by Jill Diamond
“They traveled many miles
Diego and dear Giles
And became the best of friends
True companions till the end
And they thought this land so pretty
So did found our lovely city
Now we celebrate our home
In our dear El Corazón
And mark our city’s special day
On the twentieth of May
So raise your glass and let’s say ‘cheers!’
To the past two hundred years!”
At that, everyone in the Heliotrope raised their glasses in a toast. Lou Lou and Pea clinked together their pomegranate Italian sodas and joined the crowd in clapping and crying, “Bravo!” Eventually, the applause died down except for one loud slow clap.
“Spectacular, indeed!” a man’s voice boomed from the back of the theater. Even though the words were complimentary, Lou Lou detected something unpleasant about the man’s tone. Her ears began to tingle and she glanced at Pea, who was frowning. “But I have a small suggestion to improve your song,” the voice went on. “May I join you onstage, Miss Divine?” The man sounded like he was giving an order rather than asking permission.
“It’s a bit unconventional, but please do come up,” Ella Divine said graciously.
When the man behind the voice approached the Heliotrope’s stage, Lou Lou’s ears went from pink tingly to red warm. There was something about him—Lou Lou couldn’t quite put her finger on it—that screamed, I’m up to no good! He was tall with a pointy goatee and was wearing a satin jacket printed with gray and black diamonds, and black patent-leather shoes polished to a high shine.
Chrysanthemum, chrysanthemum, chrysanthemum, Lou Lou said three times in her head, a trick she used to calm her nerves. She didn’t know who this man was or what he had to say, but Lou Lou suspected that she wasn’t going to like it.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Heartbreak at the Heliotrope
“What is your name, sir?” Ella Divine asked the man when he reached the Heliotrope’s stage. “I recognize you, but I can’t quite place—”
“Andy Argyle.” The man’s dark eyes were fixed on the crowd. “Resident of Verde Valley, and”—he paused for dramatic effect—“vice-mayor of the city and Bicentennial Bonanza Boss!”
“So that’s the vice-mayor,” Lou Lou whispered.
Pea nodded. “I have a bad feeling about him, Lou Lou. Did you hear his last name? Argyle!”
Argyle, Argyle. Lou Lou racked her brain. Where had she heard that before?
“The rude girl in Limonero Park! Her name was Amanda Argyle and she was from Verde Valley,” Pea reminded Lou Lou.
Ella Divine leaned in toward the microphone. “Welcome, Vice-Mayor Argyle. Please do share your suggestion for improving my song.”
“Take out the part about your dear El Corazón,” the vice-mayor said. “Instead, the song should be about Verde Valley!”
Ella Divine looked confused. “Since El Corazón is hosting this Bonanza, it doesn’t make sense to change this song. Perhaps I can write another.”
The corners of Andy Argyle’s mouth turned up into a sinister smile. “What if El Corazón wasn’t hosting?” His booming voice was amplified by the Heliotrope’s acoustics, making it sound as if it was coming from all corners of the theater. Lou Lou’s ears burned even hotter and turned fire-engine red. “Maybe our founders, Diego and Giles, had other intentions for our city’s birthday celebration.” There were murmurs in the crowd.
“I’m sorry. I don’t understand.” Ella Divine said what everyone else was thinking.
“Perhaps this will help.” Andy Argyle whipped something from his inside jacket pocket and held it up to the crowd. It was a small leather-bound book with a ribbon place marker.
“Behold, Giles Wonderwood’s long-lost diary!” A gasp was heard throughout the Heliotrope.
“How interesting! I didn’t know that Mr. Wonderwood kept a diary,” said Ella Divine. “Wherever did you find it?”
“Daddy found it in the City Archives! I was there!” Lou Lou turned and saw Amanda Argyle standing on a chair in the back of the theater. The resemblance between the girl and her father was clear. They had the same dimpled chin and small close-set eyes. Amanda was wearing a shirt that matched her father’s jacket and was similar to the diamond-print dress she had worn in the park.
“The Argyles certainly like argyle,” Pea said.
Of course, thought Lou Lou. She’d learned enough from Pea’s fashion passion to recognize the pattern that matched Amanda and her father’s last name.
The vice-mayor made a show of clearing his throat to refocus attention on him. “Allow me to read you an excerpt from the diary,” he said. He opened to the bookmarked page:
“Date: The twentieth of May.
Dearest Diary,
Diego and I declared today to be the official birthday of our new home. To celebrate, we threw a party and called it the Bonanza! We hope our descendants will hold similar celebrations in the decades to come.”
Andy Argyle looked up to make sure the crowd was still listening.
“We already learned this stuff in school,” Lou Lou whispered to Pea.
“I know,” Pea said. “But I think there’s more.”
Pea was right. Andy Argyle continued to read:
“Our first official decree for our new home is that a birthday Bonanza shall be held every ten years in the EXACT SAME PLACE as our original celebration.”
The vice-mayor took care to emphasize Giles’s words:
“We call this special place VERDE VALLEY.”
The crowd gasped again.
“Wait, what? The founders wanted the Bonanza to always happen in Verde Valley?” Lou Lou said. “No way! We never learned that in school!”
“If that’s true, what does it mean for El Corazón and this year’s celebration?” Pea asked. Lou Lou didn’t have an answer.
Andy Argyle looked up from the diary and gave the crowd a hard, dark-eyed stare. The hint of a smug smile played on his lips.
“There you have it!” he said. “Our founders intended that Verde Valley host the Bonanza, not El Corazón, or any other neighborhood. We must obey their wishes.”
“But we’ve always shared the honor of hosting the Bonanza!” someone in the crowd yelled. “Each neighborhood gets a turn, and this year it’s El Corazón’s!”
“Sharing was what happened before we knew what our founders actually wanted. From now on, all birthday Bonanzas will be in Verde Valley!” replied the vice-mayor. “Starting this year!”
“But El Corazón has been preparing for months for the Bonanza. Couldn’t we make an exception?” another person asked.
“No exceptions!” Andy Argyle snapped. “It would hardly be fair to the other neighborhoods if we gave El Corazón special privileges. Besides, this is a very important Bonanza because it’s the Bicentennial. That means we must do the celebration right.”
“How do we know that the diary really says what you claim?” someone else asked.
“Because I say so and I’m the vice-mayor!” boomed Andy Argyle. “But if you don’t trust me, you can come to the City Archives in City Hall and I will show it to you myself.” It seemed like he had an answer for everything. “The Bonanza will relocate to Verde Valley! And since the gazebo was meant for the host neighborhood, it now belongs to Verde Valley as well!” Andy Argyle rubbed his palms together when he said the word gazebo and sneered the way Amanda had in the park.
Lou Lou could hardly believe her ears. Relocate the Bonanza? And the gazebo? After El Corazón had worked so hard? She looked at Pea in disbelief. “What will happen to the honeysuckle? The performances? Oh Pea, your beautiful hats?” She was about to get another unwelcome answer.
“In case there is any confusion, let me quickly remind you of the official city rules for this year’s celebration.” The vice-mayor reached into his inside jacket pocket again, pulled out a piece of paper, and began to read aloud: “In addition t
o choosing the location for the gazebo, the host neighborhood will be in charge of all Bonanza crafts, creations, and performance plans.” Andy Argyle looked at the crowd triumphantly. “You will hand over all of El Corazón’s Bonanza preparations this weekend in Limonero Park. Otherwise, I will forbid you from even attending the celebration!”
“It’s not fair,” cried someone in the crowd.
“¡Hemos trabajado muy duro!” someone else said.
Lou Lou thought about all the time and effort she and Juan had put into the honeysuckle. It was nothing compared to Pea’s hard work on the hats. She looked over at Pea, whose blue eyes were filling with tears. Lou Lou took her best friend’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.
“But Daddy, I don’t want to wait until the weekend. I want a Bonanza hat NOW! You told me I could have one NOW!” Amanda whined. All eyes turned back toward her as, much to Lou Lou’s horror, she pointed at Pea’s beautiful blue hat. Pea put a hand on it protectively.
“Of course, darling,” Andy Argyle said to Amanda. He looked at Pea. “Hand over the hat, little girl!” he commanded.
“Now, just you wait right here. There’s no reason my daughter has to give that up!” Lou Lou saw Pea’s father, Henry Pearl, in the crowd.
“Indeed, there is a reason. As I already told you, Verde Valley is now in charge of everything,” Andy Argyle said curtly. “Including the hats!”
“But…” Pea’s lower lip quivered.
“Can’t we let her keep at least one one…?” Lou Lou recognized Mr. Vila’s voice.
“No exceptions!” Andy Argyle boomed again. Lou Lou noticed Amanda Argyle moving toward them through the crowd.
“Gimme!” she said, and lunged at Pea, who was frozen in shock.
“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH THAT HAT!” Lou Lou shouted. “IT BELONGS TO MY BEST FRIEND!”
Amanda paused for a moment. “Not everyone gets to have a best friend,” she said, her voice low.
Lou Lou sprang into action, blocking Amanda’s way. But it was no use. Amanda was a good three inches taller than Lou Lou and easily reached over Lou Lou’s curls to snatch the hat from Pea’s head. The peacock feather tore off and fluttered to the floor. Pea clasped her hands to her chest.
“This actually belongs to Verde Valley! Fair and square!” crowed Amanda, squishing the bow on the hat as she mashed it onto her own head. Amanda reached down to grab the hatbox at Pea’s feet, as well as the bag with Abuela Josie’s hat.
“Wait! That’s my abuela’s lucky hat! It’s special and she needs it! Please!”
Amanda gave no sign of hearing Pea’s plea. She stomped back into the crowd, and Lou Lou watched the words Propiedad de Peacock Pearl disappear.
With that, the Bicentennial Bonanza dreams of Lou Lou, Pea, and the rest of El Corazón went dark alongside the Heliotrope’s stage lights.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Giles … Diary … Fake
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 Bonan
za 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!
CHAPTER NINE
Lou Lou and Pea to the Rescue Again!
The people of El Corazón were dismayed after the heartbreak at the Heliotrope. The neighborhood went from bustling and enthusiastic to quiet and gloomy. There were no more excited discussions of Bonanza preparations on the street and in the shops. In school the next day, Kyle never once mentioned his space goats, and Danielle’s snooty-girl posse didn’t do a single shimmy. Even the day was dreary and gray, as if the weather was sympathizing with El Corazón.
Pea, in particular, was grief-stricken over the loss of her hats. The day after the Preview was only a Wednesday, but Lou Lou called an emergency PSPP to comfort her friend and discuss the situation. Emergency PSPPs were very rare. In the history of PSPP, there had only been one other, when a raccoon had destroyed all of Lou Lou’s tomato plants right before the salsa festival.