Elizabeth's San Antonio Sleuthing (2 page)

“Oh Robert! You got me all wet!” cried Mrs. Anderson. “I guess I'll have to climb in there, too, just to protect myself.”

The Andersons spent the rest of the afternoon splashing in the pool. When they left the pool for dinner, they were famished.

Elizabeth pushed back from the table at the riverside café and eyed the pile of corn husks on her plate. “Those were the best tamales I've ever tasted,” she said.

“You say that every time we eat here,” Mr. Anderson reminded his daughter, his eyes twinkling.

“It's true. I'm glad we come to San Antonio often.

Maybe someday we can convince the chef to give us the recipe,” she replied.

Mrs. Anderson laughed. “Oh, I think it will take more than the recipe to duplicate those tamales. It takes years of practice to learn to cook like that.”

“Well, I'm young. I can learn. I'll practice as much as it takes, if it means I can have these tamales anytime I want them,” Elizabeth said.

“Here, Beth. You can have the rest of mine. I'm full,” said James.

Elizabeth groaned. She was stuffed, too. But she couldn't turn down more tamales.

Mrs. Anderson watched her daughter take another bite and laughed. “Well, at least I know how to make you eat. Normally, you don't eat enough to feed a bird.”

Elizabeth put down her fork. “I can't do it. I love these things, but I just don't have room for another bite,” she said. “If you don't mind, I think I'll skip the puppet show. I'm going back to the hotel to lie down. Maybe watch television.”

“Okay,” her father said. “Just be sure to check in with Uncle Dan. If you need anything, you know he'll be at the front desk. We'll be there in about an hour.”

“Yes, sir,” Elizabeth replied, and stood to her feet. “I'll see you in a little while.”

Ambling back to the hotel, she watched for signs of that red ball cap. She saw tourists of all shapes, sizes, and ages,

but no gangs of laughing teenagers.

Oh well, she thought. There's always tomorrow. And tomorrow, Kate will be here to help me
.

“Howdy, Elizabeth,” called Uncle Dan when she stepped into the lobby.

“Hi,” she said, walking over and leaning against the desk.

“Where is the rest of the Anderson clan?” he asked, rolling his wheelchair so he could look directly at her.

“They're going to see a puppet show. I'm headed upstairs to chill out for a while.”

“Okay. Have fun. You know where I am if you need me,” he said.

With a wave, Elizabeth walked to the glass-walled elevator and pushed the button. One side of the elevator offered a view of the Riverwalk, and Elizabeth enjoyed looking out on her way to the fourth floor.

Maybe I'll just ride up and down the elevator for a while, she thought
.

She pushed the button for the top floor, even though her room was on the fourth. She pressed her nose against the glass as she rode to the highest point of the hotel. The elevator stopped and opened its doors, waiting for her to exit.

Instead, she stood, still looking out the glass at the view of tourists and riverboats, restaurants and mariachi bands. To her left, she saw the Fiesta Noche del Rio, and after a few moments, identified her parents and brother. James was bouncing up and down, clapping for the puppets. Elizabeth smiled. He wasn't bad, as far as brothers were concerned.

Shifting her gaze to the right, she counted the little stone bridges up and down the Riverwalk. These bridges were located at different places along the Riverwalk so people could easily cross the narrow man-made river. Restaurants and souvenir shops lined both sides of the river. Elizabeth watched a family pose for a picture on the steps of one of the bridges.

She looked on to the next bridge, still counting. Three, four, five…what's going on there? She noticed a commotion on one of the bridges. Why are those people ducking down on the bridge? Are they trying to hide from the people below? And was that—It was! A plaid shirt! But no ball cap
.

Wait! There it was. The boy in the middle, who was about the size of an ant from her vantage point, pulled something red out of his back pocket and placed it on his head.

The group of two boys and one girl stood up. Mr. Redcap pointed at a riverboat in the distance, and the others appeared to be laughing.

That's them! she thought. Those are the ones who dropped the water balloon on my head! Well, they're not going to get away with it
.

She whipped around and pressed the button for the ground floor. Keeping her eyes on the group of teenagers, she went down, down, down and waited for the doors to open.

When the elevator stopped on the ground floor, Elizabeth pressed against the doors, willing them to open. Funny, she hadn't noticed the doors being this slow before. When the doors opened, she took off running through the lobby.

“Whoa! Beth! Where's the fire?” asked Uncle Dan as she whizzed past the front desk.

“Can't talk now. I'll explain when I get back,” she called, and continued through the ornate doors to the Riverwalk.

Outside, she looked around to get her bearings. The bridge where she saw the teenagers was…this way. She dodged tourists as she dashed to the bridge. She took the steps two at a time, but when she reached the top, no one was there.

Where did they go?

Looking this way and that, she only saw a sea of tourists. To one side, a mariachi band played an upbeat song, and people clapped in time to the music. Scanning the crowds, she looked for that red cap. If he wasn't wearing it, she had no hope of finding the group.

Finally, she saw them seated at a riverside café table, munching on tortilla chips.

The nerve! she thought. They're just sitting there enjoying the Riverwalk, as innocent as lambs! Well, they won't get away with this
.

Elizabeth walked down the stone steps and in the direction of the little group. She smiled sweetly at the waiter and sat at a table a few feet from the threesome. She pretended to study her menu, while straining to hear their conversation.

“One of these days, you'll get caught, you know,” said the girl.

Red-cap Boy, whose cap was now hanging out of his back pocket, stretched his legs out from under the table and smiled. “Aww, we're not hurting anybody. People should expect to get a little wet at the Riverwalk.”

The girl shook her head. “Well, from now on, when you pull your little stunts, I'm leaving. I don't want to get grouped in with you and your shenanigans.”

Red-cap Boy laughed and said something in Spanish.

The girl said, “What do you mean, you won't get caught? You don't know that.”

Elizabeth peeked out from behind her menu and saw Red-cap smiling. His white teeth, framed by two deep dimples, stood out against his creamy brown skin. “Even if we do get caught, what will they do to us? We're not breaking any laws. Besides, who would convict this face?” He gave the girl a cocky smile.

Why, that conceited little criminal! thought Elizabeth. You really think you're something special, don't you? Well, Mr. Red-cap, you just wait. We'll see who's smiling when your gig is up. And trust me, your gig will be up very soon
.

The threesome pushed back from the table and began to leave just as Elizabeth's waiter returned to take her order. “What can I get for you, miss?” he asked.

Thinking quickly, she said, “You know, I don't think I'll eat right now after all. Sorry to have troubled you.” She excused herself and followed the group at a distance.

Through the crowds she went, keeping her eyes glued to that red cap. She almost didn't see the rolling hot dog cart until it was too late. Scooting aside at the last moment, she said, “Oh, excuse me, sir.”

The old man smiled. “No problem, miss. Would you care for a hot dog?”

“No, thank you,” she said politely and moved forward. But it was too late. The red cap was nowhere in sight.

Elizabeth turned and made her way back to the hotel. You may have escaped me today, buddy, but just wait until tomorrow…
.

Mr. Anderson woke up his family bright and early, and they spent the better part of the morning at the Tower of the Americas, a 750-foot-tall tower with a revolving restaurant at the top. As they left the tower, he said, “I love the view from the top! Too bad the restaurant wasn't open yet. Let's take another riverboat ride, then get some lunch. I never get tired of riding those little boats!”

Now, as Elizabeth sat in a River City Cruise boat watching the bridges and sidewalks for any signs of the boy with the red cap, she heard a strange noise.

Pu–pu–pu–put, puput, pu–pu…rrrrrr…rrrrrr…pu…put…pu
. The engine of the small riverboat groaned and sputtered. Then it died, as concerned tourists looked at each other in confusion.

“That's nice. I fork out ten bucks to ride this heap of junk, and now we're stranded,” called a tall, thin, middle-aged man from the back of the boat.

“I'm very sorry for the inconvenience, folks,” replied the frustrated boat captain. “All of your money will be refunded, as soon as I push this boat to shore. Just report to the ticket office and tell them what happened.”

Elizabeth felt sorry for the captain. The crowd gasped in surprise as he suddenly jumped overboard! Their surprise turned to laughter, however, as he stood up. The water of the famous San Antonio Riverwalk only came to the man's waist.

Another riverboat passed but didn't stop to help. Its captain looked long and hard at the stranded group. The man leaned forward, one foot propped on the boat's railing, and the sun glinted off his polished shoe.

Is he smiling? thought Elizabeth. Why doesn't he offer to help us? She noticed the competing company's logo on the side of the boat—Santa Anna Tours. Maybe they have rules about helping the competition or something…
.

“Here, let me give you a hand,” said Elizabeth's father, leaping into the water. Together, the two men pushed the boat to the edge of the water and secured it to the cement siding with ropes.

The riverboat captain hefted himself onto the sidewalk then held out a hand to help Mr. Anderson. “Thank you, sir. I'll make sure your family gets free rides for the rest of your visit here in San Antonio.”

“That won't be necessary,” said Robert Anderson. “I was happy to help.”

The captain helped his passengers disembark. The tall, grumbly man from the back row stepped off. In a loud voice, he said, “I'd rather have a refund than a free ride. From now on, I'll take my business to Santa Anna Tours. Now
that's
a boat you can count on.”

The rude man walked away, continuing his tirade as he went. The riverboat captain kept a polite smile pasted on his face, but Elizabeth wasn't fooled. The man was concerned about his business.

“Hey, can I jump in before I get out?” asked James. Elizabeth's little brother loved an adventure. And he loved to get wet.

“No, you can't,” replied Sue Anderson, helping the six-year-old off the boat. “One wet male in the family is enough for now.”

Elizabeth helped her mother step across to the sidewalk. “I'll go swimming with you when we get back to the hotel,” she told James. Moving close to her father, she listened to the conversation between him and the captain.

“I don't understand what could have happened,” the man said. “We service the motors every week. But this is the third time this has happened in two weeks!”

“That is strange,” replied Elizabeth's dad. “Who services your boats? Perhaps they've started doing something different…ordering parts from a new company or something.”

“Maybe so…,” said the man. “Thank you again for your help.”

“No problem,” replied Elizabeth's dad. He was sopping wet from the waist down, and he looked pretty funny. “Let's go eat Mexican food!” he said to his family.