The Mystery of the Whispering Witch

witch was supposed to have lived in the old mansion. The original house, with the witch inside it, had been burned. And the mansion that had been rebuilt on the site was supposed to be haunted by Sarah Sligo’s ghost.
    Trixie had often hoped to catch a glimpse of the ghostly figure said to haunt the house, but to her intense disappointment, she never had.
    Over the years, none of the Lisgards had encouraged visitors. The last Lisgard of them all, old Caleb, had been the worst of them. A mean-spirited and short-tempered man, he had been a recluse. For the last years of his life, he had shut himself away from the world and had refused to see anyone, except for the odd servant or two whom he had managed, with difficulty, to hire.
    He had died only a few months before. Trixie knew that the house had been inherited by a nephew-in-law, Lewis Gregory. She wondered what he was like. Most of all, she wondered what on earth had persuaded Fay and her mother to come to work in such a gloomy place.
    Brian pulled up beside the enormous iron front gates that faced Glen Road.
    “Oh, no, Brian,” Fay said hurriedly, “we won’t go in this way. Take this side turn here. It leads to the back of the house. I—I left the gates there unlocked purposely so I could get back in quickly.”
    Honey shivered as Brian’s car turned away from the familiarity of the lighted road and bumped its way along a rutted lane that ran alongside tall, spiked railings. High trees, growing on either side of the potholed road, stretched bare arms to the black sky, and birds, disturbed by the noise of the car’s engine, flew, in alarm from the branches.
    “We’re almost there,” Fay announced breathlessly, leaning forward across Brian’s shoulder. “Here! Turn here!”
    Obediently, Brian twisted the wheel and drove through iron gates, smaller than the massive ones in front, though somehow just as forbidding.
    Trixie knew that Martin’s Marsh lay close behind them. She felt Honey clutch her arm.
    “Listen, Trix,” Honey commanded. “Can you hear them?”
    As Brian pulled up beside the door that was obviously intended to be the service entrance, he turned off the car’s engine. It was then that Trixie heard the sounds that had caught Honey’s attention.
    Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit!
    Trixie laughed. “It’s only the marsh frogs,” she said.
    “Or little boys who’ve been enchanted by the witch’s spell,” Honey answered, still trembling.
    Brian and Fay had already jumped from the car and hurried into the house.
    Trixie and Honey were about to follow them, when, all at once, Trixie stiffened. Her gaze focused on something over Honey’s shoulder.
    Her friend cried out in alarm at the expression on Trixie’s intent face. “Trixie! What is it? What’s the matter? What do you see?”
    Trixie stared at the dim outline of a figure that had suddenly appeared around the corner of the house. It seemed to hesitate for one long moment. Then, as Trixie watched, it faded silently into the dark shadows behind it.
    Trixie gasped and could almost hear the pounding of her own heart. “Oh, Honey,” she said at last, “I’m not sure—but I think I’ve just seen the witch’s ghost!”

Trixie Is Warned ● 2

    HONEY STARED and turned her head quickly toward the dark shadows. “G-Ghost?” she quavered. “Are you sure it was the ghost?”
    Trixie frowned. “No,” she said slowly, “I m not sure at all. It came and it went, almost before I realized it.” She told Honey exactly what she’d seen.
    Honey’s teeth chattered. “Whatever it was, I don’t like the sound of it, Trix. Do you suppose the others would miss us if we went home?”
    Trixie couldn’t blame her friend for feeling nervous. She almost felt the same way herself— almost, but not quite. It would be unthinkable to pass up this terrific opportunity to see the inside of a genuine haunted house, after all the years of wanting to.
    All the same, it took all of Trixie’s powers of persuasion to get Honey to follow her inside. It was only when Trixie reminded her friend about their errand of mercy that Honey agreed, at last, to follow her.
    Once inside the back door, Honey almost turned right around and walked out again.
    The two girls found themselves standing in a long, dimly lit passageway. Its dark-paneled walls were gloomy and forbidding. Trixie later discovered that the walls throughout the house were paneled with this same dark, somber wood, barely relieved by a dismal-looking