Cowhands: I’d Rather See Than Be One
by Alexi and Lydia
Chapter OneTrixie leaned dejectedly against her window, the stunning view of the preserve going unnoticed, her flyaway curls playing in the breeze. The small fifteen-year-old was dwelling not on what was before her, but on a memory.
The Bob-Whites had been offered a priceless opportunity by Mr. Wheeler. It was the opportunity of a lifetime—a trip to Hawaii.
Honey, however, was not going. For Trixie wasn’t either, and loyal Honey would not move an inch from her best friend’s side.
Nor were Di and Dan, though this had been hardly unexpected. As always, they were the ones left behind.
The original plan had in fact been for Trixie to go. But two weeks before their departure, she had fallen dangerously ill with pneumonia. Trixie still had not recovered completely, and her parents had been unwilling to risk her having a relapse. So, here she stayed, much to everyone’s great disappointment.
Trixie returned with a shiver to the real world, and tucked her blanket more tightly around her. Ever since her illness the once husky girl had been weak and pale, though no less determined to go out and do things regardless of her health.
Closing the window, Trixie climbed back into bed, the golden notes of the sunset pouring into her room.
Trixie arose the next morning feeling remarkably tired. She had hoped to wake up in time to see her brothers and Jim off. The young blonde stumbled down the stairs into the kitchen. To Trixie’s dismay her mother and father were there sipping coffee. Her brothers were gone.Hearing Trixie groan Trixie’s mother invited her daughter to the seat beside her. Helen Belden stroked Trixie’s curly hair and handed her some tea.
“Trixie, why don’t you go on into the family room. I will call you when your breakfast is ready,” Mrs. Belden said as she handed Trixie a blanket.
“Brian and Mart are gone, I assume?” Trixie asked, knowing full well the answer. Her mother just smiled. Trixie, surprisingly even to herself, was perfectly content with resting on the couch.
After breakfast Trixie sighed. Here goes, I might as well give it a shot.
“Mother? Go to the Wheelers' house? Please? I really am feeling fine. Honest.”
Helen gazed into her daughters blue eyes. They were not dancing merrily as they usually were. She hoped dearly that Trixie would get better soon. “I’m sorry, Trix, you should rest. I’m sure Honey will come by later, you know she would never leave you alone for a minute.”
“But Moms!” Trixie cried, not feeling nearly as tired as she had felt lately, getting her stubborn streak back. “Dad said himself I’m getting better. What harm would fresh air do?” Trixie knew her reasoning sounded silly. She could feel the color rising in her cheeks, partly from embarrassment and partly from frustration.
Peter gave his wife a reassuring smile and nodded. Finally, after Trixie’s eager anticipation, Moms smiled and said “Go on now, don’t be long. Try to keep safe, dear. I’ll call the Wheelers and let them know you’re on your way.”
Trixie impulsively gave her mom a hug and shouted. “Thanks, Moms, you’re the best. I’m sure the Wheelers won’t mind at all.” And she ran upstairs to get dressed.
After changing into dungarees and a nice shirt, Trixie looked at herself in the mirror. Her usually sturdy, tan figure had turned into a miserably feeble and frail appearance. She moaned, wishing she could have been born as pretty as Diana or Honey.
Honey had always told her she was gorgeous, but Trixie looked at her disheveled figure dejectedly and groaned, just knowing that Honey was being her tactful self.
Honey really is such a lamb, Trixie groaned to herself. If I were she I would have left me and flown to Hawaii. I don’t deserve to have her as a friend. She had a priceless opportunity and she gave it up for me, selfish me.
Forgetting her compassion and contrition, she started thinking enviously. Now all the Bob-Whites besides us are out in Hawaii, having fun. They’re probably all ready on a mystery without me. What fun will we have here? I with pneumonia, Honey worried about me, Di and Dan so busy. Oh woe, this is going to be a miserable two weeks.
With that bad note in the air she ran off dismally to her most loyal friend Honey’s house.
Honey Wheeler was Trixie’s best friend, they did everything together. They had met when they were both thirteen and had solved a mystery which led them to adopt Jim Frayne. This happened right after Honey had moved to Sleepyside.
Now, Honey leaned against her window, her golden brown hair resting on her shoulders. She was attempting to find something to do besides worry about her friends' safety, and Trixie Belden.
One of the Wheelers' maids, Celia, knocked on Honey’s door, right when Honey was about to call Trixie. Honey jumped.
“Sorry, Honey. Trixie’s mother called and said Trixie will be right over to visit,” Celia said.
Trixie ran up to Honey's room, hoping to hide the fact that she was in a bad mood. It was obvious though that Honey could see right through Trixie’s act.
Honey impulsively gave Trixie a hug.
“Beatrix Belden, you sit right here on this bed and tell me what’s the matter,” Honey said.
Knowing there was no escaping Honey now, Trixie told her everything that had been going through her mind, how he had started off being grateful for a friend like her, then getting upset over how she was missing out on a trip to Hawaii. Hawaii! She could just feel that a mystery was about to happen, and it would probably turn out to be in Hawaii without her.
“Trixie!” Honey groaned, though not truly angry. “You know I would not lie to you! You look great!”
Trixie changed the subject after that. “Let's go for a ride in the preserve, can we? I don’t feel much like sitting around moping all day. We may bump into Dan,” Trixie said, arousing some hope in both her and Honey.
With that, the two of them left off for the preserve, both riding their favorite horses. They did end up running into Dan Mangan, the seventh member of the Bob-Whites.
Dan was just sitting there. He looked bewildered. Seeing Honey and Trixie ‘s inquiring looks, he stood up and handed them a jacket that belonged to him when he was in the street gang The Cowhands. Taped on the inside was a note that said:
This will come in handy for you. Meet us, you know where. If, that is, you remember anything we taught you, back from when you were with us, enjoying life.
~The Cowhands
Trixie glanced at Honey. She looked ghastly, as though she was going to faint. Trixie snapped back into reality realizing what she had just read.
“D-Dan...” Trixie stuttered awkwardly. “Did you...are you? Y-you’re not--” Trixie could not bring herself to finish her sentence.
Thoughts were swirling around in her head so fast she could barely think. Was Dan joining his old gang? Was he plotting against them? No, of course not, his gang just uh, wants him to? Was he going to meet them? Dan wouldn’t do that to us, would he?
All of a sudden Dan realized what may be going through his friends heads.
“No,” he said. “Oh Jeepers, no, Trixie!” His sudden speech made Trixie and Honey jump.
“According to this note,” Dan started, “The guys want me to meet them. Actually, I’m surprised they want to meet where they do. They’re up to no good, that’s for sure. “ Dan realized that Honey and Trixie might think he was going back to his old ways. “Don’t worry girls, I would never think of helping them.”
Honey, finding her voice, asked, “Oh Dan, you’re not going to actually meet them are you? Please don’t.”
Trixie looked extremely pale, but neither Dan nor Honey could figure out whether it was from pneumonia, the note to Dan, or both.
Dan nodded his head. At that, Trixie and Honey both started pleading him to change his mind. Finally, once the young man was able to quiet them down, he began to speak again saying, “I have to meet them. You don’t know how these things work.”
Trixie’s temper began to flare. How could Dan say that they didn’t know how these things worked! We know enough to know that he shouldn’t go visit them. Who knows what they would do! Trixie was about to speak when Dan continued, forcing Trixie to settle her temper.
“I’ll get everything settled. Whatever you do, do not tell anyone I am doing this tonight. You promise?
Trixie and Honey nodded their heads resentfully. Dan turned around taking his jacket and the note with him as he headed into the house. Without even looking to each other for consent, the two girl headed back to the Wheeler estate.
Dan turned around just in time to see the two teenaged girls heading off. Honey’s hair swaying in the breeze. Right beside her ran Trixie, with her golden curls bouncing and shining with the sunlight.
Sitting on the window seat of Honey’s room was Diana Lynch. She looked so peaceful. She was gazing out the window to the preserve. She just sat there motionless, a slight smile on her face. Her blue black hair resting on her shoulders had accentuated her pale skin and violet eyes. She in fact did not even notice Honey and Trixie enter.
Honey and Trixie, so bewildered, did not speak a word to each other on the ride home. Seeing Diana, they decided to strike up a conversation. Trixie gave Honey a meaningful look, and Honey shook her head. They had decided silently not to let Di in on the secret, not for now anyway.
“Hey Di!” Trixie started, not quite sure what to say. Thankfully, Di took care of that problem.
“Oh!” Di jumped. “Guess what! Mother has invited all of you for a sleep over at my house tonight. Won’t it be splendid?” Di said twirling around the room.
“We called both of your parents' houses and they agreed, on a few conditions. We must get a lot of rest, on account of Trixie,” Diana said, not realizing Trixie might find it offensive.
Trixie blushed, but Di continued, “We need to have a lot of rest. Oh! And your mother says to call if you feel the slightest bit sick, Trixie.”
Trixie would have groaned at her mother making such a fuss, but instead she was overjoyed she was allowed out of the house.
She ran to the Wheelers' phone to question her mother’s sanity.
On the other end of the phone, Moms said, “We trust you to get rest and not get too much excitement, Trixie. You know we wouldn’t do this if we didn’t think you were getting better, and you are almost healed completely. We trust you, Trix. But you know that this means no leaving the house tomorrow, right? You’re resting all day.”
The girls spent the night giggling. They decided to go to bed around 9:30. Trixie, however, could not sleep, she kept thinking of Dan.
Di, due to the excitement of the day, did indeed fall asleep.
Honey apparently had a hard time sleeping as well, for as Diana’s phone rang at 11:30, Honey jumped up and raced to it, arousing Trixie. Trixie glanced at Di. For once in her life, Di looked rather ridiculous, and Trixie couldn’t help but giggle.
Honey knew that thinking that Dan would call in the middle of the night was ridiculous, but she couldn’t help it. Trixie followed her to the phone.
“Honey?” The phone asked.
“Dan!” Trixie and Honey both exclaimed.
“The Cowhands are up to no good. They won’t let me go! You have to help. I’ll be fine for a while but...” He didn’t finish his sentence. “Look, they’re taking me to--”
Before the girls knew it, the line had been cut off.
Trixie gasped and swayed slightly, her face going pale. Honey, who had been looking equally pale, jerked towards Trixie and gripped her arm. Trixie shook her off, seemingly bringing color into her face by pure determination.She spoke hurriedly as she saw Honey open her mouth. “Honey, do you have any idea where they might have taken him? Any at all!?!” Instead at seeming delighted at a mystery, she looked positively aghast.
Honey forced the blonde to sit down on her sleeping bag before turning her mind to the question.
“Well, let’s see...We’ve got to think!...We must remember, what places did they meet before? They must have gone there before...Dan knew what they meant...”
Trixie looked thoughtful.
“The Cowhands could have meant a fair number of things by that...”
At that moment Di sat up with a shriek that fairly split their ears open and completely destroyed their concentration.
“Oh, no, what’s going on, not another mystery, oh, no, not that awful gang, oh, no!” Di’s voice was rising by the minute, and was sounding more and more hysterical.
Trixie lunged towards Di and clapped her hand over the raven-haired girl’s mouth.
The abrupt silence rang out louder then a gunshot.Di seemed so taken aback by the turn of advents that for a moment she stopped trying make any noise.
Trixie cautiously removed her hand from Diana’s mouth, who simply sat there with her mouth hanging open. Then she started talking in a voice that sounded like she was reciting.
“Well, you’re going to tell me right now what’s going on, and who called, and I don’t care what you say, I’m going to help you solve whatever it is, and keep you from doing anything more idiotic then you have to, and I’m going to—” Here she was shushed loudly by her companions; her voice had resumed rising again with rather alarming speed.
Trixie and Honey looked at each other, and reluctantly informed Di of all that had taken place.
It was past midnight when they had finished, and they all were so tired that they were practically sleep talking. They would have likely gone on talking for much longer if Honey hadn’t suddenly glanced at at Trixie.“We need to get to sleep,” Honey said abruptly, startling the other two out of their discussion.
Trixie opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again when she saw Honey’s face.
She went to bed very reluctantly, and fell asleep wearing a decidedly grumpy expression.
Trixie woke with the songs of birds filling the room.
Di, as usual, was still fast asleep, and Honey was sitting up in her sleeping bag.
Honey shifted in her seat to look at Trixie. “Trixie, what on earth are we going to tell Regan and the others? They’d have realized that Dan was gone by this point.”
Trixie tapped her fingers thoughtfully. “Maybe we’d better just tell them the truth.” The gloom in her voice was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
“Why, Trixie Belden! What is the matter with you!?! We can’t tell them! If the gang members knew the police were after them, they’d flee! With Dan!”
The blonde brightened immediately. “Yes, at least as it is they might still be near here! And I have an idea where they might be!”
Honey looked up, her hazel eyes shining. “Where!?! Oh. Um. Should we wake Di up?”
Trixie shook her head impatiently. “No, no. Let’s just go really quick. We’ll be back before she gets up!”
Her friend looked extremely doubtful.
“Come on!” Trixie pleaded. And with that she raced out the door.
Honey followed, a little reluctantly, at a more decorous pace.
Five minutes later they were tiptoeing off the Lynch property.“So,” Honey whispered,”Where are we going exactly?”
“The inn.”
“Trixie Belden! You think they’d actually use the place they got caught at before!?! That’s crazy!”
“It’s just crazy enough to be true...I have a hunch...”
Honey shook her head.
The two girls stopped, panting, in front of the inn.“Trixie. How are we going to get to that room-What’s the matter?” Honey interrupted herself sharply.
The blonde had disappeared around the corner of the building.
“Hey! Look at this!” Trixie popped back to where Honey was. “I found a note! Look at this!”
“Let me see!”
At first it seemed like a post-it note, but after closer inspection she could see that it was a piece of a letter. Written in a barely discernible scrawl was this:
on’t work, it’
in the first plac
at the Blue Bul
‘t make that mista
I’ll leave another
then you take D
make sure you burn t“See, Honey? It’s got to be talking about Dan! Who else? Oh, let’s go tell Di!”
Honey stared at the piece of paper incredulously. “But why would they be so stupid as to just—just leave this hanging around? And besides,” she added triumphantly, “’D’ could stand for a lot.”
“But ‘make sure you burn t” has to be ’make sure you burn this’. And that’s just plain suspicious! You can’t deny it!” Trixie argued hotly.
“But it does not have to mean ‘this’. It could be ‘the’ or ‘that’ or ‘their’, or—a buch of things!”
“It could be any of those and still be suspicious!”
“That’s still no indication that it’s related to Dan—Oh, never mind. Let’s just take the note, and get back.”
To Be Continued