Lou Lou and Pea and the Mural Mystery

by Jill Diamond

  “Tulips!” Lou Lou replied, and giggled, even though she’d heard the joke a hundred times. This was the first time Lou Lou had laughed since the morning’s tragic events. A Día de los Muertos altar for Pinky was definitely a good idea.

  Not far from Lou Lou’s house, Lou Lou pointed to another favorite mural.

  “We have to say hello to School Is for the Birds,” she said. School Is for the Birds was a painting of a classroom filled with students looking at a map of the world. From the inside, the school looked like Lou Lou’s, but the outside view revealed that it was in the middle of a jungle. Monkeys peered through tangled vines and an array of colorful birds perched on tree branches.

  Lou Lou nodded to acknowledge the mural, then stopped short to examine it. Between two monkeys was a burst of lemon yellow and purple that had not been there before. But instead of being another bird amid the leaves, the new colors belonged to a familiar dress.

  “Pea!” Lou Lou exclaimed. “It’s a grape-juice-dyed quinceañera dress!”

  “What?” Pea, who’d been brushing cupcake crumbs off the sleeve of her coat, looked at the painting with wide eyes. “Why is Magdalena’s dress in the mural?”

  “I dunno, but it’s loco!” Lou Lou said. “You were right before that the murals change, but until now it’s always been because someone replaces an entire old scene with a new one.”

  “It is also strange that someone painted a bad thing that actually happened,” Pea added. “The murals are not usually so realistic.”

  “Something funny is definitely going on here, Pea. We need to figure out what it is! We’re so good at sleuthing. Remember the treasure hunt in second grade when we found enough tamarindo candy to last us a year?”

  Pea nodded. “We need to investigate,” she agreed. “The least we can do is find out what happened to my prima’s beautiful dress!”

  Pea is right, thought Lou Lou. They definitely needed to help Magdalena. Lou Lou also remembered Helado the bunny.

  “I bet Helado is real, too, just like Magdalena’s dress.” As these words came from Lou Lou’s mouth, she heard footsteps and rustling. A teenage girl emerged from a nearby alley. Her long hair was clipped back into a ponytail and she was wearing a skirt that was a waterfall of red-and-white ruffles. Lou Lou recognized her from an art show she’d attended with Pea.

  “Pea, isn’t that—”

  “Rosa!” Pea finished. “I bet she designed that gorgeous skirt herself. She is so creative!”

  “¡Hola, Rosa!” Pea said. Rosa looked in their direction.

  “Hello, Peacock,” Rosa called softly, and waved. “And hello…”

  “I’m Lou Lou.”

  “Of course. La mejor amiga de Peacock.” Rosa walked up to the girls. “Hola, Lou Lou.”

  “Your skirt is lovely. Did you make that?” Pea asked.

  “Sí,” replied Rosa.

  “Maybe you can show me how you did the design?” Pea was always eager to polish her fashion skills.

  “I’d be happy to, but right now I am late to meet a friend,” Rosa said, her eyes darting off into the distance. “I have to go. Hasta luego.” Rosa waved again and turned down the next alley.

  “Rosa! Hold on a minute!” Lou Lou called, thinking maybe she’d seen who had changed the mural. But she was too late. Rosa was gone.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Suspect Sunday

  On Sunday morning, Lou Lou went straight from her bed to check on her garden. The sight of her magnificent toad lilies, which seemed to have bloomed overnight, gave her hope. Maybe the Crecer candle had worked, and Pinky would come back from the dead with new buds. She closed her eyes and tried to will Pinky alive and well, envisioning a happy and healthy camellia.

  Unfortunately, Lou Lou’s hopes were crushed again when she peeked around the avocado tree. Pinky was even sadder and more withered than before. Looking back at the thriving toad lilies, Lou Lou felt a bit resentful.

  After a thorough inspection, Lou Lou found no more signs of horticultural tampering. She trudged into the kitchen of the SS Lucky Alley and was greeted by a whir, whir, whirring noise and the aroma of cinnamon. These were the sounds and smells of pancakes in progress. Lou Lou’s mom was at the stove, flipping circles of golden-brown batter.

  “Banana pancakes on a Sunday?” Lou Lou was surprised. Her mom turned and smiled.

  “You missed them yesterday so I thought we’d break tradition for once. Plus, I know you had a rough Saturday. How’s Pinky?”

  “Not good.” Lou Lou’s voice broke a little. “I don’t think there’s anything more I can do.”

  “I’m sorry.” Her mom reached out and patted Lou Lou’s curls. “It’s unusual for one of your plants to die suddenly. I can’t even keep grass alive, but you—you’re a gardening genius. Have you figured out what happened?”

  “Uh…” Lou Lou hesitated. Telling her mom she suspected a planticide certainly wasn’t going to bring Pinky back. Instead, it could mess up Lou Lou and Pea’s investigation by adding well-intentioned parents. She thought back to when she’d told her dad that Pea was afraid of sea lions and he’d put on a friendly-sea-lion costume to cure Pea of her fear. Poor Pea had hid in a closet for an hour. So Lou Lou wanted to handle the Pinky investigation her way. “I’m not entirely sure,” Lou Lou replied. This was basically true since Lou Lou had yet to figure out the whole story.

  “I can take you to Green Thumb this week and we can get you a new plant to replace—” Lou Lou’s mom began.

  “Nothing can replace Pinky, Mom!” Lou Lou immediately regretted her outburst. After all, her mom was just trying to be helpful.

  “I understand,” her mom replied. “If you feel ready for a new camellia, you just let me know. Now have some breakfast.” She’d already set the table and left a little origami heart beside Lou Lou’s plate. Jane had recently perfected her origami technique and could make just about anything from folded paper. She said it soothed her, like ocean sounds soothed Lou Lou’s dad.

  “Thanks, Mom.” Lou Lou smiled.

  When Lou Lou was eating her second helping of pancakes and working on her homework, her dad wandered into the kitchen.

  “Good morning,” he said, yawning and stretching in his blue-and-white striped pajamas dotted with little red sailboats.

  “Hi, Dad.” Lou Lou crunched on a walnut.

  “Whatcha working on?”

  “A story for English,” replied Lou Lou. “We have to write scary tales for Halloween. Mine’s about deadly nightshade. People thought witches used it to make flying ointment so they could fly to witch parties. Interesting, huh?” Lou Lou remembered something else. “Dad, can you drive me to the crafts store today?”

  “Sure. I have to go out for groceries anyway,” her dad answered. “Do you need Halloween decorations? We can turn this place into a ghost ship again!”

  “No, I need some things for the procession,” Lou Lou said. When she and Pea were little, Halloween had been a big deal, but now it was overshadowed by Día de los Muertos. Not that Lou Lou had anything against Halloween, she just felt as if she’d outgrown it, and preferred to celebrate Día de los Muertos. Especially this year, since she was mourning her beloved camellia.

  Lou Lou’s dad looked disappointed, and she remembered how much he loved decorating the SS Lucky Alley. “But we can pick up some Halloween decorations, too.”

  “Great!” Her dad clapped his hands. “I’ll get dressed and we can leave.”

  Lou Lou finished her pancakes, ran her finger around the plate, and licked off the last of the maple syrup. She realized that Magdalena’s quinceañera was in a couple of hours so she picked up the phone and dialed Pea.

  “Hello?” a familiar voice answered.

  “Hi, Pea. It’s me. Did Magdalena find a new dress?”

  “Yes! It doesn’t match the trees in Limonero Park but it is just as pretty as the first one.”

  “That’s great! I guess the Belleza candle helped. Thank goodness for Elmira! Too bad the Crecer candle
didn’t work for Pinky.”

  “I know. I wish it had, Lou Lou. I can’t talk for long. We are meeting my prima and my tía at Ruby’s Beauty Parlor to get our hair styled before the party.” Lou Lou heard the note of excitement in Pea’s voice. Lou Lou admired elaborate hairstyles, but she couldn’t imagine sitting still long enough to get one. “What are you going to do today?” Pea asked.

  “My dad is taking me to the crafts store. I’ll get some Día de los Muertos supplies. Anything you want?”

  “I have plenty of scrap fabric and buttons. But I need some tassels. ¡Gracias!”

  “¡Hasta banana!” Lou Lou replied, replacing the Spanish word for tomorrow, mañana. Pea laughed and Lou Lou hung up, just as her dad returned wearing his captain hat.

  “Captain Peter, ready for our journey. Can we set sail now, First Mate Lou Lou?” Lou Lou rolled her eyes at her dad’s goofiness, but then cracked a smile and followed him out to the car.

  On their trip to the crafts store, Lou Lou and her dad passed by mural after colorful mural, including Lady Carmen Rides Bonito.

  “Dad?” Lou Lou asked. “You know that mural with the woman on a horse on a windy day?”

  “Is it on Nineteenth Street?” her dad asked.

  “No.”

  “Is it next to Green Thumb?”

  “No.”

  “Is it by your school?”

  “No.” Lou Lou was getting frustrated.

  “Sorry, Lou Lou. I have no idea. There are so many murals I can’t keep track.” Lou Lou tried a different tactic.

  “Well, have you noticed any of the murals changing in a weird way?”

  “No,” her dad replied. “But they change frequently, right?” Lou Lou sighed and looked out the window at the colors streaking past. It was clear that her dad didn’t have any helpful information. Adults can be so unobservant sometimes, she thought. Lou Lou hoped that she would never be so grown-up that she wouldn’t pay attention to the little details.

  “Here we are!” Lou Lou’s dad exclaimed as he stopped the car in front of You’re Crafty Crafts. Inside, Lou Lou wasted no time filling a basket with ribbon, construction paper, and tassels. She added fake cobwebs, Silly String, and hanging paper phantoms for the ghost ship. Her final item was plucked from a bucket of brilliant-hued peacock feathers. Lou Lou chose the loveliest of all for her best friend.

  She headed toward the cash register where her dad was chatting with the cashier. But someone beat her to it. That someone was a boy with spiky blue hair and a studded leather bracelet on his left wrist.

  Lou Lou gasped and ducked back behind an aisle, her ears blending in with a display of red colored pencils. What is he doing here? she thought, as Jeremy put his basket on the counter. He began to take out items—first paintbrushes, then tubes of paint in various colors, including rose reds, lemon yellows, emerald greens, midnight blacks, plum purples and, of course, peacock blues.

  “Mural paint! Is he changing the murals?” Lou Lou wondered, not realizing she was wondering aloud until Jeremy paused and looked around. Lou Lou ducked back behind the aisle, nearly toppling the pencil display. She clamped her hand over her mouth so not another sound would come out.

  After what seemed like an eternity, Jeremy took his change and walked to the door. As he was leaving, she noticed a white spot on the knee of his black jeans.

  “Bleach!” Lou Lou said aloud despite herself, remembering Pinky’s planticide. Luckily, her hand was still covering her mouth so it sounded like a muffled, “Bleeeet.” When Jeremy was finally gone, Lou Lou scurried out from her hiding place.

  “Okay, Dad! I’m ready. Let’s pay and leave!” If they hurried, Lou Lou thought they might see Jeremy on the ride home, and she could determine what other mischief he was up to.

  “Sure thing,” her dad said as the cashier slowly put Lou Lou’s supplies into a bag. Another eternity passed before they were in the car and pulling out of the parking lot. But instead of turning toward the SS Lucky Alley and Jeremy’s likely route, Lou Lou’s dad drove in the opposite direction.

  “Where are we going?!” squealed Lou Lou.

  “Groceries, don’t you remember?” her dad answered. “It’s buccaneer baked potato night and I need potatoes!”

  “Right,” said Lou Lou, slouching down and looking glumly out the window. She was disappointed that she wouldn’t get to follow Jeremy to see if he was the mysterious mural painter. But Lou Lou knew one thing for certain—if he was, she was definitely going to find out.

  CHAPTER TEN

  A Very Bad Monday for Danielle Desserts

  It was the Monday after Pinky’s planticide, and Lou Lou was in Science class barely paying attention. She had way more important things to think about—Pinky, of course; Día de los Muertos; the changing murals; and Jeremy, who was being his suspicious self somewhere in Lou Lou’s very own school. A sharp voice interrupted Lou Lou’s thoughts.

  “Louise Bombay, I asked you a question. Come back to reality, please!” The science teacher, Miss Mash, looked sternly at Lou Lou. Miss Mash had gray hair pulled into a bun and thin, pursed lips. She had a particular love of taupe. Everything she wore was taupe, like the color of a paper bag bleached by the sun.

  “Please, Miss Mash, it’s Lou Lou, not Louise.” Lou Lou knew this was a lost cause. Most of her teachers used Lou Lou’s preferred nickname, but not Miss Mash. Whether she refused to do so or just didn’t remember, Lou Lou couldn’t be sure. But her bets were on stubborn refusal.

  “My question wasn’t about your name,” said Miss Mash, looming over Lou Lou so that all she could see was taupe. “I asked you to tell me why water is important to our ecosystem.” Miss Mash used props in her lessons so she was holding a glass beaker filled almost to the brim with water.

  “Yeah, answer the question, Lou Lou Loser,” said a high-pitched voice behind Lou Lou, followed by a chorus of giggles. Lou Lou felt her ears tingle. She spun around in her seat to glare at her nemesis, Danielle Desserts.

  Lou Lou had known Danielle since first grade, but they had never been friends. Danielle was a snob who pranced down the hall tossing her hair and rolling her eyes at people who dared speak to her. She thought she was more grown-up than everyone else just because she was the eldest in their class by three days and wore lip gloss and pink shoes with little heels. It wasn’t as if Lou Lou had anything against lip gloss, and she loved her own hot pink sneakers—it was Danielle’s attitude that was the problem. And the truth was that whiny Danielle was one of the most immature people Lou Lou knew.

  The real trouble between Danielle and Lou Lou started in third grade when they were both finalists in the school’s creative writing contest. Danielle wrote about the Sugar Mountain Sisters, Shelly and Sherry, two girls from her favorite books. When Lou Lou won the contest with her story about a talking fern, Danielle was furious. Lou Lou figured she was just jealous, but her jealousy turned into meanness.

  “You probably think water is important because your stupid fern wants to make stupid tea,” Danielle said now.

  Lou Lou mostly ignored Danielle Desserts and her snooty-girl posse. But after Pinky’s planticide, Lou Lou was in no mood for teasing. She skipped her chrysanthemums and turned to face her nemesis.

  “Really, Danielle? Another fern insult?” Lou Lou gave her a hard look. “I’m sorry you didn’t win a prize. Your story was good, but it’s been a couple years now, and I think you need to get over it.”

  Danielle scrunched up her face and Lou Lou knew she’d struck a nerve.

  “Lou Lou Bombay, you’re just—just—just stupid!” shrieked Danielle. She’d never been good with insults. “The Sugar Mountain Sisters are just—just—just perfect!” Danielle wasn’t good with compliments either. “And so was my story,” she said, leaping from her seat to better glare at Lou Lou.

  “Girls! Danielle! Louise! Stop this!” Miss Mash waved her arms. She’d clearly forgotten she was holding the beaker of water that started the whole problem. Lou Lou watched the water swishing bac
k and forth, dangerously close to spilling over the edge.

  “I’ve had enough chatter from you both!” Miss Mash flung her arm in Danielle’s direction and the entire contents of the beaker flew into the air and soaked Danielle Desserts.

  Danielle screamed. She was a sopping-wet mass of blond hair and Sugar Mountain Sisters bows. Miss Mash looked shocked. Lou Lou tried not to laugh.

  “Go to the principal’s office, both of you! Now!” shouted Miss Mash.

  A furious Danielle spun around, her soaked hair spraying water on her snooty-girl posse. Lou Lou followed, but Danielle slammed the classroom door behind her. Lou Lou reopened it gently and stepped into the hallway.

  Out of Miss Mash’s sight, she finally laughed. Even as the possibility of getting her first detention made her ears burn, Lou Lou couldn’t help thinking that the look on Danielle’s dripping face had made it all worth it. And she couldn’t wait to tell Pea.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Danielle Desserts’s Day Gets Worse

  Clomp, clomp, clomp! Danielle stomped down the hallway as best she could in her heels. Lou Lou followed at a safe distance, zigzagging around Danielle’s wet trail. When they arrived at Principal Garcia’s office, he looked up from a stack of papers.

  “I’m not sure I want to know what happened. Something tells me that you didn’t go on a field trip to swim in the bay, Danielle,” said Principal Garcia, shooing her away from sitting in one of his desk chairs. “Jeepers. You’ll stain the leather.”

  Principal Garcia frowned at Lou Lou and she got the hint she wasn’t welcome to sit either.

  “And you, Lou Lou,” said Principal Garcia sternly. “What do you have to do with this fiasco?” Before Lou Lou could answer, she heard a loud throat-clearing noise.

  “I will give you the official report,” Kyle Longfellow said in his Comet Cop voice. He’d been sent to explain the situation. “Miss Mash was holding water and then Danielle said something to Lou Lou about a fern and then Lou Lou said, ‘Get over it,’ and then Miss Mash got Danielle wet and then—”