Groans greeted her announcement. Vee smiled a tiny smile. “Sorry, there was nothing really to tell so I thought I better make it sound sort of interesting.”
After that, nobody spoke for several minutes. The shed was dark enough Sunny could barely make out the faces she knew so well. Thinking. They were all thinking. “I guess we need to write down everything since the first time we saw the wagon,” Sunny said with a sigh. “Who knows how long we’ve got until Aneta’s mom hauls you guys away.”
It was better, though, that Uncle Dave talk to Aneta’s mom than be on the phone to those sport pony people. “I wish my uncle would do secondhand horses.” She drifted off for a moment, imagining her uncle’s ranch with happy horses and happy people adopting happy horses or coming to see them and learning how to care kindly for happy horses.
“And—earth to Sunny,” Esther raised her voice.
“Oh.” Sunny came back to earth. “Just thinking about how cool it would be for my uncle to have a secondhand horse ranch rather than sport ponies for Arab sheiks.”
“Sunny’s right. We need a list,” Vee agreed. Aneta shrugged and said okay. Esther sighed, but nodded.
“I’m ready,” Vee said, pen poised over the notebook.
After much back and forth and a teeny bit of arguing between Vee and Esther about what was important enough to go on the list, the girls came up with this:
The carnival—the wagon was inside the little enclosure in the corral where the creepy guy stood.
The wagon was the first thing the creepy carnival guy took out of the front seat of the truck when he delivered the zoo.
He said Major really liked it and to keep it close to him.
It was the last thing he talked about before he left in a hurry.
“I remember now.” Sunny snapped her fingers. She’d been the one to provide the last two items on Vee’s list. “I thought it was kind of cute that Major liked his wagon.”
Sliding off the saddle and standing up, Aneta brushed off the back of her black leggings and frowned. “But Major does not care about the wagon. You put the wagon in the tractor shed, and he does not care.”
Esther nodded. “Yeah. Anyone think they’ve seen him looking for it?”
Vee snorted. “He’s only looking for those baby carrots you give him, Sunny.”
The grating of gravel.
“Girls? Time to go.”
“Aneta’s mom,” Vee said. “Everybody keep thinking about the wagon. It’s got to have something to do with that wagon.”
Chapter 22
Clue #3 Shows Up
Sunny, don’t think that this lovely afternoon snack of pretzels and hummus is going to change my mind. I’m done adding secondhand horses. It’s sport ponies for me now.”
Today, for the first time since his accident, Uncle Dave looked like himself. The brown puddles of pain were no longer hanging under his eyes. He stood straight on the crutches, and he’d eaten her very wonderful homemade hummus at the kitchen table with her. All wonderful. What was not so wonderful was his insistence that finding more secondhand horses would not be a good thing for the ranch.
Sunny ordered her face to look pitiful. “So many horses already living and needing homes. Why make more?”
He raised his eyebrows over his coffee cup, took a sip, and made an ugly face. “Where did you read that argument, my favorite niece?” He set the cup down. “I need to teach you how to make coffee. Are you done with school?”
“Yep. And all the animals are fine. Major likes history better than science. Me, too, except the Middle Ages are kind of gross and dirty.” She’d read out loud as she worked through her assignments. School was so much more fun with a miniature horse breathing down your neck. “The Squad will be here soon.” This weekend while they were all at the ranch, they had to figure out why The Shirt wanted the wagon.
Which Way sounded the “incoming” alarm seconds before Sunny heard the gravel. “That’s them!” Once through the front door and the screen, Sunny squinted at what was not one of the parents’ vehicles. Standing next to an old truck that looked like it had gotten a thorough washing was a tall man and a teenage boy. A horse trailer was hitched, and inside it Sunny heard the stomps of a hoof and saw a horse’s face through the open window.
Was this the first sport pony and her uncle had not told her? She walked over to the trailer and stuck out her hand like she’d seen Uncle Dave do. “Are you the guy with the sport pony?”
The man reached out his own hand, rough and scratchy, and clasped Sunny’s firmly. It felt, like Uncle Dave often said, “like he worked hard for a living.” “Don’t know about no sport pony, but I’ve got a great cutting horse in there.” His voice roughened; he cleared his throat.
“What’s a cutting horse?”
Another vehicle pulled in. Esther’s dad deposited Vee, Esther, and Aneta and drove off.
The three dashed over to stand by Sunny, their normal greeting extinguished by the unexpected visitors.
“He has a cutting horse,” Sunny volunteered to her friends.
The tall boy next to him didn’t say a word, but Sunny was sure he wasn’t blinking hard to keep the dust out of his eyes. The wind wasn’t blowing yet. Was he crying?
The front door shrieked and popped. There was another stomp in the trailer. The boy stepped up on the wheel and spoke some low words. Uncle Dave stood on the porch, crutches under each arm.
“That your father?” the man asked Sunny.
She shook her head. “Uncle. We’re helping out here on the ranch until his ankle gets better.”
He gestured to the rest of the Squad. “Sisters?”
“Best friends,” Aneta said as Uncle Dave joined them. “Mr. Martin, this man has a cutting horse. What do you have that a horse needs to cut?” Her face revealed her curiosity.
The boy snorted. “You girls don’t know horses, do you?”
Sunny smothered the immediate grin that wanted to march across her face. That was going to fire up Vee and Esther. Esther had done a lot of Internet research on horses, geese, pygmy goats, and pigs that helped them on the ranch. Vee wrote everything down they had learned so they wouldn’t forget it for the next time.
“No, nothing.” Vee crossed her arms over her chest and widened her stance in the gravel. “Just that they have four legs.”
“A tail,” Esther added, her fists flying to her hips.
“And need to be saddled with the cinch tight. Some horses bloat on purpose so the saddle gets loose and you fall off,” Aneta said.
The other three girls’ eyebrows rose in perfect sync.
When did Aneta learn all that cowboy talk?
The boy’s eyes narrowed then he smiled. “Okay. I was a jerk. Sorry.”
“Is this horse yours?” Aneta asked.
The smile vanished. “Yeah.” He clamped his lips and strode off behind the back of the trailer.
The man asked if he could speak with Uncle Dave privately, so the girls retreated to the porch railing. Since they couldn’t see the boy, they began guessing what the man wanted.
“The man wants to sell the horse. Betcha.” Esther pushed hair out of her eyes as the wind picked up. “Did anyone figure out why the bad guy wants the wagon?”
“What is a cutting horse anyway?” Vee asked, turning to Esther. “And no, I didn’t. Did either of you?”
Esther promptly replied, “A cutting horse is used to cut cattle from the herd. I read on the Internet that a well-trained cutting horse can practically work by himself once he knows what’s going on.”
“No ideas on the wagon.” Sunny shook her head. So did Aneta. “Uncle Dave is shaking his head and pointing to the corral. I’m thinking he doesn’t want to buy the horse.” Sunny listened as hard as she could, but she could only hear the wind and the deep voices.
Shirley, Mondo, Mystery, and Major came to their corral railings to watch. Finally, Uncle Dave threw up his hands and nodded. The man stuck out his hand. The two men shook hands, after which the
man called the boy. He reappeared, his shoulders bowed. He’d tipped his hat way down so you couldn’t see his eyes.
“Wow. He doesn’t want to hear what he’s going to hear,” Vee observed.
Sunny agreed. Little swirls of dust rose from his shuffling boots. The father—Sunny figured it was father and son since they had the same skinny nose and cheekbones—pointed to her uncle and spoke. At first the boy’s shoulders hunched as though he were expecting a blow. Then his head snapped up.
“That wasn’t what he thought was going to happen!” Esther bounced on the railing. “I wish we could hear what’s going on!”
“He is happy now. He is shaking your uncle’s hand, Sunny,” Aneta said.
The girls streamed over to the boy once Sunny’s uncle and the boy’s dad moved off toward the corral.
“Your uncle is the best,” the boy said, his face no longer tight with tears. He had bright blue eyes that were sparkling. “He said he would take care of my horse for free until my dad gets a new job and gets caught up with bills. He said I can come work with my horse anytime. I can’t come every day because I work and go to school, but I’ll be here whenever I can.”
Sunny’s insides glowed with pride at her uncle. Another secondhand horse. Maybe Uncle Dave didn’t realize it yet, but he really was a secondhand horse rancher. Sport ponies? She didn’t think so.
“Since you girls can ride Starbright while he’s here, let me show you something cool about the saddle, even though you’ll use a different one to ride regular.” The boy opened the tack area of the trailer and hauled out the prettiest saddle Sunny had ever seen. Under the seat part, leather rectangles stacked on leather rectangles. Every inch of the rectangles had carvings on them. Some were light; some were dark.
“Um.” Sunny looked at the other girls who were staring at the horse in the trailer. The horse blinked out his window. Sunny would bet Major could walk under his belly if the little mini lowered his head. “We’re still beginning riders. Starbright is a pro cutting horse and all.”
“Ah, he’s a sweetie with beginners. He knows they don’t know anything. Check out this saddle.”
The girls oohed and ahhed; the boy seemed to appreciate that.
“Here’s the cool part.” He lifted a flap of leather that had tiny stars carved into it. “For Starbright,” the boy said proudly. “When we won the Junior Cutting championship last year, I was the youngest and so was he.”
He gave them a quick overview of why a cutting saddle was built the way it was. Sunny wasn’t paying much attention. Her eyes were glued to the leather flap the boy had lifted up. Underneath the flap was a matching set of twinkle stars carved in the leather. At first glance, it looked like just a fancy underside. But Sunny’s scrutiny caught the slightly thicker edge. As the boy continued to instruct the other three—who were hanging on his every word—Sunny reached forward and slid her finger along the thicker edge. Her finger disappeared into a secret compartment.
A secret compartment! Zip, zip, zip went her brain. She glanced toward the tractor shed. Clue number three had finally shown up.
“So you found the secret.” The boy interrupted his lecture to smile at Sunny. He did have a nice smile, but it didn’t make Sunny blush. In fact, she wasn’t sure she heard anything else the boy said after he stated, “Looks just like a normal saddle, doesn’t it?”
She whirled to face the Squad. “Just a normal saddle? Like maybe just a normal wagon?” After a quick dance in the dust and a spin, she took off for the barn, throwing the last words over her shoulder. “We’ll take good care of your horse. Thank you for coming!”
Oh, the hunted were after the hunter again.
This time for keeps.
In the length of time it took the girls to finish talking to the boy and he and his father to drive off, she had reached the barn, had the wagon on its side, and was running her hands over it.
“Sunny, what are you talking about?” Aneta asked. “What are you doing?”
Esther collapsed to her knees on the opposite end of the wagon from where Sunny was rapping with her knuckles on the end. “I get it. There’s a secret compartment in this wagon.”
“Somewhere.” Vee knelt on one of the long sides and began sliding her fingers. “This time tap and see if anything sounds hollow.”
Aneta nodded and sat cross-legged across from Vee. She began to tap, bending close to the wagon to listen.
Sunny had tapped, pounded, and fingered every bit of her end. “Nothing,” she said in disgust, falling back on her elbows and regarding the wagon.
“This gross carpet has got to come off.” Esther made a face. “It’s the only place we haven’t been able to listen for a hollow sound.”
“Then off it comes.” Sunny straightened up and began to tug at her end. With all four pulling, and comments about how dirty it was, the carpet came off. Some bits stuck, but now the girls could see the five boards.
“I see it!” Aneta shouted, using her index finger to trace a slightly raised board. She pushed long and hard on it. Nothing happened.
“Let me.” Sunny reached over. She took her fist and pounded.
Nothing.
Vee rapped on it with her knuckles. A satisfying hollow sound made the girls’ eyes go large and round. “It really is a secret compartment,” Vee breathed, with a full, satisfied smile.
Now they all looked at Esther. What would she try to open this tantalizing compartment? Esther studied the wagon boards. Then she suddenly leaned forward and, using her fingertips, pressed down quickly and let up.
The slat popped up about a quarter of an inch.
“But I did that,” Aneta protested.
“Nope,” Esther said. “You pushed and held. Sunny punched it. It’s a light touch and then hands off. My mom has a jewelry box that opens that way.” Four sets of hands eagerly pulled up the board the rest of the way. When the compartment lay fully exposed, an “ooooo!” rolled through the shed.
A black velvet bag lay on the rough wood.
Chapter 23
A Bag of Bones?
Well, don’t just stare at it, pick it up and open it,” Esther said, staring at it and not picking it up.
“You pick it up,” Vee retorted with a snort. She sat on her hands. “I—well, I guess I didn’t think we’d actually find anything.”
“What’s in it?” Aneta clasped her hands in front of her and sat back with a mild thump.
“It’s treasure, that’s what it is. I know it!” Sunny reached over and picked up the bag, her fingers trembling. The velvet felt thick, warm, and soft to her exploratory fingers. At the bottom, a faint bulge pushed out the fabric. She squeezed the bulge between thumb and fingers. “It’s like—crunchy.”
“Bones?” Aneta’s eyes widened, and she scuttled backward. “Maybe the man did murder someone.”
Esther shook her head matter-of-factly. “Too small of a bag.”
Vee plopped next to Sunny and spread out an ancient burlap feed bag on the wagon bottom. “Found this. I shook out all the loose stuff, whatever it all was. I didn’t want to look too close.”
Sunny poured the contents of the velvet bag out onto the rough burlap. The last bits of sparkle lay on the burlap, catching the afternoon light from the gaps in the roof.
Vee looked at Esther.
Esther looked at Aneta.
Aneta looked at Sunny.
Glowing red rubies, deep green emeralds, glittering diamonds. Sunny could not think of a thing to say. She couldn’t even spin.
“Now we call the police,” Esther said, her hands going to her hips in a don’t-mess-with-me attitude.
“Are they real?” asked Vee, ever doubting.
“Just like in the girl detective books,” Aneta breathed, her face shining with excitement.
Sunny was up and spinning around the tractor shed, keeping an eye out for potential tripping obstacles. When dizziness careened her into the John Deere, she put her hands out and pushed off from it, standing with her legs wide.
“What is it?” Vee wanted to know.
“Another Great Idea?” Aneta asked hopefully, poking her finger among the jewels on the burlap.
“Somehow I already know. I. Don’t. Like. It.” Esther was already frowning.
“Not a Great Idea.” Sunny shook her head at Esther then squatted near the wagon, staring in awe. “Only the Greatest Idea that ever showed up on the planet.”
A few minutes later, Esther continued to not like the Greatest Idea, even after Sunny explained in detail how it involved the girls, Bob, and a trampoline. “We should tell your uncle and have him call the police.”
“But the police would be happier if they caught the bad guy and the jewels, wouldn’t they?” Aneta looked around the group for confirmation.
“We’re helping them,” Vee agreed. She had written down everything Sunny said. Now she reviewed it. “It’s a crazy idea, but it actually might work. You heard how nutso the guy was when he ran screaming from the barn last time.” She poked her finger through the deep glowing red, green, and white stones. “Where do you think he stole these from?”
“If I—I mean, we—catch the bad guy and return the jewels,”—she needed to say the right words here—“then my Uncle Dave and my parents will see that I can finish something. And finish something rocko-socko giant!”
Esther chewed her lip while she regarded the glittering bits on the burlap. When she looked up, her eyes looked bright, like there were tears in them. “I’ll do it. For you.”
A quick hug for Esther and another spin. This really was what she was good at. Even in her biggest wonders, she’d never dreamed she’d be getting a Great Idea to catch a criminal.
“Except I don’t see why Vee doesn’t get Bob. She runs faster,” Aneta stated.
“That’s what I was thinking. No offense, Aneta.” Vee tipped her head inquiringly at Sunny. “I’m just faster on land. Aneta’s faster in water.”
Nodding, Sunny said, “Yeah, I know. Think about it, guys. Who is Bob going to follow the fastest?”
Aneta and Vee shared a look.
Secondhand Horses Page 10