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  Who’ll Pick Me?

  Adventures at Bell Buckle Inn

  Janice Alonso

  -

  Copyright Janice Alonso 2012

  Table of Contents

  Good-bye

  One Prayer Answered

  A New Day

  Who’ll Pick Me?

  Mrs. Lamb’s Babies

  Wiggle, Wiggle, Nip, Nip

  What’s in a Name?

  The Missing Handkerchief

  A Walk to Town

  A Second Impression

  Oh, No! Not Again!

  A Burglar in Our Midst

  Let’s Investigate

  Lost and Found

  Retracing Steps

  An Unexpected Visitor

  Looking at an Old Problem in a New Way

  Another Prayer Answered

  Hello

  Good-bye

  Peri Hardy wandered through her bedroom. The soles of her pink flip-flops slapped softly against her heels, the sound bouncing through the emptiness. Today was moving day. Peri’s eyes moved from corner to corner. The scene seemed to play out in slow motion, like the pan of a movie camera at the climax of a story. Her mama had painted the walls a soft blue and sewn the white, fluffy curtains. Each tiny thread had been stitched with care and love for the arrival of their baby girl. She’d heard the story a hundred times, no a thousand times. Her eyes brimmed. She would never hear her mama tell the story again. Her mama was gone. Peri’s vision blurred. If God could answer one prayer, it would be to have her mama with her everyday just like before. She wrapped her arms around her chest, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply. If she tried really hard she could still smell her mama’s scent that seemed to reach out and embrace her from all sides.

  Peri entered the bathroom, the one next to her bedroom. Her mama had decorated it with periwinkle-patterned wallpaper. She ran her hand along a seam that was pulling apart, her finger coming to rest on a torn piece that she’d loosened when she was a toddler. Peri wiped away a tear with the back of her other hand. She hooked a long strand of blonde hair behind her ear and gazed at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. The white areas around her dark brown eyes were red, red from crying herself to sleep knowing this was to be her last time in this room. When she joined her daddy downstairs, she didn’t want him to know how hard she’d been crying. He was sad too, after all, that they had to leave their home, the only house Peri had known in her nine years.

  “You ready, Peri?” Joseph Hardy called from the bottom of the stairs.

  Everyone called her Peri, but her real name was Periwinkle: Periwinkle Claire Hardy. Periwinkles had been her mama’s favorite flower and that’s how she’d gotten her name. Only her mama had called her “Winkie.” That had been her special name for their only child.

  Peri cleared her throat, walked out to the banister on the landing, and leaned over. She forced a smile and said, “Just a minute, Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom.”

  “We need to get a move on,” urged Mr. Hardy. He tapped the face of his watch with his finger and then adjusted his glasses where they had slid to the tip of his nose. A thin smiled tugged downward on his trembling lips. “It’s getting late.” He turned to leave but then stopped mid-step. He looked back over his shoulder and upward to Peri. “Don’t forget to turn off all the lights in your bedroom.”

  She nodded and then returned to the bathroom, turning the handle of the faucet to “on.” A spindly stream flowed into the basin, little droplets splattering onto her T-shirt as she leaned over the sink. Cupping her hands, she scooped up some water and splashed her face. Then she looked in the mirror again. If her daddy questioned the red in her eyes, she’d just tell him it was the cold water. It would only be a part-lie, and she felt God would forgive her for not telling the whole truth. She didn’t want to make her daddy sadder than he already was by knowing how unhappy she was about the move.

  Ever since they’d gotten the contract on their house, Peri’s heart hung heavy in her chest. Leaving her familiar room was one reason, and leaving her friends was another. But the worst reason would be leaving a house filled with the memories of her mama. What if she forgot? What if her mind couldn’t recall their special garden, their special cup of cocoa by the fireplace, their special . . . God, please don’t let me forget, ever, she prayed.

  Peri braced herself in the doorway that led to the hall. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the wood casing. Twisting her body around, she looked one last time. She shut her eyes, squeezing them tightly and praying that God would etch this picture of her bedroom, like a photograph, in her mind forever.

  As she trudged down the stairs, Peri could hear the rumble of the car engine. She eased the front door closed behind her, the familiar squeaking of the hinge calling to her one last time. As she slid into the car, her daddy looked at her.

  “All set?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “Did you remember to turn off the lights?”

  Peri thunked her forehead with the heel of her hand. “I forgot!”

  Mr. Hardy sighed. “Peri, you’ve got to keep your mind on what you’ve been told.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I know you are, but this has gone on too long.” Her daddy placed a hand on her knee. “And I know you’re not forgetting things on purpose. Still,” he paused as a weak smile formed. “You simply have to get your mind back on track.”

  “I will,” promised Peri.

  * * * * *

  “Want to pull over at the next exit and grab a bite to eat before we get to Aunt Susan’s?” asked Mr. Hardy.

  “Sure,” said Peri.

  Because they’d left Knoxville late, they had a ways to travel before they reached Bell Buckle, a town at the foot of the Smoky Mountains in northeast Georgia. That’s where her Aunt Susan lived. Susan Hardy was her daddy’s only living relative and she’d never married. She had worked for a large corporation, but last year it went out of business, leaving her aunt without a job. Peri wasn’t sure what her Aunt Susan did at the company, but she thought it had something to do with computers. When she lost the job, her aunt had sold everything she owned in Atlanta and bought an old Victorian house in desperate need of repair two blocks off the town square in the heart of the small town.

  “Time for a change,” she’d told her brother Joseph the night she bought the ramshackle place. “I’ve always had a dream of owning a bed and breakfast when I retired. Guess I just get to start my dream early!”

  One thing about Aunt Susan, she always looked on the bright side.

  Aunt Susan wasn’t like Peri’s mama, Anne. Not that her Aunt Susan wasn’t nice, she was just more of a business woman, more practical. She’d owned a condo in Atlanta and traveled most of the time. She’d been all around the world. Anne had been a stay-at-home mom, taking care of Peri and her daddy, who was a handyman in Knoxville. Her mom had thought nothing of going on a picnic on a rainy afternoon or forgetting the housework to spend a day working in her flower garden.

  Anne had also been an artist. She sold most of her paintings to make extra money for the family, but she said she’d never sell the one of the field of periwinkles that hung over the fireplace in their house, their old house. That one was Peri’s picture. The thought of the painting made Peri want to cry all over again.

  The painting had been the first thing to go when they’d had their garage sale. When they moved in with Aunt Susan, there wouldn’t be enough room for all their things. The old Victorian house she bought to start a bed and breakfast had been filled with furniture. Peri and her daddy didn’t even know who’d bought the painting. That morning a man had showed up about thirty minutes before the sale was to start. When he asked Mr. Hardy how much he wanted for the picture
, her daddy had said it wasn’t for sale.

  The man kept raising his offer until it was so high her daddy couldn’t possibly say no. After all, they needed all the money they could get. While her daddy was helping Aunt Susan fix up the bed and breakfast so people would want to stay there, they would have to make do with the money they made from the garage sale and the sale of their house.

  The man had given them cash, took the painting off the wall, and then left. As she watched him load the painting into the trunk of his car, Peri knew she’d never see the periwinkle picture again.

  “How about Taco Bell?” Mr. Hardy asked, interrupting Peri’s musings. The corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled at his daughter.

  Peri nodded. “How much longer before we get to Aunt Susan’s?”

  Mr. Hardy looked at the clock on the dash of their SUV. “About three hours.”

  Her daddy turned on the blinker, the click-click-clicking filling the lull in their conversation, and drove the car to a busy street that looked like it had every fast-food chain in the world on it. Sure enough, they saw a sign for Taco Bell.

  Peri liked fast-food because she didn’t get to eat it often. Her mama had cooked most of their meals. She said eating out was expensive, and besides, the food she made at home was healthier for them. While Peri liked her mama’s cooking, she loved French fries smothered in catsup, greasy hamburgers oozing with cheese, and cokes from the soda fountains. Her favorite place to eat was Taco Bell. She always ordered the Mexican Pizza and the largest cola she was allowed to have. If she were lucky, she’d get a bag of Cinnamon Twists for dessert. Peri’s stomach growled just thinking about the double layer of cheese on the pizza.

  * * * * *

  Once they were back on the interstate, Mr. Hardy rolled down his window because he liked the fresh air. He said it would also help to keep him alert in the late-hour stillness. Peri tugged the afghan she’d brought for the ride up to her chin, the soft fringe tickling her skin. Even though it was the middle of June, the night temperatures could still be cool. She rested her head against the back of the seat. The breeze brushed across her face as she listened to the droning of a talk show from the radio and the occasional whoosh of a passing big-rig truck. Her mind played around with an image of what it would be like to live in another town, in another house, in another room.

  She’d have to make all new friends. That would be the most difficult part of the move. Just that morning she’d told Abby good-bye. Peri had many friends from school and church, but Abby was her second-best friend of all time. They knew they could email and Skype all they wanted, but in their hearts they knew it wouldn’t be the same as living next door to each other and spending time after school together. Peri knew she’d eventually make new friends, but in the meantime she was afraid of being all alone. She’d be all alone because she wouldn’t have her best friend with her: Gigi.

  Gigi had been her cocker spaniel. Gigi had been with her since she was four years old, and since Peri didn’t have any brothers or sisters, Gigi was her constant companion. She slept with Gigi, watched television with Gigi, and told her deepest secrets to Gigi. Gigi understood everything. The night that Anne Hardy had died in the car wreck, she’d just picked up Gigi from the veterinarian. So Peri not only lost her mama in the accident, she lost her best friend as well. There wasn’t a dog alive who could take the place of Gigi.

  Through a blur of tears, Peri read the sign that said, “Now Leaving Tennessee.”

  “Good-bye,” whispered Peri and then she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep to the rhythmic rocking of the road.

  One Prayer Answered

  “Peri,” said Mr. Hardy, shaking his daughter’s shoulder lightly. “It’s time to wake up.”

  Peri blinked away the grogginess and rubbed her eyes. “Are we there?”

  “Finally,” her daddy said. “It’s after midnight.”

  Peri peeled away the afghan, opened the car door, and stepped outside into the inky blackness. A dim light came from the glow of two small lanterns on either side of the front door. Stretching her arms over her head, she turned to face the house across the street. Peri’s eyes traveled upward, above the silhouette formed by a row of trees, and stared at the crescent moon arcing just over the ragged outline. A peppering of stars dotted the sky while a chorus of chirruping crickets and croaking frogs provided the only sounds of the night. Peri’s attention was jarred back to where she stood when a couple of gnats buzzed and nipped at her ear. She swatted at them with one hand while slapping a mosquito that landed on her cheek with the other.

  “Peri!” exclaimed Aunt Susan as she came running from the house, the screen door banging behind her.

  Peri turned to the direction of her aunt’s voice. Aunt Susan’s mop of thick gray hair bounced as she raced toward her brother and niece, her sneakers crunching and grinding through the gravel driveway. She threw a hand over her chest.

  “I’d just about given up on the two of you!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been so worried.”

  “Took the wrong exit about forty miles north of here and lost a lot of time trying to find my way back to the right road,” explained Mr. Hardy. “But we’re finally here.” He sighed and bent over to kiss his sister.

  “Why didn’t you call?” she asked. “I left several messages on your cell phone.”

  “The battery’s dead,” Peri said softly and lowered her head. “I forgot to charge the phone today like Daddy asked me to.”

  Aunt Susan smiled. “Oh, no harm done. You’re safely here now.” She grabbed her brother with both hands and hugged him fiercely, and then she held him out at arm’s length. “Looks like you’ve lost some weight.”

  “Guess I don’t care too much for my own cooking.” He chuckled and pulled up his belt to show how loose his pants had become.

  “Well, I’ll get you fattened up in no time.” Then Aunt Susan focused her attention on Peri. “I’ve been taking cooking lessons.” A broad smile crossed her face. “I’m also trying to create some breakfast recipes of my own. Now that the two of you are here, I’ll have my own personal panel of tasters.” She held her arms open wide.

  Peri crumpled into her Aunt Susan’s outstretched hold. It felt good to be folded into her bosom and feel her soft plumpness and comforting hug. Then Peri lifted her nose and sniffed.

  “It smells like you’ve been making something with peanut butter,” said Peri.

  Her aunt nodded. “I just finished with some cookies. The dough has to sit overnight in the refrigerator.” She winked. “So, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow before you try them.”

  Peri hadn’t seen Aunt Susan since her mama’s funeral and neither had smiled much then. Nobody had felt like smiling for that matter. Her aunt had been all business, begging her brother to please move them to Bell Buckle and live with her. She felt that with his skills as a handyman and her knowledge of business, they could have a secure future. The change would do them good. They could make new memories. And more important, she was the only family they had.

  Aunt Susan placed a hand under Peri chin, tilting it upward. “Welcome to your new home, sweetheart.” She whirled Peri around, facing her toward the house. Placing her hands on Peri’s shoulders, she leaned over and whispered into her niece’s ear, “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but I think it’s going to be magnificent when we finish.”

  Peri gazed at the biggest house she’d ever seen in her entire life. The darkness made it difficult to make out very much, but what she could see was nothing short of a disaster. The house could have been used as the model for a haunted mansion in a horror movie. Rattling chains were all that was needed to complete the picture.

  A wide porch spanned the front of the house. At one end was a swing attached by rusty chains to the porch’s ceiling. One set of the chains was lying in a heap on the floor, causing the swing to teeter at an angle. Even the blackness of the night couldn’t hide the peeling paint and the boards jutting out at odd angles around the windows. Someone ha
d taken large pieces of cardboard to cover the broken panes, but shards of glass lay scattered across the roof.

  Peri looked at the picket fence running around the perimeter of the yard. Several large sections had fallen down; some were missing altogether. The gate had been torn off its hinges and was now propped against a nearby tree trunk. The shrubbery had grown into thick hedges that stood taller than Peri, and wide, ropy roots lay bare atop the red clay. Bunches of weeds crowded in areas that looked like they might have once been flower beds.

  “I’ve got your room ready for you.” Aunt Susan smiled down. “It’s late. You can explore tomorrow.”

  Peri managed a small smile. This was much worse than she could have ever imagined. The family who bought their old house was getting a house that had been kept like new by her daddy, and her mother had designed a yard with colorful beds of flowers, bird baths, and bird feeders. Peri cringed. If this was what had happened to the outside of the house over the years, she couldn’t bare to think about what her bedroom would look like. She forced a bigger smile. She knew Aunt Susan would have gone to a lot of trouble to make her like her new room, but it would never be the same, never.

  Putting her hand into her Aunt Susan’s, she forced a wider smile and said, “I can’t wait!”

  Peri walked beside her aunt. They entered a large foyer. Ugly faded, floral wallpaper hung in tumbling sheets revealing an even uglier, more faded wallpaper. A stairway soared up three flights.

  “Your room is on the top floor,” said Aunt Susan. “From up there you can see out over the whole neighborhood.”

  Peri trailed behind her aunt as they climbed the stairs; boards squeaked and the handrail wobbled. When they arrived at the last floor, Aunt Susan stopped beside an opened door. She motioned for Peri to enter.

  Peri stepped slowly into the room. The lights were off. Peri could feel her aunt’s hand in the small of her back nudging her forward. When they were inside, Aunt Susan turned on the switch.

  Peri couldn’t believe her eyes. All her bedroom furniture had been set up just like it was in her old house. Aunt Susan had painted the walls a soft blue and put up white, fluffy curtains. In the bathroom, she’d put up the exact same wallpaper. But the biggest surprise was across from her bed. The painting of the field of periwinkles hung where it would be the last thing she saw each night before she went to sleep and the first thing she saw each morning when she opened her eyes.