Trixie was quiet as she and Honey began the journey back through the woods. The light had almost faded. Already they could hear the soft scuttlings of tiny night creatures in the trees around them.
“Trix?” Honey’s voice sounded scared again. “I—I don’t think I like this. I wish we hadn’t come. I wish Mrs. Crandall had offered to take us home again. Even Reddy would look good to me now.”
The words were hardly out of her mouth when Reddy came racing toward them through the trees. Unexpectedly, he stopped politely when he saw them.
Trixie bent down to pet him. She smiled. “Now that you mention it, I’m glad to see him, too. If I could only think of the command that would make him stay with us—”
She stopped as she felt Reddy stiffen under her fingers. He growled, and it was no playful growl. Reddy meant business. Trixie could feel the hair rise on the back of his neck. He was staring fixedly at the path ahead.
“Quick, Honey, hide!” Trixie whispered urgently. “Reddy’s warning us that someone’s coming!”
Quick as a flash, both girls were off their bicycles and off the trail. They crouched low, sheltered from view by a stalwart pine.
In another second, a fearsome rider loomed blackly against the darkening sky. The ground shook as noiseless hooves galloped swiftly toward them. A rush of cold air brushed across their staring faces.
And the headless horseman sped silently past.
Bob-White Breakup? ● 14
TRIXIE HAD OFTEN WONDERED what Reddy would do to protect her. She soon found out.
He took one startled look. He gave one startled bark. Then he turned and fled. He dashed off through the trees, away from the terrifying sight. His tail was tucked firmly between his legs. Trixie and Honey could still hear him yelping in fright long after he had disappeared.
Trixie let out her breath in one long sigh. She felt like running herself—in two different directions at once. The horseman, too, had disappeared. She wanted to follow him to see where he was going, but she also knew she should follow Reddy and stop his panicked flight.
She resigned herself to the inevitable. “We’re going to have to find that silly dog,” she told Honey. “He’s got no sense at all, and he’ll probably get lost in these woods.”
“Oh, no, Trix!” Honey’s teeth were chattering. “Please let’s go home. Reddy will probably come if we call him.”
“I doubt it, but we’ll try.” Trixie raised her voice. “Reddy! R-e-d-d-y!”
She walked a little way into the woods, then a little farther. Nervously, Honey followed. The lights from their bicycles pierced the darkness ahead, but Reddy was nowhere in sight. The two girls called and called until their voices were hoarse.
“It’s no good, Trix,” Honey said at last. “We can’t find him. Let’s go back.”
They turned to find their familiar path once more, only it wasn’t where they expected it to be.
Trixie groaned. “Don’t look now, Honey, but I think Reddy’s not the only one who’s lost. The main thing is not to panic. Maybe the path’s over this way. Oh, that dog! Wait till I get my hands on him!”
Still talking, she led the way first up one trail, then down another.
“Trixie?” Honey said suddenly. “I don’t think this is the right way at all. We’re going uphill again.”
“I know, but maybe this path will at least lead us back to Sleepyside Hollow.”
The path didn’t. It led them instead to another clearing high on a hill. A large building stood on top of it. When the girls shone their lights toward it, they could see it was an old barn, which seemed to be deserted. From where they stood, they could see little but peeling paint and rotting timbers.
Honey shivered and pressed close to Trixie. “Let’s get out of here,” she whispered. “We’ve found another spooky place.”
“Wait!” Trixie had seen something move by the wide barn door. She flashed her light toward it. “Reddy,” she called softly, “is that you?”
But it was only a cottontail rabbit doing some exploring of his own.
“Come on, Honey,” Trixie whispered. “Let’s take a look around. Reddy could be hiding in that barn, or maybe he’s lying there, hurt.”
They switched off their lights, hid the bicycles in the bushes, and hurried inside. The dark interior smelled warm and fragrant. It reminded Trixie of somewhere else—somewhere familiar.
Without a light, it was hard to see if anything—or anyone—was there. The barn seemed to be unoccupied, and yet....
A loud voice broke into her thoughts. “I tell you, I saw lights up here not two minutes ago,” a man said. He sounded as if he was standing right outside the barn door.
“I didn’t see anything,” a woman answered.
“Quick, Honey!” Trixie whispered. “The hayloft!”
With Trixie urging her on from below, Honey scrambled as fast as she could up the ladder. Soon the two friends lay panting, side by side, on the dusty floor above. They peered over the edge.
Trixie smothered a gasp when she recognized the three people who walked in.
The young woman still wore the same smart blue suit she had been wearing all day, and the bald-headed man still wore his guard’s uniform. Trixie could see the bulging outline of the menacing gun he wore on his hip.
The third person had a bandage across his forehead. There was no doubt about it. It was Di’s butler, Harrison.
“What’s he doing here?” Trixie hissed in Honey’s ear.
Her only answer was a puzzled shrug.
“I tell you I saw something up here,” the guard was saying obstinately.
“You must have been imagining things,
Charlie,” the young woman answered. “There’s nothing here now.”
“I fear we are wasting our time—” Harrison began. Then he stopped and looked, startled, toward the wide door.
There was a sudden sound of furtive movement. The door creaked open, and a black nose appeared slowly around the edge of it.
In the hayloft, Trixie sighed. The newcomer was Reddy.
The young woman laughed and bent down to pet him. “It’s only a dog,” she said. “That’s what you must have seen, Charlie.”
Reddy sat down and thumped his tail on the dusty floor. He had obviously recovered from his fright. Trixie could see the silly animal trying to look brave and strong and utterly dependable.
“I saw lights, I tell you.” Charlie sounded irritated. “Dogs don’t wear lights. I think we ought to take a look in that hayloft.”
Trixie and Honey shrank back as they heard his heavy footsteps moving toward the ladder.
Trixie glanced over her shoulder. There was nowhere to hide! Nowhere at all!
“Forget it, Charles,” Harrison said suddenly. “It’s been a long, frustrating day. First there was all that trouble with the hospital when they didn’t want me to leave. Then we had no help from Mother Goose. Now, it seems, we’re chasing lights. They were probably fireflies.”
Charlie hesitated for a long moment. “What d’you want to do with the dog?” he said at last.
Trixie held her breath and thought again of the gun at Charlie’s hip.
It seemed forever before she heard Harrison say, “The dog, I believe, belongs to the Beldens. Leave him here. He will undoubtedly find his own way home.”
In another instant, Harrison and his fellow conspirators were gone.
Trixie felt limp with relief as she hurried down the ladder. She threw her arms around Reddy’s neck and buried her hot face in his disheveled coat.
“Oh, Reddy,” she whispered, “I thought you were a goner, for sure.”
Honey hurried to join them. She shuddered. “What does it all mean, Trix? What was Harrison doing here? Who are those people? Do you think they’re Harrison’s gang? Is he the brains of the outfit? Oh, Trixie, why don’t you answer?” Trixie sighed and rose to her feet. She held on firmly to Reddy’s collar. “I don’t answer because I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe you’re right
. Maybe Harrison is the leader of a gang. There’s only one good thing about all this mess.”
“What’s that?” Honey asked hopefully.
“We’re not lost any longer.” She removed the belt from her jeans and fastened it to Reddy’s collar. “Just before we came in here, I noticed this old barn has a super view. Look!” She opened the wide door and pointed.
Off to the left, down in a hollow, Honey could plainly see the lights shining from Rose Crandall’s little house. To the right, far across the treetops, the rising moon shone on a long winding ribbon of road—Glen Road. A broad trail wound its way through the woods toward home.
Trixie and Reddy looked at each other. “Whatever you do,” Trixie told him firmly, “don’t take us back to Crabapple Farm.”
So, of course, Reddy led them straight to it.
For the next few days, Trixie had little time to think about what had happened. She went to school. Afterward, she did her chores and her homework. She helped exercise the horses. She looked after Bobby, and she went to bed.
She did all these things without any enthusiasm. Di was still angry with her and refused to make up.
The following Wednesday, on the way to school, Honey said, “Don’t worry about it, Trix. Di will come around. Harrison’s back at work now, and I’m sure everything will soon settle down to normal.”
It didn’t.
On Thursday, during gym, Trixie whispered, “I’ll eat lunch with you, Di. I’ll save a bench in the lunch court. Then maybe—”
“No, thank you.” Di’s voice was cold. “It so happens, I’m eating lunch with Mart today. At least he doesn’t suspect my butler of being a thief!”
So Mart had told her that, too!
On Friday, on the school bus going home, Trixie was close to tears. “What am I going to do, Honey? I’ve tried everything.” She glanced across the aisle at Di’s averted face. “I’ve tried calling her on the phone. She won’t talk to me. Last night I invited her to dinner. She wouldn’t come. Now even Brian and Mart are angry with me.”
“What on earth for?”
“They say I’m always poking my nose in where it doesn’t belong. They even said that if we can’t get along as a group, maybe we should breakup.”
Honey stared. “Break up? You mean—break up the Bob-Whites?”
Trixie sniffed and nodded. “This business with Harrison has caused nothing but trouble. Even
Jim says I’m bossy. He also told me last week I was suffering from mystery-itis.”
“I’m not sure I know what that is,” Honey said.
“I’m not sure I do, either.” Trixie sniffed again. “And there’s something else. I never did tell you, but my folks were very angry with me because we almost got lost in those woods last Saturday night. I’ve had to promise never to wander off like that again.”
Honey nodded in sympathy. “I know. Me, too.”
Dan poked his head up over the top of the bus seat in front of them. “I’m not angry with you, Trixie, and I think the answer’s easy.”
Trixie stared at him. “What answer?”
“The answer to the question of what to do about Di, of course. Why not take her out tomorrow? Go shopping. Make it a trip for just you girls. Have lunch at Wimpy’s, or something. Show her that you really care that she’s upset.”
“She won’t come,” Trixie said. “I’ve been trying stuff like that all week.”
“Then get Honey to ask her,” Dan answered. “She’s not mad at Honey, is she?”
A slow smile spread across Honey’s face. “You know, that may not be a bad idea. In fact, the more I think about it, the better I like it. I’ll go and ask her right this minute.”
Trixie closed her eyes and crossed her fingers as Honey slipped across the aisle to the empty seat next to Di. She waited impatiently. What was taking Honey so long? Trixie peeked. She could see the two heads bent close to each other—one dark, one the color of honey.
The answer was yes! Trixie could tell even before a smiling Honey slipped back into the seat beside her.
“It’s all set,” Honey said. “We’ll meet at Di’s mailbox at ten o’clock tomorrow morning. Don’t be late.”
Trixie felt like singing. “Late? Don’t be silly! I’m ready to go right now!”
Trixie tried to catch Di’s eye to tell her how glad she was that they were going out together again at last. But Di was busy looking out of the window.
When she went to bed that night, Trixie felt happier than she had all week. Until now, she hadn’t even enjoyed watching Mart give a freshly bathed Reddy his obedience lessons. Trixie suspected that Mart hadn’t enjoyed giving them, either.
Reddy, on the other hand, had a wonderful time. He hadn’t learned a thing.
But Trixie wasn’t thinking about Reddy now.
She lay staring up at the ceiling of her room.
Our outing with Di tomorrow has just got to work, she thought. I don't know what I'll do if it doesn't.
Museum Mystery • 15
THAT SATURDAY MORNING, Trixie was all ready for the shopping trip even before the rest of the family was out of bed.
“Great heavens,” Mrs. Belden exclaimed when she hurried into the kitchen, “I can’t believe my eyes! You’ve set the table for breakfast and everything.”
“I’ve also dusted the furniture and mixed the batter for waffles,” Trixie said, her blue eyes sparkling with happiness. “The only thing I haven’t done is to make my bed. My bet with Mart is as good as won, so I figure he can start paying off right now.”
Mart sauntered in. “Did I hear you talking about beds?” he asked. “If so, I would remind a certain someone that there are still a few hours left for me to weave my magic upon our canny canine. Today, I’m determined that dog will do what I want him to. A whole month of bedmaking depends on it.”
Trixie laughed. Even Mart didn’t sound angry with her anymore. Maybe he never had been. Now that she thought about it, she had been hard to live with all week.
“It’s so nice to see you cheerful again, Trixie,” her mother said, smiling.
“That’s because I’ve made up with Di,” Trixie said. “Oh, it feels so good!”
Mart stared. “That’s funny. I saw Di last night, and she didn’t say anything about making up. In fact, she gave me the impression that your name was still mud as far as she was concerned.”
“Well, you were wrong.” Trixie turned away. “I couldn’t eat a thing this morning, Moms. I guess I’m too excited. Do you mind if I leave now?”
Startled, Helen Belden looked at the clock. “But, Trixie, it’s only seven-thirty!”
So Trixie had to wait. The time seemed to drag by. At nine-thirty, however, she felt she couldn’t wait a moment longer. She bicycled as fast as she could to the mailbox at the bottom of the Lynches’ driveway.
To her surprise, Honey was already there. Something about her made Trixie think that Honey had been at that mailbox for a very long time—and pacing up and down, at that. She forgot all about it when Honey came hurrying to meet her.
“Hi, Honey!” Trixie called. “What a beautiful day! I feel so happy I could fly like a bird. Watch!” She spread her arms wide and flapped them up and down.
Honey didn’t say anything.
“Honey?” Trixie’s arms dropped to her side. “Is anything wrong?”
“Wrong? What could be wrong?” Honey swallowed. “Everything’s just fine. Really.”
As soon as Di appeared around a curve in the driveway, however, Trixie could tell that everything was not just fine.
Di was wearing a bright flowered outfit. Her face, though, was wearing no expression whatsoever. When she caught sight of Trixie, her face looked as if she would turn right around and go back home.
Honey obviously thought so, too. “Wait here,” she muttered, then hurried forward to where Di was standing, stiff and silent.
Soon Trixie could tell they were in the middle of a heated discussion. Honey was waving her arms and talking as hard
as she could. Di was shaking her head vigorously.
Trixie walked up to them. “What’s going on?” she asked. “It’s almost ten o’clock. Has something gone wrong with the arrangements?”
“You may as well know,” Honey said. “I made two sets of arrangements for today. One was with you and me. The other was with Di and me. Oh, you’re going to kill me, both of you! You see, Trix, I didn’t tell Di you were coming with us this morning.”
“Oh, Honey! How could you!” Trixie cried.
“I thought it was such a terrific idea yesterday,” Honey explained. “I thought it would get you two back together again. But last night, when I told Miss Trask what I’d done, she said I shouldn’t have interfered. Do you know how long I’ve been standing by that mailbox? A whole hour! I was trying to get up enough courage to tell you both what I’d done.”
Di looked angry. “Why did you do it, Honey?” Suddenly, Honey lost her temper. “Someone had to do something,” she yelled. “Do you know how impossible you two have been this week? And then when Brian and Mart said the Bob-Whites might as well break up—”
Di gasped. “Break up? But why?”
“Oh, Di, don’t you see?” Trixie said. “If we Bob-Whites can’t get along together, how can we hope to help other people? I’m really sorry I’ve upset you. Won’t you be friends again?”
“Will you admit that you were wrong to suspect my butler of being a crook?”
“Why is it so important to you?” Trixie cried. “Mart’s told you the whole story. You have to admit that Harrison’s actions are very strange.”
“I expect Harrison has a very good reason for everything he’s done,” Di snapped. “Anyway, he hasn’t done anything wrong. I just know it.” Trixie wished she could be as sure as Di that Harrison was innocent of any wrongdoing, but she wasn’t. On the other hand, which was more important—being right or being friends?
“Okay, Di,” she said at last. “I was wrong to think Harrison is a crook. I won’t worry about him anymore. I’ll forget him.”
“He truly is innocent, you know,” Di said. “Who is?”
The Mystery of the Headless Horseman Page 10
