Author’s Notes: I would like to thank my beta, Teresa, for all her help with this story and for reading it over so quickly. Also, many thanks to my wonderful mom for reading this over one last time before I submitted. J

Honey Wheeler opened the door to let her best friend in. "I was afraid you wouldn’t get here in time. Come on up to my room and we can change. Then Tom will drive us to town."

Sixteen-year-old Trixie Belden giggled. "I hope we’re not the only people in costume."

Honey, also sixteen, replied, "I know, but don’t worry about it. It’s more fun this way."

The girls reached Honey’s room and Trixie put her bag on Honey’s bed and pulled out her costume, while Honey went over to the closet to get hers.

"Oh, Honey! I love your costume. Are you going to put your hair in a ponytail?" Trixie asked.

Honey grinned. "But of course. Have you ever seen a poodle skirt without a ponytail?"

Trixie laughed. "Actually, I have never seen a poodle skirt with a ponytail."

"You know what I mean!" Honey yelled, and then laughed too.

"Yeah, I did, and you are going to make a great ‘50’s girl’, Honey," Trixie said sincerely.

Honey replied, "I like your costume too."

"Are you sure? I thought it was kind of dumb."

"You’re kidding, right!? It fits your personality perfectly."

"Well…if you think so," Trixie said hesitantly.

"Of course." Honey smiled. "It’s definitely not dumb. If you weren’t Sherlock Holmes people would probably think there was something wrong with you! "

Trixie and Honey were going to a Halloween festival in Sleepyside. It was sponsored by several businesses and there would be activities and surprises outside, as well as inside some of the buildings.

Of course, Brian and Jim were at college; but Trixie and Honey had invited Di, Mart, and Dan to go with them. Unfortunately, Di already had plans. Mart declared that he was too old for *kid stuff* and, of course, Dan was busy chopping wood since the days were getting colder.

"All ready?" Honey asked when they’d finished dressing.

"Yep," Trixie answered.

"Ok, let’s go. Let’s ask Tom to take our picture before we leave," Honey said.

Trixie smiled. "Good idea! I’ll get your camera."

*   *   *

Trixie and Honey arrived at the festival. It was a chilly late October evening, but this bothered no one as it only added to the "Halloween-ish" mood. There were speakers set up outside blaring The Purple People Eater and orange pumpkin lights draped across benches and windowsills.

Trixie was relieved to see that there were other people also in costume. In fact, almost everyone from the young children to the grandparents was wearing a costume of some sort.

After the girls checked in they were given a listing of all the activities and where and when they would take place.

"Oh, Trixie, let’s go to the haunted house first!" Honey said excitedly.

Trixie replied, "All right, but let’s make sure we’re back here at the bank by six-thirty so we can search for hidden ‘treasure’."

"Ok, that’ll be perfectly perfect. Then after that we can go on the hayride."

They walked down to the other end of the street to the haunted house. The building was normally a ladies clothing store but you couldn’t tell that now. There were eerie noises and the sound of people screaming coming from inside of the building.

Trixie looked at Honey. "Let’s go."

The interior looked completely different than it normally did. There were no racks of dresses or shelves full of folded shirts. There was a black curtain on each side of the little "path" it created and it went around like a maze throughout the moderate sized room.

Honey shivered, then froze. "T-T-Trixie…something’s touching me-e-e."

Trixie, who was standing in front of her, turned around. She caught her breath and then stifled a scream.

Honey turned around also and she did scream. A giant Frankenstein was towering over her. She took a step back and then screamed when he took another step towards her. Honey turned to run and, in doing so, pushed into Trixie, who fell helplessly into the arms of a witch. The witch let go of Trixie and, fortunately, made no further advances towards her.

"Come on, Honey, let’s scram. Does this thing never end?"

Honey giggled nervously. "Think of all the bad guys you’ve faced and you’re scared of some woman in a witch costume with paint on her face."

Trixie glared at her and then said, "Hush. What’s that noise?"

"I don’t know. Oh. Oh, I’m scared!" Honey wailed.

Trixie spun around fast and then started laughing right out. "Nothing to be scared of. It’s just a man with a white sheet over his head. I bet I could come up with a more convincing ghost costume myself," Trixie said scornfully. "Come on. Let’s go."

Trixie turned to go on ahead but out of the corner of her eye she saw a man dressed only in black watching her and Honey. She made a mental note of his appearance and then walked on ahead. She wouldn’t say anything to Honey…yet.

The girls pushed on ahead. They saw several more "spooks" but weren’t bothered by any of them.

Once outside, Trixie said to Honey, "What time is it?"

"I don’t know. I forgot to put my watch on," Honey answered.

A lady who overheard them said, "It’s about six-twenty."

"Thank you!" Trixie said to her. "Come on, Honey. We have to hurry if we’re going to do the ‘treasure’ hunt."

The ‘treasure’ hunt was being held at the bank, where the large lobby was decorated in true Halloween fashion.

Trixie and Honey each took a little plastic bag so that they could put any "treasure" they might find in it.

Someone shouted, "On your mark, get set, GO!"

People ran everywhere—looking under chairs and behind counters for candy, coins, and other prizes. The grand prize was a $25 gift card to the bookstore.

A whistle blew and everyone returned to the front to figure out what they had found.

"Did you get the gift card, Honey?" Trixie asked her.

Honey shook her head. "No, the most expensive thing I found was this pencil," she said, holding up a pencil with pumpkins on it.

"Aw, shucks. I didn’t get it either. I so wanted to find it so I could use it to buy the Lucy Radcliffe books. Isn’t it so exciting that they are reprinting them?!" Trixie enthusiastically said.

Honey rolled her eyes and then winked. "You and your ‘Lucys’!"

Trixie laughed good-naturedly and then put her prizes back in her bag.

The grand prize winner was announced. Trixie looked up to see the winner and saw The Mysterious Man watching her.

He was "older", maybe in his late 40’s-early 50’s. He was dressed all in black. He had on a long cape and a top hat and he carried a cane, though he obviously didn’t need it. To Trixie, his face looked vaguely familiar, fake moustache and all. She couldn’t recall, however, where she had seen him before.

Trixie nudged Honey. "Quick, to the ladies room."

Honey followed Trixie to the washroom with a questioning look upon her face. "What was that all about?" she asked when the door had closed behind them.

Trixie took a deep breath and then said, "Honey, I think someone is watching us. I saw him while we were in the haunted house. I didn’t want to say anything to you then, but I just saw him looking at us again.

"Oh my goodness. Have you any idea who he is?" Honey asked.

"Noooo, but he did look vaguely familiar."

"Gosh, I hope it’s not some criminal trying to get revenge."

"I know. That’s what I’m afraid of."

"Why don’t you go tell the police? There are several officers out here."

"Are you kidding!" Trixie almost yelled. "Molison would kill me if I so much as mention the word ‘mysterious’. Besides, I don’t know for sure it’s a criminal."

"Well, all right, but promise me you won’t do anything reckless," Honey said.

"Cut that out right now, Honey Wheeler," Trixie said sharply. "It’s been heaven tonight without Mr. Honorable and Mr. Honorable and Stubborn around. I don’t miss them at all."

Honey smiled mischievously. "Oh really."

"Yeah."

"I see. Interesting."

"Huh?"

"It’s just that I guess I don’t need to tell you about a conversation I happened to overhear last week when a certain *someone* was home on fall break."

Trixie almost pounced on Honey. "What did you hear?"

"But I thought you weren’t interested?" Honey asked innocently.

"Well, fine, if that’s the way you’re going to be," Trixie pouted.

Honey laughed. "I’m just teasing you. I’ll tell you all about it after we get home tonight, ok?"

"Ok," Trixie said. "Let’s go on the hayride now."

They went back outside and walked down to where a line was forming for the next hayride.

When their turn came, the two friends climbed up and chose seats next to each other.

Trixie looked around at the people sitting around them but then froze when she saw who had just taken the seat across from her. ‘How can I warn Honey? She doesn’t know that he is The Mysterious Man.’

Trixie felt nervous with him sitting right there. She felt his gaze on her. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the man pulled out a camera and held it up as if to take a picture. ‘Oh my gosh! He’s trying to get a photograph of me. What am I going to do? I have to try to turn my head so he can’t get my whole face.’ But just as she was thinking this The Mysterious Man snapped her picture. Trixie turned her head but she knew she had been too late. ‘I’m really getting scared now,’ Trixie thought.

The wagon arrived back at the starting point and Trixie scrambled to get off without even waiting for Honey. She blindly ran through the crowd and bumped into someone. She looked up and let out a small scream. She turned to run but The Mysterious Man grabbed her by the arm.

"Trixie, Trixie, calm down," a familiar voice said.

He let go of her arm and Trixie turned around to look at him. He winked at her as he took off his hat and pulled the fake moustache off his face.

Trixie gasped in amazement. "Uncle Harold! It isn’t you! You look so…well, so different. Why did you scare me like that?"

"It was my darn daughter’s idea, Trixie. She thought a mystery was perfect for tonight," Harold Belden said.

"Hallie’s here?" Trixie asked excitedly. "What are you doing here?"

"I’m here for a business meeting and I brought Hallie with me, but when we got to your house your mom told us that you were here. It was then Hallie’s idea that I wear this costume and come look for you ‘mysteriously’. I guess she was right about you being on your guard, especially tonight."

Honey walked up then but she stopped in her tracks when she saw Trixie talking to a man dressed only in black.

"Is that your friend?" Harold asked, looking over Trixie’s head.

Trixie turned around and, seeing Honey, motioned for her to join them.

"Honey, I’d like you to meet my uncle, Mr. Harold Belden. Uncle Harold, this is my friend, Honey Wheeler." Trixie said aside to Honey, "Uncle Harold is Hallie’s dad."

Honey smiled sweetly and held out her hand. "It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Belden. Is Hallie here?"

Harold shook her hand and said, "It’s nice to finally meet you too, Honey. I’ve heard so much about you from Hallie. And, yes, she is here, but at Crabapple Farm."

"Oh, she must come and stay with us tonight! Trixie and I have a slumber party planned since tomorrow is Saturday," Honey said.

Harold said, "She can do that, but for now I suggest we get going. It’s already eight and the party’s closing down here."

*   *   *

Miss Trask walked into Honey’s room with a plate full of cookies. "I thought you girls would enjoy a late night snack."

"Oh, Miss Trask! You are simply the best. You think of everything," Honey said.

Miss Trask just smiled as she left the room.

"So…The Mysterious Man you saw was really Hallie’s dad," Honey said to Trixie.

"Yep, and I didn’t recognize him, not only because of his costume, but also because I had not seen him in four years," Trixie told her.

"And Honey had never met him before so she didn’t recognize him when he was sitting across from you two on the hayride," Hallie chimed in.

"Exactly," Trixie said.

"Well, we better get some sleep if we want to have breakfast at a decent hour tomorrow," Honey said.

"You’re right," Hallie said, and Trixie agreed.

They snuggled under the blankets after turning out the light. Hallie and Honey fell asleep right away, but Trixie stayed awake thinking about her surprising evening.

The End.

Author’s Notes:

• This story is based on a couple of things. The other night I was on my way to a Halloween festival and I started thinking about all the fun my best friend and I are going to have when we go trick-or-treating this Halloween. My friend has often reminded me of Honey and so I got inspired to write a Halloween story about Trixie and Honey. While I was at the festival I got many ideas to include in the story so I decided to combine my musings about my best friend and me, along with things at the Halloween festival.