Trixie Belden 02 - The Red Trailer Mystery (The Red Caravan Mystery)

by Julie Campbell (v1. 0) (epub)

  Mrs. Darnell's lower lip trembled and she caught it between her teeth. ­Yes, it was,­she said defiantly, ­and it was he who took the red trailer you've been looking high and low for these past few days.­She pointed through the trees. ­There it is, waiting for you, and it'll be the answer to my prayers if you take it away.­

  Now then, take it easy, ma'am,­the sergeant said soothingly. ­Our orders about that red trailer have been changed since yesterday. When we notified Mr. Lynch that it hadn't been stolen by one of the gang that's been operating in this neck of the woods, he said for us to skip it. Said he'd just learned that one of his very good neighbors had borrowed it and that he would be very much obliged if we would have this fact announced on the radio as soon as possible.­

  The sergeant twirled his cap. ­Couldn't help overhearing what you were telling these girls just now, Mrs. Darnell. Sounds as though you were the neighbors Mr. Lynch told us about on the phone. Guess Mr. Lynch only just heard about the trouble you people have been having. I figured you might like to have a motorcycle escort down the river when your husband drives the Robin back to Sleepyside. You can't always tell how the cops in some of those small towns might act if they saw a red trailer passing through. Might get all excited and ask you a lot of foolish questions.­

  Mrs. Darnell's thin face turned pale, then red and then pale again. ­Oh, officer,­she gasped, ­we don't deserve such kindness.­

  The trooper went on as though he hadn't heard her. ­And then there's the question of the rewards. All together they mount up to quite a tidy sum, and we boys would like to add a little something to it. I don't even have to ask the men in my troop.­ He reached into his hip pocket and produced a thick leather wallet. ­In the first place,­he said, ­the disappearance of the Robin fixed those trailer thieves. As long as it didn't show up right away the way the other ones did, the reporters in the press and on the air kept howling for action. All the hue and cry ruined the crooks' racket. Smart of your husband to figure that out, Mrs. Darnell. And very modest of him not to give us his name when he tipped us off. We could use a man like that.­He slipped a twenty-dollar bill into the pocket of her apron. ­Just a small token of our appreciation for all the time and trouble you saved us. If Mr. Darnell ever wants a job, let me know.

  It was all Trixie could do to keep from throwing her arms around the trooper's neck and hugging him. He slapped his cap back on his head and saluted smartly. ­I'll be getting back to headquarters now. When Mr. Darnell is ready for the motorcycle escort, have him drop by and just say the word.­

  His broad shoulders disappeared through the trees before anyone could utter a sound.

  And then the silence was broken by Mrs. Darnell's weeping, but this time she was crying for joy. ­That dear, kind man,­she sobbed. ­We don't deserve any of it, but I'll pray for his health and happiness every night of my life. If we could only find Joeanne now, our troubles would be over.

  Trixie reached out and patted her hand. ­I know where Joeanne is,­she said with more confidence than she felt. ­You go back and wait in the trailer for your husband. Honey and I will bring Joeanne to you.­

  Mrs. Darnell smiled shyly. ­I believe you do know where my daughter is. I'm glad I was right about you girls. Deep down inside me I was sure from the beginning that I could trust you.­She turned and darted away like a timid little gray squirrel.

  ­Trixie Belden,­Honey said sternly, ­I'm ashamed of you. You had no business arousing false hope in that poor woman. You don't know where Joeanne is any more than I do.­

  Trixie tugged at Honey's bare arm. ­I don't know but I'm practically certain. Both Jim and Joeanne are not far away. Come on!­

  Bud sat down on his haunches mournfully, as though undecided as to whether he should follow Mrs. Darnell or his mistress. Honey bit her lip. ­I love that little black nuisance,­ she said more to herself than to Trixie, ­but I think he'd be happier with a family of children than with me all alone in that big old house. Wait,­she told Trixie. I won't be a minute, but I want to give him to Sally right now and get it over and done with.

  Trixie watched Honey disappear through the trees with Bud frolicking at her heels. ­Honey's mother has just got to adopt Jim,­she said grimly through her teeth. ­He'll be a perfect brother for Honey. Mrs. Wheeler has got to see it that way. She's just got to!­

  Honey came running back then, her cheeks flushed and her hazel eyes sparkling. ­That Sally!­She panted as she followed Trixie around the base of the hill. ­Her mother made her thank me, of course, but she was as fresh as paint about it. 'Thank you for bringing back my puppy,' she said like a little queen. 'He was losted but I won't let him get losted any more.'

  Trixie chuckled. ­Sally makes me homesick for Bobby. He's an awful pest, but I guess I miss him even more than I do Brian and Mart. Oh, Honey,­ she went on enthusiastically, ­won't it be wonderful to be back home again? We can ride every day and go swimming in your lake, and-­

  ­Nothing will ever be the same again without Jim,­Honey interrupted sadly. ­Please don't keep me in the dark any more. What makes you think we're going to find him and Joeanne close by?­

  I don't know why we were both so dumb we didn't guess before,­Trixie admitted. ­Remember what Mrs. Smith said about two boys who bicycled up to the farmhouse and offered to help pick the beans?­

  Honey nodded. ­I don't see what that's got to do with it. I thought for a while that her hired hand who fell out of the old apple tree might have been Jim, but Jim is much too smart to have done anything so stupid.­

  The neglected path they had been following came out abruptly on the main highway about twenty yards south of the entrance to the Smith farm.

  ­That hired hand wasn't Jim,­Trixie said, ­but the big brother Mrs. Smith said was so husky and knew his way around a farm, is. Why, Honey, she even called the little brother, Joe. I didn't put two and two together until Mrs. Darnell was talking about how much Joeanne is like her father. She said both of them have hair that grows like weeds, and I thought to myself, 'Now both of them have haircuts too.' And right at that moment I got a mental picture of Joeanne in those patched blue jeans without her pigtails. And I saw at once that anybody would take her for a thin little boy.

  Honey covered her face with her hands. ­Oh, Trixie,­she moaned, ­we were dumb. Do you think it's too late? Do you think Jim may already have left the Smiths?­

  ­Not Jim,­Trixie said firmly. ­He'd never leave until the bean crop is in. They couldn't even go down in the garden yesterday after the rain for fear of spreading rust through the beans, but now that the sun has dried off everything, you can be sure that Jim is down there right now, picking away like mad.

  Honey began to laugh, rather hysterically, Trixie thought. ­I can't stand it, I can't stand it,­she cried, grabbing Trixie's hand and starting to run. ­To think we were sitting in Mrs. Smith's kitchen yesterday eating chocolate layer cake and drinking spiced grape juice while Jim was only half an acre away!­

  ­Jim and Joeanne,­Trixie agreed breathlessly as Honey dragged her into the Smith driveway. ­I was only half listening to Mrs. Smith when she went on and on about the two boys. I was thinking about the abandoned barn and how it must be down in the hollow below the old orchard. The sky was clouding over and I wanted to get away so we could explore before it poured.

  ­If we'd only waited a few more minutes,­Honey gasped. ­Jim and Joeanne would have come up from the garden at the first drop of rain.­

  ­That's right,­Trixie said, forcing Honey to slow down to a walk. ­Let's get our breath before we barge into the house. Mrs. Smith will think we're crazy.­She mopped her face with her handkerchief and Honey followed suit.

  It was terribly hot and sultry and the sun was shining through a haze that hung over the fields below the farmhouse.

  ­It can't be later than ten o'clock,­Honey said thoughtfully. ­Maybe it's still too wet to pick beans. Maybe they're-­

  And then they saw them-Jim and Joeanne, strolling among the gnarled apple trees in the o
ld orchard. Perched on Jim's shoulder, just as though he belonged there, was Jimmy Crow, looking as smug as if he had solved all the mysteries himself.

  Honey stood stock still, too thrilled to move for a minute, and even Trixie could only get out a weak yell. ­Jim,­she called, and then more loudly, ­Jim! It's Honey and Trixie.­

  Joeanne, looking for all the world like a miniature copy of her father before Mrs. Smith had closely cropped his hair, grabbed Jim's hand and edged closer to him.

  ­It's those girls,­Trixie heard her murmur. ­The ones I told you about. Sally stole their puppy, but she didn't mean any harm; she just doesn't understand.­

  But Jim wasn't listening. A broad grin spread over his freckled face. ­Well, I never!­he shouted. ­You two tracked me down in less than a week, you sleuths, you!­

  Honey seized one of his strong brown hands and shook it while Trixie clutched Jim's arm excitedly. She felt like laughing and crying at the same time, and now that they had found him, she couldn't think of a word to say.

  Jimmy Crow broke the silence with a loud, hoarse ­Caw­of disgust and flew away, flapping his wings, to the top of a tall maple tree. He glared down at them jealously as Trixie and Honey and Jim all began talking at once.

  It was bedlam it sure is good to see you girls again

  ­Oh, Jim, my father went to school with your father-­

  ­You don't have to worry about Jonesy any more, Jim, because Mr. Rainsford-­

  And then Joeanne chimed in, making the confusion even worse.

  ­I saw you riding down a road on horseback and hid in the woods-­

  At last Jim held up his hand for silence. ­One at a time, puh-leeze,­he commanded. ­And is there any reason why we can't have a second breakfast in Mrs. Smith's nice sunny kitchen while we talk?­

  ­Wonderful,­Trixie cried. ­She's such a darling I know she'll love hearing every word we say.­

  In a few minutes Mrs. Smith was scrambling eggs, to which she added chunks of yellow cheese. As usual, she dominated the conversation.

  ­Now mind you,­she admonished Honey who hadn't had a chance to utter a complete sentence since all four of them had gathered around the big kitchen table. ­Nobody told me in so many words that Joeanne was a boy, nor did anyone come right out and tell me that they were brothers.­She poured a cup of cream into the mixture and stirred vigorously. ­I thought it was simpler to jump to conclusions, and ask no questions, with help as hard to get as it is. Now Nat, only last night, said to me, 'Mary,' he said, 'they are no more brothers than you and I are. Brother and sister, maybe, but they resemble each other about as much as that pet crow of yours resembles a peacock.'

  ­'My pet crow, indeed,' I said, changing the subject because I knew as well as Nat did that the little one here

  was a girl and that somebody had done a clumsy job of hacking off her hair.­Her black eyes twinkled at Jim. ­I'll give you a few lessons in barbering before you go, boy. You're handy around a farm, I won't deny, but you'd never get a job in a beauty parlor.­She ran one hand through Joeanne's thick, roughly cropped hair. ­Reminds me of the mess Mr. Darnell's mane was until I took shears and razor to him!

  Joeanne gulped and started to say something but Jim broke in sheepishly, ­Ah, I didn't want to hack off her pigtails, Mrs. Smith, and we didn't plan to fool you not that we did. When I found the poor kid crying in the woods not far from my camp, half of her hair was tangled in a bramble bush and she couldn't get loose. I had to chop her free.­

  Joeanne nodded. ­And then I looked so funny with only one braid and I'd lost both hair ribbons by then, so I made him chop off the other pigtail.­ She smiled across the table at Trixie and Honey. ­If I hadn't hurried into the thicket to hide from you, my hair wouldn't have got snarled in the brambles. I was afraid you'd take me to an orphan asylum, and I wanted to find Daddy and Mommy.­Tears welled up in her big black eyes. ­It was awful of me to run away and leave Mommy with the babies to take care of, but when Sally took your puppy I couldn't stand it any longer.­She folded her arms on the table and buried her face in the crook of one elbow.

  ­Daddy's not a thief, I tell you. He's not!­

  ­There, there,­Mrs. Smith said, gathering the thin little shoulders into her arms. ­Nobody said he was, lambie, and you mustn't worry any more. Everything will turn out all right, just wait and see.­

  She glared defiantly at Jim, who hadn't the vaguest idea of what she was talking about. ­Do you take

  Nathaniel Smith for a fool?­she demanded belligerently. ­I'm the one who takes in every stray tramp, dog, boy, girl, and crow that taps at my door and I ask no questions. Although I must say for myself I do know a man's daughter when I see her, especially when she's the spit and image of her old man as this one is.­

  Jim's green eyes popped. ­Are you telling me, Mrs. Smith, that you know Joeanne's father?­

  ­Know him? Mrs. Smith roared. ­Didn't I feed him three helpings of kidney stew only night before last in this very kitchen? And Nat insisting that I had nourished a viper until I made him walk to the gas station and telephone this very morning and check with the police on the license plates of that borrowed trailer. 'Stolen,' says Nat; 'Borrowed,' says I. So I sent him right back to the gas station to call Mr. Lynch himself. And what does he tell Nat? 'The Darnells?' he asks. 'Why, they're my very good neighbors. Please tell them they're welcome to the use of the Robin for as long as they like.'

  She chuckled triumphantly. ­I would have called the man myself if our phone wasn't as dead as a doornail since the heavy rain yesterday.­

  Joeanne raised her face and her eyes were starry now. ­Then my father didn't steal that trailer, Mrs. Smith? He only borrowed it just as Mommy said?­

  Of course, lamb, Mrs. Smith assured her. ­And even if he had stolen it, you had no business running away. If you were mine, I'd take the back of a hairbrush to you, and I may yet, but not until there's more meat on your bones.­

  It was so obvious that Mrs. Smith was probably incapable of even swatting a fly that everyone seated around the table burst into laughter.

  When Jim sobered, he said, ­So your phone was out of order. Every time I got a chance I've been trying to call police headquarters, but I thought that buzzing sound meant somebody was on the line.­

  ­And what were you going to call the police about?­Mrs. Smith demanded as she heaped the egg and cheese mixture on plates and filled four tall glasses with thick, creamy milk.

  Jim looked embarrassed, and Honey broke in quickly, ­I knew you'd do it, Jim, or at least try to. After you let the air out of the tire and hid the jack-it doesn't matter now, anyway,­Trixie interrupted. ­Joeanne's father notified the police, Jim, and we were hiding in the old barn when the troopers arrested Jeff and Al.

  Jim stopped with his fork halfway to his mouth. ­You girls certainly get around.­He grinned. ­I suppose the whereabouts of Joeanne's family at the moment is no mystery to you, either.

  ­It isn't,­Trixie told him tartly. ­And as soon as we've finished eating Mrs. Smith out of house and home, we're going to take Joeanne there, all three of us.­

  ­Not me,­Jim said. ­I've got beans to pick and then I'm off again. I plan to hit the road tonight.­

  ­You'll do nothing of the sort,­Mrs. Smith boomed at the top of her lungs. ­The very idea! Going away just when I've grown to love you like one of my seven sons.­She patted her album locket. ­Nat's baby picture will have to come out, and I'll put one of you in its place, Jim Frayne.­

  Jim's face turned white and the freckles stood out on the bridge of his nose. ­Then-you-know-who I am?­he muttered under his breath.

  ­And why not?­Mrs. Smith sank down in her rocker. ­I may be fat but I can still read the newspapers, and if I remember correctly there was a story on the front page about a missing heir just a week ago today. The nephew of one James Winthrop Frayne of Sleepyside, I recall. It is none of my business why you want to run away from half a million dollars, but when you knocked on my back door asking for work and I ask you your nam
e, and you say, 'Call me Win,' and I say,

  'Short for Winthrop?' and you nod that red head of yours, what else can I think but that you didn't get burned alive in that fire?­

  She stopped for breath and Honey said, ­It's all right, Jim. You haven't anything to worry about.­

  He acted as though he hadn't heard her. ­Half a million dollars,­he repeated dazedly, ­Then Trixie was right.­His mouth widened into a smile. ­Why, I can even buy my freedom from jonesy with that much money. I'll take enough to see me through college and he can have the rest.­

  ­Indeed, he can't,­Trixie broke in. ­He won't see one cent of it. Mr. Rainsford, who's the executor of your great-uncle's estate, has already made arrangements to appoint another guardian.­It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that Honey hoped her parents would adopt him, but before she could begin, heavy feet clumped up the steps to the door.

  On the other side of the screen was the tallest and thinnest man Trixie had ever seen. ­Well, I found him, Mary,­Farmer Nathaniel Smith said as he walked into the kitchen. Right behind him was Joeanne's father. He looked so different with his closely cropped hair that Trixie would never have recognized him if Joeanne hadn't screamed, ­Daddy!

  Chapter 18

  Jim's Decision

  Joeanne jumped out of her chair, knocking it over and spilling her milk at the same time. Mr. Darnell, his face wreathed in smiles, pushed by Farmer Smith and gathered his daughter into his arms.

  ­It took you long enough,­Mrs. Smith told her husband, trying hard to keep back the tears as she watched Joeanne clinging to her father.

  The tall, thin man folded himself tiredly into a straight-back chair. ­Tramped every inch of the woods on both sides of the road,­he said in a monotone. ­Found the camp where Win here was hiding out before he came to work for us. You were right about him too, Mary. Saw his name on a christening mug under the blanket on his bunk.­