The Mystery at the Calgary Stampede (3 page)

“Oh no,” whispered Daisy. “How can I go
onstage without my pin?”

Violet grabbed her hand and held it tight.
“You can do it,” she said. “Your aunt said you
have a whole chuckwagon full of talent. And
I believe her. Don’t you believe your aunt?”

Aunt Judy spoke up. “You have the talent,
Daisy! You know it!”

Daisy looked at Aunt Judy and then at
Violet, and after a moment she nodded. She
sniffed and shook her head. “I need to get
ready to go on,” she said. “I’ll look later, when
the show is over.”

“We’ll find your pin for you,” said Jessie.

“We’re good at finding things,” added Benny.

Daisy dried her eyes and put on the last
touches to her makeup. Aunt Judy looked
on sadly. Jessie wondered if losing the pin
bothered her. Was she worried for Daisy?

The Aldens and Aunt Judy watched the show
from the wings of the stage. It began with
a burst of music as performers in country
costumes, glittering with sequins and stars
and bright fringe, filled the stage.

“How many Young Canadians
are
there?”
Jessie whispered. Onstage, rows of teenagers
were performing a musical routine with sticks
and wagon wheels. They circled the wheels in
the air over their heads as though they were
feather light. It seemed magical. Benny’s
eyes were huge, and Jessie had a feeling he
was going to try something with their old
hula-hoop when they got back home.

The next act was a dance number, with
the Young Canadians tap-dancing in a circle
formation. Daisy danced in the middle by
herself as other dancers stepped back. Violet
remembered how anxious Daisy had been
about the pin and wondered if she would be
all right.

Daisy held up her microphone, and Jessie
could see that her face had gone pale. She
touched the collar of her shirt—the place
where the pin should be—and looked over at
Aunt Judy. Then she began to sing.

Her first note was too soft as if she was
scared. Henry could see Aunt Judy bite
her lip and whisper something under her
breath. But the audience burst into excited
applause. Daisy became even paler. She sang
a song about wagon wheels moving through
long prairie grass.
“We keep rolling, looking
for home…”
But after a moment, her voice
faltered again.

“Oh no,” said Aunt Judy, and she reached
for Violet’s and Benny’s hands.

From where they were standing, the Aldens
could see Daisy trembling. But just then
Clay and another girl in the troupe stepped
forward and stood beside Daisy. Clay sang
the melody with Daisy and the other girl
sang harmony, and together they sounded
good. Daisy smiled at Clay and then at the
girl, and she looked so relieved.

“They saved the day,” Aunt Judy whispered.
“The show must always go on!”

The show did go on. Even after Daisy’s
stumble, the show was amazing. Jessie shook
off her worries and enjoyed every minute.
She hoped Daisy could do the same.

When the Young Canadians finished their
performance, a fireworks show began in the
night sky over the grandstand.

Suddenly Henry had an idea. The Young
Canadians were still onstage throughout
the fireworks show. That meant the dressing
room was still empty! He realized it would
be a good time to search for Daisy’s pin.
He tugged on Jessie’s sleeve and told her
his plan.

A few minutes later, the two of them were
pulling open drawers and looking under
chairs in the empty dressing room.

Henry was peering into cabinet when he
heard a squeak from behind a closet door
nearby. He pulled it open, and out popped one
of the teens he had seen in the dressing room
before the show—the girl in the bright blue
sundress. She had a flashlight in her hand.

“What are you doing here?” asked Henry.
“I remember you. You were here before.”

“I work here,” she said, turning a deep
shade of red. “I’m Marian.”

Jessie abandoned her side of the room
and joined them. “I’m Jessie and this is my
brother, Henry. We’re looking for the pin
that went missing. Maybe you’ve seen it.”
“No, I don’t think so,” said Marian quickly,
looking flustered. Then she pulled herself
together. “I
was
here earlier.” She stood
straighter. “I hope you don’t think that means
I
took it!” She waved the flashlight under
Henry’s nose. “I’ve been looking for it myself.”

Jessie remembered seeing Marian close
to tears before the show. But she waited for
Marian to explain herself further.

“Look, I work with the Young Canadians,”
Marian said. “I help with wardrobe and props.
You don’t really think I took it, do you?”

“Nobody seems to know what happened to
it,” Henry said.

“Well,
I
didn’t take it.” Marian’s voice grew
firmer as she spoke.

A shadow moved across the doorway just
then. A man walked in—the man with the
beard and the huge cowboy hat.

“Poppa!” said Marian, and she ran across
the room to hug him.

Jessie and Henry looked at each other.
Poppa?
They’d seen this man at the museum
and on the parade float—and now he was
related to Marian?

Marian turned to the Aldens. “This is my
grandfather,” she said.

“We’ve met,” Henry said to the man, “at
the Glenbow Museum. Though you didn’t
tell us your name.”

Marian’s grandfather peered at them
from under the hat. “I’m Darryl Sutton. I
remember seeing you. You’re friends of
Judy Simon.”

“Yes, we are,” Jessie spoke up. “We’re
looking for…”

Marian interrupted. “Poppa, Daisy Simon’s
pin has gone missing!”

“Really.” Mr. Sutton frowned slightly.
“What could possibly have happened to
it?” He pushed his hat back on his head and
peered around the room. “That pin would
be so valuable in the museum collection,” he
said. “I was hoping that young Daisy would
give some thought to donating it. Maybe
she’ll do that when it turns up.” He fiddled
with a buckle on the big leather bag over his
shoulder, undoing it and doing it up again.

Henry and Jessie could hear voices from
outside and the bustling noise of people coming
down the hallway. They knew the show must
have ended, which meant the opportunity to
look around the empty dressing room was
gone. The Young Canadians streamed in
and filled every corner of the dressing room.
Violet and Benny arrived with Aunt Judy.

Daisy was one of the last performers to
come in. “Oh,” she said when she saw the
Aldens. “Have you been looking for my pin?
Have you found it? I really do need that pin
for luck!”

She looked close to tears again, and Jessie
hated to tell her that they hadn’t found the
pin yet.

“Where could it have gone? It was right
here in my locker.” Daisy pulled open the
door to her locker to show them. “What am
I going to do without it? How am I going to
perform tomorrow night? Did you see what
happened onstage tonight?”

Aunt Judy spoke up. “Yes, I heard a lovely
trio! And that was just tonight. Tomorrow
night you’ll be fine.”

“You sound so sure of that,” said Daisy.

Violet was looking around the lockers
carefully. Then she surveyed the whole
dressing room too. “Who can come in to this
room?” she asked. “All the Young Canadians,
and who else?”

“Some of us have visitors—family
members, mostly.” Daisy said. “Really, a
lot of people have been through here. Crew
people, electricians, newspaper and TV
reporters.” Her voice grew discouraged.
“Maybe it’s just…lost. I hate to think that
someone took it!”

“Should we call the police?” asked Henry.

“I don’t think we need to do that yet,” said
Aunt Judy briskly. “I think it will turn up. I
have a better idea! Let’s go home and have
some cheesecake to celebrate a wonderful
performance tonight!”

“How can you think of
cheesecake
now?”
Daisy asked.

“I can always think of cheesecake,” said
Aunt Judy.

“Me too,” chimed in Benny.

Aunt Judy laughed and reached for his
hand, and they headed out the door. Daisy
followed behind them, her head down.
Violet hurried after her, and reached for her
hand too.

“Maybe cheesecake will help give us some
ideas for solving this mystery,” Jessie said to
her brother as they followed the others.

“I hope so,” said Henry.

G
Grandfather was waiting for the children
when they returned to Aunt Judy’s. They
all sat around the large dining table while
Grandfather cut slices of cheesecake.

As Henry served the slices, Jessie looked
around Aunt Judy’s house. There was a vase
of bright summer flowers in the middle of the
table that made Jessie think about how Aunt
Judy made everything a celebration, whether
it was her niece’s accomplishment, the Aldens
coming to town, or even horse-poop bingo.
Everything felt like an adventure. Jessie
wished the Young Canadians show could feel
like that for Daisy too.

Then Jessie noticed a large framed
photograph on the dining room wall. It
seemed to be of a lake—but a familiar-looking
building was right in the middle of the
water. Jessie realized it was the grandstand at
Stampede Park, and the photo must have been
taken during the Calgary Flood. A second
photo hung on the wall nearby, showing the
entrance gate to Stampede Park with trees
and people and sunshine all around—just as
the Aldens had seen it.

Aunt Judy noticed Jessie looking at the
photos. “I put those pictures there to remind
me of what people can do when they have
to,” she said. She pointed to the photograph
of the flood. “Rain means so many different
things here in the prairies. Sometimes it
means we have enough moisture for crops,
and rain is a good thing. But sometimes, we
get too much and too quickly. That’s what
happened a few years ago. It rained and
then it rained some more, a record-breaking
amount. The Bow River and the Elbow
River ran high and washed out the bridges
and walks along the riverbanks. Stampede
Park was filled with water just two weeks
before the Stampede began.”

“It looks like a lake in the photo,” said
Jessie.

“What did everyone do?” Benny asked.

“People here in Calgary did what they had
to do to keep the Stampede going. We all
rallied together and helped clean up just in
time. That meant mopping up a lot of mud!”

“Look,” said Daisy, and she pulled out a
dog-eared magazine from under the vase of
bright flowers to show the Aldens. “Here
are more pictures. There’s even one of Aunt
Judy helping, covered in mud and cleaning
somebody’s flooded house.”

“Wow,” Violet murmured as she and
her siblings looked through the magazine
photographs showing flooded houses and
roadways and Stampede Park. It was amazing
to think the place they had visited today had
been covered in deep water.

“Here’s a picture of some old musical
instruments that were rescued.” Henry pointed
to one of the pages. “And some old books and
photos too. It’s good that people save these
things from being destroyed. That’s what
Marian’s grandfather, Mr. Sutton, does, right?”

“We should ask him about that,” said Daisy.
“I thought he was just a strange old man at
the museum.”

“Speaking of the museum,” Violet said,
“there’s a lot of old stuff about the Stampede
there. All those posters and souvenirs. Where
did they all come from?”

“Many people donate their old historical
things to the museum. They want to share
them with the world and make sure they’re
taken care of. Museums know how to preserve
special items.”

At those words, an unhappy look passed
over Daisy’s face.

“What’s wrong?” asked Benny, peering at her.

Daisy gave a rueful smile. “Well, when
Aunt Judy gave me the pin, I thought about
donating it to the museum one day. If only
I’d done it right away, the pin wouldn’t be
missing. The museum would have kept it
safe for other people to enjoy.” She looked
miserable. “But I also wanted to wear the
pin myself. I needed it.” She shook her head.
“What am I going to do tomorrow?”