The Mystery on Cobbett's Island (2 page)

By now, they had reached the kitchen door where Mrs. Belden was waiting to greet her husband. Bobby, unconcerned about banks since his treasure of eight pennies was safely hidden in an old leather bag under his mattress, ran off to throw a stick for Reddy to retrieve.

“That's just what she asked me, dear,” Trixie's mother said, laughing, “and I must say you'll have a hard time guessing the exciting news.”

“We won't make him guess,” said Trixie eagerly, and she began to tell about the wonderful invitation. As she saw her father glance at Mrs. Belden, she hastened to add, “Moms thought you'd say we could go.”

“Well, I think my girl deserves a vacation, and the boys, too. You've all worked hard in school this year, and kept your marks up in spite of all the activities of the Bob-Whites, and you've seldom been unwilling to do the things your mother and I have asked you to do.”

Trixie lowered her head to hide the flush she felt creeping into her cheeks, remembering several times lately when she had been asked to help with the dishes, or clean her room, and she had answered, “Oh, do I
have
to?” or “Do you mean right
now?
” Housework she really detested, but she resolved to try harder to be more cheerful about such chores in the future. And when her father, on his way to the living-room with his paper, planted a kiss on top of her head, her spirits quickly rose again, and she dashed to the phone to tell Honey that she and her brothers could go to the island.

Honey's real name was Madeleine, but as a little girl, she had acquired the nickname because of her golden hair, which she wore in a long bob, and because of a disposition that, despite ill health when she was younger, had never been anything but sweet. She was taller and slimmer than Trixie, and her eyes were hazel and beautifully soft. Since meeting Trixie and becoming a member of the Bob-Whites, Honey had forgotten her illnesses and was as active and healthy as any of the other members.

“I'm so glad you can all go,” said Honey when she heard the news. “At least there will be six Bob-Whites, but the most awful thing has happened. Dan just called up to say he can't make it.”

“Oh, jeepers!” exclaimed Trixie. “What's wrong? He's our newest member, and it's not fair for him to miss out on the fun again, the way he did when we all went out west.”

“Did you notice how quiet he was when we were all talking about the trip?” asked Honey.

“Come to think of it, he did seem kind of unenthusiastic, didn't he?” replied Trixie.

“Oh, he wanted to come badly enough, but last month, without anyone knowing, he applied to several camps for a summer job, and yesterday he heard from one of them saying they would take him.”

“But I thought Mr. Maypenny needed him to help on your father's game preserve,” said Trixie.

“I guess Dan knew that job was just part of the experiment to see if he would straighten out after the trouble he got into in the city, and that Mr. Maypenny didn't
really
need a full-time helper,” said Honey thoughtfully.

“Well, he's certainly justified Regan's faith in him, hasn't he? And to think he got a job all on his own! No one will ever have to worry about Dan again,” Trixie said, and Honey heartily agreed.

Regan, the Wheelers' groom, was a likable, red-haired young man, who had, on several occasions, helped out the Bob-Whites. He always welcomed them whenever they came up to the stable, showing his fiery temper only when he felt any of them had been careless in caring for the beautiful thoroughbred horses in his
charge. He had lost touch with his sister, Dan's mother, years before, and the first he knew of Dan was when a judge in New York wrote him for help after Dan had been taken into Children's Court. Dan's father had been killed in Korea, and later, after his mother died, the boy had felt there was no one who really cared what happened to him, and he had become involved with a city gang. The judge finally agreed to let him come to live with Mr. Maypenny and work for him, so that he would be near Regan, hoping he might get a new point of view and a new start in life. The adjustment hadn't been easy for Dan, but when he finally proved to everyone that he had as fine a character as his uncle, the Bob-Whites gladly took him into their club.

The trip was the sole subject of conversation during supper. Trixie was eating her third piece of pie when she again thought about getting a new bathing suit. Of course, there was the money in her bank account, but that was for college and must not be touched. She could ask her mother for extra work, but she already got five dollars a week for taking care of Bobby and doing household chores. Now that she was fourteen, she felt she should no longer depend on her family for extras. She had about given up the whole idea when she noticed
her father pulling a letter out of his coat pocket. He pushed his chair back from the table and announced that he had received a letter from Uncle Andrew that morning.

“Oh, Daddy, hurry up and tell us the news,” cried Trixie, who always looked forward to hearing from her favorite uncle.

“Well, he's fine, and so is everyone at Happy Valley Farm. He says he may drive out to see us this summer, but in the meantime, he wanted to get Trixie a present for her graduation from Junior High. He didn't know what you wanted, Trix, so he sent me a check for ten dollars. I was stumped to know what you wanted, too, so I decided just to give you the money.”

“Gleeps! Ten dollars!” Trixie cried, her eyes shining. “Excuse me, everybody. I've got to run right upstairs and write Uncle Andrew. He's saved the day!”

“What crisis is my dear sister facing that she should need ten bucks so desperately?” inquired Mart in his most sarcastic tone.

“Oh, you wouldn't understand, lame brain,” Trixie called over her shoulder as she dashed up to her room.

“Now, don't tease your sister, Mart. She just decided she has to have a new bathing suit,” said Mrs. Belden as she started to clear the table. “That's all.”

“That's
all!
” shrieked Mart. “That's the biggest news since Edison discovered the telephone.”

“Or since Alexander Graham Bell discovered radium,” teased Brian.

“Well, I guess our princess wants to look her best at Cobbett's Island,” said Mr. Belden with a smile. “I just hope she gets a blue suit. It's my favorite color.”

The day before they were to leave dawned clear and bright, and Trixie could hardly wait until after breakfast to phone Honey to get the latest plans for the trip.

“We're leaving early tomorrow morning,” Honey said, “because it will take at least three hours to get down there, and we don't want to waste any time. After all, we only have ten days.”

“Jeepers, Honey, that's three days more than a week, and you know how much can happen in seven days! Remember our trip to Iowa!”

“I'll never forget that week,” sighed Honey. “But don't be disappointed if we don't find any mysteries this time to challenge our intuitive powers, as Mart would say. Dad says Cobbett's Island is a very quiet place and hasn't had any real excitement for years and years.”

“Well, honestly, Honey, after the way I've been working in school this year, I'll be glad to just lie on the beach and relax.” Trixie sighed.

“That will really be the day, when
you
relax! Are
you sure you can get ready by tomorrow?” Honey asked.

“I'm sure I can if I hurry,” answered Trixie. “All I have to pack are my jeans and shirts and pj's and stuff like that, or should I bring a dress, too?”

“We just might need one,” Honey replied. “I told Di to bring that lovely lavender one that brings out the purple in her eyes.”

Diana had always been considered the prettiest girl in her class, with long, dark hair and large eyes that were sometimes deep blue and sometimes almost purple. She had joined the Bob-Whites a short time before Dan. Although she was somewhat quieter than Trixie or Honey, she had fitted easily into the club. She had twin brothers and twin sisters, but since they were much younger, she had welcomed a chance to be with a group her own age.

“I guess I'll bring that flowered print,” said Trixie. “It'll pack easily. Now I've got to run. Moms is taking me to White Plains to get a new bathing suit. That old thing I had last summer looks like a rag.”

“What?
You
are going shopping? Why, Trixie Belden, what's happened?” cried Honey.

“Oh, nothing much, except I figure if we're going to the shore, I'd better not turn up looking like a beachcomber.”

“Well, I never thought I'd live to see the day when you cared
what
you had on, but if you're really serious, you might try that new store on Main Street. I hear it's fabulous. We'll pick you up at seven thirty. Miss Trask is driving us down in the station wagon. Tom and Celia are leaving today with the cook to get everything ready. Call me when you get home from White Plains, Trix.”

Miss Trask had originally come to the Wheelers as a governess. She was a good-looking middle-aged woman with crisp gray hair, and her blue eyes were usually smiling. She had been a teacher in a private school Honey had attended, and when the Wheelers decided to buy the Manor House so Honey could live in the country, Miss Trask had been asked to come to live with them. Later, after Honey had persuaded her parents to let her go to public school, Miss Trask, whom everyone adored, stayed on to manage the estate during Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler's frequent absences.

When she first met Honey, Trixie had been quite awed by the large staff of Wheeler servants, but she now accepted them as a natural part of Honey's way of life. Tom Delanoy, a handsome young man, was the chauffeur, and was always ready to give the Bob-Whites a hand when they needed him. Celia, the maid, a pretty, cheerful young woman, had married Tom a few months
before and they had moved into the
Robin
, the luxurious red trailer which Mr. Lynch, Diana's father, had given them as a wedding present. They, with the cook, Regan, and Mr. Maypenny, made up the household.

After driving to White Plains, Trixie and her mother were both delighted when they found a lovely powder-blue bathing suit in the store Honey had mentioned. It was very flattering to Trixie, and the cut was perfect for her young figure. “Not bad, is it?” she said as she turned slowly around in front of the big triple mirror in the fitting room.

“Not bad at all,” repeated Mrs. Belden, smiling in relief to see that her daughter wasn't going to be a tomboy all her life. “I like it a lot, and I know your father will approve of your choice, dear.”

The whole Belden family was up at dawn the next day. Reddy seemed to sense the excitement and kept running around the house getting in everybody's way, even refusing to eat the food Mrs. Belden put down for him. In the midst of all the confusion, Bobby came down the stairs trailing a well-stuffed laundry bag behind him.

“I wanna go to the iling, too. I'm big enough, and I'll learn to swim, too!” he cried. “See, I'm all packed.” And
he began pulling an assortment of clothes and toys from the bag.

Trixie caught him up in her arms and gave him a warm hug. “Of course, you're a big boy, and now that you go to school you can go to the new pool and learn to dive and swim and everything. I'll miss you, Bobby, but someone has to stay home and take care of Reddy, and feed the chickens, and look after Moms and Daddy. I'll bring you a present when I come home. Now will you please help me carry this big suitcase outside?”

“Okey dokey. See, I'm strong enough to carry it all by myself,” he said, quickly forgetting his disappointment in his efforts to prove his strength.

“Here they come,” cried Brian as the Wheelers' big station wagon turned into the driveway.

Jim jumped out to help Trixie with her bag, and after the other luggage had been put in the rack on top of the car, he managed, by some unobtrusive maneuvering, to seat himself next to her on the back seat. Brian, Di, and Mart sat in the middle section, and Miss Trask and Honey, up front. There was much shouting of goodbys and admonitions of “Don't forget to write!” as they drove off.

“I have a feeling that this vacation is going to be just wonderful,” said Trixie as she settled back, “and
as I said to Honey, I hope it will be a quiet one!”

“Well, that's what you may want, Trixie, but I've noticed that you have a strange way of stirring up excitement wherever you are,” Jim answered.

And sure enough, excitement began to brew before the Bob-Whites were more than two hours on their way. After crossing the Whitestone Bridge and reaching the end of the parkway, they stopped at a roadside stand to stretch their legs and have a bite to eat. The radio over the lunch counter was turned on, and just as they were about finished with their food, the announcer interrupted the broadcast to say that a storm which had been raging well off the coast of Long Island and Connecticut had suddenly veered inland and was due to hit the mainland that afternoon. Small-craft warnings had been issued, and people were advised to take precautions against heavy winds and tides.

“Gleeps,” cried Trixie, “we'd better get going before it hits the island!”

“I'm wondering if we ought not turn back,” said Miss Trask apprehensively. But she was soon overruled by all six Bob-Whites who pointed out that it wasn't even raining yet and they had only fifty miles to go. Their arguments seemed reasonable, so everyone hurried out to the car and piled in.

As they drove east, they noticed that the wind was picking up, and the sky was getting darker and darker. Rain began to fall and was soon coming down in great sheets. Miss Trask, who was an excellent driver, had to slow down almost to a crawl because it was so difficult to see, even with the windshield wipers going at full speed. But after what seemed an age to all of them, Honey caught sight of a big sign. She wiped the steam from the window so she could read. “Cobbett's Island three miles ahead. We're almost there,” she cried excitedly. Everyone was so tense that nothing more was said until they reached Greenpoint, the town from which the ferry left. Miss Trask followed little signs through side streets leading to the ferry slip, and those sitting next to the windows began rubbing off the steam that had collected, eager for their first glimpse of the ferry. A big man, wearing bright yellow foul-weather gear, beckoned them to come ahead. Miss Trask cautiously drove up the ramp and onto the large white ferry, which bore the name
Island Queen
on its side.