The Mystery of the Missing Heiress

with us,” Trixie called after her.
    “We shouldn’t have laughed at you, but, honestly, Janie isn’t...
    “She can’t hear you. She’s so mad she’s practically running,” Mart told Trixie. “Gol, is she some kind of a kook herself?”
    “I don’t know. Gleeps, Mart,” Trixie said, “she was so serious.”
    “Lost memory dangerous?” Brian snorted. “Anyone with half a head knows better than that.”
    “You know it because you’re going to be a doctor. Let’s give Juliana a break. She is Jim’s cousin, and we did make fun of her. Moms won’t like that if she hears about it.” Trixie glanced at the clock as Reddy barked excitedly—as usual when he recognized the sound of the Belden car approaching.
    Jeepers, she thought frantically, I only had time to butter the bread and put it in the oven to toast. She looked in the mirror over the stove. “Mrs. Witch in person,” she groaned. “Oh, well, the room’s ready.”
    Quickly she whisked blue homespun mats from the kitchen drawer, put them on the old maple drop leaf table, then added silver and yellow paper napkins. Moms would have something ready to eat in no time, she thought as she toweled her face till it shone and brushed back her sandy curls.
    “Welcome to Crabapple Farm!” she called to the slender girl who came in with Mrs. Belden, followed by Mart and Brian carrying boxes.
    Inside the kitchen Janie stood quiet, sniffed the fragrant toast, saw the sprigged curtains stirring in the breeze from the garden, and let her eyes wander to the hospitable table with its ladder-back chairs pushed in and waiting.
    She saw Trixie, red-faced and radiant, felt the brush of Reddy’s wagging tail, saw the boys disappearing down the hall with her possessions, and tightened her hold on Bobby’s hand. “It’s all so wonderful,” she sighed. “Why are you so good to me?”
    “We want you to get well,” Mrs. Belden said briskly. “Trixie, take Janie back to her room. I’ll have some salad and soup on the table in a minute. Bobby, take Reddy outside, please. No dogs in the house when we are eating, remember?”
    “Reddy’s not a dog,” Bobby pouted. “He’s part of the family.”
    “Then part of the family will eat lunch outside.” Mrs. Belden handed Bobby Reddy’s dish. “I added a little of that cat food he’s so crazy about. After all, he’s entitled to something special, too, because Janie’s here.” She ran her hand lovingly over Bobby’s cowlicked hair.
    “When do we eat, Moms?” Mart asked, pretending to puff from the weight of Janie’s box he had carried. “Where’d she get all those things, anyway? All she had was what she had on when she was found—”
    “Shhhh!” Mrs. Belden warned. “Honey s mother told Miss Trask to buy the things Janie needed,” she added in a quiet voice. “Oh, I do hope she’ll be happy here.”
    “And gets well soon,” Bobby added, slamming the screen door.
    “Amen to hoping Janie will get well, but why can't Bobby ever learn to close a door without a bang?” Mart asked.
    “He’ll learn it the same way you and Brian did,” Mrs. Belden said and told both the boys to wash their hands at the kitchen sink.
    “See, smarty?” Bobby jeered.
    “Oh, yeah?” Mart answered and pulled the chair out from under his brother, dropping him to the floor, howling.
    “Mart, pick Bobby up immediately,” his mother said, “and all of you, for goodness’ sake, stop yelling at one another.”
    “You see?” Trixie said to Janie, who had come in from her room. “It isn’t all sweetness and light at the Belden homestead.”
    “Who’s perfect all the time?” Janie answered, smiling, and won the boys’ hearts. “That’s the loveliest room, Mrs. Belden—and the view!
    “Trixie and the boys put it in order,” Mrs. Belden answered. “Just sit anywhere, Janie... maybe over there next to Bobby. Then there won’t be any squabbling about ‘who’s sitting in my chair?’ ”
    “That’s what the bears said,” Bobby told Janie and handed her the napkin-covered basket of crisp toast.
    “I faintly remember reading something like that about fifteen years ago,” Janie said, smiling.
    “The salad’s from our garden,” Bobby said. “Take a lot of it, Janie. We have it every day. Hey, Trixie, there comes Honey on her bike. Just listen to Reddy barking.”

What Happens to Missing People? ● 9

    WHY DIDN’T YOU let me know Janie was coming? Honey asked. “I’d have helped you get