Trixie turned in her seat and waved good-bye to her parents. Bobby chased them down the driveway, then stood by the mailbox and waved mournfully until the car and its small trailer disappeared over a hill. He was now the last of the Belden children still living at home.
Tears welling in her eyes, Trixie stared out the window silently as Sleepyside-on-Hudson rolled away behind her. She had been born here. She had grown up here. Although she and her friends, the Bob-Whites of the Glen, had been on many adventures across the
“Penny for your thoughts,” her driver said. Jim Frayne and Trixie Belden had once been sweethearts, but life had taken them down different roads. It was only in the past month or so that they had been able to regain their friendship to the point where Jim felt comfortable being alone with her for the two-hour drive to Albany, and Trixie felt comfortable accepting his help as she moved into her first apartment and started her college career.
“Just thinking about home,” Trixie replied quietly. Home. Will that be my home anymore? Will it just be my parents’ home? Will
Once upon a time, she would have shared these thoughts and fears with Jim. Since the day they had met more than five years ago, they had been fast friends. Jim had lost his father, then his mother, before he turned 13. He had run away from his abusive stepfather after his mother had died, and had made his way to Sleepyside, where he knew his great-uncle, for whom he was named, lived. Unfortunately James Winthrop Frayne had died shortly after Jim arrived in Sleepyside, without ever seeing his heir. Jim had eventually been adopted by the Wheeler family. Their daughter Honey was Trixie’s best friend and was engaged to Trixie’s oldest brother, Brian. They lived in
Jim was hard at work using his inheritance from his great-uncle to build the
Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t hear Jim asking about her new apartment. “I’m sorry, Jim. What did you say?”
“I was just wondering how big your new place is.”
“Oh, it’s postage stamp sized,” Trixie smiled. “It’s more of a room than an apartment, actually. It’s at the back of this dear old lady’s house. The house is huge and it has been in her family for ages, and she didn’t want to give it up if she didn’t have to. So she refurbished the space into several rooms and apartments that she rents out to help supplement her Social Security checks.”
“So, you have something like a studio apartment?”
“Well, even studio might be a generous way to describe it. But I think it’s perfectly perfect. Mrs. Howard cooks a big Sunday supper for her boarders – she has four others – and I have a microwave and mini-fridge in my room. Of course, I can still eat at the campus cafeterias too.”
“Do you know these other boarders?” Jim asked a bit suspiciously. He still worried about Trixie being on her own.
“Well, I’ve met them, but I don’t exactly know them. One is another
Jim smiled in admiration, “It sounds like you already know quite a lot about them. But that’s my Schoolgirl Shamus. I can’t believe you made one trip there this summer to give her a down payment and already know so much about them.”
Trixie felt her face growing warm. She cleared her throat and quickly said, “Well, Mrs. Howard is chatty. What can I say?”
Trixie had been intending to spend her first year at SUNY Albany rooming with Honey in a large duplex just off campus. But after Honey decided to go to NYU instead to be closer to her fiancé, Trixie had to look in the area for a place of her own. The little rooming house was what she could afford. She liked the familial atmosphere that reminded her of Crabapple Farm, but the small studio apartment that had its own bathroom and a small kitchenette gave her the feeling of independence and privacy she desired. Of course, she admitted to herself, her new neighbor also was a big incentive to move in.
The miles passed quickly, though neither Jim nor Trixie said much more. Soon they were pulling onto the tree-shaded avenue that was just a mile or two from campus. Trixie pointed out Mrs. Howard’s rooming house and Jim pulled into the driveway. Mrs. Howard came out to greet them with a big smile on her plump face and after brief introductions, Trixie and Jim quickly got to work unloading her belongings. Jim thought Trixie seemed anxious to unload and send him on his way. She glanced at her watch just about every time she set a box down. He couldn’t really blame her, yet it still seemed odd to him. He thought they were starting to get along again, and her behavior was more nervous than uncomfortable.
They made short work of the move-in and soon the two of them stood among the scattered boxes and small pieces of furniture in the room. Jim looked around. “So, do you want me to stay and help you unpack?”
“Umm…no, that’s all right. I’m pretty tired. I’ll probably just leave it and start unpacking tomorrow. I’ve got all weekend to get this place in order before classes start Monday.” She moved towards the door and Jim again got the feeling he was unwanted.
His famous red-haired temper began to flare. For crying out loud! It’s not like the break-up hadn’t been mutual! It’s not like something dire had happened to mess up their relationship. Nobody had cheated. Nobody had said anything awful. It just happened. People moved on. That was how life was. He wanted to call her out for her behavior. He wanted to take her to task for not acting like the grown-up she claimed to be. He wanted to shake her until her blond curls bounced and she came back to her senses. He wanted to beg for their friendship back. He wanted to laugh with her again. He wanted to chat with her about trivial things. He wanted to have long, quiet talks with her about important things. He wanted to…
Trixie was reaching for the doorknob when she suddenly felt his strong hands on her arms. Turning her to him, he planted his lips on hers and kissed her long and hard. She resisted briefly, but then she sank into his embrace and let him pull her close to him. She just let it happen. She didn’t know why.
The kiss seemed like it could have gone on and on, but suddenly, blessedly, they were interrupted by a knock at the door. Trixie quickly broke the embrace and stepped back, gasping for air. Jim’s face was as red as his hair. Trixie honestly wasn’t sure if he was embarrassed or just suffering from a lack of oxygen. She took a deep breath and ran her hands through her curls, smoothing them into some semblance of order. Then she turned and opened the door.
“Hi, Trixie! Hi, Jim! Sorry, I’m late. Looks like you’ve done all the hard work, so I guess my timing is spot on.” Dan Mangan smiled broadly. After a year at the community college in
Jim did not know this. Jim did know that Dan had escorted Trixie to her senior prom, shortly after their break-up. He thought they were just friends. Now, looking at Trixie’s face, he wasn’t so sure.
The silence hung over the room like a heavy fog. Dan looked at Jim, who looked angry. He looked at Trixie who looked guilty. Clearing his throat, he said, “Trixie.”
Reluctantly, she looked up at him.
“You didn’t tell Jim I lived here?”
Trixie shook her head slowly. “I didn’t even tell Jim you were in
Dan closed his eyes. No wonder Jim looked like he was going to explode. Dan wasn’t sure how much Jim knew, or suspected, about him and Trixie. But he felt pretty sure Trixie hadn’t told him anything. And that was the crux of the matter. Dan wasn’t entirely sure Jim would accept him and Trixie as a couple. But the fact that Trixie had not shared this with him, had lied to him – in spirit if not in fact – was not going to go over well.
“Jim, I’m sorry,” Trixie began, but Jim was already stalking angrily towards the door.
Brushing Dan aside, he started hurrying off down the stairs. Over his shoulder, he yelled back, “It’s your life, Trixie. It’s none of my business. I think you’ve made that abundantly clear.” He was gone before either Trixie or Dan could react.
Instinctively, Trixie rushed towards the door. She had to catch him, explain to him. But Dan caught her by the elbow before she got through the doorway. “Trixie, let him go. You know Jim. He’ll need time to cool off. Let him have some time to think things over and you’ll have a better chance of being heard.”
“I didn’t tell him, Dan. I was afraid to tell him.”
Dan looked down into her tear-filled blue eyes and pulled her close to him. “Don’t worry about it, Trixie. Things will work themselves out.” He let her cry into his chest for a few minutes. Then he gently put his fingers under her chin and drew her face up until her eyes met his. He smiled reassuringly at her and through her tears she smiled weakly back. He leaned down and sweetly kissed her cheeks, tasting her salty tears. He drew his fingers through her tousled hair and kissed her again, full on the lips this time. He heard that little sigh she made every time they kissed and a shiver ran down his back. How he loved this girl…this woman. And now she would be living right across the hall from him. He saw a bright future ahead.
Trixie sighed again and tightened her arms around Dan’s back.
But she couldn’t stop thinking about another kiss she had received, just minutes ago.
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“Hey, Trix. How about I go get us a pizza and some sodas?”
They had been working for about an hour, unpacking and putting away Trixie’s belongings. They had worked mostly in silence, Trixie still thinking about Jim, and Dan knowing she was upset about it.
“Sure, that sounds great.” It was said without enthusiasm, but she turned and smiled at Dan to reassure him that she was going to be okay, eventually.
He walked over and leaned down, kissing her on top of her head. “Pepperoni and mushrooms, right?”
“Mushrooms? Yuck! You know better than that, Dan.”
“Yeah, right. I guess I forgot.”
Her smile was brighter then, and she playfully swatted his behind as he turned to go.
She felt overwhelmed by all the boxes that still needed to be unpacked. How could she possibly have so much stuff? And where was she going to put it all?
She decided she had better set up the futon first. It would serve as both couch and bed in her small room, and she and Dan would want a place to eat when he came back with the pizza. She studied the room, trying to figure out where to put it and decided underneath the window, facing the door would work best. She dragged the frame over, then turned to get the mattress. It was lying on the floor by the door and seeing it reminded her of that day when her life had changed forever…
At the entrance to the next room, Trixie stopped with a gasp of surprise.
The enormous paneled living-room was filled with debris, and lying sound asleep on an old mattress in the middle of the floor was a tall, redheaded boy. Close beside him was a shotgun, and near his head was a silver christening mug that gleamed in the sunlight which poured in through an open window.
She and Honey had found Jim when they went exploring in the ramshackle old house at Ten Acres. And it was as if they had always known each other.
“Nobody’s been nice to me since my mother died two years ago, and I guess I’ve forgotten how to act with decent people.” He held out his right hand. “Shake,” he said. “My name’s Jim. What’s yours?”
“I’m Trixie Belden, and I live down there at Crabapple Farm.”
They had come so far and been through so much since then. Trixie thought they’d always be together. It had been several months since they had split up, but she still wasn’t sure exactly what had happened to burst that bubble. Jim had come home to Sleepyside for a visit after he graduated college in January. The two of them had spent the weekend together, talking and riding and walking down by the lake. And then, inexplicably, he had announced that they should split up. Trixie had been so stunned she was completely speechless. She had listened to his explanations and somehow they made sense to her. Jim always made sense to her, even when he was breaking up with her. She found herself nodding and going along with it, not sure why, but determined not to let him see her crying.
It had been awkward being around him ever since then. That was a feeling she had never experienced around Jim, not even when they were first dating and everything was so new. She never could figure out what had happened between them, although the more she thought about it, the more she knew it wasn’t anything on her part that had changed. She had just made peace with the fact that he simply didn’t love her anymore. And then he had kissed her. He had kissed her with so much passion she had been left reeling.
Gritting her teeth with determination, she picked up her cell phone. She had to clear the air, once and for all.
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Jim was driving in a blind rage. He raced north on I-87, the now empty trailer rattling and bouncing behind his small car. He was nearly halfway to
He pulled into the rest stop and parked, but didn’t get out of the car. Turning off the ignition, he leaned back against the headrest and took a few deep breaths. What had just happened back there? Had he really blown up at two of his best friends? Had he really acted like a spoiled child who didn’t want a toy, but didn’t want anybody else to have it either? How had any of this happened?
Jim closed his eyes and thought back to that moment when his life had changed forever…
“Trixie.” He paused a long time, then took a deep breath and continued, “Trixie, I think maybe you and I should spend a little time apart.”
She had looked stunned, but listened to his explanations without a word. They sounded lame when he said them out loud, but she had nodded her head and agreed. She always agreed with him; she thought he was “the most wonderful boy in the world”. At least that’s what Honey had told him. It scared him. He felt like he couldn’t live up to Trixie’s knight-in-shining-armor image of him. Her childhood had been far different from his, and even though he had shared a lot of the pain of his past with her, he never felt like she really understood him in that regard. He didn’t think anybody ever could. Certainly not a naïve little girl who had grown up with both of her parents and three loving brothers in idyllic Sleepyside-on-Hudson. He thought it was strange to think of Trixie as naïve after all the adventures she had dragged him and the other B.W.G.’s on. But in his eyes she was still a little girl in so many ways …at least until that kiss this afternoon.
Startled from his reverie by the ring of his cell phone, he picked it up and saw that it was Trixie. He let it ring a few times, grappling with himself on whether or not he was going to answer it. It was not until he bowed his head down and let his chin rest on his chest that he discovered he could still smell her perfume on his shirt. That’s when he knew he had to talk to her. He pressed the answer button quickly before his voicemail could pick up.
“Trixie?”
There was a fraction of a pause and then they both spoke at once.
“I’m so sorry!”
They both chuckled nervously, then neither of them spoke for several moments.
Finally, Jim cleared his throat, “I really am sorry. I shouldn’t have blown up like that. All I can do is blame it on the red hair again.”
“Jim, I’m just as much to blame as you are. I should have told you Dan was moving to
There was silence on the other end. Trixie bit her lip and waited.
“Yeah, you really should have. But I think I understand why you didn’t.”
“It just happened so fast, Jim.”
“I don’t know if I can make you understand this, but that just worries me more, Trixie. It’s bad enough that I’m worried about you, and having these feelings of jealousy seeing you with another man. But now I’m worried about Dan too. He’s my friend, Trixie. You’re my friend. I don’t want you using him to heal your wounded heart, and I don’t want him taking advantage of you either.”
“It’s not like that, Jim. Really.”
“Are you sure?” She hadn’t kissed him like she was devoted to Dan. Or was that just his imagination? After all, he was the one who had kissed her. Maybe he was the one who wasn’t sure. No, he wasn’t sure about anything anymore.
Trixie took a deep breath, “As sure as I am that the Bob-Whites will always be there for each other.”
“That’s pretty sure,” Jim said softly. He ran his hands through his hair and tried to make himself accept the fact that he had lost his favorite girl. He knew he hadn’t really lost her; they would remain friends, as all of the Bob-Whites would remain friends. He wondered if he had just made the biggest mistake of his life. Or if somehow it was the right thing, and he just couldn’t see that yet.
“Jim? Are you still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here,” he said. “I guess...if I’m going to lose my best girl, there’s no one I’d rather lose her to than Dan Mangan.”
“You’ll never lose me, Jim.”
He thought maybe, just maybe, he had heard Trixie choking back a sob. He heard a door open and close in the background. He heard a male voice asking Trixie if she was okay. He was so emotionally drained by the day's events that he didn’t think he could do this again with Dan. “I’ve got to get back on the road, Trixie. I’ll call you next week, okay?”
“Promise?”
”I promise. Tell Dan I’ll call him too. This will work itself out Trixie. Somehow, everything will be all right again.”
“Are you sure?”
Jim smiled wistfully, “As sure as I am that the Bob-Whites will always be there for each other.”
Trixie’s voice was half laughing, half crying, “That’s pretty sure.”
“See you later, Shamus.” Jim hung up the phone, took a deep breath, and started the car. He still had a long way to go.
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CHAPTER 3 (3,662 words)
I have used an excerpt from the very first Trixie Belden book, The Secret of the Mansion. Of course I have used it without permission. Consider it flattery. Life goes on.
This chapter is for my sister, Jill. I gave her all my Trixie Belden books when I "outgrew" them (little did I know). I remember how she cried when I left for college when she was about eight years old. It's just one short paragraph at the beginning of the chapter, but it made me think of Jill. Maybe someday I'll write a little story about Bobby losing his older sister and being left all alone at home.