Episode 5

Part 5

When Elle, Lisa and Rafael finally arrived at the camp, they went straight to Rafael's family trailer. Rafael's father was standing just outside the trailer with a plate of steaks getting ready to put them on the grill.

"Rafael," he said, "You were almost late!"

"My Carburetor blew out on the way here." Said Rafael, "I had to do a quick fix on it just to get us here."

"You were supposed to fix that thing!" said his father

"And as I told Lisa when she said the same thing, I thought I had." sighed Rafael

"Well, that settles it," said his Father, "You're just going to have to spring for a brand new carburetor."

The steaks sizzled as Vito Jr. put them on the grill.

"How do you like your steaks?" Vito Jr. Asked

"Medium-rare," said Rafael

"Medium, for Me," said Lisa

"Medium for me too," Elle

"You've got it," smiled Rafael's father, he turned back to the grill as they all sat down at the picnic table to wait.

While they were waiting, Elle suddenly sniffed the air. Lisa thought she was just enjoying the aroma of the cooking steaks. But then Elle spoke.

"What smells like hair gel and cheap cologne?" she asked

Lisa glanced around and got her answer. There, coming toward them, was a vane looking Romani boy who looked like he had emptied a whole tub of styling gel doing his hair.

"Oh no," groaned Lisa, "It's Nickolas Santini."

"Who's that?" asked Elle,

"The clan Casanova," replied Lisa in a voice tinged with annoyance, "That guy thinks he's all that and a bag of chips, he's been making passes at every girl he sees, even me… when Rafael's not around that is."

"He's been doing what?!" growled Rafael

Before anyone could stop him, Rafael jumped up and stormed after a now suddenly scared looking Nickolas. Lisa guessed that he had been so focused on her and Elle that he hadn't noticed Rafael until it was too late!

Before he could make a move to run, Rafael grabbed him in a headlock, dragged him around behind the trailer and pinned him against the side of it.

"Nickolas," he said in a voice that though barely above a whisper was filled with a deadly rage, "If I ever find out that you've been making passes at my girlfriend again, I will personally haul you into the center of the camp and beat you in front of the whole clan! Got it?!"

The pale terrified Nikolas nodded.

"Good," snapped Rafael, "Now, get out of my sight!"

Rafael came back to the table just as his dad was plating the steaks.

"Rafa, did you…?" said Lisa worried

"Not this time," said Rafael, "But, he's had his one warning and if he bothers you again. then I beat him up!"

"Seems more than fair to me." Said Elle as she got her steak, she spooned some veggies on to her plate and grabbed a dinner roll from the basket.

"It'll have to do I guess," said Lisa, "Rafa, I don't want you getting in trouble with Nikolas's parents."

"I wouldn't get in trouble," said Rafael, "Under clan law I wouldn't be giving Nikolas anything he didn't deserve."

Elle stopped short.

"That's it!" she exclaimed

"What's it?" asked Lisa

"When Rafael mentioned law, it jogged my memory and I remembered where I heard the name Mattie Howard!" replied Elle

Where asked Lisa.

"In the paper," replied Elle, "Mattie Howard was a lawyer, and she died from some undisclosed heath condition almost three weeks before Max got that land back!"

"If she was dead three weeks before Max got the land then how did he get it in the first place?" asked Lisa

"I don't know," said Elle, "But I think we'd better talk to Max again."

The rest of the meal passed uneventfully in eating and pleasant conversation. When it was over Elle elected to call her chauffer since there was no way Rafael was going to get his bike repaired that night.

The next day, as soon as they got to Pine Hollow, Lisa and Elle filled the others in on what Elle had remembered. Then they went to talk to Max.

"Well, said Max, "The truth is that technically I did get the property from Mattie Howard or rather her estate sale. You see, Mattie Howard died without any heirs and the authorities had to sell off a bunch of Mrs. Howards assets to pay off her debts, so I got a good deal on getting some more of the old Regnery estate back."

"Okay," said Elle, "So actually you and Mrs. Reg were both right. You did buy the property from Mattie Howard, but indirectly."

"Right," said Max, "Everything clear now?"

The girls nodded but couldn't help feeling a little dejected as they walked out of Max's office.

"I really thought we were on to something." Sighed Lisa

"Yeah, it sure sounded like it," said Stevie

"So, what do we do now?" asked Carole

The girls all went into the lounge and flopped down on the couch. They sat there for a few minutes feeling frustrated. This was the part of Mystery solving that they hated…running into a dead end.

Finally, a little while later, they decided going for a hack would be better than sitting around feeling sorry for themselves. they walked out of the lounge and headed toward the barn to tack up. When they were about halfway between the lounge and the barn, there was a distant bang and a cloud of white smoke floated up over the trees in the direction of the Moondance Clan's camp.

Lisa rolled her eyes and face palmed.

"Rafa, just get a new carburetor already!"

Everybody snickered at that, and it lifted their spirits a bit.

They tacked up and went for a short ride. When they got back, they were feeling much better.

"Okay guys," said Elle, "It's clear to me that the secret to this mystery is up at wildflower meadow. We have to go back!"

To Be Continued…Please review and let me know what you think.