Alberta Alibi

by Dayle Gaetz

  The house stood cool and silent as they paused in the front hall. They walked quietly toward the kitchen.

  A woman wearing a bright red T-shirt and dark blue shorts sat at the table with her back to the girls.

  Her shining, soft brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail that brushed the back of her neck. Her legs were crossed at the knee, a flat-soled red sandal dangled from the toes of her right foot and her toenails were painted red. The woman was eating a sandwich and concentrating on a sheet of paper covered in small print. A short stack of similar papers lay on the table in front of her.

  “Where’s my dad?” Sheila demanded.

  The woman’s arms jerked, her foot hit the floor and she swung around. “I was wondering the same thing!” she said. She stood up then and smiled. Her teeth were very straight and very white. Sheila thought they gleamed like a toothpaste commercial. She had a round face and round blue eyes. In fact, she was round all over, no taller than Sheila and way shorter than Sheila’s mom. “You must be Sheila,” the woman said, still showing her teeth. “I recognize you from your pictures. Your dad sure misses you.”

  “Oh,” Sheila said. Nothing else came to mind so she simply stood there studying this woman and wondering why she kept smiling as if her face was permanently stuck that way. Probably to show off her dimples. Sheila detested dimples.

  “I’m Adele James. Have you met my son, Huntley?”

  Sheila shrugged. Seemed fairly obvious.

  “Hi,” Katie said, “I’m Katie, Sheila’s best friend.”

  “Yes, Chris told me you were here. You and your brother, Russell?”

  “Rusty. He’s my cousin.”

  “So do you girls know where Huntley is? I just got here a half hour ago and haven’t seen a soul.”

  “I think Huntley and Rusty went swimming,” Katie said. “He didn’t know you were coming back today.”

  Adele looked confused. “Now that’s odd. I asked Chris to tell him. When I phoned yesterday, Huntley was out riding with you kids.”

  She turned to Sheila. “Your dad said he’d be here when I got back. Any idea where he is?”

  Sheila shook her head. “He was here when we left. He’s probably out riding.” She didn’t mention her dad liked to take off on long rides when he had something on his mind, and she was pretty sure he had tons on his mind right now.

  “I checked. Pita is in the barn.”

  Sheila glanced out the window. Wherever Dad went, it was his own business and not this Adele person’s.

  “I’m sure he’ll be back soon.” Adele smiled again.

  “Would you girls like toasted cheese sandwiches?”

  Sheila glanced toward the stove. A greasy frying pan with a pancake flipper sticking from it sat on an element. Bread tumbled from a plastic bag, scattering crumbs across the countertop. A block of cheddar cheese on a cutting board had a dirty knife beside it. She thought of Ben’s super-neat kitchen and decided this Adele person must be as messy as Dad.

  “I’m not hungry,” she said coldly.

  “I can make some,” Katie said. “I’m starving!”

  Sheila glared at her. She did a lot of glaring these days.

  When Katie handed her a golden brown, toasted sandwich with melted cheese oozing onto the plate, Sheila couldn’t help it. She took a bite. It tasted amazing. She took another bite and stared outside at the garden, trying to ignore Katie, who was chatting with Adele as if they were old buddies.

  Couldn’t Katie figure out she wanted nothing to do with this Adele? Wasn’t it bad enough this awful woman was sitting in her dad’s kitchen, helping herself to food as if she owned the place? Sheila glared daggers at Katie, but her friend chattered on like an idiot. Didn’t even glance Sheila’s way. As much as she tried not to listen, Sheila heard Katie tell about the police visit this morning, the rifle in the truck and the fire at the development.

  Adele wasn’t smiling anymore. “But that’s terrible!” she said. “Who would do such a thing?”

  “Someone who has motive,” Sheila grumbled.

  Adele turned to her in surprise, her round pink mouth slid into a grim line. “No one has more motive than I do.”

  “What motive?” Katie asked.

  “Glenmar Developers took advantage of my parents when Mom was so ill. My mother has Alzheimer’s disease, which means she’s lost most of her memory—she doesn’t even know who I am anymore!” Adele paused. “Dad couldn’t leave her alone and he couldn’t afford to hire a companion for her while he was out working on the ranch, so he was forced to sell that piece of land to raise some money.”

  “But I thought your dad died!” Sheila said. She was trying very hard not to feel sorry for Adele, but she couldn’t help thinking how terrible it would be if her own mom didn’t recognize her.

  Adele nodded, and her eyes went all teary. “Dad was stressed out, worried about Mom, worried about the ranch—you may know that Alberta ranchers have suffered a lot of setbacks in the last few years, what with climate change and that case of mad cow disease.”

  Sheila nodded. Katie scribbled in her notebook.

  “Dad saw all their dreams fall apart. Even worse, his life partner of almost fifty years couldn’t remember who he was, much less the plans they had made together. Before she got so ill they were working with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to preserve the land. If only he had called me!” Adele stood up, walked to the counter and grabbed a tissue. “But he didn’t, and then he had a sudden heart attack and…” Her voice trailed off as tears spilled down her cheeks.

  Sheila tried to hang onto her anger at this woman who wanted to steal her father away, but it wasn’t easy. “It’s not your fault,” she said.

  Without looking up from her writing, Katie said, “But I still don’t understand why you have a motive for setting fire to the development. I mean, they just have that little chunk of property where you can’t even see them from your house. And they might not be very nice people, but if they paid for the land, it isn’t their fault your dad was stressed out. They actually helped him by giving him money.”

  “Katie!” Sheila said. “Can’t you stop asking questions for one minute? Mr. Arnesen was a really nice man and I liked him. I liked Mrs. Arnesen too.”

  Katie looked up, surprised. Then she saw Adele blowing her nose, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Oh!” she said. “I’m sorry!”

  Adele swallowed and tried to smile. “Don’t worry about it. You’re right, really. Revenge isn’t a good motive and I’m not that type of person. No, my problem is with Glenmar trying to take over the rest of my parents’ land to build a golf course and housing and even a shopping mall! That couldn’t be further from what my parents wanted—an environmental preserve for animals like the grizzly sow who uses both our ranches as part of her range.”

  “Have you seen her? Does she have cubs this year?”

  Sheila asked, excited to hear news of the mother bear she had seen several times in the distance, once with two tiny brown cubs.

  Adele shook her head sadly. “No one has seen her this year.”

  Just then three bedraggled figures appeared at the door, their wet clothes clinging to their bodies.

  “Mom! I didn’t know you were coming home today!”

  Mother and son hugged, briefly, before Adele pulled away. “You’re soaking wet!” she laughed. “Get away from me!”

  Sheila’s dad gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “I didn’t expect you back so soon!”

  Adele sighed and winked at Sheila. “Here’s a man who showed up late for class almost every day back in high school. Has he ever learned to keep track of time?”

  Sheila shook her head. “Not as long as I’ve known him!”

  14

  After lunch, Huntley gathered up his things and tossed them in the back of his mom’s car. He saddled his horse, put a bridle on his mother’s horse and prepared to ride across the fields with both horses while his mom drove her car around.

  Sheila stood beside her da
d. She was happy they were going. Maybe now she could have her father to herself, if she didn’t count Katie and Rusty.

  Adele opened her car door. “Are you sure you didn’t forget anything?” she called to Huntley.

  “No,” he grinned down from the saddle, “but I’ll probably be over every day anyhow.”

  Sheila was surprised that this didn’t bother her at all. Two days ago she wanted Huntley out of her sight forever, but he wasn’t so bad, just so long as he didn’t live here.

  When her mom phoned that evening, Sheila was tempted to tell her everything. Maybe Mom could help. But then she remembered her promise not to get involved in anything close to a mystery, no matter what Katie did. After all, the main reason Mom sent Sheila off for the summer was to keep her out of trouble.

  Mom had really freaked out that first week of summer vacation when she roared up to a crime scene in her police car and found Sheila and her friends there. But Sheila was pretty freaked out herself when they got kidnapped. Scary stuff. But that’s what you get for having a friend like Katie. Katie Reid, Private Investigator, she called herself, even if no one but Sheila and Rusty knew it.

  So Sheila made up her mind to say nothing. She couldn’t take the chance Mom would make her come home. Not now, not when her dad needed help.

  “How’s your father?” Mom asked.

  “He’s…okay.”

  “Sheila, is something wrong?”

  Yes! Everything! “No.”

  There was a long pause at the other end of the line.

  Mom, Dad’s in big trouble, and maybe you can help! The words rang so loud in her head that, for one frightening second, Sheila thought she had said them out loud.

  “Sheila, your dad told me he has a girlfriend. I remember meeting Adele once, before you were born.

  I liked her. So if that’s what you’re afraid of telling me…”

  “You knew?”

  “Not until tonight. Your dad and I talked before he called you to the phone. I told him I’m happy for him. I’m sure Adele is much more suited to ranch life than I ever was.”

  A heaviness settled way down deep in Sheila’s stomach. Later she would think over her mother’s words and wish things could have been different, but right now there were even more important matters to deal with. “Did he tell you anything else?”

  Another pause. “Like what?”

  Like everything’s falling apart around here! Dad might be arrested! He might lose the ranch! But maybe Mom didn’t care. “Like, Adele has a son named Huntley.”

  “Yes. He mentioned that too. He says the four of you are getting along well. So do you like Huntley?”

  “I guess.”

  “Good. I’m glad you’re having a great time even if I miss you so much. It’s lonely around here without you, Sheila.”

  “I miss you too, Mom.”

  “So I’ll talk to you soon then. I’ve got to get ready for work now, I’m on night shift.”

  “Bye, Mom.”

  “Bye, honey.”

  And that was that. Sheila slowly hung up the phone. Her mom didn’t even ask after Silver or her own horse, Ingot. Sheila had always assumed Mom missed the ranch as much as she herself did. It seemed like she was wrong.

  Sheila remained seated in her dad’s office, where it was quiet and she could be alone. If she was so wrong about her mom, maybe she was wrong about her dad too. Maybe she didn’t know either of them like she thought she did.

  She got up from the desk and walked over to the closet. She tried the door. It wasn’t locked and she pulled it open. Inside, the gun-cabinet door was unlocked too, but of course there were no guns there now. The RCMP had carted them away.

  She stared at the two empty spaces. If her dad had taken a rifle and driven out to shoot the night watchman, why wouldn’t he have put the rifle away when he got back? He might be careless about times and dates and be a bit disorganized and messy, but he would never leave a dangerous weapon lying around in his truck. Of that, Sheila was positive.

  When Sheila left the office she still didn’t feel like talking to anyone. At home, with just her and Mom around, she was used to having lots of time to herself. But since being on this vacation, she barely got a moment alone, and sometimes all those people, all those voices, made her want to scream. She needed quiet. She needed time to think.

  Sheila walked through the kitchen and into the hall. The sound of a movie came from the living room. She wanted to walk right on by, go up to her room and close the door. But if she did that, someone would be sure to come looking for her, so she stopped at the entrance. “I’m tired,” she said. “I’m going to bed.”

  Neither Katie nor Rusty bothered to answer; their eyes were glued to the TV. “Goodnight, Sheila,” her dad said and turned back to the video.

  Must have been a good movie.

  Again the next morning, Sheila woke up early. She lay in bed watching shadows on the ceiling and trying to remember why she felt that sad, sinking feeling in her stomach. Was it because her mom didn’t like the ranch anymore, or maybe never did? Was it because Mom didn’t even care if Dad had a girlfriend? Yes. It was those two things and more. Something even worse. Then it came to her. Dad was in big trouble and she had a feeling something really terrible was about to happen. Today.

  She slid out of bed, grabbed a bundle of clothes and tiptoed from the room. She would dress in the bathroom. That way there was no danger Katie would suddenly open one eye, groan and ask why Sheila was getting up so early.

  Maybe, she thought as she pulled on her jeans and T-shirt, if her dad was up, they could go for a ride together.

  Just as she had hoped, she found her dad in the kitchen, drinking coffee. His elbows rested on the table, his chin in his hands, and he stared outside, deep in thought. At the sound of her footstep he turned. “Good morning!” he said, making a brave attempt to smile. His blue eyes were red-rimmed and had dark circles around them, his sandy-colored hair stuck out from his head like tumbleweed, and he had a dark, stubbly beard.

  Sheila wondered if he had slept at all the night before, but she couldn’t find the words to ask him. Her dad was a man of few words, and he didn’t like to be pestered with questions. Over the years, Sheila had learned to be patient, to wait for him to tell her what was on his mind, never to ask directly.

  So she opened the fridge door, found a fat, juicy peach and grabbed a banana from the bowl on the counter. She sat down to join him.

  “You’re up early,” he said.

  Sheila nodded. “I thought maybe we could go for a ride before Katie and Rusty get up?”

  He looked at her banana, reached his long arm over the counter and grabbed one for himself. He peeled it and was about to take a bite when he seemed to change his mind. “I need to ride out and talk to Wendell. You can come along if you like.”

  “Sure, Dad.”

  “I want to find out if he saw anything on the night of the fire. Maybe he can help me figure out what’s going on around here.”

  “He says he saw you when the night watchman was shot.”

  “I know. I can’t understand why he would say that.”

  “He saw your black hat and white feather.”

  Dad shook his head. “Couldn’t have. I was wearing it and I was nowhere near the development.” He bit into the banana and stood up.

  Sheila left a note for Katie and Rusty, just in case they came downstairs before she and her dad got back from their ride.

  They were in the barn saddling their horses when they heard the crunch of wheels on gravel. Dad walked outside and Sheila followed at a distance.

  For a second Sheila thought the white SUV that pulled into the yard was Adele’s. Then she wished it was. Instead, it belonged to the RCMP.

  15

  The doors opened and the same two RCMP officers stepped out: the thin, wiry one from the passenger side; the big, chunky one from behind the wheel. They didn’t see Sheila and her dad and started toward the house.

  “Can I h
elp you gentlemen?” Dad called, walking into the farmyard. Sheila remained where she was.

  The Mounties both swung around. The big one’s hand hovered near the gun clipped to his belt. When they saw who it was, they relaxed slightly, but their expressions were glum. Sheila slunk back into the shadows.

  The big one spoke first. “We need to ask you some questions.”

  “Anything I can do to help,” her dad said politely.

  “Shall we go inside? There’s coffee…”

  “I’m afraid we’ll need you to come with us,” the thin man interrupted.

  “But I don’t understand.”

  “We’re taking you in for questioning. You may need to stay for some time.”

  “That’s impossible! I can’t leave the ranch…and I have three children here. I can’t abandon them.”

  “I’m afraid you have no choice,” the Mountie told him. “Is there someone you can call?”

  “Are you saying I’m under arrest?”

  Sheila felt like running at the two men. She wanted to scream that her father was innocent. Get out of here and go find out who really did it! But she simply stood, still as stone, in the shadow of the barn door and watched and listened.

  “You haven’t been charged with anything.”

  “Then…”

  “The bullet that shot the night watchman came from one of your rifles,” the big officer told him. “And both rifles have been fired recently.”

  Her father sagged. For a second, Sheila thought he would fall and she was about to run to him, but he straightened and started for the house. “I don’t know how that can be,” he said, “but I’m sure we can straighten it out.” Suddenly he seemed to brighten. “What about fingerprints? Did you check for prints?”

  “Both rifles contained multiple sets of prints.”

  Her dad quickened his pace. “I need to call Adele James. As soon as she arrives to be with the kids, I’ll come with you.”

  Sheila stood alone in the shadows while the two officers walked on either side of her father toward that hateful red door.

  While the men were in her dad’s office, Sheila ran upstairs. She burst into her room and pounced on Katie. “Wake up!” she said, shaking the limp form under the covers. “Katie! Wake up!”