Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 Lydia whipped out her phone and typed a quick text. She showed Abbi the screen. Abbi gave her a thumbs-up. "Excuse me, sir?" Abbi called out. Mr. Stevie turned back toward them. He was smiling again. But he seemed nervous, too. "Come along, kids. I gotta feed the sheep once I see you off." Abbi pointed at the feet of the alpaca she had tried to feed earlier. Its nails were painted the exact same rainbow shades as the ribbon tied around her wrist.

"Did Ms. Margery paint these nails?" she asked. "Was she gonna enter this alpaca in the costume contest instead of Alpaca in Wonderland?" Mr. Stevie's face paled. "Oh, uh, we thought we were allowed to enter two different alpacas. But turns out we read the rules wrong." He laughed. It sounded faker than the other times he'd laughed. "Can't win 'em all, right?"

Abbi thought back to what Patricia had said to Ms. Margery: "This costume contest comes with a hefty prize." Then Abbi thought about what Mr. Stevie had said: "Money's been tight lately." She felt a hunch deep in her belly. She ran with it. "It's a shame no one'll get to win now," she said. He snapped his head toward Abbi. "What d'you mean?" "Well, with the alpacas missing, they can't exactly crown a winner, can they? That's what the staff at the fair said, right, Lydia?"

"Right!" Lydia said. "That's exactly what they said!" Daniel nodded, catching on. "They'll probably have to cancel the whole event." "They can't do that! Not after everything! We need that money," Mr. Stevie yelled. "Alpaca in Wonderland should win! He's the only one left. Of course he should win!" Abbi made her voice as innocent as possible. "How did you know he was the only one left? I don't think we ever said that. Did we, guys?" Lydia quickly shook her head. Her dark- brown curls bounced around her shoulders. "We sure didn't, Abbi." The trio stared at Mr. Stevie. He stared at them, too, from Abbi to Lydia to Daniel down to Barkley and back again.

"No?" Mr. Stevie said. He was clearly sweating. "I think you probably did. Yeah, you did." Abbi inched closer to him. Slowly, so as not to spook him.

"Why did you do it, Mr. Stevie?" Abbi asked in a gentle, low voice. "Why did you take the alpacas?"