Bailey and Kate then briefly told the Camp Club Girls about their trip to room 408 that morning.
“So we’re hoping to go back up to see it around noon,” Kate said.
“And we want to look at that window from the lawn at that time to see if the cowboy ghost shows up.”
“Keep us posted,” Alex said. “That sounds like an awesome hotel!”
“We will!” Bailey said. “And in the meantime, we have to figure out what the boys are so angry about.”
“Maybe you’ll remember something they said that will give you a clue,” McKenzie said.
“Yeah, we’ll have to think back about our conversations with them,” Kate agreed.
Someone knocked at Bailey and Kate’s hotel door, ending the conference call. Bailey made sure the chain was latched on the door before opening it the three inches it allowed. She inhaled sharply when she saw who stood on the other side.
Confession
Kate came to the door and peered out over Bailey’s head to see Justin and Joe.
“Justin! Joe! What are you doing here?” Bailey unhooked the chain and opened the door.
“W–We just wanted to see if you want to go to the hospital with our family.” Justin inspected his black and red Nikes as he spoke. “My mom said you wanted to visit my grandpa.”
“Yes, we do,” Kate said. “We’re sorry he was hurt.”
“The only problem is that my parents aren’t here for me to ask permission right now.” Bailey frowned.
“Can you call them?” Joe asked.
“Yeah. Sure.” Bailey was so surprised by this unexpected invitation she could hardly get her words out. “When are you leaving?”
“Later this afternoon,” Justin replied. “We just wanted to give you a heads-up in case you wanted to come along.”
“I’ll call my mom right now.” Bailey grabbed her phone from her pocket and speed-dialed. “Mom? Can we go with the Perkinses to the hospital later today to see their grandpa? Okay. That should work. Thanks. Love you, too.”
“Well?” Justin asked.
“She said yes. She’ll pick us up at the hospital when she and my sister are done shopping, and then we’ll pick up Kate’s dog from the vet. Plus, she also wants to see your grandpa.”
“Why’s your dog at the vet?” Joe asked.
“He got trampled in the stampede, too,” Kate said.
“He did? Is he all right?” Justin seemed genuinely concerned about the little dog.
“He broke some ribs, and his paw got messed up.” Kate grimaced. “He had to spend the night there, but he’s getting out today.”
“He might not be quite as fast as he was when he saw you in the hills yesterday,” Bailey teased the boys.
“Thank goodness for that!” Justin cracked a shy smile, the first Bailey had ever seen on his face. It was a nice smile, she decided, looking at his straight white teeth. He was cute.
“Thanks for inviting us to go with you,” Kate said.
“We’ll knock on your door when we’re ready to leave.” Joe seemed more relaxed than Bailey remembered him being before, maybe because Justin wasn’t so irritable.
“Wait!” Bailey called. “We’re going to check out room 408 where the cowboy ghost is always seen today at noon. You wanna come?”
Justin looked at Joe and shrugged. “Sure.”
“We’re meeting the bellhop, Lance, in the lobby then if you want to meet us there, too.”
“Okay, we’ll see you in the lobby at twelve o’clock,” Joe said.
“Great. See you then.” Kate shut the door and latched the chain.
“Can you believe that?” Bailey exploded.
“They’re like different people today!”
“Well, they can’t help but be changed by what happened to their grandpa.” Bailey shook her head. “But I never dreamed the change would be this dramatic.”
“Let’s tell the girls we’re going so they can pray that we have an opportunity to share our faith with the boys,” Kate suggested. “This could be just the chance we’ve been waiting for.”
Bailey snatched her laptop from the bed, and Kate grabbed hers off the nightstand. “We’ll just have to tell whoever’s online since we don’t have time to get everyone together before they pick us up.” Bailey logged on.
Bailey: Anyone out there?
Elizabeth: Hi! I’m here.
McKenzie: Me, too.
Kate: Of course, I’m here.
Bailey looked from her computer to Kate and they traded grins.
Bailey: You’ll never guess who was just here.
McKenzie: The ghost of Christmas past?
Kate: LOL. No, but a very good guess considering where we are.
Bailey: It was Justin and Joe!
McKenzie: No way! What’d they want?
Kate: They invited us to go with them to the hospital to see their grandpa.
Elizabeth: That’s a miracle!
Bailey: That’s what we thought. And they were actually nice to us, not grouchy at all.
Kate: We told them about Biscuit getting hurt and Justin asked if he was going to be okay.
Bailey: And he smiled a really nice smile when I teased him.
McKenzie: LOL. You’re funny.
Kate: Anyway, we wanted you to be praying for us.
Bailey: Those boys really need Jesus in their hearts so they’ll be happier.
McKenzie: And they’ll need good friends to support them if they were involved in the stampedes.
Elizabeth: You can show them God’s unconditional love. I’ll be praying.
Kate: Thanks. We knew we could count on you.
Bailey: Plus, we invited them to go with us to check out the cowboy ghost and they said yes!
McKenzie: You’re kidding!
Kate: I know. We can hardly believe it.
Bailey: We have to eat before then, so we’d better go. But maybe you can get the word out to the other girls so they can pray, too.
Elizabeth: Okay. We’ll try. But about these ghosts you’re chasing—just remember that Hebrews 9:27 says that man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
Bailey: What’s that supposed to mean?
Elizabeth: It means ghosts aren’t real. Once we die, we’re dead. We don’t come back to haunt people as ghosts.
Kate: We know they’re not real, Elizabeth, but thanks for the reminder.
Bailey: Yeah, thanks. It’s easy to get carried away with this stuff sometimes. We’ll keep you posted.
See ya.
Bailey logged off and closed her laptop. Kate got out the bread and started making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
“Something Justin said at the Elkfest just came to me,” Bailey said.
Kate spread the peanut butter on her bread. “What was it?”
“I think it may be what McKenzie was talking about when she said the boys must feel threatened somehow. Remember how Justin was so mad when we said we hoped Grandpa Perkins would win the bugling contest?” Bailey grabbed the peanut butter jar. “He said something about how the tourists shouldn’t be able to win and should just go home.”
“I thought he was just kidding,” Kate said around a bite of sandwich.
“So did I until I looked at him. He was mad and dead serious.” Bailey finished making her sandwich and poured a glass of milk.
“That could be it, Bailey!”
“Justin and Joe used to visit their grandparents here before all the tourists started coming. Maybe Estes Park has changed so much from all the tourists that Justin wants them to leave.”
“He could be angry that their quiet vacation spot is now crowded and busy.” Kate took another bite. “I bet the tourists don’t take care of the place like the locals, either.”
“I know I’ve seen some of the tourists littering and leaving messes behind,” Bailey said.
“That would explain why Justin didn’t like us at first. If he feels threatened by tourists, he’d feel threatened by us since we’re tourists!”
Bailey stopped eating. “Maybe he’s using that gun to scare the elk into town so they’ll scare the tourists away.”
“But how did he always know where to find the elk?” Kate asked.
Bailey bit into her sandwich and thought a second. Then her eyes lit up. “Sydney said one thing’s for sure. If you have wallows, you have elk.”
“That’s it!” Kate yelled. “The wallows! The boys are finding the elk by finding the wallows. Bailey, I think we may have just figured out our mystery.”
“Now we just have to prove it.”
“Come on, we have to get down to the lobby. It’s almost noon!”
As they exited the elevator, they saw Lance waiting for them. The Perkins boys showed up moments later.
“Everyone ready to check out room 408?” Lance asked.
“Can we start by looking at it from the courtyard first to see if we can see the cowboy ghost?” Bailey asked.
“Sure,” Lance said. “I’ll wait here for you.”
The foursome went to the front yard and looked up to the fourth floor window.
“There he is!” Kate pointed at the image.
“Cool!” Justin said. “I’ve never actually seen him before.”
“We’ve always heard about this, but never saw it for ourselves!” Joe added.
“Okay, so we know he’s showing up right now,” Bailey said. “Let’s go to the room to see if we can figure out how it’s happening.”
Lance escorted them to the fourth floor and unlocked the door. The room was bright, flooded with sunlight.
“Look at the etching on the glass now,” Bailey said. “You can see a lot more of it with the sun shining directly on it.”
“Yeah,” Kate agreed. “I can see the whole image of the cowboy now.”
“Why couldn’t we see it before?” Bailey asked Lance.
He smiled. “You were right about the etching on the glass. When the sunlight shines directly on it, you can see all of it. But some of the etching is done so lightly that it only shows up under bright light. That’s why you couldn’t see the whole image this morning.”
“Look!” Joe said. “A shadow is starting to move across the window.”
Bailey and Kate looked at each other, eyes wide. “That must be what makes it look like the cowboy’s turning toward the wall before he disappears!”
“Exactly,” Lance said. “You guys are pretty smart.”
“But wait a minute,” Kate said. “If it depends on the sunlight to make it appear, then wouldn’t it show up at different times of day depending on the time of year? You know, with the rotation of the earth and all.”
Lance laughed. “Now you’re really thinking! And you’re right. You just happen to be here when the sun shines on it around noon. Other times of the year it’s earlier or later in the day.” He leaned toward Bailey and said in a mock whisper, “That makes it more mysterious.”
“Wow.” Bailey walked to the window and ran her hand over the etching. “I can’t believe we figured that out.”
“Well, we might not have if it weren’t for Alex’s help about the etchings,” Kate reminded her.
Lance looked at his watch. “I’d better get back to work.”
“Thanks for showing us all this and confirming our theory,” Kate said as they all left the room.
Closing the door behind him, Lance said, “My pleasure!”
Bailey turned to the boys. “I think we’ll go out on the porch for a while. If we’re not in our room when you’re ready to go to the hospital, you can find us down there.”
Joe nodded. “Okay, see you this afternoon.”
At the hospital, everyone grew quiet. They’d chatted all during the ride, but when they turned into the parking lot, Justin and Joe were back to their usual grouchy faces. Justin’s eyebrows made a sharp V-shape over his eyes.
Bailey and Kate walked in silence with the boys’ family. When they came to Grandpa Perkins’s room, Bailey could hardly believe it was him in the bed. Tubes snaked from his arms and nose. His face was bruised and swollen. His silver hair stuck out in odd places and lay too flat in others.
Grandma Perkins was sitting in a chair by the bed but stood when they entered the room. She motioned for Justin and Joe’s dad to take her seat. The others sat on chairs that were brought in and put around the room. Bailey and Kate sat on the far side of the room while Justin and Joe parked themselves close to the door. Their mother stood on one side of Grandpa’s bed and Mr. Perkins, now in Grandma’s chair, took his father’s hand.
“Hi, Dad. We’re all here—Janice, Justin, Joe, and even our friends, Bailey Chang and Kate Oliver from down the hall at our hotel. Remember? They cheered you on during the bugling contest at the Elkfest.”
Grandpa Perkins’s eyelids fluttered then opened slightly. A faint smile crossed his lips.
“You don’t have to say anything, Dad. Save your strength for getting better.”
Bailey heard a chair scrape and saw Justin leave the room, followed by Joe. She looked at Kate, wondering if they should go. Kate nodded and they went into the hallway where they found Justin and Joe arguing in loud whispers.
“We can’t tell!” Justin snapped.
“We have to,” Joe said. “They’ll find out sooner or later and it would be better if they heard it from us.” “Justin? Joe?” Bailey said.
The brothers’ heads jerked toward them in surprise, their eyes blazing.
“Look, we don’t mean to intrude, but maybe we can help.” Bailey walked closer to Justin and Joe.
“What do you know about anything?” Justin barked.
Kate spoke gently. “We know you seem to be in trouble and we’d like to help.”
“No one can help us,” Joe said, tears filling his eyes.
“That’s not true. If we can’t help, we know who can.” Bailey’s voice was strong and confident.
“But first you have to tell us the problem.” Kate stood waiting for their reply.
The boys remained silent.
Justin drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. He eyed Joe, who nodded. Justin looked at Bailey and she noticed his chin quiver. Tears pooled in his eyes. “It’s our fault. My fault, really. Joe tried to talk me out of it,” he finally whispered.
“What’s your fault?” Bailey thought she knew, but she figured it was important for Justin to say it himself.
“The stampede. All of them. And Grandpa’s injuries.”
“How is it your fault? What did you do?” Kate asked.
“We—I—scared the elk. I shot around them with my airsoft gun to spook them. I never shot directly at the elk. Only in the trees and bushes around them. Joe came along because I pressured him. He didn’t want to be involved.”
“Why did you want to scare the elk? Didn’t you see how it made them stampede?”
“Yeah, I saw,” Justin replied. “That was the point. I remember when Joe and I were little and we’d come here to visit my grandparents. This place was awesome. It was so beautiful. But over the years the tourists began coming and it started to change. They didn’t care about taking care of this place since they’d be going home in a week or two. They acted like they owned the place just because they threw their money around in all these shops.
“The Elkfest used to be just for the locals,” he continued, “but now all these fancy tourists were joining it. It made me sick. I wanted Estes Park to be peaceful like it used to be. It was our special place with our grandparents until those tourists ruined it. So I hoped the elk would scare them away.”
“How did you know where to find the elk? It seems like you always knew where they were.”
“I just looked for a wallow and knew they’d be close by.”
“Just as we thought,” Bailey said.
“Where there are wallows, there are elk.” Justin smiled, but his eyes were sad. “Wait a minute. You knew that? Did you know what we were doing, too?”
Bailey nodded. She turned to Justin and put her hand
on his arm. “It’s okay, Justin. We’re still your friends. We’ll explain later. But you need to tell your parents.”
Justin shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Sure you can. We’ll go with you,” Kate said. “And God will give you the strength to do what you need to do.”
“You talk about God like He’s standing right here with us,” Justin said.
Bailey laughed. “That’s because He is!”
“I wish I had faith like that,” Joe said.
“You can!” Kate assured him. “You just have to ask God for it. He loves to help people believe.”
Justin shook his head. “Seems like God wouldn’t want anything to do with someone like me.”
“That’s the cool thing about God,” Kate said. “He’s not like people who only love popular, nice-looking people, or those who never mess up. He especially loves those who need help and who have done things they shouldn’t.”
“When you really think about it, that includes all of us.” Bailey could hardly believe they were having this conversation. She knew the Camp Club Girls’ prayers were giving her and Kate the courage to tell the boys about God.
Justin looked at them. “Maybe you’re right.” He looked toward the hospital room door. “I guess it’s time to tell them.”
Bailey and Kate followed Justin and Joe back into Grandpa Perkins’s room.
“I—I have something I need to say,” Justin began. “I owe you a huge apology. I don’t know if you’ll be able to forgive me.”
“Forgive you for what?” Mrs. Perkins looked surprised. “For causing all this trouble.”
“This isn’t your fault, son,” Mr. Perkins said. “No one could have stopped those elk.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Justin told the story to his parents and grandparents. “So if I hadn’t been so stupid and wanted everything the way it used to be, I wouldn’t have shot at the trees and bushes around the elk to spook them and this never would have happened. Grandpa’s hurt because of me, and I’m so sorry.”
Mr. Perkins’s forehead creased with worry, but his words were gentle. “I’m disappointed in what you did, Justin. I always taught you to be responsible with guns and never to use them for harm. You used your airsoft gun inappropriately, and there will be consequences.” Mr. Perkins put his arm around his son’s shoulder. “But it takes a strong man to admit when he’s wrong. I’m glad you told the truth.”
Bailey’s Estes Park Excitement Page 10