The Mystery of the Galloping Ghost

with
ghost-hunters. But it’s just amazing how fast news travels around these parts.
Anything that happens is everybody’s business, because we’ve all got such a
sense of ownership here.”
    “It’s
kind of nice, when you describe it that way,” Trixie said.
    “Do
you want to explain that to Mom and Dad?” he asked, grinning.
    “No way!” Trixie said firmly.
    The
young people were still laughing when they heard someone in the driveway. It
was Burke.
    He
swung down from his truck and strode over to the corral. “My phone’s been
ringing off the hook,” he said with a beaming smile. “Word of the ghost has
gotten out, and people are asking about it. They want a view of the ghost from
their unit! Isn’t that great?” He looked around at a circle of sullen faces.
“Oh, hey, wait—I didn’t explain. This means the deal is back on! If people want
ghosts, I’ll give ’em a whole ghost town. I won’t change a thing after you
people move out. Just let the cobwebs grow, maybe set up a little souvenir
stand in the stable. It’ll be great. People will come from all over the state
to see—”
    “Forget
it,” Bill Murrow barked, cutting
    Burke
off. “I was willing to sell out and relocate. I was willing to have the ranch I
grew up on leveled by your noisy bulldozers. But I am not willing to let my
place be turned into a tourist trap for a bunch of fools who want to see some
phony ghost!”
    As
Bill spoke, he kept advancing on Burke, who kept moving backward to stay out of
his reach. By the time the speech was finished, Bill had backed the developer
all the way to his truck. Bill opened the door with a flourish. “Get in,” he
said. “And get out!” He turned his back and stormed away, and the developer
meekly obeyed.
    Trixie
and Honey burst into applause. Pat tossed his hat into the air. “That’s tellin ’ him, Dad!” he shouted.
    “Yeah,
well, you’re the one who’s goin ’ to inherit this
debt-ridden horse ranch,” Bill growled.
    “It’s
a deal!” Pat said.
    After
the confrontation, things seemed to return nearly to normal. Honey went back to watching Pat Murrow with rapt admiration— but Trixie
noticed that she hesitated and looked carefully around her before entering the
stable or the house.
    At
bedtime, Trixie thought for a moment that Honey was over her scare. She
chattered away about the day’s experiences, reviewing the stories they’d have
to tell the other Bob-Whites when they got home. Even Trixie’s yawns didn’t
seem to slow Honey down.
    She’s just delaying the moment when I’ll turn off
the light, Trixie suddenly realized. Aloud she said, “It’s a
little stuffy in here. Mind if I open the door to the hall?”
    Honey
readily agreed and, with the light from the hallway falling across the carpet,
she soon settled down and fell asleep.
    I’ve got to do something to help Honey get her
confidence back, Trixie thought. I can’t have her going home to Sleepyside all timid again!
    Trixie
tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, trying to come up with a plan to
help Honey. But nothing occurred to her. “An ironclad explanation of retrocognition is what I need—and soon,” she whispered in
the darkness. “But scholars have been working on that one for years! Oh, brother.”
    Eventually,
Trixie fell into a troubled sleep. In her dreams, she found herself reliving
her first visit to Gunnar Bjorkland’s cabin. She felt
the steam rising from the beans and coffee. She smelled the mustiness of the
cupboard as she opened it. She heard the cawing of the crow, and felt the cold
handle of the cast-iron stove as she bumped into it.
    Trixie
sat bolt upright in bed, suddenly wide awake. “That’s it!” she exclaimed. “That
explains it!”



9 * A Frantic
Search
     
    Trixie looked over at Honey. The
girl had murmured in her sleep, but she hadn’t wakened at Trixie’s exclamation.
    Trixie
started to call her friend’s name, then hesitated. She
was convinced that she had the explanation for the retrocognition .
In fact, she had proof that the whole incident was phony —and she had a theory
about who’d invented it.
    But
what if she couldn’t convince Honey? The girl was so frightened by the
experience —and by the thought of another one like it—that she might not be
able to listen objectively. In that
case, I’ll have awakened her in the dark of night only to get her scared all
over again, Trixie thought. So she decided to let Honey soothe her
frazzled nerves