The Mysterious Code

She put his sled in the garage, and they went into the house.
    “Reddy slided
downhill, too,” Bobby told his mother, “but Trixie only pushed me eleven
times.”
    “Oh, Moms, it was
lots more than that,” Trixie said. “You should have seen Reddy. He sat down and
slid down the hill on his haunches.”
    “I shut him up twice
when he tried to join you; then I gave up. I didn’t know Reddy could coast,
too. And, Bobby, no matter how many times Trixie pushed you, you were out long
enough.” She gave Bobby a piece of the apple she was paring. “Trixie has to
dust the house for me while I make this pie—I mean these pies. The way my
family can dispose of pies is a mystery to me.”
    “You shouldn’t make
such good ones, Moms,” Trixie said. “If I made a pie, it would last two weeks,
and then we’d have to throw it out.”
    “I know of a way to
change that,” her mother said, her pink cheeks flushed with the heat of the
oven. “Next Saturday, instead of pushing Bobby on his sled, you may have a
lesson in pie-baking.”
    “I’ll never in a
million years be able to cook as you do,” Trixie said. “We have the best food
in all the world in our house—tomatoes, com, pickles, the things you canned
from our garden last summer.”
    “Don’t forget that
you and the boys kept the garden cultivated and gathered all the vegetables and
fruit for me. Everyone works in this house.”
    “Yes, we do, but you
know, Moms, we aren’t going to be able to do much around the house until after
the antique show. I hope we make a lot of money to send UNICEF. Wasn’t it
wonderful of the board members to give us a chance to keep our club?”
    “I suppose it was.
I’ve never known what they objected to in the first place. I think the
Bob-Whites have done some pretty wonderful things. I’m proud of you. But I don’t like all the sleuthing you do. Maybe you’ve
had enough of that now.”
    “Maybe so. I wont
have time for it now.”
    “You get mixed up in
so many things, Trixie.”
Mrs. Belden sighed. “I wish you weren’t such a tomboy. You looked so pretty
when you dressed up every day and pretended you were impressed with that cousin
of Honey’s.”
    “That drip!”
    “Trixie! Watch your
language!” Mrs. Belden opened the oven door, slid a pie inside, then started to
roll the crust for the next pie.
    “Even Honey thinks
he’s one,” Trixie said. “Moms, we have a terrible amount of work to do to get
ready for our antique show. I don’t even know where to begin.”
    “I was talking to
one of the members of the Garden Club this morning,” Mrs. Belden said. “She
told me she’d let you have her two Chinese Chippendale chairs to show.”
    “That’s super!”
Trixie cried. “I’ll personally guarantee they won’t be scratched in any way.
Regan and Tom said they’d pick up all the things the day before the show. The
problem is where to hold it”
    “Didn’t your father
tell you?” Mrs. Belden asked. “I remember, now, you weren’t awake when he left
this morning. He said he was sure he could arrange for you to use that
storeroom the bank has for rent, the one just across the street from the
clothing store. It’s right on Main Street.”
    “Christopher
Columbus!” Trixie shouted. “Right on Main Street! Wait till I tell the others.”
    “You can tell Honey
and Diana soon. They’re coming down the hill from the Manor House. The boys
took Brian s car into Sleepyside to have the brakes tightened. I wish Brian had
snow tires on that old car.”
    “He doesn’t need
them. You should see the way we get Brian’s jalopy out of a snowbank. We all
get out and push. We can almost lift it when it gets stuck. We don’t have any
money for tires, even if we did want them. Every cent we have will go into
preparation for the show.”
    Bobby rushed and
opened the door to Honey and Diana.
    “Good morning, Mrs.
Belden,” they chorused. Then, without waiting for her to answer: “Trixie, just
wait till you hear what we have to tell you!”
    “Let me tell you my news first,” Trixie
said. “Daddy’s bank is almost certain to let us use that old storeroom where
Mr. Bennington’s electric shop used to be. It’s right on Main Street!” she
added, doing a little cha-cha step.
    “That makes the show
as good as a complete, entire, super-duper success right now!” Honey said and
hugged Trixie.
    “Now let me tell you my surprise,” Diana
said. “So we can work on the used furniture, my daddy is going