The Mystery at Saratoga

I want to see one familiar person, too — Regan!
    When Tom pulled up in front of the hotel where the Wheelers were staying, it was just a few minutes before noon. He carried the bags into the hotel and waited while Trixie and Honey were checked into the room that Mr. Wheeler had reserved for them. The desk clerk handed Honey a note from her parents, telling her that they had had to go to a luncheon with friends.
    “Daddy says that we should have lunch in the restaurant here at the hotel. We can sign for it, and they’ll just put it on our bill. He says that you and Celia should have lunch with us, Tom, if you’d like to.”
    “I’m sure that Celia would like to,” Tom said. “She’s such a good cook that the little dining room in our trailer seems like a gourmet restaurant to me most days, so eating out isn’t a big treat for me. But it is for her! I’ll go park the car and we’ll meet you in the restaurant.”
    Trixie felt a momentary twinge of impatience. She and Honey had been together all morning without being able to say anything to one another about the real purpose of their trip to Saratoga. Now that they had arrived at the hotel, Trixie wanted only to go to their room and plan their strategy for finding Regan—or at least for finding out what had happened all those years before that had finally caused him to leave the Manor House. Oh, woe, she thought. I don't know how I'll be able to make it through a whole hour without blurting something out to Honey.
    As the thought ran through her mind, Trixie’s impatience was replaced with a guilty feeling. Tom's spending a whole day driving us up here and then driving back to Sleepyside, and Celia's spending her day off to ride along, just so they can be together. An hour of my time isn't much, when I'm getting a whole week's vacation. “Come on, Honey,” she said aloud. “Let’s go meet Celia and Tom. I’m starved!”
    Trixie and Honey met Tom and Celia in front of the hotel restaurant, but seeing its dark interior and lavish furnishings, all four agreed that they’d feel more comfortable in the brightly lit, less expensive-looking coffee shop off the lobby. They ordered sandwiches and iced tea and chatted happily about Sleepyside, the Manor House, and all of the pleasant experiences that were awaiting the girls at Saratoga.
    When they were ready to leave, Celia’s face clouded as she said, “Maybe it’s just because we’re in a town that’s famous for its horses, but all morning long I’ve been thinking about poor Regan. He’s devoted to those horses, and he’s always seemed so loyal to the Wheelers. It must be something very serious that would make him disappear so—so mysteriously.”
    Trixie and Honey both nodded their agreement without speaking, afraid that they might betray their plans to find the missing groom.
    “Now, Celia.” Tom said, patting his wife’s arm, “don’t go getting the girls all upset right at the start of their vacation. I’m sure that Regan is all right and that he’ll be coming back to Sleepyside one day soon.” Getting up from the table, he added, “And speaking of getting back to Sleepyside, that’s exactly what we should be doing.”
    Celia rose, too, and smiled at the girls. “I’m sorry if I sounded gloomy,” she said. “Don’t start worrying about Regan because of what I said.”
    “We won’t,” Trixie said truthfully, then added silently, We started worrying about Regan long before Celia said anything.
    Back in the lobby, Tom told the girls, “Don’t go wandering too far by yourselves. I’m sure that the Wheelers will be back soon to give you the grand tour.”
    “Thank you for the ride, Tom,” Trixie said quickly, before Honey could promise to take Tom’s advice. “We’ll be careful.”
    “You be careful, too, Tom,” Honey said. “I want you and Celia to arrive in Sleepyside safe and sound.”
    “Tom’s the safest driver in the world,” Celia said loyally. “Now, you girls have a good time. I won’t forget my promise to take Bobby on an outing while you’re gone.”
    With a final wave, Tom and Celia left for the car, and Honey and Trixie walked through the lobby to their room.
    Once they were there, each sitting cross-legged on one of the double beds, Trixie realized that all of the planning she had wanted to do was more difficult than she had realized.
    “I guess I don’t even know where to begin, Honey,” she admitted.
    “I don’t, either, Trix. Even though I’ve