredient is honeysuckle berries if they’re poisonous?”
Both the vice-mayor and his daughter seemed to be at a complete loss for words. “I … uh … um,” Andy Argyle replied in a not-so-booming voice.
“Because the diary is a fake!” Pea cried.
“The Argyles forged the whole thing!” Jeremy shouted.
Principal Garcia stood up and looked at the vice-mayor, aghast. “So the girls were right about the diary the whole time?” he asked.
Pea squeezed Lou Lou’s arm hopefully.
“‘Fake’? ‘Forged’? ‘Right about the diary’?” Mayor Montoya asked. “What’s going on here?”
Principal Garcia quickly explained the situation.
“No, of course they weren’t right.” Andy Argyle glared at Lou Lou and Pea, then smiled unconvincingly at Principal Garcia and the mayor. “I’m sure Giles just made an error when he wrote down the recipe.”
“That’s not true!” Lou Lou yelled. “We know the real secret ingredient, and we’ve got a caracoles contestant to prove it!” Lou Lou didn’t have to signal Jeremy. He was already heading for the stage. He pulled his backup killer caracoles out of his messenger bag and handed a pastry to Mayor Montoya.
“But his are made with honeysuckle, too, so you can’t eat them either!” Amanda said. She looked at Jeremy. “Ha! Gotcha!”
“Honeysuckle nectar, not honeysuckle berries,” Jeremy said.
“The nectar is not poisonous,” Lou Lou called.
“¡Es verdad!” Juan confirmed. “In fact, it’s great in tea.”
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Pea said to Lou Lou. “We should try honeysuckle nectar in our PSPP tea!”
Mayor Montoya took a big bite of Jeremy’s caracol, then gobbled the whole thing down. “We have a winner!” she declared. “Muy muy delicioso and just like our dearly departed Señora Basa used to make at her panadería! How did you know to use the nectar?”
“It’s all thanks to Peacock Pearl, proud resident of El Corazón and direct descendant of Diego Soto,” Jeremy replied. “She gave me the real recipe!”
The crowd looked at Pea and she smiled.
“His caracoles might be good, but let’s not get carried away! I don’t see how a silly mistake and a lucky guess at the secret ingredient changes anything or proves that the diary is a fake!” Andy Argyle said angrily.
“Perhaps I could have a look at that?” Mayor Montoya took the diary from Amanda and flipped through the pages. “Hmm, I’ve seen Giles’s handwriting on the city charter and this is not it.”
Andy Argyle nervously twirled the end of his goatee. “Mayor Montoya, if I could just—”
“This certainly doesn’t look good, Mr. Vice-Mayor,” Mayor Montoya interrupted. “A fake diary, plus, Amanda almost poisoned me. That’s no way to kick off the Bonanza.” The mayor frowned. “Do you have any explanation for this?”
Before Andy Argyle could reply, a large delivery truck pulled up alongside the park and honked loudly. Lou Lou, Pea, and the rest of the crowd turned to look. On the side of the truck, in big orange letters, was written SAMMY’S GAZEBO DELIVERY. A man, presumably Sammy, leaned out of the driver’s-side window.
“Hey there, Vice-Mayor Argyle!” Sammy yelled. “I tried to deliver the gazebo to your backyard like you asked, but your gate was locked. I can try again tomorrow or you can give me a key.”
“Did he just say he tried to deliver the gazebo to your backyard?” Mayor Montoya asked in disbelief. Lou Lou’s ears turned a cherry color.
“Yes … well … um … you see…” Andy Argyle said.
Lou Lou thought about all the gazebo paraphernalia in the vice-mayor’s office. Clearly, he wanted the gazebo for himself! Then she suddenly remembered what they’d overheard at the Heliotrope. “Pea, the night of the Preview, Andy Argyle said something about the gazebo and a backyard!”
Pea nodded. “I know. We didn’t think much of it at the time but—”
Mayor Montoya’s voice cut off Pea. “Why would the gazebo be going in your backyard?”
“Yeah, por qué?” someone in the crowd yelled.
“The official city rules for the Bonanza say that Verde Valley can chose the location for the gazebo. We chose my—”
“¡No es verdad! Verde Valley didn’t choose your backyard. You did,” cried another audience member. “The gazebo is for the whole community to enjoy, not for just you! It should go in the park!”
“No! No! NO!” screamed Amanda. “The gazebo is for us because Daddy is a gazebo enthusiast! That’s why we moved the Bonanza to Verde Valley in the first place—so Daddy could have the gazebo. And so I could wear pretty hats so that people would like me! And to show you that stupid El Corazón isn’t as lovely as you think it is, even though you’re all so … nice!”
“Amanda, darling, please stop talking!” said Andy Argyle. But it was too late. The secret was out that the Argyles had planned to keep the beautiful gazebo all to themselves.
“Well, I never!” Mayor Montoya shouted. “This is outrageous, Vice-Mayor Argyle. I’m disappointed in you. I thought you were an honorable person. A bit odd and flashy, yes, but not unjust and devious. And you assured me that you could be a good leader, not just someone who shows up to ribbon cuttings and kisses babies at parades.”
“Joke’s on you! He’s devious AND he doesn’t even like babies!” shouted Amanda. Mayor Montoya ignored her.
“As of right now, you are hereby relieved of all duties as vice-mayor, Mr. Argyle,” said Mayor Montoya. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?” It seemed that Andy Argyle had nothing to say because he’d taken Amanda by the elbow and was heading for his car.
It took a moment for everything to sink in, but then Lou Lou said, “We did it!”
“We proved that the diary is a fake!”
“Good riddance to the Argyles! Enemies of the universe.”
Lou Lou, Pea, and Kyle were all talking at once. Lou Lou could hardly believe it. Just when she thought all hope of exposing the Argyles was lost, everything had turned around. Lou Lou felt like cheering, but there was one more step to justice and victory.
“Mayor Montoya, does this mean the Bonanza belongs to El Corazón again?” Lou Lou asked.
“Without the diary, there’s nothing linking the celebration solely to Verde Valley, so the answer is yes,” the mayor answered.
“Great! So we can move the festivities back to—”
“Lou Lou,” Pea interrupted for the second time that morning. She eyed the crowd. “Maybe we should come up with a different plan.”
Lou Lou looked around at the faces of the audience. Her El Corazón friends and neighbors were grinning. Juan waved, and Lou Lou’s dad gave her a sea captain’s salute. Danielle and her snooty-girl posse were already practicing their dance moves. But the people from Verde Valley looked crestfallen. Lou Lou remembered how it had felt to lose the Bonanza to Verde Valley. She imagined that the Verde Valley residents probably felt similarly now that El Corazón was set to reclaim the celebration at the very last minute.
Pea raised her hand. “I have an idea, Mayor Montoya. Since both neighborhoods have prepared for the Bonanza, what if El Corazón and Verde Valley share it?” A murmur went through the audience.
As usual, Lou Lou was impressed by Pea’s selflessness.
“We could have the Bonanza here in La Fuente Park, and El Corazón can pitch in for the celebration!” Lou Lou said. She thought of her honeysuckle in Limonero Park. Lou Lou wanted everyone to see her beautiful plants, and unsurprisingly Amanda hadn’t managed to grow any Verde Valley honeysuckle. But Juan could just bring over the extra potted honeysuckle from Green Thumb. Pea squeezed Lou Lou’s hand, and she felt a rush of pride at doing the right thing.
“¡Creo que es una solución genial!” Rosa said as she stood up.
“Me too!” Sarah was on her feet. It wasn’t long before the whole crowd was standing and shouting.
“Let’s do it!”
“¡Una idea maravillosa!”
“We can both host the Bonanza!”
“So what do you think, Mayor Montoya?” Thomas asked.
“I think that’s un plan fantástico,” replied the Mayor. “We will hold the Bonanza here in Verde Valley, and both neighborhoods will co-host the festivities.”
Pea clapped and Lou Lou let out a cheer. The rest of the audience followed suit. When the commotion died down, Jeremy said, “Well, now that that’s settled, let’s get back to my killer caracoles. You mentioned something about a winner.”
“That’s right,” said Mayor Montoya. “It’s you!” She handed Jeremy the shiny trophy. He grinned and raised it high above his head. Applause erupted in the crowd again, and Lou Lou and Pea were the loudest of all.