Rosa the defective detective, Part 1

Rosa trying to perfect being a defective detective.

“Hi mummy. Who’s Nancy Drew?” Rosa had just walked into the nest where she usually saw her father standing waiting to hug her, but instead it was a beautifully sunny day and he was on the deck reading his newspaper.

Sybil stood guard by the kitchen door waiting for her second youngest daughter to make her entrance. “I think it’s a book, isn’t it little one? Why do you ask?”

“A friend of mine at school says she’s a defective.”

Sybil laughed and Julia who was in the kitchen as usual at that time of day researching recipes for dinner on the internet, came out with a large smile on her face. “No, Rosa, not a defective, but a detective.”

“Oh,” she replied not knowing what either one of those words meant. “What’s that?” she asked.

“It’s someone who solves mysteries. Didn’t your friend tell you that?”

“No, she just asked me if I knew Nancy Drew.”

“She’s not real little one,” replied Sybil wiping the tears off her face. Rosa felt indignant.

“Yes, she is!” Rosa was adamant, especially after she felt her mother wasn’t taking her seriously. Rosa purposely walked past her mother without giving her an obligatory kiss and walked into the kitchen with Julia following behind her. “What’s for dinner?” she asked looking around on all the counters to see what Julia had prepared for her as a snack. Not seeing anything except a bagel, which she didn’t want, she left the kitchen and walked out on to the deck, where she knew she would be taken more seriously by her father. But not before checking on Brenda who was fast asleep in her crib in her room.

“Hi dad!” she waved to him and George looked immediately at his phone for the time.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said jumping up, “I forgot what the time was,” and with that he enveloped her in his expansive wings and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “How was school?” he asked.

“It was ok,” she replied and George detecting a little hesitation in her voice decided to find out what was wrong. “Nothing,” replied Rosa walking over to the end of the deck and looking down at Melody who was busy playing Pickleball with a couple of hermit crabs.

She turned and walked back to her father. “Do you know who Nancy Drew is, daddy?”

“I’ve heard the name before but other than that, I don’t know. But I know who would.”

“Who’s that because mummy and Julia don’t.”

“Elizabeth would,” he replied but Rosa wasn’t in the mood to deal with her aunt. At that moment Julia opened the sliding glass doors and walked on to the deck holding a book in her wings.

“Here you go Rosa, read this.” And she handed her a copy of ‘The Secret of the Old Clock.’ Rosa looked at it and then handed it to her dad.

“I’m hungry,” she said to Julia.

“Well, why didn’t you eat the doughnut on the counter? I didn’t have time to make anything, so I stopped at the farmers’ market and got a few doughnuts.”

“Oh!” replied Rosa looking a little more upbeat. “I thought it was a bagel.”

Julia laughed. “No, Rosa. No bagels. Just one doughnut left for you.”

“Did everyone have a doughnut then?” She asked as she opened the sliding glass doors and walked into the dining room where her mother was sitting at her sewing machine.

“Yes!” shouted Julia after her. “That one is yours.”

Rosa didn’t hear her and continued her walk into the kitchen where she grabbed the doughnut and made her way back on to the deck. She sat down next to her father and picked up the book which George had placed on the deck. “Can you read this to me please daddy?” Rosa asked as she made quick work of the doughnut and then wiping her beak on the back of her hand, something that always annoyed Sybil who was watching from inside.

She had to say something. She got up from her sewing machine table, slid open the sliding glass doors and announced her presence. “That’s why they invented napkins, little one!” and not waiting for her daughter’s answer she closed the door and returned to her sewing machine.

Rosa shrugged her shoulders and looked at her father who gave her his handkerchief to finish the job. “Can you read it to me please?”

“How about later when you’re in bed? Because right now I want to finish this article and then it will be time for dinner.” Rosa wasn’t happy. She took the book from George and decided to see if Timmy who was in his room doing his homework would read it to her.

“It’s a girl's book,” replied Timmy when she asked him, “and anyway, I have to finish my homework.”

Julia who heard that felt sorry for her younger sister and walked into Timmy’s room and offered to read it. “But mind you,” she added, “dinner will be a little late.” That was ok with Rosa.

“What’s for dinner?” she asked.

“A mystery!” replied Julia getting a kick out of her reply. Rosa ignored her and they both walked into the living room where they sat down on the sofa side by side, and Julia began reading. After a few minutes Rosa found herself not very interested in the story and slid off the sofa.

“Where are you going?” she was asked.

“My friend is wrong,” she replied, “the book isn’t good. I think I have to be older to like it.” “Probably,” replied Julia glad that Rosa had lost interest and so now she could go back to her cooking. Rosa walked back through the dining room where Sybil was busy sewing and onto the deck where George was engrossed in his newspaper. She jumped onto the deck chair next to her father as he moved over slightly to give her more room.

“What happened to the Nancy Drew story Julia was going to read to you?”

“It’s boring daddy.”

“In which case let me read you this article about a real mystery.” Rosa sat up waiting for her father to read her the article. “It seems that someone has been stealing the baby turtles from the reservation.”

“Oh,” replied Rosa who didn’t care much for the turtles in the first place, “that’s no mystery. The seagulls have been stealing them.”

“How do you know that?” asked George putting his paper down.

“I don’t know,” replied Rosa shrugging her shoulders. “Who else could it be?”

“Why don’t you find out by being a real detective?”

Rosa rolled her eyes and slid off her father’s chair making her way back into the house as she felt it was time Brenda woke up.

“Don’t wake up Brenda,” said Sybil not very loudly, but it was too late.