It was 9:45 when Jean Louise greeted the girls. There were still a few scattered customers. “Take a seat, girls, and mind your manners till all the customers are gone,” the woman told them.
They sat under the blue marlin. “I’m itching to take that thing off the wall and look behind it! I know we’ll find the marbles there,” said McKenzie.
Elizabeth’s eyes lit with excitement. “I do too. Hey, what if they are actually inside the fish? Maybe it’s hollow!”
The girls continued whispering until it looked like the last customer had left. Just as Jean Louise was about to lock the door, it pushed open, and Mr. Jacobs walked in! Had he been looking for them again?
He looked around, tipping his hat to the girls before greeting Jean Louise. “Pardon me, ma’am. I know it’s closing time, but could I trouble you for a tall glass of that wonderful iced tea?”
“Why certainly. I’ll get it for you right now,” said the waitress.
While he waited, he looked at the girls. “Fancy meeting you here,” he said. “What are you girls doing here so late?”
Elizabeth looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She had no idea how to respond.
McKenzie, thinking fast, eyed the grand piano sitting in the corner of the restaurant. “Uh, Elizabeth plays the piano. Since she’s spent the week here with me, she’s hardly gotten to practice. So she’s going to practice after everyone leaves.”
“That’s right. Elizabeth’s going to play the piano. Here’s your tea, sir,” said Jean Louise, handing the man a large Styrofoam cup. Megan had followed her out of the kitchen and had a towel draped over her shoulder.
“I see. I’d love to stay and listen. Would you mind?” the man said.
Elizabeth looked at Mac, then at the old piano. Taking a deep breath, she walked across the room and sat at the bench. Mr. Jacobs dropped into one of the booths and watched. Why won’t he just go away? she thought. I don’t like to play in front of anybody, and especially not sneaky, low-down cowboys!
She began to play Mozart’s Sonata in C, and then transitioned into a praise song. Before long, she became absorbed in her music, and she played nearly flawlessly for the next several minutes. By the time she had finished, she had almost forgotten anyone else was in the room. She was startled by their applause and cheers, and began to blush.
“I’m impressed,” said Jacobs. “Not very many people have a gift like that. ‘I will sing and make music to the Lord,’ Psalm 27:6.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, and turned back to the keyboard. Now he’s quoting scripture? Elizabeth had no idea what to make of this man.
He stood to his feet and tipped his hat. “Thank you for the tea, and for the music. Good night, ladies,” he told them, and walked out the door.
As soon as he was out of sight, the girls all sighed with relief. “What are we going to do?” Elizabeth asked. “He’s following us. He knows we’re on to something.”
Jean Louise stopped smacking her gum and said, “You do the only thing you can do. You keep looking, and you beat him to the treasure. Come on, ladies. Let’s tear this place apart!”
Megan climbed on the table and hefted the large fish off the wall. The four of them examined it, but didn’t find any secret compartments or hollow spots. They looked at the wall behind the fish. They examined the floor beneath the fish. They even moved all the booths and benches to make sure there was nothing hidden beneath them.
“What if they’re hidden in the stuffing of one of the benches?” Elizabeth asked. She was about ready to tear into a bench with a steak knife when Jean Louise stopped her.
“Whoa, there. This furniture gets replaced every ten years or so. If Emily Marie hid the marbles in one of the benches, they are long gone by now.”
Frustrated, the girls sank into one of the booths. Megan looked close to tears as she said, “We might as well hang it up. We’ll never find those marbles.”
Elizabeth wanted to argue, but she was feeling the same way. Then she remembered her prize money.
“Megan, do you know what I did tonight before I came here?” Elizabeth asked.
“I don’t know. What?”
“I caught a pig,” Elizabeth said with a giggle.
Megan sat up, and said, “You did what?” She looked to McKenzie for confirmation.
“She did,” Mac told her. “She caught a pig at the Livestock Show and Rodeo, in front of the entire stadium. And she was covered from head to toe in mud!”
“You’re kidding!” Megan laughed at the thought. “You mean Miss Perfect, always-keeps-her-room-clean, never-a-hair-out-of-place Elizabeth was covered in mud?”
“Yep. And she won the prize too,” Mac said.
“Really? What was the prize?” asked Megan.
“It’s money. Not much, but I already know how I’m going to spend it,” said Elizabeth. “I’m going to buy a saxophone.”
“A saxophone?” the two girls asked in unison.
“I didn’t know you wanted to play the saxophone,” said Megan.
“I don’t. But I would love to have someone accompany me on the saxophone. Me on the piano…you know. A duet,” Elizabeth said.
Slowly, Megan realized that Elizabeth wanted to purchase her band instrument for her. “Elizabeth, I can’t let you do that.”
“Why not? It’s my money. I’ll spend it however I want,” Elizabeth told her.
They were interrupted by Jean Louise. “Girls, I promised your parents I’d have you all home before midnight, and it’s almost that time now. We’d better go.”
They piled into the woman’s car, and within minutes they were pulling up to Elizabeth’s house where the girls were going to spend the night. They were surprised to see the lights still on. “Thanks, Jean Louise!” they called from the porch. The woman waved and drove away.
Inside, Elizabeth’s mom, dad, and brother were in the living room. James was chattering a mile a minute about spooky houses and greasy pigs and somebody losing marbles. Between sentences, he zoomed the tiny blue car through the air.
“Why are y’all still awake?” Elizabeth asked.
“Someone had too much cotton candy,” her mother nodded to James. “Besides, we wanted to make sure you girls made it home safely.”
“Can anyone explain to us what the spooky house is?” asked Mr. Anderson. James was still zooming his car around the room.
“Probably the house of mirrors. Evan’s marbles spilled out of his pocket while we were in there.”
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson burst into laughter. “So that’s what he was talking about when he said Evan lost his marbles! We thought Evan had gone crazy!”
The girls giggled, and the adults stood. “There are snacks in the kitchen, girls. Try not to stay up too late. James, it is way past your bedtime. Come on. Into bed you go.”
James obeyed, still zooming his tiny blue Cadillac as he headed down the hallway toward his room. “This is the coolest car I’ve ever seen. Just look at those fins!”
The girls looked at one another in stunned excitement. “Fins!” they all three called out at once. “The Cadillac Ranch!”
Within the next half hour, emails were flying. Alexis had contacted the other Camp Club Girls, and they were expecting Elizabeth and McKenzie to be online around midnight.
Elizabeth’s fingers clicked away at the keyboard: We searched the restaurant. No luck. We wonder if the marbles are hidden at the Cadillac Ranch. Did anyone find information on Mark Jacobs?
Bailey: The only thing I found on your Roy Rogers is that he’s an award-winning rodeo rider. I found his picture too. You’re right! He is handsome.
Elizabeth: We can’t figure the guy out. One minute he’s following us and asking questions. Then he quotes scripture. Either he’s a really nice guy, or he’s a great crook. I guess we’ll see what happens at the Cadillac Ranch tomorrow.
Kate: Too bad u can’t attach a secret spy camera or recorder to him to see what he’s doing and saying when you aren’t around. That mig
ht help.
Sydney: What are you going to do? Just go there and start digging? You might get arrested.
McKenzie took over the keyboard: Well what else can we do? Any suggestions?
Alexis: What led you to the Cadillac Ranch? I thought we were looking for fins or something. I’m confused.
Mac typed out the events of the evening, including James’s exclamation over his car’s fins.
McKenzie: We plan to visit there tomorrow. I guess we’ll look around and see what we can find. Maybe we’ll have to go back after dark.
The girls all signed off, promising to do further research and stay in close contact.
During this time, Megan sat quietly at the kitchen table, observing the exchange. “You need to take a shovel with you tomorrow. I’ll be working—as usual.”
“How can we take a shovel without everyone seeing it?” asked McKenzie.
Elizabeth eyed the pot of geraniums on the kitchen windowsill. “We can’t take a full-sized shovel. But I know what we can take.” She stood up and walked to the back door. Flipping on the porch light, she stepped outside.
McKenzie and Megan looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. They could hear Elizabeth rummaging around on the porch. Finally, they heard their friend call out, “Got it!”
Elizabeth walked back into the kitchen holding a garden spade. “It may take us awhile, but this will definitely dig a hole. Trust me. I’ve dug plenty of holes with this for my mom’s garden.”
“That’s a great idea, Beth, but Sydney is right. We can’t just go out there in broad daylight and dig.”
The three girls sat drumming their fingers on the table, trying to think of a solution. “We’ve got to get out there in the evening when there aren’t so many tourists. But how?”
Megan sat up straight. “We could ride our bikes. It’s only a couple of miles outside of town.”
“Do you know how to get there?” Elizabeth asked her.
“Yeah,” the older girl answered. “I even know a shortcut from the church.”
“Mac can ride my bike, and I’ll ride my mom’s,” said Elizabeth.
“We’ve just got to figure out a reason to go to the church tomorrow evening, since it’s not a church night,” said McKenzie.
“That’ll be easy,” Megan told her. “Elizabeth’s family practically lives at the church anyway.”
The girls talked a little longer, but their conversation was interrupted by yawns. Before long, the three young detectives scooted to bed.
The next morning, the girls slept in. The sun was high in the sky by the time Elizabeth woke to a paper airplane landing on her face. She fluttered her eyes and found James staring at her.
“Mama said to get up if you want to go to the Cadillac Ranch. McKenzie’s parents will be here in a little while to pick us up.”
Elizabeth rolled over and pulled the covers over her head, but James was persistent.
“Mama said if you get up now, she’ll make homemade doughnuts. But if you wait too long, you’ll only get cereal.”
McKenzie popped up from her pallet on the floor.
“Homemade doughnuts? I love doughnuts,” she said sleepily.
Megan stirred from her sleeping bag, and said, “Tell your mom we’ll be there in a minute, James.”
James jumped from his spot on Elizabeth’s bed, and she heard him padding down the hallway. Groaning, she forced herself to sit up.
The girls looked at each other, each one wanting a hot doughnut, but none wanting to actually leave bed.
McKenzie finally spoke. “Tomorrow is our last full day here. We go home the next day.”
Elizabeth groaned and flopped back down in her bed. “I don’t want to think about it. I’ve gotten used to having you around twenty-four hours a day.”
“Y’all, we’ve got to find those marbles,” Megan said, rummaging around in her bag and pulling out her toothbrush.
“Let’s review the plan. We’ll ride our bikes to the church this evening. And you know a shortcut from there to the Cadillac Ranch?” Elizabeth asked.
Megan nodded.
“It sounds like the perfect plan,” said McKenzie. “So why do I have a bad feeling about the whole thing?”
“Riding our bikes two miles out of town doesn’t sound great to me either,” said Elizabeth. “But sometimes you’ve just got to do what you’ve got to do. And we’ve got to find those marbles before Mr. Jacobs does.” James banged on the door, hollering, “Mama says come now while the doughnuts are hot!”
“We’re coming!” Elizabeth called back. Then she said, “Let’s just take this one step at a time. We’re going out there today. Maybe we’ll be able to dig some. Let’s see what happens.”
Nodding, the girls stood up and followed the smell of fresh, hot doughnuts.
Elizabeth and McKenzie stared at the row of Cadillacs, noses buried in the ground, tails sticking high in the air. “Cadillac Ranch my foot. This is a Cadillac graveyard!” McKenzie said.
Elizabeth giggled. “Who would think of doing such a thing?”
“Apparently, Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez, and Doug Michaels,” Mac replied, referring to the brochure she held. “They are supposed to represent the birth and death of the early model Cadillacs, and an era in American culture. They are buried at the same angle as the Great Pyramid of Giza, in Egypt.”
“Groovy,” responded Elizabeth, and Mac giggled at the old-fashioned word.
The sun glistened off the shiny metal, and the girls shielded their eyes from the glare. Evan and James were already running in and out of the cars, exclaiming over the bright colors and shapes.
“Well, there’s the blue one, third from the end,” said Elizabeth. “We might as well take a look.”
The girls smiled as they passed another group of tourists. “We’ll never get to explore with all these people around taking pictures at every turn,” whispered McKenzie.
Elizabeth fingered the garden spade in her purse as they approached the blue Cadillac. “I have an idea. Stand in front of me, and I’ll kneel down like I’m inspecting the motor. Watch for people, and tell me when anyone is coming.”
McKenzie did as she was told, exclaiming loudly over different features of the car every time a tourist walked by. At one point, she even posed for a picture one of them was snapping.
“What are you doing?” Elizabeth asked her.
“Hiding in plain sight,” Mac answered.
“Huh?” Elizabeth grunted, confused.
“If it looks like we’re trying to hide what we’re doing, people will be suspicious. But if we just act like goofy tourists, no one will suspect a thing!” Mac explained.
“Mac, you don’t have to act like a goofy tourist. You are one,” Elizabeth said with a laugh.
“Just keep digging,” ordered Mac, and Elizabeth obeyed.
All of a sudden, she hit something in the dirt. Something hard. “Mac! I think I’ve found it!” she whispered.
Mrs. Phillips chose that moment to call, “Girls! Come on. We have several more stops to make today.”
Mac stiffened and told Elizabeth, “Quick! Cover it up! My mom’s coming over here. We’ll have to come back tonight.”
Elizabeth frantically replaced the dirt in the hole she’d dug, and slipped the spade back into her purse as Mrs. Phillips approached. “You two sure are fascinated with this blue one. Hey look, Elizabeth, it matches your eyes. I’ll tell your dad he needs to buy you a blue car one day.”
Elizabeth laughed and replied, “A blue Cadillac.”
Mrs. Phillips chuckled and began moving toward the car. The two secret sleuths took deep breaths, gave one last look over their shoulders at the loose dirt beneath the motor of the car, and followed her.
Danger in the Dark!
That evening, the girls sat in the Andersons’ kitchen acting bored. Mrs. Anderson was putting the last dish in the dishwasher.
“I need to get some exercise,” said McKenzie. “All this vacationing and lounging around th
e pool is making me tired.”
“Why don’t we ride bikes?” Elizabeth asked.
“That sounds great. But I don’t have my bicycle here.”
“Why don’t you ride mine? That is, if my dear mother will let me ride hers,” Elizabeth said, smiling at her mom.
Mrs. Anderson smiled. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. It’s a beautiful evening for a bike ride.”
“I have an idea. Mom, I left my library book at church last Sunday. Can we ride up there to get it?”
“I suppose. Just stay on the back roads. Don’t go in the busy streets,” she said. “And why don’t you ask Megan to go too. She needs to get out more.”
Within minutes, the plan was underway. The three girls rode their bikes the short distance to the church. When Megan led them on a narrow trail behind the church, Elizabeth said, “What about my library book? We need to stop and get it.”
“We’ll stop on the way back,” Megan called over her shoulder. “Let’s get out there while we still have some light. The church doors will still be open till at least ten. I think the senior high teens are having a volleyball tournament or something there tonight.”
“This is so exciting,” said Mac. “I can’t believe we’re actually going to find the marbles.”
“We hope we’re going to find the marbles,” Elizabeth corrected. “But I do have a good feeling about this. Something was down there this afternoon when I was digging. And that’s the last place your grandmother was, Megan, before she got in the car wreck. Remember, she was serving at a party there so it would have been easy for her to step outside and hide them there.”
The bike trail grew bumpy, and tall ears of corn formed a wall on either side of them.
“Uh, Megs, are you sure you know where you’re going?” asked Elizabeth.
“Trust me. It’s just a little further,” she called over her shoulder.
Sure enough, a few minutes later they pulled into a clearing. Ahead of them was the row of cars, half buried in the ground.
“I had no idea this was so close,” said Elizabeth.
“Yeah,” agreed McKenzie. “It seemed a lot farther in the car today.”
Camp Club Girls: Elizabeth Page 19
