The Mystery at Maypenny's

So in the end, it was Honey and Trixie who saddled Strawberry and Susie and rode to Mr. Maypenny’s.
    Halfway to the cabin, Trixie spotted something lying alongside the road. Pulling Susie to a halt alongside it, she saw that it was a dead duck. “I wonder if somebody’s been hunting out of season,” she said, starting to dismount.
    “Don’t touch it, Trixie!” Honey said sharply. “It could be diseased,” she added more gently.
    Trixie settled back into the saddle. “You’re right,” she said. “I know better than to handle something like that. At least, I should know better. Brian and Jim have warned me about it enough times. Still, I hate to just leave it there.”
    “We can tell Mr. Maypenny about it,” Honey suggested. “He can come back wearing gloves and examine it, and then bury it. That’s actually his job, as Daddy’s gamekeeper.”
    “That’s a good idea,” Trixie said. “Let’s go.” The girls found the old man in surprisingly good spirits, although he did seem happy to see them. He offered the girls glasses of lemonade and settled down on the front porch to talk.
    “I was sorry to see David go,” Mr. Maypenny said. “He is my only relative, after all. I was looking forward to getting to know him better, to having him come to visit once in a while. But once he started trying to take away my independence, why, I wasn’t about to put up with that!”
    Trixie nodded. “I understand. I know you’re disappointed that things didn’t work out with David. But it isn’t as if you didn’t have any other family. You do-all the Wheelers and Beldens and Dan and Di.”
    Mr. Maypenny nodded. “That’s right,” he agreed. “If I were a lonely old coot, with nobody to talk to, with nobody who cared about me, I suppose I might be willing to sign my life away to my nephew just to keep him around. But since I’m not, I won’t. And that’s that.”
    Something in Mr. Maypenny’s tone told the girls that he had said as much on the subject as he wanted to.
    “Oh, Mr. Maypenny,” Honey said, “we found a dead duck lying on the trail on the way over here.”
    “You didn’t touch it, did you?” Mr. Maypenny asked sharply.
    Trixie felt herself blushing, remembering how close she had come to doing just that, but Honey quickly said, “No, we didn’t. We just made a note to remember to tell you about it.”
    Mr. Maypenny stood up. “I’ll get some gloves and a shovel,” he said. “Then we’ll go see about it. I hope we don’t have any out-of-season hunters hanging around here.”
    Mr. Maypenny saddled Brownie, his ancient but sturdy mare, and started down the path. Brownie never went faster than a dignified walk, and Susie and Strawberry pranced impatiently behind her. Trixie and Honey spent their time controlling their horses and their desire to giggle until the little party finally arrived at the spot where the two girls had seen the duck.
    “It’s gone!” Trixie exclaimed, jumping down from Susie’s back.
    “Oh, Trixie, it is!” Honey said.
    “Are you sure this is where you saw it?” Mr. Maypenny asked impatiently. “Maybe you just misplaced the spot, the way I did with that tree the other day.”
    Trixie shook her head. “This is the spot, Mr. Maypenny. I’m sure of it.”
    “I hope some animal didn’t drag it off and eat it,” Honey said. “It could be poisonous.”
    “I wouldn’t worry about that,” Mr. Maypenny said. “Animals are pretty smart about what’s good for them and what isn’t. If some animal dragged it off to eat, it probably knew what it was doing.”
    Trixie had been examining the ground where the duck had been. She stood up triumphantly. “The animal that dragged that duck off was wearing waffle-stomper boots,” she said. “There are tracks all around here, and they disappear into the woods.”
    “Then it must have been one of the boys,” Honey concluded, sounding relieved.
    Trixie nodded. “Is Dan out patrolling today, Mr. Maypenny?” she asked.
    “He’s patrolling,” the old man said, “but I don’t think he was in this part of the preserve.“
    “Brian and Mart and Jim all said they had chores to do at home,” Trixie mused.
    Honey laughed. “Oh, Trix, I know what you’re trying to do. You’re going to turn this into a mystery—‘The Mystery of the Missing Duck.’ There are lots of perfectly good explanations for why that duck is gone. The boys might have decided to take a break from their chores. Or they might have