The Mystery of the Headless Horseman

was a small silence.
    “Trixie?” Honey’s voice was puzzled. “Is anything wrong? Your voice doesn’t sound right.” Suddenly Trixie couldn’t keep her troubles to herself any longer. “Oh, Honey!” she wailed. “I’ve got a horrible suspicion that I’ve done something really dumb! Remember Henry the Eighth?”
    Honey’s chuckle floated over the telephone wire. “How could I forget your monster!”
    Trixie lowered her voice. “But that’s just it. I think I have forgotten him. Oh, Honey! I think I’ve left him locked in that cellar.”
    Honey gasped. “You couldn’t have!”
    “But I could have,” Trixie insisted. “Henry followed me down the cellar steps. I know that for sure. But I don’t remember him following me back up. Did you see him after I came back to the living room with Harrison’s hat? Think!”
    “I am thinking.”
    “And-?”
    Honey groaned. “And I didn’t.”
    “He’s locked in that cellar,” Trixie wailed again. “I just know he is.”
    Honey sounded uncertain. “But Harrison said Henry’s owner would be home again. I wouldn’t worry, Trixie, really! Mrs. Crandall will find him.”
    “But suppose she doesn’t? Suppose she doesn’t get home till tomorrow? Or the day after that? Henry has no food or water down there. Harrison said that Mrs. Crandall would be home soon, but he didn’t tell us how long ‘soon’ is!” This time the silence was longer.
    Then Honey said in a small voice, “Are you trying to tell me that you want to go back to that house? Tonight?”
    “Yes,” Trixie said slowly, “I guess that’s just what I’m trying to tell you.”
    “But it’s nearly dark,” Honey cried, “and— and the woods will be spooky. Anyway, how would we get back in? We locked everything up, and the door key’s missing, remember?”
    Trixie said, “Listen, I’ll think of all that later. But for now, we could take our bikes and zip along to Sleepyside Hollow and be back in nothing flat. Oh, Honey, do say you’ll come with me. If I tell Brian or Mart how dumb I’ve been, they’ll tease me forever. Besides, I’ve simply got to talk to you. It’s about that cellar door.”
    Honey let out her breath in one long sigh. “All right,” she said. “I’ll come. I’ll call for you in ten minutes, okay?” She hung up.
    Trixie grabbed a warm sweater from her room and went to find Mart’s book. She felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She was sure now that she’d made the right decision. She would never be able to sleep tonight if she didn’t go back to Sleepyside Hollow. The thought of a cold and hungry Henry would keep her awake.
    All the same, she wished that Honey hadn’t put a certain thought into her head.
    Will the woods be spooky tonight?

    Honey’s ten minutes turned out to be twenty. It was almost dark when she arrived at last at Crabapple Farm.
    “I’m sorry,” she told Trixie breathlessly, jumping off her bicycle. “I would have been here sooner, but just as I was ready to leave, Di called again.”
    Trixie stared. “I hope Mr. Lynch didn’t change his mind. I already told the boys that he’d said it was all okay.”
    Honey laughed.
    “No, he didn’t change his mind. But it is another one of those funny-peculiar things. It’s about Harrison’s bike.”
    Trixie was busy with her own bicycle. She checked the tires for the last time and made sure the front light was working.
    “Harrison’s bike?” she said. “What about it?”
    “Di told me she’d just asked all the servants, and they’re positive Harrison doesn’t have a bicycle. It doesn’t belong to any of the Lynch staff, either.”
    “That is peculiar,” Trixie agreed. “I wonder where he got it?”
    But it was Honey’s turn to stare. She gazed over Trixie’s shoulder to the area where the picnic table stood.
    “ What's that ?”
    Trixie didn’t even bother to look. “That,” she said, “is my brother Mart giving Reddy obedience lessons.”
    “But Mart’s underneath the table!” Honey exclaimed.
    Trixie grinned. “So’s Reddy. Mart’s been trying to persuade him to come out for the last ten minutes. Reddy doesn’t want to.” She chuckled. “Mart is fit to be tied. He thought it was all going to be so easy, but he can’t even get close enough to put Reddy on the leash. Reddy’s not used to being on a leash.
    “Come on!” Trixie said firmly. “Let’s not worry about them. We’ve got troubles of our own, and I told Moms