Winter Festival Murder Read online

  "I agree with Max," Ronald said. "Remember to keep things light and fun. Happy Below Zero Festival everyone!"

  The crowd started to disperse, but I stood for a moment waiting to see if anything else happened. Gerald walked away and I wondered if he was going to start looking for the medallion right this minute. Charlie started to walk after him, but Lennie put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him. Together, they walked to the Loony Bin where I assumed they were going to share a drink and their hatred for Gerald.

  Clark took my hand and squeezed it. When I looked at him, he smiled. Cue the gooey feeling inside of me again.

  "I think we need to find a cup of hot chocolate after all of that," Clark said. "We can discuss where we'd like to hunt for the medallion while we warm up a little."

  As I let Clark lead me to the hot chocolate stand, I glanced once more towards the Loony Bin where Lennie and Charlie's retreating backs were just walking through the door. Imagine being so upset about a medallion hunt that you needed a drink to cool down.

  Chapter Three

  After the kickoff festival, each day was busy with activities. Monday night had a ceremony to crown the Below Zero Royalty. Instead of just having high school students compete, people of all ages competed for different titles. Teenagers competed to be Prince and Princess Icicle. Young adults competed to be King and Queen Blizzard and retired persons competed to be Duke and Duchess Avalanche. The entire idea would have been laughable if everyone was not so darn sincere about it.

  What was a little different about this sort of ceremony was that it wasn't really a competition. It had nothing to do with skill or popularity, but instead the winners were chosen at random after a few fun rounds. It was enjoyable to know that it really was anyone's game and that no one would know who was going to win until the end.

  My sister Tilly had decided to compete this year. She was a busy mother of three, but had decided that she needed something to focus her attention on outside of her house. When I asked her why in the world she had chosen this, she had shrugged and admitted that she just liked the idea that she wasn't actually going to be judged.

  The entire ceremony was held in the high school auditorium. About fifteen years ago, Shady Lake had built another high school to replace the crumbling old one. The auditorium in the "new high school" was big and beautiful. The acoustics were wonderful and there wasn't a bad seat in the house, not even up in the balcony. The seats were red velvet and actually pretty comfortable. They gave the sense that you could sit in one of the seats for the entirety of a long high school play without your bottom falling asleep.

  The ceremony was so popular that the AV club set up a live feed so that people that came after the auditorium was full could sit in the cafeteria and still see everything. I had managed to snag a seat in the auditorium, but once I got there it was so full that only single seats remained, so I was not able to sit with Mandy or any of my family.

  Across the auditorium, I spotted Rich and Sue sitting with Rich's children. I gave a wave and got an enthusiastic wave back. Just before I turned away, I saw Charlie come running down the side aisle towards the seat they had saved for him. He was pulling off a purple hat and a purple and yellow set of mittens when he saw his family waving. Charlie turned and gave me a wave also.

  I ended up sitting next to Donna Grand, who worked in advertising at the local radio station. Every once in a while you'd hear her voice in an ad on the AM station. Donna was a pretty, bubbly brunette who was curvy in all of the right ways. She was popular and funny, just the kind of person you wanted to sit next to during something as ridiculous at this ceremony.

  While I was gone in college and living it up in the big city, Donna had become a single mother. She now had a three year old son, Bobby. While I didn't participate in the gossip around town, I did listen to it and I knew that no one really knew who Bobby's father was. I didn't think it really mattered because Donna was a great mother who showered her young son with love and affection.

  Donna had told me that she had managed to get a babysitter for Bobby that night so she could come watch the ceremony. As someone who worked in media, she liked to know all everything that was going on in Shady Lake. Our talk soon turned to the medallion hunt.

  "Are you going to search for it?" Donna asked. Her hazel eyes sparkled and her light brown hair sprung every which way, framing her ever youthful face.

  "I'm not sure, but Clark did mention he might like my help to look," I said. "At least today's clue was a bit more helpful."

  This morning, the clue in the paper had a bit more substance. It read:

  If the medallion is what you want to see,

  Look in a park with a tree.

  It didn't seem helpful at first glance, but after I had read it a few times, I realized it wasn't saying that the park would have trees in it. Obviously all of the parks would have trees within them. The clue was saying that the park was named after a tree. That narrowed down the options quite a bit. Off the top of my head, I could think of at least five parks that were named after trees. There was Oak Park, Maple Park, Evergreen Park, Elm Park, and Birch Park. There were probably more, but considering there were about thirty parks in Shady Lake and less than half were named for trees, it did actually help.

  "I've been going out to search on my breaks from work," Donna said with a smile. "I even took Bobby with me when I picked him up from school today."

  "You are really dedicated," I said. "You must really enjoy the hunt."

  "I'm not sure I'd say I enjoy it," Donna said. Her smile fell a little bit. "But that prize money would be really helpful. I don't want to complain about my salary because I love my job and the radio station pays me pretty well. But having a child is expensive and that prize money would be a big help for our bills."

  "That is understandable," I said, patting Donna's hand. "A little extra to help pay the bills is always welcome."

  A few tears sprung to Donna's eyes and I pretended I didn't see them. I glanced at the stage, giving Donna time to wipe the tears away. As someone who has cried in public many times after Peter died, I know how embarrassing it is.

  "Just so you know, I think you are doing an amazing job as a mother," I said quietly when I turned back to her. She squeezed my hand and gave me a shy smile as the lights in the auditorium went down to start the ceremony.

  Ronald, of course, was the MC for the ceremony. He wobbled his way on stage with a microphone in his hand and a large smile on his face.

  "Hello Shady Lake," he said. "Welcome to the Royalty Ceremony. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that we are all here for fun. Please encourage everyone and keep this a fun atmosphere until we blind draw the winner."

  He paused for some dramatic effect and some polite applause from the audience.

  "Now, without much further ado, here are the contestants for this year's contest."

  All of the contestants for the ceremony came out in a line and stood in one line across the middle of the stage. On their faces played a range of emotions, from excitement to nervous to complete terror. Tilly looked mostly excited, but her eyes were darting around the auditorium. When I thought she was looking my way, I waved my hand frantically until she noticed and gave a little wave back. She was wearing a sparkly top, a knee length skirt, and her tap shoes. Tilly had danced as a child and still tried to join the adult tap dancing group occasionally. That skill would certainly come in handy tonight.

  The ceremony had three parts. The first part was a trivia portion with trivia about Minnesota and Shady Lake. The contestants came up two at a time and went against each other to see who would win the best out of three. They kept narrowing down until there was a trivia winner in each age level.

  Tilly did not do well in the trivia portion. She didn't seem nervous at all, which I admired. But she did slap her forehead when she couldn't remember the proper first name of the man who had established Shady Lake. I didn't really blame her. General Albert Custer was not notable for much else, partially bec
ause he wasn't a particularly nice man from what I remembered learning.

  The next portion of the contest was the talent portion. Each contestant was tasked with coming up with a talent they could do in less than five minutes that had something to do with winter or cold. Tilly's tap dance was set to a jazzy Christmas carol and I thought she brought down the house. When she was done, I leapt to my feet to applaud and I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one.

  After each talent showcase, Ronald would come out with the microphone and lead the applause so each contestant got about the same amount. The talents ranged from Tilly's tap dance to a recitation of a winter poem to a comedy set about winter.

  It was nice to sit next to Donna because after each contestant, she would lean over and we'd exchange a few words about how we thought each one did. At the beginning, Donna seemed tense, especially when we had discussed the prize money and her bills. But now she had relaxed and seemed to be enjoying herself. I was glad because as a single mother, I know she deserved a night out to have fun.

  "That was our last talent for the night," Ronald said once Tim was done with his comedy set. "Let's bring everyone out and applaud them one more time."

  All of the contestants came out for one more round of applause before the ceremony moved to the final stage: the random selection. Each age group was brought on stage and Ronald brought out a big fish bowl and a bunch of little bowls filled with pieces of folded paper.

  One at a time, Ronald would dump a bowl in to choose one. He started with the high school Prince and then Princess. Then he moved on to the young adult King and Queen. I tried not to get too carried away when Tilly's name was called as this year's Queen Blizzard. Once the older adults had been crowned Duke and Duchess, the ceremony ended with one more round of applause for all of the contestants.

  "That was so much fun," I said, turning to Donna. She was frowning at her phone, but quickly put it away when I spoke to her.

  "What was that?" she said before realizing what I had said to her. "Oh yeah, this is one of my favorite parts of the festival every year. It is great to just watch everyone having fun without it being about popularity or who is better."

  "It was nice to sit next to you Donna," I said as I threw my scarf around my neck and slipped my jacket on. "Good luck on your medallion hunt."

  "Thank you Tessa," Donna said. "I can use all of the luck I can get because that prize money sure would help. I'll probably see you around more during this week. Have a good rest of your night."

  I waved as I walked down the auditorium aisle. When I turned to look at her one more time, she had her phone out and was frowning at it once again. I hoped nothing was wrong with Bobby, but I figured if it was Bobby, she would be charging out of here instead of staring at her phone. I wasn't sure what was wrong, but I hoped everything was alright as I left to find and congratulate Tilly.

  Chapter Four

  The next morning, another clue came out in the newspaper. This one read:

  For the medallion to be seen,

  Make sure you look somewhere green.

  Once again, this clue could be read several different ways, but one thing was for sure. All of the grass and plants were covered in snow. So this clue would help because most of the lampposts, garbage cans, and benches in the park were painted green. So it narrowed down the search a bit again.

  That afternoon and evening were filled with outdoor hockey games. Hockey was a big deal in Shady Lake just as it was in most Minnesota towns. People followed the high school team almost like they were a professional team and it was adorable to see the younger kids be in total awe of these teenage hockey players. My teenage brother Tank plays defense for the high school team and while he just plays it off like it isn't a big deal, I know he loves all of the little fans that ask for his autograph after each game.

  Most games were played in the ice arena on the edge of town. But during the Below Zero Festival, the team would play a special outdoor game on Shady Lake itself. Instead of a game that counted towards their actual record, this game was just for fun. They had arranged to play with the neighboring town, Waterville.

  On the day of the game, I sat at the Donut Hut with Mandy and watched out the front window as they set everything up. A nice perk of being friends with the donut baker was a private donut snack after the donut shop was closed.

  A couple of guys from the park and recreation department had been tasked with making the perfect ice rink out on the lake. They had taken some of the rink boards and set up the rink and then used colors to make all of the lines before moving the goals out onto the ice.

  It was a bit nerve-wracking to watch them slowly drive the bleachers down the street. I hadn't put much thought into where everyone would sit for the game and the thought of putting bleachers on the ice terrified me. I was a lifelong Minnesotan and watching people drive their giant pickup trucks on the ice still made me cringe a little bit. Smaller cars weren't so bad, but the giant trucks were just so heavy. It did put my mind at ease when they set the bleachers up on the shore in the lakeside park.

  "Okay, real talk," Mandy said as she set a cup of coffee in front of me. "Who do you think will win the hockey game tonight? Obviously I'm cheering for Shady Lake, but Waterville has been having a really strong year this year."

  I gave Mandy a sharp look. Leave it to her to try to be nice to our rivals. Obviously I prefer a good, clean, Minnesota nice rivalry, but there was no way I'd admit that Waterville was good at hockey.

  "If you are going to say nice things about Waterville, I will not be saving you a seat tonight," I said.

  I grew up in a hockey family. All five of us had played hockey when we were little, but only Teddy, Trina, and Tank had continued playing through high school. We still got together to watch hockey, both college and professional games. It didn't really matter who was playing sometimes as long as it was a good game.

  "Is Trevor off tonight?" I asked. "Is he coming with you to the game?"

  "He told me he was going to come, but he's been pretty busy looking for the medallion," Mandy said.

  Leave it to Trevor to be looking for an easy way to make money. I rolled my eyes a bit, trying to ignore Mandy's warning look. Trevor was her long time boyfriend. They been together since just after we graduated high school and really, the only thing I found redeeming about him was that he managed to keep a full-time job as an emergency dispatcher. Other than that, he seemed to be mostly a lazy, loaf-about. I tried to keep my mouth shut about it because Mandy really did love him and if she was happy, so was I. But it didn't mean I had to really like him.

  I finished my coffee and my afternoon donut and bid Mandy goodbye. I knew when I got home, it would be time for everyone to get themselves decked out and bundled up for the game. Obviously we had to make sure we could stay warm while also declaring our undying support for the Shady Lake hockey team.

  A few hours later, I was sitting on a cold metal bleacher saving a seat for Mandy and Trevor. I was bundled in more layers than I could count but over my jacket, I had a big, knit bright red and blue scarf. Shady Lake High School's colors were cherry and blue, which was a fancy way to say red and blue. I also had a blue hat with a big, red pom-pom that said Shady Lake across the front of it.

  After a few minutes of shivering to myself in the bleachers, I spotted Mandy and Trevor coming my way. I waved until they saw me and figured out that it must be Tessa under all of my layers. Trevor was wearing a big, gray jacket and a gray stocking cap, but his outfit was lightened up by the purple and yellow mittens he was wearing. His love of football overrode his love of monotonous outerwear, apparently. Mandy was wearing a stylish and warm light blue puffer jacket and she was inexplicably carrying two large, red, outdoor chair cushions.

  "Thank you so much for saving us some spots," Mandy said. "We got here as soon as we could. I had to wait for someone to come back from his medallion hunt for us to bundle up and join you out here."

  "You're welcome," I said, ignoring the jab I could have gi
ven Trevor. "But what is the cushion for?"

  Mandy looked down at the chair cushion as if she had forgotten she was carrying it. I'm sure she was wearing at least two pairs of mittens, so I didn't blame her for not being able to feel anything through them.

  "Oh, this is to save us from a cold bottom," Mandy said. "Unless you really enjoy the cold metal bleacher in which case it'll be more cushion for me."

  "That's a great idea," I said, standing up from my spot.

  Mandy put the cushion down and I sat on top of it. The other chair cushion was for my parents to sit on. Mandy had been right. It was much more pleasant than the metal bleacher because besides the warmth it provided, it was also quite a bit softer than the bench.

  The secret to keeping warm at a hockey game, especially an outdoor one, is to sit really, really close together. This time I was sitting squashed between my mother and Mandy. Together, we warmed each other. We still had some time before the game actually started, so while we watched the teams warm up and practice, I decided to try and strike up a conversation with Trevor.

  "How is the medallion hunt going?" I asked him. Even though Mandy was between us, we were squished so close together that he was almost right next to me.

  "Oh, it is going well," Trevor said. "Obviously I haven't found it, but I have some good ideas about where it might be. I just wish I had a little bit more time to search for it."

  "Yeah, that must be hard when you have a full time job getting in the way," I said.

  "It would be nice to not have a 9 to 5 job," he said. "Maybe you could tell me about that."

  Touché. I had to admit that his jab towards me actually made me like him a little more. My family sometimes spoke to each other with sarcasm and teasing, so I had a soft spot for someone who could throw a joke back my way.

  "But I have a system for how I've been searching for the medallion and I think I'm getting really close," Trevor said.

  "He's certainly been busy," Mandy said. "He's hardly been home lately."