*All Ages

Disclaimer & Acknowledgements: Guess what? These characters are owned by Western Publishing. Surprised? I thought so. "Abriendo Puertas" is off Gloria Estefan's CD of the same name; English translation is mine. This is not for profit. Thanks to Steph and April for reading it and sharing their comments and suggestions.

Author's note: Did you ever wonder what would have happened to the BWGs if Kathryn Kenny would have sent them to Mexico like she promised at the end of The Black Jacket Mystery to visit Dolores and Lupe? I think it might have gone a little something like this. And also, it's bit of revenge for the way Jim and Brian treated Trixie in Arizona. And for the way KK sometimes had Jim give Trixie some competition, like in #9. Turnabout is fair play. Be forewarned that the Brian and Jim in this story have all the worst qualities some of the Kennys ever gave them. This "mystery" is not the fairest or the most complex, but bear in mind two things: I am not good at creating or solving mysteries, and two, I find everything about the Spanish language fascinating, so I hope not to bore anyone here. Eduardo and Carlos are based on people I met in Mexico. For my purposes, Dolores and Lupe live near Guadalajara, since that was where I studied in Mexico and I can describe the airport with some accuracy.. ¡Vamonos a México!

OPENING DOORS: A Mini-Mystery in Mexico

By Laurie

"Atención, pasajeros! Bienvenidos a México!"

Upon hearing the pilot welcome them to Mexico, Trixie Belden yawned and stretched, tired and cramped. It had been a long flight, and an even longer day. She and the rest of the BWGs--even Dan, for a change--had taken off from JFK early that day on their way to Guadalajara, México to visit their friends and pen pals Dolores and Lupe Pérez. The pen pals had met in person for the first time almost five years ago, when the Bob-Whites had held an ice carnival to help rebuild the library of San Isidro, destroyed by an earthquake. As a surprise, Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler had flown the Pérez sisters into Sleepyside to attend the carnival. During the girls' stay in the States, they had become good friends with all the BWGs. Especially Brian and Jim, Trixie thought with a grin. Her brother and her boyfr…er, special friend, had taken special pains to befriend the beautiful visitors, a fact which both Trixie and Honey had noted and pretended not to care about. Upon leaving, Dolores and Lupe had repeatedly invited all seven BWGs to visit them in San Isidro, and though it seemed to Trixie as though almost half a century had passed since the invitation had been made, the BWGs were finally getting the chance to take their friends' up on their generous offer. Their parents had encouraged them to get the most out of their three-week stay, hoping that the Bob-Whites would take advantage of the opportunity to improve their Spanish.

The pilot's announcement that they had crossed the US/Mexico border and were on their way south to Guadalajara broke into Trixie's silent reminiscing. She smiled at all her friends. It's so nice that Dan could come with us this time, Trixie mused to herself. And so lucky that this trip coincided with not only Sleepyside High's winter break, but also the boys' college vacation. We get to leave blizzards and chores and homework behind for three weeks in the Mexican sun!

She leaned forward to catch the tail end of the conversation Di, Mart and Brian were holding in the row ahead of her. Perhaps "conversation" wasn't the right word. For the last half hour Mart had been giving an endless monologue on the history, culture, and economy of Mexico. It's Arizona all over again, Trixie grinned to herself. Only this time no tutoring, thank goodness! Di was staring at Mart wide-eyed, drinking up every word, while Brian sat patiently listening to facts and stories he probably already knew.

I wonder if Mart knows how boring he sounds, Trixie thought. If we wanted to bring a guidebook along, we would have bought one at home. Trixie herself had decided she preferred not to know too much about a new city she was about to visit. You left yourself room for surprises that way. She was about to lean forward and tell Mart to knock it off when she reconsidered. That move, she knew, would lead to the inevitable argument, and she was beginning to tire of them. I'm not going to start this trip off with an argument. It's going to be too great to mess it up now. The only thing that would make it "perfectly perfect" would be a mystery. It's been such a long time…

"Trixie?" she heard Jim say from the seat next to hers. He smiled fondly as she looked at him. She smiled back, but didn't blush at him, as was her standard response whenever Jim was around. It wasn't really that her feelings for him--however you defined them--had changed, it was just that…well…nothing had happened. Nothing. In the almost five years she had known Jim, their feelings for each other had been obvious, and yet they had never kissed, never even gone out on a real date. Honey had complained of a similar problem with Brian. Do we have boyfriends or don't we? It's like we're in limbo. Something's gotta give, she thought. And soon. She buckled her seat belt due to the sudden turbulence, and felt her stomach lurch, not in fear, but in excitement. There was nothing (besides a good mystery, of course) that Trixie Belden liked better than visiting a new place. As Mart would say, Trixie thought, a new place is so full of potential. Actually, Mart wouldn't say that exactly--those words have less than four syllables. But something like that. She leaned back against the sat, trying unsuccessfully to get comfortable. This trip is full of potential.

*      *      *

In the row ahead of Trixie, Homey Wheeler shifted in her seat, also trying to get comfortable. I don't see why we had to fly coach, she thought a little grumpily. Daddy offered to pay for Business or even First class, but no. Honorable Jim said we shouldn't. I hope his back hurts as much as mine does. Her mood lifted as the next song began to play in her Walkman. A few months back, when she had first heard of their trip to Mexico, Honey had made a mix tape of music in Spanish, hoping to improve her grasp of the language in a way more fun than studying vocabulary lists. This one was her favorite, and always reminded her of a conversation she had had with Trixie some weeks back in her bedroom at Manor House. This very song had sparked the conversation. She leaned back, relaxing to Gloria Estefan's beautiful voice and re-living their conversation:

Como después de la noche
Brilla una nueva mañana

Así también en tu llanto
Hay una luz de esperanza

Como después de la lluvia
Llega de nuevo la calma

El año nuevo te espera
Con alegrías en el alma

Y vamos abriendo puertas
Y vamos cerrando heridas
Poerque en el año que llega
Vamos a vivir la vida.

At the end of the song, Honey's hazel eyes had flashed, and her face, which usually held such a sweet expression, had been full of determination. "That's it, Trixie!'

"What's what?" Trixie had asked, a little bewildered. Spanish had never been her strong point, and despite her best efforts, she was only able to catch a word here and there of the song. "How can I know how incredibly significant this song is to you when I can't understand it?"

Honey had grinned and taken a piece of paper out of her pocket. To her secret disgust (after all, she was the one who studied French in boarding school) and Trixie's open, often expressed annoyance, it was Mart of all the BWGs who had displayed an aptitude for languages. His Spanish was by far the best of the group, a fact that he repeatedly reminded them of. Honey had buttered him up by listening patiently to one of his long monologues, after which he had happily translated the song for her. She read out the words to Trixie:

Just as after the night
A new morning shines

So to in your weeping
There is a light of hope

Just as after the rain
the calm arrives once again

The New Year awaits you
With joy in the soul

And we go on opening doors
And we go on closing wounds
Because in the coming year
We're going to live life

Honey finished as Trixie looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. "I see," she said politely.

Honey came over to sit beside her on the bed. "Don't you see, Trixie? It's about change, about hope for the future, about how if you're unhappy with your life, things will get better if you're open to new experiences." She looked suspiciously at Trixie, who looked as if she were trying not to smile. "What?"

"Nothing, " Trixie said hastily. "It's just you always read so much into things. But I see your point. Ever since senior year started, we've been complaining about our lives. We've spent so much time missing the boys, and then we get mad at ourselves for sitting around talking about them instead of going out and doing things on our own. You've been upset about college and being undecided, and I've been upset because everyone has been trying to get me to study something a little "safer." Then we both get upset because we aren't sure if we have boyfriends, and we're not sure that we don't have boyfriends…" She was bout to go on when she caught Honey's eye and both girls burst out laughing.

"We're pathetic, "Trixie giggled as she wiped the tears of laughter out of her eyes.

"Exactly, " Honey replied. "What I mean is, we've both spent so much time not being perfectly happy about our lives. Well, I think this trip maybe the answer. Living in a foreign country, no matter for how short a time, can't help but change a person, if we're open to it."

"Sounds fine to me," Trixie had replied. "As long as the new experience includes a mystery!"

Honey smiled as looked around the plane. Christmas break in Mexico, she thought to herself. What a perfectly perfect way to start off a New Year. Her tape came to the end of the song:

Yo te lo digo de corazón
El año nuevo será mucho mejor.

Honey translated to herself: "I tell you from my heart/ The New Year will be much better." The old one's not ending too badly, either!

*      *      *

Trixie woke from her uncomfortable nap to realize she had completely missed the landing. Following the lead of the other Bob-Whites, she exited the plane, waited impatiently to collect her luggage, and got in the line under the sign which read, ADUANA--Customs. She started to dig for her passport, but Brian stopped her.

"They won't check your passport, Trix. Americans don't need them to get into Mexico; they just need it, or a birth certificate or some way to prove their American citizenship, to get back into the US."

"Oh," Trixie said, a little disappointed. "I wanted a stamp for my passport." She was about to ask Brian to explain why this was the case when she saw the first person go through the Customs process. "What ARE they doing?"

Customs, in the Guadalajara airport, consisted of a low table and what looked like a stop sign. Sure enough, as the seven BWGs watched, fascinated, as each passenger passed by the stop sign, it flashed red or green. The "green" people were free to pick up their suitcases and be on their way without further questions. "Red" people were politely asked to open their luggage for a brief inspection.

Trixie was fascinated by this game of chance. All seven BWGs were green-lighted and passed quickly to the other end of the airport.

"Does that really stop smuggling?," Mart asked, too puzzled to think up larger words.

Dan shrugged. "It's probably as effective as anything else--which is to say, not at all. Our customs practices don't stop much smuggling either."

Trixie was amazed by the whole process. She stood rooted to the ground as the other six tried to urge her along.

"Trixie," Honey said urgently. "Dolores and Lupe said they were bringing a surprise for us at the airport. We shouldn't be late meeting them."

Trixie ignored her. She was carefully watching two women in the departure line. They were the picture of respectable older ladies: flower print dresses, sensible shoes, large hats, big purses. Trixie's brow wrinkled as she stared at them, muttering "There's something about those two, I don't know what, but it's strange…"

Brian and Jim looked at each other, rolling their eyes.

"Not again!" Jim said.

"Not now," Brian chorused. "Look, Trix, for us to go I had to swear to Moms and Dad that I would keep you out of trouble. I thought you'd outgrow this suspiciousness when you got a little older, but I guess I was wrong. There's nothing mysterious about those women. You always suspect everyone, Trixie. Give it---and us---a rest."

Exchanging superior smiles, Jim and Brian announced their intentions of going to look for Lupe and Dolores. Mart's offer to go with them in case they needed to ask for information was met with a resounding no. Big shocker, Trixie thought sourly. Five would be a crowd.

Mart and Dan elected to stay with the girls. Mart, in fact, followed Trixie as she moved closer to the two women, approaching them from behind so that they wouldn't notice the interest they were attracting. Honey smiled as she watched the Belden siblings. Mart would have been horrified to know that with the similar expressions of deep concentration on their faces, he and Trixie looked more like twins than ever. Daringly, Mart leaned in closer to the two women, to hear the whispered conversation between them. They were clearly trying not to be overheard.

--¿ Estamos listos para este viaje?
--Claro que sí. Tengo todo lo que necesitamos.
--¿Estás nervioso?
--¿ Por qué? Todo va bien.

Mart's eyebrows shot up. He tiptoed back to Trixie, and, keeping a close eye on the movements of the two women, motioned Dan, Honey, and Di to join them.

"Trixie, I think you're right about those two women," Mart began. Trixie looked at him, expecting him to start teasing her, but he wasn't joking. Not this time. Mart translated the brief bit of conversation he had overheard:

--Are we ready for the trip?
--Of course. I have everything we need.
--Are you nervous?
--Why? Everything is going well.

Trixie's face fell.

"Is that it?," she asked, disappointed. "I mean, it sounds a little weird to me, but I can just hear Brian and Jim. 'Come on, Trixie, they're just older ladies nervous about flying, worried that they haven't packed everything they'll need for the trip. You're letting your imagination run wild again. Grow up!' " Her face showed her hurt. She, like the rest of the BWGs, highly valued the oldest club members' opinions.

Mart looked at her, and said, very gently for him, "If they were that smart, Trixie, they'd have learned by now to have as much faith in your instincts as the rest of us do." Embarrassed, he added, quickly, "Besides, that's not all, there's more."

He spoke quietly for a few minutes as his friends' eyes widened.

"That's good enough for me," Dan responded.

"Me too," Trixie agreed. "Let's just hope one of these security guards knows English."

*	*	*

Brian and Jim, towing Dolores and Lupe by the hand, returned to the spot where they had left the rest of the club. They weren't there. Bewildered, they started at each other. "Where in the world did they go now?"

"They're they are," Dolores pointed ahead of them, to a large group crowded around a short, curly-haired blond.

"With that policeman," Lupe added, sounding concerned. "I wonder why they are talking to the poli. I hope there wasn't a problem."

Brian and Jim hurried up to the BWGs in time to hear one of the genteel-looking women hiss something at Trixie (Mart later claimed it was the Spanish equivalent of "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for you meddling kids," but no one believed him.)

Brian began, "Trixie, what have you done NOW?"

The poli interrupted him, "This young lady has just helped us capture two notorious smugglers."

Trixie blushed, almost speechless. "It was Mart really," she murmured.

Mart was never speechless. "It was nothing really. It just goes to show how important it is to be linguistically competent in many languages." At the boys' puzzled stare, he elaborated. "I overheard a bit of the ladies' conversation. But it wasn't what they said; it was HOW they said it. You see, in Spanish adjectives have to agree in gender with the nouns they describe."

A snore from Trixie interrupted his lecture. She grinned at him. "Just joking, Professor. Please, do go on." She whispered, to Honey, "I know he will anyway."

Mart cleared his throat. "Because they were two women, talking about themselves, they should be using feminine forms of adjectives. But the one lady asked the other is they were 'listos," which is the masculine plural form of the adjective. A few minutes later the other one asked the first is she was "nervioso." The masculine form. A beginning language student might make those kinds of mistakes, but a native never would--unless," he added dramatically, " the two women were not in fact women but men in disguise. That tipped me off that something about them wasn't quite right. " He paused, then added generously, "Something Trixie could tell just by looking at them." He went on,"They altered their appearance, so that they wouldn't attract suspicion and could smuggle stuff out of the airport--after all, who would suspect two older, respectable-looking women--but they forgot that their words could give them away if they weren't careful. And they did. Of course, I'm sure they thought no one would over hear them" Mart grinned. "The power of language," he mused. "Maybe I should change majors."

Honey smiled at him. "Maybe we should change the Agency's name to Belden, Wheeler & Belden."

Mart shook his head. "Sounds too much like a law firm. But I'll be happy to lend my linguistic expertise when it's needed-- for a small fee, of course."

"Of course," Trixie said. "Or Honey and I could just learn Spanish ourselves. All this time I've been moaning and groaning about having to take it; I never realized it could be useful in a case." She broke off, and a grin spread across her face as she spotted two familiar faces in the crowd. "Dolores! Lupe!"

The two sisters, who had hung back shyly, rushed to meet them. The girls greeted each BWG in turn with a typical Mexican greeting for good friends: a kiss on both cheeks. When Dolores got to Jim, she smiled at him. "But we have already greeted you and Brian," she said softly.

"Yes, but it's been so long since we've seen you that I think we deserve to greet each other again," Jim chuckled.

Dolores and Lupe smiled at each other, shrugged, and kissed Brian and Jim on both cheeks, while Honey and Trixie rolled their eyes at each other. They missed the look of complicity between the two sisters.

"Where's the surprise, amigas?" Trixie begged, the smuggling case far from her as she wondered about what Lupe and Dolores had brought with them to the airport. They weren't carrying anything.

"We had better show them, Lupe, before la detective gets ahead of us. "But first there are two people we want you to meet. Our novios."

"Boyfriends?" Jim and Brian spoke in unison, disappointment crossing their faces.

"Yes," Lupe said. "Here they come. And they have our surprise for Trixie and Honey with them.

The partners spun around--and stared. Coming toward then were two young men. Judging by the way they were looking at Dolores and Lupe, they had to be the novios. With them were two other young men, and judging by the family resemblance, these had to be the Pérez sisters' brothers, whom they had written about to Trixie and Honey many times in the past five years. The Pérez brothers were smiling right at Trixie and Honey.

"Ay caramba," Honey murmured.

"Dios mío," Trixie agreed.

Mart turned to Dan. "Now their Spanish improves. Go figure," he said dryly, and glanced worriedly at Di.

The two young men--actually all four young men--were gorgeous. Tall, dark, and handsome didn't even begin to cover it. especially for the Pérez brothers. They had wavy dark hair, gorgeous smiles, and one of them even have the most striking blue eyes. Best of all, they seemed fascinated by the two detectives. Lupe performed the introductions. Her novio was Manuel, Dolores' was Rafael, and their two brothers were Eduardo (the blue-eyed one) and Carlos.

"We've told them all about you two," Dolores smiled at Trixie and Honey. "And all about all of the cases you've solved. They love those Agatha Christie novels, and ever since we came to visit you, they have been wanting to meet two detectives in person, so when I learned you were coming, they arranged to take some time off to get to know you. And the rest of you too, of course," she added hastily.

"We promised to make sure your trip to Mexico was perfect," Carlos told them.

"Perfectly perfect," Honey agreed, staring at him. Trixie did not think she was referring to the trip. But then Eduardo flashed her a wide smile and her mind went blank.

"And to think you have already solved one case right here in the airport," he said admiringly. "You will have to tell us all abut it, and about all your other cases too. Carlos and I cannot wait to hear all about them."

"Of course," Trixie managed to reply. She turned to Honey as the men went to load the luggage into the waiting taxis.

"I get Eduardo," she muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

"Wait a minute! Says who?"

Trixie grinned. "He has blue eyes. Blue is always my color. Always has been. Always will be."

Honey pretended to pout. "Okay," she said cheerfully. "I think Carlos is cuter anyway. I think we have an even better incentive to study Spanish now."

"Study?" Trixie laughed. "I've lost so much of my Spanish that I may need one-on-one tutoring." They two friend s grinned at each other.

"Macho jerks," they heard Brian mutter as the boys returned. Their new friends had outmaneuvered them: Manuel and Rafael had taken care of Dolores and Lupe and Carlos and Eduardo had loaded the girls' luggage.

"Only to the ignorant," Trixie informed him pertly. "Intelligent people know that not all Mexican men are machos."

"And not all machos," Di laughed, "come from Mexico." She slipped her arm through Mart's and joined Trixie and Honey in grinning at Brian and Jim. Mart and Dan unsuccessfully concealed their amusement.

Carlos and Eduardo had returned. "The others are waiting in the taxis. We will show you the way." With the three female BWGs close behind them, Carlos and Eduardo led the group across the airport towards the double doors leading to the area where taxis picked up waiting passengers.

Eduardo smiled at Trixie, Di and Honey. "Let us open the doors for you ladies," he said, as he and Carlo held the doors open so that they could pass through.

Trixie and Honey smiled at each other. "Okay," they said in unison. This was going to be some trip.

The End

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