The Mystery of the Uninvited Ghost

the young people when necessary. They were respected and trusted by family, friends, and employees.
    “Miss Trask isn’t home,” Trixie reminded Honey. "Regan said he’s going to your mother.”
    “Oh.”
    The girls gaped at each other while possible consequences of Regan’s conversation with Mrs. Wheeler flashed through their minds.
    “I could bite my tongue off for what I said,” Trixie lamented. “Now it sounds like Dan lied to Mr. Maypenny within our hearing, and that makes it sound like he lied to us. If he did lie, it means that he knew the ring was in his handkerchief, and if he knew it and didn’t say so, then it looks like he-”
    “No!” Honey said positively. “Dan wouldn’t steal.” She gulped. “Trixie, a Bob-White of the Glen is in trouble.” She didn’t have to add that this particular Bob-White had been in lots of trouble not long ago and had been put under his uncle’s supervision to rehabilitate himself. Because of Dan s past, it was easy to let the blame fall on his shoulders when something went wrong—something serious like a missing diamond ring wrapped in his handkerchief.
    With nothing but blind loyalty to go on, Trixie said, “Okay, Dan didn’t steal that ring.”
    Tears rolled down Honey’s cheeks. “I agree. But how are we going to prove it?”
    “We will,” Trixie said firmly.
    Dan’s whole life might be altered when Regan placed that ring in Mrs. Wheeler’s hand. The society woman wasn’t used to accepting personal responsibility, even for her own children. Her usual answer to all questions was, “Ask Miss Trask.” At the end of the path, Regan had disappeared into the house through the servants’ entrance. Right this minute, Dan’s reputation was being put on a seesaw. Was Mrs. Wheeler telling Regan, “Ask Miss Trask”? Or was she calling the police?
    “Mother likes Dan,” Honey whispered.
    Trixie added, “So does Regan.”
    “But—” Honey let that one word drift like a feather in the wind.
    “Dan has a right to be heard,” Trixie declared, and having made up her mind to take some action, she hurried to mount Starlight.
    The horse and rider left the stable at a brisk trot, and Honey followed on Lady. As the girls approached the cottage in the woods, they could smell onions.
    Mr. Maypenny was making lunch. He came to the door wiping his hands on a towel.
    “Dan? No, he isn’t here. Fact is, I thought he was up at the stable. He lit out of here so fast that I just figured he’d forgotten something and was going to catch up with you to take care of it.”
    Trixie listened to his cheerful speech. She couldn’t tell Mr. Maypenny about the ring. However the matter turned out, it would be better if he heard the story from Dan. “Is Dan riding Spartan?” she asked the gamekeeper.
    “No. That’s the odd part of it. He’s afoot.”
    “We brought Dan’s wallet with your note,” Honey said.
    As they left the clearing, both girls waved and tried to smile. “Shall we look for Dan or go back to Manor House?” Trixie asked.
    Honey waved a hand at the forest, where trees marched endlessly toward an unseen horizon. “Where would we look? Let’s go see what happened at home.” Trixie nodded.
    Regan met the girls at the stable and guessed where they’d been. While he helped cool their mounts, he asked, “Did you talk to Dan?” When Trixie explained that Dan wasn’t at the cottage and that Mr. Maypenny didn’t know where he was, Regan scowled. He said bleakly, “When I came outside, I saw Dan here, but he didn’t seem to notice me. He ran.”
    “R-Ran?” Honey’s lips quivered. “No!”
    Staunchly Trixie insisted, “I’m sure that he was looking for his wallet. That’s all.”
    “That’s what I figured,” Regan agreed.
    “To give Juliana the ring, too,” Trixie went on stubbornly.
    “Well—I don’t know about that,” Regan said. “I’ve seen him hanging around lately with a couple of toughs from his old street gang. Once when I asked him about it, he clammed up.”
    Hotly Trixie said, “You know he didn’t steal that ring! You know there has to be some explanation.”
    “I don’t know a thing until I talk to Dan,” Regan said. He turned away with such an air of finality that Trixie and Honey could do nothing but stare at each other helplessly.

The Footprint • 10

    SILENTLY, THE TWO GIRLS left the stable and returned to the house. At last Trixie exploded. “Sometimes I wish Regan wasn’t so pigheadedly loyal to the