The Mystery of the Bank Robbery
by Lawie
27-year-old Trixie Belden stretched and yawned. Rolling over in the bed she glanced at the small clock on the side table 11.22am.
Wow, late morning. Oh well, I deserve it. She lay there reflecting on the events of the night before. As she laid there the door to the bedroom opened and her husband, Dan Mangan, entered the room carrying a plate with eggs, bacon and toast on it. Trixie smiled gratefully as he handed her the plate.
“Hang on!” he told her, as she started to speak. He left the room quickly and disappeared down stairs, reappearing shortly with a steaming mug of tea.
“Thank you” Trixie murmured, accepting the mug
“Well?” Dan asked.
“A boy and a girl. Ethan John and Isabella Grace!” Trixie told him with a smile. She had spent the previous day at the White Plains General Hospital, supporting her best friend Honey Wheeler-Belden and her brother Brian, whilst she was in labour with twins. They had been born late the previous night. “3lb 2oz and 2lb 11oz, respectively” he added.
“Aren’t they kind of small?”
“Well, yes, compared to a single baby, but there were two in there, Dan, and Honey isn’t exactly what you would call big. They are a pretty good size for twins though. Brian is over the moon and Honey is the same. They are just gorgeous!’
“What time did you get in this morning? I didn’t hear you.”
“No wonder you didn’t! You were snoring like a steam train!” Trixie teased. “About 2 am.”
“And how are you feeling?” Dan asked, giving the question extra emphasis. Trixie understood what he was asking.
“I’m fine, Dan. Better than I thought I would be, considering. I still feel like they are our babies. I guess in a way, it’s true!” Though she and Dan were really happy, the only thing that had marred that happiness was the loss of two pregnancies at 8 weeks. When Honey told Trixie that she really wanted her to be with her at the birth of the twins, Trixie had initially said no, thinking that she couldn’t deal with it. In the end, she had decided to be in the delivery suite and she didn’t regret it. “Dan I’m really glad that I was there with Honey. It was amazing to see them come into this world. I will never regret it for one moment.” Her eyes shone with wonder and sincerity.
“As long as you are okay. We have a new – well old case at work!’ Dan changed the subject.
“Oh yes?”
“Well, you know how quiet it has been, well the boss decided to have another crack at solving the robbery of the Sleepyside bank all those years ago. All the others seem to have cold murder cases handed to them. I’m not sure if the boss thinks that you might catch something that everyone else has managed to miss, or we are being demoted.” Trixie’s eyes widened
“Surely not?” she breathed, her eyes widening. Dan laughed at his wife’s reaction
“Don’t stress, we aren’t being demoted. John just said that the others could earn their keep for a while doing murder cases. He was pretty keen to have you look over the case history, because it’s hanging over him.”
“Dad was the manager back then. He was at a meeting in White Plains when it happened. Even though he never has said anything to us, I think he feels guilty that he wasn’t there when it was there, especially as two of his staff members were shot. It was pretty violent, if I remember right. Moms and Dad banned me from even going near Sleepyside while the police were investigating it. I think they were worried that the culprits were still around.”
“You’re right; your Dad did feel guilty. I spoke to him about it. You’re probably going to kill me for this, but I was the one who convinced your parents to ban you from Sleepyside.”
“What?”
“I was worried about you Trix; you always had a way of getting caught right in amongst things somehow. Being kidnapped or nearly kidnapped.” Trixie was stunned.
“Even all that time ago…” she murmured
“I’ve been watching out for you, like you were for me.” Dan told her “You were always a promising detective, you had a nose like a blood hound, and you knew when you were on the right track, but you always seemed to fail to recognise the risk involved. Thank goodness you have had training in the police now and at least think about the risk, however fleeting.” He added wryly. “I swear, it’s amazing I’m not grey yet, or your mother!” Trixie burst out laughing.
“You could never go grey. Look at your Uncle, he will be a red head til the day he dies, and you have his genes. As to Moms, well, I know, she used to say that to me regularly, but I think the hairdresser helps hide the fact that she may be grey.” She took a bite of grilled tomato. “Yum, my favourite.” She returned the subject of the robbery. “Have you done much on it?”
“I’ve only just got the box out yesterday afternoon, after I finished all the paperwork. So I really just glanced over it. Nothing really jumps out as being odd. Spider Webster was the investigating officer, though the FBI turned up, but they couldn’t find out much more than Spider, I gather, going on what the boss said. By the way, I checked with the boss, and he said we could stay at home and work on it, for today at least.”
“Hmmm….” Trixie’s brain was already ticking over with different scenarios and possibilities. Dan looked at her fondly. “Um darling, before you jump feet first into this, can we please at least have a quiet morning. Also I really would like to meet the newest members of the Bob-whites?” He deliberately threw in the reference to the semi-secret club they had formed as adolescents. Trixie looked up sharply.
“Of course, I was just going to suggest that myself.” Dan looked amused. “Don’t give me that look, Dan. I was just going to have a shower, and get ready to go.” She jumped out of the bed, and stalked into the bathroom, the breakfast entirely forgotten. Dan just shook his head, as he gathered the breakfast dishes, and smiling, headed down the stairs.
“Can you see anything?” Trixie asked Dan in an exasperated tone. I can’t see a thing that is glaringly obvious here, can you?”
“No not really.” Dan admitted. The two of them had spent the afternoon, after visiting Honey in hospital, going over all the witness statements from the robbery at the Sleepyside Bank all those years ago. “Feel like a cuppa?”
“Sounds good!” As Dan went into the kitchen, she picked up a sheaf of the witness statements they had been examining. “This is ridiculous.” She murmured to herself. She realised that she felt too confident that she would be able to solve this case easily. “Oh well, at least it is good for humility.”
“What?” Dan yelled from the kitchen
“Nothing, just talking to myself.”
“No change there, then.” Dan commented walking into the room with the steaming mugs. Trixie stuck her tongue out at him. “Delightful! So what were you talking to yourself about?”
“Nothing really, just saying it was ridiculous. I think we are going to have to start from scratch and hope that someone can remember some little nugget of information they have forgotten previously.” She took a sip of her tea and grimaced. “Yuck.” Dan looked at her in surprise.
“What’s up?”
“Maybe I don’t want a cuppa after all.” She paused again, and picked up the sheaf of statements. “There’s not much really here to go on. I don’t know where to start, really.” She considered the statements before her. “Actually, I think where I’d like to start is with Dad. He was pretty shaken up over the robbery, and I want him to know what is going on first.” She paused again. “I’m not sure he is going to be too happy about this being opened up yet again.” She added more to herself than her husband.
“I think you might be wrong there, Trix.” Dan told her, “Your Dad sometimes lets things slip to me about the robbery, and he really wishes it was solved. I think he has nightmares or something. Especially since someone was shot. They were his employees. Plus I think it is something akin to survivor guilt he suffers from. He feels he let the team down by being away from the bank for the day.” Trixie nodded, slowly.
“True. Well, I guess we better head off and see him and let him know what is afoot.” She glanced at her watch “Feel like imposing on Mom’s for dinner? Dad will be home from the bank soon.”
“Do you want your cuppa?”
“Not really. Sorry, you went to all that trouble and I decided I didn’t want it after all.”
“That’s nothing new.” He commented and skipped away as Trixie threw a punch at his arm. “Let’s go kiddo!”
“Why Trixie, Dan!” Helen Belden exclaimed in surprise, as her only daughter and her husband came in the back door. “I just left a message for you on your machine.”
“We must have just missed it.” Trixie replied, kissing her mother on the cheek, and then giving her a hug. “Do you mind if we stay for dinner?’
“Of course not, sweetie,” She paused slightly as her son in law gave her a hug “Your Dad said he should be home soon.”
“Good, I need to speak to him.” Helen Belden raised an eyebrow at her daughter, who looked slightly embarrassed
“That sounded almost work like, dear! I’m guessing this isn’t just a social visit.” She admonished her daughter gently
“Sorry Moms. It does have to do with work, you see...”
“Before you tell me, would you like something to drink?” she asked, steering her daughter to the kitchen table, and motioning to her son in law to join them.
“May I please have an orange juice, Moms?”
“Of course. Dan?”
“An orange juice will be fine thanks, Helen.” She bustled around the kitchen, making Dan sit down also, and presented the two of them with a drink each, and sat down at the table with them.
“Now what is this all about?”
“Well, it’s kind of quiet at work at the moment, and the boss has decided to reopen some cases that haven’t been solved and we got the Bank robbery.” Trixie explained quietly “I know Dad doesn’t talk about it much, and I wanted to let him know what was going on, and to get his version of the story before anyone else.”
“And you’re also worried about how he is going to take it, given the objections about you going into town when it all happened, right?”
“I could never get anything past you, Moms.” Trixie smiled
“I think that you will find out that your father will be happy that you have the case finally, sweetheart. If you can solve it, it will allow a lot of people to move on with their lives, something that they can’t do at the moment, your Dad included. He’s proud of you, you know? But you did make both of us grey when you were younger!” Dan chuckled at the comment, remembering the conversation that he and Trixie had had earlier. Both Belden women looked at him.
“Yes?” Trixie asked her husband, one eyebrow raised.
“Nothing,” Dan decided that discretion was the better part of valour. Trixie gave him a look that spoke volumes. “Sounds like that’s your Dad is home now.” He said as he heard a car pull up the driveway. “Trix, can I suggest that you wait until your Dad has had dinner before we talk about the robbery?” Trixie just nodded her head slowly. She wasn’t really looking forward to asking her father for details on something that had, from what she understood, tormented him for over 10 years.
“Hello, Helen. Looks like we have visitors!” he commented, coming over to give his wife and daughter a kiss, and shaking hands with Dan. “Give me a few minutes to change out of these clothes into something more comfortable.” He said as he disappeared out of the kitchen.
“I agree with Dan, let your father relax properly and get something in his stomach before you start asking him questions.” Helen said quietly, so that her husband wouldn’t hear. “I know I said he will be glad that it is you who is asking, but it’s going to bring up a lot of bad memories that he has tried to forget over the years. It isn’t going to be easy for him…or you by the look of your face. Goodness, you look white as a ghost.”
“I’m just tired, Moms. I was up until pretty late this morning. Have you seen the twins?”
“Oh, yes, they look just like you and Mart did when you were born.” Helen Belden smiled. “Brian is as proud as punch. You would think he was the first person ever to be a Dad.”
“And did all the hard work!” Trixie added with a grin.
“Well of course he did!” Peter Belden agreed, walking in “Do you know how hard it is being abused by your wife, and putting up with the nail marks in your hand?”
“Poor baby!” Helen Belden commiserated with her husband, “He hasn’t let me forget it all these years later!”
“Well, you would be the same; I still have finger nail marks in the palm of my hand! See!” He held out his hand to show them!
“And I still have the stretch marks that having four children caused, not to mention scars in other places. So get over it!” She told him, jokingly. Trixie laughed at her parents. She didn’t mind the banter over babies with her parents, she knew that they had suffered the same heartbreak that she had gone through losing 2 babies, and was able to laugh along, whereas she couldn’t as easily do that with other people.
“Awww, poor baby!” Trixie and Dan echoed her mother together. Everyone burst into laughter.
“Right, you lot, out. I’m going to rustle up some dinner.” Helen Belden ordered.
“Do you want some help, Moms?”
“You may stay and help me. You men out!”
Dinner turned out to be a simple pasta with sauce, and salad, followed by the first of the season’s raspberries with home made ice cream.
“Boy have I missed your cooking Moms!” Trixie exclaimed. “You run rings around me.”
“I’ve also had a lot more experience than you, but you aren’t as bad as you think!”
“I don’t know about that…ouch!” Dan complained as he received a punch on the arm
“Would like boiled hay for a little while, Mangan?” Trixie asked acidly
“No, no that’s fine.” Dan apologised hastily.
“Thought you might change your mind.”
“So is there any particular reason that you came for dinner?” Peter Belden asked
“Well, yes.” Dan answered, knowing that his wife was reluctant to bring up the subject “We’ve been given the bank robbery case to have another look at and we need to ask you some questions. We haven’t seen anyone else yet. We wanted to let you know what was afoot, and get your version first. We know it isn’t easy remembering.”
“Ah, I see. Well, I guess that we should have some coffee and move into the other room. It’s easier to remember things when you are comfortable.” Peter Belden replied, distantly, his memory sliding back to an unpleasant time.
“Sorry, Dad, I wish I could just make it go away, but the boss has given to us, and we have to investigate it.”
“Never mind that Trixie.” Her father dismissed her apology brusquely. “You do what you have to do. I hate rejecting loan applications, but I still do it. I’m glad you are on the case this time. I have had reservations about the other officers who have been allocated it. I know that you will take the time to get everything right.” He looked at her inscrutably. “You’ve grown so much, my Trixie. It only seems like yesterday I was holding you in my arms, marvelling that I had a little girl, after two boys. I’m so proud of you though. You are an amazing person, and a brilliant detective, and I won’t mention anything about grey hairs!”
“What is it about grey hairs today?” Trixie burst out suddenly, then realised with chagrin what she sounded like. “Sorry Dad. I’m glad you are proud of me. I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. Just that Dan and Moms have been on at me causing them grey hairs.” Trixie realised what a compliment her father had paid her. She knew without him saying that he was proud of her, but to have him tell her that, she knew beyond all doubt the fact.
“Well, let’s go into the lounge room and see if you can help solve my nightmares.”
“Okay, Trix, what do you want to know about the robbery?” Peter Belden asked his daughter. They all had a steaming cup of coffee in their hand. Trixie had pulled out her small voice recorder. She had found it easier and less intimidating for her victims if she did it that way, rather than her writing notes. She always got permission from the person she was interviewing first. Then she was able to sit down and work through the recordings later.
“Well, were there any threats or anything to the bank in the weeks leading up the robbery?”
“No, none at all. I wish there was, it would have made things easier for us all to accept. I can’t remember any thing or actions that were unusual enough to stand out to me.”
“Were you the one contacted directly at White Plains about the incident?” Dan asked
“Yes, Sergeant Molinson rang me, to tell me what had happened and to ask me to get back to Sleepyside as soon as possible. You would have to speak to him about whether he spoke to anyone else. I was the one who announced it to the people at the meeting.”
“Did any one act weird?”
“Not that I recall, no.”
“What about when you returned to Sleepyside?”
“None that I can recall, everyone was in a state of shock over the shooting of Lorna Barrows, and Justin Clark. We just couldn’t get our heads around the fact that they had to shoot people. We would have handed the money over to them no problems. Staff is more important than the money. The money was insured, but they never got any money.”
“Did anyone else know that the money was insured, Dad?”
“Hmm, let me see. My subordinate knew – John Kelly, and Peter Johns. That is about all I can think who would need to know. Obviously those above me would know too.”
“Was there anyone who appeared to become much better off overnight, so to speak?” Peter Belden knitted his eyebrows together, thinking hard. He had answered these questions over and over again in the past ten years with different people. In a way it was surreal having his daughter and son in law posing the same questions.
“No one jumps to mind.” He replied. “Out of curiosity, have you seen the video surveillance footage of the robbery?” Trixie and Dan looked at each other.
“There was no video footage in the box.” Dan answered quietly. “That means it either got separated accidentally or deliberately, or it wasn’t given over to the police.”
“No I definitely gave it to the police, but it wasn’t Spider Webster. It was another copper who I didn’t really know too well. I’m just trying to think of his name.” he paused, “I can’t remember it off the top of my head, but I have copies of the videos. I gave him the originals, but I decided to take a copy off just in case.”
“Dad, can you please try and remember what this mans name was or what he looked like? I think it could be really important. I can’t remember anything mentioned about video tapes in any of the notes the previous officers made, can you, Dan?”
“Nope, not at all, but then my mind isn’t as good as yours in that respect. Can you remember what he looked like? We can probably go back through personnel records to see if we can find a match. If not, it is still a lead of sorts. Probably more than what the others have had. What happened when you got back to the Bank?”
“Well, Lorna and Justin had been rushed to the hospital. All the employees were milling about, lost. Also giving statements to the police.” He paused, “Come to think of it, I don’t think that bloke was with the original investigating team. I had to inspect the vault and work out just how much had been taken. Something must have gone wrong, not much was taken at all. I spoke to Spider about the phone call and that, and then went to see Lorna and Justin. I should have thought about that a bit more. It was a pointless trip to the hospital that night. I didn’t see either of them. I just felt so helpless…” his voice trailed off. “I’m guessing that you are going to see Lorna next.” He continued as two heads nodded at him “Good luck with that. She hasn’t dealt at all well with the robbery, especially as she is a paraplegic now. She probably won’t want to talk to you. She has very little time for the law. They have let her down 6 times now, promising that they will find the culprit, and haven’t been able too. Mention to her that you are my daughter, it may help. I only saw Lorna the other week. I haven’t seen Justin since that day. He just disappeared off the face of the earth.” Trixie frowned at the last piece of news. She had read all the reports on Lorna, and was fully aware of what to expect, but there wasn’t anything mentioned at all about a Justin.
“Thanks for that Dad. I know it’s hard having to remember. I hope this time I can solve what has happened so that people can start to close that chapter in their lives.” She stood up and came around to sit on her father’s knee, and gave him a cuddle. “I’m sorry you had to relive it again tonight though.” She jumped a mile high as the back door crashed shut. “Oh that must be Rob home.” She exclaimed. I haven’t seen him in ages.
“Hey Trix!” Robert Belden exclaimed as he walked through the lounge room door, “What are you doing here?”
“Visiting. How are you?”
“I’m fine. I’ve just been at Jackie’s. She has a Wii and it great fun. We’ve been playing tennis.”
“Oh and who is Jackie?” Trixie asked her youngest brother, though she knew perfectly well from her mother who Jackie was.
“My girlfriend. Didn’t Moms tell you?”
“Of course she did, Rob, I was just teasing you. Have you seen your nephew and niece yet?”
“Oh yeah. They’re pretty tiny!” Dan chuckled at the younger mans comment, remembering himself saying something along the same lines earlier that day. “I like the names though. Brian was driving me nuts though, so I left. Jackie was entranced. I had to drag her out of there. Women and babies, what is it with them?” he snorted.
“Well, women like to nurture, brother dear.”
“As long as she doesn’t get any ideas, she’ll be right.”
“I’m sure she won’t, Rob. Jackie’s a pretty smart girl, and she is pretty enthusiastic about her career. I wouldn’t worry, too much about.” Helen Belden told him.
“We are about to head off.” Trixie said glancing at the time. It was nearly midnight. “We have to be early tomorrow to do some paperwork before heading out to see Lorna Barrows. Sleep well, Dad, Moms, Rob.” She gave them a hurried kiss, and Dan and Trixie headed out the door. Before they reached the car, an enormous yawn split her face. “Boy am I tired.”
“I’ll bet. Just relax, and I’ll have you home in a minute.”
Though it wasn’t far to their house, Trixie was sound asleep by the time Dan pulled into the driveway.
The next morning, dawned cool, though it was predicted to be a warm day. Trixie sat in the passenger seat staring out the window of the car, not really seeing anything.
“Earth to Trixie.” She shook away the fog, and focussed on her husband.
“You said something?”
“Just trying to get your attention, you’re a million miles away this morning.”
“Sorry, I’m just thinking.”
“I’ve noticed. What about though?”
“I don’t know. Something isn’t right, though I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Wait until we speak to Lorna Barrows, She may be able to clarify what ever it is that is bugging you.” Dan grinned. Trixie just shrugged her shoulders. Dan was giving her a bit of a hard time about her instincts, but she figured that it was to deflect her thoughts from him. He had a closed look on his face that she hadn’t seen in a long time. Not since Jim’s cousin Juliana had been married, and his old gang were hanging around town stealing stuff. She let it go. She would deal with it later. “Well, here we are. Are you ready? Time to use your charm, sweetheart.” Trixie looked at him.
“I wish I didn’t have to do this to her. I hated doing it to Dad. This time it is too close. Well let’s get this over and done with.”
Dan rang the door bell, as Trixie stood in front of the door. As the door opened, Trixie took a deep breath. “Ms Barrows?” the lady nodded her assent. “My name is Detective Trixie Belden and this is Detective Daniel Mangan. We have some questions for you about the Sleepyside Bank Robbery.”
“Well, here we go again. Are you going to promise the world to me again? At least they could have sent someone more experienced. Are you just rookies or something?” She replied sarcastically.
“If you could let us in, Ms Barrows, I’d like to talk to you about it.”
“If you could let us in…” the older woman mimicked. “I guess I better, because you might book me for obstruction.” Dan nodded blandly. “So what is the promise this time?” she asked when they were all seated at the kitchen table
“No promise.” Trixie replied. “Just the truth. This case may never be solved. But don’t you owe it to yourself to help us try and solve it. John Teal gave it to us, because we have solved many cases over the past 6 years, and beyond that. You might not believe that, but it is the truth. I don’t want to use threats to get you to help, I would rather it be of your own free will.”
“My own free will?” she laughed, but it was more like a bark. “Of course, it was my own free will that got me into the wheel chair all those years ago. The bank didn’t want me back. I was an invalid, and they don’t work.”
“No, your freewill didn’t get you into that wheelchair. It was the freewill of others, who used it wrong. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It isn’t your fault.” Trixie told her calmly.
“So you’re here to try and solve case that may not be solved. So why should I help you?”
“Because you can’t let them beat you.” Trixie replied softly. “Every time you refuse to help us, you let them win.” She reached out and took the older woman’s hands in her own. “I know what it is like, you think you have put something behind you, and then it jumps out and grabs you again.” Lorna Barrows took a sharp breath in, preparing to say something cutting back, but something stopped her. She looked closer at the police officer in front of her. Though her voice and eyes were compassionate, there was a slightly haunted look around the edges that she recognised well. It was the same expression that greeted her every day when she looked in the mirror. “It’s hard, I know, but at least if you help us, you will be beating them, and you may be able to start to mostly put this behind you and deal with life again.” Lorna barrows knew that by ‘them’ this young woman meant the demons that haunted them both, not the people who had caused the demons.
“Mostly?”
“I don’t think it ever goes away completely.” Trixie sighed, glancing up at Dan, reflecting on some of their close encounters over the years. “How about we start again? My name is Detective Trixie Belden, and this is my partner, Detective Dan Mangan. We have a few questions about the robbery at Sleepyside Bank 10 years ago.”
The older woman smiled at Trixie. “Are you related to Peter Belden at all?”
“Yes, I’m his daughter.”
“Goodness, yes. I remember you now. I haven’t seen you since the Antique Sale you had for UNICEF. You haven’t changed much. Were you there?” she asked turning to Dan.
“No. I’ve heard about it. It was before my Uncle bought me to Sleepyside to live.”
“Would you like a drink or something?”
“How about I make the drinks then we can talk about what happened.” Trixie offered. Lorna nodded her assent.
“Phew!’ Trixie thought as she busied herself making the beverages. “I thought she wasn’t going to help us at all there for a while. I don’t blame her though.” She glanced at the lady who was talking to Dan about his family. “I can see how haunted she is. I wonder if she realises that you never fully put it behind you. Hopefully we can solve this case and allow her to move on a lot more than she has so far.” She poured the hot water onto the instant beverages she was making, and added milk, then took them over to the table.
“Shall we get started with this then?”
“Boy am I hot!” Dan exclaimed sliding down of the roan horse he had been riding. Trixie grinned at him. The closed expression that had been on his face after they had spoken to her father had become more pronounced over the week as they had spoken to other witnesses to the robbery. She knew that Dan suspected something and he wasn’t confiding.
“I’m surprised you aren’t throwing up, actually,” she told him.
“I didn’t drink that much!” he denied. They had gone out for tea the previous night with Dan’s uncle, Bill Regan to the Glen Road Inn. Bill had also bought along the new assistant at the stable, Adele. She was a nice girl, though frightfully innocent, and didn’t have much in the way of a sense of humour. Trixie liked the girl, and suspected that it was more a case of shyness, than anything that prevented the humour from being present. She also suspected that Bill Regan had taken a liking to the girl. What Bill and Adele didn’t know was that Honey Wheeler-Belden had deliberately set out to be a matchmaker to the head groom of the Manor House stables. The need for an assistant was great; the Belden/Wheeler kids had all grown up, and just didn’t have the time to exercise the horses, so Bill Regan needed help to keep the horses exercised.
When they had come back from the Inn, they had decided to play Monopoly, and have a few glasses of wine. Well, a few glasses ended up to be a few bottles, and it was 3am by the time they realised the time, and decided Trixie and Dan would crash on the fold out couch in the lounge of his uncles apartment. Trixie pulled the saddle off Suzie and put it back in the tack room. Then came back in to brush Suzie.“There!” she said finally. “I will come back in soon and give you some oats.” She rubbed the little black horses’ nose. Though she was still the property of Mrs Lytell, formerly Miss Trask, she had always treated Suzie as her own. She headed out of the stables, pausing long enough to tell Dan that he was a slow coach.
Bill Regan came down the stairs just as Trixie was filling a bucket of water. She glanced up, and motioned quiet to her husbands’ uncle. He just smiled as she stationed herself by the stable doors. He could hear Dan whistling as he approached the door. Just as he came out, Trixie threw the bucket of water on him, and then took off down the hill towards the lake. “You said you were hot!” she yelled over her shoulder.
“Right” Dan yelled and took off after his wife, not even seeing his Uncle.
“What’s happening?” Adele asked quietly.
“Trixie just threw a bucket of water on Dan.” He answered, watching the pair of them racing down the hill, with an amused look on his face. His amusement became open laughter as he watched his nephew tackle his wife to the ground, then pick her up, and throw her over his shoulder.
“Bill, you have to stop him. He’ll hurt her!” Adele exclaimed as she watch the tackle.
“Dan! No!” Trixie yelled punching his back and laughing.
“Trixie knows how to fall, Adelle. She has three brothers too. Plus they’ve been doing this for years, Adele.”
“Where’s he going with her?”
“I imagine Trixie is going to go for a swim in the lake.”
“She’ll freeze!” Adele exclaimed “You have to stop them.” Bill Regan turned to face the girl, a wise look on his face.
“Trixie knew what was going to happen when she threw the bucket of water on Dan. It’s easy to underestimate Trixie, Adelle, she might be bubbly and exuberant on the outside, but on the inside she is very shrewd, and understands my nephew quite well.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’d have to know Dan, to know what I am talking about, but I’ve noticed that he has had a boxed in expression on his face. He suspects something, but isn’t telling anyone about his concerns. It’s been a long time since I have seen that look on his face.” He sighed, “Trixie knows something is bothering him, and is trying to get him to open up.”
“By throwing water on him?” She asked skeptically. The sound of a splash drifted up to them, along with laughter.
“I wonder how long until Danny…” his trailed off as he heard a second splash and more laughter, “ends up in the drink!” he finished.
“Is Trixie always like that?” Adele asked
“Mostly. I have seen her at her lowest, and that wasn’t a pretty sight. She is like an eggshell, strong yet brittle. Would you believe those two hated each other when they first met?” Adele shook her head. “The sparks that used to fly were a lot different to the ones that fly now.” He paused reflecting on the hard yet fragile boy he had bought to Sleepyside.
“It sounds like they are talking now. It is pretty quiet.” Adele observed.
“You are innocent aren’t you?” Regan observed in amusement. “Have you ever been in a relationship?” Adele lowered her eyes and shook her head slightly
“I’ve never found anyone to interest me until I started working here. Horses were the only things that were interested in me.” She answered softly.
“Well,” he paused trying to work out a way to delicately tell her what he suspected his nephew and his wife were up to. “I don’t think they are quite up to that part yet. Umm, men tend to talk better after, ah, shall we say certain relations have taken place.” He chuckled as Adele’s cheeks flooded with colour. “Have you seriously never been in a relationship?” he asked curiously.
“No, never. Boys were never interested in me. And like I said earlier, I haven’t found anyone to interest me until I started working here.”
“And who interests you here?” he asked softly. He really liked this girl, and found his heart had leapt up into his mouth, dreading the answer he might receive.“Haven’t you guessed?” she asked quizzically, “You, Bill. I might be young, but…”
“How about we go upstairs and talk about that?” he asked her, taking her hand. “Just talk, nothing else,” he promised.
Down at the lake, Trixie surfaced out of the water spluttering and laughing.
“I forgot how cold the lake was.” She told her husband wrapping her arms around herself. “Give me a hand out.” She added. As soon as Dan gave her his hand, she pulled on it as hard as she could, unbalancing him, so he fell in the water. She cracked up laughing, as he came to the surface.
“Right you little minx!” he exclaimed shaking his head, then starting after her.
“You’ll have to catch me first!” she yelled pushing off the bottom and striking out for the opposite shore, but she wasn’t quite quick enough, Dan grabbed her leg, pulling her under. As she came up, she wrapped her strong arms around his neck, dunking them yet again, unintentionally. They came up together laughing.
“Got you, you cheeky minx!” Dan told her, pulling her towards him and kissing her
“You love it,” she told him
“I love you” he replied softly, pulling her even closer and kissing her deeply. He slipped one hand under her t-shirt, feeling her skin against his hand. “You’re freezing. You have goose bumps.”
“Well, you had better warm me up then.”
“With pleasure,” he said, pulling her close once again, and claiming her lips.
Later, Trixie sat in front of Dan, sharing one of the sun chairs; both of them were trying to warm up.
“Do you want to talk about it yet?” she asked him
“About what?”
“About what is making you uneasy? I haven’t seen that look on your face in a long time. I can actually tell you the last time I saw that look on you face was at Honey and Bri’s wedding, and before that, when Juliana was married.”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“Of course not. That’s why you have been such a grump for the past week, and your face is that closed in, it’s going to take months to open it.”
“Can’t you leave it?”
“No, Dan, why won’t you talk to me about it?” Trixie demanded
“You’re exaggerating again!”
“Oh forget it. I don’t know why I bother. I’m going to see Honey and the kids and see if she has some dry clothes.” Trixie jumped up and stalked off towards the Manor house. Dan muttered a few choice words watching his wife’s retreating back.
“What’s up with my sister?” Brian Belden asked coming onto the deck of the boat house.
“She’s cracked it with me.”
“Ahh! I know how that goes. At least Trixie will fire up when she is angry, Honey just goes really quiet and won’t say a thing.” He changed the subject “Why are you wet?”
“Trixie threw a bucket of water on me.”
“Before or after she cracked it with you?”
“Just before up at the stables.”
“It must have been a big bucket, and my sister isn’t that strong.”
“Don’t underestimate her, Brian. She’s stronger than she looks. Besides, it wasn’t the water that made me this wet. I ended up going for a swim in the lake.”
“Bit early in the season for that,” Brian observed
“Hah. It wasn’t my idea. Trixie pulled me in, after I threw her in as revenge for throwing the bucket of water on me.”
“You know better than to help her out of the water.”
“Yeah I know,” Dan agreed, running a distracted hand through is hair.
“What’s the problem, Dan? You look worried.” Brian asked sympathetically. He had heard more of the argument than he had admitted to his brother-in-law.
Dan just shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I can’t really talk about it, work related, you see. Plus I’m not really ready to talk about it. That’s why Trixie is peeved at me. She knows something is wrong, and she knows I’m not talking. That’s why she threw the water on me.”
“That lost me!” Brian confessed.
“She threw the water on me to get me to chase and catch her then throw her in the water…and do you really want to know all the details?” He grinned as his brother-in-law coloured.
“Ahh, no, I don’t think so.”
“Trixie knows me too well. It’s impossible to hide anything from that girl.” Dan paused, thinking to himself. “I suppose I should tell her what I think. I just hope she doesn’t think the worst of me.”
“You know Trixie better than that, Dan. Remember how you two used to bristle at each other when you first came here? Now look at you two. You can be sickening at times. You work together and are married. Even when you weren’t married, you guys were always together. Talk to her though, soon. She may begin to feel that you don’t love her anymore.”
“No, I’ll never not love her. I guess I better go and find her.” Dan sighed as he headed off towards the Manor House.
Brian watched his brother in law head up the hill. Whatever it is that was eating Dan must really be worrying him, he thought. It was pretty unusual for either Trixie or Dan to keep secrets from each other, especially in a job where their safe being relied on them being open with each other. Brian just hoped that they would sort it out before one of them got hurt.
“Hey stranger, I haven’t seen you in ages!” Honey exclaimed as Trixie came into the lounge room of the Manor House.
“Sorry, we’ve been busy with work. We stayed overnight at Regan’s last night. I think your plan with Adelle is working. He seems pretty entranced by her.”
“I wondered about how it was going.” Honey looked at her best friend. “What’s up, Trix? You look upset!”
“Oh, not much, just Dan has clammed up and won’t talk. We just had a bit of an argument about it. He knows something about the case we are working on, but he won’t tell me. I think it might be to do with when he was caught up in the gang all those years ago. I’m certainly thinking along the lines of that. I think it’s more than just a random event – if you can call a bank robbery random. Oh, Honey, I don’t know. I’m worried about him but he just won’t talk. Just like when I lost …” she stopped suddenly, remembering that her friend and brother had just had twins who were about 2 weeks old.
“Like when you lost your babies,” Honey said softly, putting her hand on her friend's arm. “Go on, Trix.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Honey. He just won’t talk to me about it. He just puts up a wall and won’t let me or anyone in.”
“Just give him some room and time, Trix. He’ll come around.” Honey counselled. “I think it goes back to when he was in the gang. Anytime he is worried about something, he sees it as a weakness. If the gang saw he was worried, they would have given him a pretty hard time, you know that. Remember how he was when he came here, and when his gang was around when Juliana and Hans were married?”
“That’s what is worrying me, Honey. It’s exactly the same. I spoke to Regan about it last night, while we went and got some drinks. He could see it as well. I’m worried he is going to do something stupid.” Honey suddenly she realised her friend was wet. “Why, you’re soaked to the bone, Trixie Belden. Come and get some fresh clothes from my room.”
“Thanks Hon, you’re the best.”
“Do you mind if I have a shower, I’m freezing?” Trixie asked her friend.
“Trixie, you know you don’t have to ask!” she paused giving her friend a speculative look, “So how did you get so wet, anyway?”
“Dan threw me in the lake.”
“It’s a bit early for swimming, isn’t it?” Honey asked.
Trixie grinned impishly at her friend. “Well, I did throw a bucket of water on him up at the stables, Honey. So I kind of did expect it.”
Honey’s eyebrow shot up, “Oh, I see. You planned to end up in the lake, didn’t you? I’m gathering Dan went swimming too.”
“Well, I had to relax Dan, somehow!” The impish grin grew broader.Honey burst into peals of laughter. “You’re too much Trixie. I wish Brian wasn’t so much of a prude at times.”
“Well, you knew what he was like before you married him. So don’t complain to me!”
“And you knew what Dan was like before you married him!” Honey reminded her friend, as Trixie started turned the tap on. She hadn’t forgotten about their earlier conversation.
“True.”
“I’ll go and get some clothes out for you. Oh bother, the twins have woken up. Looks like you will have to look after yourself. You know where everything is, help yourself, I’ll be in the nursery.” She hurried out of the room.
Trixie felt much warmer after she had gotten out of the shower and dressed. She found some of Honey’s pre-maternity clothes, and put them on. Just jeans and a shirt, but warm enough for the glorious day outside. She padded into the nursery with bare feet, to join Honey, who was breastfeeding both the twins.
“Sorry about the modesty.” Honey laughed when her friend entered. “The joys of twins. But we decided to breastfeed, so here I am.”
“You’re just amazing, Honey. I don’t think I could do it.”
“You could, but it doesn’t suit some for various reasons. You will just have to wait and see.”
“If we ever have children.”
“You will, Trixie. It just isn’t the right time for you and Dan yet. I’m convinced of that. It will happen, and I think soon, and everything will be fine,” Honey told her serenely.
“They’ve grown so much,” Trixie observed. “It’s amazing.”
“They’re very attached to their tummies, these two. Bri and I probably don’t see it as much as what you do, because we are with them the whole time.”
“Trix?” Both women jumped at Dan’s voice in the doorway
“Hi, Dan,” Honey said over her shoulder. “I’d get up and greet you, but I am a little busy at the moment.”
“Oh!” Dan flushed as he realised what Honey was getting at. “Sorry to interrupt, Honey. Trix, can I please talk to you?” Trixie rose from her seat quietly and walked to the door. “Let’s head down to your parents,” he suggested, quietly. Trixie nodded.
“I’ll come back later,” she told Honey.
Honey nodded her head.
“I’m sorry,” Dan murmured as he paused at the top of the stairs, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
“So am I. Do you want to talk about it now?”
“Yeah. Let’s get out of here first, and I’ll tell you on the way down to your parents.” Trixie nodded as Dan took her hand and led her down the stairs.
“Okay, I’ll tell you what’s going on. You know about what happened before Uncle Bill bought me here, I was caught up in the Cowhands?” Trixie nodded “Well, I keep feeling like they are involved somehow, or something to do with when I was there. Something is nagging at me. I’ve heard something about it, but I’m not sure that I have. It's just a feeling. I think it is bigger than the Cowhands though.” He made a sour face. “I don’t even know what I am saying. It sounds like I don’t know what I am saying.”
“You’re saying that you are haunted by a conversation you are sure you heard over 10 years ago, and that it is somehow related to this bank robbery,” Trixie answered quietly. “You and I have been together way too long. I have had the same feeling. There’s something important I have heard that is nagging at me, and I know it was a long time ago, but I don’t know where and when it happened.”
“And here you are accusing me of keeping secrets!” Dan told her, a smile on his face
“Well, you never gave me a chance. I think we should try to get the Bob-Whites together for dinner. I’m sure the Bob-Whites were around when the missing whatever I heard was said. I’m not sure about your conversation, Babe.”
“Maybe the two are connected,” he said frowning. “Though, I am sure what I heard was before I came here. How about we organise a cookout down at the boat shed? I’m sure that we can convince Honey and Brian to have the twins in a pram with mosquito netting over them to protect them. It will nice to catch up and celebrate the twin’s arrival.”
“Shall I ask Moms to make some of her hamburgers for us?” Trixie asked
“Definitely, since we are here already.” Dan smiled, and leant down to kiss his wife.
To Be Continued