Chapter 12 - Rescued
"If there were a stool in here," Trixie said. "We could climb out the window."
"I know!" Honey said. "We could feel around for something that we could put by the window to climb up!"
"Honey," Trixie said. "That's a great idea!"
The girls felt around the storage closet for something to stand on.
Finally, Trixie said: "Honey! I found a chair! We could use this!"
"I don't think so," Honey said. "I hear somebody coming!"
Trixie quickly replaced the folding chair. Berdie entered the closet.
"You're comin' wi' us," he said. "If ya make it diff'cult..." Berdie patted the pocket with the gun in it.
"Now folla me."
The girls followed Berdie out the door of the now empty store. "Ged in duh back of duh van," he instructed. He opened the back of the van and motioned to the girls to get in. They obeyed instantly.
When Berdie had gotten into the pasenger side of the van, it started to move.
Trixie saw a tear slip down Honey's cheek. Poor Honey, Trixie thought. Suddenly her face lit up. That's it! I still have the receipt and a pencil in my pocket! I can write a help note. The only problem is that I can't send it to anyone.
Just then Trixie looked out the back window. She saw a station wagon following them. She looked at the license plate. It said BWGKID! That was Bob-Whites' license plate number!
Trixie whispered to Honey to look out the back window. Honey held back a sigh of relief.
I hope they keep following us, Trixie thought.
Both cars rode for about an hour; while Trixie was trying to figure out the answer to the case.
Suddenly Trixie came up with an idea. The whole flower thing was probably just a false lead! He wanted to get us all confused! The light in the house must have been a phone call to distract Mrs. Elliot while the other guy was stealing the flowers! I've got to tell Honey!
Trixie leaned over to Honey and whispered her theory of the mystery into her ear.
"Oh Trixie," Honey whispered. "You're so smart! I was just thinking about the flowers! Now we have this whole mystery solved and you could say we're rescued and almost everything perfectly-perfect!"
Just then the girls heard Mike say: "It's about lunch-time now. What do ya say we stop at Yankee's Bar. Ya know the new place they opened last week. We can lock the kids in the car. There's no way they can escape!"
"Alright," Berdie agreed. "But let's make it quick!"
In ten minutes Mike pulled up on the curb and both men got out of the van.
As soon as Mike and Berdie went into the bar, Jim, Di, and Brian and Mart got out of the station wagon.
Trixie saw Di take a bobby pin out of her hair. She walked over to the back of the van and started to pick the lock.
In about five minutes, Di put the pin back in her hair. Jim walked over to the back of the van and tried to open it.
He saw a handle, so he pulled it. The door opened instantly!
The girls ran out of the van and asked the boys how they had figured out what had happened.
"Well," Brian said. "Today when you said you were going to Mrs. Elliot's house for a couple hours, we weren't worried. But then when you stayed all morning, we knew something was wrong.
Jim thought if we went to the police station, we could get the list of all the biggest criminals. Of course we all agreed at once, so we left for the station. We told Moms and Dad that we were going to Wimpy's for lunch and they agreed.
When we go to the station, the man at the counter said that there were two antique theives in Sleepy-Side named Bernard Slicker and Mike Slimmer. He said that the last spotting of them was in one of the alley-ways. We knew that was where you went so we got in the car and started off.
We drove by each alley. We finally saw you getting in the van so we followed it. And this is the rest."
"You boys are really smart!" Honey exclaimed.
"It was nothing," said Mart.
Epilogue
"This was one of our best adventures yet," Trixie said that afternoon. "The criminals are in prison where they should be, nobody's hurt, and everything's perfectly-perfect; just like Honey said before."
Trixie thought about what she was going to do tomorrow. She had no mystery to think about. Nothing to ponder over at school. In a couple days she would be plain, boring old Trixie.
Suddenly there was a knock at Trixie's bedroom door. "Come in," Trixie mumbled.
Mart appeared at the door. "What's up?" he asked.
"Nothing," Trixie said. "I was just thinking about what I'll be doing until my next mystery comes. I'll be so bored. There'll be nothing to do but mope around the house like I'm doing now."
"Oh, yeah," Mart said. "I forgot to ask you what the hieroglyphics and Abdu have to do with the mystery."
"It was another false lead," Trixie said. "Just like the flowers and Mike and Berdie being friends with Mr. Elliot."
"Oh," Mart said. "Now, what I came up here for. It's time for dinner. We're having turkey; your favorite."
"Tell Moms I'll be down in a minute. I need to clear off my bed. Bobby was in here."
"Alright Mart said as he closed the door. "But make it quick. I can't wait to eat!"
The End