Alexis and the Arizona Escapade

by Erica Rodgers

  “Classy, huh?” she asked Elizabeth. But the person behind her wasn’t Elizabeth.

  It was David Turner, the Arizona state swim champion.

  “Very classy,” he said, raising his eyebrows and giving her an amused smile. Alexis blushed. It was the first time she’d ever seen David smile. He was twice as cute when he did. She wondered why he never smiled at swim meets or in front of his school.

  Alexis yanked the hat off her head but was instantly aware of how messed up her hair must be.

  “Um, sorry,” she said. “I thought my friend was standing there.”

  She looked around frantically. Where was Elizabeth anyway?

  “Don’t apologize,” said David. “I wouldn’t expect any less of someone visiting a costume shop.” He was still smiling, as if whatever bothered him at other times was now forgotten.

  “I’m Alexis,” she said, holding out her hand. David had to rearrange the things he was holding to shake her hand. He dropped a large sword, and they banged heads as they both reached to pick it up.

  “Ow!” said Alexis.

  “Sorry!” he said, rubbing his head and wiping his long hair out of his eyes at the same time. “You look familiar. Have I met you before?”

  “No,” said Alexis. “My friend and I went to the swim meet the other day.”

  “No, that’s not it,” he said. “Dude! You’re the girl from the pep rally!”

  Alexis turned crimson. “That was an accident,” she said hastily. “My friend and I don’t even go to school here!”

  “Oh,” said the boy. “You don’t?” Was Alexis imagining things, or did he look disappointed?

  “It’s a long story,” she said. “We just ended up in the building by accident.”

  “Well, you’re a legend anyway. The whole school’s talking about you.”

  “Great,” said Alexis. They both laughed. Then there was an embarrassing silence. Alexis twisted the jester’s hat in her hands, and David placed the sword back in a display.

  “Not going to get it?” Alexis asked.

  “Nope,” he said. “I think I’m going to go with the dragon.” He held up the head of a costume that was piled under his right arm.

  Just then a horrible screech came from outside, followed by a loud crash. Alexis turned and ran to the sidewalk with David just behind her. Elizabeth wasn’t far behind. Right in front of the store, two cars were stopped. Apparently one of the drivers hadn’t been paying attention and had slammed into the car ahead. Both bumpers were crushed, and the back car was smoking a bit.

  The drivers stumbled out of their vehicles and began yelling at each other. No one was hurt, but neither person wanted to take the blame. Within minutes two police cars showed up and a sheriff approached the arguing drivers.

  Someone tapped Alexis on the shoulder.

  “Trespassing wasn’t enough?” a voice said. “Now you have to shoplift, too?”

  Alexis spun around to see Deputy Dewayne inches from her face.

  “What? Shoplifting?” she stammered. The deputy pointed to her arms. Alexis was still carrying the jester’s hat. She looked side to side. David still had his dragon costume, and Elizabeth was holding a pink dress and had a matching crown on her head. None of the items had been paid for.

  “Oh this,” said Alexis. “We were just looking inside the store when the crash happened. We ran outside to see what happened and forgot we were holding it all.”

  Deputy Dewayne didn’t move.

  “Really, Deputy,” said David. “She’s telling the truth. We were just about to pay.”

  The officer’s eyes narrowed, and then he spun around as the sheriff called his name. Alexis, Elizabeth, and David took that opportunity to slide back into the store and head for the cash register.

  Elizabeth had found a great princess costume. Alexis found a crazy outfit that matched her jester’s hat. She had wanted to be a princess, too, but she loved the hat too much to part with it. They paid and turned to go.

  “Uh, see you later?” said David from behind them. His dragon costume was on the counter.

  “Yeah, later,” said Alexis. She turned and led Elizabeth out the door.

  “Um, Alexis?” said Elizabeth.

  “Yeah?”

  “I think that was a question.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Alexis.

  “What David said just now—I think it was a question. Like, Can I see you later? Not, See ya later. Get the difference?”

  Alexis stopped in her tracks, blushing from the neck all the way up to her ponytail. Her eyes were dinner plates.

  “No way!” she said.

  “I could be wrong,” said Elizabeth. “But it seemed like he liked you.”

  “What do I do?” said Alexis, frantic. “I don’t want him to think I was rude!”

  “Go talk to him. He’s coming out of the store right now.”

  Alexis turned around. “David!” she called. He spun around, yanking a pair of earbuds out of his ears so he could hear her.

  “Yeah?”

  “Um, do you want to hang out with us? I mean, we’re not doing anything really, just walking around.”

  “I’ve got swim practice now. Maybe later?”

  “Tomorrow, maybe,” said Alexis. “If not, we’ll be in the bed race. Look for the amazing castle.”

  “Okay,” said David, smiling shyly. “See ya.”

  This time she was sure it was “see ya later.” Alexis waved and turned back to Elizabeth, smiling like she had just won a million dollars.

  “Chill out!” said Elizabeth. “Take a deep breath. He’s a boy, not Superman!” Alexis laughed.

  “So what now?” she asked.

  “We could try to find out more about the piece of paper Dr. Edwards is looking for,” said Elizabeth.

  “That’s a good idea,” said Alexis. “We should check out the area at the hotel where those guys are building the float. We might overhear something else—or at least get an idea of where to look.”

  Back at the hotel the girls asked Jane for directions to the ballroom. As they approached it, they heard the tick, tick, tick of someone shaking a can of spray paint. It was coming from a door across the hall. Fumes and voices drifted out to where the girls were standing.

  The door was open a couple of feet, so the girls walked up and peeked inside. Jerold and Jim were working on what Alexis guessed was the float. It was a perfect model of the carriage in the lobby, except that it was white. Alexis waved a hand at Elizabeth to get her to follow, and then she ducked inside and hid behind a tower of empty buckets.

  No one saw them come in.

  Jerold put down the spray paint he had been using and turned to call across the room.

  “Oy! Jim! Hurry up with that stuff, eh? We ain’t got all day!”

  “I’m a comin’, I’m a comin’! Hold yer horses!”

  Alexis and Elizabeth held their breath. Jim’s voice was just on the other side of the buckets. They heard him rustle around some more and then tromp off toward where the carriage and Jerold waited in the center of the room.

  Relieved, Alexis looked through a gap between two buckets so she could see what was going on. Jim had a large roll of something in his hand. It looked like aluminum foil, except that it was gold instead of silver.

  “Be careful, dimwit!” yelled Jerold. “You’re making it flake! We can’t have pieces of gold missing!”

  “Why are we doing this, anyway?” asked Jim. “If the boss wants some old paper, why doesn’t he just get it out of the carriage while everyone’s asleep? We could do that easy!”

  “Because it’s not just lying on top of the velvet cushion, stupid. It’s in a hidden compartment, and he doesn’t know where it is. He needs more time to search.”

  “So how is a carriage float going to help?” asked Jim.

  “Are you really that dim?” said Jerold, smacking Jim upside the head. But he didn’t say anything else. Alexis and Elizabeth hid for almost an hour, but the conversation was over.
Both men were intent on covering the carriage float with the golden foil.

  Alexis was with Jim. She didn’t see how this float was going to help Dr. Edwards find the document he was looking for. They needed more information. Alexis felt like she had a lot of clues, but none of them seemed to fit together.

  Were the Camp Club Girls at a dead end?

  David’s Story

  Bailey: Lex, I really like your court jester hat. Are you and Bets going to be in a costume contest?

  Alexis: How do you know about my costume?

  Bailey: K8 forwarded the photos of you trying on the hats.

  Sydney: Who was that hottie standing behind you?

  Alexis: Beth? How could she be standing behind me if she was taking pictures? And since when do you call her a hottie?

  Sydney: Not her, goofy. The dude.

  Bailey: Was he the Man of La Mancha or whatever?

  Sydney: What’s that?

  Alexis: Oh, I saw that old movie. It was about Don Quixote.

  Sydney: Who’s that?

  Alexis: Some knight in search of adventure.

  Kate: I believe that was during the Spanish Inquisition—in a different country and a different century than King George’s time.

  Sydney: Well, he may not be the Man of La Mancha, but I definitely think he’s the man of la macho!

  Alexis: He is cute. And he was really nice in the costume store. You’d like him, Sydney—he’s a champion swimmer. But he’s been kind of surly the other times I’ve seen him.

  Bailey: Surly? What’s that?

  Alexis: Grouchy.

  Kate: Beth just texted me that you’re blushing bright red when you’re talking or writing about Daaaavvviiiddd.

  Bailey: Wait, where’s Betty Boo? And who’s David?

  Alexis: She’s right here. But I have control of the keyboard, and I’m not giving it up…. Mwah-ha-ha… (That’s an evil laugh, Bailey. And you better be glad she doesn’t have control of anything if you’re calling her Betty Boo again. She hates that.) And David’s the guy in the photo.

  Bailey: Oh, Groucho—the guy who’s the swimmer.

  McKenzie: So… Don’t avoid the subject. Why do you blush when the guy’s around? Are you and he going to the festivities dressed as Princess Amelia and her horse trainer?

  Bailey: Do you think Groucho has anything to do with the mystery?

  Alexis: Oh no. I’m sure he doesn’t.

  Bailey: But you saw someone in the water a couple of nights ago. If he’s a swimmer, could that have been him?

  Alexis: That late at night? It was a school night. What would a kid not much older than us be doing out at that time of night?

  Bailey: Well, if he’s the swim-meister of the century…

  Alexis: I don’t think so. I think it has something to do with Dr. Edwards and with the cursing woman.

  Bailey: She uses bad language?

  Alexis: No, she is the one who was saying there’s a curse on the bridge. I think adults are running this thing.

  Kate: Well, I researched Dr. Edwards, and he’s legit. I couldn’t find anything suspicious about him. I even checked his photo from the past against one Beth snapped and sent to us the other day, and it was definitely the same guy who’s listed all over the Internet with all kinds of credentials.

  Sydney: I asked my aunt—you know, who works with the park services—if she knew anything about any funny business in that area. She says the rangers in the region have never mentioned anything.

  Alexis: We’re stuck. I keep trying to think of what Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot or McGyver or Jessica Fletcher would do.

  Bailey: Who are they?

  Sydney: They’re fictional detectives.

  Bailey: Oh. Or Scooby Doo, Shaggy, Velma, and Daphne.

  Alexis: Yeah or even them. I’m sure I’ve seen something on one of those mystery shows that should ring a bell and remind me of one of their plots, but I’m stumped. Ebeth just reminded me we have to go. Have to do a final check on the bed. Will send more photos later. Keep thinking….

  As Alexis and Elizabeth walked back to Bill’s shop, they kept trying to figure out what was going on. No matter how exciting the investigation was getting, they had to admit that they were stuck.

  Then they were at the shop. As Alexis looked at the bed, she paced back and forth biting her nails.

  “I wish we could test-drive it!” Alexis said. She was more than a little nervous about driving in a race when she had never even sat behind the steering wheel of a go-cart.

  “I’ll push,” said Elizabeth. “You can steer. My legs are longer, so I can push and ride at the same time—almost like a scooter.”

  Alexis almost protested, but when she stopped pacing, she realized that the back of the bed came up to her waist. There was no way she’d be able to jump on when the bed got going very fast.

  She was going to have to steer.

  Bill climbed up into the front of the bed and called her up, too. Since they had been here last, Bill and Mary had made a driver’s seat. It was an old recliner painted gold to look like a throne.

  “This is the steering wheel, obviously,” said Bill, pointing. Alexis sat on the edge of the throne and grasped the wheel so hard her knuckles turned white.

  “Mr. Bill,” said Alexis. “I would love to be able to say that I drive on a regular basis, but I’m twelve.” Bill, laughed.

  “Well, have you ever played one of those racing video games? The huge ones with wheels and pedals?”

  “A couple of times,” said Alexis.

  “You’ll be fine then. There’s only one pedal on this one though. That’s the brake.” He pointed his foot below the chair, and Alexis saw the black pedal. It was as big as her foot. Good, she thought. There’s no way I’ll miss it.

  Alexis turned the steering wheel and pressed the pedal over and over. If she could just get used to it, maybe she wouldn’t be so afraid in the morning. She wished she had more strength in her legs.

  Maybe I should take up swimming or something, she thought. That reminded her of David.

  “Hey, Mr. Bill, do you know David Turner?”

  “Yes, I’ve met him,” Mr. Bill replied. “Good kid.”

  “It seems like he doesn’t smile too often,” said Alexis. “And I noticed at the swim meet the other day that other people had family members around to congratulate them, but he didn’t. He just stood there looking grouchy.”

  Mary walked into the room with some glasses and a pitcher full of lemonade for the girls.

  “Poor kid,” she said. “David lost his parents and sister a year or so ago in a car wreck.” She handed each of the girls a glass and started pouring out the cool yellow treat. “David wasn’t in the car because he was at a swim meet. He lives with his uncle Jeff. Jeff is a good man, but he isn’t married and doesn’t know what it’s like to be a parent. He works a lot of hours, so David’s left alone a lot. Often at night, even,” she explained. “I understand money is a problem for them, too. I’ve noticed that David is smiling more lately. It’s tough to lose your parents.

  “I know David’s coach, too. He told me meets are really hard for David sometimes. Especially when he wins. His parents were on the way to his meet when they had the wreck. It was hard for him to keep swimming. But he does love it and is so good at it. They’ve thought about training him for the Olympics even if he is a little old for starting that,” she added.

  “The swim-meister,” Elizabeth murmured.

  The front door jingled as someone entered. Seconds later, Emily’s better-than-you voice drifted through the curtain.

  “Hey, Uncle Bill,” she called. “You ready to lose tomorrow?”

  Bill sighed and walked into the shop. Alexis and Elizabeth climbed off the bed and followed.

  “We’re ready to race, if that’s what you mean,” said Alexis. She smiled, hoping to get a similar reaction out of Emily.

  “ ‘Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself,’” Elizabeth
murmured.

  Alexis smiled. “Proverbs?”

  “Yep, 26:4.”

  Emily did smile at Alexis’s comment all right, but it was not a smile of kindness.

  “Mmm,” she said. “Where’s your third, anyway?”

  “Our what?” asked Elizabeth.

  “Your third. You know, your other person.” Alexis and Elizabeth looked at each other, confused. “Don’t tell me you don’t know!” squealed Emily. Alexis thought she sounded a little too pleased. Emily dug a folded purple paper out of her back pocket. As she unfolded it, Alexis recognized it as one of the bed race flyers.

  “Didn’t you read the small print?” asked Emily. She pointed to the very bottom of the flyer. “All teams must be made up of three or four people. No more, no less.” She refolded the flyer and looked at them with a smile.

  “See you in the morning!” Emily chirped, then she turned and left.

  Alexis looked back and forth between Elizabeth and Bill. What were they going to do?

  “Mr. Bill, can you ride with us?” asked Elizabeth. “I’m sure we could make it safe enough. We’ll go slow!”

  “No way, girls,” he answered. “That’s kind of you, but if you went slow enough to keep my leg from getting hurt, you’d have no chance at winning.”

  “We’d rather race slowly than not race at all!” said Alexis.

  “You’ll find someone else,” said Bill. “There are tons of people in this town willing to jump on a bed just for the ride.”

  “What about Miss Mary?” asked Elizabeth.

  The woman’s voice floated from behind the cash register. “Someone has to keep the store open for the tourists,” she said.

  Alexis and Elizabeth couldn’t believe their luck. They had worked so hard on finishing this bed and had been so excited to race. Now it looked like they might not even be able to. Alexis took a deep breath. There was no way she was giving up this easily.

  “Come on, Elizabeth,” she said. “We’ve got to find a partner.”

  “Well, you know what Matthew 7:7 says,” Elizabeth pointed out. “ ‘Seek and you will find!’”