The Red Trailer Mystery (6 page)

“Neither one of us has any sense of direction,” Trixie laughed. “So just in case, let’s take along a picnic lunch.”

“Wonderful,” Honey agreed.

They made thick sandwiches of ham and cheese and filled a Thermos with iced cocoa. Then they set off for the riding academy. Trixie, who hadn’t been riding very long, wisely chose a quiet black horse named Prince. “I’m not taking any chances,” she said with a grin. “If we get into trouble, Miss Trask might make us go right back home.”

“You’re right,” Honey said as she swung up on the back of a more frisky chestnut gelding named Peanuts. “I’m scared to death Mother may change her mind any minute and call the cafeteria saying she doesn’t want me riding around in the woods without an armed guard.”

“It must be an awful nuisance being rich,” Trixie said as they trotted along the path to the woods. “Your parents are always worrying for fear you’ll be kidnaped and held for ransom, aren’t they?”

“They used to be,” Honey said, “before Miss Trask came. She told Dad she thought it would be better to risk being kidnaped than to grow up different from other girls.”

Trixie laughed. “Well, nobody would suspect you’re rich now. Your blue jeans are as faded as Joeanne’s and look at those big patches on the knees.”

“That’s where I ripped them when I fell off your bike,” Honey said with a giggle. “I put those patches on myself and I’m very proud of them.”

“Jim’s dungarees were faded and patched too,” Trixie suddenly remembered. “He didn’t have a stitch of clothes except the ones he was wearing.”

“But he’s got all that money you saved from the fire,” Honey pointed out. “I wonder if he still has his silver christening mug and the old family Bible that had the will in it.”

“What I’m wondering,” Trixie said, “is where he sleeps nights. That is, if he hasn’t already got a job at one of the boys’ camps.”

“Why, he could go to a hotel, couldn’t he?” Honey demanded.

Trixie shook her head. “Not without arousing suspicion. Boys his age don’t go around stopping at hotels.”

“I never thought about that,” Honey said slowly. “He can’t spend a lot of money in any one place either without making people think he might have stolen it.”

“That’s the trouble,” Trixie said. “When you get right down to it, Jim has to get a job right away. And it’s got to be some place where he can live too.”

“Well, let’s hope we find him at Pine Hollow,” Honey said.

They cantered along in silence until the trail ended at a macadam road. “Now,” Honey said, reining in her horse, “we go north, don’t we, and pick up the bridle path again in a few yards?”

“I think so,” Trixie said. “It looks so easy on the map, but when you get here it’s something else again.”

They walked their horses along the highway and suddenly Honey called out, “There’s the trail and look, aren’t we lucky? There’s a sign saying it’s the one to Pine Hollow!”

Half an hour later they galloped up a hill and found themselves looking down at a large camp that sprawled around a lake. There were several small cabins and one large one nestling among the pine trees, and the lake was dotted with boys in swimming.

“That’s it all right,” Trixie cried as they started down the hill.

Halfway down they met a group on horseback riding up the winding trail. “Hello,” Trixie called to the young counselor who was leading the way. “We were coming down to see you. We’re looking for a friend of ours, a boy named Jim.”

The counselor grinned. “We have three boys named Jim in camp. Which one is your friend?”

“The red-haired one.” Honey laughed.

All the boys grinned then. “Two of ’em have red hair. Take your choice.”

Trixie flushed with embarrassment. “I started out all wrong,” she said. “The Jim we’re looking for wouldn’t be a camper. He’s trying to get a job as junior counselor or athletic instructor.”

“Oh, that’s different,” the young man said. “A red-haired boy of about fifteen did apply for a job day before yesterday. He didn’t say what his name was, but he was riding a bicycle. Does that help you any?”

Trixie looked at Honey. Jim might have bought a bike, she decided, and said out loud, “I guess that’s the one. Did he get a job with you?”

The counselor shook his head. “No, there aren’t any positions open at Pine Hollow. It’s too bad. He looked like a nice kid, and a husky one.”

“He didn’t say where he was going, did he?” Honey asked.

The counselor shook his head. “No, he just rode right off on his bike toward the main highway.”

The girls gathered up their reins and turned their horses around. “Well, thanks a lot, anyway,” Trixie said with a wave of good-by.

Honey pulled Peanuts off the path. “Don’t you want to go ahead?” she asked the boys. “We’ve got to walk our horses for a while. They’re too hot.”

“Thanks,” the counselor said and led his group at a canter up the hill.

Trixie watched them disappear around a bend in the trail. “Anyway,” she said, “now we know that we were right about Jim. He
is
trying to get a job at one of the camps. Maybe he’ll be at Wilson Ranch when we get there tomorrow.”

“I hope so,” Honey said as they started back. “If only we knew where he’s living!”

“I can guess,” Trixie said.

“Where?” Honey turned in the saddle to stare at Trixie.

“Right in the woods,” Trixie told her. “It would be the safest place. He’s so smart he could make himself a wonderful camp and be as snug as a bug in a rug.”

“I guess you’re right,” Honey said thoughtfully. “But I hope he didn’t try to sleep outdoors during that awful rain night before last.”

“Jim wouldn’t have minded that at all,” Trixie said. “He could have rigged up some sort of waterproof shelter. I bet he’s built a swell shack by now. Oh, golly,” she interrupted herself suddenly. “Where are the dogs? I forgot all about them!”

“Oh, gosh.” Honey sighed. “So did I. They raced ahead of us along the path when we left the riding academy, but I don’t remember seeing them since.”

“Neither do I,” Trixie admitted. “Maybe they decided not to come along and found their way back to the trailer camp.”

“I guess that’s what happened,” Honey said.

As if in answer to her thoughts, Reddy suddenly bounded across the trail with Bud behind him, and disappeared in the underbrush.

“Well, I like that!” Trixie said in exasperation.
“They were so busy hunting something they didn’t even see us.” She began to whistle and call but the dogs did not come back.

“Oh, let’s leave them,” Honey said after a while. “They can probably find their way back to Autoville better than we can.”

“Okay,” Trixie agreed. “As a matter of fact, I’m sort of confused and mixed up. Do we take the left or the right fork here?”

Honey reined in her horse and gazed down at the intersection of the two paths. “Oh, oh,” she gasped. “Do you see what I see? Bicycle tracks! Maybe they’ll lead us to Jim.”

Trixie slid out of the saddle. “You’re right,” she said slowly. “But this couldn’t be the same path we just rode up. If it was, our horses would have stamped out all signs of the tire treads.” She swung up on Prince’s back. “We’re sure to get lost, but let’s go!”

Honey giggled. “I think this is the trail we should have taken in the first place. The other one wound round and round instead of going straight to Pine Hollow.”

“This is a real road,” Trixie agreed.

“Oh, I’m so excited at the thought of seeing Jim again I can hardly bear it,” Honey said. “And you know what? This is something I didn’t dare tell you before because I wasn’t sure we’d ever find any trace of Jim. But when I told Miss Trask how much you and I liked him and how wonderful it would be if he could come and live with us, and he and I could go to school in Sleepyside with you and your brothers, she said it was a wonderful idea.”

“It is a wonderful idea,” Trixie said. “I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“I can’t either,” Honey said. “So I wrote to Mother and Dad air mail before we left, telling them all about Jim and asking them if they would adopt him. Of course, I haven’t had time to hear yet, but I might get a letter tomorrow.”

“Oh, Honey,” Trixie gasped. “Do you think they’ll do it?”

“Miss Trask seemed to think so,” Honey said. “She and Mr. Rainsford talked about it for a long time on Thursday after you went home. At first he wanted to adopt Jim himself but he travels a lot all over the world, so he wouldn’t be a very good father. And Miss Trask argued that Jim ought to grow up with other boys and girls. So finally he said he’d write to Dad himself about appointing him as guardian, anyway. They’re old friends, you know. As a matter of fact, Mr. Rainsford suddenly remembered that Dad and Jim’s father knew each other years ago. They went to the same school or something.”

“It’s getting better and better,” Trixie cried enthusiastically.
“How do you think your mother will feel about adopting Jim?”

“I—don’t—know,” Honey admitted ruefully. “I’m scared she won’t even consider it. But somehow I feel sure if she could meet Jim she would like him as much as we do.” Tears welled up in her wide hazel eyes. “When I was little I heard my nurse talking to the cook and she said the reason my mother didn’t pay any attention to me was because I was a girl instead of a boy.”

“How perfectly awful,” Trixie exploded. “And of course it’s not true. You should never have paid any attention to such silly talk.”

Honey looked down at her long slender hands for a moment. “Well, anyway, if Mother does want a son, she couldn’t find anybody better than Jim. And he’s a lot like Dad. You know, they both have quick tempers, like most redheaded people, but they never stay mad long. And they’re terribly frank and honest and athletic and love the outdoors.” She smiled suddenly through her tears. “I’ll probably be terribly jealous of Jim if Dad does adopt him.”

Trixie laughed. “Jim is just what you need to help you get to know your parents. The only trouble with you and your mother is that you’re both shy. But Jim isn’t. Remember the day we discovered him? We felt as though we’d known him all our lives in just a few minutes.”

The trail ended abruptly at the macadam road, several yards north of the winding path they had taken earlier to Pine Hollow.

“Now what?” Trixie asked. “Did Jim go north or south on the highway, or did he pick up the trail on the other side of the road?”

Honey stared down at the faint marks of bicycle tire treads in the dirt. “Your guess is as good as mine,” she said. “But let’s ride north for a bit and see if there is another path leading into the woods.”

“Maybe he cut through this underbrush,” Trixie wondered out loud. “It looks as though somebody might have dragged a bike through here recently.”

“Well, we can’t go that way,” Honey objected. “Not on horseback.”

A twig crackled and both girls turned quickly, just in time to catch a glimpse of something that looked like blue jeans disappearing in the thicket.

“Jim,” both girls gasped at once, then raised their voices. “Jim! Jim!” they shouted.

And then the dogs came bounding down the trail. A few feet from the road, Reddy suddenly swerved, and, barking joyfully as though greeting an old friend, tore off through the underbrush, with Bud.

“It
was
Jim,” Trixie said. “Reddy recognized him.”

“I don’t think so,” Honey objected. “He would have answered us. And Reddy thinks everybody’s his best friend. So does Bud.”

Trixie looked discouraged. “We couldn’t possibly be lucky enough to find Jim the very first thing,” she said. “I guess whoever was wearing those dungarees is a Pine Hollow boy exploring the woods.”

“That’s what I think,” Honey said. “Let’s try to find another path with more bicycle marks on it.”

They rode up the highway for half a mile or so but saw no more bridle paths. They were just about to turn back when a large van came lumbering out of the woods just ahead of them.

“There must be a road there,” Trixie cried excitedly. “Let’s see if there are any signs of tire treads.”

As they passed the van, Trixie glanced disinterestedly at the driver, but a second later, she sucked in her breath and whispered to Honey, “The man driving that van had bushy hair, like Joeanne’s father, and the other one looked like Jeff, the waiter!”

Honey turned in the saddle to stare after the van. “Are you sure?” she demanded. “I mean, are you sure it was Joeanne’s father?”

Trixie shook her head. “No. His face was turned away from me, but he had that same shaggy hair. I could
hardly see the other man he was talking to but he did look like Jeff.”

“Well, a lot of people have bushy hair,” Honey said, “and a lot of people look like Jeff. You know, neither tall nor short, not fat or thin, and sort of colorless eyes and hair.” She giggled. “All waiters look alike to me anyway.”

“Say,” Trixie interrupted in amazement. “This isn’t a road that van came out of. It’s just a cleared space between the trees and the bushes.”

“I guess the driver thought it was a road,” Honey said, “and turned in by mistake.”

“But then,” Trixie argued, “he would have backed out. There’s no room to turn here. And he was headed toward the highway.”

“That’s true,” Honey said thoughtfully.