Bailey’s Peoria Problem

by Linda McQuinn Carlblom

  Alex nodded.

  Though none of the photos were crystal clear, after reviewing them again, some did seem to show a shadowy image in the house.

  “I still can’t imagine that anyone would live in that place. It’s such a mess!” Alex examined the picture more closely.

  “Who knows? This image in the window may not even be a human.” Bailey’s voice dripped with disappointment. “It may just be a reflection of light or something.”

  “Or then again, it might not be!” Alex encouraged. “We just have to keep trying to get better pictures. It was your first try with your new gadget. You’ll get better at it.”

  Bailey gave a tiny smile. “Do you think the other girls would be interested in seeing these just for fun?”

  “The ones of the front of the house will at least give them a good idea of what it looks like. Even if the house doesn’t have anything to do with our case, it’s still interesting.”

  “Okay. I’ll send them off.” Bailey attached the best photos to an e-mail and hit SEND. “They’ll see what they’re missing by not being here with us!”

  “We may have two mysteries on our hands. One about Gonzalez and one about the haunted house!” Alex laughed.

  “Yeah, but we definitely have to go back and get better shots.” Bailey crossed her arms and frowned.

  “Do we have time to go now before supper?” Alex asked.

  Bailey looked at the clock on the wall. “Maybe if we hurry. It’s almost five o’clock.”

  “Let’s go!” Alex jumped up from the bed.

  “Wait!” Bailey put her camera watch back on and dug for something in her backpack.

  “What are you doing?”

  “We need to take something to keep that dog away.” Victoriously, Bailey held up a snack pack of cookies and then stuffed them in her pocket.

  “Good thinking!”

  They hurried down the stairs and through the kitchen.

  “We’re going back outside for a while,” Bailey called as they passed Aunt Darcy.

  Her aunt laughed. “I’ll call you when it’s suppertime.”

  The girls ran down the road back toward the old house. Suddenly Alex put her arm out in front of Bailey like a barricade and stopped abruptly. “Look!”

  From about a quarter of a mile away, something—or someone—moved through the tall weeds in the front yard.

  Dude, Rude, and Yeller

  “Did you see that?” Alex asked, struggling to keep her voice from trembling.

  “I saw it, but I don’t know what it was.” Bailey squinted her eyes.

  “It was either that mean dog jumping or someone standing and then crouching so we wouldn’t see him.”

  “Are you sure?” Bailey’s voice quivered.

  “Not entirely, but that’s what it looked like to me. One second it was tall, and the next it was gone.”

  “We need to find a place where we can watch but not be seen.” Bailey looked around. “I’ve got it!”

  Alex’s full attention was on her younger friend.

  “Uncle Nathan’s sheep pasture backs right up to the run-down house’s empty field. And that field is right next to the yard with the tall weeds. If we pretend we’re tending the sheep in the pasture, we should be able to keep a watch on the yard without being too obvious.”

  “I don’t know,” Alex said. “We may be too far away to see much from there.”

  “Their field isn’t very big, and if we stay toward the back of the pasture, I think we’ll have a pretty good view.” Bailey pointed her index finger in the air dramatically. “And it will be safe. A creek separates our pasture from the empty field, as well as a fence.”

  “A creek? I never saw that!”

  “It runs through a big culvert under the road, so you may not have seen it.” Bailey grinned mischievously. “Besides the fact that we were running pretty fast on our way back!”

  “You can say that again! I bet I could have beat Sydney in that race with the growling dog chasing us!” Alex laughed, thinking about their athletic friend who competed in the Junior Olympics in track and field.

  “Well, shall we try watching from the pasture?” Bailey asked.

  “Guess we could see what the view is like from there.” Alex picked at a hangnail on her left thumb. “Uh, Bailey?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I haven’t spent much time around sheep. Anything I should know?”

  Bailey smiled reassuringly. “Just watch where you step.”

  Alex burst out laughing. “Thanks for the tip.”

  “Seriously, sheep are gentle. Why else would the Bible talk about them so much?”

  “I guess…”

  “Think about it.” Bailey took hold of Alex’s hand and swung it. “Jesus told his disciples He was sending them out like sheep among wolves. It’s a comparison—a gentle animal compared to a wild animal.”

  “I never thought of it like that.”

  The two walked back to the pasture and entered through the gate, being careful to close it behind them. They made their way through the flock of sheep, the smell almost knocking them over. Their favorite lamb, Bow, sprang over to them in excited leaps. The red bow Alex had put around her neck was still there, though not quite as bright and pretty as it had been. They bent down to pet the baby sheep, but the smell was too much.

  “Can’t we wear masks or something while we’re in here?” Alex gagged, her hand over her mouth and nose.

  “After you’re around the smell awhile you don’t notice it as much. But I think Uncle Nathan has some masks in the barn. We’ll have to look for them next time we’re in there.”

  As they neared the far end of the pasture, Bailey heard a faint cry. “Did you hear that?”

  “I only hear sheep bleating.”

  They walked several steps further, and the sound came again, only louder.

  “That’s no sheep! Look!” Bailey pointed toward the haunted house.

  Alex turned in the same direction and saw a man waving wildly to get their attention.

  “Hey!” The man yelled, his arms high above his head.

  Bailey looked at Alex, unsure what to do.

  “I think he needs help!” Bailey said.

  “We have to be careful,” Alex reminded her. “We don’t know that guy.”

  Bailey inched toward the man with Alex following close behind.

  “We’ll have to climb over the fence when we get to it,” Bailey said.

  The girls heard another yell and saw two more men appear in the distance, one wearing a cowboy hat. Bailey and Alex ducked behind two smelly sheep, peeking out just enough to see.

  The two men grabbed the first man roughly and shoved him back toward the house. The first man’s yelling stopped, but now the other two men hollered at him, though Bailey couldn’t make out what they said. She saw the first man look over his shoulder in their direction one last time before being pushed through the front door.

  Alex let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “Guess we now know for sure someone is living there.”

  “As if Fang the dog wasn’t enough to tell us that!” Bailey stood up slowly.

  “Come on. We’d better go back home.” Alex took Bailey’s arm and turned to leave. “It’s probably almost suppertime.”

  “We can’t go now!” Bailey jerked away. “That guy needs our help!”

  “Bailey, we can’t go charging over there.” Alex stood planted, hands on her hips. “You saw how rough those guys were. It’s not safe!”

  “Well, we have to do something! What if he’s in danger?”

  “Maybe we should tell your aunt and uncle,” Alex suggested.

  “I don’t know.” Bailey shook her head. “They might try to make us give up our sleuthing on the Gonzalez case.”

  “Look,” Alex said, resting her hand on Bailey’s shoulder. “How about if we pray about this and trust that God will show us the right thing to do?”

  Bailey nodded. “I just hope He doesn’
t make us wait too long to show us.”

  Alex laughed. “I know. But remember, God loves that man just as much as He loves us. He’ll protect him until we can figure out what to do.”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  Bailey and Alex moved between the sheep, making their way back to the gate. Once out of the pasture, Bailey asked, “Why do you think those two men were so mean to the other guy?”

  “Maybe he’s supposed to be working for them and they thought he was out there goofing off,” Alex suggested.

  “Maybe.” Bailey scratched her head. “Or maybe he was trying to get help for someone who’s hurt inside the house and the other two guys don’t want people to know about it. Maybe they’re the ones who hurt him!”

  Alex laughed. “You have a good imagination.”

  “Or what if they’ve kidnapped someone and are hiding him there, and the guy yelling was trying to help him!”

  “Wow! You really should write books or something.”

  This time Bailey laughed. “I’d rather act. I love drama.”

  Alex’s eyes flew open wide. “I didn’t know that!”

  “I’ve been in a school play, and I’d love to be in community theater.”

  “Why don’t you?”

  Bailey shrugged. “Just haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’m only nine!”

  Alex squeezed Bailey around the shoulders. “Someday you’ll be a star.”

  “Not if I stay in Peoria, Illinois.” Bailey’s eyebrows wrinkled. “I need to get out of this town and go to Los Angeles or New York or somewhere big to do that. That’s my plan anyway.”

  “Sounds like a good plan, but you can at least get started in Peoria.”

  “I guess.” Bailey sighed and then smiled. “In the meantime, we need to figure out this Gonzalez mystery.”

  The girls reached their yard and smelled supper cooking.

  “Mmm.” Bailey put her nose in the air and sniffed. “Smells like spaghetti!”

  “Yeah,” Alex agreed as she opened the screen door, “and garlic bread!”

  “Right on both counts.” Aunt Darcy pulled the garlic bread out of the oven. “You’re just in time to wash up and eat.”

  “Perfect timing,” Bailey said as she and Alex headed to the bathroom to wash their hands.

  After supper, Bailey and Alex went to their bedroom to check their e-mail.

  Alex flopped stomach-down onto her bed, opened the laptop in front of her, and waited for it to boot.

  “I hope one of the other girls has already sent us some information on Gonzo.” Bailey hopped onto the bed beside Alex to see.

  “Gonzo?” Alex questioned.

  “Yeah. Marshall Gonzalez,” Bailey explained.

  Alex laughed and gave Bailey a playful shove. “I should have known it was only a matter of time until you gave him a nickname.”

  “I was thinking those guys we saw today should have names, too.” Bailey closed her eyes for a moment. “How about Yeller for the first guy ’cause he yells so much, and Dude and Rude for the other two, since the one wore a hat like an old cowboy dude and they both treated Yeller rudely?”

  Alex rolled to her back and laughed. “Dude and Rude it is,” she said. “And Yeller!”

  “Hey look! We got something from Kate!” Bailey pointed at the computer screen.

  “And it has an attachment.” Alex opened the e-mail, and Kate’s short note appeared:

  Still checking on the Gonzalez stuff. He was good at staying out of the public eye. Will let you know when I find anything. In the meantime, here’s a picture of Biscuit doing his latest trick—dancing with me on his hind legs.

  Alex clicked on the YouTube link, and a healthy and happy Biscuit appeared standing on his back legs, front paws in Kate’s hands. The girls laughed at the photo.

  “He should be on Pet Stars!” Alex pirouetted around the room like a ballerina.

  “Wow! Look how big he got!” Bailey leaned in to get a closer look at the small light brown and white mutt with fur hanging over his big brown eyes. “He’s twice the size he was at camp last summer.”

  “Yeah, but he still only comes to Kate’s waist when he’s stretched out dancing.” Alex’s eyes softened. “Aww. He’s so cute!”

  “And so clean!” Bailey added. “Remember how dirty and matted he was when we found him?” The two girls sat quietly for a moment.

  “But no news on Gonzo yet,” Bailey said, getting back to business.

  “Well at least she’s working on it.” Alex closed her laptop.

  “Oh man!” Bailey slapped her leg in disgust.

  “What?”

  “I should have taken pictures of Yeller, Dude, and Rude with my camera watch!”

  “O-o-h yeah.” Alex snapped her fingers. “But you couldn’t have done that without being seen. It’s probably best you didn’t.”

  “But then we’d have pictures to examine and to send to the other Camp Club Girls. Maybe Kate could even match it with someone on the Internet.”

  “That would have been helpful, for sure.”

  “Maybe we’ll see them again sometime.”

  “Even if we do, safety comes first.” Alex looked firmly at Bailey. “No pictures if it will put us in danger.”

  Bailey stared her down.

  “Deal?” Alex pushed.

  Bailey dropped her gaze and sighed. “Deal,” she said.

  “Now, what’s our schedule for tomorrow?” Alex asked, trying to lighten the mood.

  “Well, tomorrow’s Monday, so I guess we’ll start early with sheep shearing.” Bailey perked up at that thought.

  “I guess it will be time for me to give it a try, huh?” Alex started picking her nails.

  “Uncle Nathan and I can each do one while you watch. Then you can have a turn. You’ll do great.”

  “I’m kind of excited and kind of nervous all at the same time.”

  Bailey’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “If you don’t mind me saying, you’re looking a bit sheepish.”

  Alex groaned. “That was a ba-a-a-d joke!”

  “You even sound like a sheep! Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” Bailey tucked her hair behind her ear. “Really, don’t worry. I felt nervous, too, when I was learning. But you’ll see it’s not that hard.”

  “I hope so.”

  “And remember you don’t have to do it fast like Uncle Nathan. He just does it that way ’cause he’s had so much practice.”

  “I know. I’ll take my time.”

  “I read once that a professional can shear a sheep in less than two minutes,” Bailey said.

  Alex’s jaw dropped. “Two minutes! That’s fast!”

  “And not only that, he removes the fleece all in one piece!” Bailey held up one finger.

  “You’ve got to be kidding. How is that possible?”

  “I don’t know, but that’s what the magazine said.”

  Alex giggled. “Something tells me I won’t master that this week.”

  “Me neither!” Bailey rolled her eyes dramatically.

  “We need to update the other Camp Club Girls on those men we saw,” Alex said.

  “This time I’ll call Elizabeth and Sydney,” Bailey said as she flipped open her phone, “and you call Kate and McKenzie.”

  Chatter and laughter filled the room as Bailey and Alex told the others about Yeller, Dude, and Rude.

  “Yeah, funny, huh?” Alex said to McKenzie. “Bailey just comes up with these crazy names for people. It’s a hoot!”

  “Of course we’ll be careful, Elizabeth,” Bailey said. “We won’t get close to those men. But I might take a few pictures with my watch.”

  “I’m going to learn to shear sheep tomorrow!” Alex smiled as she spoke to Kate.

  “You should have seen us run when that dog was chasing us, Sydney,” Bailey told her athletic friend. “You would have been proud!”

  Soon both girls finished their conversations and reported back to each other.

  “I told Kate we loved the pic
ture of her and Biscuit,” Alex said.

  “Sydney said to keep up the good running, and maybe we can be in the Olympics with her someday.” Bailey giggled.

  “McKenzie wondered why those men even have a dog.” Alex yawned. “She said maybe they aren’t as mean as we thought.”

  “They sure acted mean, and so did their dog,” Bailey said. “I didn’t see anything nice about any of them—except Yeller didn’t seem to be threatening us.”

  “How’s Elizabeth doing?”

  “Good. She doesn’t want us approaching those men. Too dangerous.”

  “Well, duh!” Alex said. “That’s what I said earlier.”

  “I still plan to get some pictures of them though,” Bailey said.

  “If you can do it safely, I’m all for it.”

  “They sure would be handy in trying to identify Yeller, Dude, and Rude to see if they have anything to do with Gonzo’s case.”

  “You can say that again.” Alex saw Bailey’s black eyes twinkle and a smile play at her mouth. “But don’t.”

  “You know me too well.” Bailey grinned then yawned. “I’m getting sleepy.”

  “It’s been a big day.”

  “And tomorrow should be even bigger with all the shearing.” Bailey pulled her pajamas out of the dresser drawer.

  “We’d better get to bed early so we’ll be rested and ready for it.”

  “I plan to get some photos of those guys tomorrow after we’re done shearing.”

  “If they’re outside again,” Alex added. “Seems like Dude and Rude like to keep Yeller in the house and out of sight.”

  “Yeah, it does,” Bailey agreed, squeezing toothpaste onto her toothbrush. “But maybe we’ll get lucky. Yeller may come up with a way to go out since he saw us.”

  The girls brushed their teeth and crawled into bed. Bailey took care to remove her camera watch and set it on the dresser; then she switched off the light.

  “I just hope he’s okay until we can figure out a way to help.” Alex pulled the blanket up to her chin. “Don’t forget to pray for him.”

  “And don’t forget to pray for us to know the right thing to do,” Bailey added. She turned on her side and snuggled into her pillow.

  Outside, Shy barked from the sheep pasture. “Silly Shy,” Bailey murmured.