Freestyle with Avery Page 12

  I ran the rest of the way to the museum and pulled open the heavy green door. A blast of warm air surrounded me as I stepped inside. There were people everywhere—kids, parents, babies—all headed in different directions. Some were trying to snag a cookie and hot chocolate and others were in a line for the bathroom that wrapped around the whole wall. I craned my neck to see where Jason was but I couldn’t find him. That was the thing about being short—not so handy in crowds. I reached into my pocket and gave the BSG pen key ring a squeeze. It made me feel a little better, a little braver, and seemed to always give me good luck.

  Then I noticed a small girl standing near the staircase. It was dark in her corner, sort of underneath the stairwell. She was dressed up like she could’ve been plucked right out of an old western movie. Her dress was pink with puffy sleeves and an apron. She even wore a bonnet. She looked very pale. Since she was the only person not talking to anyone, I thought maybe she could give me directions to the storytelling.

  “Excuse me,” I said. She stared up at me with big, empty eyes. She wasn’t smiling. “Excuse me,” I repeated. “How do I get to Legends and Lore?”

  She lifted a finger—almost in slow motion—and pointed up the stairs.

  “Cool!” I said and bolted past her. I suddenly remembered my manners (which I tended to forget) and turned around to say thanks. But when I did, there was absolutely no sign of her. Weird, I wonder where she went. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up a little. I was definitely creeped out, and it reminded of the feeling I got from the spooky ghost town in Montana I’d visited with the BSG.

  At the top of the stairs, I wasn’t sure which way to go again. I must have looked pretty lost because a tall girl around my age with long, red hair and striking blue eyes walked over to me. (Maeve would have loved to meet this girl!) “You looking for Legends and Lore?” she asked with a friendly smile. I nodded, and she pointed toward a big door. “It’s in there. I come to Legends and Lore every time I visit Telluride. Is this your first time?”

  “Yep,” I told her. “Most of the year I live in Boston with my mom, but I’m visiting my dad right now.”

  “I’m from out of town too—Charlevoix, Michigan,” she told me. “And I’m Grace, by the way.”

  “Avery,” I informed her, introducing myself. “Gotta run—see you in there!”

  She seems really nice, I thought as I hurried into the auditorium, looking around for Jason. Hopefully he was here and didn’t forget about the whole thing. I mean, I hadn’t talked to him since we dropped him off earlier. Suddenly, I spotted him up near the front row. Frankie was there too, standing on a chair right beside him. His crazy brown hair was sticking straight up.

  Jason waved until I waved back and hurried over. “I’m glad you found me!” Jason said. “I was going to meet you downstairs, but it started filling up fast! I didn’t want to risk not getting a good seat.”

  “Good call!” I agreed. “Hey, did you notice that girl by the stairs?”

  “Jason! Jason!” Frankie bonked Jason on the head.

  “Hold on a sec, Frankie. Wait, notice what girl, Avery? I didn’t see any girl …”

  Ick. Now I was really getting the heebie-jeebies. “Okay, well, downstairs there was this … this … girl who seemed like she was old-fashioned, and she was in this dress, right, but she was afraid to talk to me, I think, and well, she disappeared just after, and maybe she was a … a …”

  Jason nodded at me to continue. I gulped. “A ghost?” Jason just started to chuckle. “Come on. What?” I asked.

  “That’s an actress, Avery. They have a couple of kids dress up just to get everyone in the moooooood.” He intoned “mood” in a low, trembling voice and wiggled his fingers in the air. “And I did see her.”

  I jokingly pattered my fists against his arm.

  “Ha, ha! Got you!” He started laughing. Frankie did too, even though I seriously doubt Frankie knew what he was laughing at, besides me. He hammered Jason’s head again. “Jason, Jason,” he yammered. “Is Avery a baby? Is she ‘fraid?”

  “Yup,” Jason said. “Avery’s afraid of the scaaaary museum ghosts!”

  “Oh, yeah?” I asked. I knew exactly how to give Jason a taste of his own medicine. I took the camera out of my pocket and said, “Say FLEAS!”

  Now Jason looked like he’d seen a ghost! But instead of smiling he lifted Frankie up, held the little kid in front of his head, and cried, “No! Don’t shoot!”

  But it was too late. I captured a very funny picture—of Frankie sitting on Jason’s shoulder laughing hysterically.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll get my revenge,” I promised slyly. But it would have to wait until later, because right at that moment a man walked onto the small stage at the front of the room.

  He looked a little older than Dad. Underneath his cowboy hat I could see gray hairs peeking out. He wore jeans and a leather jacket with long fringe on the sleeves and bottom. On his feet were shiny cowboy boots.

  The room got quiet in a second … so quiet you could’ve heard a ghost whisper. Even Frankie stopped poking Jason and finally sat down without a word.

  “Howdy. Good evening, ladies and gents.” He tipped his hat and sat down in a wooden rocking chair in the middle of the stage. “My name is Cowboy Jack, and I’m mighty pleased that y’all took time out of yer night to come and hear one of my stories.”

  The room grew dark. The only trickle of light was on Cowboy Jack’s face.

  “Boo!” Jason whispered in my ear and I nearly jumped right out of my seat. “Remember … no such thing as ghosts.”

  I fake glared. “Hey, watch it with that ‘boo’ business!”

  Faint banjo music started playing from the speakers as Cowboy Jack began his story.

  “Tonight I’d like to tell y’all about an old friend of mine who was a legendary outlaw around these parts. Now, I know what yer probably thinking about my friend. Yer thinkin’ he was some crazy criminal or a hot-headed, son-of-a-gun who’d be yer best friend one second … and yer worst enemy the next. And guess what? You’d be right, except for one thing. This outlaw … was a she.

  “Candy McDougal was her name. She was the oldest of seven kids on a farm outside of Denver. Times were tough. You see, her daddy was a gambler and he got into some pretty bad scrapes when he’d go into the city. One night, he gambled away two of the family’s horses. The next time, it was the farm. Her momma was so fed up she up and left that man. She gathered up Candy and her brothers and sisters and they left in the middle of the night.

  “But there was a problem. Candy was sixteen and in love. She had pledged her undying devotion to a boy named Johnny who was a poor schoolteacher in Denver. Candy’s momma made it as far as Salt Lake City when Candy ran away, trying to run herself back east to Denver to the man she loved.

  “Now, the West was no place to be running around alone … especially if you was sixteen years old. Candy figured out soon that she needed money for food and a place to sleep. That’s when she met up with Kyle Larimer and the Red Mountain Gang. Larimer and his gang was bank robbers, trying to bust up every bank west of the Mississippi. People all over knew the Red Mountain Gang by the red feathers they wore in their cowboy hats. Larimer said Candy could hitch along with them, provided she did all the cooking and cleaning and mending of their clothes. Candy agreed and that was that. The thing was, Larimer, well, he wasn’t exactly the best shot. And he wasn’t exactly the bravest man, neither. Whenever something got fouled up in one of his robbing operations, him and the gang was always chased out of town and his men was always getting themselves shot or worse.

  “One day, Candy decided that she’d had enough of the cookin’ and washin’ and sewin’. She was anxious to build up her little nest egg and get back on the road to Denver. Seein’ where the real money was comin’ from in this operation, Candy took matters into her own hands. She’d become quite handy with a needle during her months with the Red Mountain Gang and she sewed herself a get-up that was identical to th
e one that Larimer wore … right down to the red feather in the hat. She took off early one morning and rode on into town. And I’ll tell you, Candy went and robbed a bank clean like she’d been doin’ it all her life! She rode back up to the Red Mountain Gang’s camp with a trunk full of gold. From that day on, she and Larimer were partners. All people were talking about was Kyle Larimer and his mysterious bank-robbing buddy. What nobody knew’d was that his partner was a girl! A sixteen-year-old girl at that.

  “Well, the gang eventually made it back to Denver, and Candy knew it was time to say her good-byes. But Larimer wouldn’t let her go. Some people thought he was in love with her. Some people just thought he needed her too much. Don’t matter none. He said if she ever left him, she’d be sorry. So like her momma, Candy made up her mind to run away in the middle of the night. She took her share of the gold and got on a horse and rode. But if there was one thing that ol’ Larimer was good at, it was ridin’. He was on her trail within the hour, and followed her all the way up the mountains to the pass right outside of Denver. Thing is, half the people in Denver heard Larimer whooping and hollering so loud, they was calling for the sheriff. Authorities was waiting for Larimer and his partner to ride on through.

  “Now, let me tell y’all—Candy wasn’t stupid. She knew’d what they was all expecting: some hardened criminal with a handlebar mustache. So right before she rode on through, she leaped off her horse and changed back into her dress, and rode sidesaddle into the city so everyone done know’d she was a lady. They caught Larimer all right. Caught him red-handed, waving his pistol in the air. But Candy, well, no one ever found her. Some say she changed her name and married that teacher. Some say ol’ Larimer caught up with her when he got out of jail and followed through on his word. But one thing’s for sure: the Legend of Candy McDougal is one of the greatest mysteries around. And she was one tough cookie.”

  I’d been so lost in the story, I forgot that Cowboy Jack was even talking until the audience started clapping. The lights turned on and Jack stood up to take a bow. Frankie got wiggly as soon as Jack stopped talking. “Jason, can we go now?” he whined.

  “Sure, buddy,” Jason said, then he turned to me. “You want to come home with us, Avery? It’s only eight thirty. I’m going to give Ollie a flying lesson tonight.”

  “Yeah! I’m in!” I answered quickly. I ignored Frankie’s whimpering noises. I was used to them by now. Then I remembered my big mistake last time I went to Jason’s house and added, “I just have to call my dad and make sure it’s okay.”

  I fished around in my pocket for some change and ran outside to use the pay phone in the lobby. “Watch my stuff,” I told Jason on the way.

  Getting permission from Dad was a cinch. He was really happy that I’d learned my lesson from the other night and called. “I’ll pick you up at ten,” he said. “And have fun.” Well that was a no-brainer. It seemed like Jason and I had fun no matter what—even snowboarding when he’d never ever done it before, and that said something!

  Cowboy Jack was leaving through the side door just as I was coming back in. “Hey, thanks for the awesome story!” I told him.

  He tipped his hat and looked at the floor. “Why, thank you, little lady.”

  Little lady! That cracked me up. “How did you learn the stories?” I asked.

  Jack shrugged. “Dunno. They’re legends. You hear them a couple of times and retell them and then the legend continues. But ‘The Legend of Candy McDougal’ has always been my favorite.”

  “Oh, yeah? Why?”

  Jack motioned me closer with his finger and said something in a voice that was so quiet I wasn’t even sure if I heard it right or if I was just imagining it. But I think he said: “I’m Johnny!” He put his finger over his lips and walked away without another word.

  CHAPTER

  17

  Roast Beef Air

  When we got back to the Hulberts’ house, someone opened the door before Jason even touched the doorknob. A policeman stood there in his uniform, smiling at all three of us.

  “Dad!” Frankie threw his arms around the officer’s legs.

  “Hi, Fred,” Jason said. “Avery, this is my foster dad, Fred. Fred, this is Avery.”

  Fred gave me a big, strong handshake. “Pleasure to meet you, Avery. Jason’s told us so many wonderful things about you.”

  “Thanks,” I answered, feeling my mouth creep into a little smile.

  “Yeah, okay, Fred. Thanks,” Jason muttered and led the way into the house.

  Inside it was warm and smelled like chocolate—chocolate cake, to be exact. “Bonnie’s been baking,” Fred announced to us. “She wanted you guys to have something sweet for after the stories. And let me tell you, you’re in for a treat! Bonnie’s the best baker in the entire world, in my humble opinion.”

  Bonnie pointed her wooden spoon at Fred. “Now, you stop that!” she ordered, in a voice that meant she really didn’t want him to stop that at all. Jason looked like he could just about die on the spot. As for me, I couldn’t wait to have a piece of homemade chocolate cake. Bonnie’s hot chocolate was so fantabulous, I figured her cake would be out of control. What did Dad call it? Nirvana!

  And guess what? I was right.

  We all sat down and got a big piece of what Bonnie called her famous “Better Than Your Momma’s Chocolate Cake.” There were three layers. The top was a moist chocolate cake, the middle was a fluffy chocolate mousse cake, and the bottom was a rich, thick chocolate torte. Sugary, homemade fudge frosting separated the layers and smothered the outside. Most of the cake went right into my stomach, but some of it was chilling out on my face. I learned this factoid from Fred.

  “Jason, your friend has grown the most impressive goatee … and it only took as long as dessert!” A goatee was a little tuft of a beard, right on the chin. Dad tried to grow a goatee one summer, but my brothers and I took one look at his stubbly chin and said, “Absolutely not, dude!”

  I laughed and wiped my face right away. “It’s a delicious goatee,” I told Bonnie.

  “Why, thank you very much.”

  “Yum in my tummy!” Frankie declared. “Jason, will you play checkers with me?”

  Now if I were Jason, I probably would’ve said, “Do I have to?”

  But Jason just smiled at Frankie. I think he was going to say okay, but Fred spoke up first. “I’ll play checkers with you, buddy. Jason’s got company right now.”

  Frankie grumbled. “Fine.” But he honestly looked at me like he wanted me to melt into slime on the floor. I wanted to get away from that table and FAST.

  “Jason, why don’t you and Avery go down to the basement to check on Radley?” Bonnie suggested. Wow, first the chocolate cake and now a clever getaway plan! That woman deserves a medal, I thought.

  We took our plates over to the counter and headed downstairs. I was pretty psyched about seeing Radley again. The feeling was mutual. As soon as Radley saw us he started snaking through his ferret maze at warp speed.

  “Welcome to Ferret World,” Jason announced.

  “No kidding!” I said.

  Jason had set up half of the basement like an enormous ferret jungle gym. It looked like the coolest amusement park ever, but for ferrets … and Radley had the whole place to himself. There was a fluorescent-colored tube maze that Jason built all the way up to the ceiling. He’d taken fleece ferret hammocks and hung them in different layers so Radley could crawl up and jump down or bounce. There were even little tents on the ground with ferret balls rolling by.

  For a teeny-tiny second, I wished I could be a ferret, just to try out Ferret World. “Radley probably doesn’t ever get bored in a place like this,” I told Jason.

  “I think he’s just putting on a show for you, Ave. Radley’s usually way more mellow.”

  Then I got an idea. “Truth or dare?” I asked Jason.

  “Hmm. Dare.”

  That was what I was hoping he’d say. “All right.” I couldn’t hide my smile. “I dare you to hold Radley up
and pretend to be snowboarding with him?”

  “WHAT?” Jason looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or be afraid … very afraid.

  “Just do it,” I insisted.

  I helped him position Radley on top of a chair holding Radley’s arms out like a boarder’s. Jason posed like he was doing the same. “Now …” I grinned. “Say FLEAS!”

  “Huh?” Jason looked up like a deer in the headlights and I snapped my camera.

  “Hah! Gotcha!”

  “Hey!” Jason protested.

  “Sorry, I had to trick you.” The truth of the matter was I really wanted to sneak a picture of Jason to e-mail home to the BSG but he’d been so uncooperative about pictures that trickery seemed the only way!

  “Okay. My turn. Truth or dare?” Jason asked.

  My stomach flipped. Uh-oh. I had NOT counted on this type of revenge. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I thought as my mind started racing over the possibilities of what Jason could ask me. “Truth!” I said quickly … even though I knew nothing was safe.

  “Okay. How come on the gondola today you weren’t mad at those guys?”

  “What?”

  Jason slinked Radley through his hands and avoided my eyes. “You know … when they were talking about you not looking like your dad … you just answered them. Even though they were kind of being jerks, don’t you think?”

  “Well, I dunno,” I admitted. “I guess I never thought of it like that. I hear it all the time—I mean, I am adopted. So I don’t look like my dad. Which is why those guys were confused.”

  “But it was pretty rude of them to say that.” Jason seemed like he was trying very hard to explain a point that meant a lot to him as he gently put Radley back into his ferret gym.

  I sighed. “Look, here’s the thing. I know I could get mad that those kids weren’t more …” I searched for the perfect word and then it came to me. “Considerate. But my mom always tells me that I am who I am. Sure, I’m adopted. And I’m also a Madden. I’m from Korea and I’d really like to go there someday to learn more about what it means to be Korean. I mean, you need to be proud of who you are … and, if you’re proud of yourself, other people will be too. You know?”