The Mystery of the Pirate’s Treasure
by Heather(Trix15)
Chapter 1
"Oh, Trixie!" 14-year-old Honey Wheeler called, bounding into Trixie Belden’s bedroom. "I have the most incredible news!"
Trixie, who had turned 15 in May, looked up from where she had been making her bed. "They’ve declared that school should only be three days a week?"
Honey giggled. "No, but that would be just about as wonderful."
"Well," Trixie replied, waving her arms in the air at Honey. "Don’t keep me in suspense. What’s so incredible that you’re just standing there instead of helping me make my bed?"
Honey raised her eyebrows and gave a mock frown as she move the corner flap of Trixie’s bedspread down towards the floor and ran her hand over the mostly smooth cover. "There. Is that better?" she laughed.
"Yep," Trixie smiled as she stood at the end of the bed and performed a beautiful Nestea Plunge to muss the bedspread she, and Honey, had just fixed. "Now, what’s going on?" she continued, her blue eyes lighting up with curiosity.
Honey sat down on the bed beside her. "Well, you remember how Captain Clark, from Cobbett’s Island told us that when Mr. Condon died, he had willed the Moorings to a distant niece in California, and she had rented the place out ever since?"
"Don’t tell me. Your father has rented it again for another summer and we get to go back?" Trixie sat up, barely able to contain her excitement.
"Better than that," Honey said, trying to keep her true level of excitement from showing. She was fairly bursting with wanting to tell Trixie her news, but she was also having too much fun teasing her friend to just come out and say what had happened.
Trixie, however, was having none of it. She reached behind her and grabbed her pillow. "Honey Wheeler, if you don’t tell me this news right now!" she threatened, brandishing the fluffy feather sack.
"Okay. It’s just this. Daddy didn’t rent the Moorings for another summer."
Trixie’s face fell.
"He bought it."
Trixie’s mouth dropped open and her lips formed an "O". "He what?"
"Yes!" Honey shouted, bouncing up and down on the bed. "He decided that he and mother had had such a great time while they were there last summer, and he knew that we had. He and Mr. Kimball have so many business dealings going on, and oh – I don’t know. There were so many reasons, he told me. But he got in touch with the niece in California and asked her if she’d be interested in selling the house. Apparently she thought his offer was worth it, he got his lawyers on it, and Daddy owns the house now!"
"Honey, that’s wonderful news!" Trixie said. "You’ll get to see Peter so much more, and you’ll become an old hand at sailing in no time."
Honey shook her head, smiling. "We all will. Daddy wants us to go up and spend some time there before school starts."
"Honey, that’s great, but we just got back from Charleston a few weeks ago. I just don’t know if Moms and dad will let us all take off again." Trixie tried unsuccessfully to hide the disappointment in her voice.
"Oh, I think that it will all work out. Daddy is on the phone with your parents right now talking it over. In fact, he wants the Bob-Whites to go up two days from now on Monday and he’s inviting your parents to drive up with he and mother on Saturday morning, for the weekend. He thought they might be able to since it was just for an overnight trip and if Bobby could stay with the Lynch twins. Di’s parents are in Arizona, or he would have invited all of them as well."
"Oh, Honey," Trixie breathed. "I’m crossing my fingers. Not only would I love to go to Cobbett’s again, you know, but also I'm in need of another vacation. I mean, with all of the dusting, and dishes, and bed making and cleaning…" she stopped as Honey’s laughter grew too much for her to stay in one place on the bed.
"Trixie, you know perfectly well that all in all, you get plenty of ‘vacation’ time to do so many things."
Trixie grinned at her friend. "I know. And after everything that happened in Charleston, you would think that I’d need a vacation from my vacation. I don’t know how we manage to find mysteries wherever we go."
"Well, Peter had said that Cobbett’s had been pretty quiet before we got there. I don’t suppose there are any mysteries left for us to find on the island."
"I don’t know Honey. I guess we’ll find out soon enough. I hear Moms walking up the stairs. Oh, I hope she says yes."
Apparently, Trixie’s mother had heard the tail end of their conversation, for almost as soon as she had popped her head into Trixie’s room, she smiled at her daughter. "Yes. But Trixie – I really hope that when your father and I and Honey’s parents arrive in Saturday, we won’t find that you all have managed to hunt out yet another mystery."
"Moms, I just can’t help it. I don’t go seeking them out. I really think I have some sort of mystery magnet inside. They just come to me."
Her mother shook her head, trying to hide a smile. "You should probably go tell your brothers. They’re out in the barn working to fix the tractor. Your father wants to use it this week."
"Okay, Moms. And thank you," Trixie fairly bounced to her mother to hug her. "You’re the greatest."
She and Honey ran down the stairs and out into the back yard. Shouting for her brothers, she was out of breath when they reached the barn and spilled the news about The Moorings and their upcoming trip. Brian Belden, who was 17 and the more serious of the two brothers, and Mart Belden, who had just turned 16 two months earlier were excited to hear of the news.
Jim, Honey’s 16 year old adopted brother had already heard the surprise of course. Trixie secretly planned to find a way to get him back for not sharing the secret with her as soon as he had found out. Trixie and Jim had just begun a relationship that was, well, more than friends, but far from as serious as these things could get – yet. Jim and Brian would be going off to college later that month. Neither Trixie, nor Jim was exactly sure how things would work, but they were determined to take it slow, and do what had to be done. While Brian would be attending Columbia, in the city, Jim would be close by at NYU.
As it turned out, Dan Mangan who was Mart’s age and had not been able to go to either Charleston, or Cobbett’s Island the last summer, would be able to go on this trip. The Bob-Whites were excited for it was a rare chance for him to be able to join them on their excursions, even though he had proved to be a great asset on many of these adventures.
Di Lynch, who had celebrated her 15th birthday shortly after Jim, Trixie, Mart and Honey had returned from Charleston, would also be able to come.
The young people were members of a semi-secret club called Bob-Whites of the Glen. They’re sworn purpose was to be a family to one another, and to assist others in need. Frequently, this assistance came in the form of solving some mystery or another. Trixie and Honey planned to someday open the Belden-Wheeler Detective agency, a dream that was not far off. Their track record was very impressive.
The rest of that day was spent doing household chores, interspersed with packing, phone calls and some shopping. Trixie remembered their last trip to Cobbett’s Island, and the new powder blue bathing suit she had gotten. Mostly, she recalled Jim’s compliments of her suit. She had picked up a suit in Charleston before leaving the city and so another one was no necessary this time. But Trixie would make sure that he was just as impressed with her this time around. She was happy that Jim wasn’t one of those guys terribly impressed with a lot of fancy clothes and feminine things. But she did want to look her best for him. Keeping this in mind, she packed the other item she had bought in Charleston – the one he hadn’t seen yet.
Sunday night was restless for everyone. The excitement of returning to the Island was almost unbearable. Somehow, they all managed to get in enough sleep and by the time they left in the Bob-White station wagon to join Tom, Celia and Ms. Trask, who had gone up on Sunday, they were plenty rested and ready for whatever the week would bring.
To Be Continued