Buttercup Mystery Page 3

  “But we don’t know for sure,” Lena insisted.

  “Jasper!” Willa had no idea why she had yelled that name. Sarah glared at her.

  “What?” Willa tried to defend herself. “He doesn’t want to lose the bet.”

  “Sarah, you are the one who said how much he likes to win bets,” Lena reminded her friend. “That is a motive.”

  Sarah’s shoulders rose as she took a deep breath. “I guess so.”

  “Great,” Lena said. “That’s one.”

  Willa didn’t think it was great at all. A horse was sick, and they were accusing someone of poisoning that horse. It seemed horrible!

  “We need more suspects.” Lena narrowed her eyes, thinking. “What about your dad, Sarah?”

  “Lena!” Sarah yelled. “Stop it. This isn’t a game. My dad would never do that.” She stared at the ground.

  “Are you okay?” Willa asked.

  “I’m fine, but can we please talk about something else?” She pushed her thick hair behind her ear. She refused to look at Lena.

  “Whatever you want,” Lena replied with a shrug. “But you won’t solve a case by ignoring it.”

  Willa stared at Lena. She was using all these real detective words. Did she think she was a real detective?

  Lena started to leave. When she was halfway across the yard, she turned around and walked backward. She pointed at Sarah with both hands. “You know what you need?” she asked excitedly. “A stakeout. That way, you’ll know if someone is coming by and poisoning Buttercup. And you’ll catch him red-handed!”

  Willa’s eyes grew wide. She couldn’t believe Lena! She shook her head and turned to Sarah as Lena walked away.

  Sarah tilted her head to one side. Then she titled it to the other. Finally she said to Willa, “A stakeout is not a bad idea. We should do it. Tonight.”

  Chapter 7

  SARAH INSISTED THAT THEY HAVE the stakeout that night. The Summer Extravaganza was only a week away, so there wasn’t a lot of time. Even though the stakeout had been Lena’s idea, Sarah and Willa were not sure they should invite her.

  “She’s not always like that,” Sarah said. “Maybe it’s because we gave her all those books.”

  “Maybe.”

  “She’s probably been reading those mysteries nonstop since the party,” said Sarah. “And this isn’t the first time she’s done this. She’s insisted that something was a real mystery before.”

  After she had given it some thought, Willa decided Lena should join them. It was kind of cool, the way Lena could think like a detective. Willa just didn’t want her to upset Sarah.

  “We can make it fun. With a tent, sleeping bags, and flashlights,” Sarah said. “Mom will make us invite the boys, but we won’t tell them it’s a stakeout.”

  Willa agreed that was a good idea. Otherwise, Ben would bring his binoculars, his walkie-talkie with all the beeping buttons, and the long-range water shooter he got for his birthday. They would never get any detective work done! The more she thought about it, the more excited Willa was for that night.

  “We can set up the tent here,” Sarah said, standing with her arms stretched out. “It’s close to the field but not too close. I’ll get the tent. Will you ask my mom if you can call Lena?”

  Willa went into the house in search of Mrs. Starling. She found her at the kitchen table with a computer and several dictionaries. Mrs. Starling was a book translator.

  When Willa called and talked to Lena, she did not mention the stakeout. “Just tell her it’s a sleepover,” Sarah had said.

  But Lena knew the truth at once. “A stakeout is the right thing to do,” she said. “I’ll bring the marshmallows.”

  “Great,” was Willa’s only reply.

  Mrs. Starling smiled when Willa handed back the phone. She paused her typing for a moment and adjusted her blue-rimmed glasses. “I used to love outdoor sleepovers,” she said. “I wish I weren’t so busy, I’d sleep out with you.”

  “Maybe next time,” Willa suggested. Willa really liked Mrs. Starling. With all the kids and animals, the Starlings’ house always seemed so fun and lively.

  “I’d like that. I hope Bess isn’t giving you too much trouble out there.” Mrs. Starling mentioned her youngest daughter as she went back to her typing. “You kids are such a help with her.”

  Willa gave a quick, nervous smile and rushed outside. Where was little Bess? She had to find Sarah. “Sarah!” she called. “Sarah?” she repeated when her friend didn’t answer.

  Sarah came out of the garage. “What?”

  “Do you know where Bess is?” Willa asked.

  Sarah’s eyes immediately filled with worry. “She must be with the boys. They’re out back.”

  They raced to the other side of the house to find Ben and Chipper playing fetch with the puppies. Ben was flat on the ground, being licked by three puppies at once.

  “Where’s Bess?”

  Chipper’s face was blank. “I thought she was with you.”

  Willa’s heart began to pound.

  “No, she’s not,” Sarah said. “And she’s not with Mom.” She looked around the yard. “You guys go down to the dock. Willa will check the fields. I’ll look along the street. Now go!”

  Everyone ran off. Willa’s mind raced in time with her legs. She hadn’t even thought about the dock. The very back of the Starlings’ yard went down to the bay. It was the stretch of water between Chincoteague and Assateague. She hoped little Bess would not have gone to the water alone.

  Willa forced her mind back to the pasture and the fields. If she didn’t find Bess there, she’d go to the barn. Her breath was short when she stopped by the pasture fence. She grabbed hold of one of the wooden posts and climbed up for a better view. The pasture had

  a trough,

  two horses,

  one puppy named Amos,

  and a lot of grass and bitter yellow flowers.

  No Bess.

  “Bess!” Willa called. She turned to the field. At first she didn’t see anything. Then she noticed something stirring in the waist-high grass. “Bess!” she cried, and ran. Bess was sitting deep in a patch of red clover.

  “Sarah! Sarah! I found her!”

  After a moment Bess held up a bundle of flowers. “For Buttercup,” she announced. “A snack.”

  Willa smiled and nodded. “Horses love that sweet clover, don’t they?” she said, kneeling down. She didn’t hear Sarah approach.

  “Willa? Bess? Where are you guys?” Sarah pleaded. Willa stood up and waved.

  At once Sarah plunged into the tall grass, grabbed Bess under the arms, and lifted the small girl to her hip. “We were so worried,” she said.

  “She was picking a snack for Buttercup,” Willa explained.

  “Bess, you can’t do that. You can’t run off. And you can’t feed Buttercup. The vet said no extra food until Buttercup gets better.” Sarah brushed the pollen off her sister’s pink cheek and squeezed her small body close.

  It already felt like a long day, so Willa was sure her parents would say no to the sleepover. Willa and Ben had not been home much in the past week, other than to do their chores. They had spent a lot of time with the Starlings and with Starbuck.

  “A sleepover? That sounds great!” Mom exclaimed. “Are you sure the Starlings don’t mind?”

  “Not at all,” Willa answered, stealing a pinch of shredded cheese from the counter. “Mr. Starling already put up the tent.”

  “Well, that works out perfectly. It’ll give us a chance to clean up,” Mom said. She hurried down the hallway and opened the closet. It was full of all kinds of tools and supplies. “The carpenters finished their work on the fence and deck today. I want to paint, and it’s better if you and your sticky fingers aren’t around.”

  Willa grinned. For once, being messy paid off.

  Chapter 8

  “YOUR DAD MAKES GOOD CHILI, Willa,” Lena said. It was later that evening. The sleepover had begun, but the sleeping had not. Lena leaned back into one
of the beanbag chairs the girls had dragged out from Sarah’s house just before the sun set.

  The girls were each eating a cup of Willa’s dad’s soup, and Ben and Chipper were off in the dark, searching for fireflies.

  “Thanks. He’d be happy to hear you say that,” Willa said, blowing on the lumpy red beans on her spoon. “My family is sick of testing chili. We’ve tried, like, a dozen recipes over the past two weeks. After we eat, my dad always quizzes us. He expects us to know if he’s put in one tablespoon of cumin or two. He really wants to win the chili cook-off at the carnival, but he’s driving us crazy!”

  “That is crazy,” Lena agreed, waving her spoon in the air. “My dad always makes the exact same recipe every time.”

  “And he always wins the Greater Chincoteague Chili Cook-Off,” Sarah added. “Every time.”

  Willa’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Yeah,” Lena admitted. “But I really like your dad’s. It tastes like there’s extra oregano.”

  Willa’s eyebrows shot up even further. Her dad had said something about oregano when she’d tasted the chili earlier that day. Could Lena really taste that? Maybe she did have superdetective skills after all!

  “My mom keeps warning my dad that he shouldn’t do anything too fancy,” Willa said. “She said that people on the island like their traditions.”

  “They do!” Sarah agreed. “And there’s something special about always having Mr. Wise’s chili at the Summer Extravaganza. It just tastes right.”

  “Well, my dad includes a special ingredient,” Lena admitted. “It’s a secret.”

  A secret ingredient? Willa frowned. Her dad had his work cut out for him.

  “So,” Lena whispered, moving in closer, “the boys don’t know this is a stakeout?”

  “It’s just a sleepover,” Sarah insisted.

  “Yeah, right,” Lena said. “And the Triple Fudge Caramel Brownie Surprise is just another bowl of ice cream.” Lena paused to take a bite of corn bread. “You are worried about Buttercup, and you want to win that bet. Those are two good reasons for a stakeout.” She took another bite. “Don’t worry. I will be discreet, and I can stay up late.”

  Willa smirked. Her friends back in Chicago never used words like discreet. It was the perfect word to say that she could keep a secret and wouldn’t make a big deal about it. Lena knew how to say what she meant. Willa admired that.

  Sarah sighed. “All right. We should keep an eye out. I want to find out what’s going on, but I hope I can keep my eyes open.”

  The three girls were quiet for a while. They could hear the boys running after the fireflies, whooping every time they caught or missed one.

  “If they aren’t quiet, they’ll scare away all the suspects,” Lena mumbled.

  Willa didn’t want to believe there were any real suspects. Why would anyone want to poison Buttercup?

  They ate super-gooey s’mores with peanut-butter cups melted inside. They counted bats swooping through the sky. They wondered who their teacher would be in the fall.

  But they didn’t see anything suspicious.

  When it was time for bed, the boys joined them. They could all fit in the Starlings’ enormous tent—the sleeping bags didn’t even touch! Lena held a flashlight to her chin and told a spooky story about a ghost horse, the shadows playing across her face. Even though there was a sick horse in the pasture nearby, no one seemed to mind. The story was that good.

  Willa couldn’t guess how late it was when Mr. Starling made them turn off their flashlights. There were annoying mosquitoes, but Lena insisted they sleep with the tent flaps open. “How else will we see anything?” she asked when Sarah protested.

  Early the next morning Willa woke with a foot in her face. Actually, she woke up just after a foot had been in her face. “Yuck! Ow! Ben?”

  “Sorry,” he said as he tripped out of the tent. Chipper followed him.

  Willa poked Sarah and then Lena. “Did you see anyone? Did you hear anything? Did you see our suspect?” Willa asked. She propped herself up on her elbows.

  “Not a thing. No one came by at all.” Lena rubbed her eyes with her fingertips. She sat cross-legged with her pillow in her lap.

  “At least no one that we saw,” Sarah corrected.

  “I told you, I can stay up late,” Lena said. “I’m pretty sure no one came by. I would have seen him . . . or her.”

  Willa took a closer look at Lena. Her eyes looked red! “You look like you didn’t sleep at all.”

  Lena raised her eyebrows. “That’s a good observation.”

  Had Lena stayed up all night? The detective stood up and started to shove her sleeping bag into its tiny duffel. “I’ve got to go home.”

  “But Mom will make pancakes,” said Sarah. “Maybe with whipped cream.”

  “No, thanks,” Lena answered. “I don’t want pancakes. I just want my own bed.”

  At the breakfast table Mr. Starling told the girls he had checked on Buttercup that morning, and she was about the same. He shook his head. “She’s got the same puffy lips. The same dull eyes.”

  “The same stinky manure,” Chipper added.

  “Chipper, we’re eating!” scolded Sarah.

  “What?” he asked. “Ben’s grandma told us to keep an eye on it. We have to make sure it doesn’t get too runny.”

  “It’s good that you’re helpful, dear,” Mrs. Starling said.

  Ben nudged Chipper with his elbow, and both boys snorted.

  Sarah pulled Willa aside after breakfast. “You know,” she began, “there must be some way we can find out if Jasper is behind Buttercup being sick.”

  “I agree,” Willa said, leaning against the family-room wall. “But just so you know, I don’t think it’s him. I only yelled out his name because Lena was being so pushy.”

  “Don’t worry. She gets like that,” Sarah answered.

  “Well, what should we do?”

  Sarah looked Willa in the eye. “We can ask him.”

  Why hadn’t Willa thought of that?

  Chapter 9

  WILLA AND SARAH HOPPED ON their bikes and headed to the other side of the island. They hoped Jasper would be around to answer their questions.

  Sarah knocked on the door. Jasper’s mom smiled when she saw her. Sarah introduced Willa and said they had a question for Jasper. His mom said he was in the backyard.

  “That seemed easy,” Willa whispered.

  They rounded the corner and immediately saw Jasper—sitting in a kiddie pool, reading comics.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, quickly standing up. A trickle of water ran off his swimming trunks. “Trying to get out of our bet?” He sounded pretty sure of himself. “Maybe you wanted to get a look at Wrangler. He’s in the barn.”

  “Not really,” Sarah said. “I actually have a question for you. It’s kind of weird.” Sarah went on to explain how sick Buttercup was. It took a while, but Jasper’s jaw dropped when he realized what Sarah was hinting at.

  “That’s horrible!” he exclaimed. “I would never do that to a horse. I mean, it’s just a bet. It’s just a bowl of ice cream.”

  A picture of the extra-large scoops topped with a brownie and caramel flashed in Willa’s head. It wasn’t just any bowl of ice cream, but she totally believed Jasper. By the look on his face, he would never do anything to hurt a horse.

  “That’s what I thought,” Sarah said, shoving her hands in her pockets. “We just had to make sure. We’re following all our leads.”

  Willa almost laughed, but Jasper looked serious. “I’m sorry your horse is sick. I’ll let you know if I think of anything.” He pressed his lips together. “I’ll let you out of the bet if you want.”

  “No.” Sarah shook her head. “A bet’s a bet.”

  They said good-bye and headed back to their bikes. “ ‘We’re following all our leads’?” Willa said to her friend. “That’s real detective talk. I’ll have to tell Lena.”

  Sarah squealed. “Don’t you dare!”

&nb
sp; Willa laughed. It was a relief that Jasper was no longer a suspect, but they still didn’t know what was wrong with Buttercup. And the carnival was less than a week away.

  Willa checked in with Sarah every day. Her friend had given up hope of being part of the parade. Buttercup was the same—no better, no worse. All week, both Willa and Ben helped out as much as they could, at home and at Miller Farm. They both had a chance to ride Starbuck again, with Grandma watching as closely as always. Their favorite pony was definitely healthy again.

  One afternoon Grandma Edna offered them a ride on the beach as a special thank-you for all their help. Ben sat on Jake, the big draft horse. Grandma even let him take the reins. “Don’t you worry,” she said, patting Ben on the leg. “Jake likes to stay close to the others. He won’t wander off.” Ben sat tall in the saddle. He was twice his normal height!

  Willa was just as pleased when Grandma gave her permission to ride Starbuck. “Really?” she said.

  “Well, why wouldn’t I let you ride her? You two get along so well.” Grandma Edna smoothed her hand along Starbuck’s toffee-colored neck. “You’re just about the steadiest mare ever, aren’t you? I wouldn’t trust just any pony with my granddaughter.”

  Willa wondered if she should tell Grandma that she wanted to ride in the parade, that she wanted to ride in the parade on Starbuck! But Willa decided not to say anything. For now, getting to ride Starbuck on the beach was more than enough.

  Willa’s mood was still happy as they rode home on their bikes. “Was it fun on Jake?” she yelled to Ben over her shoulder.

  “It was awesome!” Ben declared. “I could see for miles!”

  Horseback riding on the beach was always amazing. Willa loved to gaze over at Assateague and think about the wild ponies. It was hard to believe that Starbuck had been born on that tiny island—that she was once part of the sandy shore, the marsh grass, and the sea breeze.