The Mystery at the Calgary Stampede (6 page)

“There’s Clay with that wagon wheel!”
Benny said. He was perched on the edge of
his seat as Clay whirled his wagon wheel into
the air and caught it again and again.

Suddenly Clay fumbled and dropped his
wheel, but he caught it so quickly that only
someone watching closely would have seen it.
“Did you see that?” Benny’s voice was shrill.
“He got it. He saved the day. He didn’t really
drop it.”

“Now
that
takes a lot of practice,” said
Grandfather.

Next up was Daisy. This time she didn’t
attempt to sing by herself. She brought Clay
and the girl who had helped her the night
before, and once again they sang as a trio.
They sounded so good that the audience
clapped a long time when they finished.

Then the show’s announcer told the
audience to welcome a mystery guest.
“Every Calgary Grandstand Show has one,”
he said. “And this one is extra special.” As
he spoke, a bright silver bus drove up a ramp
onto the stage.

The Aldens leaned forward to get a closer
look at the bus just as a man was making his
way past their seats and blocking their view
for a moment. It was Mr. Sutton.

“Hello,” he said. He was about to sit in
the seat meant for Aunt Judy, but first he
picked up something that someone had left
underneath the seat. It was a ticket stub.
“Here’s a find!” he said and tucked it into his
leather bag. Then he sat down.

“You’re not Aunt Judy,” said Benny.

“No, I’m not,” replied Mr. Sutton. “
There’s
Aunt Judy,” he said, pointing to the stage.

The entire side of the bus opened up almost
magically, and inside was another stage,
complete with flashing red and gold lights.
And there was Aunt Judy, wearing a
glittering dress and a microphone in hand.

“Hello, Calgary!” she shouted, and the crowd
roared their approval. “It’s so good to be home!”
She sang about coming home from a long time
traveling. Her voice was rich and mellow.

Violet looked over at Grandfather. “You’re
right,” she said. “She is a great singer. Even
better than she sounds in her kitchen singing
about cows and soup.”

Grandfather smiled. “I remember when
she first sang this song,” he said. “She wrote
it when she was traveling and homesick. It’s
my favorite.”

“She’s our best,” said Mr. Sutton proudly.
“I have a photograph of her the first time she
was onstage.”

Henry looked at Mr. Sutton and wondered
again what else he might have—
the pin?

Aunt Judy sang more songs. The entire
audience sang along with one of them.

“Everyone knows all words!” said Violet.
“They must really love her music.”

“Before I start my last song,” Aunt Judy
said, “I’d like to ask my niece to join me!”
The crowd cheered. “This is a song we’ve
sung together since she was a very small girl!”

Daisy waved to the crowd from the back of
the stage. The crowd cheered in response. Aunt
Judy motioned to Daisy to join her on the bus,
and the crowd cheered even louder. But when
Daisy reached Aunt Judy, the Aldens could see
Daisy shake her head. Aunt Judy whispered to
her, and Daisy stopped shaking her head. Aunt
Judy gave her a hug and began the song.

Daisy came in on the harmony with just
a soft voice at first, then louder and louder
when her aunt let her take over for an entire
verse. Aunt Judy stepped back from Daisy
and moved away to stand with the back-up
singers.

“Look at that!” said Jessie. “Daisy is singing
on her own now!”

The crowd was thrilled. Two Young
Canadians, one from the past and one from
the present, were up onstage together. They
audience stood and clapped when Daisy
finished. Aunt Judy stepped forward and
clapped for her niece too.

Jessie turned to Henry. “Daisy really
doesn’t need that pin, does she?” she said.
Henry grinned. Violet and Benny shook
their heads.

“No, she doesn’t,” said Benny. “She can be
brave all on her own.”

The side of Aunt Judy’s special bus folded
up and closed. It drove back down the ramp
and out of the stampede arena.

The fireworks show followed the musical
program, and Violet and Benny both said it
was even better than the previous night. “It
wasn’t this long,” said Jessie, remembering
how she and Henry had felt very short on
time looking for the pin in the dressing room.

“There’s more purple tonight!” said Violet
happily, looking skyward to the colorful
explosions.

The show ended with a series of deep
booms that echoed across the fairgrounds.
The children stood to go.

“We still need to find the pin,” said Henry,
“even if Daisy doesn’t need it to perform.”

Jessie turned to Mr. Sutton, who was
looking through his bag.

“Mr. Sutton,” she began, “Marian gave you
a costume.”

“That’s right,” he said. He didn’t even ask
how she knew. “She finds some wonderful
pieces for my collection. Whatever I don’t add
to the collection, I give to our little neighbor.”

“Your little neighbor?” Jessie asked.

“I think you’ve met her,” he said. “Clay’s
little sister.”

“You’re neighbors?” Henry asked.

“Yes, she and Clay live just a few doors
away. She loves costumes.”

“What about other collectible pieces? The
other day, we saw Marian give you something
small. Was it a Young Canadian pin, by any
chance?” asked Jessie.

Mr. Sutton gave her a sharp look. “Marian
said you’re looking for that missing pin and
seem to think she had something to do with
it. I can assure you, she doesn’t. I do think that
pin should be in the museum, but
I
wouldn’t
take it.”

He put his bag over his shoulder and got
up to leave.

They watched him go.

“I don’t think he liked being questioned
like that,” Henry said.

“What should we do now?” Jessie asked.

“I don’t know what to do about the mystery,”
said Henry, “but we should really find Aunt
Judy and Daisy and tell them how much we
enjoyed their show!”

B
ack in the dressing room, the mood was
festive. Everyone seemed pleased to have
Aunt Judy sing in the show. Young Canadians
gathered around her to hear stories of her
time in their shoes. Daisy’s cheeks were pink
and her eyes were shiny.

Henry noticed that Clay had changed into
a T-shirt and shorts. He was sitting at the
makeup counter, though the bright lights
around the mirrors were off, and it was a bit
dark on that side of the room. The counter
was covered with bouquets of roses and other
flowers sent to congratulate the performers.
Marian was nearby putting the bouquets
in vases.

Clay seemed to be the only person in the
room who was not happy.

“I think that’s because he dropped the
wagon wheel,” whispered Benny. “I’m going
to cheer him up.” He and Henry approached
Clay.

“I like how you caught that wheel before
anyone noticed,” Benny said.

“
You
noticed,” Clay said glumly.

“But you caught it so quickly. My
grandfather says that takes lots of practice,”
Benny replied.

“Your grandfather says it takes lots of
practice to
drop
a wheel?” Clay asked.

“No, it takes lots of practice to make a
mistake and fix it before anyone can notice,”
Henry said.

Henry noticed that Marian, who had been
listening nearby, looked startled when he said
that. For a moment she even looked at Henry.

“Is something wrong?” Henry asked her.

“Nothing,” she said quickly. She grabbed a
broom leaning against the wall and began to
sweep the floor. She kept her face down and
didn’t look at them again.

Clay picked up his performing shirt
from where he’d tossed it on the counter.
He fingered the pin on his shirt and looked
dismayed. “I really thought this pin would
bring me good luck,” he said.

“Good luck doesn’t come from a thing
like that,” said Daisy, overhearing the
conversation. It comes from all our hard
work. I think my aunt was right after all.”

Clay undid the pin and looked at it closely
as if it could tell him a secret. At last he placed
it on the counter and got up and left the room.

Henry picked up the pin for a closer look.
He turned it over to see if it might have been
engraved. He didn’t see anything suspicious,
but the pin did feel a bit scratched under
his fingertips.

His sisters came closer and Benny hovered
at his elbows eager for a look.

“What do you think?” Henry asked.

Each of them took a turn inspecting the pin.
Violet pointed to some marks on the back.
“It looks as if someone dropped it on the
sidewalk and stepped on it,” she said.

“Or could it have been engraved and then
scratched off?” Jessie held the pin up to her
eyes and turned toward the light in the room.

“Quick,” said Benny, hearing the bathroom
door open and close down the hall. “I think
Clay’s coming back.”

But it was Little Clay who entered the
dressing room with her shy smile. “What are
you doing?” she asked.

Just then Jessie had an idea. “Little Clay, do
you know how long Clay has had this pin?”
she asked.

“Weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks,”
Little Clay answered.

“Are you sure?” asked Henry. That would
mean the pin couldn’t possibly be Daisy’s.

“Of course I’m sure,” Little Clay said. “I
gave it back to him, because he needs some
luck. Did you see him drop that wagon wheel?”

Clay was suddenly behind her. “What are
you saying?” he asked in a really grouchy
voice.

“I’m just talking about that wagon wheel…”
his little sister started to say.

“See?” said Clay, turning to Benny. “It
wasn’t just you who saw it. Everyone saw my
mistake. Even my little sister.”

Little Clay looked dismayed at first, but
slowly a smile grew on her face. She leaned
toward her brother and whispered something
in his ear.

His face went from grumpy to a half smile.
Then it stretched to a full smile. He gave a
chuckle. “I’d forgotten how you make me
laugh sometimes,” he told Little Clay.

“You have been pretty grouchy lately,” she
said, not whispering anymore.

“I’m sorry,” he said. It sounded as if he
really meant it.

“I get it,” said Little Clay. “I know what it’s
like to be scared to get up in front of people
and sing and dance.”

“I think you should have the pin!” said
Big Clay.

“No,” said Little Clay. “I don’t need it. I
already have—”

Crash!

Marian had been sweeping the broom
around Clay and his little sister and under
the makeup counter. Now she’d accidentally
bumped one of the vases of flowers off the
counter and it had come tumbling down.
Water and flowers and pieces of the ceramic
vase were all over the floor. “Oh no!” she cried.

The other performers rushed in to help,
and Jessie gave Marian a hug.

“It’s only an old vase,” one of the performers
said. “Nothing to be bothered about.” The
floor was clean in minutes.

Before long all the Young Canadians were
out of costume and ready to go home. They
drifted out in groups, and soon just the
Aldens, Daisy, Clay, and Little Clay were left.

“So what did Little Clay whisper to you?”
Jessie asked Clay.

“She told me I shouldn’t worry about
dropping the wheel, because everyone knows
what I was doing is
wheely wheely
hard to do!”
He laughed. “It made me realize I was silly to
be so worried about anyone noticing me drop
the wheel. Benny was right: my catch was a
good one.”

Benny agreed. “It was a good catch!”

T
he Aldens arrived at the gate to Stampede
Park first thing the next morning. “I’d really
like to go on the Skyride before we go home,”
said Violet.

“We have a mystery to solve,” Jessie
reminded her.

“But we need a break!” said Benny. “We
can have a break and ride the Skyride.”

Stampede Park had a sleepy feel to it that
morning as if the excitement of the first two
days was over. “It’s almost like having the
place to ourselves,” said Henry.

“Maybe we should take a break,” Jessie said,
and she pointed to the ride. “Look at the line
for the Skyride!”

“What line?” asked Benny.

“Exactly!” said Jessie.

Only three people were waiting for the
ride, and the Aldens took their places behind
them.

Soon they were up in the sky, Violet and
Henry sitting together, and Jessie and Benny
in the gondola behind them. Violet loved the
feeling as they swept up into the air—like
taking off in an airplane. The ride paused for
a moment, and the seats bobbed up and down
a bit. She didn’t feel too good about that,
but then the ride started up again and went
gliding over the fairgrounds.