Bailey’s Estes Park Excitement (11 page)

Bailey logged off and closed her laptop.

“All right.” Kate exited the chat room and brought up a blank document. “Let's see what we have so far in the elk mystery. One. We know the elk are spooked but don't know why.” She typed the entry into the blank document.

Bailey jumped in. “Two. We know Justin and Joe have an airsoft gun and were in the woods today before the stampede.”

Kate typed the second entry. “But then again, so were we.”

“Three. Justin has a grouchy attitude all the time.”

“Four. They visit their grandparents here every year.” Kate continued typing but stopped. “We don't even know if any of this has anything to do with the elk problem.”

“No, but a good sleuth follows hunches,” Bailey said. “And I have a hunch it does.”

“I hope we're not going down the wrong path.” Kate looked thoughtful. “What about what we know about elk?”

“Well, we know they make wallows during mating season,” Bailey offered.

“And we know they are more aggressive during that time as well.”

“But not usually this much.”

“We know they have a great sense of smell and can run really fast,” Kate said as she typed.

“Boy, do we know that!” Bailey laughed. “We learned they're usually most active in the early morning and later in the evening, unless they're being harassed.”

“That may be a key to this mystery.”

“We know the male elk are the ones with that shrill bugle.” Bailey did her best impersonation of an elk bugle, starting with the low grunts and ending with a high shriek.

Biscuit sat up and howled while Kate covered her ears and laughed. “You aren't quite ready for that bugling contest yet!”

“I still can't believe Grandpa Perkins didn't win that.”

“I can't either. I wonder if that's why Justin was so grouchy today.”

“Maybe. Something must be making him mad.” Bailey felt a little sad inside, like when she knew a friend was going to do something wrong but she couldn't talk her out of it. She turned at the sound of the key card sliding in the door.

“Hey!” Mrs. Chang gave her standard greeting. “What are you two up to?”

“We just finished chatting with the other Camp Club Girls,” Bailey said. “How was your movie, Trina?”

“Not bad.” The teenager flipped on the TV.

“We told the other girls all about our hike and seeing the cowboy ghost,” Kate told Mrs. Chang.

“Sounds like you had fun. By the way, Bailey, Dad and I are going out to a business dinner tonight.”

“What about us?” Bailey stuck out her lower lip.

“Adults only, I'm afraid.” Mom's eyes brightened. “But how about a pizza party? We can have it delivered to our room.”

“Yeah!” Bailey and Kate gave each other a high five.

“How 'bout it, Trina?” Bailey asked.

“Fabulous.” Trina said in a monotone, still channel surfing.

“It'll be fun!” Bailey informed her sister brightly.

“Whatever.” Trina gave up on finding something to watch and turned off the TV. She flopped on the bed and started listening to her iPod.

“I'm going to get cleaned up and then I'll call in the pizza.” Mrs. Chang headed for the shower.

A while later, Bailey whistled when her mom emerged looking fresh and pretty in her black dress, dangly earrings, and strappy heels. The familiar smell of her mom's perfume made Bailey want to snuggle in her lap like she did when she was a little girl.

“What kind of pizza do you want?”

“Pepperoni!” Bailey shouted.

“With black olives?” Kate asked.

“Sure, I like olives and so does Trina.” “Pepperoni and black olives it is.” Mrs. Chang phoned in the order.

While they were waiting for the pizza, Mr. Chang came home and spruced up, too.

“You guys look great!” Bailey said.

A knock at the door signaled the beginning of the pizza party. Mr. Chang paid for the food and set it on the small table. Then he tapped Trina on the shoulder and she took out her earphones.

“We should be home between nine and ten,” he told her.

“You're in charge while we're gone. You hear that, Bales?”

Bailey and Kate both nodded.

The Changs blew the girls a kiss good-bye and told them to call on the cell phone if anything came up.

“We can handle this, Mom,” Trina said.

“Good. I know you can. Have fun.”

As soon as the door closed, the trio playfully shoved their way to the pizza. Trina lifted the lid. “Mmmm. Smell that.”

They each took a slice and chatted and giggled as they ate. Kate fed Biscuit a couple of pieces of pepperoni. “Trina, did you leave your iPod on?” Bailey asked.

“No. Why?”

Bailey cocked her head to listen. “I thought I heard piano music.”

Trina put one earphone in. “Nope. It's not this.”

“Listen. There it is again.” Bailey craned her neck forward.

“I hear it, too.” Kate said. “It's very soft, though.”

“Sounds like old-fashioned music to me.” Bailey went to the window to see if anyone was playing music outside but saw only people quietly strolling in the courtyard.

The music became louder.

“I hear it now.” Trina joined Bailey at the window.

“It's not coming from outside.” Kate put her ear to the air vent on the floor. “It sounds like it's coming through the vent!”

“It sounds…spooky.” Kate shivered.

“Let's just turn on the TV and forget about it,” Trina suggested.

The girls all sprawled out on the beds as Trina flipped through the channels.

A romantic comedy came on. “Oooo. This looks good.” Trina fluffed her pillow and put it behind her back against the headboard.

“Didn't our hotel brochure say that F. O. Stanley's wife played the piano and sometimes guests still hear her music?”

“I think you're right! But would we be able to hear it clear up here?”

The eerie music continued.

Finally Bailey couldn't stand it anymore. “I don't know, but I'm going to find out where that music is coming from!”

“I'll come with you!” Kate announced.

“Fine with me,” Trina said, still glazed over by the TV. “Just don't leave the building.”

“Deal.” Bailey grabbed another slice of pizza to munch on while they investigated.

Grabbing Biscuit, they walked down the hallway. The music seemed to get louder. Reaching the elevator, they pressed the D
OWN
button. When they reached the hotel lobby, the music was much louder.

Bailey marched to the front desk. “Excuse me.”

Barbara, the surly hotel clerk, scowled at Biscuit.

“Can you tell me where that music is coming from?” Bailey smiled sweetly.

“From the Music Room, to your right.” Barbara pointed to the room at the end of the lobby.

“The Music Room. Of course. Thank you.” With a polite nod, Bailey turned to leave.

“And keep that dog under control.”

“I will.” Kate gave the woman a thumbs-up and raised Biscuit's paw in a wave.

Bailey and Kate walked on the lobby's shiny wooden floor to the doorway of the Music Room, the piano music growing ever louder. Stopping at the door, they peeked inside and saw that the room was unfurnished except for a grand piano at the far end. It sat in a raised alcove, almost a small, rounded room in itself. Its lid was propped open to allow the beautiful music to flow unhindered. A huge fireplace with white columns upholding the mantel took up most of the left wall. A giant mirror hung above it. Arched windows lined the other walls, with square-paned ones in the piano alcove. The piano sat sideways, but Bailey could clearly see the keys moving up and down from the door, though no one appeared to be playing it.

Bailey swallowed hard and looked at Kate, who had just used her free hand to remove her glasses and rub her eyes. She put them back on, steadying herself against the door frame. She and Bailey nodded pale-faced at each other. A ghost!

Kate, carrying Biscuit, followed Bailey cautiously across the threshold onto the glossy-wood Music Room floor. Immediately, the music stopped. Bailey grabbed Kate's arm. They tiptoed toward the piano, as if they were sneaking up on the ghost.

“Maybe whoever was playing will appear,” Bailey whispered.

“I doubt it. But maybe we'll be able to see how they're doing the special effect.”

“Yeah. I have to keep reminding myself it isn't real.”

The girls stepped up into the alcove and inspected the piano.

“I wish I'd brought Biscuit's leash.” Kate shifted the dog to her other arm and looked closer. “Aha! Just as I thought. It's a player piano.”

“Huh?”

“A player piano. You know, the kind that has songs programmed into it so it plays by itself.”

“Oh, I've seen those in stores. But doesn't someone have to start and stop it?”

“Usually.” Kate continued checking all angles of the piano. She wrestled with Biscuit who was getting wiggly. “I bet this one has an automatic switch or sensor somewhere that turns it on and off.”

Bailey helped her search for a switch, even crawling underneath for a look. “I don't see anything.”

Kate studied the strings and hammers for each key inside the piano. “There's so much stuff in here it's hard to tell what doesn't belong. But I think I may see something. Come over on this side for a better look.”

Bailey was next to her in a flash.

“See that switch close to the hinge where the piano lid opens?”

“Yeah, I see it.”

“I think it may be the culprit. And I think that box next to it is a timer that makes the music play only every so often.”

“But how does it stop when someone comes in the room?”

Kate cocked her head and squinted her eyes. Bailey could practically see the wheels turning in her brain. “Maybe a motion sensor that's set to turn it off when someone comes through the door?”

“But we have to find it to be sure.” Bailey's eyes started scanning the room. “There!”

Kate followed Bailey's finger to a small device mounted in the ceiling corner of the room. It was pointed directly at the doorway. “Yep, I bet that's our motion sensor.”

“Let's go back out to the lobby and try it out.” Bailey and Kate walked out to the lobby. They passed the time by looking at the Stanley Steamer car as they waited for the music to begin again.

Soon the melodious sound of the piano wafted into the lobby.

“There it goes!” Bailey made a beeline for the Music Room and stopped abruptly outside the door.

“Okay. Ready?”

“Ready.” Kate grabbed Bailey's hand and together they walked into the room. The music stopped. “I'm sure the motion detector saw us.”

“I wonder how sensitive it is,” Bailey said. “Like, I mean, do we have to enter the room or just move in the doorway?”

“Interesting. Let's find out.” Kate, Biscuit, and Bailey filed back out to the lobby so the piano could reset. Soon the music began again.

“Let's go!”

Bailey and Kate stopped in front of the doorway. “Let's try just kicking our foot through the doorway, but not actually going in,” Bailey suggested.

Kate giggled and locked arms with Bailey in chorus line fashion. “Okay. On three. One…two…three!”

Kate and Bailey each kicked one foot out. Once again, the music stopped.

“Wow! Pretty sensitive!” Bailey grinned from ear to ear.

“Guess we've pretty much solved this mystery. Might as well go back to the room.”

“Hey, there goes Justin and Joe across the yard.” Bailey pointed toward the window. The floodlights shining on the yard spotlighted the two boys as they walked away from the hotel. One turned around as if to see if anyone was following them.

“Is that their gun he's carrying?” Kate asked.

“Couldn't be. It's too dark for target practice.”

“Weird.”

The boys disappeared into the shadows. “Know what I was thinking?” Bailey asked.

“What?”

“I wonder if anyone's staying in room 408.”

Kate headed for the front desk. “We could check. And if no one is, we could ask if we can go see it tomorrow.”

“Exactly what I was thinking.” Bailey asked Front Desk Barbara if the room was vacant.

“Hmmm. Let me check.” Barbara typed something into her computer and waited. She ran her finger down the screen until she came to the line she wanted. “Yep. Looks like it's vacant.”

“Can we go look at it tomorrow?” Kate asked.

“What for?”

“We're curious about Tex.” Bailey smiled knowingly at Kate.

“Tex?” Barbara smirked.

“Yeah. You know. The cowboy ghost. We think we saw him this afternoon from the front lawn.”

“Well, I'm off tomorrow, so you'll have to check back with whoever's working then.”