Part 3

Turkey Day adventures

After lunch, Diana, Honey, and I got ready to go to the Beldens’ open house.  Honey and Diana had taken sandwiches and a thermos of milk down to Jim and Brian at the clubhouse.  Although Brian had to go home shortly after eating, Jim was going to stay down at the clubhouse and work on the roof until it was dark, because he felt sure that a storm of some kind was getting ready to hit.  Brian and Mart had to spend the afternoon parking cars at Crabapple Farm.  I was glad we were walking.

At the open house, there was a crowd of people.  I wouldn’t have thought the house could hold so many.  Trixie and her mother were constantly going back and forth from the kitchen, to the living room, to the terrace outside, refilling and replacing dishes and carrying used plates and cutlery back into the kitchen.  Honey and Miss Trask were helping, too.  Diana helped some, but when her own family arrived, she spent most of her time keeping up with her younger siblings.  I hung out with her, since I couldn’t help Trixie and her mom, and Brian and Mart didn’t need (or probably want) my help. 

Bobby was napping when we arrived, but after he got up, he played with Larry and Terry for a long time.  Then, the Lynches, except for Diana, left, and he went outside to play with his dog, Reddy.  I kept an eye on Bobby, who was trying to teach Reddy to fetch a ball for him.  The dog would run after the ball, but he wouldn’t pick it up or return it to Bobby.  So Bobby had to throw and retrieve most of the balls.  Finally, I took him back inside to eat supper.

By the time Jim showed up, it was nearly six o’clock and twilight outside.  We both went out to check on Brian and Mart, and were actually able to help them manage the parking and departure of cars for awhile.   When I went back inside, I saw Bobby working his way steadily through a large bowl of potato chips. 

“Hey, champ, do you want to throw a ball around outside when you finish eating?” I asked him.

“Maybe.  But I gots to finish eating first.”  He seemed perfectly content, so I went outside again and checked out the parking situation.  People were still coming and going.

“Do you guys do this every year?” I asked Mart.

“Moms and Dad have been doing it since before Bobby was born.  We don’t have any family around here and they wanted to do something for all the neighbors who welcomed them to Crabapple Farm when they first moved out here from the city to take care of my grandparents.  That was when Brian was a baby.”  Mart waved another car out with his flashlight.

“When we were really little I don’t think they did it.  With three preschoolers underfoot and no help they couldn’t have.  But I can’t remember a Thanksgiving when Mr. Lytell and Mrs. Vanderpoel weren’t guests,” Brian added.  “It’s gotten a lot bigger in the past couple of years, though, since Trixie can help Moms with the cooking and other preparations.  I like doing the Open House, it’s just that this year we had so much work to do on the clubhouse after the storm that I hated to take the time off of that while we had good weather.”  He used his own flashlight to beckon a late arrival into the vacated space.

“Yeah, I’m sure we’re going to get another storm in the next day or two,” Jim said.  “It’s too late in the year and it has been too warm this week. Once it snows, we won’t be able to do anything on the outside until spring.  If we have to leave all of our sports equipment in there all winter without protection from the weather, it’ll be ruined.”

Of course, Uncle Matt could buy all new sports equipment and have a brand-new clubhouse built for Jim and Honey, and never notice the money that was spent.  But I could see how important it was to all of them to take care of their clubhouse themselves.  I had to respect that, in a way I hadn’t thought about before.

By eight o’clock, there were only a few cars left, and no more guests were arriving.  Jim and I convinced Brian and Mart to go inside and eat something, while we watched the departing guests and directed traffic.  Since there were so few cars left, Brian decided that Mrs. Belden’s prize flowerbeds were out of danger, and so they left us with the flashlights.

I hadn’t seen Bobby since I found him eating his way through the bowl of potato chips, so after about fifteen minutes I told Jim, “I’m going to check on Bobby.  If he’s already in bed, I’d like to tell him good night.”

“Sure.  There are only a couple of cars left, and I can handle them.”  Jim waved me in the direction of the house.

As I reached to open the door leading inside from the Beldens’ terrace, Trixie came rushing out and ran straight into my arms.  We both laughed as we disentangled ourselves.  “Say, that kid brother of yours is cute,” I told her.  “The trouble with me is that I’m an only child.  I’ve learned a lot this week from hanging around with you Beldens and Jim and Honey.  And Di, too.  You guys are always so busy you don’t have time for practical jokes.  I realize now that they’re kid stuff.  Why, even Bobby knows better.  He’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys.  I wish my mother would adopt him.”  I couldn’t believe myself, giving a speech like that to Trixie Belden!  But I meant every word.

She stared at me, and although she was scowling when she ran outside, she suddenly smiled.  She really was a pretty girl, although not my type.  “He is cute,” she agreed.  Then, suddenly looking worried, she asked, “Where is Bobby?  I haven’t seen him for simply hours.  It’s time he went up to bed.”

“I haven’t seen him since he ate a whole bowl of potato chips, singlehanded, around seven o’clock.”  I grinned at the memory.  “Weighted down as he was, he couldn’t have gone far.  I’ll collect him and put him to bed for you.  That would be fun.”

“Gee, thanks!”   Trixie collapsed onto the low stone wall of the terrace.  “If I don’t get my own weight off my feet soon, my ankles will snap in two.”

 “Consider your baby-sitting problems solved,” I assured her and went inside through the kitchen door.  Once inside, I checked the kitchen, living and dining rooms; the downstairs bathroom, even Mr. Belden’s study.  I looked into an empty bedroom, but saw only a few jackets and handbags on the bed – no Bobby.  The little imp’s probably already gone upstairs, I said to myself.  Maybe he’s playing up in his room. 

I jogged up the stairs and checked in every room, since I had no idea which one was his.  Since all of the doors were open, I didn’t feel like I was intruding.  It was easy, though, to tell which room belonged to whom.  Trixie’s room wasn’t very feminine, but there were ruffled curtains at the window.  A larger room with twin beds and a full bookcase was obviously Brian’s and Mart’s.  After a quick glance into each one, I went on down the hall.  Nope - a bathroom.   Nope  – large room with a double bed – Mr. and Mrs. Belden’s.  Finally – a small room with a single bed and a full toybox – this had to be Bobby’s.  It was dark, so I flipped the light switch.  No Bobby.  I was beginning to be worried.   I went back into each room and turned the lights on – he was nowhere upstairs.  Back downstairs I went through each room again – he wasn’t there, either.

I was really getting worried now.  Bobby was too little to be wandering around outside in the dark by himself.  Where could he be?   I went outside, looking all around the front and back yards.  He wasn’t there. 

I felt sick, and turned back to the terrace, where Trixie was lying on the stone wall of the terrace, apparently asleep.  Poor kid, she’s worn out!  I thought, hating to awaken her.

I shook her by the shoulder, whispering in an effort not to arouse anyone else’s attention.  “Trixie, wake up!  I can’t find Bobby anywhere.”  She didn’t respond, so I whispered louder.  “Trixie!  I tell you he’s gone!  I’ve searched the house and grounds.  There isn’t a sign of him.”

She sat up and rubbed her eyes.  “Who – what?” she asked.

“Bobby,” I hissed.  “I don’t think we ought to frighten your mother, but we’ve got to do something.  I remember now he said something to me about the brook.  But he couldn’t have gone down there in the pitch dark, could he, Trixie?”

“Oh, oh!” she gasped.  “He has a flashlight of his own.  He could do anything.”

Honey and Di, followed by Brian and Jim, came out on the terrace just then.  Trixie immediately began to wail.  “Bobby’s disappeared!  Don’t let Moms know.  Get all the flashlights you can find – and – ”  She burst into tears.  I stood there in shock – I would never have believed tomboy Trixie capable of falling apart like that.  But if she was that upset, I was more worried than ever.  Diana came over and placed a soothing hand on Trixie’s arm.

“Whoa,” Brian said steadily.  “He’s probably sound asleep under his bed.”  He raced inside.

“That’s right,” Honey reassured Trixie.  “You’ve forgotten, Trixie.  On warm nights, Bobby always sleeps under his bed.”

Amazingly, Trixie’s tears stopped as if a faucet had been turned off.  “Did you look under his bed, Ben?” she asked me.

I shook my head.  “I never thought of that.”

Mart came walking up to the terrace with Reddy at his heels.  “I had to search the whole four acres,” he complained, frowning at his sister, “and finally found him down by the brook, licking his chops.”

“Oh, never mind about Reddy!” Trixie cried.  “Bobby’s disappeared.  At least I think he has.”

At that moment, Brian came back with several flashlights.  “He’s nowhere indoors.  We’ll have to search every inch of our property.  I’ll start with the brook.”

“Wait a minute,” Mart said, the freckles standing out against the whiteness of his face.  “Are you sure Bobby isn’t in the house?”

“Positive.”  Brian and I answered his question at the same time.

“Well, he isn’t anywhere on our property, including the brook.  I just combed it all, inch by inch, trying to find Reddy,” Mart declared.

“The Wheelers’ lake!” Trixie gasped.  “He couldn’t have gone up there.  He couldn’t have!”  

If I felt sick before, I felt absolutely awful then.  Although the day had been warm for November, the water was nowhere near warm enough for swimming – even if Bobby knew how to swim.  No way could a six-year-old keep himself afloat in the lake for any period of time.

“Take it easy.”  Jim was taking charge of the situation.  For once I was thankful for my new cousin’s leader-of-the-pack attitude.  He took a flashlight from Brian and added, “Come with me, Trixie.  It’s all very simple.  Bobby has run away for some reason.  If he isn’t down here, he’s up at our house or in Regan’s apartment over the garage.”

“But nobody’s home at your place,” Trixie protested.  “He wouldn’t stay there alone.”

Jim grabbed her hand and started off toward the path.  “Sure he would.  Patch is there.  They’re probably curled up together on a sofa, sound asleep.”  He looked back over his shoulder, saying, “The rest of you may as well come along, too, just in case we have to search the whole house.  But my guess is that we’ll find him in less than five minutes.”

But we didn’t. 

We’d hunted all over the Manor House, Regan’s apartment, and the stables; even the garage.  Bobby was nowhere to be found.  The three girls headed for the clubhouse while we four boys went down to the boathouse.  It was another fruitless search.  I was just suggesting that it was time to let the Belden parents know about their missing child and call the police, when Brian suddenly snapped his fingers and cried, “There’s one place we haven’t looked – the red trailer!  Bobby loves the little ‘house on wheels’.  I know it’s not locked because when we went up to fix the shattered window after the storm, we didn’t even have to use the key Tom left with Regan.”

“Brian, I think you’re onto something.  You head on up there and I’ll come as soon as I check the end of the dock.  Mart and Ben, you two go back to the Manor House and wait for us.  It will only take a few minutes to check out the trailer.  I hope to goodness we find Bobby asleep on the bed Tom and Celia bought at auction last month.”  Jim spoke up immediately.

Mart was beside himself.  I could hear him sniffling every now and then, trying to stifle any sounds of crying.  But I’ve lived in a dormitory long enough to be able to tell when a boy is crying – and Mart was crying.  Heck, I felt like crying myself.  What if Bobby wasn’t at the trailer like Brian thought?  It made me sick at my stomach to even think of that question.  So I just pretended I didn’t hear anything and said, “Sure.  We’ll wait for you at the house.”

Mart and I replaced the things we had moved around in the boathouse, shined our flashlights around outside one more time, and headed back down the path to the Manor House.  He was still sniffling but didn’t say anything.  I didn’t try to talk to him, in case he broke down totally. We were almost there when we heard voices coming from the direction of the red trailer – mainly Bobby’s voice!

“And Trixie gave her diamond ring to Mr. Lytell, just like Aladdin – Hey!  New lamps for old!  So Brian can get his car.  Hey!  Jim, do you s’pose Mr. Lytell will still buy my par-squirrel for a million dollars?

I could hear Jim’s voice as simply a low rumble.

“Bobby, you probably want to keep your par-squirrel for a souvenir.  I’m sure it’s the only one in the world.”  Trixie’s voice suggested she was suppressing a laugh. 

Next to me, Mart had heard his brother’s voice and he took off running up the hill.  I turned around and could just barely see Brian, carrying Bobby on his shoulders.  Jim and Trixie were walking on either side of him.  I decided to go on back to the house and let Honey and Diana know that the lost lamb had been found. 

It was only after Jim and Honey returned home that I found out the story of how Trixie had convinced Mr. Lytell to hold his old jalopy for Brian by leaving a diamond ring with him for collateral.  A diamond ring – a ring that Jim Frayne had given her!  I’d like to know the story behind that, let me tell you.

But down deep, what I really wished to know was how it would feel to have someone who cared enough about me to do something like that.  The Beldens have no idea how lucky they really are.

Loose ends come together

The next day was a day of work.  Jim, Brian, and Mart were going to try to finish the roof of the clubhouse, and they invited me to help.  I do know the difference between a hammer and a saw, but I’m not the handiest with tools, so I mainly tried to fetch and carry things, and to hand tools up as they were needed.  Honey and Trixie were going to patrol again, and Diana had actually spent the night at her own home.  She’d been such a good sport, but I think she was feeling left out of things, and she missed her little brothers and sisters, especially after all of the excitement with Bobby.  I was supposed to pick her up in the afternoon, after taking the laundress home and picking up a grocery order.

Miss Trask came down to the clubhouse about noon, with a picnic basket full of turkey sandwiches, pickles, and chips, with a thermos of iced tea.

“I thought you boys might like to eat down here instead of having to come all the way back up to the house,” she told us.  “I brought some wet-naps for you to wash up with.”  She pulled out a handful of packets of the little wet wipes you get with fried chicken at a restaurant.

“Miss Trask, you’re the greatest,” Jim declared, taking the basket from her.  “This is just what the doctor ordered.  And I, for one, am famished.”  Brian, Mart, and I added our thanks.

Uncle Matt’s estate manager turned to me.  “Ben, when you finish eating, do you think you could gather up the picnic supplies and trash, and bring them back to the house?  By then, it should be nearly time for Winnie to leave.  You can pick up a grocery order for me while you’re in town, and bring Diana back with you.”

“Sure,” I told her.  “I’ll be up as soon as we finish.”

Once we demolished that feast, complete with a pecan pie that was under the plate of sandwiches, I gathered the trash and used dishes and got ready to head back to the house.  “I’ll see you guys later,” I said.  “Thanks for letting me help with the clubhouse.  You’ve got a nice setup here.”

“Thanks for helping us, Ben.  I’m sorry for being so grouchy when you got here.”  Jim stuck out a hand for me to shake.  “We’re family now, and I’d like to be friends.”

“Sure, Jim.”  I shook his hand.  “No hard feelings.”  I was a little embarrassed.

“Ben, you’ve been a huge help with Bobby this week.  Trixie could never have gotten her patrolling done Wednesday without you.  And if you hadn’t discovered that Bobby was missing … well, I don’t want to think about it,” added Brian.

“Besides that, it’s no small feat keeping Bobby entertained for an entire afternoon, not to mention two days in a row.  Ben, you deserve a medal for that par-squirrel.”  Mart joined his brother and Jim in extending a hand.  Now I was really embarrassed.

“No need to thank me.  Bobby’s a great kid, and I had a good time watching him.  Like I told Trixie, my problem is that I’m an only child.  I’d love to have a little brother like Bobby.”  I tried to downplay it, but I really was happy that they didn’t seem to think I was a total loser any more.

“Look, I’ll see you later.  Right now I’d better get going so I can take Winnie home before Miss Trask has to pay her extra.”  I waved and started back to the Manor House then.

I didn’t see Jim again until suppertime.  Then, he and Honey kept interrupting each other to tell Diana and me about a strange old hermit – Mr. Maypenny – who lived in the middle of Uncle Matt’s game preserve, and who they said was going to be the new gamekeeper as soon as my aunt and uncle returned from their trip. 

The Beldens came back over to the Manor House after supper, and the discussion continued.  Miss Trask left us talking in the comfortable den when Regan came to tell her there was someone to see her.

“He’s just wonderful!”  Honey was gushing about Mr. Maypenny again.  “He makes the most delicious hunter’s stew!  Don’t breathe a word to Cook, but it’s so much better than anything she makes.  And he raises his own vegetables and cans them; he traps and shoots his own game.  And Ben, you won’t believe the deer-hauler he has fixed up with an old bicycle wheel and a basket.  Daddy would love to have one, I know, but Mr. Maypenny says that Daddy is just a boy, and that if he can’t carry his own deer, his hunting license should be taken away.  Can’t you just imagine him saying that to Daddy?”  She collapsed in a fit of giggles. 

Frankly, I couldn’t imagine it.  Or rather, I could imagine the quaint old man in his knickers telling millionaire tycoon Matt Wheeler that his hunting license should be taken away – and imagine Uncle Matt’s face getting as red as his hair, until steam came out of his ears and he fell down in a fit of apoplexy. 

Diana’s eyes widened at the idea of anyone speaking to Matt Wheeler that way.  She had already told me she was a little in awe of Honey’s dad, who was so different from her own easygoing father.

“I can’t believe that I’ve lived on Glen Road my whole life and never met Mr. Maypenny or even heard of him before!”  Trixie was still obviously amazed that something could have happened in Sleepyside without her knowing about it.

“Well, besides knowing everything there is to know about hunting, fishing, trapping, and raising a garden and preserving his own food, Mr. Maypenny is a great carpenter,” Jim added.  “He keeps up the repairs on his own cabin, and he came down to the clubhouse today and helped us finish shingling the roof.  If it hadn’t been for him, there’s no way we would have finished today.  And I heard on the radio that a big snowstorm is coming in tonight.”

“Yes, it sure was a stroke of good luck for us that he came by the clubhouse this afternoon,” Brian said.  “He pointed out a few things we could do without spending any more money, to protect our stuff from the cold weather.” 

He checked his watch and told his sister, “Trixie, it’s nearly nine o’clock.  You’d better scoot along.  Tell Moms we’ll be on home in a half hour.”

“I wish I didn’t have such an early curfew,” Trixie said with a pout.  “It’s not like we have school tomorrow.  And we have so many things to talk about. But I’d better go.”  She hugged Honey and Diana, and asked Honey to thank Miss Trask for inviting her and her brothers over.   

Just a few minutes after Trixie left, Miss Trask came back to join us in the den.  “It’s certainly fortunate that you children discovered Mr. Maypenny,” she said.  “I think he’ll be an excellent gamekeeper, and he seems friendly as well as knowledgeable.  Speaking of the gamekeeper job, I want to go ahead and pay you young people for the past week of patrolling and repairing the feeding stations.  Regan and I agree that you were very dedicated and did a wonderful job.”

“Oh, but Miss Trask, our week isn’t up until tomorrow,” Honey protested.

“That’s all right,” Miss Trask assured her.  “Mr. Maypenny said he would take care of tomorrow.  If it snows tonight, you won’t be able to patrol with the horses tomorrow anyway.  And Mr. Maypenny said he would let you work off the extra day by doing chores for him.”

“Miss Trask, you’re a brick!  And so is Mr. Maypenny.  I know all of us will be glad to do chores for him in return for the help he gave us.”  Mart jumped up and shook Miss Trask’s hand.

Honey’s eyes were shining.  “Oh, isn’t it perfectly perfect the way this has worked out!  Now, if it snows, we can enjoy it.  We’ll build snowmen, go sledding, snowshoeing …”  Her voice trailed off.

“We can build a snow fort and have a snowball fight.”  Super-responsible Jim, talking about having a snowball fight?  I was speechless.

“We can make snow-angels and build a snowman!”  Diana’s violet eyes sparkled.

Mart and Brian left just a few minutes later, and the rest of us went up to the bedrooms after cleaning up the popcorn bowls and cocoa mugs.

We were all so wound up because of the excitement over Mr. Maypenny that I thought we’d never be able to go to sleep.  But soon enough, the giggles from Honey’s room stopped, and the light under Jim’s door went out.  Soon, soft snoring began to lull me into a daze.

The next thing I knew, it was bright as day, and Jim was shaking me awake.  “Get up, Ben, and hurry!  We’re going out to clear the driveway as soon as we eat breakfast.”

“Huh?  Wha you talkin’ bou’?”  Obviously, I’m not at my best when awakened from a dead sleep.

“It snowed last night, and our driveway is totally impassable.  We’ve got to get it cleared so Tom can get his car up.  He got a deer on his honeymoon!”  Jim seemed unduly excited about the deer.

I groaned.  So Tom really was crazy enough to sit in the cold for hours while on his honeymoon with that cute little Celia.  What could be wrong with him?  However, by this time I knew better than to argue.  I crawled out of bed, dressed, and joined my cousins, Diana, Miss Trask and Regan in the dining room, where Cook had produced one of her usual buffet feasts.

As soon as we finished, we all dressed in some warmer outdoor clothes and Jim and I started to shovel snow from the drive.  Honey and Diana had brought some snowshoes up from the clubhouse the day before, and they were trying to walk in them.  It was pretty funny, but Honey seemed to get the idea after awhile.  Diana kept trying to walk, but she’d get the ends crossed and fall every time.  Regan had checked on us when we first started, but he was busy clearing a path from the garage to the house, in preparation for Uncle Matt and Aunt Maddie, who were due back that afternoon.

I was working up a good sweat when I heard Trixie Belden coming up the hill from her house.  She was breaking a path through the snow and calling for Honey.

“Guess what?” Honey shouted.

“I don’t have to guess,” Trixie shouted back.  She was huffing and puffing.  “The boys just told me all.  It’s too, too, good to be true.”

“But the boys don’t know,” Honey told her.  “Not about Celia and Tom, anyway.”

While Jim and I kept shoveling, Honey told Trixie about Tom and Celia being back, and how the car was stuck at the end of the driveway.  Trixie was worried that Brian wouldn’t be able to pick up his car and bring it home. 

“Yes, he can,” Jim assured her.  “The snowplow just went through.  It’s only our driveway that’s hopeless.  We’ve got to fix it so cars can get in and out.”

That’s Jim.  Always thinking about others.  Honorable.  Sometimes it’s sickening.  “Let’s don’t and say we did,” I suggested.  “If I can’t get out, I’ll have to stay here, and that suits me just fine.”

“But you’ve got to be back in school tomorrow evening at the latest,” Diana protested.

“Well, if I can’t, I can’t.”  I refused to feel guilty about it.    

Surprisingly enough, Trixie agreed with me.  “I wanted the roads to be okay for Brian’s sake, but I was hoping maybe we’d get a thaw and then a freeze tomorrow night so the school buses wouldn’t run on Monday,” she said, laughing.

Jim shielded his eyes as he looked up at the scudding clouds.  “Instead, I think we’re going to get more snow,” he predicted.  For once, his expert-outdoorsman attitude didn’t annoy me – I had the feeling he’d like to spend a few days playing in the snow, too. 

Trixie was shouting again.  “Let’s just fix it so it’ll be great for sledding,” she said, with a swoop of her arm at the long, sloping driveway. 

“It’s too soft for anything but showshoes,” Honey told her, taking a few steps to prove it.   Diana tried to imitate her, but pitched headfirst into the snow piled at the side of the path Jim and I had shoveled from the house to the driveway. 

Jim and I pulled her out, but she was laughing so hard she couldn’t stand up.  She plopped back down in the snowbank and waggled a snowshoe at Trixie.   “You can have these snowshoes,” she said.  “I’m sure I’ll never learn how to use them.”   

Just then, Tom came snowshoeing down from the trailer, pulling a sled for his precious deer.  I tried to imagine driving home from my honeymoon with a deer carcass in the back seat, but I just couldn’t do it.  The guy is crazy, that’s all there is to it.  And then along came Regan, ready to help him.

First, he had to tell Tom all about Mr. Maypenny.  I couldn’t believe Tom had lived around here his whole life, and hunted and fished without meeting the old guy, but finally we all managed to give him a pretty garbled story about the Wheelers’ new gamekeeper and he and Regan went on down the driveway.  As soon as they were out of earshot, Celia poked her head outside the kitchen door to say all of the Belden kids were invited to lunch at the Manor House, including Bobby, and that Mrs. Belden had agreed.   Trixie asked if her mother had said anything about Brian and his car, but Celia didn’t know.  After she ducked back into the kichen and shut the door, Trixie started off on another wild story about Jim giving her a ring, which was somehow connected with the car Brian had bought from the old storekeeper Lytell.   

“What’s all this about a ring?” I interrupted her.  “It sounds as though you two were engaged or something.”

Predictably, she sniffed.  “If Jim were the last man on earth I wouldn’t marry him.”

“Is that so?” Jim asked, giving her a very gentle push.  It was enough to send her tumbling into the snowbank beside Diana, who started laughing all over again.  Trixie struggled to get to her feet, but instead dug herself in deeper as her boots slid on the slippery path.

“Do you think I’d get myself engaged to anybody as dumb as that?” Jim asked me.  But he had kind of a funny look in his eye, and I for once I think “Honest Jim” was lying.

“No,” I had to admit.  “But why did you give her a ring?  I wouldn’t even give her a ring on the phone.”  I had to add that last crack; I really wanted to find out the story behind the ring, but didn’t want to act like I cared.  

Then Honey got upset and told us to quit picking on Trixie.  Jim pulled her up and brushed some of the snow off her head and shoulders.  “On you,” he said, “snow looks good.”  He leaned over to peer at her face.  “You should wear it more frequently, especially on your eyelashes.  Much more becoming than mascara.”

Yes, Jim had it bad for Trixie.  But she was chattering her teeth at him and threatening to go home to change into dry clothes.  “And I’ll get that ring too, Jim Frayne, and give it back to you.  I wouldn’t be caught dead with it.”

“Before you do anything, tell me the story of the ring,” I begged.  “I’m dying of curiosity.”  That was bound to be a good yarn, and I was determined to hear it.

Diana spoke up.  “If you’ll get me out of this snowbank and these snowshoes, I’ll tell you the story,” she promised.  “But only over a cup of hot chocolate.”  I gave her my hand while Honey ran after Trixie and begged her to stay. 

Trixie and Diana were both covered in snow, so we took a break for hot chocolate and then lunch – another of the Wheelers’ regular huge buffet spreads.  I asked to hear the story of the diamond ring, and it was some story!  It was amazing how Trixie and Honey had found Jim in his great-uncle’s tumbledown old mansion, how they had found Jim’s great-aunt’s diamond ring in the summerhouse, and how they had found Jim again after he ran away to escape from his cruel stepfather.  I guess Jim really did have a hard life before he ended up in Sleepyside – I doubt if I would have adjusted as well as he seems to have done.  What was really a riot, though, was when Honey and Trixie told about convincing Trixie’s dad to get the ring out of the bank for her, without letting him know the real reason she wanted it.  It was pretty funny to imagine that little tomboy simpering around at home, pretending to have a crush on me.  And even though the thought wasn’t exactly flattering to me, it was even funnier to see how Jim had been all hot and bothered over Trixie’s stunt!

After lunch, Honey, always the perfect hostess, suggested we could stay inside and dance for awhile.  Diana’s records were still at the Manor House, and we cleared a space in the music room and set up Honey’s portable stereo system.

I had just changed the record and adjusted the sound.  Glancing around, I saw Diana tapping her foot.  Brian had pulled Honey out onto the floor, and Jim was leaning over to speak to Trixie.  Mart was safely over at the buffet, where some snacks were set out, and I started across the room to ask Diana to dance.  But suddenly, the phonograph needle skipped and the record started repeating the same bit of the song over and over, and I turned back to fix it.  While I nudged the needle over, Mart appeared from nowhere.  Bending from the waist, he made an elaborate bow to Diana, saying “Could I have this dance?”

I had a clear view of Diana’s face, and one look told me I might as well give up.  She couldn’t have been more clear if she had said it out loud – “For the rest of my life!”  I was flabbergasted – she had never hinted once that she liked Mart.  He wasn’t as good a dancer as I am, but Diana seemed to enjoy dancing with him.  However, Mart didn’t seem to grasp that she really liked him.  I guess he’s not mature enough yet to be thinking about girls. 

Still, there it was.  Diana might like me as a friend, but she had other ideas in mind for a boyfriend.  The thought didn’t hurt as much as it might have a few days ago, though.  Even thinking about Tracey didn’t hurt anymore.  The way I see it, half the world’s population is female, so there’s bound to be a girl out there for me.

“Oh, look!  Here’s the soundtrack from South Pacific!”  It was Honey, oohing and ahhing over the album which she was holding.  Watching Diana and Mart, I hadn’t even noticed the music had ended. 

“Let’s play it next.  Some of the music isn’t very easy to dance to, but I love it.  And Nellie Forbush always reminds me of Trixie – especially when she’s Gonna Wash that Man Right Outta My Hair.”  Honey’s eyes danced.  

So we sat around and talked about everything and nothing, until Some Enchanted Evening started up.  Then, I reached for Diana’s hand and asked her to dance.  I hate to admit it but I enjoyed seeing Mart glaring at me during the dance.  That’s what he gets for not noticing that a wonderful girl like Diana thinks he’s the bomb.  

Back in the world

Too soon, it was Sunday afternoon.  The main roads had been cleared and I had to get back to our house on Long Island to stow the car and pick up some cold weather gear, then catch a cab to the train station.  The train would take me back to Connecticut to school.

 I wondered if maybe I could come back to Sleepyside during spring break.  Never thought I’d be thinking that!

As I turned off of Glen Road onto the highway, I happened to remember Tracey’s note.  It was still in my glove compartment where I had stashed it.  At the first light, I pulled it out and tore it into tiny pieces.  When the light turned green, I opened the window and put my hand out.  The pieces flew away in the cold air, and I felt suddenly that life was good.

“Some enchanted evening, you will meet a stranger.  You will meet a stranger, across a crowded room…” I sang until I couldn’t remember any more of the words.  Someday I would meet the right girl, I was certain of it.  But meanwhile, I had made some good friends.  It would be a holiday to remember forever.