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The New Girl

Story and illustrations by Julie

Chapter 1

Honey Wheeler nudged her best friend, Trixie Belden, as they stood together by the Lynches' pool. They along with the rest of the Bob-Whites had organized a spring picnic. They had invited all of their friends from school but Honey had noticed that Dan was sitting off by himself just watching quietly. He did not seem to be enjoying himself at all. As a matter of fact everyone but Dan was having a wonderful time. Mart was being his usual self, clowning around and making himself the life of the party, all to impress Diana who in turn was pretending not to notice as she greeted the arriving guests. Jim and Brian were busy at the grill making the hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone and they were having a good time doing it.

"Do you see that?" Honey nudged Trixie again. "Dan doesn’t look like he’s having fun in the least. Don’t you think?"

Trixie had not been paying to much attention. She was enjoying the unseasonably warm weather and had only been thinking about how well the party was going and how to keep their guests entertained. She blushed and nodded. "I honestly hadn’t noticed." How like her friend to sense when someone seemed unhappy but she like usual had been too preoccupied to notice. She resolved right then and there to try to be more like Honey when it came to sensing people’s feelings. "It’s such a beautiful day and there’s so much to do I can’t imagine why he’s off by himself like that."

Honey sighed and shook her head. "Look around, Trixie. Pretty much everyone is paired off. Even we are sort of. I mean Mart and Di are pretty fond of each other and you and I pretty much feel the same about Jim and Brian."

Trixie frowned. She had never really thought of it before but whenever they went anywhere as a group they did pair off and though it had never occurred to her Dan must have felt uncomfortable at times. Trixie shook her head and ran her fingers through her short curly blond hair trying to think of what to do.

"I can’t believe I never realized but you’re right. But what can we do about it? It’s not like we wave our hands and 'poof' a girl appears for him."

"Of course not." Honey giggled. "But we could go over and try to cheer him up."

"Then let’s." Trixie grinned. Crooking her arm for Honey who laughed as she slipped her hand through and the girls strode arm in arm over to where Dan was standing.

Dan looked up and smiled as the girls walked over. "What’s up with you two?" He raised a curious brow to them and he tried to look serious.

"What do you mean what’s up with us two?" Trixie protested. "Why does something always have to be up with us?"

Dan grinned and there was a twinkle in his dark brown eyes. "Because where you and Honey are concerned there usually is." He took a sip of punch from the cup he was holding.

"Well for your information Daniel Mangan, there is nothing up. We just came over to see if you were interested in helping us organize a game of volleyball." Trixie tried to be stern but giggled in spite of her self.

Dan smiled gently at the two girls and shook his head. He knew exactly what they were trying to do and while he appreciated it, it really wasn’t going to help. "Thanks girls, but actually I think I’m going to head home. Mr. Maypenny has a lot of stuff that needs doing at the reserve and this is probably a good day to get it all done."

"Oh Dan, you can’t leave," Honey protested and she looked upset enough to cry. "It’s a perfect day for a party and it’s only just started. Stay a little longer won’t you?"

Dan frowned. He hated to see anyone upset and Honey was particularly sensitive. "I didn’t mean to make you upset Honey. I guess I’m not really in a party mood."

"I’m sure if you would just wait a little while…." Trixie, who was standing beside Dan, was cut short by a light tap on her shoulder.

"Excuse me," said the girl who was standing directly beside her as she came in through the gate. "I didn’t mean to interrupt but I was looking for Honey?" She spoke uncertainly.

Trixie and Honey looked at each other and grinned as they saw Dan turn and smile at the pretty girl.

Honey held out her slim hand to the girl who grasped it warmly. "I’m Honey. And these are my friends Trixie Belden and Daniel Mangan."

"It’s nice to meet you all." She blushed and Trixie thought she was as shy as Honey was when they had first met. "I’m Julie Tyler. My father works with your father and we’re the ones building the house next to your property. He’s over talking with Mr. Wheeler now about some of the plans. Your father said I ought to come over but I’m afraid I feel kind of like a gate crasher it’s not like I was invited or anything and I don’t even know any of you and--" she laughed at herself as she noticed them grinning at her. She nervously fingered a strand of long reddish brown hair and her green eyes seemed to be laughing with her. "And just so you know--when I’m nervous I tend to babble, so if you lose track at all of what I’m saying feel free to shush me at anytime."

Trixie laughed. "Don’t feel nervous. We’re glad you came. You’ll have a great time."

"Thanks." She smiled gratefully at them all.

"Come on." Dan smiled at her. "We’ll introduce you to everyone. And I will make sure that the guys make you the best hamburger on the planet. As a matter of fact I may just make it for you myself " He took her by the hand and led her over towards where Jim and Brian were flipping burgers.

Trixie leaned over to whisper into Honey’s ear as they followed behind Dan and the new girl. "What was it he was saying a couple minutes ago about not being in a party mood? Whatever could have changed his mind?" She giggled.

Honey smiled and they watched as Dan introduced Julie to their brother’s. "I haven’t the foggiest."

Chapter 2

The next day was a Sunday and the weather was equally as nice and all of the Bob-Whites had gathered together at the Wheeler’s lake for swimming and a small barbecue. The boys were horsing around in the lake while the girls were sitting at the picnic table talking about the party from the previous day.

"I don’t know about you all but I think yesterday’s party was the party to end all parties don’t you?" Honey smiled as she absentmindedly stirred the ice in her tea with a straw.

"I agree totally." Di smiled, resting her hand in her chin as she watched the boys clowning around. "Will you look at them? Do you think boys ever grow up?"

Trixie laughed. "What made you say that? We weren’t even talking about boys."

"Oh, I don’t know." Di blushed. "It’s just Mart spent all day teasing me and joking around yesterday. I wonder if he takes me seriously at all." She pushed her shoulder length blue-black hair away from her lavender eyes.

Trixie and Honey grinned at each other. "Forget trying to change Mart. He’s going to be that way forever." Honey grinned. "Beside we all know he’s only trying to impress you."

"I suppose." Di shrugged and changed the subject. "You know that new girl seems really nice. You said they’re building right next to you aren’t they Honey?"

"Hmm-hmm." Honey nodded. "You can see them starting to build the framework from the other side of the house. You know Dad had told me they had a little girl." Honey giggled. "But I guess all fathers think we’re little girls no matter how old we get."

"Why don’t we go over and take a peek. I’d love to see how big it’s going to be."

Di and Honey looked at each other and grinned.

Trixie caught their looks and grinned shaking her head. "I am not being nosy if that’s what you think. I’m just curious what the place is going to look like."

"I guess it couldn’t hurt," Honey admitted. "As long as we don’t get close enough to get in anyone’s way." She stood up and led the way with Trixie and Di following.

As they reached the edge of the lake Jim called out to his sister. "Hey where are you girls headed?"

"Trixie wanted to see what the new house is going to look like."

The guys all chuckled and looked around at one another all except for Dan who called out. "Hey, wait up." He swam over to edge of the lake and got out. He grabbed his towel and started to dry himself off. "I think I’ll go with you if you don’t mind."

"Oh." Trixie raised a brow and teased. "Any reason in particular?"

Dan shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "No reason."

"Yeah, right," Mart laughed. "That reason wouldn’t happen to have brown hair, green eyes and be about five feet tall would she?" Mart climbed up on the dock and started to towel off.

"Keep it up, funny boy. You might end up back in the lake," Dan threatened with a chuckle and a quick towel snap aimed in Mart’s direction. Dan laid his towel on the edge of the picnic bench and pulled on a tee shirt and not thinking ran his fingers quickly through his dark hair.

"See he even has to primp," Mart teased.

"Don’t say I didn’t warn you," Dan laughed as he picked up Mart from behind and tossed him back into the lake. Everyone roared with laughter as Mart came up spewing water from his mouth like fountain.

Trixie laughed at her brother as Dan reached out a hand to help him out. "I knew that smart mouth was going to get you in trouble one day. I’m only glad I was here to see it." She wiped the tears from her eyes she was laughing so hard.

Jim and Brian both came out as well. "Actually," Brian said seriously. "I’d kind of like to see the place myself. Why don’t we all go?"

"I was thinking the same." Jim dried off quickly and pulled his shirt over his head and trotted over to the girls. "Lead the way sis."

They all headed over the hill to see what was happening with the house. They were all surprised to see a row of police cars and an ambulance pulling away. They looked from the scene to each other and before anyone had a chance to say a word, Trixie was headed full speed down the path to where Julie was standing.

"Trixie! Wait!" Brian called out to her as he and the others hurried down the path after her, but she wasn’t paying any attention and she rushed over to Julie.

"Julie. What’s going on? Why are the police here? And the ambulance?"

Julie turned to her in surprise. Her face was red and swollen from crying and she tried to brush the tears away. Trixie swallowed hard her face flaming red from embarrassment. Only yesterday she had vowed to herself to be more sensitive to people’s feelings and there she was blurting out questions without even thinking. "I’m sorry Julie. I didn’t mean to be so nosy. Are you all right?"

Just then everyone caught up and Dan frowned when he saw Julie’s tearstained face. He went over and put his arms gently around her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and brushed away the tears from her face. "I’m okay." She nodded but she wasn’t fooling anyone, especially not herself.

Everyone turned to look disapprovingly at Trixie and Honey nudged her gently.

"Don’t say anything," Trixie sighed. "I know what you’re all going to say anyway. I wasn’t thinking."

"It’s okay." Julie took in a few deep breaths and wiped away her tears. "You didn’t say or do anything to upset me. I was already upset."

"Just what did happen?" Trixie asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Julie took one more deep breath and looked at them all. "We came down about an hour ago. Dad wanted to see how things were going with the house. He and the foreman, Mr. Matthews, were inspecting the second floor when it fell in."

Honey put her hand to her mouth and gasped. "Are they all right?"

Julie shrugged. "I guess you could say so. My father’s shoulder was broken and Mr. Matthews has a huge gash on his head and they think a concussion…but it could have been much worse than that." The more she talked, the better she was feeling about it. "You know I am glad you all showed up. Everyone else is rushing around me like I wasn’t even here. They wouldn’t even let me go in the ambulance with him." She rubbed her shoulders frowning as she watched all the people milling around.

Just then a tall burly man walked up behind them. He had very rough tanned skin and a smile that was more of a sneer. "There are some places little girls just don’t belong. Ambulances are one of them."

Julie turned to glare at him and it was apparent to everyone that there was no love between the two of them. "What are you doing here?"

"Didn’t you know? Your daddy wanted me to come by to show me the place he’s building. Don’t look like much now." He chuckled menacingly.

"Get out of here." Dan stared at him coldly.

The man laughed. "Who’s gonna make me boy? You?"

"And us." Jim stepped up beside Dan along with Brian and Mart.

The man licked his lips and looked around at the swarms of police. "You’re lucky boy." He glared at Dan. "This time." He looked at Julie and Dan could feel her shudder. "I’ll be seeing you, missy." He turned and stalked away with one last chuckle.

"Who was that?" Di shivered as she watched the man walk away.

"Would you believe he’s my uncle?" Julie shivered again herself.

"You’re not serious." Mart frowned. "That creep is your uncle?" He spoke in utter disbelief.

"I have trouble believing it myself." She forced a smile.

"He doesn’t seem very upset about your father’s accident." Honey was very surprised.

"That’s just it. It wasn’t any accident. Someone had cut the beams so that if someone walked on the floor they were bound to fall right through."

"Do you think your uncle could have done it?" Trixie said quickly.

"Trixie!" Everyone looked at her and frowned.

"Leave it to the police," Jim said soberly. "If someone did do that on purpose it’s obvious that he doesn’t care who gets hurt. He had no idea who was going to be here. Anyone could have been up there."

"But it’s just…" Trixie began.

"No buts," Brian said sternly. "Like Jim said, leave this up to the police."

"What are you all talking about?" Julie looked at them uncertainly. "What do you think she’s going to do?"

"Let me explain something about our dear Trixie," Jim said seriously. "She has a very suspicious mind and she loves a mystery."

Julie nodded in understanding. "And this is a mystery."

"Right." Brian nodded.

Honey looked at Julie who was now looking around her once again at all the police and for a moment she looked completely lost. "What are you going to do now?"

"I don’t know. I guess one of the police will have to take me home. I just hope they let me stop at the hospital first." She seemed uncertain if they would or not.

"Will your mom be home?" Di asked.

Julie flushed. "I haven’t seen my mother in years. She and Dad divorced before I was old enough to remember her. It’s just the two of us."

"Then you’ll stay with us," Honey said quickly. "Dad and Mom would want you to. Besides there’s plenty of room and our chauffeur Tom can take you to the hospital to see how your dad is and he’ll take you home, too, so you can get some clothes and whatever else you need."

Julie shook her head. "I couldn’t ask you to do that."

"You didn’t ask." Jim grinned. "We offered."

Julie forced a smile. "Okay. I really don’t want to be alone now anyway," she admitted.

Just then Sergeant Molinson walked over. He looked at Trixie and grinned wryly. "Now, why am I not surprised to see you here?" Trixie opened her mouth to say something, but he turned to Julie. "Now then, little lady. I guess we ought to see about getting you home."

"That’s all right. You don’t need to. Honey and Jim have offered to let me stay with them. I’d really rather not go home tonight anyway."

The Sergeant nodded. "That’s probably best. But if you think of anything that may help us you give me a call."

"I will." Julie nodded. The Sergeant tipped his cap and headed back to his squad car and in a few moments everyone was gone and Julie followed the others up the path to Honey’s house. She looked back over her shoulder at the framework, which was surrounded by yellow tape. She had to get back there to have a look for herself.

 

Chapter 3

Later that night everyone met once again at the Manor House for dinner. As Honey had promised Tom Delanoy had driven Julie to the hospital to check on her father and to her home to pack her bags. She was to stay with Honey and Jim until her father was able to leave the hospital. Miss Trask was on the phone explaining the situation to Mr. Wheeler who had left earlier that morning with his wife for a business trip to Chicago. Meanwhile everyone was waiting anxiously at the dining table for Tom to return with Julie.

Trixie was pacing back and forth by the French doors, which faced out to the patio. "What could be taking them so long? They left hours ago." She kept pulling back the lace curtains and peeking out. "I’ll simply die if I don’t hear some news soon."

"If you simply died every time you said you were going to we would have lost you ages ago." Jim grinned wryly as he stood and gently placed his freckled hands on her shoulders and steered her back into her dining chair. "Just sit and relax."

"Please do relax Trix." Di nodded in agreement. "I’m sure Tom will be bringing her back any minute now."

"I sure hope so. Anymore waiting and my dear sister is going to wear a hole right through the carpet." Mart stood up and gingerly tapped around on the area of carpet Trixie had been pacing on.

"Very funny." Trixie made a face and stuck out her tongue at him. "Besides," she added seriously. "You can’t honestly tell me you aren’t as curious as I am. I mean it is all very mysterious."

"I’d say that uncle of hers is mysterious." Brian took a sip of water from the crystal goblet sitting directly in front of him.

Di shivered. "I don’t know that mysterious is the word for him. Horrid is a better I think."

"I for one won’t disagree with you there." Honey felt a chill go up her spine. "Just thinking about him…" She shuddered. "Can you imagine having someone like that related to you? He actually seemed almost pleased about the accident."

"Too pleased if you ask me." Dan nodded frowning.

"Exactly," Trixie said quickly. "I’ll bet you he had something to do with it."

"As much as I hate to admit it I think you may have a point there." Jim rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. "But this is still a matter for the police. Don’t go getting in over your head on this."

"I didn’t say I was going to do anything." Trixie looked at Jim in mock amazement. "Sheesh. And you all say I have the suspicious nature."

Just then they heard a car pull up in the driveway. "That must be them." Dan jumped quickly from his seat and headed out to the hall followed by a bemused Jim.

"Since when did Dan start answering the door in your house Honey?" Mart nudged Honey with his elbow.

"Don’t tease Mart. I seem to know someone else who makes a complete fool of himself trying to impress a certain young lady with lavender eyes and black hair." She noticed the red creep into Mart’s cheeks and for more than a few moments he was left speechless.

In a moment Julie was led into the dining room with Dan close at her side and Jim following behind with her suitcase and overnight bag. "Honey. I’m going to take Julie’s stuff up to your room. Why don’t you ask Cook to heat up something for her?"

"Of course I will. Did you think I was going to let her starve?" Honey teased as she got up from her seat. "How does roast beef with mushroom gravy sound? With some vegetables and rolls maybe?"

"That sounds wonderful." Julie smiled gratefully at Honey and then back up at Dan who had held her chair out for her. "I haven’t had anything to eat all day. I wasn’t even thinking about food until we were in the car on the way over here."

"That’s understandable," Dan spoke gently as he took the seat beside her and rested his arm on the back of her chair. "How is your father doing?"

Julie smiled and sighed in relief. "He’s fine. They set his leg while I was at the hospital. That’s why we were so long. I couldn’t see him until they were finished. I have to remember to tell the Wheeler’s how wonderful Tom was while we were waiting. He sat and talked with me the whole time." Then she laughed. "Actually more like he sat and listened to my babbling. I was never so nervous in my life. I’m sure he had no idea what I was saying."

"Tom is a terrific guy." Brian nodded wholeheartedly.

"I will be sure to tell him that." Celia smiled as she came out of the kitchen with a platter of food and placed it in front of Julie.

Honey who was following close behind put down the glass of ice tea she was holding. "Julie this is tom’s wife Celia."

"It’s a pleasure to meet you Julie." Celia nodded.

"It’s my pleasure really." Julie smiled but she looked a bit guilty. "Would you thank Tom for me again? He was really very patient with me while I talked his ear off today."

Celia laughed daintily and her eyes twinkled. "I will tell him exactly that but there’s no need really. He was glad to do it." With that she turned back to the kitchen.

"Celia," Miss Trask called as she entered the room.

"Yes, Miss Trask?"

"Why don’t you go ahead home for the night and tell Cook to take the rest of the evening off as well?"

"Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to stay and finish the last of the dishes?"

"Go ahead home." Jim grinned. "Honey and I can clean up what’s left."

"If you insist. Goodnight everyone." Celia smiled brightly and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Now, Julie." Miss Trask looked down at her with a reassuring smile. "I’ve just spoke with Mr. Wheeler and explained the situation to him. He said you are more than welcome to stay as long as you need. So make yourself at home. If there’s anything you need feel free to ask Regan or myself."

"Thank you Miss Trask." Julie smiled gratefully.

"Well then." Miss Trask let out a deep exaggerated sigh. "I think I will head on up to my room. If anyone needs me you know where I am." She smiled. "Goodnight everyone."

After saying their good nights to Miss Trask, everyone turned to Julie.

"So what have you heard from the police?" Trixie asked quickly.

Julie smiled as she heard everyone groan. She turned to Trixie and shook her head. "Nothing. But to them I’m just a kid. They’re not going to tell me anything."

"Do you have any idea who might have wanted to hurt your father?"

"There’s no way to be sure someone wanted hurt Dad. Anyone could have been there." But she sounded like she was trying to make herself believe it as much as anyone else.

"What about your uncle?" Di leaned over the table in Julie’s direction. "He didn’t seem very upset over the accident."

"It was no accident, Di," Trixie spoke seriously.

"I know you’re trying to help, but can we not talk about this right now." Tears welled up in her eyes and she pushed the plate of food away getting up from her seat and running into the hall.

Honey quickly followed her and led her up to her room.

"Now you did it," Mart groaned at his sister.

"I didn’t mean to do anything." Trixie plopped back down in her chair dejectedly. "I just can’t get over the fact this wasn’t an accident."

"You could have at least let her get a few breaths before giving her the third degree like that." Dan frowned as he looked towards the hall.

Everyone was quiet then, not knowing what to say until a few minutes later when Honey came back.

"How is she?" There was a hint of worry in Dan’s voice to match the frown on his face.

"She’s okay." Honey smiled gently. "And she wanted me to let you know she’s not upset with anyone. I don’t think she is either. She’s just worn out from everything that’s happened today. She’s just going to get showered and go straight to bed. She wanted me to say goodnight to all of you for her."

"I guess that’s the cue for we Beldens to head home." Brian stood up.

"That’s probably best." Honey nodded.

With that everyone headed home for the night while Jim and Honey went upstairs to get ready to settle in for the evening.

Late that night Julie woke up and looked over at the clock on the night table. It was after one a.m. and she looked over at Honey who was fast asleep. Quietly she got up from bed and pulled on a thin robe over her nightshirt and slipped into her white tennis shoes. As silently as she could she took a flashlight from her bag and slipped out of Honey’s room. She tiptoed down the stairs and left the house through the patio doors. As she made her way down to site where they where building her own house, every creak and every rustle of the trees made her tremble but she didn’t want to go back until she found something, anything.

In the day it hadn’t seemed at all threatening, but at night surrounded by nothing but darkness everything was terrifying to her. There was very little moonlight but she dared not turn on the flashlight until she was there. She didn’t want to take the chance of anyone catching her. She tiptoed as quietly as she could through the debris where her father had fallen hoping to find a clue. Though what she was hoping to find she had no idea. The longer she was there the more she was wishing she were back safe inside the Manor House. Then when she was about to give up and head back she noticed a glimmer of something sticking out from the dirt. She knelt down and aimed her flashlight at it. Only a fraction of an inch of it was visible but she could see that it was jagged and silvery. Using her fingers she pried it from the ground and looked at it more carefully. It was a piece of broken blade from a hacksaw. She slipped it into her robe pocket and looked more closely at the ground surrounding it. There was the vague impression of a footprint. Almost brushed away but not quite.

She stood up and shut off her flashlight deciding she had better go back. She had to show it to someone. But when she turned around she found herself face to face with a tall dark figure and she let out a scream and struck out at him with her flashlight.

He dodged her swing and grabbed her by the wrists, pulling her close as she tried to twist free. "Let go of me!" she screamed in a panic as she struggled to get away.

"Calm down. It’s me, Dan." He spoke quickly and she looked up at him with both surprise and relief until she noticed the stern look of disapproval on his face. "What are you doing out here?"

"I just wanted to look around. I thought I maybe there might be something the police may have missed."

He shook his head and his voice showed his annoyance. "You sound just like Trixie. The police can handle everything just fine. You shouldn’t be out here. Especially not dressed like that. You’re shivering. You must be freezing." He slipped out of his brown leather jacket and helped her into it.

She flushed pink. It had been so warm during the day she hadn’t thought about it getting so cold at night and truthfully she was shivering but it had more to do with her being so nervous than the cold. "What about you?" She looked at him. He was only wearing short sleeves himself and she knew he had to be cold, too.

"I’ll be fine. At least I had the sense to wear jeans and not my pajamas."

Julie looked down at her bare knees and could not help but smile. She should have just changed before coming out, she just didn’t want to waste anytime. Then, raising a brow curiously, she looked back up at him. "Now that you’ve given me the third degree maybe you can tell me exactly what you are doing out here?"

He had the grace to blush and he shrugged. "Same as you are I guess. I was hoping maybe the police missed something too."

Julie smiled brightly and pulled the piece of blade from her robe. "They did." She held it up in front of him. "I just found this."

Dan took it from her hand and examined it closely. He frowned. "It’s from a hacksaw."

"That’s what I thought. Do you think whoever cut the beams could have left it? I figured they must have broken it while they were cutting and missed picking up this one piece. It looked like someone stepped on it because I found it embedded in the dirt. That’s probably why they didn’t find it," she said brightly. "There’s even the trace of a footprint left."

He grinned to himself. Her enthusiasm was catching. "Show me where you found it."

She aimed her flashlight at the ground where the footprint was. "Right there."

Dan took the flashlight from her and knelt down to inspect the area more closely and sure enough there was the slightest trace of a footprint left. He stood again and measured his own shoe against it. "Whoever made this looks like he’s maybe a size and a half bigger than me. And they look like hiking boots made them. But I can’t say for sure." He stopped suddenly as he heard a creaking noise from above. He looked up and in an instant he grabbed Julie and threw her hard onto the ground and fell down on top of her to shield her from the pile of falling boards.

She barely had time to catch her breath when he was up on his feet chasing full speed after the man he saw running from the scene. He was nearly halfway down the path when a car screeched up the driveway coming to a halt. The man he had been chasing quickly jumped in. Dan chased the car for a few moments and then stopped and headed back to where Julie was still sitting. She looked a bit stunned and Dan knelt down in front of her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

She took a deep breath and nodded. "I’m fine. I just had the wind knocked out of me a bit I think."

He looked at her apologetically. "I’m sorry about that. You’re sure you’re not hurt?"

 

Chapter 4

It was well after four a.m. by the time the police left and Julie found herself explaining her actions to both Miss Trask and Bill Regan. Miss Trask sat by her on the sofa along with Honey. Jim was sitting on the love seat opposite them, wringing his hands anxiously. He kept glancing over at Dan who was sitting in the chair beside him and looking particularly uncomfortable. Regan was in the meantime standing with his arms folded and a stern angry look on his face. He was especially furious with Dan who he felt should have known better.

"What did the two of you think you were doing? You were lucky neither of you were seriously hurt or worse!" Regan put emphasis on the last word. He was becoming used to all the danger that seemed to surround Trixie Belden and anyone she became friends with but that did not mean he liked it, he most definitely did not.

"And you Dan!" He turned and glared at his nephew. "You of all people should know better. Did it ever occur to you that while chasing that car they could have tried to run you down instead of just taking off?"

Dan opened his mouth to say something but Regan glared at him. "I don’t want you to answer that. I know for a fact it didn’t occur to you. None of you kids ever think anything through you all just run off half cocked and do whatever gets into your minds." He took in a few deep breaths and tried to calm himself. He turned then to Julie. "Now for you missy, I don’t know who it is that tried to kill you tonight, and I hate to use that word but that’s easily what could have happened. But you need to stay out of it. The police will handle it."

"But she did find that piece of blade and the footprint that the police missed," Honey said quickly in defense of her new friend and as fast as the words came out she wished she could have taken them back as Regan gave her the chilliest look she had ever received from him. Biting her lip, she looked down at her hands folded in her lap.

"Oh really, Miss Wheeler?" His voice was sarcastic and he raised a brow at her. "And did I not just spend the last two hours listening to this story? Did you think I missed that point? Regardless of what she found she could have gotten herself and Dan killed finding it."

"Don’t blame her for it." Dan swallowed hard and stood up frowning at his uncle. His voice was steady. "She had nothing to do with me being there. I went on my own. She had no idea I was going to be there."

Regan turned to Dan. "I don’t care why you were there, the fact is that you shouldn’t have been." His anger was fading and his tone was changing to one of concern. "Do you think I want to see anything happen to you? How do you think I would feel if you were to get hurt?"

Julie sighed. "He’s right, Dan. Neither of us had any business being there." She looked up at Regan apologetically. "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. And the last thing I would want is for anyone to get hurt. But if Dan hadn’t been there I might not be sitting here now." A lump welled in her throat and she swallowed it back down. "If he hadn’t pushed me out of the way when those boards came down…" she sighed not finishing the sentence, for the first time that night the realization came to her that she really could have been seriously injured, or as Regan had put it, worse.

Miss Trask reached over and squeezed her hand gently and looked up calmly. "Regan, I think they’ve realized that they made an error in judgment I really don’t think we need to take this any further tonight. Everyone’s tired and I, for one, am not thinking clearly."

He sighed and nodded. "What you mean Miss Trask is that I am not thinking clearly." He took another deep breath and turned to Dan. "I’m going to call Mr. Maypenny to let him know you’ll be staying here tonight. I, for one, am in no mood to drive you home and I’ll be hanged if I’m going to let you walk. Good night everyone…or more like good morning." He turned and headed out of the house back to his apartment over the garage.

Dan took a deep gulp of air and plopped back down in the chair.

Julie leaned back into the sofa completely dejected. "I think I have never felt so foolish in my life. Do you think he hates me?"

Miss Trask laughed. "Don’t worry so, dear. One thing you will learn about Regan's temper is that it goes as quickly as it comes."

"I don’t think he’s really mad at you anyway. Mostly me." Dan grinned ruefully

"Well I, for one, am going back to bed. Is everyone coming or are you all going to stay up to chit chat?" Miss Trask smiled at them. She had to ask even though she knew full well what the answer would be.

"Did you even need to ask?" Honey smiled sweetly.

"No dear. I didn’t. Just promise me you will get some sleep before the sun rises."

"We will, Miss Trask. I promise."

When she was out of earshot Jim turned to Dan in complete shock. "I near about died when you stood up and…. Well…. for lack of better words…you talked back to Regan. What were you thinking?"

"I didn’t talk back. I just didn’t want him thinking it was Julie’s fault that I was there. I was being nosy all by myself."

"That’s another thing. You usually are the one to say leave it up to the police yourself. I’m worried you may be spending to much time around Trixie." Jim grinned.

"Jealous?" Dan cocked an eyebrow and grinned.

"Why? Should I be?" Jim forced a smile.

Dan let out a chuckle. "Don’t go letting that red hair of yours get going. I’ve already had my ears chewed off once tonight. What is it with everyone in this house? All red hair and tempers, that’s what you are." He smiled at Jim. "Honestly, Jim, I was teasing."

Honey giggled. "I guess I can now tell my best friend that my dear brother has his sights set on her."

Jim got up from his chair and walked menacingly over to his sister with a mischievous grin on his face. "I think, Miss Wheeler, you and I should have a talk about why that might not be such a good idea." He chased her up the stairs trying to tickle her as she giggled uncontrollably. "Don’t you dare tickle me, James Frayne. Don’t you dare." Suddenly she turned and sternly wagged her finger at him. For a moment he stopped then grinned and chased her some more.

Finally he gave up and from the stairway called to Julie and Dan. "Are you two coming up?"

"In a bit. I’m not really tired," Dan called back. "What about you?" He turned to Julie.

"I think I’ll stay up a little while, too, if you don’t mind."

Jim shrugged. "Suit yourselves." He then turned and grinned at Honey who grinned back and she giggled all the way to her room.

Dan got up and sat on the sofa next Julie. "You can’t tell me you aren’t worn out from all that’s happened today."

Julie smiled at him and covered up a yawn. "I wasn’t even go to try and tell you that. I just don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep after all that’s happened. You know we’re moving to Sleepyside for the quiet. So far it’s been anything but." A soft laugh escaped her lips.

He grinned at her resting his arm behind her as he leaned in a bit closer. "I’ll let you in on a secret. Our Trixie Belden is actually a world famous sleuth in disguise. You never know where or when she’ll get all of us mixed up in some crazy mystery. It comes with the territory. I figure I ought to warn you." He winked.

"Oh really?" She smiled at him, here eyes sparkling. "So I can expect life around here to be interesting?"

"Very interesting I would say." He grinned at her.

 

Chapter 5

The next morning Trixie rushed up on the patio where Jim, Honey, Dan and Julie were all eating breakfast.

"I can’t believe it," she squealed. "I can’t believe it. You had all this excitement last night and I wasn’t here to see it. I have to hear the latest. Fill me in before I burst." Her sentences were all run together and she could barely catch a breath as she pulled up a chair and squeezed in between Jim and Julie.

Brian, Mart and Di had been following her and could barely keep up. "How does she beat us all the time?" Mart bent over his hands on his stomach as he feigned exhaustion. "We have longer legs, we’re stronger, we’re faster, we ARE the superior sex so why does she always beat us?"

Brian and Jim rolled their eyes and Dan shook his head. The four girls looked from each other and then to Mart. "Superior Sex?" they chorused in complete disbelief and Di gave Mart a little shove.

"I think not." Trixie glared at her brother. "For your information, Martin Belden, I have more superiority in my little finger than you have in that entire scrawny little body of yours."

"I am not scrawny, my dear Beatrix. While I may not be endowed with a naturally muscular physique such as Jim and Dan and even our own dear beloved brother, I am not scrawny…I am what you would call…lithe."

Julie covered her mouth with her napkin to choke back a giggle and Jim and Dan looked at each other in amusement.

"Okay now, Trix." Brian grinned before she could think of a retort. "If you two keep bickering you never will know what happened last night."

Trixie’s curiosity got the better of her once again and she ignored Mart and turned to Julie. "I want all the details what happened last night? I heard you found a clue."

Julie once again told the story of what had happened the previous night. She told them about the broken blade and the footprint and also how Dan had save them from being crushed by the pile of boards. She told them how Dan had chased after the man and the car, every detail of the night right on up to when Regan had chastised them both for putting themselves in such danger.

Trixie grinned. "We’ve all had a tongue lashing or two from Regan at sometime or another." She giggled. "Me more than anyone."

"Well I can’t say that I blame him." Julie smiled. "It was a dumb thing to do."

"But you found a clue. That’s the important thing. You have to show us where you found it."

"Forget that, Trix." Jim shook his head. "They have an officer on duty to keep an eye on things down there. After what happened last night there’s no way you are getting anywhere near that scene."

Not one to be easily discouraged Trixie turned to Julie. "You have to think is there any possible reason your uncle would want to hurt you father?"

Julie shrugged. "I doubt it. They may hate each other but I don’t think my uncle would have any specific reason to want to do anything."

"You know you never did tell us what your dad does for a living."

"He’s a painter. He and my uncle own a little art gallery in White Plains. He decided to open up a studio here in Sleepyside while my uncle runs the other one. He just couldn’t stand working with him any more."

"I can’t believe that they work together."

Julie shrugged. "Well it was my grandmother's gallery until she died and she left it to both of them. They’ve been in it together ever since I was about for years old. It has to be at least ten years."

"Why did your father finally decide to get another studio?"

"Actually, I think it was a mutual thing. Dad really isn’t into the whole business thing. He just wants to be able to paint."

Trixie’s eyes lit up. "Maybe he wants your dad out of the way so he can have the whole business to himself."

"I don’t think so. Dad offered to sell out to him a zillion times. He doesn’t want to buy my dad out. Dad’s paintings sell really well. There’s no reason for him to want him out of the way."

"Do you think we could take a look around the studio?" Honey took a sip of milk from her glass as she looked over at Julie.

"I don’t see why not," Julie said thoughtfully. "We could go right after breakfast, if you want."

"Great." Trixie turned to Jim. "Do you think we could all fit in the station wagon?"

"It would be a squeeze," Jim laughed. "But if we try real hard I guess we could."

"Well then hurry up and eat so we can get started" Trixie giggled.

 

Chapter 6

It was a little after ten a.m. when they reached the studio. There was obviously still quite a bit of work to be done on it. It was a townhouse in an older section of the town, charming but very rundown.

"This is a pretty old place," Brian noted as Julie used her key to unlock the front door.

"What you mean is it’s a dump," Julie giggled. " I know." She opened the door and led everyone in. "It needs a lot of work but dad bought it for a song. He’s got a lot of really great ideas on what to do with it. If you want, I can show you the plans." Just then they heard footsteps overhead.

"Somebody’s here." Trixie sounded apprehensive, but Julie just grinned.

"It’s probably just the workers. They start at like five in the morning. I’ll be back in a minute. The plans are upstairs. Look around if you want. Just pull off the tarps if you want to get to anything."

"Wait up." Dan followed her up the stairs. "I’ll go up with you just in case."

"Are the guys always this protective?" Julie giggled, glancing over her shoulder at Trixie.

"Always," Trixie sighed and turned to have a look around.

Once upstairs Julie saw two of the men who worked for Mr. Matthews and she smiled at them both. "Hi Jake, Barry. I was wondering if I could borrow the plans. I wanted to show them to my friends."

Jake looked up at her and grinned. "Sure thing. Can you just hang on a second while I finish what I’m doing?" He was on a ladder working on measuring a few of the over head beams and Barry was busy measuring and laying out some floorboards.

"Of course." She nodded as she and Dan walked over to the main window that overlooked the street.

She was showing him the view and he was pointing out some of the buildings to her. Then she stopped him and turned around to look at the floor. Her father had decided they would have to completely gut the building and start over almost from scratch but something wasn’t right and she couldn’t believe she didn’t realize it at first. "Hey, Jake."

"What?" He barely acknowledged her as he continued his work.

"Why are you putting down a new floor? I thought you guys finished that a few days ago."

Jake looked down at Barry who looked back up at him and it was Jake that spoke. "Some of the flooring we laid was defective. We had to start over again to get it just right." The two men looked at each other again and Jake climbed down from the ladder. "I’ll go get you those plans now, Julie." He smiled and walked into the adjoining room and Barry went back to his work.

Dan took Julie by the hand and nodded over toward the open toolbox on the floor. In it were several blades similar to the one she had found. Jake came out then and looked straight at them both, he had one hand slightly behind his back. "I think it would have been better if you hadn’t noticed that, boy."

"Yeah that’s right, boy." Barry hissed as he got up from what he was doing.

Jake rolled his eyes and ignored him.

Dan felt his cheeks grow hot. That was the third time in the last twenty-four hours he had been called "boy" and he was getting a little tired of it. "Forget the plans, Julie. You can show us some other time. Let’s just go." He took her hand firmly and started to head toward the stairs.

"I don’t think we said you could leave yet." He brought his hand up from behind his back to reveal a gun. "You just had to go and snoop around last night didn’t you?" He glared at Julie. "Couldn’t keep your nose out of it." Then he glared Dan. "And your little boyfriend here had to go playing hero."

"Yeah," Barry snickered. "Had to play hero didn’t you, boy?"

Jake rolled his eyes again and raised his hand, which held the gun in a threatening manner to Barry. "Will you just quit mimicking me you dummy!" He glared at his partner.

Dan took that opportunity to lunge at Jake and grab the hand with gun, at which point Julie called at the top of her lungs for the others. Dan was on top of Jake fighting for the gun and when finally digging his fingers into the man’s wrist he succeeded in making him drop it. The other one hurried over and tried to pull Dan off.

Julie looked around quickly and seeing the tool chest picked it up and brought it smashing down on Barry’s head and in doing so, unfortunately, she caught Dan with it as well.

"Yeowww!" Dan clutched his head and turned expecting to see Barry but instead saw Julie. Seeing his chance, Jake landed a blow square across Dan’s jaw and rolled him onto his back. Once again Julie picked up the toolbox which was empty this time and smashed it down on Jake just as he was about to land another blow. It was at that moment that the others came up the stairs as Julie was helping Dan to sit up.

"What took you guys so long?" Dan rubbed his head as he watched everyone gather around him.

No one said a word and Julie looked up at them all curiously. "What’s going on? Why is everyone so quiet?"

"I think I can answer that," came a familiar voice. Julie looked past her friends and gasped in pure surprise at first and in the next instant her eyes were looking furiously at the two men standing before her, one holding a gun. "How could you?" she said coldly.

 

Chapter 7

"What do you mean how could I?" Mr. Matthews stared her right in the face, narrowing his eyes at her. He held the gun steadily in one hand as he leveled it directly at Dan. Next to him was her father, Jerry Tyler, balancing himself on crutches, his right leg in a cast.

"What’s going on?" Julie’s voice was unsteady and she was both angry and confused as she stared at her father. He looked very uncomfortable and he shifted on his crutches.

"You were never supposed to get involved in this, Julie. I never wanted you to get hurt."

"Involved in what? I want to know what all this is about!" She screamed at her father and hot tears began to burn behind her eyes but she blinked them back. She had no idea what all this was about but the mere fact that her father was somehow involved in it tied her stomach up in knots.

"None of this would be happening if your uncle would have just bought me out, but no! He had to hold onto the business. He had to stick around. He doesn’t even care about art all he wants is the money. I do all the work and he gets all that money for doing nothing. Nothing."

"What does all that have to do with anything?" Trixie flung her hands up in bewilderment. "We thought Julie’s uncle was behind all this."

"And you were supposed to think that," Mr. Matthews laughed coolly. "He does look the criminal type doesn’t he? And with all the bad blood between them he was going to make the perfect scapegoat."

"Scapegoat for what?" Jim demanded.

"For the accident at the house, for the accident that’s going to happen here. All of you caught in some unfortunate fire." Matthews grinned at them.

Julie looked up at her father. "You wouldn’t," she gasped at him.

"I didn’t want it to be this way. But I will not go to jail. And I can’t count on you to keep your mouth shut." Her father swallowed hard.

Julie couldn’t believe her ears. "What is so important to you that you could kill your own daughter?"

"My daughter?" He hissed at her. "You aren’t even my daughter. You want to know why your mother left. Because I made her leave! I couldn’t stand the sight of her anymore after what she did to me!"

"What did she do that was so awful? You told me she left because of me. Because she couldn’t handle being a mother." Julie’s voice was trembling as much as her body and she clenched her fists. Dan put his hand on her arm to try and calm her.

"She gave birth to my brother's daughter. That’s what she did. The child that should have been mine was his all along!" Her father’s face turned funny and he suddenly broke down into tears and wailed like a child. His eyes were crazed looking and he flung out his crutch in Julie’s direction and Dan pulled her down out of the way just barely in time. "All these years I raised you and you were his. Not mine. His! His! I hate him!"

Julie shivered and swallowed hard. She realized she was going to get no more sense from her father so she looked at Matthews. "I still don’t understand what all this has to do with anything. Why would you want to kill us?"

"Because this place was supposed to get your uncle out of the way. Your uncle found out that your dear father and I were smuggling in art from around the world and hiding it behind your father’s paintings. We would have made a fortune working out of that shop if he hadn’t found out and threatened to call the police on us if we didn’t stop. So we figure we set up a dummy operation here and after a few weeks set a fire and make it look like your uncle did it that way we can go back to White Plains. What we didn’t realize was this place was full of priceless antiques…stolen antiques. All hidden in the walls under the floors and no one ever knew it, not the building inspectors, not anyone. We didn’t even know it until we started gutting the place. So after finding it we realized we had to do a pretty quick job of covering it all up until we had a chance to get it out."

"So you laid out the floor again so no one would see anything, and then you must have smuggled it all out yesterday. And now you put down a new floor thinking no one will ever know the difference." Dan glared at him, rubbing the lump on the back of his head as he straightened up a bit.

"Exactly. And we set up the accident at the building site to make it look like someone was out to get me. And my brother would be suspect number one. When he tries to tell anyone that it was my idea that he come here, who’s going to believe him?" Her father had calmed a bit and was trying to balance himself on one leg.

"How did you get him to come down here?" Julie shook her head.

"I told him I was sorry about the smuggling and that I wanted to go straight and I wanted him to help me out. I practically begged him. He fell for every line."

"And now because of you we have to move up the fire ahead of schedule," began Mr. Matthews. "When the authorities discover a blazing building with a bunch of unfortunate snooping kids in it including the dear daughter of the Mr. Jerry Tyler here. They would never suspect he could have had anything to do with it. You see the whole plan was to torch the place and make your Uncle Derek takes the fall for trying to sabotage Jerry’s business. Nobody was supposed to get killed. But you and your little boyfriend had to poke your noses around."

"And fortunately for them so did I," came a growling voice from behind Matthews.

They all looked over to see Julie’s uncle standing with Regan, Sgt. Molinson and some of the local police department. The police had their guns drawn and pointed directly at the two men.

"Drop the gun," Sgt. Molinson ordered.

"I don’t think so." Matthews grabbed Julie by the arm and pulled her up as she squealed in pain from the force of his grip. He held the gun to her side and started to make his was toward the stairs.

"Let here go!" Dan leapt to his feet and was promptly held back by Jim and Dan.

"Don’t, Dan." Jim held him tightly by one arm.

"Listen to your friend, boy," Matthews sneered.

Julie's Uncle Derek glared menacingly at him. "Now, Matthews. I may not be the greatest uncle in the world. God knows I can be a complete jerk sometimes, but you should know me well enough to realize that if you hurt one hair on my niece’s head there will not be a place on this earth I will not find you."

Matthews swallowed hard. "I wouldn’t be so sure you could find me."

"If I were you I wouldn’t take that chance."

The Bob-Whites watched as for a moment no one moved or spoke and the moment seemed to last an eternity. Finally in desperation Matthews threw Julie into Derek and tried to make a break for the door. Just as quickly Regan tackled him from behind and in a few seconds he and Jerry Tyler, along with their two half-conscious cohorts, were handcuffed and led away down the stairs.

Sgt. Molinson looked over at Julie who was not quite sure what to make of the whole scene. "Miss, we’re going to need to take you and everyone else down to the station. We’ll need statement from all of you. I’ll be back in few minutes." He then looked at Dan who was rubbing his head still. "I’ll call an EMT to come check you out."

"It’s no big deal, Sergeant. It’s just a bump." Dan shook his head.

"I don’t care if it’s just a bump," Regan said sternly as he put his hands on his nephew’s shoulders. "You are getting checked out and then you are going to tell us which one of those jokers did it so we can make sure they have a long time to think about it."

Dan grinned and looked over a Julie who blushed. "In that case, the joker you are looking for is right over there." He pointed to Julie.

Julie face burned from embarrassment. "I didn’t realize that toolbox was going to be so hard to handle. I only meant to hit Barry. He was actually doing pretty well on his own until I tried to help." She grinned sheepishly.

Regan shook his head and laughed. "It would figure."

Julie turned to her uncle. "How did you know to find us here?"

Derek grinned. "I went back to the Manor House this morning to check up on you and I run into this guy Regan. He was about ready to toss me off the property. But I told him I was worried about some of the things I thought was going on. He explained to me about what you found last nigh and I explained to him about your father’s smuggling. I don’t think he believed me at first but apparently things like this go on all the time around here. He figured it was worth taking a look at least. He called the hospital to find out from Jerry where the studio was at and they told us that he and Matthews had signed themselves out first thing this morning. That’s when he called the police. Lucky thing he did."

Julie swallowed. She didn’t know what to say. "So you knew about the smuggling all along but you never told anyone."

"He was my brother. I may not be able to stand him but he’s still my brother. I just never figured on him doing anything to hurt anyone. Especially not his own daughter." Julie started to cry uncontrollably then. Derek was bewildered. He didn’t know what to do to comfort her and he awkwardly put his arms around her. "I don’t know what to say to you to make this any easier. But you and I are it now. I promise I’ll take care of you."

"Mr. Tyler," Trixie spoke softly. "There’s a lot more to the story than that. I think you and Julie might need a little more time to work that out for yourselves."

Derek looked confused as everyone headed down to the first floor and left him and Julie alone.

"What is she talking about?" He was completely baffled by the statement.

Julie took in a few quivering breaths to try and steady her words. "You’re my father. Not him. You are."

"What?" He took a step back and almost fell over.

Julie explained to him everything her father had just admitted to her and he had to sit on the floor because his legs could no longer hold him up they were trembling so much.

"All this time I have been hating you because I thought you were the reason Maggie left. I can’t believe I was so blind to it all." He shook his head and tears welled in his eyes. "That little girl was right. We do have a lot to talk about."

 

Chapter 8

It had been almost a week since Dan or anyone had heard from Julie. Immediately after Jerry Tyler’s arrest and after they had given their depositions at the police department, her real father had taken her back to White Plains with him. She had barely even had the chance to say goodbye to her new friends. Dan spent most of the time moping about. He most definitely needed some cheering up and his friends were going to do just that. Honey, Trixie and Di spent all of Saturday morning setting up brunch on the Wheelers' patio. Di was arranging fresh flowers on the table and the boys had gone to pick up Dan at Mr. Maypenny's.

"Do you think he’ll come?" Di asked uncertainly. "He may not be in the mood. He’s been so miserable since Julie left."

"Well I gave the boys strict instructions they were not to come back without him." Honey laughed. "If they had to drag him out kicking and screaming then so be it."

"He’s got to cheer up sometime. Who would have thought he’d get so hooked on someone so fast?" Trixie straightened out the place mats on the table and looked up wrinkling her nose at some loud clanks coming from over the other side of the Wheeler property. "What is that noise? It’ll ruin the whole party."

"Let’s go see." Honey set down the tray of pastries she was carrying over to the teacart.

The three girls made their way over the hill to towards the valley where the frame of what would have been Julie’s home was still standing unfinished. They were surprised by what they saw. They saw several trucks pulling up the unpaved drive. It looked like and entire construction crew. Leading the way was an old black Mercedes sedan. They looked at each other and squealed in delight as they saw Julie get out along with her real father Jake. She looked up the hill and seeing the girls, said something to her father who nodded. She gave him a quick hug and ran up the path meeting the girls halfway.

"What are you doing here?" Trixie was the first to hug her and Honey and Di wasted no time joining in.

"What do you think I’m doing here?" She laughed and her eyes sparkled as the girls led her back up to the Wheeler’s patio. "Exactly what I was doing last week." She giggled. "I’m here with my father while he checks on how the building is going."

"You mean you’re still going to move right next to us? Honey squealed again.

"It’s wonderful isn’t it." Julie grinned. "Dad…" She laughed it felt strange calling Derek dad now but that was what he was.

"It’s weird calling him that, isn’t it?" Di squeezed her hand.

"It is," Julie admitted. "But that’s what he is. The funny thing is he’s really not so creepy at all. The whole story sounds like a soap opera." She flew her hands up and sighed. "I’ll explain it all to you sometime. But today I just want to enjoy myself. Dad says the house should be finished by the middle of June. So today later we’re going back to White Plains but we’ll be moved in time for summer vacation."

"That’s perfectly perfect." Honey laughed, as she settled down in a chair.

"It is, isn’t it? I was so afraid I was never going to see you all again. After we went back last week I thought that was it. But dad decided it’s better for us out here. We can get away from the old gallery and all the baggage that went with it and start over fresh. I just don’t know if I can wait all that time to see--" she paused, blushing, "--to see all the guys too."

Honey and Trixie grinned at each other. Trixie smiled warmly at Julie but she couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease her. "You mean to see Dan again. The heck with the other guys."

"Trixie." Di nudged her friend giving her a disapproving glance.

But Julie only laughed. "She’s right though," Julie laughed. "I really can’t wait to see Dan again. After all who can resist a guy who comes to your rescue all the time."

Just then the station wagon pulled up the driveway and Jim and Brian got out first, followed by Mart who was pushing along a very reluctant Dan. They could here them talking as they rounded the corner to the patio.

"Come on guys." Dan was pleaded. "I really appreciate this, I really do but I’m in no mood to be cheered up."

"Come on, Dan, you have got to get out of this gloom and doom thing you got going," Jim insisted as he led the way.

"I am not in a gloom and doom thing. I just don’t feel like doing anything today. So if you’ll just take me back home…" He stopped-mid sentence as he saw the girls grinning at him in amusement with Julie standing right with them.

"Hi guys." She smiled and shifted nervously on her feet. She looked at Dan and blushed. "Did you all miss me?"

Dan grinned and stepped forward right in front of her. He picked her up in his arms and spun her in circles. "You bet we missed you." He squeezed her tightly.

Julie laughed. "So do you still think that Sleepyside is going to be an interesting town for me to live in?"

"Oh, I think you already know it is." Dan grinned. He took her by the hand and strolled off with her down to the lake.

Jim grinned and walked over to Trixie, putting his arm around her shoulders as he watched the two walking down the path hand in hand. "I take it she’s coming back to stay?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"You take that right, Mr. Frayne." She reached up and gave his hand a squeeze.

Brian laughed as he sat down beside Honey. "So much for him not wanted to come today huh? Did you know she was coming back?"

"Not at all." Honey smiled sweetly at Brian as she poured him a glass of cold tea.

Mart just stood there pretending to be baffled. "What is this? She asks if we missed her and she doesn’t even give us a chance to answer. I wonder if she really missed the rest of us guys at all."

"If I were you, Mr. Belden." Di walked over to him her arms folded across her chest. "I wouldn’t worry about whether or not she missed you. I would worry about whether or not I was worried about whether or not you missed her."

"Huh?" Mart was baffled. "Miss Lynch that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Now if you would care to repeat that more slowly this time…"

"Oh, shush up, Mart Belden," Di said with finality and without warning she grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him down planting a quick, but firm, kiss square on his lips.

Mart was shocked. When she let go he tried to speak but when he opened out nothing came out.

"I do believe my dear Diana, you have found a foolproof way to leave our dear Martin speechless." Trixie laughed with the others.

Diana blushed and looked back up at Mart he looked down at her still not sure what to say. "Well…" He began slowly. "I suppose if I have to be shut up that’s most definitely the most gratifying way to do it." He grinned and winked at Brian. "Perhaps Miss Lynch we could have a discussion sometime on how to improve your technique."

"I don’t know about you Di but I think he needs to be shut up again." Brian teased.

They all laughed as Di’s cheeks grew redder by the moment but they knew she was pleased with herself. The day had turned out better than they had hoped. Julie was coming back. It looked like the Bobwhites were going to have a new addition to their group. Di had found a way to make Mart take her seriously. But most important of all, Dan was happy.

The End

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