The Mystery of the Galloping Ghost

had, just moments before, saved Trixie. Seeing Trixie, Honey
reached up for help.
    Trixie
was suddenly aware of her trembling muscles. She wiped her wet palms on the
sides of her wet jeans. “I don’t know if I have enough strength left to pull Honey
up,” she whispered in panic. But there was no sign of Gus. He probably went for help after he pulled me
out, Trixie thought. He’d
have no way of knowing Honey was in the river, too.
    “Trixie!” Honey called out again. There was no more time for
waiting.
    Trixie
threw herself onto her stomach. She wriggled forward until her waist was even
with the edge, the top half of her body hanging over. She reached out and felt
Honey’s hand, cold and clammy. She closed her eyes and pulled with all her
might.
    Honey’s
hand came up and up. Trixie reached out with her other hand and grabbed her
friend’s belt. With that two-handed grip, she was able to throw her friend up
onto the bank like a sack of potatoes.
    Honey
rolled over onto her back, gasping for air. “I wouldn’t have made it up the
bank without your help,” she panted.
    “You
wouldn’t have fallen in without my help, either,” Trixie pointed out.
    “How
did you do it?” Honey asked.
    “I
just stopped looking where I was going, and my foot slipped, and—”
    “No.
I mean, how did you manage to get out of the river without any help?”
    “Oh!”
Trixie looked around for Gus again, but he was gone. Then she told Honey the
story of her rescue. “It’s strange that he didn’t stay around to see if I was
all right,” she said.
    “He
probably checked to make sure that you were breathing, then went for help,” Honey said. “Besides, I’m glad he didn’t take you. If he had,
how would I have gotten up the bank?”
    “Don’t
even think about it,” Trixie said grimly.
    “Do
you think Burke fell in, too?”
    “Oh, gosh!” Trixie scrambled to her feet. “I’d
forgotten— “She took two long steps to the edge of the riverbank and listened
in the silence. “ I don’t hear anything. He probably heard us fall and
turned back to— Honey, we have to move fast!”
    But
Trixie suddenly realized that she had no idea where she was. “If we head away
from the river and move in a straight line, we should come out on open land
pretty soon,” she told Honey. She’d made it sound easy, but she knew how
difficult it was to follow a straight path in unfamiliar woods. Honey knew it,
too, but she didn’t challenge her friend. Shivering, they plunged forward into
the woods.
    The
girls’ sneakers squished with every step, and their wet jeans chafed their
legs. We can’t get lost this time. I
couldn’t stand it! Trixie thought.
    It
was only a few minutes before they saw the light ahead. Trixie felt a moment of
fear, remembering Burke’s flashlight. Then her heart leaped as she realized
that somehow they’d come to the edge of the woods right at Wilhelmina’s
hideout.
    As the
girls came stumbling into the little camp, Wilhelmina looked at them in
astonishment. They were too hurried—and too tired— to tell any part of their
story to her. Trixie simply pointed across the yard at the Murrows ’
house, from which lights were glowing. “Go get anyone you can. Bring them to
old Gunnar’s cabin—now!”
    Then
she and Honey turned and hurried back into the forest. With Wilhelmina going
for help, it made sense for the girls to stay close to Burke—and to Al- Adeen .
    When
they got back to the trailer, there was no sign of Burke. Nor were there any
sounds from inside the trailer.
    Trixie
saw the fear begin to grow on Honey’s face. Burke might have taken the stallion
out of the trailer already. The horse’s body, throat cut or shot in the head,
might be floating down the river.
    The
girls’ attention was captured by a low noise in the woods. The noise grew
louder, and finally its source came into view: Burke’s pickup truck was slowly
heading their way. Trixie and Honey watched it with growing hope. If Burke had
gone for his truck after they’d fallen in the river, he probably hadn’t had
time to harm Al- Adeen .
    Burke
backed the truck up to the trailer, got out, and began hitching the two
vehicles together.
    Trixie
tried frantically to think of a plan. The best she could come up with was
following the trailer, but she doubted it would do much good.
    She
didn’t have to think any further. Hearing the rumble of hoofbeats behind her, she turned and saw Pat, Regan, Bill, and Charlene galloping