The Mystery at Maypenny's

I want to.” The man paused and raised his hands in a helpless gesture. “Aren’t my kids and I as important as ducks?”
    There was applause, but no booing, as the man sat down. Trixie could understand why even the most strongly opposed to the expansion would not want to boo him. Most of them had families, too.
    The debate went on and on. Just as both sides had managed to use John Score’s actions at the debate in their favor, now both sides used the discovery of botulism on the preserve. Half of the speakers said the botulism proved that the preserve wasn’t safe for wildlife, so it might as well be used for industry. The other half said the poisoning of the ducks had happened because the swamp where they’d fed safely had been destroyed by the original International Pine factory. Further expansion meant risking more epidemics—epidemics that could be harmful to humans, too.
    At the end of the hour, the chairman banged his gavel again and ordered the spectators to clear the room. The council needed a recess to review what the townspeople said before they voted.
    Trixie, Honey, Mart, and Brian left the stuffy, crowded chamber and walked out onto the marble steps of the town hall. It was a crisp but sunny September afternoon, and the cool breeze felt wonderful against their damp foreheads.
    “How do you think they’ll vote?” Trixie asked her brothers.
    Brian shrugged. “It’s impossible to tell. The speeches in there seemed pretty evenly split, for and against.”
    “I’m glad I don’t have to be in those councilmen’s place right now,” Honey said. “That man who spoke right after Daddy actually threatened them with the loss of his vote if they didn’t vote against the expansion. I’m sure he’s not the only one who will vote for someone else if this meeting doesn’t go his way.”
    “Here you are,” Jim said, coming up alongside them. “I looked for you in the crowd as soon as the chairman called the recess, but I couldn’t see you. I thought you might have left rather than listen to all those speeches that said the same thing—or rather, the same two things.”
    “We were the last ones into the meeting, so we were the first ones out for the recess,” Trixie said with a giggle.
    “We were just trying to guess how the council is going to vote,” Brian told him. “What’s your opinion?”
    Jim shrugged. “At this point, I don’t know how they’re going to vote, and I’m not even sure how I want them to vote. The botulism has put a new light on things, for me at least. It seems quite possible that it occurred because the ducks had to find new feeding grounds.”
    “What does Daddy think about it?” Honey asked.
    Jim shrugged. “We haven’t had much chance to talk about it. The lab analysis came in just before we had to leave for this meeting. I do know that Dad just wants what’s best for the community.”
    “The crowd’s starting to move back inside,” Trixie said. “Somebody must have passed the word that the vote is about to be taken.”
    “Let’s go,” Brian said, leading the way.
    Trixie started to follow, then paused. After all the talk, the decision was about to be made. She wished there were some way of knowing what it was going to be.

    Even if Trixie had tried, she wouldn’t have been able to guess what finally happened. When the votes were all in, it was a tie—two for, two against, and one abstention.
    “Can he do that?” Trixie asked angrily when the fifth council member announced that he was abstaining.
    “He can,” Brian said. His jaw muscle was clenched. “Especially if he’s more concerned about winning the next election than about what’s best for Sleepyside.”
    As soon as the chairman announced that the rezoning would be brought up again at the regular meeting the following Tuesday, Brian said, “Let’s go,” and led the Bob-Whites back outside.
    “Is this ever going to get settled?” Trixie wailed.
    “It doesn’t seem like it,” Honey said in a mournful tone.
    Trixie suddenly felt ashamed of her own impatience. Honey’s situation was much worse than her own, since her father was so directly involved in the issue.
    “Somebody should tell Dan and Mr. Maypen-ny,” Trixie said. “Let’s hurry home, saddle the horses, and ride to his place to tell him.”
    “The distaff contingent may have such liberty,” Mart said. “We have chores to do.”

    So it was again Trixie and Honey who rode alone to Mr. Maypenny’s. They took the