Read Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 03 - Smoky Mountain Mystery for Free Online

water before pouring the other side full of food. 
    Mally rubbed against Gloria’s leg appreciatively and then promptly buried her head inside the food dish. 
    Gloria plugged her cell phone and charger in the nearest outlet she could find before dialing her sister’s cell number.  It went right to voice mail.  “Liz, it’s me.  I don’t know what kind of crazy game you’re playing or why you feel it’s necessary to drag me into this wild goose chase in the mountains but when I find you, I’m going to shake some sense into that crazy head of yours!”  She punched the end button hard, which gave her a sliver of satisfaction.  Gone were the good old days when you could just slam the phone down!
    Margaret flopped down on the bed next door.  “She didn’t answer?”
    Gloria shook her head.  “Nope.” She eased off the bed and wandered over to the large picture widow.  The mountain view reminded Gloria of a painting.  The mountains rose majestically around them. 
    She lifted her hands over her head and reached towards the ceiling.  Gloria was tired of riding.  Riding in the car.  Riding in the train.  Her legs were stiff and a small throbbing in the center of her back was quickly growing. 
    A nice, long walk to limber things up sounded wonderful.  She placed a hand on the small of her back and stretched her spine.  “Now what should we do?” Gloria wondered out loud.
    Margaret’s eagle eye had already scoped the area out on the drive into town.  She walked over to where Gloria was still standing, pulled the curtain back and peered around the corner of the window.  “Well, I’m heading over to that casino.”
    “What casino?”
    “That one,” she pointed.
    Gloria sighed as she followed her finger.  It was not quite what she had in mind.  She didn’t really want to go to a casino but reminded herself that Margaret was nice enough to come along with her on this adventure.  The least she could do was tag along if Margaret wanted to do something else.  Against her better judgment, she decided to go.  Other than just hang around the room and wait ‘til morning, there really wasn’t much else to do, anyways. 
    The short walk across the two-lane road and down the sidewalk to the main entrance took less than five minutes. In front of the casino was a large, luxurious hotel. They stepped through the sliding glass door and were greeted by a massive floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace.  On both sides of the fireplace was a wall of windows that offered spectacular views of the mountainside. 
    Gloria would’ve loved to explore the hotel and grounds.  Instead, they followed a large wooden sign that pointed left, “Casino.”
    They walked another five minutes down corridor after corridor, past indoor pools, a game room, several restaurants and gift shops.  After what seemed like an eternity, the faint ding ding of slot machines could be heard. 
    Following a second sign that said “Casino,” the girls eventually stumbled upon an escalator.  Gloria looked to the bottom where she could see row after row of shiny slot machines with bright flashing lights.  She began to have second thoughts.  She’d never been inside a casino before.  “Maybe this isn’t such a great idea.”
    Margaret grabbed her arm and yanked her onto the escalator before she could change her mind.  “We won’t stay long,” she promised.
    At the bottom of the escalator, Margaret wandered off as Gloria made her way over to a nickel machine.  It caught her eye with its cute little green men that spun around and shot out coins from small, silver laser guns.  Gloria plopped down in the chair and stuck a $20 bill in the machine.  Half an hour later, she was already bored with the game. Win a nickel, lose a nickel.  It was a vicious cycle. 
    Her stomach grumbled in protest.  It had been hours since they last ate.  She glanced at her watch. It was almost 7 p.m. and time to find Margaret. 
    She squinted her eyes as