Just then someone knocked on the door. Billie waved. “Gaston! Just in time for dinner. And a story. A good swamp tale, and guess what.” Billie winked at the rest of them as Gaston came in the restaurant door. “We found your binoculars, too.”
The porch of the Bait ’n Bite hummed with the noise of people eating and drinking, laughing and talking. Pirogues and ordinary boats lined the bayou out front. Cars filled the parking lot out back.
Rose and Swampwater Nelson came up to where the Aldens were sitting out on the pier. They were talking to Eve and peering, from a safe distance, into the very well-made alligator cage where Marshmallow was staying. It had mesh over the top and was locked. It was right by the pier and had a tarp over it to shield the white alligator from the sun. She was floating in it, looking as if she might be listening to what everyone was saying.
“Now that Billie has the ghost alligator where people can see her, business has been good,” said Swampwater.
“Yep,” said Eve. “I’ll miss her.”
“She’ll be happier at the zoo in New Orleans with the other alligators,” said Rose. “And now that she’s bigger, she’s too big for me to handle. But I’ll miss her, too.”
“How did anyone ever think she was a great big ghost?” Jessie wondered aloud.
“She’s big,” insisted Benny “Much bigger than me.”
“Well, I guess it depends on how you look at it,” said Violet.
She knew that to Benny, Marshmallow looked huge. But to most people, she would have seemed small. She wasn’t much more than four feet long. She had white skin with dark spots on it. Her blue eyes were startling to see, but she didn’t look at all like an enormous ghost alligator.
“Pretty smart of you kids to solve the mystery,” said Swampwater. “If you four ever need jobs in the swamp, you let me know. I believe you might be smart enough to learn the swamp guide business.”
Benny cried, “A swamp guide! That’s what I want to be!”
“Are you giving away my job?” said Gaston, coming down the dock to join them.
Swampwater grinned. “Nope. Not yet.”
Looking from one to the other, Jessie said, “What job?”
“Swamp Tours for the Birds,” said Eve proudly. “Uncle Gaston is going to be leading special tours for Swampwater. And I’m going to help. I’m even going to get binoculars of my own.”
Her uncle raised one eyebrow. “Which you are going to pay for out of your tour guide assistant’s salary,” he reminded her.
They smiled at each other.
“Hey, y’all. Come on up here!” called Billie.
“Let’s go,” said Henry, laughing.
Everyone was still laughing when Beau banged on a table heaped with gifts near the front of the room. “Attention, everybody. We’re going to have cake and Gram Billie is going to open her gifts — but this gift first.”
With a flourish, he pulled a chair up to the giant painting at one end of the room and took it down. He turned and handed it solemnly to … Travis!
“My first art sale,” said Beau.
Jessie poked Henry “That’s what he and Beau must have been talking about that day at the edge of the road. Travis wanted to buy the painting and Beau wasn’t sure he wanted to sell it.”
“I realized Billie wasn’t going to sell me the fishing camp — at least not yet,” said Travis. “But real estate isn’t the only thing I’m interested in. When I saw Beau’s painting, I knew I had to have it for my collection. This young man has a very promising career as an artist ahead of him.”
“But … but wait a minute!” Billie was protesting. “I love that painting!”
Everyone else was applauding. They applauded even harder as Beau stepped down, tore the brown wrapping off a large square package, and stepped up onto the chair again. He carefully hung another painting in the place of the old one.
Billie’s mouth dropped open. Cheers rang out.
It was the one that the Aldens had seen in Beau’s studio — only now it was even more beautiful.
“Oh, oh, oh!” said Billie. “That’s me! I can’t believe it!”
She grabbed her grandson and gave him a great big kiss and a hug. Blushing, Beau said, “Awww …”
“Speech, speech!” cried Swampwater, and the cheering grew louder.
Billie jumped up onto the chair where Beau had stood. She raised her glass of root beer. “This has been some birthday,” she said. “A beautiful work of art by my grandson. Ghost alligators that are real. Old friends and new ones — who happen to be very fine detectives.” Billie smiled over at the Aldens. “All I can say is, I hope everyone lives long enough to have such a wonderful, amazing birthday!”
Beau came out of the kitchen as Billie got down from the chair amid cheers and laughter. Everyone began to sing “Happy Birthday.” The cake was ablaze with candles.
“Look!” said Benny. “Look! It’s the ghost alligator! I mean, it’s Marshmallow! Look!”
Benny was right. In the middle of the enormous birthday cake, surrounded by sugar roses and candles, was a white marzipan alligator with blue eyes — and a great big alligator smile.
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Copyright © 2002 by Albert Whitman & Company
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