The Mystery of the Whispering Witch

that’s what Zeke’s been telling everyone.” He paused, brush in hand. “But then, you can’t always believe Zeke’s stories. I’ve often thought he lets his imagination get away from him.”
    “But what did he say?” Trixie asked.
    Regan turned to face her. “If what Zeke says is true, it’s the craziest thing I ever heard in my life. He said old Caleb was sitting in his study, working. He heard a noise, looked up, and what do you think he saw? Zeke says it was the ghost of Sarah Sligo.”
    “The witch again!” Trixie whispered, almost to herself.
    Regan nodded. “Yes, the witch. It gave Caleb such a shock to see her that he had a heart attack and died before Dr. Ferris could get there.”
    Trixie remembered the strange figure she herself had seen in the passage. She shuddered. “How awful!” she gasped.
    “It would be if it were true,” Regan said, frowning at her, “but don’t forget what I just told you. You can’t believe every story you hear. I certainly don’t. I’m glad to hear that that young Lewis Gregory doesn’t believe it anymore, either.”
    Trixie was startled. “He doesn’t?”
    Regan shrugged his broad shoulders. “I’m sure he doesn’t. There was a time, after he first moved into that house, when everyone thought he was going to sell the place. He’d been listening to local gossip, you see—and Zeke, I’m sure, was still helping the stories along.”
    “What happened then?” Trixie asked.
    “Lewis Gregory got some sense into his head,” Regan answered as he turned back to Jupiter. “He obviously decided to hang on to Lisgard House after all, especially when everyone else told him he should.” He glanced at her over his shoulder and grinned. “Besides, no one wanted to buy it. It’s not in a very good state of repair, you know.” Trixie was convinced that the true reason was that everyone knew about the ghost. She wondered how many other people, besides herself, had seen the apparition. She almost blurted out her story to Regan, but something warned her to hold her tongue.
    She moved uneasily. “Do you believe in ghosts, Regan?” she asked him at last.
    “No, I don’t,” he answered bluntly, “and what’s more, neither should you. You hear me?”
    Trixie could still feel his worried gaze on her back as he stood at the stable’s wide doors and then watched her hurry up the hill toward the beautiful house where Honey lived.
    Trixie couldn’t help wondering what Regan would have said if she had told him about their frightening adventure of the previous night. She had an idea he might have said at once that it was someone playing a practical joke. Brian and Mart thought so. And what if they were right?
    “Is Fay really in trouble?” she muttered to herself. “Or is she playing some mysterious game of her own? And I wonder what Honey’s thinking about all this.”
    If was Honey herself who provided the answer to the last question as soon as Trixie hurried into the Wheelers’ luxurious living room.
    Honey had obviously been holding a lowvoiced, worried conversation with Jim Frayne, who stood staring down at her as she sat on the couch.
    Jim had a funny look on his face, Trixie thought. It was the same skeptical expression that, earlier, she had seen on the faces of her brothers.
    “I was beginning to tell Jim about last night, Trix,” Honey said, “and he thinks it was a joke. I don’t! I think it’s serious—more serious than we ever imagined.” She watched as Trixie glanced quickly around the room. “It’s okay. Fay’s not here. She’s gone with Miss Trask to look over the house. But I’ve heard Fay’s story, Trix. She suddenly blurted it all out while I was showing her the lake. And it’s so serious that I’ve sent for the rest of the Bob-Whites. I’ve told them to meet us in the clubhouse in five minutes.”
    “If what Honey says is true,” Jim said, “the whole thing is simply unbelievable.”
    Trixie looked from one to the other. “What’s unbelievable?”
    Honey raised her head and looked steadily at her friend. “Fay thinks the witch’s spirit has found a new home,” she said, her voice low. “She thinks it’s found a new body to live in. You see, Trix, Fay thinks that she is becoming Sarah Sligo.”

An Astonishing Confession ● 9

    THIRTY MINUTES LATER, in the clubhouse, Trixie felt even more confused than she had before. She guessed that the other Bob-Whites were feeling the same way.
    Trixie almost wished that