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  A couple of the girls chose guys as buddies, and I knew they would sit together on the bus and hold hands and try to sneak away from the others. I’m all for romance, but some people try to grow up way too fast, and it’s gross.

  Bryce and Duncan Swift usually pair up since they’re best friends, but Bryce chose Toby instead. It made me want to choose Duncan. If only I had the nerve.

  Chapter 8

  I stopped by the art room to ask Mr. Cheplosa’s advice on my investigation. He told me there were pawnshops all over Denver and Colorado Springs, even one in Red Rock.

  “What’s a pawnshop, and what’s that got to do with house burglary?”

  “Pawnshops are where people take jewelry or other valuables to trade or sell. The pawnshop owner pays as little as possible so he can make a profit by reselling these things, so people are usually pretty desperate when they sell there.”

  “Desperate, like thieves?”

  He nodded. “Pawnshop owners aren’t supposed to buy stolen items, but it happens.”

  He gave me the name of the one in Red Rock: Johnny’s Pawn and Deli.

  It sounded weird and reminded me of a place in Fairplay called Video and Feed. I wondered if people could sell their old food.

  At lunch I called the place on my cell phone.

  “Yeah?”

  “Is this Johnny?”

  “You got him.”

  “I was wondering if you had any jewelry—especially a wedding ring and—”

  “Kid, I got a case full. You gettin’ married?”

  “No, but—”

  He laughed. “Just come on in and I’ll show you.”

  “But have you gotten anything in the last few days? Any old stuff?”

  “I get stuff all the time. Look, I’m with a customer. Come in and you can look all you want.”

  I imagined Johnny making a pastrami sandwich and his greasy fingers all over Mrs. Watson’s brooch. “One more thing. Mr. Krenshaw, the paper delivery guy. Does he sell you stuff?”

  There was a pause. “Why?”

  “Oh, I was just wondering about the scanner he got.”

  “Tell ya about that beauty, did he? I could get another of those if you want. Now I gotta go.”

  I would have bet my life that Mrs. Watson’s brooch was at Johnny’s. I called and told her that, but I didn’t say anything about Mr. Krenshaw.

  Chapter 9

  Mom knows how to listen and not say too much, like she has antennae that tell her exactly when to talk and when not to.

  “How’d you feel when Liz and Denise treated you that way?” she said, sitting on my bed.

  “Like I’d done something wrong. They don’t care about me as long as I’m behind them, but when I do better, they hate me.”

  “You said you prayed?”

  “Yes, that God would give them cavities in their teeth and holes in their underwear.”

  Mom shook her head, smiling. Of course she knew better.

  Later I let slip that I had feelings for Duncan. “Mom, you can never tell anybody I said that.”

  “Don’t worry. What do you like so much about him?”

  “He’s cute, he’s smart, and he has nice eyes. He comes to youth group, so I guess he’s a Christian.” I sat forward on the bed. “What did you like about Sam? At first, I mean.”

  She ran a hand through her hair. “His eyes and his smile were the first things I noticed. Then he really seemed to care a lot about us. I wasn’t a Christian at the time, but I think I sensed something about his heart. He’s a good man, Ash. That’s more than I could hope to find.”

  “Do you think he’ll ever become a believer?”

  “I pray for that every day. And for Leigh.”

  “Any tips with Duncan?”

  She put a hand on my cheek. “Just be yourself, kiddo. If Duncan is as smart as you say, he’ll notice you’re different.”

  Chapter 10

  Mrs. Watson called during dinner and said she didn’t find her brooch or jewelry at the pawnshop, “but they did have a tasty turkey-and-ham sub.” She said Johnny told her the police had been by his store but that he never bought stolen goods. Mrs. Watson sounded as sad as I’d ever heard her, and it made me want to solve the crime even more. I had to get her things back.

  Sam came in from flying someone to a convention and sat down to dinner. He pursed his lips at Ashley and me.

  “What?” Ashley said.

  “A guy I flew today might have a job for the two of you next week.”

  “Doing what?” I said.

  “Do you know what an alpaca is?”

  “I’ve seen them,” Ashley said. “Like little llamas. Long necks, big eyes.”

  “This guy and his family are going away for a week. I told him how good you are with animals, and he said he’d like you to watch their herd. They live just behind the mountains.”

  Ashley looked at me like we had won the lottery. “What do we have to do?”

  “Feed them and make sure they’re okay. He has a dog that protects them from bears and coyotes and mountain lions.”

  Mom dropped her fork. “Sam!”

  “They’ll love it,” he said.

  “How much?” Ashley said.

  “You can negotiate with him Saturday.”

  “They’ll be sleeping in after the band trip,” Mom said.

  Sam stood and picked up a couple of plates. “Not all day.”

  Mom followed him to the kitchen. I sure hoped Sam won this battle.

  Chapter 11

  Tuesday night we took our seats in the left side of the auditorium and listened to the sixth graders’ performance. They’d come a long way in the past few months, but they still sounded like tennis shoes squeaking on a gym floor.

  When we took the stage, the curtains closed. I put my music on the stand and was about to sit when someone called me from the hallway. I turned, but the doorway was empty. I went to the hall, but Liz was the only one there, and I didn’t think she would be calling me.

  I returned to my seat and the curtain opened. I saw Sam holding Dylan on his lap. Mom sat beside them, clapping. Then she pointed behind me, and I turned to see Bryce waving and pointing at my music stand.

  Mr. Scarberry tapped his baton, and the flutists’ instruments went to their mouths. Everyone’s but mine. The music in front of me was spread out to our second song. Beside me Denise fought a smile.

  The auditorium fell silent, and Mr. Scarberry stared at me. I held up a hand and tried to rearrange my music. Pages floated to the floor.

  Mr. Scarberry stepped toward our section. “You ready?” he said, squinting.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, hands shaking. “Somebody rearranged my music.”

  He looked at Denise and Liz. “Who would have done something like that?”

  “Beats me,” Liz said, and I almost believed her.

  Mr. Scarberry checked my music and whispered to Liz and Denise, “See me after the concert.”

  Our performance stunk. I could hardly hold the flute to my lips, my hands trembled so much. After the first song, when all the parents and siblings clapped, I looked out at Mom and rolled my eyes. See what I mean?

  Bryce caught my eye and held his chin up, as if to signal me to keep mine up too, I guess. It felt good to have someone on my side.

  Chapter 12

  When the curtain closed I helped get the percussion instruments back to the band room. Mr. Scarberry pulled my sister and the other two aside. I heard him say, “. . . jeopardize our performance . . .” All three girls wiped tears.

  Later I followed Ashley into the auditorium.

  “What happened up there?” Mom said, hugging her.

  Before she could answer, Liz and Denise came down the walkway, and their moms and dads met them.

  “Ashley got us in trouble,” Denise said. “She made it look like we messed up her music.”

  I wanted to tell them I’d seen them switch Ashley’s pages.

  Mom held Ashley close, and Dylan
skipped up the aisle and hugged her legs. “I heard your fute!” he said.

  Liz’s and Denise’s parents glared at us. “I’ll have a talk with that director,” one of the dads said.

  “No,” Liz said. “Let’s just go.”

  Sam cleared his throat and stood with his back to the others. “How about some milk shakes at the Toot Toot Café?”

  Chapter 13

  The milk shake helped, especially since the owner, Mr. Crumpus, put an extra scoop of ice cream in Bryce’s and mine. Ice formed on the outside of the glass, and I scratched it away with a fingernail. I tried to keep thinking about good things, like the alpaca-sitting job, but my mind returned to Liz and Denise.

  I had seen Hayley after the concert. “I’m sorry,” she had said. “I didn’t see them do it.” I told her it wasn’t her fault, but I kept thinking about the trip Friday and wishing I could stay home.

  I was stunned when Mom said, “Why don’t you and Bryce rent a movie tonight?”

  She didn’t normally let us stay up late on school nights, but she said, “You’ve earned it.”

  Bryce gave me a look like he wanted to hurry before Mom changed her mind. While Dylan finished his ice cream, which was everywhere on his face except in his mouth, Bryce and I rushed to the video store.

  We were in the new movie section when Bryce said, “Uh-oh, look who’s coming.”

  My heart dropped to my socks. Liz and Denise. It was too late to duck, and they walked right up to me.

  “Happy now?” Liz said. “Glad you got us in trouble?”

  Before I could say anything, Bryce stepped in front of me. “Y-you got yourselves in t-trouble. Then you l-lied to your parents about it.”

  “W-w-what’s the matter? C-c-can’t your sister talk for herself?” Denise said, smirking.

  I felt my face turning red. “You guys can’t stand it when anybody does better than you. You had to ruin it for me.”

  The man behind the counter raised his eyebrows.

  Denise said, “Ashley, you’re pathetic. And your brother couldn’t keep time if Scarberry gave him a watch.”

  Liz glanced out the window and elbowed Denise as her mom and dad arrived.

  Denise jabbed her finger in my chest. “Better be careful Friday. Awful things can happen at amusement parks.”

  After they left we went back to searching for a video. Bryce handed me an ancient one titled Two on a Guillotine and said we should give it to Denise and Liz.

  “No matter what,” I said, “I’m going Friday.”

  Chapter 14

  Later that week Mrs. Watson became sick and stayed in bed. I figured she was mostly still upset about her stolen jewelry.

  By Friday, Ashley was so nervous she was imagining Liz and Denise in the barn and jumping when the phone rang.

  I saw Duncan at the buses, and he asked why I had chosen to sit with Toby. Before I could think of an answer, Toby came up to us.

  Duncan frowned and shook his head, walking away. “I thought we were best friends.”

  Toby and I sat in the very back row where we could see everything. I saw Denise and Liz get on, but they didn’t see me.

  It was cool and Mom wanted me to wear a jacket, but there was no way I was going to Happy Canyons with anything more than my swimsuit and a change of clothes. Jackets were for sissies.

  Toby had his jacket. We sat there awkwardly for a while.

  Finally I tried starting a conversation. “How do you like living—at your house?”

  “I’ve never lived anywhere else, so I guess I like it okay.”

  “How do you like the tuba?”

  “Fine. I like blowing those low notes that sound like gas and making the girls turn around. It’s about the only time they look at me.”

  “Yeah, those are pretty realistic,” I said.

  “How long have you been playing the drums?” Toby said.

  “I took lessons from a neighbor for a couple of years until I got pretty good. My drum set is in my room.”

  We were past Castle Rock before I worked in my first real question. “What’s your dad use his scanner for?”

  “He listens for bad road conditions—you know, snow and ice and stuff. Plus, he gets a kick out of hearing all the police calls.”

  “He buy it new?”

  “Nah. At the pawnshop. He traded some baseball cards for it.”

  Baseball cards? “He have a big collection?”

  “Huge,” Toby said. “He’s got copies of Sports Illustrated signed by a lot of the people on the covers. He uses the cards every few months to trade for something he really wants or needs. Last month he traded a baseball signed by Hank Aaron for a new set of tires.”

  What a waste! A valuable ball like that going for a set of Goodyears? If it was true, my case against Toby’s dad was unraveling faster than kite string.

  Chapter 15

  I’ve read that friends are your most treasured possessions, but you never really possess them. True friends will walk through hot glue just to keep you company. That’s how I felt about Hayley. Even though she wasn’t a Christian, she was as true a friend as I could have wanted. We’ve had problems, of course, but I can trust her.

  Mr. Scarberry had worked it out that Liz and Denise were on the other bus, and I was glad.

  When the second bus passed us I looked for Bryce and saw Liz and Denise scowling out the window. They looked like those Olympic athletes who strain for one more inch on the high jump, only these two were straining to get back at me.

  “I thought Mr. Scarberry wasn’t going to let them come,” Hayley said.

  “Somebody said their moms and dads blew a gasket and insisted. You may not want to stick with me today. If they see us, we’re both toast.”

  “It’s going to take more than those two to keep me away,” Hayley said.

  “Why does it feel like we’re the Christians and they’re the lions?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Haven’t you ever heard of what they did to Christians back in the days of the Coliseum?” I gave her a short course on all I knew about Rome and how the Christians had been killed by lions and set on fire as torches.

  “How awful,” Hayley said. “Why would they do that to people?”

  “I guess they hated them because of what they believed.”

  “But couldn’t you just say you weren’t a Christian?”

  “That’s the thing about believing in God,” I said. “You never want to turn your back on him.”

  Hayley remained silent.

  I’d done it again. I’d found a way to end a good conversation. Maybe someday I’d figure out how to talk about important things without making people clam up.

  Chapter 16

  By lunchtime Toby and I had ridden almost all the fun rides. We avoided the lines as much as we could, and when everything filled up, we ran to the water park.

  Happy Canyons is actually two parks in one. The first canyon has roller coasters and other rides that take your breath away. The second canyon is a water park with slides and even a wave pool. We hit the water and skipped lunch so we would be really hungry for dinner.

  A few hours later Toby and I were at the top of the Toilet, a ride that takes you and your inner tube up to a big tank and then flushes you to the bottom, splashing you through a tube that swirls like a real commode. Girls scream and guys try not to.

  I was two kids from being flushed when I spotted Ashley at the concession stand near the haunted house. She was buying a snow cone, and I thought about yelling to her, but then I noticed something strange. In the haunted house someone in a car at the top held out a water balloon, and it looked like the person was aiming straight at Ashley and Hayley.

  Most people think water balloons are harmless, but the summer before we were launching some with a bungee cord to see how far they would go. I was in the field, marking distances and protecting myself with a plastic sledding saucer. I held up the saucer to block a shot, and it hit so hard I got a bloody nose. />
  The hand looked ready to throw, so I yelled.

  Ashley looked up and smiled, pointing. Hayley waved.

  “No!” I gestured at the haunted house. “Look out!”

  Just as the balloon fell, I was pushed into the Toilet, swirling down through the green tube with the force of a hundred flushes. I hit bottom and went under, wondering if my sister was okay.

  Chapter 17

  I saw the water balloon just in time and backed away. It hit the concrete with a splat.

  The man behind the stand cursed. “Where’d that come from?”

  I pointed, but whoever had thrown it was gone.

  “Could have hurt somebody,” the man said. “Get kicked out for that.”

  Hayley and I ran to the haunted house, but the cars ended on the other side and I saw no one I knew.

  “That had Liz and Denise written all over it,” Hayley said.

  Hayley and I headed to the common area. We were all supposed to meet there soon, so Mr. Scarberry and the other adults could make sure we were all okay.

  “Do you want to ride the Brain Buster?” Hayley said.

  “Not me,” I said. “I’ll just watch. Then we can go to dinner.”

  I spotted a gift shop and stepped inside to look for something for Dylan. He likes cars, stuffed animals, and just about anything. I found a little tiger key chain for a few dollars and kept looking around, keeping an eye on the spot where Hayley was supposed to meet me.

  After about 15 minutes I got worried. What if something had happened on the ride? I went to the ticket area. No Hayley. I described her to the woman taking tickets, and she shook her head.

  Chapter 18

  Toby and I changed in the locker room and walked back to the other park. On the way I noticed Ashley’s friend Hayley talking with a girl I hadn’t seen before. The girl held a huge stuffed giraffe, and Hayley looked concerned. I wondered where Ashley was, since they were supposed to be buddies, but by the time I got to her, Hayley had run the other direction into the crowd.