Lou Lou and Pea and the Bicentennial Bonanza

by Jill Diamond

  “Is that from one of your plants?” asked Pea when she joined Lou Lou.

  Lou Lou nodded. “I wonder what she wants with it,” she said. “I mean, our honeysuckle is beautiful, but it seems strange that she’d take a cutting.”

  “Maybe she’s a horticulturist like you,” offered Pea.

  “Doubtful,” replied Lou Lou. “Horticulturists are never that rude. Except that one boy who insulted someone’s prize ficus and another girl who—” Lou Lou interrupted her own thought. “Actually, they can be rude. But her fingernails were too clean for her to be a horticulturist!”

  “Let’s just forget about her,” said Pea. “She was quite unpleasant, and I’d hate for her to ruin our day.”

  “I don’t like that she was mean to you and to El Corazón.” Lou Lou wasn’t as good as Pea at letting things go. “But I guess you’re right. Let’s stop at my house before we go to Marvelous Millinery. I bet my dad will make us iceberg burgers for lunch.”

  By the time they’d left the park, Lou Lou had successfully put Amanda out of her mind. After all, she and Pea had plenty of better things to think about, not the least of which was the upcoming Bonanza!

  CHAPTER FIVE

  A Putt-Putt-the-Puli Emergency

  On the way home from Limonero Park, Lou Lou and Pea stopped to get a close-up look at the finished historical section of the Bonanza mural. El Corazón was filled with community-created murals that were greatly loved by the two friends and had even helped them solve a mystery. But today, instead of looking for clues, Pea was hoping for creative inspiration for her hat-making. Fixing Abuela Josie’s lucky hat was top priority, but Pea also needed to design a few more Bonanza hats.

  When they arrived at the mural, Lou Lou and Pea spent a moment in quiet contemplation. Lou Lou admired the bundle of flowered branches and vines in Diego’s arms, and Pea looked closely at Giles’s jaunty cap. They both smiled at the elaborately painted gazebo that the artists had added to the background.

  “Do you feel inspired?” Lou Lou asked Pea.

  “The mural is definitely helping,” Pea replied. “I will make a cap that looks like the one Giles is wearing.”

  “But it’s so simple compared to your other fancy Bonanza hats,” Lou Lou said.

  “Yes, but as Giorgio Armani said, ‘The essence of style is a simple way of saying something complex,’” Pea replied.

  Lou Lou considered this. “That might be true, but the elaborate ones are way more fun!” Pea laughed, and Lou Lou looked back at the mural. “How about making a hat to represent every neighborhood in our city?” she suggested. “The one for El Corazón could be covered in hearts, the hat for Centro Circle, could have … well … circles. Verde Valley’s could be green, Dove Heights could be covered with birds, and so on.”

  “That’s a wonderful idea, Lou Lou!” said Pea. She looked at the painting of Diego’s flowers. “I can’t wait to add some faux-silk honeysuckle to my designs. The shipment Mr. Vila ordered should arrive today!” She clapped her hands. “Lou Lou, that’s it!”

  “That’s what?” asked Lou Lou.

  “I’ll use the silk honeysuckle to cover the hole on Abuela Josie’s hat! Then I won’t need a perfect patch. It will just look like I added flair in honor of the Bonanza and my tío Diego!”

  “Wonderful!” Lou Lou said. “You’re a true hat genius!”

  Pea smiled and gazed at the gazebo in the mural. “I can’t wait to see what our gazebo will look like!” she said.

  The founders of the city had been strangers to each other when they arrived, but quickly became the best of friends. To celebrate their new friendship and home, Diego and Giles built a fancy gazebo like the ones in England, but painted it with colorful flowers and designs that resembled Mexican Talavera pottery. The original gazebo had been destroyed in an earthquake, but in honor of the Bicentennial Bonanza, the city was building a replica for Limonero Park.

  “I know! It’s going to be amazing!” Everyone in El Corazón was very excited about the new gazebo, including Lou Lou and Pea, who planned to enjoy PSPP tea and scones under its beautiful dome.

  Lou Lou linked arms with Pea. “Do you have enough inspiration?” she asked. Pea nodded. “Great, because I’m starving!”

  “Let’s go!” said Pea, and the two best friends headed off in the direction of the SS Lucky Alley for lunch.

  * * *

  Lou Lou and Pea spent Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday at Marvelous Millinery working on the Bonanza hats. Pea mended Abuela Josie’s lucky hat, and under Pea’s watchful blue eye, Lou Lou helped with the other Bonanza hats by sewing and gluing buttons, ribbons, silk flowers, and plastic fruits on hats of all shapes and sizes.

  By the end of the weekend, they’d made excellent progress. Pea not only fixed the hole in her abuela’s hat and added gorgeous sprigs of silk honeysuckle, she also cleaned the suede and polished the silver chain so it looked as good as new. At the end of the day, she held it up for Lou Lou and Mr. Vila to admire.

  “Pea, that’s amazing! Now Abuela Josie can do her stunt worry-free, wearing her lucky hat. She is going to be so proud of you!”

  “Oh yes, yes! Fabulous work!” the milliner chimed in. Pea beamed.

  * * *

  That evening, Lou Lou was relaxing in the living room of the SS Lucky Alley with her parents. Dolphin sounds played over the speakers, making kee kee kee noises. Lou Lou’s dad practiced sailing knots, and her mom made origami birthday cakes to use as Bonanza decorations. Lou Lou worked on a list of horticulture supplies she needed for the honeysuckle. At six o’clock, Lou Lou’s dad silenced the dolphins and turned on the news.

  “Good evening, folks,” the newscaster said. “Tonight we will take you inside the kitchen of Cupcake Cabana for an exclusive tour. But first, an announcement from our mayor.” Lou Lou looked up from her list. She was certain that Mayor Montoya was going to say something about the Bonanza. Maybe she wanted to offer a special thank-you to the girl who’d grown such beautiful honeysuckle in Limonero Park.

  The news camera cut to the mayor sitting behind her desk. She was wearing a gray dress and a somber expression.

  “Buenas noches, everyone,” said Mayor Montoya in her smooth politician’s voice. “I’m afraid I have some rather unfortunate news. I received word today that Putt Putt, my mother’s puli, is very sick.”

  “How can a pulley get sick?” Lou Lou asked. She thought about the pulley she used to bring things up to the crow’s nest, her bedroom at the tip-top of the SS Lucky Alley.

  “It’s pronounced pool-ee. And it’s a dog,” Jane Bombay, Lou Lou’s mom, said. She pointed to a picture on the television of what appeared to be a black mop. Upon closer inspection, Lou Lou could just make out the mop’s little pink tongue.

  The camera cut back to Mayor Montoya. “I’m sorry to say that I must leave the city to visit my mother and help care for poor Putt Putt. With the Bicentennial Bonanza right around the corner, I realize this is very bad timing. But never fear, the vice-mayor will be in charge while I’m gone. He has assured me that he will take good care of the Bonanza preparations, so you will be in excellent hands. And if there is an emergency, he’ll know how to contact me. I can’t say exactly when I’ll return, but I do hope it’s in time for the celebration.”

  The camera cut back to the newscaster, and Lou Lou’s dad turned down the television volume. “How sad. I hope Putt Putt is okay,” he said.

  Lou Lou squinted at her mom. “Who is the vice-mayor?” she asked. “And what does he do when there’s no Putt-Putt-the-puli emergency?”

  Lou Lou’s mom scratched her head. “His name is Andy something,” she finally replied. “I saw him driving a little car in a parade, but honestly, I’m not sure what his regular responsibilities are.” Lou Lou and her mom looked at Lou Lou’s dad.

  “Well, shiver me timbers, I don’t know either, lassies,” he said. “All I remember about him is that he wears flashy clothes.”

  Lou Lou thought for a moment. She was curi
ous about the vice-mayor and sad for Putt Putt the puli. As far as the Bonanza preparations went, though, everything seemed okay. So why were her ears tingling a warning?

  “I guess if the mayor says we’re in good hands, it’s no big deal,” Lou Lou said, dismissing her ears. At the time, Lou Lou had no way of knowing it would turn out that her ears were right and she was terribly wrong.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The Preview

  The next day was a normal Monday at Lou Lou’s school, El Corazón Public. There was plenty of talk of the Bonanza, and Lou Lou felt proud when she saw the red program on the hall bulletin board. Kids practiced performances for the celebration, with a spontaneous gymnastics demonstration and a trumpet concert. There was also some discussion of the mayor’s sudden departure. Lou Lou asked her classmates about the vice-mayor, but, again, no one knew much about him. One kid thought he might be a friend of her uncle, and another said he once saw the vice-mayor at Cupcake Cabana.

  After lunch, Lou Lou had Art. She’d been looking forward to today’s class because Sarah was helping them make banners for the Bonanza.

  “Go ahead and roll out the paper!” On Sarah’s command, Lou Lou began to unroll a giant scroll from one end.

  “Don’t pull so hard on your side until I’m ready!” a high-pitched voice squealed.

  “Sorry.” Lou Lou slowed down and grinned at blond, petite Danielle Desserts, who was unrolling the paper opposite Lou Lou. Danielle looked away and adjusted her pink sparkly headband, but Lou Lou saw the glimmer of a smile on her face. Danielle and Lou Lou weren’t exactly friends, and Danielle and her snooty-girl posse were by far the bossiest kids in the school. But she and Lou Lou had come a long way from the enemies they had once been.

  When the blank scroll of paper was fully unrolled, Lou Lou’s classmates drew in big block letters: ¡BIENVENIDOS A BONANZA DE BICENTENARIO! and WELCOME TO THE BICENTENNIAL BONANZA! Their handwriting was good, but not as pretty as Pea’s. It was no wonder that she went to a special arts school. In smaller letters, other kids wrote the names of all the neighborhoods in the city. Then Lou Lou and her classmates added glitter and drew designs to make the banners colorful and shiny.

  “Great!” Sarah said when they were finished. “Now it’s time for one more banner. This one will thank our city for the lovely gift of the gazebo. Please draw pictures of how you will use the gazebo so this banner will be truly special!”

  On the second banner, Lou Lou’s classmates wrote: ¡GRACIAS POR EL MIRADOR! and THANK YOU FOR THE GAZEBO! Lou Lou drew herself and Pea wearing Pea’s hats and enjoying PSPP tea and scones in the new gazebo. In Kyle’s drawing, he stood in the gazebo in his silver Comet Cop outfit, holding his meteor blaster, which was really just streamers attached to a spatula.

  “I did a good job on the galactic gazebo.” Kyle admired his artwork.

  “It looks great, but I don’t see how the gazebo will be galactic,” said Lou Lou. “It won’t have rockets or orbit the sun.”

  “Mayor Montoya said that the gazebo will be for everyone to use however they’d like. So I’m using it as a space lair. Plus, everything on Earth orbits the sun, Lou Lou Bombay.” Lou Lou had to admit that Comet Cop Kyle made some valid points.

  In addition to Lou Lou’s and Kyle’s drawings, a boy sketched himself playing the accordion in the gazebo, there was a drawing of two girls eating ice cream, and another of a boy riding his neon-orange skateboard. Lou Lou squinted at Danielle’s gazebo sketch of herself and her friends dressed in pink with their hips twisted to one side.

  “What are you doing in this drawing, Danielle?”

  “The Sugar Mountain Sisters’ Shimmy. Duh!” replied Danielle.

  “Oh, of course.” Lou Lou was careful not to let Danielle see her giggle. Danielle and her snooty-girl posse took their obsession with Shelly and Sherry from the Sugar Mountain Sisters book series very seriously. They would perform the sisters’ dance on the afternoon of the Bonanza celebration.

  Sarah took a step back to survey the two banners. “These look great!” she said. “Everyone should be proud of their work. The banners will be on display tomorrow at the Preview, and then we’ll hang them at the Bonanza celebration, of course. This Bicentennial Bonanza is truly going to be an occasion to remember!”

  As Lou Lou helped Sarah carefully re-roll the paper, Sarah’s words, occasion to remember, echoed in Lou Lou’s head. She was certain that the Bonanza would be one of the most memorable events of her life so far, and she could hardly wait another few weeks for the celebration!

  * * *

  On Tuesday after school, Lou Lou went to Marvelous Millinery, where Pea was adding the special touches to a few of the final hats—sequins and a peacock feather as her signature accent.

  “Wow!” was all Lou Lou could say when Pea held up the hats for Lou Lou’s inspection. She admired the feathers. “These really make it perfect!”

  “As Christian Dior said, ‘Feathers are lovely on a bird and glamorous on a hat,’” explained Pea.

  “That’s definitely true,” replied Lou Lou. She tried a horticulture quote. “As Violet Petals said, ‘Pretty flowers may smell like pretty dirt.’”

  Pea politely didn’t ask Lou Lou how that quote was related to feathers or hats, and did not point out that she never wanted to smell dirt, no matter how pretty.

  “Should we get going?” Lou Lou asked. “It’s almost five-thirty.”

  “Yes.” Pea quickly put away her supplies and tidied up the workshop.

  “Which hat are you bringing for the Preview?” asked Lou Lou. “One of the super-duper-fancy ones?” Lou Lou emphasized duper because most of Pea’s hats were, at the very least, super-fancy.

  “Abuela Josie’s lucky hat, of course,” Pea replied. She carefully placed the hat in a large bag and slung it over one shoulder.

  “I can’t wait to see her face when you show her how incredible it looks!” said Lou Lou.

  “I’m also going to take the one that I will wear at the Bonanza. I finished it yesterday.” Pea pulled a round, sky-blue, silk-covered hatbox from the cabinet. On the hatbox was a fancy sewn-on label that read Propiedad de Peacock Pearl. She lifted its cover to reveal a cloche made from navy velvet and trimmed with green ribbon and a peacock feather. On one side was an oversize royal-blue bow. It wasn’t the most elaborate of Pea’s hats, but Lou Lou could tell it was crafted with love and made from the finest of materials. When Pea modeled it over her brown hair, the blue of her eyes shimmered.

  “Gorgeous!” said Lou Lou, once again awestruck by her friend’s millinery talents. “What will you name it?”

  “I haven’t decided yet.” Pea put the hat back in the box, then slung its satin braided cord over the crook of her elbow so she could close the hat shop door. “It will definitely be something extra special.”

  Once on the street, Lou Lou and Pea joined their El Corazón neighbors. They were all going to the same place—the Heliotrope, the girls’ favorite restaurant and theater. The air was thick with excitement as everyone talked about the evening’s event.

  “I heard that Ella Divine is going to debut the song she wrote for the Bonanza!”

  “¡Esta noche es seguro que será muy divertido!”

  “It will be so amazing to see the model of the gazebo!”

  It was a short walk to the Heliotrope’s grand oak doors and lighted marquee, which read in big letters: TONIGHT! BICENTENNIAL BONANZA PREVIEW! And in smaller letters below: Complimentary slices of our famous chocolate cheesecake! Lou Lou’s mouth watered at the sign. She and Pea loved the Heliotrope’s chocolate cheesecake.

  Inside, the crowded theater was abuzz with activity. The evening’s Preview was intended for assigning tasks to Bonanza volunteers, as well as providing a glimpse of what would happen at the Bonanza. It was like the trailer for one of Lou Lou’s dad’s beloved pirate movies that showed brief swashbuckling scenes, but made you wait for the film to get the whole story.

  At the Preview, everyone presented a sample of the
creation or performance they were working on for the upcoming celebration. In a far corner, Sarah hung one of the banners made by Lou Lou’s class above an elaborate model of the gazebo that had been on display in Lou Lou’s school’s trophy case. In another corner, Kyle tried to stop Jupiter from gnawing on the Heliotrope’s fancy velvet upholstery.

  “Let’s go see the Celebrar candles that Rosa ordered for the Bonanza!” Lou Lou pointed to a dark-haired older girl standing behind a candlelit table.

  “And keep an eye out for my abuela! I can’t wait to give her the hat. Which reminds me…” Pea took her own blue hat from the box and proudly placed it on her head.

  Lou Lou and Pea made their way through the crowd, stopping to get a piece of chocolate cheesecake. A voice behind Lou Lou said, “Save room for dinner. I made minestrone sloop soup. Hearty enough for my favorite first mate.”

  Lou Lou smiled. “Hi, Dad.”

  Just then, the houselights went down and the Heliotrope’s manager appeared onstage in front of the heavy crimson curtain. Lou Lou and Pea turned to watch.

  “Welcome and bienvenidos,” the manager said. “Gracias for coming to tonight’s Preview! To kick this off, let’s enjoy the vocal stylings of El Corazón’s favorite singer performing a piece she wrote just for the Bonanza. Please welcome the one, the only … Ella Divine!”

  Lou Lou, Pea, and the rest of the crowd cheered. The curtain lifted and Ella Divine appeared, looking stunning. Her black hair curled elegantly around her face, her lips were painted a deep plum, and she was wearing a long gold gown tied with a wide silk sash of her signature color, emerald green. Pea nodded approvingly. Ella Divine was Pea’s favorite performer, which had as much to do with her fashion sense as it did her beautiful voice.

  “Good evening,” said Ella Divine into the microphone. “This song is called ‘Abundant Cheers for Two Hundred Years.’” Everyone was mesmerized as Ella Divine began to sing: