The Mystery at the Calgary Stampede

1. Cow Town

2. Parade Day

3. A Pin for Good Luck

4. A Cow in My Soup

5. Tractor Pull

6. By the River

7. A Mystery Guest

8. A Good Catch

9. Skyride

10. The Other Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth

Preview:
The Sleepy Hollow Mystery

About the Author

I
n the airplane seat ahead of Benny and Henry, a man put on a white cowboy hat.

In the airplane seat ahead of Benny and Henry, a man put on a white cowboy hat.

“Does that mean we’re about to land?” six-year-old Benny asked his big brother.

“We still don’t know where we’re going!”
said Jessie, age twelve. She sat across the aisle
from her brothers, and next to her was her
younger sister, Violet.

“It’s a mystery,” said Violet. She couldn’t
believe they were about to land and their
grandfather still hadn’t told them where they
were going.

The plane began to descend and Violet
reached for her grandfather’s hand. “I’m not
afraid,” she whispered.

“I know,” Grandfather said. He gave her
hand a soft squeeze.

Violet felt good with Grandfather beside
her. She could remember a time when she and
her brothers and sister found an abandoned
boxcar in the woods and made a home for
themselves there. That was before they’d met
Grandfather. But now Grandfather took care
of them, and they cared for him too—Henry
in his fourteen-year-old, big brother way, and
Benny, always quick to make everyone laugh.
Now the boxcar had a home in their backyard.

Violet squeezed Grandfather’s hand right
back, and he smiled at her.

“Ready for adventure?” he asked.

“Always,” she said.

“So,” said Henry as the plane taxied toward
the airport, “where are we?”

Grandfather chuckled. “I’m going to let
you guess.” He led the way through the
airport and onto a bus.

Half an hour later, Benny was kneeling
on his seat, looking out the window. “All the
windows of shops and restaurants and offices
in this city are painted with cows and horses
and cowboy hats and boots.” He pointed to
a revolving door in a tall building. “Look
at that! It’s painted like old-time Western
saloon doors!”

Grandfather pulled on the cord to let the
driver know they were getting off the bus.

Violet pointed to another painted window.
“Look—it says, ‘Welcome to Cow Town.’ Is
there really a city with that name?”

Henry shook his head. “I think we’re in
the city of Calgary. Grandfather, you told
us about it when you were telling us about
your friend Judy. It’s also called Cow Town,
you said. And my guess is that it’s Stampede
time. Right?”

Grandfather smiled wide. “You’re right,
Henry! Cow Town Calgary, it is.”

Benny was frowning. “What’s a stampede?”
he asked. “Isn’t that when everybody rushes
around and somebody gets knocked over?”

“Like this?” asked Jessie. She jogged in
circles around Benny. Henry and Violet
danced around too. Benny squealed, and
Jessie lifted him up and gave him a squiggly,
tickling hug.

“I think stampede has more to do with
horses,” said Henry. “You know, broncos
bucking and roping calves and riding bulls
like cowboys.”

“That’s called a rodeo,” added Jessie.

“Right!” said Henry.

Grandfather spoke up. “The rodeo is one
part of the Stampede. The Stampede includes
all sorts of events, from art exhibits to dog
shows. We’re going to have a great time!”

They’d come to a building with a sign that
read
Glenbow Museum
. A woman was standing
in front. She had a huge smile on her face and
bright red hair that sat in a pile atop her head.

“Our Calgary Stampede is called the
Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth,” she
said in a deep, rich voice. She must have
overheard them. She put out her hand. “I’m
your grandfather’s friend, Judy Simon!”

She shook each of the Aldens’ hands and
chuckled. “I thought it was about time your
grandfather brought you to our province
of Alberta.”

“In Canada a province is like a state,” Jessie
explained to her siblings.

“I’m so excited you’re all finally here,” Judy
said. “Especially for Stampede time! Every
July we open our city to the world for ten days.
It’s a giant party! We have cowboys from all
over North America. We have chuckwagon
races and young people exhibiting animals
they’ve raised. We have a marvelous midway
fair with rides and food—”

She noticed Benny’s eyes widen. “Did I
mention
food
?” Judy laughed. “You’ll find
some very strange foods at the Stampede.”

Benny opened his mouth to ask her about
the strange food, but she was already leading
them into the museum.

“I want to show you something on the
second floor,” Judy said, heading to a wide
staircase. “And I want you to meet my niece,
Daisy, who is joining us. I have a surprise
for her!”

On the second floor were two large signs
with arrows pointing in opposite directions.
One read
Picturing the Northwest
, and the
other read
Our Historic Stampede
.

“Let’s go that way,” said Benny, pointing to
the second sign, and the others followed him.

Judy chuckled. “I like how you leap right in.”

Jessie stopped in front of a wall lined with
posters. “The Stampede’s been around a long
time. Look, there’s a poster for every year.”

“
This
poster is for the Stampede in 1912!”
pointed out Violet.

“Look at this poster!” said Jessie. “It’s from
2012 and says it’s the hundredth anniversary
of the Stampede!”

Grandfather stopped in front of a huge
painting.

“Well, well,” he said to Judy. “It’s so lifelike
that if you weren’t standing in front of us, I’d
guess that was really
you
.” The painting was a
portrait of Judy standing in front of a concert
marquee that read:
Judy Simon: Live at the
Grand Ole Opry
.

Jessie remembered Grandfather telling
them about how Judy traveled all over the
world. She realized his friend must be a
famous country music singer.

Judy laughed. “It
is
very odd to see myself
like that!”

Benny was staring hard at the portrait.
“What is that pin you’re wearing in the
painting?”

“You have sharp eyes,” said Judy. “That’s
my Young Canadian pin. That was given to
me for being part of the singing and dancing
troupe that performs every evening at the
Stampede Grandstand Show. I was a Young
Canadian for five years so they gave me a
special pin with my name engraved on it!”

“Five years! That must have been a lot of
work,” said Jessie.

“It was,” Judy said. “And it was how I got
my start as a singer.” She lowered her voice
to a stage whisper. “The pin is the surprise
I told you about. I’m going to give it to my
niece Daisy. She’s meeting us here to see my
portrait for the first time. She had to miss the
unveiling of the portrait because she was at
rehearsal. But she doesn’t know that I want to
celebrate
her
too!

“Daisy is now a Young Canadian,” she
explained. “I have a feeling that this is the
beginning of her own singing career. I’m so
proud of her. Her first time performing on
the Calgary stage is tomorrow night!”

Violet gave a squeak of excitement, and she
turned to Grandfather. “Do we get to see the
show?” she asked.

Before Grandfather could answer, Judy
said, “Of course you do.”

Just then a girl about Henry’s age with
bright red hair and a wide smile that matched
Judy’s ran up to give Judy a hug. “Auntie
Judy!” she exclaimed.

Jessie knew this had to be Daisy.

Daisy saw the portrait of her aunt. “Oh
my,” she said. “It’s beautiful!” She stepped
back. “Look at that! The artist even put your
pin on it.”

“The pin you’ve wanted since you were a
little girl,” said Judy. “Now here you are, a
Young Canadian yourself and ready for your
first opening show!”

Suddenly Daisy looked anxious, but her
aunt put an arm around her. “You’ll be
just fine. Look,” Judy said, pointing to the
Aldens. “My good friend is visiting with his
grandchildren. They’ll be staying with me.”

She introduced Daisy to the children, one
by one. The Aldens learned that Daisy lived
just down the street from her aunt.

“I hope you like Calgary,” Daisy told them.

Benny beamed. “We will!” he said. “We
can’t wait to see your show!”

“Oh, it’s not
my
show,” said Daisy, her
voice uneasy.

“You know,” said her aunt, “I was going to
wait until after dinner tonight but I think I’ll
give you my pin right here and now!”

Daisy was surprised. “Really?”

“I want you to have it,” Judy told her.
“You can wear it tomorrow night. I love the
thought of my pin on the Stampede stage once
again.” She pulled a small velvet box from her
pocket, took out the pin, and pinned it onto
her niece’s collar.

The Aldens clapped and Benny cheered.

Daisy ran her fingers across the shiny pin.
“I’ve been so nervous about being onstage. But
with this, I know I’m ready to perform. My
feet will fly in all the right places when I dance,
and I’ll hit all the right notes when I sing.”

“You’d do all that even without my pin,”
said Judy. “I didn’t mean for you to think that
you
need
the pin.”

Daisy threw her arms around her aunt and
gave her another hug.

Everyone started talking at once with
excitement. Daisy was like a bright light in
the middle of them, and Benny couldn’t stop
staring at her. She looked as if she was going
to spring into dance or burst into song.

As they were all talking, something caught
Henry’s eye. An older man was standing
by Judy’s portrait. Henry thought that the
man had been there for a while and that
maybe he’d seen Judy give the pin to Daisy.
The man looked about Grandfather’s age,
with a heavy, graying beard. He was shorter
than Grandfather, with a wiry build. Henry
couldn’t see his eyes because the man was
wearing a very large cowboy hat.

The man stepped up to speak to Henry.
“That’s a special pin,” he said in a low voice.
“That piece would be a nice addition to the
museum!” He explained, “I’m an amateur
collector of Stampede memorabilia myself.”

All the conversations stopped just then as
Daisy noticed the man.

The man smiled and motioned to the
painting. “Congratulations, ma’am,” he said
to Judy, “on your many accomplishments.
And you, young girl”—he turned to Daisy—“are very lucky.”

Daisy didn’t seem to know what to say. Judy
reached out to shake the man’s hand, but he’d
already turned away. “It’s a beautiful pin,” he
said gazing at the portrait. “Not too many
of them around. Hope you don’t mind…” he
said and took an old-fashioned camera from
the big leather bag hanging from his shoulder
and snapped a picture of the portrait.

Before anyone else could say anything, he
walked away.

Benny whispered, “That cowboy hat is so
big it makes him look like a cartoon.” He
stopped. “I didn’t mean to sound rude,” he
added, “but it did.”

Jessie smiled. “I know you didn’t mean to
sound rude, Benny. It is a
huge
hat.”
“I thought
he
was rather rude,” said Judy.

“It was odd how he looked at the painting,”
said Henry. “He was so curious about the
pin and even took a picture, but he didn’t
introduce himself or shake your hand.”

Judy shrugged and waved her hand
dismissively. “We have something
very
important
to do now,” she said. “We need
to celebrate! I have a special Welcome-to-Calgary dinner planned for all of us.”