Chapter Five

Jim pulled the car over to the side of the road,slammed on the brakes, and lept out. Trixie and Diana followed suit.

"Brian!" shrieked Trixie as she ran over to the ditch."Honey! Mart! Dan! Julie!"

Diana was crying as she started sliding down the steep ditch to where the jalopy lay inmoble. There wasn't a sign of anyone moving inside. Jim's face was white and Trixie looked as if she was going to cry at any minute.

Some of the rescue workers from the first crash were also making their way down the steep ravine to where the jalopy lay slightly submerged in water, the deep ditch filled with deeper water than usual from the heavy rains they had been having.

Jim finally skidded his way down the muddy hill.bArriving at the jalopy,he starting pulling the door handle of the driver's side door."Damn it!" he cursed in frustration when the door wouldn't open. Suddenly it hit him, Brian always locked his doors when driving down the highway. "Trixie!" he hollered over to his girlfriend as she made her way down the steep hill.His breath caught in his throat as she slipped and fell in the mud. "Oh God,"he muttered hopelessly. "Trixie! Are you okay?"

He started making his way back up the hill, waving Diana on to where the car lay. "You'll need a locksmith to get in there.All the doors are locked." Diana nodded and went back up the hill to tell one of the resue workers.

As Jim neared Trixie, he heard her moan and start trying to sit up. To make matters worse, a large streak of lightning lit up the sky two seconds before a huge sheet of rain started coming down.

"Trixie!" he struggled through the rain.

Trixie sat up. "Go help down there," she said. "I'll be fine."

"Do you have a spare key?" asked Jim as he looked over Trixie, his relief obvious at her well being.

"Yeah, in my purse.Here,"she said as she gave him the requested item. She started to stand but Jim gently pushed her back down.

"Stay here," he said. "Let one of the paramedics check you out. The last thing we need right now is for you to go into labor or something." Trixie just brushed him off and started back down the hill.

"Down there is where I'm needed," she said, grimacing as she stood up.

"Are you sure that you're all right?"asked Jim.

"I'm fine, just bruised," she said impatiently. "Diana!" she called to her friend, "We have a key!" Through the rain, Trixie could just barley see Diana's grim smile.

"That's good,"said Diana,"but we had better hurry.That ditch is filling up deeper by the minute."

Trixie's face drained of color. That was something that she hadn't thought of. "We're coming!" she hollered down to Diana.

Trixie and Jim neared the bottom of the ditch. To get to the jalopy they had to go into waist deep water.

"I really think that you need to go back," Jim said to Trixie.

"Jim, do you really think that I'm going to abandon my brothers, my best friend, and a fellow Bob-white in that ravine then you are seriously mistaken! How do you think I would feel if one of them died or was gravely injured and I wasn't helping? It would be my fault!"

"Trixie,"said Jim, staring deeply into her eyes, "how do you think that I would feel if you were gravely injured or died or lost those babies all because I let you go down into that water?"

"I'm sorry, Jim," she whispered, right before going in.

 

Chapter Six

Trixie rushed through the swirling waters to reach Brian's jalopy. Diana had managed to take Trixie's key and open the passenger side door. He had multiple contusions and gash on his forehead that looked like it would require stitching and multiple contusions.

"How is he?" asked Trixie fearfully as she reached Di.

"He's breathing," was about all Di could say. She started to pull him out of the car but Trixie stopped her.

"We can't move him," said Trixie. "Wait until one of the paramedics come down here. They have neck braces and back boards and stuff like that, that they need."

"Okay," said Di. She flipped the master lock and she and Trixie moved around, opening doors to peek in on the other Bob-Whites.

As Trixie started rounding the front of the jalopy, an especially strong current lifted her up and smashed her into the car. As she cried out in pain, Jim, who was helping Dan, who was conscious and relativly unscathed, out of the jalopy raised his head in alarm.

"Trixie!" he shouted. He and Dan hurried towards the other side of the jalopy where Trixie was chrouching in pain.

"I'm fine," she gasped to Jim. "Take Dan to the shore and then come back to help me." With that, she stood back up, her face etched in pain and continued to where Honey lay, in the jalopy. Just then, two rescue workers came up. One gently guided Trixie towards the shore and the other one went on to Honey.

When Trixie and the rescue worker neared the shore, she collapsed in pain. Jim was by her side a second later.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concern showing plainly on his face.

"The current swept me into the side of the jalopy," Trixie gasped. "The rearveiw mirror got me in the side."

Jim gently lifted up the edge of her shirt to see a large purple bruise showing on her abdomen.

"You're going to the hospital," said Jim, the tone in his voice leaving no room for argument.

Trixie just nodded. "I want to have an ultra sound done. I need to make sure that the babies are all right."

The paramedic nodded, helping her up and leading her to the ambulance, Jim climbing in after her.

On the ride to the hospital the paramedics checked Trixie out and tried to locate the babies' heartbeats. Trixie didn't like the look on the paramedic's face.

"Who's your obstetrician?" asked the paramedic.

"Belinda Mertz," said Trixie. "Why?"

"Just so that she'll be there to check you out when we come in," said the paramedic, but Trixie wasn't so sure.

* * *

Dr. Mertz met Trixie's ambulance in the ambulance bay. After a quick examination of Trixie's belly, she rushed her off to a room for an ultrasound.

The ambulances with Mart, Brian, Julie and Honey came next. Dan was driven in by Diana. Jim was waiting for them in the waiting room.

Mart had regained consciousness on the ride to the hospital. Besides the six stitches it took on his forehead and many bruises, he was fine. The hospital decided to keep him overnight for observation since he seemed to have a concussion also.

Honey had a concussion and a few gashes from shards of glass that required stitches. The doctors decided to keep her overnight for observation also.

Dan had a broken arm, scratches and bruises. A doctor set his arm and told him that he was good to go, that he would be able to leave the hospital that evening.

Julie had not fared very well. Though her carseat kept her in place, the back pane of glass had shattered, giving her many serious lacerations. She would be in the hospital for many days.

Brian had fared almost the worst of the five. He had a fractured leg from slamming on the brakes so hard, a concussion, and many cuts, bruises and gashes. It took more than fifty stitches to put Brian Belden back together again, and he would be in the hospitol for a while.

"The Bob-Whites," mused Trixie, as she lay in bed later in the evening, "are sorta poor old Humpty Dumpty, all bruised and broken."

 

Chapter Seven

It was Jim who finally called their parents. The Wheelers were in Canada on business; Regan was in Saratoga, Worthington Farms he was there visiting his girlfriend, Joan Stinson. Edward and Sophia Lynch had gone to the beach with the Beldens, taking with them their two sets of twins, Larry and Terry, and Lacey and Larkin Lynch.

When Jim got a hold of the Beldens and Lynches, they said that they would come immediately. Jim could hear Bobby, Larry, and Terry complaining in the background, their week of fun in the sun being cut short.

The Wheelers were harder to get a hold of. It took Jim three hours get them on the phone. Matthew and Madeleine Wheeler said they would be out on the next flight in the morning.

When Regan first heard that Dan was in a wreck, he was frantic. When he heard that Dan had fared no worse than a broken arm and many bruises and cuts, he calmed down a little but still insisted that he could leave Saratoga within the next thirty minutes. In the background, Jim could hear Joan arguing but the connection was bad from the storms so he couldn't make out what she was saying. Regan insisted that he would be there in a couple of hours.

 

While Jim was making phone calls, Diana was taking care of Dan. While the hospital had told him that he could go home almost an hour ago, he insisted on staying. Dan Mangan was steadfast in staying at the hospital to see how his friends would pull through. Finally, Diana sighed and gave up. Pulling out a handful of change from her pocket, she walked over to the vending machines that were in the corner of the waiting room. They would be there awhile.

 

As Trixie lay in the hospital bed later that evening, she thought about the mysterious arrival of baby Julie. The Sergeant hadn't found any footprints, thanks to the heavy rains they had been having; and he, like her, hadn't found any clues in the diaper bag or basket that Julie had arrived with.

"Whoever brought Julie sure is being careful about keeping their identy secret," mused Trixie aloud.

"Hey, Shamus," said Jim as he entered the room. "Don't tell me that you're going off on another mystery; we had such a nice, peaceful stretch without them." Although he tried to keep his tone serious, his twinkling green eyes gave him away.

"That was not a peaceful spell, Jim Frayne, that was a drought! and don't tell me that you didn't miss a little mystery too, because I know better!"

"I was just joking, Trix, calm down," said Jim soothingly.

"How can I calm down?! I'm pregnant with triplets, a baby was dropped on my doorstep, and my brothers and best friend are in the hospital!" and with that, Trixie broke down. She started to sob, her body shaking.

"Oh, Trix," said Jim as he sat down on her hospital bed. He gathered Trixie into his arms and smoothed her hair and kissed her brow. He finally laid down on her bed beside her and held her tight against him as she finally cried herself to sleep. He too, fell asleep with her in his arms.

'And,' Jim thought as he fell asleep, 'nothing feels more right.'

To Be Continued

 TBH Main