Alexis

by Erica Rodgers

  Alexis was sure the old woman had been trying to tell her something. Maybe she knew it wasn’t really a curse. The curse could be a story made up to scare the tourists, like Dr. Edwards had said. In that case Lake Havasu City was in real trouble. Someone was trying to bring down the London Bridge. But why?

  The next morning Alexis told Elizabeth everything she had seen. First about the scribbled note on the door. Then about the incident with the bridge.

  “Do you really think that note was meant for us?” asked Elizabeth as they walked toward the bench near the bridge.

  “I guess there’s no way to know for sure,” said Alexis. “We can ask the old lady the next time we see her. I really think she meant us to get it, though. I mean, she knew we were coming to see her, right?”

  “Yeah,” said Elizabeth, folding one long leg beneath her as she sat down. “But why on the door? Why didn’t she leave another envelope or note like yesterday?”

  “Well, she is a little dramatic,” said Alexis. “She dresses like a medieval peasant, for goodness’ sake! She’s secretive too. Maybe she was worried that an envelope taped to the door would be too obvious and that someone else would read it.”

  “Maybe,” said Elizabeth. “We won’t know until we talk to her again. So you really saw someone under the bridge last night?”

  “Yep. And I just know they were banging on the bridge with some tools. Maybe a hammer or something.”

  “Did you see the tools?” asked Elizabeth.

  “No, but I heard the banging. I saw the person drop them back into the boat when he came up too.”

  “When he came up?”

  “Yeah,” said Alexis. “From under the water.” Elizabeth looked back at the channel where dozens of engineers were busy at work again. A shifty smile spread across her face.

  “You know what that means, don’t you?” she said.

  “What?” asked Alexis.

  “It means that there really is a reason for us to check out the bridge! You know, like I said yesterday. We’ll get some cheap goggles, and—”

  “No way!” Alexis jumped off the bench. “You’re crazy! The public isn’t supposed to be anywhere near the bridge! And if you haven’t noticed, Elizabeth: We’re the public. Besides, it’s just plain stupid to go swimming around under a bridge that’s about to collapse!”

  “It’s not about to collapse,” said Elizabeth. “It just has a tiny crack.”

  “You sound like Dr. Edwards,” said Alexis. “Don’t you remember what the bridge commissioner said about tiny cracks? They start avalanches, Elizabeth!”

  “Okay, okay! Don’t freak out. You’re right.” Elizabeth took a deep breath and looked around. “It really isn’t a good idea. So what do we do today?”

  Alexis caught sight of a purple flyer taped on a lamppost.

  “We haven’t thought anymore about the bed race,” she said. “Are you still interested?”

  “Of course!” said Elizabeth. “We need a little something to distract us.”

  “We’d better get working on it then. The first thing we’ll need is a bed.”

  “Good job, Einstein!” Elizabeth elbowed Alexis playfully, and the pair of girls walked toward the shopping area of downtown Lake Havasu City.

  They passed a mattress shop, and Elizabeth stopped.

  “This place sells beds,” she said. Alexis pointed to the price tag of the small bed that was sitting in the window.

  “Six hundred dollars,” she said. “I think we’ll need a used one.”

  They kept walking and turned into an older part of town. The street was narrow, more like an alley than a road. It was lined with antique shops on both sides, with a couple of coffee and pastry shops snuggled in between.

  The first store they walked into was called Betsy’s Boutique. It was crowded with crystal vases and candleholders and lace doilies. The girls had taken two steps into the shop when a thin woman with a birdlike nose and her hair pulled back into a tight bun stepped out from behind an ancient polished dresser.

  “Where are your parents?” she asked.

  “Um, back at the hotel,” answered Elizabeth. The woman pointed toward a sign in the window that read NO UNATTENDED CHILDREN ALLOWED. Then she coughed and nudged them toward the door.

  Back outside on the sidewalk, the girls laughed.

  “Well, I guess we’d better find a shop that doesn’t have a problem with unattended children,” laughed Alexis. “What about that one?” She pointed across the narrow street to a whimsical sign that said BILL‘S TARNISHED TREASURES. Its windows were crowded with all kinds of things, from worn-out lamps to old bicycle seats.

  “Looks good to me,” said Elizabeth. They looked both ways and crossed over to the opposite sidewalk. A large jingly bell on the door announced their arrival, but nobody greeted them. In fact the store looked empty.

  “Maybe they’re in the back?” said Elizabeth.

  “Let’s look around,” said Alexis. The girls didn’t see a bed anywhere, but they saw plenty of other amazing things in the piles of junk. Alexis was sifting through a huge crystal bowl full of ancient brass buttons when a voice from behind her made her jump.

  “That one is from a World War II naval jacket.”

  Alexis spun around and faced a large man in glasses. His voice was low and gentle, and his smile was warm and genuine.

  “Oh,” said Alexis, looking at the button she was holding. It had an anchor etched into it. “That’s really neat,” she said. “That makes it about…sixty years old.”

  “Just a little older, actually,” said the man. “But good job! My name’s Bill. This is my shop.” Bill stuck out his hand, and Alexis grasped it. This was awkward, since he had a crutch under his arm.

  “Nice to meet you, Bill. I’m Alexis, and this is my friend Elizabeth.” Elizabeth emerged from a pile of tattered books and waved.

  “It’s good to meet the two of you,” said Bill. “What brings you in here today? Anything in particular?”

  “Well,” said Alexis, “actually we’re looking for a bed. We want to enter the race this weekend, but we’re from out of town, and we don’t, um…have a bed.” Alexis looked around the shop. “And it doesn’t look like you have one either.”

  Bill’s face lit up, his smile stretching so wide that his glasses bounced on his large cheeks. “We’re both in luck!” he said. “Follow me.” He turned and hobbled past the cash register, and Alexis saw that he was wearing a full cast on one of his legs. She wondered how such a large man managed to move on crutches through such a crowded store without breaking everything in sight. Bill led them to a curtain at the back of the shop and started through it. Alexis and Elizabeth hesitated, and Bill turned around.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “Mary!”

  “Yes, Bill?” A lovely voice floated into the room from beyond the curtain, and a pretty face followed it.

  “Mary,” said Bill, “this is Alexis and Elizabeth. Girls, this is Mary, my wife. They’re interested in the race, so I’m going to show them the castle!” Bill sounded like a little kid at Christmastime. Mary nodded and pointed through the curtain. The mention of a castle made the girls even more curious. They followed Bill behind the curtain, leaving it open so they could still see the door. Some of her friends called Alexis paranoid, but she got uncomfortable when she couldn’t see an exit.

  “Whoa,” said Elizabeth.

  Alexis turned around to see a huge contraption filling the tiny back room. It really was a castle! Bill had built a tower at the head of the bed, where the pillow usually went, and a low wall surrounded the rest of the mattress. At the foot, a real wooden drawbridge was closed, and a blue bed skirt fell to the floor like a rippling moat.

  “This is amazing!” cried Alexis.

  “Do you think so?” asked Bill. “It’s taken me almost a year to build. Go ahead. Climb up and take a look!” He gestured to the back of the tower where a trapdoor revealed an entry onto the bed itself and a couple of stairs leading to the top of t
he tower. Alexis climbed right up.

  “It feels so stable,” said Alexis. “But the tower is so tall. Why doesn’t it tip over?”

  “Well, that’s why I used real wood for the drawbridge. The tower makes the back of the bed really heavy. I needed something just as heavy to even out the weight in the front. Otherwise it would topple over the first time it went around a corner. That’s also why I put these on it.” Bill raised a corner of the bed skirt, revealing knobby tires.

  “Those things look big enough to go on a tractor!” said Elizabeth.

  “Close,” said Bill. “They came from a riding lawn mower. The old wobbly bed wheels weren’t going to work for something this huge. I also put brakes in it—something most beds in the race won’t have. Once this baby gets going, it would be impossible to stop otherwise.”

  “I see the pedals,” said Alexis. “And there’s even a steering wheel!”

  “Wow,” said Elizabeth. “You sure put a lot into this bed. It’s amazing, but I don’t think we could afford to buy it from you.”

  Alexis sighed. She knew Elizabeth was right. There was no way they could afford a bed this cool for the race.

  “It’s not for sale,” said Bill. “I’m giving it to you. Just for the race, I mean.”

  The girls were stunned.

  “But why?” asked Alexis. Bill pointed to his broken leg.

  “Racing is against the doctor’s orders. But I’d hate to see this thing sit back here unused. And I always like to have a bed in the race representing the shop. Instead of my charging you rent, how about if you just finish the work on it and represent us? It still needs to be painted. I’ve got the paint. It probably wouldn’t take you two very long. What do you say?”

  Alexis was speechless. They hadn’t even been looking for an hour, and they had found the most amazing racing bed ever. And they weren’t going to have to pay a dime.

  “Wow, Mr. Bill. I don’t know what to say,” said Alexis.

  “Just say you’ll race her hard. I’d love to be part of a winning team, even if it’s just to cheer you across the finish line.”

  Alexis laughed and shook Bill’s hand. “It’s a deal!” she said. “Where are the paintbrushes?”

  Alexis called her grandmother, and Elizabeth called her parents to tell them what was going on and where they were. Then they painted until late afternoon. Mary brought them turkey sandwiches for lunch and filled plastic cups with iced lemonade every twenty minutes or so.

  By the time the girls began to rinse their brushes and close the cans of paint, the bed had been transformed. The walls of the castle were gray stone. White and gray paint had been sponged over it in spots to make it look real. The drawbridge was dark brown. Bill had come in with a hammer and beaten it up a little. The effect made it look weatherworn and very old. He also brought two lengths of chain and attached them to either side of the wooden bridge and then to the castle walls. They hung limp, like real chains that would allow the bridge to fall open.

  A few finishing touches still needed to be done, so the girls would have to come back later in the week.

  “In the meantime,” said Mary as the girls prepared to leave, “Madame Brussau’s is a wonderful costume shop. Your costumes should match your bed, Your Highnesses.” She curtsied as if the girls were royalty.

  “We will visit the shop, Madame Mary,” answered Alexis. She and Elizabeth curtsied in return. “Thank you for all of your help.”

  All the way back to the hotel, the girls talked about their bed. Hardly any other bed would have brakes or a steering wheel, so they really felt they had a good chance of winning. That was if they could get the hang of driving the bed when they had never done it before.

  Elizabeth’s parents told her she could stay the night with Alexis at the London Bridge Resort. They were going to watch the bridge. Alexis hoped the person in the boat would show up again. Maybe this time they could sneak down to the water and take some pictures.

  When they entered the shining lobby of the hotel, an unusual crowd surrounded the front desk. Dr. Edwards was standing across the counter from Jane. He seemed to be introducing her to two strange men in canvas work suits. They looked like painters.

  Alexis motioned to Elizabeth, and the two of them slowed down. Alexis wanted to hear what they were saying as they walked past. Dr. Edwards spoke first.

  “These men are Jerold and Jim,” he said to Jane. “They have been hired to create a float that will represent the conference and hotel in Saturday’s parade. Please allow them unlimited access to the hotel’s premises, even though they are not guests. I believe your manager has left you a note to that effect.”

  Jane dug around on the desk in front of her. She picked up a piece of paper and studied it.

  “Yep,” she said. “You’re good to go! This says he’s set up a workroom for you near the ballroom,” she said to the workmen.

  “Thank you very much,” said the larger of the two. The hairs on the back of Alexis’s neck stood on end. That voice. It was so familiar. Alexis waited for the man to say something else so she could place his voice, but he didn’t. He only nodded and then turned and followed Dr. Edwards around the corner toward the ballroom.

  Oh well. It probably just reminded her of someone back home. The two girls went upstairs, ate room service with Grandma Windsor, and went into Alexis’s room to get ready for bed.

  As Elizabeth opened her backpack and reached inside, Alexis saw a flash of white.

  “Is that what I think it is?” she asked.

  “Yep. Dad’s MacBook,” Elizabeth said, pulling the computer out of the canvas bag. “He said I could bring it with me tonight.”

  The girls put on their pajamas and then sat side by side at the computer desk in the room. Elizabeth turned on the screen, and a glowing apple appeared while the machine booted up.

  When she entered the Camp Club Girls chat room, she and Alexis saw that the other girls were already there.

  Bailey: Hi Betty Boo and Lexy.

  Elizabeth: You know I hate that name. And Lexy? That’s a new one. LOL

  McKenzie: We were just talking about you. Kate was telling us the stuff you texted her all day.

  Elizabeth: Did Kate send you the photos of the bed too?

  Sydney: Yeah, that thing’s amazing. I wish I was there to push it for you!

  McKenzie: I don’t see why they just don’t race horses. Beds don’t make sense. If you guys go back there next year, maybe I could come down with my horse. There’s a jousting club not too far from here. Maybe I could learn to joust.

  Elizabeth: That would be cool. Did you guys find anything out?

  Kate: I looked up Princess Amelia. I found out that she was in love with a stable hand.

  Bailey: Maybe he’s the one who taught her to ride horses.

  Kate: Maybe. Tradition is that she wrote him letters. After she died, the stories say he couldn’t find her last letter. He spent the rest of his life looking for it.

  McKenzie: What happened to him?

  Kate: Well, actually he died not too long after Amelia. Of some sort of plague.

  Sydney: That happened a lot in those times. People died suddenly. He might even have died in the saddle!

  Bailey: What are you going to do next?

  Elizabeth: As I texted you earlier today, Alexis saw weird stuff at the bridge last night. We’re going to try to keep an eye on the bridge tonight.

  Kate: Do you have your automatic recording camera with you that you used at Miss Maria’s nature park? You know—when you were trying to catch the dinosaurs in action? If so, you can set it up to try to catch any action.

  Elizabeth: No, we don’t have one of those.

  Kate: Do you want me to overnight a spycam to you?

  Elizabeth: I think we’ll be okay.

  When the girls got off the computer, they weren’t tired at all. On the contrary, they were quite excited. They sat at the window for hours waiting for the mysterious person in the rowboat.

  He didn
’t come.

  It was one o’clock in the morning, and both girls were asleep on the windowsill. Suddenly Alexis jumped.

  “What?” said Elizabeth, immediately awake. “Did you see something?”

  “No,” said Alexis. “That man in the lobby! I just remembered where I’ve heard his voice before!”

  “Oh. Where?” asked Elizabeth. She relaxed back into her chair.

  “Elizabeth, I heard it in the alley! Remember? The two voices were talking about—”

  “No way!” Elizabeth sat straight up again.

  “Yes way! I have no idea how they are going to do it, but those two men are going to steal the golden coach!”

  Priceless or Useless

  The girls had breakfast in the hotel restaurant with Alexis’s grandma. Alexis still didn’t feel the girls had enough information to tell her grandmother what was happening. Still, she was nervous about the speculations she and Elizabeth had. The fact that the con men had gotten jobs at the hotel would make it easier for them to steal the carriage. She had no idea how they could do it, but it still worried her.

  Alexis knew her grandma would know what to do, but she still didn’t feel confident enough to tell her everything. She wondered what she would say about the idea of the carriage being stolen.

  “Grandma,” said Alexis, as the waitress filled her glass of orange juice. “Why is there so little security around the carriage? What would happen if someone tried to steal it?”

  Grandma Windsor chuckled.

  “Darling, that carriage is huge! No one would be able to get it out of the hotel unnoticed. But even if they could, what would they do with it?”

  “Well, it’s valuable, isn’t it?” asked Elizabeth.

  “In its own way, yes,” said Grandma Windsor. “But I don’t see why anyone would want it. It’s the only replica of its kind, so you couldn’t sell it to anyone. It would be too easy for the police to track it down again.”

  “Well, what about a collector or something? Someone like you, who really likes history and stuff?” asked Alexis. She was remembering the many old trinkets her grandmother brought back from her travels. Her house was full of them. Again Grandma Windsor laughed.