Miracle in Music City Read online

  Mom headed off to help Lulu pack, but Mia stopped Maddie before she left the room.

  “Hey, Mads?” she said. “I’m sorry if I made the fight with Annabeth and Emily worse. You know, by suggesting the dance-off and everything.”

  “You were trying to help me,” Maddie said. “You knew my feelings were hurt. Like Mom said, we’ll find a way to fix this after the concert. And I’m excited that we get to invite Ruby.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Mia said. “Things are starting to work out already. Maybe we’ll even find the guitar tonight.”

  “Maybe.” Maddie was on her way out the door when she turned back, remembering. “Don’t forget to pack your map of the Opry!”

  “Good call!” Mia said.

  TWENTY-SIX

  When they rounded the corner onto Broadway, they saw a small group gathered around a man. He sat on an overturned milk crate, playing guitar. Maddie didn’t have a clear view of the man, but his music made her stop in her tracks. Lots of people played on the street, but not many were this good.

  “He’s talented,” Mom said, noticing too.

  As the man finished his song, he called out, “Feel free to toss a tip into the case, there. Don’t be shy.”

  His voice sounded vaguely familiar, but Maddie couldn’t place it.

  “Should we give him a tip?” Lulu asked.

  Mom dug in her purse and pulled out a few dollars. “Here, girls, why don’t you each go put a dollar in his case, and then come right back.”

  Maddie hung back and let Mia and Lulu go first. The man was loud, and Maddie wasn’t sure what to expect as they approached his open case.

  “Thank you, ladies,” he said, as first Lulu and then Mia dropped their dollars into the case. Maddie was about to put hers in too, when she looked up and got a good look at his face, at his scraggly beard and his blue-and-maroon hat. The pieces fell into place—his voice, his face . . .

  She hurried after Mia and caught her arm. “That’s the man we saw outside the Opry. The one who shouted at us about the guitars.”

  “Are you sure?” Mia eyed him. “I mean, they’re similar, but . . .”

  Mom was already around the corner, holding the door open. “Girls?”

  Maddie’s hand went to her neck, feeling for the necklace one more time. Would Ruby like it? She hadn’t thought so back home, but now that she was here, she realized giving the necklace would be harder than giving a coat or gloves. When you offer friendship, you have to put yourself out there. The other person might not accept the gift.

  “Are you sure you want to give her your necklace?” Mia asked.

  “Yes,” Maddie said. “Oh, yes, I definitely do, it’s just that . . . what if she doesn’t want it?” She didn’t ask the real question: What if she doesn’t want me to be her friend?

  “She’ll love it,” Mia said.

  They took off their coats, but Mia didn’t hang hers up. She draped it over her arm, with the gloves stuffed in the pocket, to give to Ruby.

  “Ready?” she said to Maddie and Lulu.

  “Ready!” Lulu said, giving her doll one last hug.

  Lulu had surprised Maddie by choosing one of her special dolls, one she liked a lot, rather than one of the more worn-out ones. But all three sisters seemed to agree. A gift should be special—whether a person had more than they needed or hardly anything at all.

  Other people were in charge of the line today, and they’d come just a little later too. Most everyone had taken food back to their seats. Mom waved at Denise as they came in. She nodded, obviously expecting them. Maddie spotted Ruby, and was happy to see there was room next to her on the bench. Maddie pointed Ruby out to her sisters.

  Mia grabbed Lulu’s arm as she started to take off across the room. “Remember . . . casual, Lulu. We don’t want to embarrass her.”

  Lulu shook Mia’s hand off. “I know.”

  Still, she took the lead across the room. Maddie couldn’t help smiling. Lulu may have thought she was being low-key, but her sneaking drew attention.

  “Hey, are you girls back to sing?” a man called.

  “Not today,” Mia said.

  “Tonight’s the night of the benefit,” someone else called. “They have to save their voices.”

  Finally, they made it across the room and sat next to Ruby. Once they sat down, Maddie could relax. Now, it didn’t feel so much like she had a spotlight following her across the room.

  “Hey!” Ruby said, clearly excited to see them. “What are you doing here?”

  “We have two extra tickets for the show tonight.” Maddie decided to start with the easy part. “And we wanted to see if you and someone else, maybe your mom, would want to come.”

  “To your concert?” Ruby’s eyes went round, and she reached out for her mom’s arm. “Could we?”

  “I’d have to see if Dad could watch Sam,” her mom said. “And you know how he feels about coming into the shelter.”

  “But you saw the way he was today—with the guitar. Don’t you think he’d be . . . He’s back, isn’t he, Mom?” Ruby said.

  Rather than answering, Ruby’s mom pressed her lips together and looked down at her hands. When she finally looked up, Maddie could tell she was choosing her words carefully. “I don’t want you to be disappointed, Ruby. Let’s wait until I talk to Dad before we make a final decision.” She then turned to the girls and smiled a sad kind of smile. “Girls, thank you so much for thinking of us. If there’s any way we can come, we definitely will.”

  “Did you see Dad outside, playing the guitar?” Ruby asked the girls, once her mom was distracted, helping Sam with the butter and his roll. “A whole crowd is out there listening. Ever since Dad had to sell his guitar, it was like he sold a part of himself. But now that he has a guitar, he’s back. He’s back and things will be better now.”

  “Wait,” Maddie said. “That’s your dad outside?”

  “Yes!” Ruby said. “So, you heard him?”

  “He’s really good,” Mia said, and then nudged Maddie. Across the room, Mom was motioning for them. Time to go.

  Maddie took a deep breath, and then plunged in. She unclasped the necklace from around her neck, cupped it in her hand, and then pressed it into Ruby’s palm. “For you,” she said.

  It hardly seemed possible for Ruby to look more shocked than she had when they’d invited her to the concert, but she did now. She stared at the necklace in her palm, and then in what seemed like slow motion, she smoothed the chain so she could see the delicate chain and heart.

  “Thank you,” she said, and then looked Maddie directly in the eyes. “Thank you.”

  Maddie could see that Ruby understood about the gift—that it wasn’t just a necklace, but something more. She felt light enough to float up off the bench. “Lulu and Mia have something for you too!”

  Lulu and Mia handed over the doll, coat, and gloves. Ruby threw her arms around each of the girls in turn. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

  “And I also brought you a story,” Lulu said. “I wrote it myself!”

  “Girls, we can’t thank you enough,” Ruby’s mom said from across the table, having finished with Sam’s roll and catching the end of what had just happened. “If there’s any way that we can come to the concert tonight, I promise we will.”

  “They’ll have tickets at will-call under your name,” Mia said. “And Mom will pay for a taxi to drive you there and back. She said she’d leave some money with Denise for you.”

  Maddie squeezed Ruby’s hand. “I hope you can come! I could really use a friend in the audience.”

  Ruby squeezed back. “Even if I’m not there, I’ll be thinking about you.” She let go and touched the necklace, which she’d already clasped around her own neck. “I promise.”

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  Off we go,” Mom said from the front seat. “Buckle up, girls.”

  “Now we need to think of something to give to Sam!” Lulu buckled her seat belt. “Maybe a stuffed animal?”

 
“Maybe,” Maddie said, distracted.

  “Where do you think Ruby’s dad got a guitar?” Mia asked.

  Maddie didn’t dare meet Mia’s eyes. She’d been wondering that too. Guitars weren’t cheap. If her dad had sold his guitar for money before, he wouldn’t have suddenly had the money to buy a new one. Near the shelter, a lot of people sat on the street and played, cases open, to earn some money. “Maybe someone loaned it to him?”

  “Mmmm,” Mia said.

  “Sam would like my stuffed elephant,” Lulu said. “I know he would!”

  “Ruby’s mom said they had to ask her dad about watching Sam,” Maddie told Mom. “I hope he will, so they can come.”

  “I hope so too.” Mom smiled into the mirror, catching Maddie’s eye. “How did Ruby like your gifts?”

  “She loved them!” Lulu bounced in her seat. “When I gave her the doll, she gave it a big hug. And I think she’ll like my story too. It’s the complete adventures of Featherwing, the fairy.”

  “You added to the story?” Maddie asked.

  Lulu launched into a description of what she’d added, plus what she planned to add next. Maddie tried to follow the complex twists and turns of the mystery.

  “You’re pretty quiet back there, Mia,” Mom said, after a while. “Everything okay?”

  “Mmm,” Mia said again.

  Maddie gave her a questioning look, but Mia shook her head. Now wasn’t the time to share. The drive rushed by, and soon they were just around the corner from the Opry. Maddie’s skin prickled with goose bumps. Even now, she couldn’t picture herself walking out on stage in front of all those people. Whether she could picture it or not, it would happen tonight, before they got back into the car to go home. Mom rounded the corner into the parking lot and drove past the mall.

  “Miss Julia will meet us here—she’s bringing your costumes. We’ll rehearse your song around four, but for the next couple hours you can hang out in the dressing rooms, eat a snack, and rest.”

  “Do you need any help?” Maddie asked.

  “Thank you, sweetheart,” Mom said. “That’s very thoughtful. But I think we’ve got everything covered. I’m meeting with the auction committee to talk through last details, and then we’ll do a sound check and final rehearsal with the band. I’d like for you girls to take it easy so you’re fresh and ready for tonight.”

  Miss Julia met them at the stage door. “Girls, you’ll never guess what just came for you in the dressing room!”

  “Ooh!” Lulu shouted, running ahead to see.

  “Slow down, Lulu,” Mom called, but her smile told Maddie she knew exactly what waited in the dressing room. “I’ll see you girls in a little bit. Remember, rehearsal at four, and no need to put on your costumes until after.”

  “Okay!” Maddie threw her arms around Mom. “And thank you!”

  “For what?” Mom asked innocently.

  “Come on!” Maddie grabbed Mia’s arm and pulled her down the hall.

  The dressing room was full of flowers. Pink and yellow roses filled three matching vases. There were two other vases too. One with every shade of pink Gerbera daisies that Maddie had ever seen, and the other filled with sunflowers.

  “The roses are from Mom and Dad!” Lulu held up a white card she’d pulled out of the envelope labeled “Lulu.”

  “Maddie,” Mia said, frowning over the card in her hand, pulled from the vase of sunflowers. “Look at this.”

  “What’s wrong?” Maddie asked.

  Mia handed over the card, and Maddie read, “You’ll be awesome tonight, I know it. Love, Emily.”

  Maddie looked at Mia, blinking tears away. A slow smile spread across Mia’s face, and neither of them had to say anything at all. Maybe their best friends wouldn’t be there tonight, but soon things would be back to normal.

  Miss Julia came in then and started unpacking a snack.

  “The daisies are from you!” Mia said, reading the final card. “Thank you, Miss Julia!”

  “You’re welcome!” Miss Julia said.

  “I came up with more to add to my story,” Lulu said. “Can I write it right now?”

  “Absolutely.” Miss Julia dug in her bag for paper, a pencil, and colored pencils.

  “We’ll be right back!” Mia seized the opportunity and grabbed Maddie’s arm, dragging her out into the hall.

  “What’s going on?” Maddie asked.

  “So, I’ve been thinking about the security video,” Mia said. “Charles and the guards didn’t see anything, but what if we watched the footage? We might see something they didn’t. Haven’t we been saying all along that the reason we should try to solve the mystery is because we see things that other people don’t? So, shouldn’t we watch the tapes?”

  “But Mia, even if we see something, it’s too late,” Maddie said. “The benefit is tonight! There’s no way we’d find whoever it was that took it and get the guitar back in time. Plus, remember? There’s hours of footage.”

  “Just come with me,” Mia pleaded. “Please, Maddie? We can just watch a little bit of the footage, and see what we see. Don’t we have to at least try?”

  Maddie knew what Mia was thinking and not saying. Ruby’s dad having a guitar after they’d seen him outside the Opry felt like too much of a coincidence. “Should we tell Miss Julia?”

  “We can go ask at the security desk, and if Charles says yes, then we’ll tell her. She’ll be okay with it,” Mia said. “Especially if we find the thief, right? Everyone will be so happy if we find him.”

  “Or her,” Maddie added. She really, really didn’t want Ruby’s dad to be the thief.

  “You’re thinking what I’m thinking,” Mia said. “Right?”

  “No,” Maddie said, but they both knew that wasn’t true.

  “He’s always wearing that blue-and-maroon knit cap,” Mia said. “We could ask Charles if he saw anyone like that on the tapes, and maybe we can . . .”

  “I don’t like this,” Maddie said.

  “No,” Mia said. “I know. I don’t either. But, Maddie, we have to find the guitar, don’t you think?”

  Maddie nodded and followed Mia to the security desk.

  “Hi there, girls,” Charles said.

  “We have a question,” Mia said. “You know how you watched all the footage, looking for someone with the guitar?”

  “Didn’t see a thing,” Charles said. “Lots of people in and out, but no one caught on camera with the guitar, unfortunately.”

  “Did you see anyone with a knit cap—a blue-and-maroon one?” Mia asked. “With not-so-clean hair that pokes out from the bottom of the hat like a fringe around his neck?”

  “Actually, yeah. There was one guy like that. One of the band crew. He rolled in some equipment and rolled some other stuff out to the loading dock,” Charles said.

  Mia elbowed Maddie. “Do you remember when it was?”

  Charles was already typing numbers into his computer, pulling up the video footage. He fast-forwarded and rewound, until he found what he was looking for. “There, like I said, a crew member.”

  Maddie felt like the floor was falling out from under her. It was Ruby’s dad’s hat, all right. The man was definitely not a crew member, though she could see why the guard had thought so. Ruby’s dad pushed one of the big rolling boxes the crew used for cords and connectors past the camera. Charles fast-forwarded to footage a few minutes later, when the man pushed a box back toward the loading dock.

  Maddie grabbed Mia’s hand and squeezed it, warning her not to say anything. Mia gave her a questioning look.

  “Umm . . . thank you,” Maddie said.

  Charles shrugged. “Sure. You bet.”

  “That was him,” Mia said, as soon as they were out of Charles’ earshot.

  “Mia, we can’t be sure,” Maddie said. “Plus, we didn’t see him with the guitar. Maybe he didn’t actually take it.”

  Mia gave her a “come on, seriously?” look.

  “If we accuse him of stealing the guitar, he’ll f
or sure get in trouble. No one will believe his side of the story. It’s not just about solving the puzzle, Mia. This is serious—real life.” Maddie thought of what it felt like to watch Aria, the art thief she’d discovered in London, being snapped into handcuffs. All the fun of solving the mystery—the feeling of putting things right—had disappeared. Even though Maddie knew people had to face consequences, it wasn’t any fun watching a person’s freedom being taken away. “He’ll probably go to jail, and then what will happen to Ruby and her family?”

  Mia stared at her feet, and then finally said, “I like Ruby too, Mads, but we can’t keep something like this a secret. He stole a really valuable guitar. One that could help lots of people, not just him.”

  “All I’m saying is that we don’t know he stole it,” Maddie said. “Please, can’t we wait until tomorrow to talk about this with Mom and Dad? After the concert is over?”

  Mia blew out a deep, frustrated breath. “Okay. But tomorrow, we have to say something.”

  Maddie gave her sister a giant, relieved hug. “Thank you, Mia.”

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  The rest of the afternoon sped by. Between rehearsal, eating a picnic dinner in their dressing room, and putting on their costumes, Maddie hardly had any time to think about the guitar. Then, at six thirty, Mom and Dad came backstage to give the girls pre-show hugs.

  “Remember,” Mom said, holding Maddie at arm’s length and looking her directly in the eyes. “I’m so proud of you, no matter what. When you’re out there on stage, look up, take a mental picture, and enjoy the moment.”

  “It’s our Opry debut!” Lulu shouted, doing yet another version of her signature spin-kick move.

  “I know you’re going to sparkle out there,” Dad said.

  “Because Glimmer girls sparkle and shine,” Mia said.

  “But most of all, they are kind!” Maddie and Lulu added.

  “Speaking of kindness,” Mom said. “The box office sent up word that Ruby and her mom are here for the show.”