rated *

In a bus, car, van, motorcycles, etc. Air travel nor foot travel is allowed. During the course of the trip – at least two of the characters must get into an argument about the love life of a fictional character – one in a movie, book, or television series. Mention a purchase made at a roadside stop of some sort - whether it is fruit from a roadside vendor – or a soda purchased at a gas station.

By: Bonni

It was the week before Spring Break and everyone was looking forward to having a week off from school. Trixie Belden and her best friend, Honey Wheeler, were studying for midterms in their dorm room. Well, at least one of them was studying. The other one had her blond curly head in the clouds wondering what they were going to do with their precious week off.

"You know what we should do for Spring Break next week, Honey? We should take a road trip!" Twenty-year-old Trixie turned around from her desk to look at her friend. "There is a distinct lack of excitement in our lives right now and I say we should do something about it!"

Honey looked at Trixie and smiled. Knowing Trix had a point she smiled more broadly. "That sounds like a great idea, but who would go with us?" She watched as her friend jumped up, whipped open their door and dashed across the hall. A second later Trixie was back with Diana and Hallie in tow.

"What’s going on? Are you tired of studying?" Diana Lynch asked as she sat on Trixie’s unmade bed.

"No, we were talking about next week and decided our dull and boring lives needed livening up. Trixie came up with the great idea of a road trip!" Honey was all for giving credit where it was due.

"Road trip, huh? I wish I could go, but my folks have all ready bought my plane ticket back to Idaho. They’d be really disappointed if I don’t come home." Hallie’s disappointment was obvious. "It’s a great idea, cuz."

Trixie smiled and slapped her cousin’s hand in a high five. "But where do we go and how are we getting there? It’s too bad I didn’t have this idea a month ago! Then you could have come with us."

"I volunteer my car," Diana said, knowing her Jeep Cherokee was the biggest vehicle they had. "We could be all packed and ready to leave right after classes on Friday! I have just one question, though. Are the boys coming with us?"

Trixie looked at Honey and frowned. "I hadn’t even thought of them to be honest. It would be fun if they went with us, but this might be the last ‘girls only’ outing we have." She picked up her can of soda and took a long swig. "Let’s figure out where to go and then we can talk about options. Although, maybe we should wait to say anything to them. What do you think?"

Honey frowned right back at her best friend. "I don’t know," she said, ever the cautious one. "It might be fun to have them with us, but on the other hand, Trixie has a point."

"Do we have to decide that now, or can we move onto the good stuff. Like where this little jaunt is going to take you? I vote for putting some places down on paper and drawing from a hat. I’ve got a hat, I’ll go get it." Hallie raced across the hall to grab her hat. "OK, here it is." She presented a ratty baseball cap to her friends. "Since I can’t go, at least let me donate something."

"Your wardrobe is in a huge rut, Hal." Diana remarked taking in the cap and jeans and T-shirt that Hallie was wearing. "Maybe we should take Hallie on a SHOPPING SPREE!" She burst out laughing. "You can help us decide where to go. It will be like your going by proxy!" Diana didn’t want Hallie to feel left out, even if she were going to Idaho. Both Honey and Trixie echoed Diana’s feelings.

"Very funny, Di. Besides, Dan likes the way I dress. I don’t hear any complaints from him." Hallie stuck her tongue out at Diana.

Honey grabbed some paper and pencils and passed them out to the other girls. "OK, here you go. Now write down where you would like to go and we can put them all into a hat and pull from it."

Trixie looked at her blank piece of paper. She had no clue what to write. Suddenly, she began to write furiously. Smiling, Trixie tore off her first suggestion, folded it about ten times and dropped it into the cap. "How many choices can we put in?"

"What if we each put in two? That would give us eight and if someone really didn’t want to go to that particular place, then we could draw again," Diana said as she dropped her second idea into the cap. "But who gets to pick?"

Trixie solved that problem by grabbing the first person that walked past their room. "Hey, Cat. Will you help us with a small problem we’re having?"

"Sure, Trixie. What’s the problem?" Catlan Evans asked, glad that he could help out. Cat was a huge hunk of a man. Tall, with wide shoulders, big green eyes and shoulder length brown hair, that most of the time was kept in a pony tail at the nape of his neck. All the girls loved him and he loved all the girls.

"Well, we’ve decided to take a road trip for spring break and we need someone to pick for us." She held out the cap to him. "We haven’t said anything to the guys yet, so mums the word, OK?" Cat had shared numerous classes with Trixie and Honey and knew the rest of the Bob-White gang.

Cat nodded his head and reached out to take the first slip out. Opening it, he read "Disney World."

Three pairs of eyes turned towards Diana. "We just went there last summer. Can’t we pick somewhere different?" Honey implored. "It’s not that we don’t like it there, Di, but...." her voice trailed off.

"It was all I could think of. Besides, we had such a great time......" Diana’s voice dropped off. ‘OK, OK...no Disney. Pick again, Cat."

His hand reached in again and again until the cap was empty. All the suggestions had been discussed and discarded. "So now what are you going to do?" Cat asked and sat down on Honey’s desk. "Can I make a suggestion?" His question was greeted by four loud yea's. "Why don’t you just pick a direction and drive. Stop, turn around and come back. Why do you have to have a destination in mind?"

Trixie looked at her friend and said, "why don’t you come with us, Cat?" completely forgetting that it was supposed to be girls only. Cat jumped to accept Trixie’s offer so quickly, that it made the girls laugh. "Now all we have to do is tell the boys." She grimaced at the idea.

And so, with the plans devised and ‘the studly hunk’, as Diana called him after he left, was on his way, the female Bob-Whites, including Hallie who’d become a Bob-White officially once she started college with the rest of the gang, got ready for dinner and headed to the dining hall. Their male counterparts had already arrived and were seated and eating when the girls placed their trays on the tables.

Trixie reached out, took her fork and knife to cut up her pork chop and began to eat. "How’s the studying coming?" Her older brother Brian asked.

"It’s coming, it’s coming. I can’t wait for this week to be over. I have two more exams and then it’s party time." Trixie smiled secretively, not even aware that she was doing so.

Jim looked at all of the girls and noticed the same smile on each of their faces. "OK, what gives? Have you been studying with Cat again?" He liked the other guy, but Cat seemed to have a strange effect on women. His women in particular and Jim had a problem with that.

"No we haven’t been studying with Cat again. We were just talking to him." Trixie answered sullenly. "I don’t see why you don’t like him. He’s a nice guy!"

"Trixie, it’s not that we don’t ‘like’ him. He’s put this, I don’t know, spell on the whole campus." Mart exclaimed, with a complete loss of a better word, to use.

"Oh give me a break. A spell for crying out loud." Trixie grimaced as if in pain. The kind of pain that comes before throwing up.

"What are you hiding? It’s not like you to keep secrets from us. Any of you." Dan remarked as he slid his arm across the back of Hallie’s chair. Leaning forward, he said, "Trixie, you have guilt written all over your face, so spill it."

When all eyes reached Trixie, she gulped and muttered "we,HoneyandDianaandmyself,decidedtogoonaroadtripandCatlanisgoingwithus," all in one breath.

Jim wasn’t sure what upset him more. That the girls were going on this supposed field trip without them or that Catlan was going with them. "And when is this little, ah, trip going to take place?"

"We leave on Friday after Trixie is done with her last midterm and we’ll be back on Wednesday." Diana spoke up and laid her hand on Mart’s arm. "Are you really upset?" She asked him, worried that he was.

"It’s a little late to be asking that, isn’t it?" Mart retorted. "I don’t know about you two, but I’ve heard enough. See you later." He stood up and threw his napkin down on the tray before picking it up and stomping over to drop it off in the kitchen. He turned around to see if the other guys were following him. Smiling triumphantly when Brian and Jim joined him, they left the cafeteria.

Diana watched in amazement as first Mart stormed off and Jim and Brian quickly followed. She looked at Dan. "Why aren’t you following them?"

"Simply because I have no reason to be upset. My woman isn’t going with you, she’s going home."

"So you’re saying that if I was staying here instead of going home and decided to go on the road trip, you’d be upset if I didn’t stay with you?" Hallie demanded and pulled on his arm to get him to look at her.

Dan looked at her warily and took a long minute before responding. "Yes?" he answered hoping it was the right one.

"What is it with you guys?" Hallie demanded, fuming. "I’m not even going and you’re upset with me. Maybe I should go. It’ll be mighty cozy in the back seat with Catlan and two of us girls. Should prove to be very interesting." Hallie egged Dan on, knowing there was no possible way she wasn’t going home to Idaho for the week. But Dan doesn’t have to know that, she thought.

"If that’s the way you feel, go right ahead and go with them." Dan followed in his comrades’ footsteps and left the table.

Trixie, Honey, Diana and Hallie all stared after him in amazement. "I don’t think they took that too well." Honey whispered.

"That would be an understatement, I think. So what do we do? Should we cancel the trip?" Diana asked, while folding her napkin and placing it on top of her plate.

"Cancel?! No way. I’m more determined to go now than I was before. Who do they think they are, anyway?" Trixie demanded. "Besides, are they more upset because they’re not coming or that Catlan is?"

Hallie nodded. "I think it’s more that he’s coming than that they’re not. He’s a good looking guy and maybe they feel threatened by that. "To be honest, I’m surprised that Dan took it like he did. He knows he’s got nothing to worry about." Hallie was taken back at Dan’s attitude.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Friday Afternoon 4 PM

Dan, Jim, Brian and Mart stood at the top of the stairs and watched the scene at the bottom. All four guys stood with legs apart and arms folded, grim expressions on three of their faces. Dan was the only one with a small smile. He was showing the other guys his full support because, well, they had a point.

"I think that’s it. Honey, did you grab the cooler, or should I go up to the room and get it?" Trixie asked from where her head was buried in the back of Diana’s Jeep.

"No, I’ve got it. I packed it while you were in your last class. There’s enough food and drinks in there to last us until next week, so we won’t go hungry," Honey replied as she lifted it onto the spacious back seat. OK, now that’s it. "We’re just waiting on Catlan and we can take off. And here he comes." She spied the good-looking man sauntering toward them, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

"Helllooo, my little chickadees! Are we ready to roll?" Catlan smiled at the other travelers in his party.

Trixie glanced up the stairs, frowned and threw herself into Cat’s arms. "Hey, Cat! Now that you’re here, we can ROCK AND ROLL. Did you get the maps from AAA?"

Cat dropped his duffel bag and knapsack to catch the little blond fireball in his arms. Yes, of course I got the maps. I know where we’re going and how to get there, but since you wanted them, I got them." He watched as Trixie stepped back and moved towards the Jeep.

Jim scowled as he watched his girlfriend throw herself at another guy and could almost feel the smoke leaving his ears. "What is it with that guy?" he muttered.

"You got me, but if that were my girlfriend he was swinging around, I’d do something about it," Mart muttered back.

"OK, who’s taking the first leg?"

"I will, and when we reach..." Diana’s voice dropped off so that their men couldn’t hear, "our first stop, then we can switch."

Trixie and Honey exchanged glances and whispered back, "OK."

With that, they were on their way. Headed for the hills, so to speak. All three girls turned towards the stairs and gave jaunty little waves to the guys and jumped into Diana’s jeep, and with that, they were on their way. Headed for the hills, so to speak.

Several hours later, Catlan was driving and the girls were arguing. "I can’t believe you think that Angel was right. He was so mean to Buffy. All she was trying to do was protect him from Faith. Who just happens to be the devil incarnate!" Trixie exclaimed.

"That’s JUST what I’m trying to tell you, Trixie," Honey retorted. "Angel is helping her because HE knows what Faith is going through as he went through it himself!!" She was completely exasperated.

"I have to agree with Trixie, Honey." Diana backed up her friend. "I mean, Faith did do the right thing by turning herself in, but Angel never should have said and did what he did. And he hit her, too!"

The argument went on for several minutes before Catlan had heard enough. "OK, chickadees. Let’s just agree to disagree and call it a day. We’re almost to our destination, so let’s just chill and OH, wait a minute!" The long-haired man stopped the car and jumped out, walking toward a young couple on the side of the road beside a smoking barbecue. Moments later, he was back. "OK, we can go now. I bought these the last time I came through here and they were excellent! Here, try them!" Cat thrust a paper plate over to Trixie who was riding shotgun and began driving again.

Trixie eyed the package warily. Sitting on the plate were four round hamburger like patties, but she could tell that they weren’t burgers. "Ahm, Cat? I’ve always been what you could call an adventurous person, but I’m not sure I want to eat this. Mostly, because, well...." her voice dropped off. "WHAT is this?"

"That, my little friend, is calf fries." Catlan explained where they came from. "These are a small piece of heaven." He grinned at her. "Do I have any takers?" He watched Honey and Diana grimace in the back seat. Cat had to laugh at the ‘not for me, thanks’ look on both their faces. "All the more for me, then, my lovelies." He took the paper plate back from Trixie and exclaimed, "Here we are! Finally, I never thought we were going to get here!"

This originally appeared as a GWP for the other side. A choice of one of the following scenarios was to be used and then of course the elements. Thanks to Sjaye for editing. An original character going back to school, but this time as a teacher. A tragedy the first day of school. An original character going back to school after a break – can be high school or college. A hair net, unusual book title. (can be made up. Example: Alvin the Aardvark Eats Petunias), an ink spot, an apple and a hated class. This is the second chapter in my Catlan Universe.

 

Chapter 2

Cat's Tasty Treat


Honey Wheeler sat in her most hated class of all time. Professor Greg’s Sociology class. She wasn’t sure why it hit the top of that list, but make it, it did. Coming back to school after a break was always tough. It was hard to settle back in and get focused again. Especially after the events of this particular trip. Honey’s mind wandered away from the boring professor’s monotone monologue to those events.

"Trixie! Diana! Come on! Everything is loaded in the car! We need to get on the road to make up for the time that we’ve missed because someone overslept!" Honey Wheeler was trying desperately to get her best friends to get the lead out, but wasn’t having too much success. They were staying at a friend’s house for their college spring break for a few days and now it was time to head back to Sleepyside. Walking back to the huge country kitchen of the homestead, Honey found Cat at the refrigerator.

"Don’t worry, Honey," Cat said and handed her a glass of orange juice. "We’ll make up the time once we get on the road. It’s only Thursday and we’ll be back in Sleepyside by tomorrow night." Cat had been invited to stay at the Wheeler’s until they all headed back to school on Sunday afternoon.

It had all started when Trixie had the bright idea of a road trip about a week ago. Cat became involved because they needed someone to pull the different choices out of a hat and he’d walked passed Trixie and Honey’s dorm room at just the right time. It was his idea that they go to his family’s ranch in the northern part of Texas.

Each of the female Bob-Whites except for Hallie had jumped at the chance to spend time with Cat. Hallie had made plans to go home to Iowa and hadn’t gone with them. All the girls loved Cat. There was something about him that oozed charm and personality, not to mention an amazing amount of sex appeal. He made every woman he met feel desirable. All the guys wanted to hate him, but he was a man’s man, too. Loved to play and watch sports, he tall and well built, long hair and big green eyes.

Honey took the juice Cat handed her and gratefully sipped the cold liquid. "I hate to leave. It’s been such a great few days. Your family is wonderful, too. They’ve been so nice to us." She’d fallen in love with Cat’s family sprawling country home. "I’m going to miss those early morning rides across the prairie."

"Mom said ya’ll were welcome back anytime and the next time she wants to meet the boys, too."

"I think that they would like it here. I probably shouldn’t say this, but it’s been kind of fun without them. We girls don’t get away by ourselves often enough." Honey had been very confused by the way she’d been feeling this past week. She didn’t miss Brian the way she normally did after a long separation. Honey looked up from the glass of juice she was holding and watched Cat walk slowly towards her. Not sure of what he was doing, she backed up and came to an abrupt halt when her back hit the refrigerator. "Wwwhat are you doing?" Honey asked, trying not to stutter.

Taking the juice glass away from her and setting it on the counter, he said, "I’m doin’ what I’ve wanted to do since the first day we got here. I’m going to kiss you." Cat lifted his broad callused hands to Honey’s face and smiled softly, his deep green eyes meeting hers. "You’ve wanted this as much as I have."

Honey’s answer was muffled because Cat’s lips were on hers and it made talking difficult. She didn’t even realize that her hands had lifted of their own volition, slid up his back and across his broad shoulders to bury themselves into his hair. Honey moaned softly, deep in her throat at the touch of his tongue gliding across her closed lips and parted them. She tasted the apple he’d been munching on earlier.

Cat lifted his head and looked at the girl he’d wanted in his arms for a long time. She was so beautiful and so giving, it was hard not to love her. And love her, he did. Softly he trailed a string of kisses across her cheek to below her ear. Cat slid his arms around her back and tightened them around Honey’s slim waist.

"Cat," Honey whispered. "What are we doing?" She pulled back from his embrace and looked into his big green eyes. There, Honey saw a light she’d never noticed before and wondered if it was because of her.

"I’m lovin’ you, Honey," he whispered back. "I won’t apologize for it either."

"Honey! Cat! Are you ready yet?" A voice called from the front part of the house, followed by footsteps the approaching the kitchen. By the time Diana and Trixie entered the kitchen, Cat was on one side of the room and Honey on the other.

"Yeah, I think we’re all set. Let’s rock and roll!" Cat left the kitchen to find his family to say good-bye.

"Honey? Are you all right? You look a little pale." Diana said and looked closer at her friend. She noticed Honey’s slightly swollen lips, but said nothing. Trixie wasn’t the only detective in their little group.

Honey sort of smiled and nodded her head. "Are we all ready? I grabbed the calf fries that Janine made for the boys and packed them in the cooler. They should be OK until we get home tomorrow." Janine was Cat’s mother. Honey headed out of the kitchen in Cat’s wake and headed for the front door.

All too soon, the small group of travelers had said good bye to Cat’s family and were ‘on the road, again’, with Honey at the wheel. Diana and Trixie sat in the back seat and were quiet for several miles. They exchanged glances a few time before Trixie said, "It was really nice of your parents to invite us back again, Cat."

Cat smiled and said, "They were glad I got the chance to come home for a little while. They don’t get to see me very much since I go to school in New York City." He parodied the voice of a popular salsa commercial, making everyone laugh.

The next day:

"Boy that was fast. I can’t believe the good run we had from Texas." Diana commented as she dropped Trixie off at Crabapple farm. "Are we still getting together tonight? I don’t want to miss the boys eating the calf fries."

Trixie nodded her head. "Yup. I don’t think any of us want to miss that. I called Moms on the cell phone from our last stop and explained that we brought a ‘Texas Treat’ home for them and we wanted to give it to all of them at the same time. She’s expecting us all at six. See ya’ll then!" Trixie laughed at her bad imitation of a Texas accent and hauled herself out of the back seat of Diana’s Jeep Cherokee and into the house.

"OK, ladies and gentlemen, please return your trays and seat backs to their full and upright position as we are cleared for landing." Diana joked as she pulled into the long driveway leading to Manor house. A short minute later she parked the car in front of the house.

"Thanks, Diana," Honey said and dragged her tired body out of the front seat. "Well, I guess we’ll see you tonight, Diana." She didn’t know what to say or how to act and had felt that way the whole trip home.

Diana looked at Honey and studied her friend without saying anything. "OK. I’ll see you tonight," she said and let it go for now. She may not be a detective like Trixie was, but Diana knew something had occurred between Honey and Cat and eventually Honey would want to talk about it. "I’m not a girl for nothing if I can’t notice looks that last too long or a smoldering glance," Diana muttered too herself as she drove back down the driveway.

Honey led Catlan into the house and called out to Celia. They got him settled in one of the six guests rooms that were on the floor just above Honey’s and left him to relax before heading back to Crabapple Farm.

That night Honey, flanked by Jim and Catlan, left Manor house and walked down the path to the Belden’s. Although Jim tried to quiz them about the treat, Honey and Catlan kept their lips sealed. Honey had been afraid that the walk would be tense and quiet, but to her surprise, Jim seemed to have gotten past their little field trip and was in a great mood.

Trixie flew out the back door as her three friends came around the side of the house and threw herself into Jim’s arms. He caught her and swung her around in the same way Catlan had before they left for Texas. "Boy, I missed you!" Trixie exclaimed and squeezed her arms tightly around his neck.

Jim laughed and leaned in to kiss her. "I missed you, too. I didn’t think you were ever going to get home. Next vacation you go on, I’m going too."

Trixie smiled and said, "OK. Next time you can come. Moms has dinner almost ready, let’s go in the house," she said and led the way into the heart of the Belden’s home. "Moms, this is our friend Catlan, I hope you all brought big appetites! Moms’ made her famous hamburgers!" Yahoos were heard throughout the kitchen. Moms’ burgers were always a treat.

Part way through their buffet dinner, Trixie, Honey and Diana went into the kitchen and heated up the calf fries. They couldn’t wait to see the faces of their men while eating the tasty treat. "Diana, did you give Mart that book you found?" Honey asked and laughed. "I still can’t get over the title. ‘Martin’s Big and Wordy Dictionary.’ All the girls found the book very funny as it had long words or phrases with silly meanings. The phrase that cracked them up the most was Tulemulous Envy. According to the dictionary, it was a description for a man who was jealous of women who had big breasts, but didn’t actually want them for his chest, he wanted them for his ears. Of course, what sane man would want breasts for his ears?

"No, not yet. I thought I’d wait until after we serve the fries." Diana pulled them out of the microwave and cut big round patties into quarters. "OK, these are all set. Let’s go, girls." Single file they went back to the dining room and sat down. Diana handed the plate to Mart after she placed one of the quarters on her plate.

All the girls and Cat watched expectantly as each member at the table took a piece and either popped it into their mouth or put it on their plate and picked at it.

Dan was the first one to say something. "Boy, this is good! What is it?" he asked and reached for the plate to take another piece of the succulent meat, which he quickly scarfed down before reaching again for more.

Bobby quickly echoed his sentiments and was eating his treat as quickly as Dan ate his.

The plate was emptied and all of their family and friends were smiling after enjoying their treat. Trixie watched around the table as they ate the fries and started to feel a little guilty. "Ahhhmmm, Honey? Diana? I found an, ahm, ink stain on my shirt. Come help me find another one?" She abruptly pushed back from the table and quickly left the dining room to head upstairs. "I don’t think I can go through with this." Trixie sat down on her bed, still unmade from the short nap she’d taken that afternoon, and covered her face with her hands.

Honey and Diana looked at each other with identical looks of guilt. "I feel bad, too. It sounded like it would be funny at the time, but....", Honey’s voice dropped off.

"Well this is a fine time to decide that we can’t go through with it!" Diana exclaimed and plunked down on the bed next to Trixie. "What are we going to do?"

All three girls were silent as each tried to figure a way out of their predicament. "I don’t think there’s anything we can do. Just be up front and honest and tell them exactly what they’ve eaten and hope they don’t kill us for it." Trixie offered what was really the only viable solution. "Come on, let’s go and face the music."

Silently the three girls trooped back down stairs to the dining room. Of course, everyone noticed that Trixie had not changed her shirt and leave it to Mart to question the lack of that action.

"Trixie, I thought you needed to change your shirt."

"I was going to change my shirt and just decided to change my hair net instead," was the answer that Trixie gave her almost-twin.

Mart blinked his eyes and stared at her like she’d lost her mind. "Your hair net? What’s going on with you three? You’re all acting very funny. What gives?" he demanded.

In unison, the girls turned to Cat with very appealing faces. "Cat, we can’t do it." Diana whispered, frowning.

This made Cat burst into laughter. "OK, my wimpy friends, I will help you out." He looked at the expectant faces turned to him for some answers. "What the girls don’t want to tell you is what you’ve eaten."

"Rattlesnake? Is that what you’ve given us?" Mart guessed, and when the girls shook their heads he tried again. "OK, how about alligator?"

"No, it’s a type of beef, Mart," Cat answered and popped one of the pieces from his own plate in his mouth with relish. "It’s a delicacy, at home. Let me ask you a question. Do you know what the difference between a bull and a steer is?"

"Sure, a steer has had it’s......", Mart’s voice dropped off as an idea came to him. "Noooo.....", he looked at Cat in disbelief.

"Wait a minute, I’m missing something here," fifteen-year-old Rob said. "What is the difference between a steer and a bull?" He looked at Trixie for his answer.

"Son, the difference between the two is that a bull can father calves. A steer’s testicles have been removed." Peter Belden handled the explanation.

"So what does that have to do with what we’re eating?"

"That is what you’re eating, Rob," Brian replied and watched his brother turn green and start to gag. "So, tell me girls, have you partaken of this delicacy?"

Both Honey and Diana hung their heads in shame. "No we couldn’t eat it." Honey admitted.

Brian just grunted and glared at them.

"Tell me I didn’t just eat a cow testicle!" Rob exclaimed, disgust written on his face.

"Well, Rob, pardon me for saying so, but you did seem to enjoy it before you knew what it was," Cat pointed out. "All of you seemed to like it. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t want the girls to tell you what you were eating." He took all the blame on himself for the secrecy.

Rob stood up from the table and said, "Excuse me, I don’t feel so well." He left the table and bounded up the stairs.

"I’m out of here as well." Brian stood up and threw his napkin down on the table. "Honey, I’d like to talk to you please." He didn’t give her an option, but grabbed her by the arm and all but dragged her outside with him.

Glances were exchanged around the table as Brian hustled Honey out of the dining room and onto the back porch. Trixie winced as she heard the kitchen door slam, effectively stopping any eavesdropping that she might have done. "Ouch. What’s with the hair across his rear-end? It’s not like we tried to poison you or sentence you to life in Professor Greg’s Sociology class." Trixie mentioned the class she had that semester that she hated the most.

Jim reached out and gently squeezed Trixie’s hand to get her attention. Once she looked at him, he shook his head. Leaning over, Jim whispered in her ear, "We’ll talk about it later, OK?"

Trixie stared at him, trying to read his mind, but came up blank. "OK," she said and dropped the subject. Now no one was talking at the table and Trix knew that if she was uncomfortable everyone else was too.

To Be Continued
Trixie Belden Fan Fiction