The Bonanza commotion at the Heliotrope died down and all that was left was a cloud of sadness. As everyone packed up what they’d brought for the Preview, Lou Lou turned to Pea.
“I can’t believe they took it from us!” she said.
“Me neither,” Pea said quietly. “My abuela will be devastated. And I hadn’t even named mine yet.” Lou Lou had been talking about the Bonanza, but Pea was mourning her hats.
“We’ve got to get them back for you!” Lou Lou said. She thought quickly about how to do this, as she couldn’t stand seeing her best friend so sad. “Maybe we can call Mayor Montoya and ask her for help,” Lou Lou suggested.
“But we don’t know how to reach her,” Pea replied. “Only the vice-mayor knows.”
“Right,” Lou Lou said. “We could try to talk to Andy Argyle. Sometimes mean people turn out to have hearts of gold.” Lou Lou found it hard to believe that the vice-mayor could have a heart of gold or even of brass. But she didn’t have a better idea.
“Okay.” Pea scanned the crowd. “Afterward, I have to find my abuela and break the horrible news about her lucky hat.” A tear rolled down Pea’s cheek.
Lou Lou glanced over at her parents. Her mom was helping Sarah roll up the banner, and her dad was chasing one of Kyle’s disobedient goats and yelling, “Avast, you furry beast!” It would be a few minutes before they wondered about Lou Lou’s whereabouts, so she took Pea’s hand and moved through the crowd toward the vice-mayor. Andy Argyle was surrounded by an unhappy group of people from El Corazón, including Pea’s parents. Friends and neighbors patted Pea’s shoulder sympathetically as they passed.
“Sorry, niña,” said Clara the mailwoman.
“This is truly a fashion tragedy. Your hats are gorgeous!” said Thomas, the owner of Sparkle ’N Clean.
Even in her disheartened state, Pea still mustered weak thank yous.
Lou Lou and Pea climbed the stairs to the stage just in time to see Andy Argyle throw out his hands to part the crowd and quickly exit stage left.
“Shoot! Where did he go?” asked Lou Lou.
“Over there.” Pea pointed at the Argyles, who were disappearing through a door marked EXIT/SALIDA.
“Quick, let’s follow them,” said Lou Lou, hurrying to the exit with Pea close behind. Lou Lou pushed open the door and felt a blast of crisp night air. She stepped outside and saw the Argyles sitting in their nearby parked car. Lou Lou was about to call out hello when instinct told her to keep quiet and she ducked behind the Heliotrope’s trash bin, pulling Pea after her.
“What are we doing back here?” Pea asked. She looked horrified by the rainbow of discarded drink umbrellas, crumpled napkins, and half-eaten pieces of chocolate cheesecake in the trash.
“More importantly, who doesn’t finish their chocolate cheesecake?” asked Lou Lou.
“I thought we were going to talk to the vice-mayor,” Pea said.
“Shhh, let’s listen.”
The Argyles had the windows down in their car, and were talking loudly as they flipped through radio stations.
“… it actually worked and they believed…” Amanda said before her voice was drowned out by Latin pop.
“Gazebo!” boomed Andy. He was interrupted by a radio opera tenor, and all Lou Lou could hear was “backyard” and “precious little neighborhood.”
“Jealous of us for once…” The sound of the local weather report cut Amanda off.
“Giles … diary … fake” were the only other words of Andy Argyle’s that Lou Lou caught over the smooth jazz station.
“Let’s go. I want to admire my pretty new hat in my big mirror! I can’t wait to try on all the others, too.” The Argyles had turned off the radio, so Amanda came through loud and clear. Andy Argyle started the car and they peeled off into the darkness.
“Did you hear that, Pea?”
“I most certainly did. As if Amanda could truly appreciate the beauty of my hats,” Pea said.
“I’m sure that’s true, but I was talking about what Andy Argyle said,” replied Lou Lou. “‘Giles … diary … fake.’ What do you think he meant? Maybe Giles is a fake person who never really came to our city? No, that can’t be right. Could it be that Giles’s diary is actually a fake?”
“I don’t know,” said Pea. She thought for a moment. “It’s a possibility, but we didn’t hear everything he said, so we can’t be sure.”
“The vice-mayor could be lying about the founders’ decree that the Bonanza must be in Verde Valley!” Lou Lou guessed.
“Can we move away from this trash bin now?” asked Pea. “A maraschino cherry just missed falling on my head.” When Lou Lou and Pea emerged from their hiding spot and were a safe distance from the trash cans, Pea wiped her hands with her pale blue handkerchief and smoothed the wrinkles in her dress. Then she said, “So the Argyles faked the diary so they could move the Bonanza?”
“Exactly! It’s the Bicentennial Bonanza after all! It’s one of the coolest things to happen in two hundred years. Andy Argyle even said something about a backyard. He’s probably thrilled about moving the Bonanza to his own backyard, as in, his neighborhood.”
Pea nodded. “Plus, my hats will go to Verde Valley,” she said quietly. “I didn’t even have time to finish them all. No one from El Corazón will get to wear one at the Bonanza and they’ll be lost to me forever.”
“And the gazebo, too!” added Lou Lou. “What should we do now? Should we tell someone what we heard?”
“Slow down, Lou Lou.” Pea held up her hands. “We don’t know for sure that the diary is a fake or even whether that’s what Vice-Mayor Argyle said. So we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions.” Pea was practical about these things. If conclusions were a pool, Lou Lou would be constantly getting wet.
Lou Lou took a breath. “And even if we were certain, we don’t have any proof.” She brightened. “But we sure are good at finding it!” Lou Lou thought back to their excellent work on the mural mystery. “If it means we get to keep the Bonanza and your hats, then we have to investigate.”
“I agree,” said Pea. “But let’s start tomorrow. I’m exhausted. It’s been an eventful evening and not in a good way.” Pea held open the back door of the Heliotrope for Lou Lou. As usual, Pea was right. It would be best to get some rest and make a plan the next day. Still, Lou Lou couldn’t put Andy Argyle’s words, Giles, diary, fake, out of her head. If the diary really was a fake, she and Pea were going to prove it!