*All Ages
The following is a sequel to Trixie Gets the Blues.
The Letter
by Diann
Trixie and Honey had just finished their grand reunion after their miserable week of being apart and began packing Trixie's overnight bag.
"Let's see, here are some jeans to wear tonight. It will probably be quite cool, so why don't we wear our matching twin sweater sets," Trixie suggested.
"Great idea!" agreed Honey. "And if it gets too warm inside the movies, we can just remove the cardigan. I'm all for wearing our moccasins too, just for comfort. I see you have yours on already."
"There you go! What are you going to wear shopping tomorrow?"
"Miss Trask mentioned that she'd like to treat us to lunch at the Sassafras Tea Room, so I guess we'd better wear dresses," Honey replied, bracing herself for Trixie response.
Trixie flopped back on the bed. "YUCK! Dresses on Saturday. Is there any nice way to tell Miss Trask that we'd much rather be treated to lunch at Wimpy's?"
Honey laughed, reached down and pulled Trixie back upright. "Sorry, Sister Squaw! No can do."
Trixie sighed and did her best to look heart-broken but the resulting look only made Honey laugh harder. "I haven't seen that look since the 'yen for Ben' days. I'm glad you don't have your heart set on an acting career."
Trixie and Honey combed through Trixie's closet and finally selected a khaki skirt, cream lightweight cotton turtleneck, and the forest green and beige vest that Honey had knitted for her as a Christmas gift the year before.
"You'll be a knockout in that outfit, Trix. I know a certain red-headed fellow in our club that would love to see you in it," Honey said with a wicked little grin on her face.
Trixie's stomach bottomed out at the mention of Jim. She managed an unfelt grin and cast her eyes to the envelope lying on her dresser.
"Let's see. I've got pajamas and bathroom stuff already at your house and I can just use your shampoo and hairdryer. I guess all I'll need is some extra underwear, socks, and my brown penny loafers for tomorrow and we'll be ready to go. Grab my shoes out of my closet, will you, Madeleine?"
"But, of course, Miss Beatrix!"
As Honey bent over to get the shoes, Trixie picked up the envelope and slipped it into pocket of her jeans. She grabbed her undies and socks out of her dresser drawer and threw them into her bag.
The girls chatted all the way up the hill to the Manor House. As they reached the front porch they saw Regan sitting on a brick flower box, head hung down, looking sadder than an unbought pup in a pet store.
Honey nudged Trixie and gave her head a slight tilt toward Regan. "Hi, Regan!" Honey called out cheerfully. "What are you doing out here?"
Regan raised his eyes toward them. "Oh, hi. Nothing much." He lowered his eyes to watch the exciting parade of ants marching across the sidewalk.
"Well, not to be nosy, but you look like all the horses just turned you in to the Humane Society," Honey said, trying to find out what was bothering Regan but also trying to add a touch of humor to cheer him up.
Regan grimaced, put his hands on his knees, and stretched his back. "Aw, nothing really. I shouldn't let it bother me. I had asked LuAnn Steiner to go to the movies tonight but she just called with some lame excuse and canceled out on me. Guess I was just feeling sorry for myself. But enough of that!" Regan jumped up and started toward the stables.
"Wait!" Trixie called out and touched Regan on the arm. "Shoot, why mourn about one girl when you can have two girls for a date?"
"Of course! Good idea! We're going to the movies tonight and we'd love to have a handsome escort," Honey added her encouragement.
Regan's face broke out into a wide grin. "Well, I don't know about the handsome part, but I'd be most honored to take you lovely ladies to the movies. In fact, I'll even treat you to dinner!"
"You're on!" Honey responded, glad that they had helped Regan from his doldrums. She looked at her watch. "If we're going to have dinner before the movie, we'd better get a move on. Let us run upstairs and change and we'll be back down in about thirty minutes."
"Okay. I'll get the Ford out and have it ready to go."
Upstairs, Honey and Trixie both took quick showers, changed and refreshed their makeup. While Honey was in the shower, Trixie took the envelope from her discarded jeans and slipped it into the outer pocket of her overnight bag. Guess you'll just have to wait until later, Mr. Letter.
The trio stopped by Chris's Diner for supper, each having the blue plate special: hamburger steak with onion gravy, mashed potatoes and green beans. They held off on dessert as they wanted to save room for popcorn at the movies.
At the theatre they settled in, with Trixie being the custodian of the giant tub of popcorn as she was sitting in the middle. They were enthralled with Giant starring Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson, the story of a Texan rancher Bick Benedict. While on a visit to a Maryland farm to buy a prize horse, Benedict (Hudson) meets and falls in love with the owner's daughter Leslie (Taylor), they are married immediately and return to his ranch. The story of their family and its rivalry with cowboy and later oil tycoon Jett Rink unfolds across two generations. Regan was completely enthralled with the horses and the depiction of the Texas ranches. Honey and Trixie enjoyed the love stories and the family drama with all the twists and turns.
When Elizabeth Taylor appeared on the screen, Honey leaned over and whispered to Trixie, "Look at that! She could be Di's twin with that black hair and those violet eyes."
"'es, ur 'ight," Trixie agreed through a mouth full of popcorn.
But when James Dean appeared, both just sat staring at the movie idol with wide-open eyes.
"Ooooo," breathed Honey.
"Oooo-weee," agreed Trixie.
They looked at each other, wiggling eyebrows and rapidly hitting clenched fists at their hearts. They burst into giggles and had to be shushed by the grumpy man sitting behind them.
All three chattered all the way home about the movie. As they pulled the car into the garage, Trixie and Honey thanked Regan for the wonderful evening.
"No, it's me who should thank you. It was great fun. You girls better scamper on to bed before Miss Trask comes looking for me with a gun!" Regan headed off to his apartment over the garage after seeing that the girls had safely entered the house.
After changing into their jammies, washing their faces and brushing their teeth, Trixie and Honey fell into bed. Honey nuzzled down into the covers and immediately drifted off to sleep. Trixie tried but every time she reached the edge of sleep, the thoughts of the letter punched her back awake. After a couple of hours of tossing about, she sat up and looked down at her bag. The bright moonlight shining in the bedroom window made the envelope stand out against the navy blue of her bag. "Read me, read me," it seemed to be calling to her.
Trixie just couldn't stand it anymore. She quietly eased out of bed, retrieved the letter and tiptoed down stairs to the library. The grandfather clock that stood at the base of the staircase chimed 1:00.
Well, I guess if the news is bad, I can always see if Cook has a hemlock cocktail stirred up and ready in the refrigerator, Trixie thought as she sat down on the sofa. She just stared at the envelope for a few seconds, took a deep breath, pulled out the letter, and began reading:
Tuesday Night
Dear Trixie:
Just wanted to say "Hi!" and to tell you what an incredible city our nation's capitol is. So far we've had a tour of the Smithsonian Institute and the Supreme Court, and the Washington Monument.
Last night, Eric, Henry, Patsy (oh great, thought Trixie as she felt her chest squeeze), Charles and I went back to the Washington Monument so that we could go to the top and view the city at night. The guys wanted to hoof it up the steps but Patsy thought we were crazy. So we just let her take the elevator and the guys took the stairs. I'll admit that once or twice I thought we were crazy, and so did the others, but nobody ever let on. I also had another thought on the way up and that was how you would have jumped right in on the climbing adventure! I guess some guys go in for that weak, helpless stuff--not me, though! (The squeezing in Trixie's chest immediately subsided.) The view from the top of the Monument at night was spectacular. I wished you could have been there to share it with me. I just hope my pictures will do it justice! (He wanted me with him!)
After we got through Patsy wanted all of us to go sneak into a nightclub but you know that's not my idea of a good time. She did talk Charles into going--he's got a major thing about her--but boy did they ever get into trouble! Mr. Bush confided in me this morning that they did not show back up until 2:00 this morning and have been put on a bus back home. Yikes! (All right! He's away from her clutches!)
Today was when I really wished you had been here. We got to visit the FBI crime laboratory and it was so neat to see everything in action. You would have enjoyed it so much! Everything they showed us I kept thinking, "Wow, Trixie would love this." They even let us look at evidence from a real case through the microscope. You would have been so proud of me, Trix! They showed us three slides of fibers connected to a kidnap-murder investigation and asked that no one say anything until everyone had examined the slides. Then Agent Fox asked if anyone could tell what the common element was. I was the only one who saw that all three had an occasional zig-zag pattern and that they contained a single strand of rust colored thread. Agent Fox said he needed to sign me up right away because those were the very things that they used to link the suspect to the crime. Each of the fibers had been taken from different places, one at the victim's home, one was found in the suspect's car, and one was found in a little-used barn on the suspect's property. (He thought about me all day and wanted me to be proud of him!)
Tomorrow we're going on a tour of the White House, Thursday we're visiting the Congress, and Friday morning we're going to visit a couple of the embassies, the Irish embassy and the French embassy. Then Friday afternoon, we pack up and head back home. I should be back sometime very early Saturday morning. (He'll be back today!)
I hope this letter gets to you before I get back so that you'll know how much I thought about you and how much I missed you.
Until then,
Love, (Love? Love! LOVE!!)
Jim
Trixie's heart was singing, so loudly she feared it would wake up the entire household. She stretched her legs out onto the sofa and put her head on a throw pillow. She held her letter tightly to her chest and went to sleep, dreaming of a red-headed little boy and his blond-headed younger sister running across a meadow to her, yelling, "Mommy, Mommy!"
Trixie woke up the next morning with sunlight flooding into the windows of the library. She was confused as to her whereabouts until she felt the letter still clutched in her hand. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and ran her hand through her tussled curls. She looked at the clock on the fireplace mantle and was startled to see that it was almost 8:30. It was then she realized that someone had pulled a blanket over her. Must have been Celia or Cook, thought Trixie.
A small white box with green ribbon sitting on the coffee table caught Trixie's eye. It had her name written on the top. A foil sticker on the bottom indicated that it was from "Erin's Gift Shop" at the Irish Embassy. Her hands trembled as she untied the ribbon and took the top off. A small white piece of paper said, "Just for you - Jim." Inside nestled in a black velvet holder was a beautiful silver claddagh ring, the Gaelic symbol of love and friendship. She slipped it on her finger as a tear of sheer happiness slipped down her cheek.
Trixie then knew who had covered her with a blanket, that she needn't fear Patsy or any other girl, and that the road to the future was lined with red hair and happiness!
The End