1 - Didis (Blue Bird)
The wind gusted and blew water onto the ship’s deck. Because I wore an old pair of running shoes, my feet slid across the deck’s surface. I held a small book in my left hand and with my right reached out for something to hold onto to stop my sliding. I coughed and my breath seemed to freeze in the air.
I heard a persistent tapping sound. Where was it coming from? The tapping grew louder. I took a step forward until—with a jolt—I sat up and found myself wrapped tightly in my bedsheet. I had been caught in a dream. Now I was awake, and caught only in a sheet.
Tap, tap, tap, click, click, click.
I looked at the window. The tapping was coming from outside my bedroom. That pesky blue jay was back again and tapping his beak on my windowsill!
Why was he here? Was another mystery on its way? Why did his taps sound like “book, book, dig, dig?” I like books but I don’t go digging in dirt to find them. What did it mean if another mystery was on its way? I didn’t have time to solve another one. I had school and soccer tryouts coming up.
Last spring, I had solved the mystery behind an antique beaded necklace I’d found hidden under my closet floor. That mystery had come to me after I told my school’s principal that I’d found an eagle feather on a hallway floor. Eagle feathers are sacred. Some even believe when an eagle feather drops, it means a warrior has died. The principal called one of the tribe’s elders to restore the feather to a place of honor. Later, the principal told me that since I’d respected the feather, a mystery would come to me.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised to find the antique beaded necklace hidden under my closet floor. Our school principal sure knew what he was talking about. I then spent weeks trying to find the story behind it. I looked in old books and pored through microfilm at the library. I even talked with my grandma and other elders trying to learn the story about the necklace. After all of that, I’d learned why the mystery had come to me! I’d also learned not to get as angry about my life and I’d even made friends at my new school. Later, I had a dream. My dream told that I’d receive another mystery to solve.
Who am I? Cady Whirlwind (Wawyasto) Thunder, the Queen of Mystery?
Cady is a nickname for Cadet. My mom called me Cadet because she’d been a Girl Cadet.
“Was that like a junior version of the Girl Scouts?” I asked her.
“No, Cady, everyone thinks that. I was a crossing guard, or cadet, in elementary school. I loved being a cadet because we got to leave school early, wear a sash and walk out to stop cars and help people cross the street. Those were happy days for me, Cady, so I wanted to name you something to bring back my happy memories.”
My mother left Dad and me when I was only seven. I’m not sure why. When I ask my dad he always tells me, “It’s a story for another day.” Then he adds, “It wasn’t your fault.”
Earlier tonight, before I’d turned off the little lamp on the table next to my bed, I’d thought about John Ray Chicau