Chapter 16
The Bob-Whites were glad to get back to Manor House where they could get warm and forget the earlier incident. When they finally had arrived and unloaded the station wagon, Dan, Mart and Jim stayed outside, to fire up the grill, while Honey, Diana and Trixie decorated the glassed-in sunroom for Brian's birthday.
"I'm still shivering, but it's not from the cold," Trixie said, her teeth chattering.
"But Trixie," said Honey in a comforting voice as she touched Trixie's shoulder, "you're safe now. Let's just keep on not allowing that creep to ruin things for us."
"I am determined to do just that," Trixie said cheerfully. "And, I'm not going to allow it to ruin my appetite for this yummy food."
Diana had brought twice-baked potatoes prepared by the cook at her house and Trixie went into the kitchen to place them in the oven.
"The steaks are almost done everyone, Jim Frayne said, coming into the sunroom, taking off his gloves. "Maybe Brian will be along soon."
"I hope not," said Honey as she hung the last streamer. "I want it to be a surprise. I want us to have everything ready when Brian arrives."
Finally, the BWGs had everything finished. The table was loaded with the sirloin steaks, twice-baked potatoes, a huge tossed salad with various homemade dressings, homemade yeast rolls and Mrs. Belden's coconut cake. The room was decorated in green and white, since green was Brian's favorite color.
"I'm starving," said Mart, taking in a whiff of the delicious smelling steaks.
"What else is new?" Trixie asked.
Before she and Mart could get in to an argument, Diana steered him toward the stereo. "Mart, help me pick out some of Brian's favorite songs," she told him. While she and Mart picked out various CD's, Trixie stared out at the moonlit yard.
When is the situation with Pierre Lontard going to end? she wondered.. And how is it going to end? That's the scary question, how is it going to end? She felt Jim come up behind her and put his arms around her.
"Everything will be all right, Trixie," he told her. "You know the FBI, or the local police must be aware that he is in the area, they're just waiting for the right time to nab him."
"You must be right," she told Jim, but she wasn't at all convinced as she looked out at the cold, October evening.
All the negative aspects of the evening were forgotten, as they heard Brian ring the front doorbell. Everyone jumped behind furniture as they prepared to surprise him.
"Surprise!!!" They all yelled as Ms. Trask showed Brian into the warm sunroom.
"Golly, you guys, you didn't have to do this," he said as he looked around at the presents.
"We wanted to," Honey told him shyly.
"Who wants to dance?" asked Dan looking at Trixie.
The Bob-Whites began the evening with dancing, but after a couple of songs, Mart said, "I feel as if I may swoon, if I don't ingest some type of sustenance very quickly."
"I guess we better go ahead and eat," Honey said. "I don't want Mart to faint right here on the spot."
The BWGs all sat down and helped themselves to the delicious food. Not much was said as they polished off the steaks, buttery rolls, salad and potatoes.
"Wow! that was wonderful," said Brian rubbing his tummy.
"I think I ate entirely too much," said Jim as he watched Mart eating the last steak. "Gee, Mart, how do you do it?"
"We probably had better wait till after Brian unwraps his presents to eat the cake, since we're all stuffed," Honey suggested. "Are you ready?" she turned and asked Brian.
"Sure. But you all shouldn't have."
"But we did buddy," replied Jim.
The first present wrapped in bright green wrapping paper, with silver race car designs and silver ribbon was from Trixie. It was a bottle of Aspen, Brian's favorite aftershave cologne. "Thanks Trixie," he said smiling at her. "I ran out of the cologne I got last Christmas, I can use this."
The next present was from Jim. It was a medical journal. "I've wanted this for years!" Brian said slapping Jim on the back. "I know that it costs a mint. Thanks a lot buddy."
Brian finished opening his presents. Mart and Diana's present was a set of wooden bookends that looked like Brian's jalopy. Dan gave him a wood carving of a deer beside a stream, with trees and several things that he and Mr. Maypenny had spent months whittling. It was beautiful and everyone oohed and ahhed over it.
Then came Honey's present. It was a sweater she had knitted him in olive green. "Wow, Honey, it's beautiful."
"Do you really like it?"
"It's wonderful. I almost don't want to wear it, because I want to keep it forever," he told her.
"Awwww," the other Bob-Whites said in unison, teasing Brian and Honey.
"Okay you guys," Brian joked. "We're trying to have a moment here."
They all laughed.
The Bob-Whites had fun partying into the night until regretfully, it was time to go home. Jim drove the station wagon so everyone could have a ride and say good bye to their significant others without freezing. Mart walked Diana to her door and kissed her good bye. Then, they headed to Crabapple Farm and Trixie and Jim said their goodbyes as Brian and Mart headed inside.
Chapter 17
Moms and Dad and Bobby were already asleep as the three older Belden children came in the front door. "I think I'm going to take a quick shower and then do some studying." Brian said as he headed up the stairs.
"I'm going to see if there's any apple pie left," Mart said heading into the kitchen.
That left Trixie in the living room. I need to do my homework and get that over with, she thought as she started to go up the stairs.
The phone ringing made Trixie jump. She picked up the phone and all she heard was breathing on the other end. "Why don't you leave me alone!" she shouted. And then thought 'What if Moms or Dad heard that?' She quickly hung up the phone, made certain all the doors were locked and headed up stairs to what she knew would be a restless evening where sleep brought only nightmares.
The next few days passed uneventfully and before Trixie knew it, it was Wednesday, the night of the fall carnival. Trixie loved the fall carnival, it was something the elementary school put on every year to raise money and she had always gone. She thought the BWGs would all go together, but to her disappointment, Brian, Jim, Mart and Dan let her know they had other things to do with their evening and that they considered themselves too old for that sort of event. So, that left herself, Diana and Honey to take Bobby and Diana's younger brothers and sisters. At least, Jim did agree to drop them off at the carnival and pick them up later.
Trixie loved this event. The food was delicious, they had all kinds of little booths, opportunities for the younger kids to win little toys. It was really neat.
"Well, what do we do first?" Trixie asked as they walked toward the carnival after Jim dropped them off.
"I'd like something to eat." said Diana. "It's been a long time since lunch."
"It hasn't been that long," Trixie teased. "It's just that you've been around Mart too long."
"Yeah," said Diana, smiling along with Trixie and Honey. "My man loves food."
"So, what do we eat?" Honey asked. "There's a choice of several things."
"I think I'm going to go to the grill," Trixie said referring to the booth that advertised several grilled items. "I just want a plain old hamburger."
"I think I want the chicken teriyaki," Diana said, referring to the oriental booth the Haikaito brothers had set up to help raise money for the school.
"And, I just want a plain old taco," Honey said referring to another booth.
After purchasing their food, they gathered at a picnic table and ate and watched the kids run and play. The children were too excited about winning prizes to eat, so they ran off. After the girls had finished eating, they walked around to various arts and crafts booths and looked. After Diana had purchased some earrings from one of the booths, they noticed a fortune telling booth nearby.
"Oh let's go in there," suggested Honey.
"I didn't think you believed in that kind of stuff," Diana stated.
"I don't, ' Honey said. "But, I feel like we should feel spend some money, because the proceeds go to different departments of the Elementary School and I can't see us doing the Fishing game or some of the other's that the little kids go to."
"You're right as usual," said Diana. "This does look like the only one that someone our age might go into."
"You go first Trixie," said Honey, shoving Trixie toward the entrance.
"Wait, this was something you and Diana said you were going to do, I was thinking about the cake walk."
"Oh, go ahead," Diana told her. "It'll be fun."
Trixie reluctantly went to the entrance and paid for her turn. Then the girls proceeded to stand in the short line. Finally, it was Trixie's turn to go in.
"Come een....come een.... I am Madame Giselle," said the young, pretty dark-haired lady, wearing the beads and the colorful peasant blouse. Trixie slowly sat down. She figured this was probably one of the children's mothers' dressed up like a gypsy. "I see a tall, dark-haired man," The gypsy lady said, looking into a crystal ball.
Oh great, thought Trixie. She's going to predict that I will marry a tall, dark, handsome, stranger or something equally as corny.
"And, I see great danger, someone you think is a friend will actually be an enemy on a night when the moon is full and people are not themselves. Be very careful." The lady grabbed Trixie's hand and looked into her eyes. "Great danger is ahead."
Trixie, totally unnerved jumped up and ran out of the tent.
The next time the moon was full would be Halloween. After Trixie thought about it for awhile, she realized that lady probably told several people the same thing and she quit worrying about it.
Chapter 17
The next week and a half once again passed uneventfully. From the night at the lake, (Brian's birthday), Trixie had not heard or seen Pierre Lontard. She began to rest easy and things in her life began to get back to normal. She felt that any day, she could be contacted by the FBI and told that he had been captured. Talk began to revolve around Mrs. Belden's plans for the Halloween Party at Crabapple Farm. The three girls were discussing the party on the way to school one morning, it was a morning when they had to ride the bus. "
Why is your mom giving a party this year?" asked Honey.
"Oh, up until the BWG's were formed, Moms gave a party every year," Trixie told her.
"Yeah," said Diana. "I grew up going to Mrs. Belden's Halloween parties and they were absolutely awesome."
"So, you didn't trick or treat when you were growing up?" Honey asked curiously.
"Oh yes, sure we did." Trixie assured her. "We just went early in the evening. We went to Mrs. Vanderpoel's, Mr. Lytell's, and some of the other families on Glen Road. Then we came back and had a big party at home. It wasn't just for the children--it was for adults, too."
"So, tell me what you do," Honey said, curious now.
"Well, we have lots of food, people usually bring covered dishes," Trixie said.
"Yeah," Diana interjected. "And, they have a haunted trail or either a scavenger hunt and we bob for apples, someone brings a truck full of hay and we have a hayride, it's just a lot of fun."
"Oh, I can't wait!" Honey said excitedly.
"And," said Trixie, "if we can, we need to get off early from school on Halloween so we can help Moms. She makes different kinds of Halloween deserts and things and she makes chili. Dad cooks hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill."
"After this month is over," Honey said, rubbing her tummy. "I'm definitely going on a diet. We have eaten so much this past month."
The girls, with their parents' permission, left school early on Halloween to help Mrs. Belden prepare for the party. Tom picked them up at school and talk centered around costumes and the upcoming party.
"What are you going as?" Trixie asked Tom.
"Oh, I'm going as James Dean I think," said Tom.
"Oh, that'll be a neat costume," Trixie replied.
"Oh, my dad is going as Frankenstein's Monster. He had his costume specially ordered," said Diana. It has this huge, heavy monster head with it. It came from that shop over in White Plains."
"I guess my folks won't be here," Honey said a little sadly. Tom drove up to Crabapple Farm and the girls quickly ran into the warm and cozy farmhouse and hung up their coats.
"I'm in the kitchen, girls," Moms said. The three girls entered the kitchen. "Have you had lunch yet?" Moms asked. "I have sandwich fixings all laid out. Just help yourself and then we'll get started." After all the girls had a ham sandwich, the preparations begun. They made chocolate sugar cookies in the shape of bats. They made cupcakes and frosted them with orange and black frosting. They made chocolate flavored drop cookies and decorated them with white frosting to look like spider webs.
"What are we having to drink?" asked Diana.
"Oh well," said Mrs. Belden. "We're having homemade apple cider, because that's a traditional Halloween drink. "But, I'm also having orange soda and colas, since a lot of the children probably want like the cider and in keeping with the Halloween color scheme."
"Wow, that's cool," said Honey. "I've never been to a Halloween party like this before."
"Well, I thought my phony uncle put on quite an event," joked Diana.
"Oh, he really did," laughed Trixie.
"Are we going to decorate with ghosts, witches and monsters?" Honey asked.
"No," Trixie replied. As Moms had stepped out of the room. "Moms doesn't really like anything that scares children. She keeps everything fun. Even Bobby doesn't dress up like anything scary, he always wears his favorite super hero costume."
"Yeah, my brothers and sisters do the same," said Diana.
Chapter 18
The girls carved jack o' lanterns from pumpkins they retrieved from Mrs. Belden's garden and put them out on the porch with candles inside them. They strung little plastic jack o'lantern lights out on the back porch where the party would be held. On the huge old fashioned picnic table were the cookies and drinks, along with big bowls of buttered popcorn, a huge crock pot full of chili, another crock pot with chili-cheese dip.
It wasn't long before people started showing up. Mrs. Vanderpoel came dressed as a little Dutch lady. She had made her spicy windmill cookies, but instead of being in the shape of windmills, they were in the shape of jack o' lanterns. There were also the cookies and cupcakes they had made this afternoon, along with bowls of candy corn and the hot apple cider and orange drinks along with Pepsi. Several Glen Road couples came, some older, some with children. The children promptly ran off to play with Bobby.
Trixie, Honey and Diana ran inside to dress up in their costumes. They had decided to dress like older movies stars. Diana dressed like Elizabeth Taylor, Trixie like Marilyn Monroe and Honey was Natalie Wood. Since it was cold, Trixie had to wear a jacket and jeans with her sexy red dress. All the guys wore their costumes from the fifties dance the school had put on a few weeks ago for homecoming, the one that Dan had won for being the best Fonz lookalike. Trixie's mother had a ghost costume and her father had found a Hulk costume at a shop here in Sleepyside. Trixie couldn't help laughing at her always conservative father. Finally, Diana's mother and the twins came. Diana's mother was dressed as the Bride of Frankenstein, but Trixie didn't see Diana's father. I guess he's late, she thought to herself, then forgot about it as she was busy keeping popcorn bowls and chili cheese dip filled up.
Later, she had sat down in a lawn chair to supervise the younger children bobbing for apples, when she felt someone come up and sit down in the chair beside her. She thought for a minute it was Jim, but when she turned it was Mr. Lynch, dressed in the Frankenstein costume.
"Wow! That's an incredible costume," Trixie told him, as he sat with her and watched while one of his little girls tried so hard to bob for apples. Finally, the kids ran off to do something else and Trixie stood up to go and find Jim.
"Your wife is right over there," she said as she touched Mr. Lynch on the shoulder and pointed to where Mrs. Lynch sat at a table talking to Mrs. Vanderpoel. Mr. Lynch just nodded. Trixie guessed it was hard to talk with that big helmet of a costume on. He got up and wondered toward Mrs. Lynch and Trixie went to find Jim.
"Its time for the haunted trail," Honey told Trixie, referring to the trail that Jim, Mart, Dan and Brian had designed. "Don't let the kids go in, your mom doesn't want them to have nightmares."
Honey, Trixie and Diana decided to go in the trail together. The trail wound through the crabapple orchard out back. Trixie was looking at something the boys had designed and when she looked up, Honey and Diana had gone on and she felt a moment of panic as she rushed to keep up with them. In her efforts to catch up with Honey and Diana, Trixie walked through a fake graveyard and a fake crow flew from a tree. As it passed Trixie's hair she jumped, then realized it was rigged. Then, she felt a hand on her arm and she jumped again. Looking up, she saw that it was Mr. Lynch in his Frankenstein costume.
"Oh, you must be looking for Diana," Trixie said, relieved. "I seem to have gotten separated from her and Honey. Come on, follow me." The boys had marked out a trail for everyone to follow. She grabbed Mr. Lynch's hand and pulled him along with her. They saw a fake electric chair, Trixie gasped when the person in it, stood up and walked toward her. She got over her fear when she recognized Dan. Mr. Lynch put his arm around her and they headed to the next exhibit. "Don't worry Mr. Lynch, I'm sure Diana's around her someplace," Trixie told him.
She wondered if the Lynch family was ready to go home. "Is that why he's looking for Diana?" she asked herself. They went through several other exhibits and Mr. Lynch began to try to pull Trixie off the trail into the woods.
"No, Mr. Lynch," she laughed. "This is the way back." She pulled on his arm and he reluctantly followed her back toward the house.
When she returned to the back yard, she saw Jim. As she headed towards Jim, Mr. Lynch disappeared from her side. She meant to mention to Diana that her father was searching for her, but she forgot. Mart and Diana had gone in search of food anyway and Trixie was with Jim for the first time that evening.
"Hayride!" someone called.
"Oh boy! Come on Jim!" Trixie said, grabbing him by the hand.
"Hey, wait a minute," Jim laughed, taking his hand out of hers. "Brian and I are supposed to watch the grill for your father. These people have eaten hamburgers and hotdogs as quick as he could make them and he needs a minute to sit down and have dinner."
"Oh," Trixie said disappointed.
"Maybe next time," Jim said, giving her a kiss.
Trixie ran and jumped in the back of the truck. She thought Honey, Diana, Mart and Dan would be along, but they never showed up. She found herself with a bunch of people, mostly children, she wasn't sure if she knew them or not as they were all in costume. The only person she recognized was Mr. Lynch in the Frankenstein costume. He came and sat down in the body of the truck right beside Trixie. "Oh Mr. Lynch, you still haven't found Diana?" she asked. He just nodded. They rode along Glen Road in the moonlight. Some people started singing and Trixie joined in. She felt a little uncomfortable when Mr. Lynch put his arm around her. "I guess he's just being fatherly," she told herself.
Chapter 19
Finally, the wonderful evening began to draw to a close as people began to gather up their children and head home. Trixie was a little disappointed in the evening as she had not gotten to enjoy much of the events with any of the Bob-Whites. She began to help take dishes into the house. "This is the worst part of having fun, it's having to clean up afterward," she said to someone who had come up beside her as she gathered up as many dishes as she could carry.
"Mr. Lynch, did you ever find Diana?" Trixie asked Frankenstein's Monster. She wondered why he hadn't taken that awfully uncomfortable looking headgear off already. He just nodded. He grabbed her by the arm and tried to pull her toward the trail where the haunted trail had been.
"Mr. Lynch," she laughed, not quite sure how to take this, "I have to help Moms clean up."
About that time, the other Bob-Whites were headed toward the table where she stood. Mr. Lynch headed quickly but silently toward the woods. Well, that's strange, Trixie thought , watching him, a puzzled look on her face.
"Diana," she said, "did your Dad ever find you? He was looking for you all evening."
"My dad? Why that's impossible."
"No," said Trixie. "He was here. He's been following me around all evening, I thought he was having trouble getting up with you and your mom."
"Trixie," Diana said. "My dad is on a plane to California. He was called away on business earlier today. My mom and sisters took him to the airport; my mom told everyone about it when she arrived here this evening."
"Well, who was the guy in the Frankenstein costume?" Trixie asked.
The others looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Oh my Gosh!" Trixie exclaimed and quickly told the others what had transpired. "Could that person have been Pierre Lontard?" He went this way!" Trixie headed towards the woods. The others quickly followed her, where they found the Frankenstein costume discarded in the bushes.
"This is just getting too close for comfort," Jim Frayne declared as he and the others realized that if this was Pierre Lontard, he was long gone or well hidden. "I mean, he's just getting braver and braver. Trixie, I don't like this at all. I think he's ready to make a move." Brian, Mart and Dan all looked grim.
"I'm not leaving here tonight," Jim said resolutely.
"Me neither," Dan Mangan said. "I'm concerned not just for you Trixie, but for your family also. He could have easily have pulled a gun or something and opened fire on all these people tonight."
"Well, I may not can do much if he comes, but I can scream really loud," Diana said, linking her arm in Trixie's. "I'm staying too."
"You all are not leaving me out," Honey told them. "Trix, I'll sleep on the floor in your room if I have too, but I'm staying too."
"What are we going to tell Moms and Dad about everyone spending the night?" Brian asked. "We don't want them to know about this situation, and this could easily arouse suspicions and cause them to start asking questions."
"Let's don't tell them," Trixie said. "Not about Dan and Jim anyway. Honey, you and Diana come and let's fix up the bedroom downstairs for Dan and Jim, the one where Juliana stayed that Summer she was here. I'm sure Moms and Dad are going to bed pretty soon, they looked really bushed. They enjoyed tonight, but they were really tired when it was over."
Once inside, Trixie went upstairs and asked her parents if Honey and Diana could stay over and they said they didn't mind as long as the girls were quiet. After setting up the roll-a-way cot in Trixie's room, Honey and Diana then called Diana's parents and Ms. Trask and received permission. Jim and Dan got permission from Ms. Trask and Mr. Maypenny.
"Well, I guess all hands are on deck in case he tries anything tonight," said Jim.
"I'm glad tomorrow is an evaluation day at school and we don't have to go," said Honey. "If it were a school night, I know none of us would have been allowed to stay."
"Thank God tomorrow's Friday, since we're out of school, we get a long weekend," Diana said, as they put the pretty blue floral sheets on the cot.
The girls tiredly went back downstairs and changed the bed linens on the old twin beds in the guest bedroom, the one where Juliana a.k.a. Janie had stayed with them when she had amnesia that Summer. Trixie quickly dusted and checked the bathroom to make certain there were clean towels, washcloths and a bar of soap. Then very tired, from the long evening they had had, the three girls locked the doors and wearily climbed the stairs to Trixie's room.
"I forgot to even kiss Brian goodnight, I'm so tired," Honey said.
"Me too," Diana said yawning as they entered Trixie's room.
"And, what would you be doing kissing Brian goodnight?" Honey teased Diana.
"Oh, I was talking about Mart," Diana said flustered. "You know what I mean.
All the Bob-Whites went to bed, but none rested very well. What sleep they got was filled with disturbing dreams, but when the sun came up the next morning, the first day of November, the night had been uneventful.
The next weekend, Trixie and Honey were alone at Crabapple Farm on a Saturday afternoon. Trixie's parents and Bobby had gone shopping and Mart and Brian had gone horseback riding with Jim and Dan. There was a knock on the door. When Trixie opened the door, she was surprised to see, FBI agent Vince Roberts.
"Boy, am I glad to see you," she spoke before he had a chance to say anything. "You wouldn't believe what I've gone through since you left town."
"Oh, we know more than you think. I believe we pulled out of town a little too soon."
"I'll say you did," Honey said, coming to stand beside Trixie at the door. Honey wanted to go on and tell him everything that had transpired during the month of October, but the FBI agent interrupted her before she could really get started and he was brisk and to the point.
"I just came to tell you that there was a body found in New York City and we have every reason to believe it was Pierre Lontard," said Roberts.
"When?" Trixie asked, remembering Halloween night.
"A couple of days ago," he replied. "The danger is over, you can get back to normal now."
Even though Trixie was very relieved that she didn't have to worry anymore, she couldn't wish anyone dead. She felt like she was in shock. The FBI agent left and Honey and Trixie hugged each other and cried with relief.
But, for some time to come, on a gray Saturday afternoon when Trixie was home alone, or a school night when all her family was upstairs and the phone would ring, she just didn't bother answering. Because she wasn't entirely convinced that Pierre was dead. The night after the FBI agent came, as she washed dishes for her family, she looked out into the darkness that lay beyond the crabapple trees and knew that it would be awhile before she would be entirely convinced that he was gone. Meanwhile, she would continue to make sure the doors were locked every night and she would be careful about wandering any place alone.
The End for now
Dreams and Realities (the story) is over, but the saga of Pierre Lontard is far from over. Trixie's instincts are right about him.
This was supposed to be my Halloween story. I'm sorry it has taken so long as it is almost January. I may have to skip Thanksgiving and Christmas to catch up.