“What did the name change to?” Alex asked.
“One of those new flavors of coffee creamers, as I remember.”
“Huh?” Bailey wondered if the man was a taco short of a combo plate.
“You know—Irish cream, French vanilla, hazelnut, something like that.”
“Hazelwood maybe?” Alex asked, her eyes gleaming.
“Hazelwood! That’s it!” Don clapped his hand against his lean thigh. “It’s just over there on the other side of the creek.” He pointed a crooked finger in the direction of Yeller, Dude, and Rude’s house.
“Did you ever meet the owners?” Bailey asked.
“Knew the first owners.” Don’s eyes dulled and his voice grew husky. “Good people.”
“I’m sorry,” Alex said softly.
“How about the new owners?” Bailey gently pushed. “Do you know them, too?”
“Tried to, but they keep to themselves. They let the place go to pot.”
Alex twirled a curl around her finger. “We heard that only men live there. No wife or children.”
“True enough,” Don agreed. “Just three men who don’t care two hoots about taking care of their property or their animals.”
“Three men?” Bailey asked. “You sure about that?”
“Sure as my name’s Don Jeffers! There are three men, but two of them do most of the work, what little work they do. The other one stays pretty much out of sight. The two told me once that their brother isn’t right in the head. They said I shouldn’t pay any attention if he hollers or waves his arms around. Said he’s kind of crazy.”
Bailey nodded. “We can’t thank you enough for the information. You’ve been a great help to our research.”
“My pleasure,” Don said. “You come on back anytime.”
Bailey and Alex walked back toward the creek. “Incredible!” Bailey said as soon as they were out of Don’s earshot.
“No kidding!” Alex turned a cartwheel on the soft, cool grass. “Hazelwood and Brindle Branch are the same place!”
“That’s weird what he said about the third guy. Do you really think he’s their brother? Or that he has all those problems they say he has?”
“Who knows?” Alex pushed her curly hair behind her ears. “Guess it could be a family business, but they don’t seem very friendly like brothers should.”
Bailey checked the time. “It’s still a little early, but Brian may be almost done with his shearing. Let’s start back home.”
The girls turned back the way they’d come, chatting as they walked. Soon they were across the creek from the pasture of sick sheep they’d seen yesterday.
“There are those poor sheep again.” Alex plugged her nose.
“Wait a minute!” Bailey stopped and squinted her eyes as she stared at them.
“What?”
“I think some of those sheep have writing on them!”
The Mystery at Hazelwood
“See? Look at that little one in the corner.” Bailey leaned in and pointed so Alex’s eye could follow her finger.
“Yeah! I’m sure those are our sheep!”
Bailey chewed her lower lip. “What should we do?”
“Tell Uncle Nathan someone’s stolen some of his lambs.”
Bailey stood silent for a moment. Finally, she nodded. “I guess we’ll have to. I don’t know what else to do.”
Both girls were surprised when Bailey’s phone rang.
“Hello? Oh hi, Kate.… You did?”
Alex put her ear close to the phone.
“Hang on, Kate. I’m going to put you on speaker.” Bailey pressed the button. “Okay, go.”
“I found out how someone could be held captive so long,” Kate repeated. “Especially if he’s allowed outside, as apparently Yeller is.”
“Great!” Alex said. “What’s the secret?”
“They could have Yeller hooked up with a house arrest bracelet that tells them if he leaves the property.”
“How’s it work?” Bailey asked.
“It’s equipped with a GPS system that shows the person’s location on a monitor.”
“Impressive,” Alex said.
“But wouldn’t they have known if Yeller was off the property?” Bailey asked.
“They should have seen it on the monitor,” Kate confirmed. “And an alarm is supposed to sound when a breach occurs.”
“Something doesn’t add up.” Alex picked a hangnail from her finger. “Anything else we should know?”
“That’s about it.”
“Good work, Kate.” Bailey wished she could hug her friend. “Thanks.”
“No problem-o,” Kate said.
“Give Biscuit a scratch behind the ears for me,” Alex said. Kate squealed. “Biscuit! Get down! I think he heard that. He’s trying to lick the phone!”
The girls laughed and updated her on the stolen lambs.
“Unbelievable!”
“We’re on our way home to tell Uncle Nathan now.” Bailey’s shoulders slumped.
“Good luck,” Kate said. “I’ll be praying for you!”
At home, Uncle Nathan strolled from the barn toward the house.
“Uncle Nathan!” Bailey called.
Her uncle stopped and turned. “What’s up?”
“We need to talk to you about some of your lambs.”
“I’m all ears,” he said.
“We think some have been stolen.” Bailey watched her uncle closely.
He screwed up his face. “Stolen? Why do you think that?”
“Because some of the lambs we sheared had messages written on them, and now they’re gone!” Alex spilled.
“At first we thought they were the ones you separated because of hoof rot, but they weren’t,” Bailey explained.
“And we saw some marked sheep at the ranch across the creek that looked just like the ones we sheared,” Alex added.
“We didn’t go over there!” Bailey assured him. “We saw them from our side of the creek.”
Uncle Nathan held up his hand. “Whoa!” he said. “Back up. Messages on sheep?”
“Yeah,” Bailey answered.
“What kind of messages?”
“They said, ‘Help Gonzo held captive Brindle Branch.’” Bailey grinned. It felt good to finally tell an adult what they’d uncovered.
“Anyone else know about this?” Uncle Nathan asked.
“Only Brian,” Bailey answered.
“And the Camp Club Girls,” Alex added.
Uncle Nathan’s eyebrows raised in question.
“They’re our friends from camp who help us solve mysteries,” Bailey said.
“And you have a mystery to solve?” Uncle Nathan prodded.
“We think so.” Bailey shrugged. “Why else would there be messages on sheep?”
“Good point.” Uncle Nathan exhaled. “So you think the neighbors stole the sheep with the messages.”
“Right.” Bailey nodded.
Uncle Nathan looked toward the neighbor’s ranch. “Can you show me?”
“Sure!” Alex’s eyes sparkled. “You’ll need binoculars if you want a good look.”
Uncle Nathan went inside, returning with a pair of binoculars around his neck. “All set. Lead the way.”
Bailey and Alex took off toward the dilapidated house. When they got to the creek, they walked along its bank a short distance and then pointed to the pasture on the other side.
“See?” Bailey said. “They’re over there behind the fence.”
Uncle Nathan looked through the binoculars.
“Do you see some young sheep with strange black markings?” Bailey asked.
“Sure do,” he answered. “My binoculars aren’t strong enough to read the ear tag though.”
“May I look?” Bailey reached out her hand.
Uncle Nathan took the binoculars from around his neck and handed them to her.
Bailey scanned the pasture, looking for the marked sheep. “There’s one!” she announced.
“Which one is it?” Alex asked.
“Brindle Branch.”
Alex nodded. “Yep. Those are your sheep, Uncle Nathan.”
“How many had messages?” he asked.
“Three. I bet they stole all three so no one would see their messages.” Bailey kicked a rock into the creek.
“All right, girls.” Uncle Nathan hung the binoculars back around his neck. “Let’s go call the sheriff.”
Twenty minutes later, two deputies came to the house. “I’m Officer Cahill,” said the dark-haired one, “and this is my partner, Officer Hamilton.”
“Come in,” Uncle Nathan said. He introduced Bailey and Alex. “They’re the ones who brought this to my attention. They spotted the sheep from across the creek. Here, have a seat.” Uncle Nathan waved his hand toward the living room. The officers settled into the easy chairs across from the couch where Bailey and Alex sat. Uncle Nathan grabbed a kitchen chair for himself.
“Tell us what you saw.” Officer Cahill spoke gently to the girls and listened attentively.
“Wait a minute,” he interrupted their story. “You say these sheep had messages written on them?”
“Yes, sir.” Bailey nodded solemnly.
“What did they say?”
Alex told him and explained how the message was spread between three sheep.
“Interesting.” Officer Cahill rubbed his chin.
Bailey looked at Alex with questioning eyes and received a nod of approval.
“Sir, there’s more.”
“More?” the officer asked.
“We think we may have figured out the Marshall Gonzalez case.”
“What?” Uncle Nathan jumped up as if he’d sat on a tack. “I’m sorry, officers. I don’t know anything about this.”
“Tell me what you know.” Officer Hamilton knelt so he was eye-to-eye with Bailey sitting on the couch.
Bailey licked her lips and looked around nervously.
“It’s all right. Don’t be afraid.”
Bailey and Alex told them everything—from the marked sheep, to the nighttime visit from Yeller, to discovering the original names of the ranch and creek.
Officer Cahill took notes furiously as the girls spoke. When they finally slowed down, so did his pen. He looked at his partner with a grin and a nod.
“I am very impressed with your detective work, girls,” Officer Hamilton said. “We’ll check this out and get back to you.”
“Will you go to Hazelwood Ranch?” Bailey asked.
“Yes, we’ll pay them a visit. Hopefully, they’ll cooperate and you’ll have your sheep back within a few hours. But it may take us longer to piece together all you’ve told us about the Marshall Gonzalez case.”
“Don’t take too long getting back to us!” Bailey blurted. “We have to leave tomorrow evening!”
Officer Cahill laughed. “We’ll try to work fast!”
After dinner the policemen were back at their door.
“Mr. Chang?” Officer Cahill held a clipboard. “We have some sheep to deliver.”
Uncle Nathan clapped his hands. “Hot dog!” he said. “So they were my sheep!”
“They were indeed. The ear tags showed your ID on them, so there wasn’t much the thieves could say.”
“Did you haul them off to jail?” Brian appeared over his dad’s shoulder, excitement blazing in his eyes.
“They’re being booked.”
“What about the Gonzalez case?” Bailey asked.
“We’re still working on that.” Officer Cahill smiled at Bailey. “But we’re pretty sure you’re on to something.”
Bailey and Alex grinned. Their hard work was paying off.
“I’ll help you unload those sheep.” Uncle Nathan followed the officer to a livestock trailer. The sun was setting, and the men worked quickly to get the lambs back into the pasture with their mothers. The ewes nuzzled their babies, and the lambs baaed their dismay at having been away.
“Alex, wake up! It’s Saturday!”
Alex rolled over and rubbed her sleepy eyes. “Huh?”
“Wake up! Today’s the sheep-shearing competition. And we’ll find out about our investigation!”
Alex’s feet hit the floor running. She jumped into her clothes and shoes. “I’m ready. Let’s go!”
The aroma of bacon and eggs greeted the girls as they charged down the stairs.
“Good morning, sleepyheads!” Aunt Darcy called over her shoulder as she flipped the eggs.
“Mornin’, Aunt Darcy!”
Uncle Nathan entered from outside. “Well, look who’s up!” He planted a kiss on top of Bailey’s head and ruffled Alex’s hair. “Sleep good?”
Bailey and Alex both nodded.
“The police already called this morning,” Aunt Darcy said. “They’re on their way over.”
“Now?” Bailey asked. “What’d they say?”
“Just that they’d talk to us when they get here.” Aunt Darcy set a plate full of bacon on the table and slid a fried egg onto each plate. “So I suggest we eat fast.”
Uncle Nathan blessed the food then passed the bacon to Alex. Aunt Darcy poured milk while Bailey and Alex ate their eggs. They’d started clearing the table when someone knocked. Uncle Nathan went to answer it.
“Good morning, Officer Cahill, Officer Hamilton.” Uncle Nathan waved them inside. A third, shorter man appeared from behind the two policemen.
“Mr. Chang, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you Marshall Gonzalez.”
“Wha–…the Marshall Gonzalez?” Uncle Nathan stammered.
“Marshall Gonzalez?” Bailey pushed past Uncle Nathan, with Alex behind her. A cleaned-up Yeller stood before them, grinning from ear to ear. “Yeller!”
“Yeller?” Officer Cahill looked from Gonzo to Bailey.
“That’s just the nickname Bailey gave him ‘cause he yelled to us the first time we saw him,” Alex explained.
“Come in, come in,” Aunt Darcy said, her manners edging out her astonishment. She bustled past her husband and pulled the men inside. “Have a seat. I’ll make some fresh coffee.”
“But that other guy told us he was Gonzo!” Bailey cried.
“He confessed to that lie,” Officer Hamilton said. “Said he was trying to confuse you about Marshall’s identity in case you were nosing around and knew anything.”
Alex laughed. “He doesn’t know us very well, does he, Bailey?”
“We’d never quit that easily!” Bailey giggled. “So if you’re the real Gonzo, the other two men must have been your captors, as we suspected.”
Gonzo nodded. “They were hired by my own father who wanted my money. They kidnapped me and made me wear that house arrest bracelet for seven years! That’s why I don’t look much like that newspaper photo. I’m thinner and older now.”
“Why did you only try to contact the girls?” Suspicion tinged Uncle Nathan’s voice. “Why didn’t you try to tell an adult?”
“My kidnappers told everyone I was their crazy brother and not to pay any attention to what I said or did.” Marshall’s head drooped. “When I saw these girls, I thought maybe they’d believe me since they were new around here and probably hadn’t heard about the crazy brother.”
Uncle Nathan nodded. “I do remember hearing the gossip about you, now that I think back. Guess I just took it for truth.”
Bailey cocked her head. “But if you wore a house arrest bracelet, how did you sneak out that night you came over here?”
“My captors drank so much alcohol they passed out.” Marshall looked at Bailey, his eyes serious. “That’s when I came over here. I’m sorry if I scared you. I was desperate for someone to know I wasn’t dead!”
“But when they woke up, didn’t their monitor show you’d been gone?” Alex’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Yep. They woke up while I was gone and came looking for me. I heard them yell at me while I was up in your tree. When I turned to look, I lost my balance and fell.”
Brian stumbled into the kitche
n bleary-eyed. He looked more confused than ever as he saw the strangers. The girls brought him up to speed on what was going on.
“So you wrote those messages on the sheep with a paint stick?” Brian asked.
“I did,” Gonzo replied rather proudly.
“So what’s next for you, Marshall?” Uncle Nathan asked.
“Well, thanks to these gals, my relatives will not get my fortune!” He looked with gratitude at Bailey and Alex. “I feel the whole world has opened up to me. I used to be an unhappy, lonely man. But after what I’ve been through, I’d like a chance to start over right here in Peoria. I hope to fix up my ranch and be the good shepherd my sheep deserve.”
“Looks like the Good Shepherd watched out for you in spite of all your troubles,” Bailey said softly.
“Indeed He has,” Marshall replied. “I hope to get to know Him better in the future.”
“We’d better let these good people get on with their day.” Officer Cahill stood to leave. “We knew the girls would be anxious to find out how their super sleuthing turned out. You did a great job figuring out this mystery, girls. We owe you a hearty thanks.”
“You don’t need to thank us. We love sleuthing!” Alex beamed at the officer.
“We’re just glad Mr. Gonzalez is safe again. Thanks for coming by so we could meet you.” Bailey stuck out her hand for him to shake.
Gonzo took her hand and pulled her into a big hug. Tears welled in his eyes. “I can never thank you enough!”
While Uncle Nathan walked the officers and Gonzo to their car, Aunt Darcy picked up empty coffee cups and set them in the sink. She leaned against the counter, eyeing Bailey and Alex with a smile. “It’s amazing what you girls accomplished in only six days.”
When Uncle Nathan returned, he noticed the time. “Are you ready to go to the big shearing competition?”
“I almost forgot!” Bailey replied. “But I’m ready.”
“Then let’s load up!” her uncle said.
As they pulled up to the fairgrounds, the smells of popcorn and hot dogs filled the air. The hum of people, mingled with the baaing of sheep, made a chaotic, festive atmosphere.
They sat in the stands watching kids in Bailey’s age group compete. The first, a nine-year-old girl like Bailey, worked slowly, with an ending time of twenty-two minutes, thirteen seconds. Then a ten-year-old boy gave it his best shot, finishing at twelve minutes, forty-three seconds.
Bailey’s Peoria Problem Page 11
