The Mystery of the Galloping Ghost

that the place is haunted?”
    “That
could cause a few problems,” Bill admitted.
    “You
know darned well it could. I’ll bet this was one of your tricks. I wouldn’t put
it past you to dream up this scheme to keep your land while you put me out of
business.”
    Bill
held up his hands. “Not me. I had nothing to do with it.”
    Bill sounds like I did when I tried to convince him
that I didn’t hide the combs and brushes, Trixie
thought.
    And
this time, it was Burke who wasn’t convinced. “Consider our deal to be
officially on hold, Murrow. And if this ridiculous ghost story spreads, the
deal will be off—and I’ll see you in court!”
    Everyone
watched in stunned silence as Burke drove off. Then their attention turned to
Bill. The minute he realized that all eyes were on him, he barked, “What do you
think this is, a sideshow? Back to
work, all of you!” Pat quickly led his horse into the stable, and Regan
followed. Bill marched up to the house, presumably to tell Charlene that their
dreams had once again come tumbling down.
    Trixie
and Honey weren’t sure what to do next, since they had no work to get back to.
Seeing Gus at the corral, they wandered over to him. “Are you still unsure
about the Galloping Ghost?” Trixie asked.
    Gus
cocked his head left and then right, as if balancing the two sides of the
argument in his mind. “There’s something going on around here, you betcha . Maybe it’s the deerflies.” Deerflies? Trixie and Honey were both confused. “I’m sorry,” Trixie said. “You’ll have to
explain.”
    “The
deerflies would be biting just awful in the woods around old Gunnar’s cabin
this time of year,” Gus said. “Maybe they drove him out altogether, and that’s
why he’s hanging around here.”
    Was
Gus only kidding? He was grinning, but then, he almost always was. “Are you
saying that Gunnar had a cabin near here—and that it’s still standing?” Trixie
asked.
    “That’s
right,” Gus said. “ It’s state forest land now, but the
old shack is still there, about half a mile from the river. Just one little
room, but it’s the only building around. You can’t miss it. You don’t want to
go there now, though. Those deerflies would drive you crazy.”
    Trixie
nodded vaguely at the warning. Tactfully, she led Honey away from the corral.
As soon as they were out of earshot of Gus, Trixie whispered, “We’ve got to go
see that cabin this afternoon! The more we can report to Wilhelmina tonight,
the better. Things are definitely strange around here, and I want an expert’s
opinion about what’s likely to happen next.”
    Before
they could come up with their getaway plan, the lunch bell rang.
    At
lunch everyone’s mood had changed. Bill was quiet and glum, a sign of how much
the deal with Burke really had meant to him. Charlene’s cheerfulness was
forced. Regan was unusually quiet. But Pat was downright jubilant.
    “If
I ever run into that ghost, I’ll shake his hand,” Pat said. “And if he manages
to put Burke Landing out of business, I’ll shake his hand twice.”
    “If
that ghost gets me sued, I’ll wring his neck,” Bill said.
    Pat
gave a derisive hoot. “Do you really think Burke would sue you for dreaming up
the ghost to hurt his tourist trap? He’d never win in a million years!”
    “He
wouldn’t have to. The money we’d spend defending ourselves against a nuisance
suit like that would drag us under,” Bill said.
    “I’m
not going to worry about what happens next,” said Pat. “I’m just going to enjoy
the memory of Burke’s red face as he stomped off to that silly truck of his.”
    “That
was pretty good,” Bill admitted. He began to chuckle and then to laugh. Pat
joined in, too. Soon everyone was relishing the memory, including Charlene, who
knew about the incident only from what Bill had told her.
    The
lunch ended on that light note, and everyone went back to work. Trixie and
Honey slipped outside with the men, leaving Charlene to think they were going
to the stable. Once outside, they managed to go off on their own. They started
across the ranch yard slowly, as though they had no particular destination in
mind. Once under the cover of the fringe of trees, they hurried toward the
forest.
    As
soon as the dense growth of trees surrounded them, they realized that Gus had
been telling the truth about the deerflies. The woods buzzed with them, and
Trixie and Honey had to keep shooing them away. Even so, the girls’ walk