The Mystery of the Uninvited Ghost

should want my suitcase either!”
    When Trixie had relayed the information to Honey and hung up, Hallie placed her call to Idaho. “Knut!” she cried. Without bothering to cover the mouthpiece, Hallie announced to the breakfasting Beldens, “He’s the one with sense. Now I’ll get action.” Over the top of his newspaper, Peter Belden grinned at his. wife.
    Mart declaimed pompously, “I detect in my sire’s surreptitious glance an acknowledgment that second sons of Belden clans are notably lax in the application of velocity to tasks at hand. Now, let me say in defense of my kinsman Cap, who, like me, has an elder sibling of irreproachable behavior, that undoubtedly he must make a superhuman effort to assert himself as a distinct and separate personality. That—”
    “Cap’s personality stinks, all right!” said Hallie inelegantly as she put down the phone. “He went to the lake and left my bag sitting right there in the hall. Knut says he’ll put it on the next flight out, and when Knut makes a promise, he keeps his word!” Hallie’s black eyes flashed with such fire that Mart put up a hand to shield his face. Brian stiffened his spine and adjusted an imaginary halo. Trixie, who had awaked thinking she might never smile again,
    couldn’t stop herself from giggling.
    At Manor House, Trixie and Hallie found Miss Trask in the sewing room, measuring Honey and Di. Armed with a notebook and a tape measure, she cornered the Belden girls.
    Hallie backed away. “Don’t bother with me, Miss Trask. I’m not in the wedding.”
    “Of course you’ll dress to match the other girls,” Miss Trask said briskly. “Now, come here and let me measure you.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” Hallie said meekly.
    Juliana came in while Miss Trask was figuring the yardage of sheer white voile and wide satin ribbon needed. The Dutch girls eyes showed that she had been crying, but her welcoming smile was genuine. Trixie wondered if she herself would be as brave in a similar situation.
    “What color do you want, Trixie?”
    Flushing with confusion, Trixie focused her blue eyes on Juliana’s face. “Excuse me?”
    “Choose,” Juliana invited.
    “Ribbon color,” Honey explained.
    “Blue,” Trixie managed to say, knowing blue was her best color for anything from ribbons to bathing suits. She had been so concerned about Juliana’s tears that she had completely lost track of the sewing room conversation.
    Honey chose gold, and Diana wanted lilac. “To match my eyes,” Di said, preening just a little. “Guess that leaves pink for me,” Hallie said. “I can’t have red?” She glanced at Miss Trask.
    “No, you can’t have red,” Miss Trask declared. Hallie grinned. “Just testing.”
    Miss Trask bustled about the room gathering up the lists she’d made. “Honey, will you please call Tom to bring around the car? I’ll get my hat and bag and meet him in the porte cochère.” She turned at the door to announce, “I’ll leave word in the kitchen that there’ll be guests for lunch. You’ll stay, all of you?” Putting the previous night’s worry out of their minds, Honey, Di, Trixie, and Hallie darted down the stairs and out the side entrance to the garden, where the ancient birdbath stood.
    Honey reached for Trixie’s hand. “Can’t you just see it? We’ll arrange the chairs in rows on the grass. Hans and Jim will walk from the summerhouse with the pastor. The light will be on their faces in the late afternoon.”
    “Half after four o’clock,” Trixie said dreamily. “And over there,” Honey went on, pointing toward a great mass of daisies, asters, pinks, and gladioli, “Juliana will walk down that winding stone path.” Starry-eyed, Di asked, “Where will we be?”
    Hallie flung both hands above her head. “Oh, we’ll be there, too, but the ones who matter are Hans and Juliana.”
    Carried away by the romance of the picture she could see, Di cried, “Let’s give a shower for her!”
    “Let’s!” chorused the rest of the girls.
    “We’ll have the shower at the farm,” Trixie volunteered. “Moms will love it.” She saw Spartan in the alleyway near Jupiter’s stall and knew Dan was on an errand. She hurried down the path to the clubhouse, shouting over her shoulder, “Dan’s at the stable. Let’s ride home with him. We can plan the details of the shower later.”
    Regan wouldn’t allow another bareback ride, even when Hallie coaxed. Hallie’s grin wrinkled her flat cheeks. “Well, I can