Buttercup Mystery by Kristin Earhart

Author:Kristin Earhart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

“I’ll think on it, Lloyd. The horse is not herself, but she’s not too bad off.” She watched Buttercup as she loaded up her vet kit. “We’d best keep an eye on her. I can run some tests if she doesn’t improve.” The two adults headed to the barn to look at the grain. Bess was behind them, picking clover as she went.

“Where are the puppies?” Ben asked. Willa rolled her eyes. Didn’t he care about Buttercup at all?

“They’re with Marnie,” Chipper said. “Amos won’t leave Buttercup alone, so Dad made us put them all in the outdoor pen, at least until the vet is gone. Your grandma, I mean.”

“Let’s go get them,” Ben said, taking off.

The girls didn’t want to leave Buttercup.

As soon as the boys were gone, Sarah blurted out, “I feel so bad. I keep thinking about the parade instead of worrying about Buttercup.”

“My daddy always tells me worrying won’t do you any good,” Lena said. “You’ve got to do something.”

“What can we do?” Willa asked.

“I don’t know.” Lena paused. “But I do know is that it’s a mystery,” she said, her words drawn out to sound spooky. “No, seriously. We should get to the bottom of it. First off, who are our suspects?”

Sarah and Willa glanced at each other.

“This isn’t one of your mystery books, Lena. There aren’t any suspects,” Sarah protested. “Buttercup is probably just sick.”

“But we don’t know for sure,” Lena insisted.

“Jasper!” Willa had no idea why she had yelled that name. Sarah glared at her.

“What?” Willa tried to defend herself. “He doesn’t want to lose the bet.”

“Sarah, you are the one who said how much he likes to win bets,” Lena reminded her friend. “That is a motive.”

Sarah’s shoulders rose as she took a deep breath. “I guess so.”

“Great,” Lena said. “That’s one.”

Willa didn’t think it was great at all. A horse was sick, and they were accusing someone of poisoning that horse. It seemed horrible!

“We need more suspects.” Lena narrowed her eyes, thinking. “What about your dad, Sarah?”

“Lena!” Sarah yelled. “Stop it. This isn’t a game. My dad would never do that.” She stared at the ground.

“Are you okay?” Willa asked.

“I’m fine, but can we please talk about something else?” She pushed her thick hair behind her ear. She refused to look at Lena.

“Whatever you want,” Lena replied with a shrug. “But you won’t solve a case by ignoring it.”

Willa stared at Lena. She was using all these real detective words. Did she think she was a real detective?

Lena started to leave. When she was halfway across the yard, she turned around and walked backward. She pointed at Sarah with both hands. “You know what you need?” she asked excitedly. “A stakeout. That way, you’ll know if someone is coming by and poisoning Buttercup. And you’ll catch him red-handed!”

Willa’s eyes grew wide. She couldn’t believe Lena! She shook her head and turned to Sarah as Lena walked away.

Sarah tilted her head to one side. Then she titled it to the other. Finally she said to Willa, “A stakeout is not a bad idea.

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