Chapter 10

The next day the Bob-Whites woke up late and dragged into the living room one by one. Mart was the first one up and he was watching cartoons on the television. Everyone teased him when they saw what he was watching, but each of them sat down and watched just as closely and laughed just as hard as he did.

After a late breakfast of pastries and juice, the Bob-Whites decided to go to the game room of the lodge before it started raining. When they walked into the lodge there were two men they didn’t recognize.

"Hi, kids!" Rob greeted them. "This is Dave and Darrell Colburn. They have cabin two rented for the week. They’ve been having their meals in their cabin, so you probably haven’t met them yet."

The Bob-Whites introduced themselves to the men. Dave was very friendly, but Darrell seemed kind of shy and withdrawn. He kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other and avoiding eye contact with any of them.

‘He’s quite a suspicious character,’ Trixie thought. ‘I don’t know what’s wrong, but he sure doesn’t seem like he wants to be talking to us.’ She snapped back to reality when she heard Rob start telling the Colburns about Honey’s accident on the water.

"What did the boat look like?" Dave asked.

"It was a small green speed boat with a white stripe down the side. It looked like it had a name at some point, but the paint was wearing off, so I couldn’t make out what it was," Trixie replied. "I wish it wouldn’t rain today so we could go look for it."

"Well, it’s supposed to start raining any minute," Dave said. "That’s why we’re not out fishing today. We’ll watch for it if we go out tomorrow and let you know if we see it. I know a lot of the people around here, but I don’t know anyone with a boat that fits that description."

"That’s what I told them, too," Rob said. "It could have been anyone. There are docks and marinas all over this lake. It could have been someone from out of town that is long gone by now."

"Well, maybe so," Trixie said, "but I sure would like to find whoever it was."

The Bob-Whites politely bid farewell to the Colburns and Rob and went to the game room. Trixie walked to the window and looked outside. "It’s not raining yet," she said. "I think I’m going to go for a walk."

"A walk, huh?" Mart asked. "Are you sure you don’t mean you are going to pursue a certain green water vessel with a white stripe down the side?"

"If you mean am I going to look for the boat that tried to run over Honey, yes. That’s where I’m going. Would anyone like to join me?"

"What’s the use in looking on the land? We would probably have better luck looking for it tomorrow when we’re out on the pontoon," Dan said.

"I was just thinking that since it’s supposed to storm today, most people’s boats would be docked today, so if it belongs to someone here at the resort, we might find it if we go check out all the docks."

"She has a point," Jim said. "Though I can’t imagine anyone leaving it at their dock knowing that we’re staying here at the resort and could easily run across it."

"It’s worth a shot," Honey said. "Come on, Trix, I’ll go with you."

"I’ll come too," Jim said. "Anyone else?"

It was decided that everyone except Di, who really did not want to go, would split into two groups so they could cover more ground before the rain began. Di was going to wait at the lodge for Michael and Colleen since they were supposed to play Spades with them sometime today. She found an old magazine on a bookshelf in the corner of the game room and sat down to read.

Trixie, Jim, and Honey went to look at the docks at cabins 1 and 2, while Dan and Mart took cabins 5 and 6. They were to give the Bob-White signal if they found anything.

They searched for quite a while before the rain began, but they found nothing. "I was really hoping we would see that boat," Trixie sighed as she plopped down on a chair in the game room. "Maybe the person hid it somewhere on the land. We could have been looking too close to the water."

"Did you look at every dock?" Di asked.

"It started raining before we could get to Robert’s or Rob and Hannah’s dock, and of course, we didn’t look at cabin 4’s dock, since that’s ours," Jim informed her.

"Some detectives we are," Trixie said. "We should have started at Rob and Hannah’s and Robert’s docks. They are suspects. We don’t even know who stays in the other cabins."

"Did you check Michael and Colleen’s?" Di asked.

Trixie nodded her head. "They have a pontoon like us. We know that it can’t be a rented boat or Rob would tell us who is using it, so it must be someone who brought a boat with them, or someone who is not staying here."

"Unless he’s the one who did it, then he wouldn’t tell us at all," Jim pointed out.

Trixie sighed. This case was getting more and more complicated.

Michael and Colleen walked in and greeted the Bob-Whites. They had walked to the lodge in the rain and were trying to dry themselves off as best as they could. "What are you all up to this morning?" Michael asked. He walked over and started putting chalk on a cue stick.

"Oh, we’ve been look-" Honey started, but when she caught a look from Trixie she stammered and said, "walking around the lake. Then it started raining so we came back in to play games."

"Anyone for a game of ping-pong?" Colleen asked.

Trixie teamed up with Colleen and played against Honey and Di. Jim, Mart, Dan, and Michael played pool. The group played until it was time for lunch.

After lunch, the Bob-Whites and Miss Trask went back to their cabin to get things ready for the party. Everyone insisted that Honey did not need to help with the preparations for her own party, so she reluctantly went to the bedroom for a nap.

Trixie and Diana took care of baking the cake while Mart, Dan, and Jim blew up balloons and hung them from the ceiling. Miss Trask was busy with other decorations and preparations. While the cake was baking, Trixie and Di hung streamers and placed a big banner over the French doors. The guys rearranged the furniture in the living room to make room for dancing.

After a while, Honey woke up from her nap and started to come into the room. Luckily, Trixie saw her before she made it into the main part of the cabin and saw any of the decorations.

"No, Honey, close your eyes! We don’t want you to see any of it until it’s time for the party," Trixie exclaimed.

Honey obediently closed her eyes. "I just want to get some fresh air," she protested. "Will someone please lead me to the balcony. I’ll sit and look at the lake, and I promise I won’t peek."

Jim led his sister out to the balcony and down to the end of it where she couldn’t see in. "I don’t see what the big deal is," Honey said. "I mean, I went with Miss Trask to buy the decorations."

"We just want this to be your day," Jim said. "We don’t want you to have to work at all, especially since you’ve been feeling so badly."

"I’m fine," Honey protested, but Jim was already walking back inside.

‘They want this to be my day, but I’ve spent most of it alone,’ she thought as she sat and looked at the lake. She once again started wishing that Brian was there, but she was very proud of him for getting accepted into the program at the hospital. She stood up and walked to the balcony railing and watched as two birds landed on the feeder down below her. She was intently watching them and didn’t even notice the balcony doors open.

"Happy birthday," she heard someone whisper in her ear as an arm snaked around her shoulders.

She was so startled she jumped. She turned to see who it was, and found herself staring into the dark brown eyes of Brian Belden.

 

Chapter 11

"Brian!" she squealed, and then she turned red at her outburst. She didn’t want to appear overly excited. "You scared me to death." She turned to him and gave him a hug. She let him hold her for a while before she started bombarding him with questions. "How did you get here? Why are you here? Did something happen at the hospital?"

"Whoa!" he said laughing. "One thing at a time. First, I got directions from your dad, and my dad let me drive his car because he was afraid my jalopy wouldn’t make it this far. Second, I came because I wanted to be here all along, with my brother and sister, with my friends, but mostly with you."

Honey blushed again and squeezed his hand. "I wanted you here all along too, but I didn’t want you to give up your position at the hospital."

Brian shook his head. "I have two more years of college and then med school. I’ll have other chances, plus Dr. Ferris said he would make sure I get back in next summer. He knew my heart wasn’t in it; he knew I would rather be here."

"Well, I’m glad you’re here, but I still feel guilty about you giving up this opportu—"

Brian placed a finger to her lips to silence her, "Don’t feel guilty, it was my decision. Just be happy, Honey. I want you to be happy."

"I am happy, Brian. I really am. Oh, and thank you so much for the card and the bear. I’ll sleep with it every night. I love it!"

"I’m glad you like it." He took both of her hands in his and noticed her bandage. "How’s your hand?"

"It’s fine. Aren’t you going to ask me what happened?"

"Trixie already told me. She also told me that you haven’t been feeling well."

"Really? That little snitch," Honey said, only pretending to be mad. "When did she tell you all that? You haven’t been here long have you?"

"Oh, I guess you weren’t supposed to know that she called me the night that you had the accident." Brian was unwrapping the bandage to look at her hand.

"No, she didn’t tell me that. So that’s why you’re really here, huh?"

"That’s only part of the reason. I was feeling bad enough about not coming since it’s your birthday, but when Trixie called and told me that your side was hurting, you had fainted, and you had been in an accident, I just couldn’t quit worrying. I promise, I’m not just here trying to be your big brother and take care of you. I’m here because I care about you a lot, Honey, and well, I-I missed you. I missed you a lot. I couldn’t stop thinking about you before Trixie called, and then it just got worse."

"Thanks Brian," she said. "That means a lot to me." She stood in silence for a minute while he struggled to get her bandage undone. "Did Trixie tell you about the snake too?"

"No," he said slowly, "what snake?"

Honey told him about finding the snake in her bed. "I fainted like some wimpy little girl," she finished shaking her head dismally.

"I don’t think you’re a wimp at all," he said. He was still examining her hand. "This is some bruise you’ve got here. The burn looks like it’s healing well. I’m glad to see someone has been taking care of it, even if they didn’t do such a great job wrapping it up."

"Trixie has been changing the bandages. Don’t tell her this, but I think she’ll make a better detective than a nurse," she said with a giggle.

Brian expertly wrapped her hand back up and gave it a gentle pat. "I’ll take over changing it for you from now on. I think you’ll only have to wear it another day or so, though."

They stood in silence next to each other for a while, looking at the lake and the scenery around them. "It’s very pretty here," Brian said.

"Yeah, I love it. Of course, it would be better if I didn’t feel like I was being attacked."

"I can see how that would make things seem a little nicer," Brian said with a smile. "I promise I’ll do whatever I can to make sure nothing else happens."

"Thanks," Honey whispered. "It makes me feel better to know you’re looking out for me."

"Listen, Honey, there’s something I’ve been needing to talk to you about."

Honey felt her heart begin to race and the color rise in her face. "Ok. Is something wrong?" she asked, even though she knew nothing was.

"No, I-I just-" he shook his head. "I don’t know why this is so hard. I rehearsed it about a hundred times on the way down here."

Honey smiled. ‘How sweet,’ she thought. ‘I didn’t know I could make someone as well-spoken as Brian stammer all over the place.’

"Honey," he began again. "I just want you to know how much you mean to me. You’ve always been special, but I just felt that since you were so much younger than me our parents wouldn’t approve of us being anything other than friends. You’ve always seemed so mature for your age that sometimes it was hard for me to remember that you are younger than me. Over the summer you’ve grown up a lot. You look more beautiful to me every day. I’ve enjoyed the time we’ve spent together and I hope that we’ll spend a lot more time together in the future. I know this won’t be easy with me going to college and med school and all, but if it’s meant to be, then it will work. What I’m trying to say is, Madeleine Wheeler, will you please be my girlfriend?"

"Oh, Brian," she said with tears in her eyes. "Of course I will."

Brian was so happy that he wrapped her in a big hug that lifted her off the ground. Honey’s tears changed from happy tears to tears of pain as she felt a sharp pain go through her side when he squeezed her. She tried not to let him know he hurt her, but she couldn’t hold back the whimper that escaped her.

Brian sat her down gently. "I’m so sorry," he said, leading her to a chair. "I never meant to hurt you. You should really go have that checked out, you know."

"I will as soon as we get back, I promise," said Honey. "I don’t think it’s anything too serious."

Brian scooted a chair close to hers and put his arm around her. "I hope it’s not serious either. I’ll go with you to see Dr. Ferris if it will make you feel better."

Honey smiled and nodded. She leaned her head over on Brian’s shoulder contentedly.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Brian said. "Don’t worry about what your mom and dad are going to think about all of this. I talked to your dad yesterday and he said he trusted me with you completely and was happy that I was going to ask you. That just about floored me; I couldn’t believe everything went that smoothly. You also have permission to ride back with me to Sleepyside, and, if you still want to, we have permission to go out for a special birthday dinner the Monday night after we get back."

Honey giggled with delight and wrapped her arms around Brian’s neck, "Of course I still want to, silly." ‘Now everything is perfectly perfect,’ she thought. ‘Well, almost anyway. If we could just figure out who is trying to hurt me and why.’

Brian planted a soft kiss on her cheek. "Happy birthday, sweet sixteen."

To Be Continued

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