As she trudged along, Trixie tried to organize her jumbled thoughts. The Darnells had left suddenly in the night. An album locket was missing. But money and valuable silver had been left behind.
I'll talk it all over with Honey,she decided out loud, while we ride to Rushkill Farms. Mrs. Smith gets me so mixed up when she rambles on and on I just can't think. I'll let Honey try to figure it all out.
When she arrived at the Swan, she found everything in confusion. The dogs were racing in and out of the open door, daubs of boiled-over cereal covered the top of the stove, and flies were everywhere. But there was no sign of either Miss Trask or Honey.
Trixie stared about her in bewilderment. What could have happened to them? They had obviously left the trailer in a frightful hurry. Why?
Trixie shut the door and began swatting flies. Reddy and Bud promptly settled down in front of their empty bowls and looked at her hopefully with mournful eyes.
Didn't anybody feed you?she asked, opening a can of dog food and adding it to the scorched cereal. She stirred in some bacon fat and set the mixture in front of the hungry dogs. Then she put the empty cereal pan in the sink and filled it with cold water. Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed that somebody had knocked over a package of baking soda on the drainboard. Baking soda,she said, puzzled. What on earth were they doing with baking soda at this time of the morning? Not biscuits because I remember Miss Trask complaining last night that Regan had forgotten to buy flour.
And then she knew. A solution of baking soda and warm water was one of the best things to use on burns. Somebody had been burned. She stared at the scorched pan in the sink. Boiling cereal could cause one of the worst kind of burns. How had it happened and who had been hurt?
As though in answer to her inner questions, Honey called from the door, Trixie! Trixie, are you back?
Trixie hurried out of the galley. Behind Honey was Miss Trask holding her bandaged right hand against her chest. I'm a clumsy idiot.She smiled. Yanked the cover off that pot that sticks and knocked scalding cereal all over myself.
It was a nasty burn and terribly painful,Honey added. I made her go right over to the camp first-aid station.
Miss Trask's normally tanned face was quite pale, and she sat down on one of the bunks trying hard to disguise how much her hand hurt. It's an ill wind,she said cheerfully, that blows nobody good. The doctor said I couldn't possibly drive a car for a few days. So now you two have lots more time to look for Jim.
Oh, Miss Trask,Trixie cried sympathetically. I'm so sorry. You must lie down and rest and let us take care of you.
Not at all,Miss Trask said briskly. I'll be perfectly all right in a minute. You girls run along. It's a long ride to Rushkill Farms.
We wouldn't think of leaving you,Honey insisted. You can't do a thing-She stopped as someone rapped on the trailer door.
Trixie opened it and a uniformed attendant handed her a yellow envelope. Telegram for Miss Trask,he said. We signed for it at the gate. Okay?Trixie nodded.
Open it, please,Miss Trask said. And read it out loud. I haven't any secrets.
The telegram was from Honey's mother and Trixie read it slowly.
Returning home Thursday evening would like Honey there when we arrive.
Oh dear,Trixie gasped. This ruins everything. Your hand won't be well enough for you to drive back Thursday morning.
Of course it will,Miss Trask said quickly. I won't even know I burned it by then. I'm quite ambidextrous anyway and get along with my left hand almost as well as I can with my right. Run along, you two.
The girls cleaned up the trailer and left a lunch of salad and sandwiches and iced tea for Miss Trask. So it was after ten o'clock when they set off on Prince and Peanuts for the long ride to Rushkill Farms. They took both dogs so Miss Trask would not have to worry about them, but it was so hot they stayed close to the bridle path and showed no desire of running away.
The deer flies clustered on the horses' sweaty necks, and Trixie and Honey were kept busy brushing them off with evergreen branches. This is awful,Trixie groaned, and I know we're just wasting our time. We won't find Jim at Rushkill Farms. He's found out by now that he won't get a job at any camp without a reference. And Mrs. Smith says the man who runs the Rushkill place is an old cross patch.
When did she tell you that?Honey demanded. So that's where you walked to this morning!
Trixie then told Honey that the red trailer family had left in the night and that Mrs. Smith's album locket was missing. I'm so confused now,she admitted, that I can't make head nor tail out of anything. What are your ideas?
Why, it's very simple,Honey said, although knowing Mrs. Smith I don't blame you for being confused. Don't you see, Trixie? The Darnells had to sneak away in the night after they heard that Sally had seen us. They must have heard the radio reports about the theft of the Robin and can guess that we must have heard them too. They couldn't risk leaving that trailer at the Smith farm another day after we visited the place. You said yourself yesterday that we ought to notify the police of our suspicions.
I never thought about that,Trixie said. And to be honest with you, I went back there this morning to see if the Darnell trailer was the Robin. I felt I ought to tell Mrs. Smith it had been stolen.
So did LHoney said quietly, but I sort of think Mrs. Smith must have heard the broadcasts of the trailer thefts too. That woman is no fool for all her kindheartedness. My guess is that she liked the family and felt they deserved a break. As long as she never set eyes on their trailer she wouldn't have to face the fact that it was the missing Robin.
That sounds just like Mrs. Smith,Trixie cried. And according to her, her husband is just as kindhearted. But what I don't see is, if Mr. Darnell ran away because he was afraid we would report him to the police, how did he dare stop at the Smith farm in the first place?
He had to take that risk,Honey explained. He couldn't leave the trailer stuck in the mud. And actually it wasn't much of a risk then. The theft of the Robin probably didn't come over the air until late Sunday afternoon, and with all that rain there must have been so much static he could feel pretty sure people living out in the country wouldn't turn on their radios.
And Mr. Smith,Trixie finished, is so busy with those beans he probably never has time to listen to the radio.
Honey nodded. And his wife is such a darling she probably wouldn't listen. Remember how mad she got when she told us the Darnells had been evicted from their home because they couldn't pay the rent?
What I can't understand,Trixie sighed, is how that family could steal her babies' pictures after all her kindness. And if they did, why didn't they take along the silver and the money too?
It must be as Mrs. Smith said herself. They must be planning to borrow money on the locket for their train fare back to the farm after they return the Robin. Honey suddenly straightened in the saddle. Oh, Trixie,she gasped. The poor things haven't got a chance. State troopers will catch them the minute they hit a main highway, and they can't stick to back roads forever.
Trixie uttered a groan of despair. If only they had sense enough to abandon the Robin somewhere in the woods. Then when the troopers find it they'll think it was stolen by the gang that dismantled the other ones.
Well, let's hope they do just that.Honey nudged Peanuts into a canter. I know it's wrong of me to hope the Darnells don't get caught and punished, but I can't help it. It doesn't seem fair that I have so much money and they haven't got enough to live on.
I know,Trixie agreed. We're not rich but at least we have a roof over our heads and plenty to eat.
They cantered along the trail with the dogs trotting behind them until they came to a large No Trespassing sign.
This must be where the Rushkill property begins,Honey said. And look on the other side of that field. A barbed-wi
re fence!
Maybe there's a gate,Trixie said, leading the way across the meadow.
But although they followed the fence for more than a mile, the only gate they saw was securely bolted. And then they heard a loud gruff voice and saw a man on a dusty gray horse riding toward them.
His light-brown, almost yellow eyes were expressionless, and he smiled coldly through thin lips. Were you looking for someone?
Yes,Trixie said. Is this the entrance to Rushkill Farms?
That's right. Didn't you see the 'No Trespassing' signs?He twirled his crop impatiently.
Honey edged Peanuts closer to the fence and gave the man her warmest smile. We would like very much to see the head of the camp,she said.
He gazed at her as though she were something on exhibit in a circus sideshow. I am Mr. Snell. I am a very busy man. Kindly state your business as quickly as possible.
The sun was beating down hotly on Trixie's bare head. We're looking for a redheaded boy who may have applied here for a job,she said.
Stiffly he turned from Honey to Trixie. No one has applied here for a position since camp opened. Is that all?Yes, thank you very much, Trixie replied with an edge of sarcasm in her voice.
He watched them impassively as they turned their horses' heads and rode away, and he was still watching when they cantered across the meadow and re-entered the woods.
Thank goodness Jim didn't ask that old cross patch for a job,Trixie said. That man would have smelled a rat and reported him to the police.
Jim's awfully smart,Honey said. I'll bet he took one look at Mr. Snell and decided he'd be better off working for Jonesy.
So that's that,Trixie said. Jim's been and gone. Our only hope is to find some trace of him at the spot where we saw the blue jeans. Let's return the horses right away. It's only a short walk from Autoville to the Pine Hollow road.
All right,Honey agreed. We can save time by eating these sandwiches on the way.She handed one to Trixie and then gasped, Oh, my golly! The dogs! Where have they disappeared?
Honestly,Trixie groaned. This is too much! They tore across that meadow after a field mouse when we started following the fence, and that's the last time I saw them.
We can't leave them. We're miles from home.
Honey turned Peanuts around and Prince automatically followed.
Wait a minute,Trixie cried. Let's not go all the way back. There must be a fork off this trail that goes straight up the hill instead of around it. It's practically a young mountain. From the top we should be able to see the entire valley and catch sight of the dogs without searching for hours.
You and your forks.Honey giggled. We're sure to get lost again, but let's go.
Again they turned and, with Trixie in the lead, rode along until she held up her hand for a halt. This looks like it might have been a path once. Let's try it; it's going in the right direction.
That's about all I can say for it.Honey laughed. Nobody bigger than a field mouse would consider it a path now.
Trixie twisted around in the saddle to grin back at Honey. One good thing about it is that it's so tiny the deer flies haven't discovered it yet. Next time we go searching for missing heirs I'm going to take along a spray gun!She turned around just in time to receive a smart slap in the face from an overhanging vine that twined itself around her neck and stayed there for several minutes. Don't look now,she called back to Honey, but the forest is following me!
Honey laughed so hard at the sight of Trixie trying to extricate herself with the reins in one hand and a sandwich in the other, that she almost fell off her horse. But the path gradually widened as it grew steeper, and in the end it did lead to the crest of the hill.
As Trixie had said, the hill was really a small mountain, and they had an excellent view of the smaller hills and valleys below. To the east sprawled Rushkill Farms with its neat sloping garden and pasture lands. On the west they could see Autoville, a toy village. North of them, tucked between thickly wooded areas, lay the Smith farm. And, as an anticlimax, bounding up the steep trail toward them, were Reddy and Bud, tongues lolling.
Let's ignore them,Trixie said grimly. We're the ones who always get lost; they never do.
They started down the hill, taking another trail that looked as though it would take them straight to the trailer camp. But it didn't; it zigzagged in all directions, and by the time the girls arrived at the bottom they had no idea which was north and which was south. The dogs had left them long ago and they stared at each other in despair.
Boy Scouts,Honey said forlornly, lick their fingers and hold them up to the wind or something.There's no wind in the first place,Trixie muttered sourly, and if there were how would we know in which direction it was blowing?
Honey looked up at the thick canopy of evergreen branches overhead. If we could only see the sun,she said thoughtfully. It rises in the west and sets in the east, doesn't it?
No!Trixie almost yelled. It's the other way round. Besides, it must be just about midway between the two now, so that's no help.
I suppose we could just give the horses their heads,Honey mumbled to herself. They'd take us back to the academy eventually.
I wouldn't trust them,Trixie sniffed. They're so hot and tired I'll bet they'd head for the nearest stall which is probably at Rushkill Farms. All I need to finish me is one look at sour-faced Snell.
Honey, who was never as impatient as Trixie, smiled. Remember the time you and Jim and I got lost in the woods near home? He said if we could see the river we'd be all right. He was going to climb a tree, but we were so far down in the valley-
Honey! Trixie interrupted. You're a genius. We're not in the valley now, this is a plateau. Here, hold my reins. I'll climb this black walnut. It's got the shortest trunk and the strongest-looking branches of any of the trees around here.As she shinnied up the trunk she said, Wonder what a black walnut's doing in these woods. They're very valuable trees. We must be near or on private property.
At the first fork she stopped for breath, then climbed higher. At the third, she uttered a little scream. Honey Wheeler, I don't know how we do it! We're on the very edge of the Smiths' abandoned orchard.
What-at? Honey demanded incredulously. You mean if we had kept going instead of stopping we would have known where we were in a few seconds?
Trixie grinned down at her. That's right. We are too dumb to be allowed away from home without guides.Perched in the fork she went on, I forgot to tell you that this morning on my way to the Smiths' I saw something shiny and metal gleaming in the sunlight on a rise of ground west of the main highway. I thought it might be the handlebars of Jim's bike because that mound is only a short distance from where we saw the blue jeans.
Oh, Trixie!Honey gasped, head thrown back. You did investigate, didn't you?
I tried to,Trixie said ruefully. But I just couldn't push my way through the thicket. But now I'm going to climb higher and see what I can see. Like the bear who went over the mountain,she finished with a chuckle.
Honey giggled and sang the old song as Trixie pulled herself farther up the old black walnut.
The other side of the mountain, The other side of the mountain, The other side of the mountain, Was a# that he could see!
She stopped with her mouth open as Trixie suddenly screamed, Oh, oh, oh! Now I know who stole Mrs. Smith's album locket!
Chapter 11
A Locket and a Barn
Honey craned her neck so hard it hurt. Trixie,she got out, you've climbed so high the rarefied air is making you dizzy. Come down from that lookout before you fall out!
From the leafy branches high up in the tree, Trixie called back, I'm in a crow's nest all right, and I do mean crow! In this fork is where Mrs. Smith's pet, Jimmy, hides his loot. So far I've counted two gold thimbles, three silver ones,
a dollar bill, four quarters, several yards of tarnished Christmas ribbons, a brass key-She started downward still chanting the list.
-six marbles, enough bits of bright cloth to make a patchwork quilt, four silver spoons, a rusty razor blade, a ball of red yarn, and last but not least, she finished triumphantly as she slid to the ground, one solid gold album locket studded with real pearls and turquoises.
She handed the lovely piece of jewelry to Honey. See if all the baby pictures are intact. Thank goodness it hasn't rained since yesterday morning. That crow probably flew out of the parlor window with the locket right after Mrs. Smith showed the pictures to Mrs. Darnell Crow. Honey giggled as she released the clasp and unfolded the tiny sections. He must be a magpie.A first cousin, Trixie told her as she mounted Prince, and even closer to the raven. Jimmy's as bad as the one who perched on Edgar Allan Poe's door. 'If bird or devil,'she quoted. What comes next?
I don't know,Honey answered, gazing at the baby faces in the album locket. Something about, 'Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'
'Quote the Raven, Nevermore!' they shouted in unison.
And that's no joke,Trixie continued soberly. That crow could have caused a lot of innocent people an awful lot of trouble. Oh, aren't those babies cute? This one looks just like his mother. Let's take the locket back to Mrs. Smith right away, Honey. The farmhouse is only half a mile or so from where I saw that shiny piece of metal on the mound in the woods.
Let's,Honey agreed, closing the locket and handing it to Trixie. As a matter of fact, I'm starved. Those sandwiches we slapped together were awful. Didn't you say something about spiced grape juice and chocolate layer cake?
I did.Trixie licked her lips. But let's be rude for once and eat and run. We might even have time to look for that abandoned barn before we explore the woods on the other side of the highway.
Is there any reason why we can't look for it now?Honey asked as they guided their horses between the rows of gnarled apple trees. If this is the right orchard, it must be near here.
Trixie Belden 02 - The Red Trailer Mystery (The Red Caravan Mystery) Page 9
