Chapter 12

Miss Trask came to the door and called Honey and Brian in as the party was starting. The whole cabin smelled like fried fish. Miss Trask had been busy for a long time cooking it in the deep fryer. She had fixed French fries, coleslaw, and hushpuppies to go with it.

"Everything is just beautiful and the food smells great," Honey said as she looked around the room at the decorations. "Thank you all! This is the best birthday party I’ve ever had."

"Just wait until the fun begins!" Trixie told her. "We’ve got more surprises for you later."

"I can’t wait!" Honey said, the anticipation showing in her big hazel eyes.

True to their word, Michael and Colleen had come to celebrate with them. Honey was delighted for Colleen to actually get to meet Brian since she had already told her all about him. She didn’t know whether or not to call him her boyfriend. They hadn’t actually told the other Bob-Whites yet, though she figured they suspected something had happened while they were out on the balcony.

After everyone ate and was sufficiently stuffed with the wonderful meal and cake, Honey was ushered to the couch to open her gifts.

"You have to hurry, Honey," Trixie said. "The surprise we were talking about is that we’re going out for a sunset ride on the pontoon!"

"Oooh, that sounds like fun!" Honey said.

Trixie saw Michael and Colleen exchange a hasty glance and Michael pointed at his watch. "Here, Honey," Colleen said, handing her a brightly colored gift bag. "We need to leave soon, so open ours first."

"Oh, can’t you go with us on our boat ride?" Honey asked. "Why must you leave so soon?"

"Um, well," Colleen stammered. "Michael hasn’t been feeling too well, so we decided we would come eat and give you our gift and head back to the cabin. We’re so glad you invited us though, it’s been great."

"Ok," Honey said as she started pulling tissue paper out of the bag. Inside there was a pretty wooden jewelry box. "It’s beautiful," Honey said. "I love it. Thank you very much."

"You’re very welcome, Honey," Colleen said. She gave her a quick hug and she and Michael bid the rest of the group good-bye.

"That’s funny," Trixie said. "Michael didn’t look or act like he felt bad."

"That’s kind of what I thought," Brian said. "He’s a very quiet guy. He hardly said a word the whole time he was here."

"It’s not time for mysteries. This is Honey’s party. Open ours next, Honey." Di said. "It’s from me and Trixie." Di handed her a white box with a big yellow bow.

After Honey finally got the bow off she tore into the box eagerly. She pulled out a blue scrapbook with a picture of all the Bob-Whites on the front. On the inside were pages of pictures and newspaper clippings in chronological order of all of the Bob-Whites’ adventures, starting with pictures of Trixie and Honey’s trailer trip with Miss Trask to find Jim. It was followed by pictures of the first members of the Bob-Whites standing proudly outside the old gatehouse that they had fixed up to use as their clubhouse. Everyone gathered around to look at the book and shared lots of memories and fun. Toward the back of the book there were several candid shots of the Bob-Whites at school, at the Belden’s home for cookouts and parties, swimming in the Wheeler’s lake, dinners at the Lynches, the whole group on horseback, and so on. Honey blushed when she got to the very last page. Trixie and Di just looked at each other and grinned mischievously. The entire last page of the scrapbook held only pictures of Honey and Brian.

Honey looked at Brian who was sitting next to her. He shrugged his shoulders and grinned at her. "I knew nothing about this, so don’t look at me," he said. "I wouldn’t mind having a copy of that page though," he whispered to her as he put his arm around her. ‘Especially the one where we’re playing chicken in the lake against Trixie and Jim and she’s on my shoulders in that cute little swimsuit,’ he thought.

"I never realized there were so many pictures taken of just the two of us," Honey said.

"We added that page after we found out that Brian couldn’t come on the trip," Trixie said. "We thought you would like it."

"I love it," Honey said. "I love the whole book. It’s one of the best presents anyone has ever given me. Thank you so much!" She stood up and embraced both girls at once in a group hug.

"Here’s your next one, sis." Jim handed Honey a tiny box. "Trixie helped me pick it out."

Honey tore the paper off the small box and opened the lid. Inside was a silver charm in the shape of horse with a female rider on it’s back. "Oh, Jim. It’s great! Thank you!" She stood up to give Jim a hug and when she did she winced as pain once again ripped through her side.

"Are you okay?" he asked, holding her at arms length and examining her. "You look sort of pale again."

"I’m fine. I wish everyone would quit worrying about me. I’m really ok. Now give me a hug so I can thank you properly for the lovely gift," she said, forcing a smile at him.

Jim gently embraced her, afraid that he was going to hurt her. "I’ll take the charm and your bracelet to a jewelry store when we get home and have the charm put on."

"That sounds great," she said giving him a squeeze. She sat back down on the couch and Mart pushed a bag into her hands.

"This is from Dan and me," he said. "We also had some help from one of the more feminine members of our faction, which of course, leaves Beatrix out, so if you don’t like it, blame Di." Mart tried to duck out of the way of the pillows that flew his direction; one from Diana and one from Trixie.

Honey laughed and being her ever-tactful self, said, "I’m sure I’ll love it." She pulled the tissue paper out of the bag uncovering a pink hardback journal with a rose on the front of it. "This is great she said. Thanks guys."

"It’s for recording all of yours and Trixie’s mysteries and adventures," Dan said.

"Yeah, so when we have a reunion in twenty years we’ll have something to laugh about," Mart said. Fortunately for him he was now sitting on the only pillows in the room.

"Very funny, Mart," Trixie said. "Honey, make sure you include plenty of things that we can use to embarrass Mart when we have that reunion."

"We hope you like it, Honey, really." Mart said. "Use it to record whatever you want." He and Dan each leaned down to give Honey a hug so she wouldn’t have to get back up.

The next gift was from Miss Trask. She gave Honey three new records by her favorite musician. "These will be great to dance to later!" she exclaimed. "But first I want to go on that boat ride. We haven’t missed the sunset have we?"

"No," Jim said, "We still have plenty of time. It doesn’t get dark too early this time of year."

"Honey, do you want to open my gift now or when we go to dinner Monday?" Brian asked her quietly.

Honey thought for a moment, then smiled brightly, "I’m too curious," she said. "I don’t think I could possibly wait that long."

Brian handed her a small box with a bow on top. "How pretty. You did a good job wrapping it," she said with a wink.

Brian blushed and smiled sheepishly. "I’ll admit I had a little help from Moms," he told her.

"I still love it," Honey said. She opened the box to find a beautiful silver heart-shaped locket with ‘Sweet 16’ engraved on the outside. "Oh, Brian." She didn’t know what else to say. She finally managed a whispered, "thank you."

"You are very welcome," he said giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze. "But you haven’t even looked inside it yet."

Honey found the tiny release that opened the locket and smiled when she saw the picture inside. It was a picture of Brian and herself that Honey’s mother had taken in the

Wheeler’s garden before Jim’s cousin’s wedding. Honey was in her bridesmaid’s dress and Brian was in a tuxedo. "I’ve always loved this picture," Honey said to Brian. "It’s perfectly perfect." Momentarily forgetting that they weren’t alone in the room, Honey gave Brian a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Oh, sure," Mart said sarcastically. "He gets a kiss and all we get is a ‘thank you.’"

Brian gave Honey a questioning look. Knowing what he was thinking, Honey nodded. "That’s because she’s my girlfriend, not yours," he said with a huge smile.

Miss Trask joined the Bob-Whites in their cheering and congratulations at Brian’s statement. Honey was blushing, but it was a very nice feeling. Brian’s words echoed in her ears, ‘…she’s my girlfriend.’ ‘Oh, how I like hearing him say that.’

 

 

Chapter 13

"Are we all set?" Jim asked the group about a half-hour later. It was almost time for the sunset and they were about to pull the pontoon out of the dock.

"Aye, aye, Captain," Mart said. "All the ropes are untied and we have plenty of gas."

"I feel bad for leaving Miss Trask," Trixie said. "It was nice for her to volunteer to clean everything up for us so we wouldn’t miss the sunset."

"Maybe we could do it again tomorrow evening and she could come with us," Di said. "I feel bad too."

"She’s really a dear," Honey said. "I really don’t think she cared to do it, or she wouldn’t have volunteered."

Soon the Bob-Whites were out on the open waters of Lake Cheridan. "Wow," Brian said. "It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be."

"Isn’t it pretty," Honey said. She was snuggled up next to Brian on the seat at the back of the boat. Diana, Mart and Dan were sitting at the front of the boat and Jim was driving with Trixie sitting near him.

"Mmhmm," Brian agreed, pulling her closer and breathing in the sweet scent of her hair. "Not as pretty as you though," he said in her ear.

Honey blushed but settled back comfortably against Brian. Well, as comfortable as was possible considering the water was really choppy and every time the boat bounced pain shot through her abdomen. Soon Jim slowed the boat down and killed the engine. The sun was beginning to set and they had a perfect view as it dropped behind the mountains in an array of beautiful colors.

"We probably shouldn’t stay out too long," Jim said. "I heard that after dark it is supposed to start raining again with possible thunderstorms. I would prefer not to be out here when all of that starts."

"I’m with you," Brian said. "I don’t necessarily like the idea of being out on this water in the middle of a lightning storm."

Honey felt a shiver run down her spine as the wind started blowing harder and the sky began to darken. "Maybe we should try to get back before it gets completely dark," she said. "We just came out to see the sunset and it’s over now."

"Ok, if you want we’ll head back," Jim said. "However, I think we have more than enough time to get back before it starts storming. We do need to change gas cans though. The one we were using was nearly empty when we started."

Honey moved from her spot at the back of the boat while Jim and Brian connected the other gas can. "All set," Brian said. "Anchors away!"

"We never dropped anchor," Trixie said. "You and Mart and your sailing jargon are starting to get on my nerves."

"Oh, really?" Brian asked pulling her toward the side of the boat. "Maybe you need to swim back so you won’t have to listen to us anymore, then." He acted like he was going to throw her overboard and she started screaming in protest.

"No, the water is cold at night. Don’t do it!" Brian was still holding on to her and pushing her toward the water. "Jim, help me!" she cried in mock horror.

Everyone was laughing at Brian’s antics by this time and when Jim refused to help her they laughed even harder. "Oh, a little water never hurt anyone," he said, relaxing in the captain’s chair and crossing his arms.

At the sound of thunder in the distance, Brian released Trixie and sat back down by Honey. "Let’s get going before that gets any closer," he said.

"Sounds good to me," Dan said. "Start ‘er up, Jim"

"I’m trying," Jim said. He kept trying to get the engine to turn over, but it just kept sputtering and dying. "I don’t know what’s wrong with it."

"I’ll make sure we got the gas connected to it right," Brian offered. He leaned over the back of the boat and made sure the gas line was securely attached to the can. "Everything looks fine back here."

"What could be wrong?" Honey asked with fear in her voice. "There is gas in the can, right?"

"Yes," Mart said. "I checked the cans before we left. The first one had about a fourth of a can left and the other one was full. That should have been enough for us to use tonight and still have some left for tomorrow."

"Wait a minute," Jim said thoughtfully. "Which one of us took the gas can up to the lodge for Rob to fill it up?"

Jim, Mart, and Dan all exchanged blank looks and shrugged. "I didn’t," Mart said. "Why do you ask?"

"Did you take it, Dan?" Jim asked.

"No. You mean you didn’t either?" Dan asked.

Jim shook his head. "Did one of you girls take it?"

All three of them shook their heads ‘no.’

"What are you getting at, Jim?" Trixie asked.

"I just remember checking the gas cans yesterday before we got off the boat and we only had what was left in the can connected to the hose, like Mart said, about a fourth of a can. The other can was empty. Since I knew it was supposed to rain today and we probably wouldn’t go out, I didn’t think about taking it to get it refilled at the time. When we got on and Mart said we had plenty of gas, I assumed it was because he or Dan had taken the can up to be refilled at some point today."

"So, if it wasn’t one of us," Di said, "who could it have been?"

"I don’t know," Jim said, "but I have a hunch that what is in that gas can is not actually gas, and that’s why the boat isn’t starting."

"You’re starting to sound like Trixie," Mart said. "Maybe you should try starting it again."

Jim tried once again to start the boat, but to no avail. It just sputtered and groaned. The engine would not turn over.

"I’m scared," Di said. "What if we don’t get back before the storm comes?"

"We’ll figure something out," Brian said. "Everyone just stay calm."

Trixie had been deep in thought this entire time. ‘Why was someone trying to sabotage all of their fun? Who could it be and why?’

Honey moved from her seat again so that the guys could check out the gas and the motor. Mart and Dan found two flashlights in an emergency tool kit in the storage compartment underneath one of the front seats. They held them over the back of the boat so Brian and Jim could see what they were doing since it was getting darker and darker.

Jim disconnected the gas can and opened it up. "This gas sure doesn’t have a very strong smell. Mart when you checked to see if we had enough gas did you just pick up the can and see if it felt full, or did you open it?"

"I just picked it up. Is it not gas?" he asked.

Jim poured some of the contents of the can on his hand. "I think it’s just water. It still smells a little like gas because there has been gas in this can, but if it were full of gasoline it would smell much stronger, don’t you think?"

The guys all nodded. Brian spoke softly, "So what are we going to do to keep the girls from getting worried?"

"Good question," Jim replied. "I’m not exactly enamored with the idea of being out here in a storm myself. We just need to all stay as calm as possible and hope that a boat passes by soon. If that fails, we hope for the best and trust that Miss Trask will get worried enough to send someone out to look for us soon."

Within seconds rain began falling. "Put the canopy up so we’ll stay dry," Di said rushing to the back of the boat.

"If we put the canopy up the wind will capsize us," Mart informed her. "Just sit down and stay calm. We’ll just have to get wet. That won’t hurt us. I’m going to see if there are any emergency flares in that tool kit we found. Maybe the lake patrol will see them and come rescue us."

Everyone was scurrying about as carefully as possible trying to find something to use to signal for help. No one had even noticed that Honey had collapsed on the floor at the front of the boat.

To Be Continued

TBH Main