The Marshland Mystery

his best pidgin English dialect. “Find more stling; play more!”
    Trixie threw a reproachful look at her almost-twin. “It isn’t funny. I just hope that’s all that’s wrong!”

Good Intentions • 13
     
    THERE SHE GOES!” Mart told Brian, with a grin that made Trixie’s face redden. “A violin string breaks, and right away she smells a big deal. Har, har!” he teased his sister. “Relax, dearie!”
    Brian saw that Trixie’s temper was rising. “Relax yourself, son,” he told his younger brother. “Trixie’s hunches usually pay off. And with that small imp Gaye around, anything could be happening over there at Wheelers' right now. Gaye could have broken the violin over her aunt’s head, for instance.”
    Trixie giggled at the picture his words invoked, and Mart couldn’t help joining in.
    But there was no more music from the direction of the big Wheeler mansion, and in a very few minutes, Trixie and the boys heard the Belden station wagon being driven into the barn-garage.
    “Whatever happened up there, it seems to have broken up the party early,” Brian said as he hurried out to greet their parents.
    Both of the elder Beldens looked serious as they came in a few seconds later.
    “The poor little thing should never have been asked to play tonight, after all she went through today,” Mrs. Belden was saying as she slipped off her coat.
    “Moms! What happened?” Trixie couldn’t wait.
    “Gaye fainted, poor lamb. She fainted right in the middle of a piece—one of those complicated ones. One minute she was playing away, and the next she just crumpled up and fell in a heap on the floor. It was terribly sad. And that Miss Crandall—” She paused and made an angry gesture.
    “Well....” Mr. Belden’s voice sounded gently but unmistakably reproachful.
    “I don’t care for the woman!” Mrs. Belden was defiant. “She accused that tiny little girl of just pretending and tried to drag her to her feet. She actually shook her! But the child just went limp and had to be carried to bed. The doctor said it’s a plain, simple case of complete exhaustion, and he’s forbidden Gaye to even touch her violin for a week!”
    “What’s going to be done about next Saturday night’s recital?” Mart asked curiously.
    “Why, the doctor thinks that if she rests and leads a quiet life, like a normal little girl, for the next week or ten days, she should be able to appear the Saturday after that.” Mr. Belden shook his head. “Miss Crandall isn’t very happy about postponing it. It upsets their schedule for the rest of the tour. But there’s nothing she can do about it as long as Gaye isn’t feeling strong enough to appear.”
    “The poor little thing is just skin and bones,” Mrs. Belden said. “It seemed to me yesterday that Miss Crandall wasn’t a bit sympathetic with her.”
    Trixie had her own idea about who deserved the sympathy, but she swallowed hard and held it back. She knew her mother wouldn’t like her to feel that way, after promising to do her best to like Gaye.
    A few minutes later, she slipped away to the study to phone Honey.
    “Do you think she really fainted?” Trixie asked skeptically. “Maybe she was just being temperamental.”
    “Oh, no!” Honey sounded very sure. “The poor little thing really collapsed. Her face was as white as chalk.”
    “Dad says she’ll be staying on at your house another week, at least,” Trixie said. “I suppose she’ll be in bed most of the time, and you won’t have to entertain her.”
    “I hope so!” Honey said hastily and then amended it just as quickly. “Oh, I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t really mean it. I was just being selfish.”
    “But she will be a little pest, I bet,” Trixie insisted sulkily. “She’ll have to go wherever you go, and it’s going to be awfully boring for you.”
    “I know,” Honey admitted. “Only it won’t last very long. Miss Crandall says Gaye simply can’t ‘lay off,’ as they call it in their business, because she’s booked solid across the country until July.”
    “That’s a funny expression—‘booked solid.’ What does it mean?” Trixie asked, puzzled. She never minded letting Honey know when she didn’t recognize a word or an expression. Honey never teased her about being ignorant the way Mart usually did.
    “It means she’ll appear somewhere for a concert on one night and then have to travel to another city the next day to do the whole thing over again.”
    Trixie