Where Is Grandma Lu's Stimulus Check?

 While Marlee was busy getting her bags packed and putting them into her Barbie camper, her Grandma B called Marlee's daddy and told him what was going on.  He wondered out loud to his mom, Grandma B, why Marlee felt that she had thrown Grandma Lu's check away. He was the one that had thrown the trash away that day, so now he felt really bad. Grandma B felt bad because she had told her son to throw the trash away. There was only one person that didn't feel a bit bad; Whitlee Jo. She was having the time of her life in the creek. She loved the water, the sunshine and she especially loved finding all of the creek treasures like slippery but very pretty rocks. If you remember, Whitlee Jo was the one that had made a big mess in the Quiet Room at Marleewood. The mess was a basket full of snacks that had fallen and went all over the floor. Whitlee loves snacks and opened snacks are sometimes very sticky. Is it possible that Grandma Lu's stimulus check didn't get thrown away? Could it have been picked up and put in the basket of snacks in the Quiet Room?

Marlee's dad said, "Well, Mom, what are we going to do? We can't just let Marlee head down the road by herself." Grandma B said, "I have an idea. I have made a lot of friends all over the country. I will tell them that Marlee is on her way to Colorado. She has her phone and I will tell her to call me every chance she gets. When she does I will tell my friends to keep an eye out for her. She will be looking for a job so I will also tell them why. She will be alright and of course, I won't be too far behind her."

"The first place she is going to look for is a campground to park her big Barbie camper. I have a friend named Paul that makes plans for Paul's Playhouses. He even has a campground for children. He will get her settled and let me know what is going on and keep an eye on her. I will give him a call right away."

Grandma B and Marlee's mama and daddy had lots of things to do to secretly plan a trip to Colorado. They had been there before and loved it. The mountains were so beautiful, but it was a little chilly in the mountains. Do you think that Marlee packed winter clothes, or did she just pack her swimsuit?

Marleewood Is Open!

The next thing that Marlee had to do was talk to her Grandma B. She had to 'fess up' to the fact that she might have thrown Grandma Lu's stimulus check away when she was helping clean up the mess that Whitlee had made in the Quiet Room at Marleewood. The billboard had changed on the highway so that people now knew that Marleewood had reopened. They limited the number of people that could come in at the same time, and of course, they cleaned and cleaned to make sure no one got sick from the Corona virus that had made so many many people sick this year.

Kanyon and Charlie and some other friends had called and said that they had seen the new sign and that they would be there as soon as they could. Marlee heard these calls and was very sad. She loved Kanyon's Jeep and sometimes he would let her drive it. Charlie was driving a golf cart and having a ball. She wished that Marlee would come and take a drive with her. She was at her nanny's house at the lake. They would have so much fun!

She couldn't stay and play with her friends. She had a job to do, but first she had to tell her Grandma B where she was going and why. She found her out in the kitchen mixing up a cake. Well, the talk with her grandma would have to wait. She just loved to help her in the kitchen and of course, licking the bowl.

Finally, Grandma B said, "Okay, girl. What's up with you? You have been so quiet. What's going on? How can I help?" Marlee knew her B would help her. She started talking a mile a minute and told her exactly what had happened and why she needed to go to Colorado. She told her that she needed to get a job to pay back Grandma Lu her money and why she couldn't go to Marleewood to play with her friends. She said that she needed to pack her Barbie Camp' and head out to question the bad guy that stole Marleewood's trash can. She told her that while she was packing she was going to put her Chief of Police uniform in the camper too. She needed to look official when she questioned that guy out in Colorado.
Marlee quickly packed her bag, gave her sister a hug, and would soon be leaving the mini farm on her newest and most exciting adventure.

Marlee Breaks The News To Whitlee Jo

Marlee went into her Grandma B's kitchen where Whitlee Jo was having a snack. She thought, "I guess it's now or never. I have to tell her she can't go on vacation with me this time. I have to go to Colorado and question the bad guy that stole Marleewood's trash can. I just may have thrown Grandma Lu's stimulus check in the trash. I know that my dad threw the trash away so there you have it. I have no choice but to get a job when I run out of money. I will camp along the side of the road. Maybe they have campgrounds for a big rig like mine. I don't know. I have all kinds of food in my Barbie Camp'. I can live off the land like my Grandma B taught me. I like persimmons and horse and dog treats. She'll let me take some I'm sure."

Marlee took a deep breath and went over to Whitlee's highchair and said, "I can't take you on vacation with me, but if you hurry up I'll take you for a little ride before I pack up and go." Whitlee's reaction was exactly what Marlee thought it would be. She was mad and said, "No! Go!"

Grandma B couldn't figure out what was the matter. She took Whitlee out of her highchair and said, "Why don't you two go for a ride in Marlee's camper? Well, that's exactly what Marlee and Whitlee both wanted.
While Marlee drove Whitlee around the mini farm she explained to her little sister just what she had to do. "It's called taking 'sponsibility', Whit. I need to know for sure if I made a mistake. If I did I have to earn money for Grandma Lu. I have some skills to get me jobs. I can sing and I can cook. I can babysit. I probably wouldn't like it, but I would do it if I had to. Now, there is something that you have to do while I'm gone. You need to take care of the Mercedes for me. Take good care of it and don't make a mess, okay? I love you and now I need to get packed up. And Whit? You start going potty like I taught you to. You have to grow up a little quicker now that I'm going to be gone.
Hopefully I won't be gone too long."

Marlee Considers Jobs And Her Qualifications

Marlee couldn't believe her ears! Her deputy was going on vacation? Well, she had been planning a vacation out west with Whitlee, maybe this would work out alright after all. She didn't know how far Colorado was, but she remembered that her mama and daddy had taken a vacation there once and so had Grandma B a long time ago. Well, she was going to talk it over with her Grandma B. She had to make sure that she hadn't thrown away Grandma Lu's stimulus check. She still had a feeling that she might have done that by mistake.

"I wonder how much work I have to do to earn that much money for Grandma Lu. I probably will be old like my grandma before I can quit. Maybe I can get a job in Colorado when I get there.
Yup, that's just what I'll do; get a job. Papa said I was a good helper fixing the leak in the sink one time. I could be a "pummer" and fix stuff like he does. We put in new shelves in the kitchen because her grandma had lots of stuff to put away. That was kinda fun. I wonder how much it pays...

While Marlee was worrying about how to earn some money for Grandma Lu, Jackson had gotten a new haircut for summer. He was anxious to see his grandpa and go to the lake and maybe do some fishing. He just couldn't wait. There was so many fun things to do there. They lived almost like in a woods. They called it timber. There were lots and lots of trees there. He had once seen deer and even some wild turkeys. His grandpa fed them every day. Someday when he got big maybe his grandpa would let him feed them. He sure hoped so. They were so pretty.

When Marlee got back to her Grandma B's mini farm, Grandma B noticed that she was a little quiet, but didn't think much of it. What Grandma B didn't know was that Marlee was planning her trip and she wasn't going to take Whitlee with her! She had to work and wouldn't have time to play with her little sister. She was going to Colorado by herself.
"How am I going to break this to Whit? She really wanted to go on a 'sister vacation' with me. We would have had fun, but I have to get money for Grandma Lu. It's all my fault she didn't get her check."

The Deputy Said He Was Leaving On Vacation

It didn't take Marlee long to get into town. She needed to get all the information she could from her deputy, Jackson, but first she had to go look at the parking lot where the trash can was taken. She thought the robber might have left some clues as to where he was going. The question was, why would somebody take an old trash can in the first place. "Probably just some kid foolin' around. That's what dad always says, 'Hey, you kids, quit foolin' around' or you are going to get into trouble."
As she was walking around looking for clues who should she meet but Grandma Lu. "Hi, Grandma Lu. What are you doing out here?"

Grandma Lu looked very troubled and showed Marlee what she had in her hand. It was an empty envelope that had at one time had her stimulus check in it. She said that some people were throwing their stimulus checks away because they were coming in plain white envelopes and looked like junk mail. Some of the stimulus money was issued as cards that looked like bank debit cards. As she explained these things to Marlee, Marlee was taking notes while she was in her Barbie camper. She was getting a little sick to her tummy. She kind of remembered that piece of paper. She might have thrown in it the trash. Her daddy might have thrown the trash away and the crook might have the check in the trash can. What was she going to do? That was three "mights" that just 'might' have happened and it was all her fault!

What should Marlee do? Should she tell Grandma Lu, should she tell her deputy, Jackson? Should she tell her daddy? Should she tell her Grandma B?
Grandma Lu was still talking and Marlee heard her say, "Times are tough nowadays, that money would have been so nice to have because it seems that the price of things are going up to the point where a lot of folks can't even afford food. Oh well, my parents lived through the Great Depression in the 1930's and they survived. So will I. It will just take a little doing that's all. Marlee why are you in your police uniform? What's going on? Where's the trash can? I was going to look through the trash to see if my check had been thrown away by mistake."

Marlee and Grandma Lu both heard the deputy's siren as he pulled up into the Marleewood parking lot. He grinned and said, "Guess what? The crook that stole the trash can has been caught. But he got clear out to Colorado before the cops nabbed him. Somebody has to find out where the trash can is though. They didn't find it with the trash truck. I can't go so you will have to. I have to get ready to go on vacation with my mom. We are going to go see my grandpa. He lives by a lake and has a boat. His wife is really nice too. She lets me take the trash out when I ask her.  Maybe I will get to go swimming and especially fishing 'cause Grandpa loves to fish. Good luck, Chief. See you later."

                                                             *******
The last time we saw that lady she was looking in a trash can that wasn't hers......

Officer Weaver Is On Duty!

In Marlee's small hometown there was a volunteer police department mostly for looks only. Seldom was there any trouble there. Marleewood actually housed the only police car that was ever used and Marlee was the Chief of Police on days when she wasn't playing with Zeke or her little sister, Whitlee Jo. One day while she and Whitlee were planning their trip out west in her Barbie camper the special emergency phone rang out at the mini farm. Grandma B answered it and said, "Marlee, you had better quit playing with Zeke and get your uniform on. Someone stole our trash bucket at Marleewood. You need to help catch that crook!"

It had been a long time since Marlee had been on active duty. She quickly went into the bedroom and put on her uniform. "Officer Weaver on duty, Grandma B," she giggled. "I'm out to catch the bad guy. Oh can you play with Whit for me? I need to call the office and make sure the car is ready."

Grandma B started to laugh and said, "Marlee, you'd better put the rest of your uniform on if you want to be taken seriously."
Marlee looked down and started to laugh herself. She quickly ran in and put the rest of her uniform on and was soon ready to go catch the bad guy.

"Zeke, you play with Whitlee while I'm gone. We seem to have a crime spree in town. Some bad guy stole our trash can. Now my walkie talkie is blowing up with squawkie noises. I had better get going! I've got an APB out on him. That means that everybody is looking for him. Anyway, I gotta go. Shouldn't take long. I'm good at solving mysteries and crimes. That's why I'm the chief."

She waved goodbye to her Grandma B, Whitlee Jo and Zeke and took off for town in her Barbie Camp'. Soon she would be in hot pursuit!

Where In The World Is Marleewood?

While Grandma Lu was trying to make sense out the "organization" and "helping" of Grandma B and her friend's two granddaughters, Marlee and Whitlee, a lady many many miles away was weeding a small flower bed that she had started for her sister. The flowers were doing so well because there had been a lot of rain and now sunshine; just a perfect combination for her begonias.

As she was humming to herself and doing her gardening she heard the big trash truck coming down her lane. She had recently changed companies and was very happy that it was arriving on time. She was glad because she had done a lot of house cleaning and had thrown a lot of things away that she didn't need anymore. "I need to do some more closet cleaning and throwing away when I get a few spare hours. It feels so good to get things done that are on my list and save money too. This new company is so much cheaper than my old one was. I was so smart to change companies when I saw the add on the internet," she chuckled to herself.

When the trash truck left she got up to stretch and noticed that the trash can wasn't hers. It was a different one. "Well, what on earth is this doing here? Where in the world is Marleewood?" She walked over and looked inside the little trash bucket. It wasn't even empty. Some trash bags and also some photos were stuck to the bottom of it. "Oh good grief, now what do I do? I wonder if some scam artist took advantage of me? I've heard that there are folks out there that aren't very nice. Doggone it, now I am going to have to call my old trash company and apologize and see if they won't come back out here. My bright idea ended up costing me money. The crooked guy is probably sitting in his comfortable living room counting my money."

 "I should have known better. It just seemed like such a good deal. The old saying is 'if it seems too good to be true it probably is.'  Oh now what in the world am I going to do about these pictures? I can't just throw them away. Oh good. I can see a label on the back. I wonder who Marlee and Whitlee are and where they live. Cute dog too. Well, I don't have time to worry about that now. I need to call 

and get my old trash service back."

Marlee Is Planning A Trip Out West

Grandma Lu was very busy in the Quiet Room attempting to repair her photo album. Marlee and her little sister, Whitlee, had been helping their Grandma B and had a few accidents along the way. There was an accidental dumping of the snack basket and then pictures had been falling out of the big album and probably a bit of ice cream may have stuck some of the pictures together. Grandma Lu loved the little girls and remembered her own children "helping" her and had just given them hugs and went to work. "Oh my, just look at B and I. Jo Ann and Marlee and her mama joined us for lunch at the pizza parlor that day. Once again she was so good. This is only one of two or three pictures of us together. I must be sure to save this one. Oops, just a little bit of ice cream makes really good glue, Marlee," she chuckled as she unstuck a picture of Jo Ann and Marlee on that same day.

Grandma Lu thought that she could hear Grandma B hollering at her son to take the girls home and grab the trash. She just grinned to herself. "Kids will be kids, no matter how old they are. Just gotta love them."

Grandma B had hollered to her son to take the girls home and to also take out the trash on his way. She was so disappointed that her helpfulness in organizing her friend's photo album had turned out to be a small disaster. The thing is, Grandma B didn't realize that she had caused the biggest disaster of all. Her son had emptied all the trash cans and emptied them into the dumpster out on the parking lot. Of course, the missing stimulus check that was sent to Grandma Lu just happened to be in one of those trash cans.

Marlee was now at home playing with her Barbie camper and planning a trip out west. She had everything that she needed. She had been out west before solving a mystery. She could remember it plain as day. "Oh that was a really fun time. I had a dog and a beautiful girl help me find my dolly. I wonder if I go back if I will have as much fun as I did the first time. Well, this time I will take Whitlee with me.

Whitlee Jo Says, "More"

Grandma B and Grandma Lu went rushing into the Sitting Room. Things looked okay there except Grandma Lu did notice that her quilt on her rocking chair wasn't straight like she left it, but she wasn't concerned about it. The ladies went on their way to the Quiet Room which at this point wasn't quiet. There was Marlee and Whitlee and the biggest mess they had ever seen. Wow! From snacks to toys to pictures and papers and all kinds of books on the floor including Grandma Lu's Photo Album.

Marlee whispered to Whitlee, "See, I told you we were going to get into trouble. They have mad faces." About that time Grandma Lu burst out laughing and said, "You girls are the limit! Are you having a good time? Mercy on us. How would you like some help picking all these things up. You can help us put everything away. How does that sound?"

The girls were so surprised that they said, "Yay! Hi, Grandma Lu. We are sorry. We'll help." They got big hugs and they all started picking up and putting things away.
Some of the pictures had fallen out of the big book. "Look, B. Here is a picture of Marlee on her first job interview. Oh that was so funny. Stashia had to help her dress and sit appropriately like a lady. Remember this outfit? So cute. I remember that story. She didn't like to get up early to work at Mrs. Sandy's cafe. Remember her doing dishes? It was fun at your house, but not for a job. Wasn't there fairy dust in her necklace and a bite out of the peach cobbler?"

Why is Jo Ann's picture here with Marlee's? It's a beautiful picture of her and her dogs, Charlie and Zeta, but it doesn't belong with these of Marlee. This is strange; these are all pictures of me. Why are they here with all of these? They were in the back of the book because they were part of the personal pictures I have been saving over the years. Mercy, they are all falling out. Well, I guess I had better get busy and fix this. I have a lot of work to do here, I can see that. Do we have any tape here? I think the binding might be cracked a little bit. Don't worry, I can fix this."

Grandma B sighed, "I thought by alphabetizing them it would be easy for you to find them. L comes before M. Marlee said, "I know my ABC's, Grandma Lu." She grinned and gave her another hug, and said, "I know you do. You are such a smart little cookie." Whitlee Jo heard cookie and said, "More, cookie, yummm."

Grandma Lu Comes To Marleewood Unannounced

Grandma B's whole body froze for just a second when she heard Grandma Lu's ringtone on her phone. "Oh, jeez, what shall I do? Shall I pretend that I didn't hear her call? She's my friend. I can't just ignore her. I guess I will answer it and just not tell her about the mess my dear granddaughters did to the Sitting Room and the so called Quiet Room. I think I can get everything back in order before she is ever able to come back to Marleewood."
She quickly answered the phone and said, "Hi, Girl. How is everything? How is your lady? Where am I? Well...you are? When? Oh... well...You are pulling into the parking lot at Marleewood? No, I mean, Oh... well, okay then. I'll come outside and...oh you are already inside? Oh....

Grandma Lu laughed when she saw the look on her friend's face. "What's the matter with you? You look like you've seen a ghost. I haven't been gone that long. So my dear, do you have coffee on and a snack for this old lady? It's been ages since I've been here. How is everyone? I have to get all caught up on the news. When the coffee gets done let's go into the Quiet Room where no one will disturb us. I'll put the sign up and we can just visit with no interruptions. Maybe we can get out my photo album and put some new pictures in it. I think I may have gotten some graduation notices and some invitations for drive through church and graduations too. I like to save those, you know. Most importantly though, I've been waiting for my Stimulus Check from the government. Did you get yours? Twelve hundred dollars will really help. The price of hamburger has tripled since the last time I went to the store. Mercy sakes, people are hoarding toilet paper and napkins and even Kleenex.  I'm thinking it may have come here because I'm here so much," she chuckled.
While Grandma B was thinking about how she was going to handle telling Grandma Lu what the girls did they heard a terrible crash. "Oh now what!" The ladies both got up to see what had happened when they heard Marlee say, "Oh look, Whit. There are pictures of me when I was little and when I'm big. There's a picture of when you were just born with Grandma and me. I didn't like you much then, but you're okay now."
 "There's some papers in here. I'll just throw those away. I don't think they belong in this book. This is just for pictures. I'm coming Daddy. I just have to finish cleaning up this mess. This big book fell down and there's stuff all over the place. Whit quit tearing stuff up! We're going to get into trouble."