The Mystery at Maypenny's

by Campbell, Julie

  Your TRIXIE BELDEN Library

  1 The Secret of the Mansion

  2 The Red Trailer Mystery

  3 The Gatehouse Mystery

  4 The Mysterious Visitor

  5 The Mystery Off Glen Road

  6 Mystery in Arizona

  7 The Mysterious Code

  8 The Black Jacket Mystery

  9 The Happy Valley Mystery

  10 The Marshland Mystery

  11 The Mystery at Bob-White Cave

  12 The Mystery of the Blinking Eye

  13 The Mystery on Cobbett’s Island

  14 The Mystery of the Emeralds

  15 Mystery on the Mississippi

  16 The Mystery of the Missing Heiress

  17 The Mystery of the Uninvited Guest

  18 The Mystery of the Phantom Grasshopper

  19 The Secret of the Unseen Treasure

  20 The Mystery Off Old Telegraph Road

  21 The Mystery of the Castaway Children

  22 Mystery at Mead’s Mountain

  23 The Mystery of the Queen’s Necklace

  24 Mystery at Saratoga

  25 The Sasquatch Mystery

  26 The Mystery of the Headless Horseman

  27 The Mystery of the Ghostly Galleon

  28 The Hudson River Mystery

  29 The Mystery of the Velvet Gown

  30 The Mystery of the Midnight Marauder

  31 Mystery at Maypenny’s

  32 The Mystery of the Whispering Witch

  33 The Mystery of the Vanishing Victim

  34 The Mystery of the Missing Millionaire

  Copyright © 1980 by

  Western Publishing Company, Inc.

  All rights reserved. Produced in U.S.A.

  GOLDEN®, GOLDEN PRESS®, and TRIXIE BELDEN® are

  registered trademarks of Western Publishing Company, Inc.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or

  copied in any form without written permission

  from the publisher.

  ISBN 0-307-21552-0

  All names, characters, and events in this

  story are entirely fictitious.

  CONTENTS

  Mr. Maypenny’s Mystery ● 1

  A Clash of Viewpoints ● 2

  Bob-Whites Divided! ● 3

  Dan’s Surprise ● 4

  Two Visitors ● 5

  A Sudden Departure ● 6

  Uproar in the Auditorium ● 7

  Shocking News • 8

  An Inconclusive Vote ● 9

  The Car in the Woods • 10

  The fugitive ● 11

  A Devious Plot ● 12

  Terror! ● 13

  At the Police Station ● 14

  Mr. Maypenny’s Mystery ● 1

  YOU’D BETTER HURRY, Trixie,” Brian Belden called up the stairs. “The school bus will be here any minute.”

  “I’m coming!” his fourteen-year-old sister shouted from her bedroom. Hurriedly, she finished buttoning her blouse and tucked it firmly into the waistband of her pants. She hunted frantically for her hairbrush, which was buried under the piles of books and papers on her dresser. Finding it, she ran it through her sandy curls without bothering to look in the mirror.

  “If Brian would help me get Bobby ready for school instead of reading the sports section of the paper, I might be ready on time once in a while,” she grumbled. Then she blushed, realizing she was being unfair to her older brother. All of the Beldens had their share of chores to do. Getting Bobby, the youngest of the four Belden children, ready for school in the morning was Trixie’s task. On mornings when he dawdled, Trixie had to rush. But in the afternoon, Trixie often had free time to spend with her best friend, Honey Wheeler, while Brian and Mart were busy with yard work and repairs around the house.

  Trixie shoved her feet into a pair of loafers, gathered up her schoolbooks, and started out of the room. Then, remembering that the weatherman had predicted cool temperatures, she hurried back and grabbed a red jacket off its hanger in the closet. The jacket had “B.W.G.” embroidered in white across the back. It was one of seven jackets Honey Wheeler had made for a semisecret club called the Bob-Whites of the Glen. The members were Trixie and her two brothers, Honey and her adoptive brother Jim Frayne, and two other friends, Dan Mangan and Di Lynch.

  The club had been formed shortly after Honey and her parents had moved to the Manor House, a huge estate just down the road from the Beldens’ modest Crabapple Farm. The club devoted itself to helping people who were in need, such as a group of Mexican children whose school had been destroyed by a hurricane. In addition, the Bob-Whites frequently found themselves in the midst of a mystery, thanks to Trixie and Honey, who planned to be partners in a detective agency when they finished school.

  The other Bob-Whites teased Honey and Trixie about their knack for uncovering mysteries, but they all pitched in eagerly to find a solution when a new case presented itself.

  As Trixie ran down the stairs on this September morning, however, the only mystery on her mind was whether the school bus had left without her. She heard the kitchen door slam and realized that Brian and Mart were already leaving. Pulling on her jacket as she went, she hurried through the kitchen after them, shouting a hurried “Good-bye, Moms” over her shoulder.

  Trixie caught up with her brothers halfway down the long driveway to the road where the school bus stopped to pick them up. The bus was already visible in the distance, and they all had to run the last few feet.

  They climbed breathlessly onto the bus and walked to the back where Honey, Jim, and Dan were saving seats for them. Di Lynch had taken a late vacation with her parents and would not return to Sleepyside for almost two weeks. As the bus started up, Trixie looked through the rear window and saw a battered-looking green car pulling into the driveway of Crabapple Farm. Neither the car nor the driver looked familiar, and her mother hadn’t mentioned expecting a visitor. Trixie wondered briefly who it could be, then lost herself in the chatter of her friends.

  “The Belden contingent came perilously close to missing their means of public transport this antemeridian,” Mart Belden said. Mart was Trixie’s almost-twin. He was eleven months older than his sister and had the same sandy hair and freckles. His cropped hair and love of big words were the major differences between them.

  “I thought for a minute there we’d have to take the jalopy this morning,” Brian agreed. He and Jim, the two oldest Bob-Whites, each had a driver’s license. Brian had worked hard to save the money for the secondhand car that was his pride and joy. It was also a source of teasing from the rest of the Bob-Whites, since it took all of Brian’s considerable mechanical ability to keep it running.

  “I’m glad you managed to make it,” Dan Mangan said. “Mr. Maypenny asked me to give everyone a message this morning.”

  Mr. Maypenny was the gamekeeper for the large preserve that Mr. Wheeler had bought and stocked with deer, pheasant, ducks, and other animals. He lived in a little cabin on a pie-shaped section of land he owned in the middle of the preserve. Dan had lived there, too, ever since his uncle, Regan, the Wheelers’ groom, had brought Dan to Sleepyside to get him away from the bad crowd he’d been hanging around with in New York City. Dan had been sullen and quiet when he’d first come to Sleepyside. Now he was a loyal and helpful Bob-White, although his work for Mr. Maypenny sometimes kept him away from club activities.

  “What’s the message?” Brian asked.

  “Well,” Dan said slowly, “it’s like this.” He paused and looked first at Honey and then at Trixie, a teasing glint in his eye. “It seems he has a mystery for us to solve.”

  Trixie and Honey both gasped at once, and Mart put both his hands to his head as if to protect himself from an av
alanche. “Speak no more,” he said in mock despair. “I can say with certitude that you have already unleashed a tempest in my sleuth sibling and her loyal confederate.”

  “If you mean that Honey and I are excited at being asked to solve a mystery, Mart, you’re absolutely right,” Trixie said. “Usually grown-ups are busy trying to keep us out of mysteries.” She turned her attention from her brother back to Dan Mangan. “What is it?” she asked eagerly. “Poachers? Or did Mr. Maypenny discover a hiding place for stolen property on the preserve? What?”

  Dan shook his head ruefully. “I should have known my little joke would backfire,” he said. “I’ve got you much too worked up. It’s really nothing exciting, I’m afraid. Mr. Maypenny wants us to help him find a tree after school this afternoon. That’s all.”

  Honey’s huge hazel eyes showed her confusion as she looked from Dan to Trixie and back again.

  Trixie, too, looked confused—but only for a moment. Then her temper flared. “There are thousands of trees in those woods, Dan Mangan,” she said. “Why would Mr. Maypenny need our help to find a tree? You’re just teasing us. I bet it is a poacher, after all.”

  But when Trixie presented her theory to Mr. Maypenny that afternoon, the wiry old man shook his head. “I almost wish it were a poacher, Trixie,” he said. “It would be a lot less embarrassing to admit I had a poacher on the place than to admit I forgot where that tree is. But forget I did. You see, I noticed a tree along the edge of the path between here and Lytell’s store.

  It’s badly rotted at the base. If I cut it down now, I can make sure it falls away from the path. Otherwise, this being storm season, a big wind will come along, and, sure as I’m standing here, that tree will fall across the path.” He shrugged his broad, slightly stooped shoulders. “I should have marked it right away, but I thought I’d remember where it was. Well, I didn’t. So I decided to have Dan ask for your help instead of keeping my stupidity to myself.”

  “We’re glad to help, Mr. Maypenny,” Honey said tactfully. “Why don’t you show us the general area where you saw the tree so we can start looking for it?”

  Trixie looked at Honey appreciatively. Her friend was always so considerate of other people’s feelings. Trixie, too, had sensed Mr. Maypenny’s embarrassment at having to admit his mistake, but it was Honey who had rescued him by suggesting they begin the search.

  The tall, gaunt old man led the Bob-Whites down the path and pointed out the general location of the tree. They spread out and began their search.

  Predictably, it was Jim, the best woodsman among the Bob-Whites, who found the tree. The others heard his triumphant whoop and headed toward it.

  “That’s it,” Mr. Maypenny said, after he quickly examined the base of the tree Jim pointed out.

  “Let’s get to work,” Jim said, picking up the ax he’d carried with him. After he’d taken out a V-shaped section of the side away from the path, Dan and Brian stepped in with a saw. Soon the tree toppled harmlessly into the woods.

  Mr. Maypenny smiled and shoved his red cap to the back of his head. “Hunter’s stew today, if you folks are interested,” he said. “I’ve had a batch simmering since this morning, just in case you young ’uns worked up an appetite out here in the woods.”

  “Yummy-yum!” Trixie shouted. “Mr. May-penny’s hunter’s stew is just about my favorite thing in the whole world! Let’s eat!”

  But Brian, the most level-headed of the Bob-Whites, shook his head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Maypenny. I love your hunter’s stew as much as Trixie does. But it’s pretty close to dinner time. We have to be going home.”

  Mr. Maypenny nodded. “I figured it might be close to dinner time when you’d finished up here. That’s why I went ahead and called your folks this afternoon to ask if you could stay for dinner. I must say,” he continued, a smile smoothing out the lines at the corners of his mouth, “nobody seemed very disappointed that you wouldn’t be around to eat them out of house and home tonight. So I guess it’s my hunter’s stew or go hungry.”

  “Well, then,” Mart said, “shall we commence with the comestibles?”

  “I have a better idea,” Trixie said. “Let’s eat!” Laughing, the Bob-Whites trooped into Mr. Maypenny’s cottage.

  Later, as the Bob-Whites were savoring the rich combination of fresh vegetables and tasty venison simmered for hours in a thick, dark broth, Brian said, “I wish you’d ask for favors more often, Mr. Maypenny. You have such a terrific way of repaying them!”

  The other Bob-Whites smiled in agreement, but Mr. Maypenny frowned. “You’re welcome to come over for stew any time you like, Brian. You know that. But I hope I don’t have to ask for any more favors. I’ve been an independent old cuss all my life, and it rankles me to ask for help. I wouldn’t have had to this time if that young whippersnapper Matt Wheeler hadn’t got me all riled up.”

  “D-Daddy?” Honey’s voice came out as a squeak. Her friends looked at one another nervously. Mr. Maypenny had had his share of disagreements with the big, redheaded Matthew Wheeler in the past, starting when the wealthy businessman had tried to buy the independent older man’s little section of land for his game preserve. Mr. Maypenny had refused even the highest offers, and Mr. Wheeler had finally had to admit that his money couldn’t buy everything. The two had eventually reached a truce: Mr. Maypenny kept his land and took over as the gamekeeper that Mr. Wheeler sorely needed. But the Bob-Whites all knew that neither man had lost his stubborn streak. If Mr. Maypenny was “riled up,” it could mean trouble.

  “Are you and Dad having problems, Mr. Maypenny?” Jim asked. His tone was casual, but his face looked grim under its shock of red hair. Jim’s loyalty to his adoptive father was intense. Mr. Maypenny suddenly looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Jim,” he said sincerely. “I plain forgot that Matt Wheeler was your father. You kids are so nice and reasonable that it just doesn’t seem possible.”

  Trixie had to bite her lower lip to keep from giggling at Mr. Maypenny’s backhanded compliment to Honey and Jim.

  There was a smile playing around Jim’s mouth, too, as he asked, “What’s Dad being un-nice and unreasonable about?”

  Mr. Maypenny shook his head, as if he couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “Matt Wheeler came over here a couple of days ago just as I was getting ready to go down to Lytell’s store. Wheeler had some big shot from International Pine along with him.”

  “International Pine?” Brian interrupted. “You mean the same company that drained the swamp to build that new furniture factory a while back?”

  Mr. Maypenny nodded. “The same,” he said. “It seems that after they drained the swamp, killing all those rare plants and driving the animals out of their homes, and after they built their big factory that belches smoke out all over the place, they started doing pretty well for themselves. So well, in fact, that now they want to expand. They went to Matt Wheeler and made him an offer on a parcel of land. Some of the land in that parcel is his, and some is mine. Matt Wheeler said he'd be happy to sell, and he came over here to try to talk me into doing the same.”

  Mr. Maypenny paused and shook his head again as he recalled the conversation. The Bob-Whites sat in shocked silence as he continued. “Of course, as soon as I realized what they were talking about, I told them my answer was no and that was as final as final could be. Matt got all red in the face and asked me to listen to him talk some more of his nonsense. He even hinted that he might go right ahead and sell his land and leave me with a factory on my doorstep and no money to show for my trouble. That’s what was on my mind when I noticed that tree, and that’s why I couldn’t remember where I’d seen it,” he concluded.

  The Bob-Whites’ shocked silence continued for several moments after Mr. Maypenny stopped talking. The game preserve was Mr. Wheeler’s pride and joy, they knew. None of them could imagine that he would even consider selling part of it—especially not to a company that planned to build a factory on the land, driving the animals out of their homes.

  Jim fina
lly broke the silence. “I don’t believe it!” he said angrily.

  “What Jim means is, there must be some logical explanation for what Daddy did,” Honey said. The expression on her face was a deeply troubled one, but, as always, her first concern was preventing an argument.

  Mr. Maypenny, however, was not afraid of an argument. “There’s an explanation, all right,” he said firmly. “That International Pine fellow offered your dad a pile of money for that land, that’s all. I can understand your wanting to stick up for him. There’s no doubt but what Matt

  Wheeler is a good father. But he was a shrewd businessman first—and last, and always. He’s not going to pass up a chance to make good money when it’s handed to him on a platter.”

  “You’re wrong!” Jim rose to his feet, his voice just barely below a shout. “Dad has plenty of money, and plenty of ways to make more without destroying wildlife. He wouldn’t sell the preserve or any piece of it to a company like International Pine. There’s some explanation for what happened here the other day, and I’m going to find out what it is.” Without another word, Jim walked out the front door.

  Once again, a shocked silence reigned in the cottage. Honey’s hazel eyes were brimming with tears, and she lowered her head so that her honey-colored hair hid her face.

  After a moment, Mr. Maypenny’s angry mood gave way to an apologetic one, and he walked around the table to put a gnarled hand on Honey’s shoulder. “Don’t fret because of what I said,” he told the girl. “I don’t think your dad is right about wanting to sell to International Pine, but that doesn’t mean I think he’s a bad person. Maybe there is some other explanation. If there is, your brother will soon find out about it. When Matt Wheeler adopted Jim Frayne, he got more than a head of red hair to match his own. He got a temper just as fiery and a stubborn streak just as wide.”

  Honey raised her head, revealing the beginnings of a smile on her tear-stained face. “You’re right, Mr. Maypenny,” she said. “Jim will get Daddy to tell him what the problem is. And I’ll bet it will be a reason even you would have accepted if you’d let him tell you about it the other day.”