Lou Lou and Pea and the Mural Mystery

by Jill Diamond

  Now Elmira pointed to the dress in Pea’s arms. “For a quinceañera, Peacock Pearl? Not yours, I presume. Cinco años más before you’re fifteen. But it looks like you’re left dealing with a destroyed-dress disaster!”

  “It’s her prima Magdalena’s dress,” Lou Lou replied. “Can you help, Elmira? Thomas at Sparkle ’N Clean says it’s ruined and the quinceañera is on Sunday!”

  “I am so sorry for Magdalena!” Elmira said. “Sí, you did the right thing by coming to me. I recommend a Belleza candle to ensure that she finds a suitable new dress and looks beautiful on her big day.” Elmira pulled from the shelf a pink candle with a picture of a woman holding a mirror.

  “I’ll take it. Gracias, Elmira,” Pea said, then handed Lou Lou the dress so she could find money in her pocket.

  Lou Lou admired her best friend’s generosity as Pea shelled out half her allowance for her cousin’s candle.

  “Next time, send your prima here before troubles befall her so I can make certain she is protected. After all, prevention is the best remedy for misfortune.”

  “Voy a recordar que.” Pea agreed to remember Elmira’s suggestion. “Maybe you should get a candle for your garden,” she said to Lou Lou. “I know you’ve had a bountiful year, but just to make sure that you win the Hello Horticulture! Society top honor.”

  “That’s right!” Elmira clapped her hands and her eyes shone. “You are slated to win a camellia competition, Lou Lou Bombay. What fantastic flower fortune! Perhaps consider this one.” Elmira pointed to a green candle. Its glass holder had a flower on it and the word Crecer. “It will help you avoid horrible horticulture hurdles.”

  “It means ‘to grow,’” Pea translated.

  “A candle for my garden is a good idea, Pea, but Pinky is already a blue-ribbon shoo-in,” Lou Lou said. “Thanks anyway, Elmira. It’s nice of you to recommend something.” Lou Lou remembered to be polite, like Pea was always telling her.

  “Of course,” replied the Candle Lady, reaching across the counter to squeeze Lou Lou’s hand. “Hasta luego, niñas, and please give my best wishes to Magdalena!”

  “¡Adiós!” Lou Lou and Pea replied as they closed the shop door behind them.

  “We had better head home so I can explain this to my mother.” Pea took the stained dress back from Lou Lou.

  “It’s too bad Thomas couldn’t get the stain out,” Lou Lou said. “But Elmira was able to help with a candle, so at least the afternoon has a bright side!”

  As they walked out into the waning sun, Lou Lou thought about the other bright side to the afternoon—Pinky’s beauty. Elmira was right, Lou Lou did have fantastic flower fortune. Once I win that ribbon, she thought, the horticulture world will know the name Lou Lou Bombay!

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Helado the Bunny

  Lou Lou and Pea took a different route home to see some of the finest art in the world—El Corazón’s dazzling community-created murals. The murals bloomed throughout the neighborhood like the flowers in Lou Lou’s garden, and they were painted by different artists in all styles. Pea had even worked on one as a class project. There were at least a hundred different murals in El Corazón. Lou Lou and Pea had tried to count them once but lost track. Lou Lou was sure that she and Pea were the murals’ biggest admirers although the entire community was proud of the richly detailed art, which was well-known throughout the city. The murals covered fences, walls, and garage doors on many of the blocks. They showed elaborate scenes that included tigers, farmers, festivals, and village markets. Some depicted everyday life, while others showed visions from the artists’ wildest imaginations. Each mural was brightly colored like the candles in Elmira’s shop. There were rose reds, lemon yellows, emerald greens, midnight blacks, plum purples and, of course, peacock blues.

  Lou Lou and Pea had been enjoying the colors and images of the nearby murals when they walked past Mrs. Krackle’s house, which was surrounded by overgrown wild bushes. The bushes were a horticulture tragedy that seemed to be crying, Help me, Lou Lou Bombay!

  “Proper pruning is not just for an award-winning appearance. It actually yields thicker foliage and more flowers,” Lou Lou said, eyeing the crazy-looking azalea. She knew better than to attempt any uninvited work with her pruning shears because she was sure to be shooed away by angry Mrs. Krackle.

  “The same is true for painting,” Pea said. “Cleaning your brushes thoroughly makes them look presentable, but also helps you achieve a crisper finished project. Painted pears could look like funny-shaped apples if you don’t wash all the red out of your bristles!” Then Pea changed the subject. “What should we do tomorrow?”

  “Cupcake Cabana for sure!” Lou Lou replied.

  “And we definitely need to start our Día de los Muertos preparations,” Pea added.

  Lou Lou and Pea never missed a special occasion. Birthdays were celebrated with fancy dresses and pineapple pizza. On Valentine’s Day, they made gigantic paper hearts and taped them to the front doors of friends and neighbors. Last year, they’d even remembered Flag Day and decided to sew their own flag—a combination of American, Mexican, and pirate—for Lou Lou’s home. Just as Lou Lou had climbed halfway out an upper window to hang the flag, her mom had spotted her. The flag now flew from the back porch instead.

  While they made sure that no occasion went unobserved, for Lou Lou and Pea, the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration was particularly special. Día de los Muertos lasted three days, from October 31, the same day as Halloween, through November 2. On the final day, El Corazón filled with kids and adults remembering friends, family, and even pets that had passed away to the spirit world. But instead of being a sorrowful occasion, it was a celebration full of colors and candles, memories and marigolds.

  The crowning event of Día de los Muertos was the procession. At twilight, the streets around Lucky Alley would be packed with people and their elaborate altars displaying candles, mementos, favorite foods, and photos of departed loved ones. Flowers were abundant, particularly marigolds, which were used to guide spirits to their altars. Many people even painted their faces to look like skeletons for the procession. Lou Lou and Pea had spent a long time perfecting their bony look by practicing with one of Lou Lou’s mom’s worn-down eyeliners and some white face makeup. The finishing touch was elaborate outfits, the more colorful the better. Pea’s fashion expertise and sewing skills guaranteed that she and Lou Lou always created something amazing to wear.

  “I have some great ideas for the procession this year—” Pea began, but Lou Lou grabbed her arm.

  “Wait, we almost forgot to say hello to one of our favorites.” Lou Lou stopped in front of a vibrant mural of a woman riding a horse in a field of tall grass and flowers. The woman’s hair encircled her head in a windy halo of brushstrokes, and the horse’s mane blew wildly off his neck. Lou Lou and Pea had named many of the murals and they called this one Lady Carmen Rides Bonito.

  “Hello, Lady Carmen,” Lou Lou said to the beautiful rider.

  “Hola, señorita,” Pea said.

  With their greetings spoken, they were ready to move on. Then something in the mural caught Lou Lou’s eye. In the midst of a bloom of windblown daisies was a snow-white bunny with orange-yellow eyes that stared out sadly from the painting. Lou Lou had gazed upon this mural countless times and never noticed a bunny.

  “Do you remember that?” she asked Pea, pointing at the furry creature.

  Pea squinted. “No. And I know this mural so well, I could redraw it in my sleep. Though I guess we could have overlooked it since it’s so small,” Pea replied.

  “No way. I think someone must have added it recently,” Lou Lou said. “That’s strange.”

  “The murals do change sometimes,” Pea reminded Lou Lou. “Like when they turned that old building on Twentieth Street into the Estrella Theater and painted an opera scene over the fish mural.”

  “True,” replied Lou Lou. “But usually the whole picture changes, not just one detail. The bunny’s eyes are such
an odd color, aren’t they?” she observed.

  “Yes, it’s amber,” said Pea, showing Lou Lou a matching color swatch in her new book.

  “Amber,” Lou Lou repeated, staring at the bunny’s mournful expression.

  “The bunny needs a name. How about Blanco?” Pea suggested.

  “Naw, too obvious.” Even Lou Lou knew that blanco means white in Spanish. “What about Helado since that means ice?”

  “That is the word for ice cream. I like it, though.” Pea giggled. “Helado it is.”

  Just in time for the end of PSPP, Lou Lou and Pea turned a corner and Lou Lou’s house, the SS Lucky Alley, came into view. Lou Lou’s home reflected her dad’s passion for ships at sea, which Peter Bombay had inherited from a long line of Bombay sailors. The exterior was boat shaped and painted a shiny red with white trim around the porthole windows. Above the front door was a carved wooden mermaid figurehead that Lou Lou had named Serena.

  Stepping inside the SS Lucky Alley meant entering a world of ocean and sky. The walls were the many colors of the sea. Ceilings looked like the sky—the kitchen was stormy, the living room was sunny with cotton-ball clouds, and constellations of stars shone down into the bedrooms. Over the mantel hung photos of blurry dark shapes taken by Lou Lou’s dad on a whale-watching trip. A rope ladder in the hallway led to a small room at the tiptop of the house. It had slanted ceilings and a porthole window through which pirates or the mail lady might be spotted. This was the ship’s crow’s nest, and more important, it was also Lou Lou’s bedroom. All in all, the SS Lucky Alley was as close to a firsthand seafaring experience as a landlubber could get.

  “Ahoy,” Lou Lou whispered to her home when they entered. Although she wasn’t as ocean-obsessed as her dad, Lou Lou loved the SS Lucky Alley.

  It was almost time for Pea to go home, so they went into the living room to wait. Light poured through the windows as Lou Lou flung open the heavy canvas curtains crafted from old sails. The foghorn doorbell sounded.

  “That’s probably my mother,” said Pea, gathering up Magdalena’s dress and the Belleza candle.

  Sylvia Pearl was waiting patiently on the front steps to take Pea to their home on the far side of the neighborhood. She took one look at the dress and put her hand over her eyes.

  “The stain didn’t come out? ¡Qué horror!”

  “Sorry, Mamá.”

  But when Pea’s mother saw the candle, she smiled. “It was nice of you to think of your prima, mija. Ándale. Time to go.”

  Lou Lou and Pea said their See you tomorrows, and Lou Lou’s parents arrived at the SS Lucky Alley a few minutes later. Lou Lou spent the evening diagramming her plans for fall plantings in her garden and daydreaming about pinning a Hello Horticulture! Society Flowering Bushes and Shrubs blue ribbon on a stake next to Pinky.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Saturday in the Garden

  That Saturday started like countless others. By seven-thirty, Lou Lou was awake, dressed, and down the crow’s nest ladder. She turned the big wooden ship’s wheel that opened her fridge and gulped orange juice from the carton. Her dad’s voice, commanding Use a glass, echoed in her head. But he was still asleep, and besides, she’d seen enough movies about sailors to know that they didn’t all have perfect manners.

  Then came the best part of Lou Lou’s Saturday—visiting her plants and flowers in the soft morning sun. Although not everything was growing this season, she still made sure to greet each section of her garden using the names she’d given them.

  “Good morning, Bouquet Blooms!” Lou Lou said as she skipped alongside the earthy bed of bulbs that bore colorful spring flowers—daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths.

  “Hello, Summer Weirds!” Lou Lou remembered the unusual blooms from last season—goblin blanket flower, coreopsis moonbeam, and pink jewel fleabane.

  “Greetings, Eats and Cures!” She couldn’t overlook the variety of herbs and remedies, including mint for PSPP tea, basil for spaghetti sauce, soothing chamomile, and echinacea to ease colds.

  “It’s your time to shine, Fancy Fall Florals!” Lou Lou said to the current season’s array of asters, toad lilies, and perennial sunflowers.

  Although she loved every plant and flower in her garden, she cherished spending Saturdays with Pinky in particular. Today, Lou Lou was excited to check the progress of Pinky’s flowers. At the height of their bloom, she would photograph Pinky for the competition. The photos had to be perfect. Lou Lou had wanted that blue ribbon since she was old enough to grow her first rhododendron.

  Lou Lou made her way toward the camellia, which was hidden in the partial shade of the avocado tree. But before she reached Pinky, she heard the bang, bang, bang of one hard object striking another. The sound was coming from Mr. Gray’s yard next door. Lou Lou turned back and peered over the wooden fence that lined her backyard, expecting to see her grumpy neighbor in his bathrobe that was the same color as his last name. Instead, she spied a boy reclining on an ancient lawn chair, reading a comic book. Lou Lou eyed him warily until he looked in her direction.

  “Hiya,” said the boy.

  “Hiya, yourself,” Lou Lou replied. She continued to stare with narrowed eyes. The boy grinned, unfazed. He had bright blue spiky hair and brown eyes, and was wearing black boots and a studded leather bracelet on his left wrist. Lou Lou guessed that he was her age or a little older.

  “Jeremy, that’s me,” said the boy. His overly friendly tone didn’t suit his look. “And you are…?”

  “Lou Lou … Lou Lou Bombay. Where’s Mr. Gray? And what are you doing in his yard?”

  “Mr. Gray?” Jeremy seemed confused. “Oh, right—the old guy. He went on a long vacation.”

  Lou Lou pictured Mr. Gray eating a pastry at a café in Paris, or on a boat cruising the Amazon looking for exotic birds. But the images didn’t fit her neighbor, who rarely even left his house.

  “Vacation?” she asked skeptically. “Mr. Gray?”

  “Yeah, he’s visiting his sister in Toledo … or something like that. Anyway, I just moved here and my parents are renting his house for a few weeks until we find one of our own. What are you doing here?”

  “I live here.” Lou Lou used her confident “duh” voice. “Why did you move?” she asked. “Will you be going to school?”

  “My parents grew up in this neighborhood and we still have family here. And, yeah, of course I’m going to school. Gotta work on my smarts!” Jeremy tapped his head and grinned. Lou Lou didn’t smile back. Something about this boy seemed weird, but she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what. “Actually, I’m starting on Monday at El Corazón Public.”

  Lou Lou’s ears prickled. That was her school!

  “What grade?” she asked.

  “Sixth,” he said. Lou Lou relaxed a little. At least he wasn’t in her class.

  “Hey, what was all that noise?” Lou Lou remembered the bangs that had gotten her attention in the first place.

  “Oh, that,” Jeremy said unhelpfully. He gestured at a hammer lying in the grass. “I was just working on the old guy’s fence.”

  “I didn’t know the fence was broken,” replied Lou Lou.

  “Yeah, it wasn’t.” Jeremy picked up the hammer and struck the metal leg of the lawn chair, grinning at the noise.

  “Then why—oh, never mind. I have important stuff to do.” She decided she’d had enough of this strange boy for one morning, but tried to have some manners. “Good to meet you, though, I guess.”

  “See ya soon!” Jeremy winked.

  Lou Lou hurried to the avocado tree, as her visit with Pinky was overdue. But when she finally gazed upon her beloved autumn queen camellia, she gasped and reeled in horror.

  “Oh, Pinky! How awful!” Lou Lou wailed. Just yesterday, Pinky had been the picture of magenta-and-green health. But now, most of the beautiful blooms had fallen off and were shriveling in the grass. The few flowers that remained were drooping and sad, as if they would drop any minute to join their fallen comrades. The camellia’s branch
es, which had once wished Lou Lou a happy PSPP, were now on the ground in a splintered heap. And the formerly lush leaves were wrinkled and browning at the tips. What little remained of the plant bowed toward the lawn in despair.

  “What happened to you, Pinky?” Lou Lou hated crying, but she couldn’t stop the fat tears that rolled down her cheeks. She brushed them away and suppressed a sob so she could assess the possible causes of the Pinky tragedy. She’d just yesterday checked for insect pests and found none. The weather that week had been good for horticulture—enough rain and not too hot or cold. Despite the avocado tree that towered next to it, the camellia still got enough sun. With these culprits eliminated, all that remained was the mischief of an animal or human. The neighborhood cats liked to hide beneath Pinky and sniff at its leaves but they never bothered the camellia. This only left the sinister handiwork of a person.

  Lou Lou put her nose to the ground and sniffed.

  “Bleach and vinegar!” she cried. These were deadly poisons for a camellia, and Lou Lou’s hopes for Pinky’s recovery sank. On closer inspection, Lou Lou saw that Pinky’s broken branches had been knocked off. Someone had definitely been out to get her plant! There was no way Pinky was in the running for a Flowering Bushes and Shrubs blue ribbon now, unless there was an award for saddest camellia.

  The sob finally escaped from deep in Lou Lou’s throat.

  “You’ve been assaulted, Pinky! Battered and poisoned,” Lou Lou growled. “I swear on all that is green and growing that I will avenge this crime!”

  It was then that Lou Lou remembered the hammer that Jeremy claimed he had used to fix the unbroken fence. A few good swings and he could have easily knocked off Pinky’s branches. And bleach and vinegar could have come from Mr. Gray’s kitchen. Lou Lou ran back to the fence and glared into her neighbor’s yard, but all she saw were the rusty old lawn chairs.