The Mystery of the Phantom Grashopper

prompted.
    “Positive!” Trixie insisted.
    “Wow,” Mart breathed. “It looks like Hoppy’s a phantom weather vane!”

The Stranger Appears Again • 16

    TRIXIE WAS OUT OF BED, bending and touching her toes, when Honey opened her eyes the next morning.
    “Do you always wake up so full of pep?” Honey asked, yawning.
    Trixie laughed. “It’s just nervous energy,” she said. “I’m excited about Hoppy and nervous about going to the dentist.”
    Honey giggled.
    “I’m going to wear the same jeans I wore yesterday,” Trixie said. “They feel good and comfortable now. You’ll find clean tops in the second drawer.”
    The girls dressed quickly and went down to the kitchen for breakfast. Brian, Mart, and Jim were already at the table, helping themselves to scrambled eggs.
    Trixie hurried through breakfast, impatient to get downtown. “We have a lot to do this morning,” she told the boys.
    Jim grinned and looked at Honey. “I guess it’s a good thing I went up to Manor House this morning and brought over your bike,” he said. “It’s outside with Trixie’s.”
    “Thanks, Jim!” Honey said, delighted. “I’m so glad we adopted you,” she added.
    “Don’t forget to brush your denticles,” Mart reminded the girls.

    A few minutes later, Trixie and Honey were pedaling down Glen Road as fast as they could. They reached town in record time.
    The girls stopped at the medical building and put their bikes in the bike rack.
    Honey looked over at the common, diagonally across the street. “It’ll sure be good to have Hoppy back up there on Town Hall,” she said.
    “Look, there’s Sammy,” Trixie said. “Let’s go over and congratulate him.”
    They hurried across the street and onto the grass of the common. “Congratulations, Sammy!” Trixie called.
    “We heard the great news on the radio last night,” Honey told him. “You must feel pretty good!”
    “Like a million bucks,” Sammy bragged. “A thousand, anyway.”
    “Did you get the reward money already?” Honey asked.
    “Naw,” Sammy grumbled. “Old man Perkins wants to have some kind of ceremony when he presents the check.”
    “That’s a nice idea,” Trixie said.
    Sammy scowled. “I wish he’d just give me the money. I earned it—I should get it now.”
    Trixie changed the subject. “We saw you last night.”
    Sammy looked alarmed. “Oh, is that so? When? Where?”
    “Riding with Miss Lawler in a big station wagon,” Trixie said. “On Glen Road.”
    “Were you teaching Miss Lawler to drive?” Honey asked.
    “Teaching Cis? That’s a laugh. She’s known how to drive for a looong time,” Sammy said. “That station wagon belongs to her.”
    Trixie and Honey exchanged glances. Honey began to say something, but Trixie motioned her to stop.
    “I have to get to work,” Sammy said. “I don’t like to work on Saturdays, but I’ve got a lot of stuff to do.”
    “Are you going to repair Hoppy’s base?” Trixie asked.
    “Yeah,” Sammy said. “I’ll fix it up real good.” Trixie glanced up at the cupola. “How do you get up there?”
    “Why do you care?” Sammy queried.
    “I was just wondering,” Trixie said. “It’s too tall for a ladder. Is there any way to get up there from outside the building?”
    Sammy eyed her curiously for a moment. “Nope,” he answered. “Only way up there is from inside the building. There’s a room with a ladder that—”
    “I know,” Trixie interrupted. “I guess that means whoever stole Hoppy got up there from inside the building.”
    “The building was locked,” Sammy said abruptly. He looked directly into Trixie’s eyes. “And I don’t have the keys,” he added in a menacing tone.
    Honey coughed self-consciously. “I—I can’t wait to see Hoppy,” she said.
    Sammy’s face brightened. “You want to see Hoppy? Follow me!” He swaggered off, heading for the front door of Town Hall.
    Honey pulled Trixie back. “Let’s not,” she said. “Sammy makes me feel creepy today. Besides, we don’t want to be late for the dentist.”
    “We have lots of time,” Trixie insisted. She ran to catch up with Sammy. “How did you ever find Hoppy?” she asked as they went inside the building.
    Sammy laughed. “It was easy. I just looked in the right place,” he bragged.
    Trixie and Honey followed him up the stairs and into the small room with the ladder.
    The room was dim and dusty, just as Trixie remembered, but now it wasn’t empty. A large canvas-wrapped