The Marshland Mystery

out there far away from everyone as she is, almost anything could happen to her. A fall or a stroke! She could be sick for days before anyone found out about it.”
    “I suppose you’re right,” Mrs. Belden sighed.
    “Well, she looks good and healthy to me.” Trixie frowned rebelliously. “And I hope the council decides to forget all about that icky old access road for a long time!”
    “To be truthful, so do I,” her father admitted.
    The Bob-Whites discussed it every time they had a chance to get together during the day, but none of them could think of any way to help Miss Rachel if the council decided to get started with the road;
    It was Brian who heard the news first, from the councilman’s son. The city council had voted unanimously to begin work on the access road not later than early fall. Jim and Brian told the girls and Mart the news as they hurried for the bus after school.
    Trixie brightened, and her voice was almost a squeak as she asked, “Early fall? Oh, that’ll give us all summer to find a way to help Miss Rachel so she won’t have to go to the Home to live!”
    “Maybe we could hold a square dance on the Fourth of July as a benefit for her!” Honey suggested eagerly. “That’s a gorgeous idea!” Trixie agreed.
    But Brian and Mart and Jim all looked glum. “Oh, great!” Mart said witheringly. “That would make a hit with the city fathers, wouldn’t it? A benefit to keep someone from having to go to the Home to live. After they’ve put a couple hundred thousand dollars of tax money into the new building there!”
    “Forgetting that angle,” Jim said seriously, “I’m pretty sure Miss Rachel would never hold still for a public benefit. From what I’ve heard of her, she has too much pride. I imagine she’d prefer to go quietly to the Home.”
    “I guess you’re right, Jim,” Trixie sighed, “but then, you most always are. We didn’t stop to think.”
    Honey smiled at her. “Well, we have lots of time to think in all directions now,” she told Trixie.
    “Maybe longer than you expect,” Brian said lightly. “All sorts of things could delay the start of work on the road. You know, red tape and stuff.”
    “Hooray for red tape!” Trixie exclaimed.
    The rest of that day she was her usual happy self and only thought of Miss Rachel a couple of times. One of them was when she and Honey were grooming Strawberry and Susie after a canter through the Wheeler woods and all around the lake. She was busy with the currycomb, and Honey was saddle-soaping the gear. “Listen!” Trixie said, cocking her head in the direction of the house. “That poor child is still at it!”
    Honey stopped work to listen to the distant strains of Gaye’s violin. Over and over, the unseen violinist played the same passage of brilliant notes. “I wish I had a good big cup of hot mint tea from Miss Rachel’s right now. I’d march right up to the music room and make that governess let poor Gaye rest and sip that tea. I know it would do her a lot of good.”
    Trixie nodded and grinned. “I wouldn’t mind a dash of it right now, myself.” Then she frowned thoughtfully. “I wonder what Miss Rachel’s going to do about her herb garden when she has to give up the cottage. Just leave it there, I suppose, and let the city cover it with concrete.”
    “It’s the rose garden I think she’ll miss the most,” Honey said. “Did you hear her telling Di that one of the first things she remembers is her great-grandmother Molly walking with her in that rose garden? She said her great-grandmother had a thick Irish brogue and always wore a white lace cap. She told her fabulous stories about Irish fairies and leprechauns and pookas, whatever they are.”
    “Leprechauns are fairy shoemakers only a few inches high,” Trixie chuckled. “Pookas I’ve never heard of, but I bet Regan could tell us all about them. Dan, too.”
    “Which reminds me that we’d better get these pookas under blankets, or Regan will slay us both!” Honey said, and they hurried through the rest of the grooming with speed and concentration.
    “A leprechaun would be fun to see,” Trixie said when they had finished, “but I think I’d prefer to see a dragon, especially one with bright green beads for eyes and five claws on each foot.”
    “Goodness!” Honey teased. “I think I’ll get in touch with Paul Trent and tell him there are rumors that Miss Trixie Belden has fallen in love with a gentleman dragon. He’d be sure to