The Mystery off Glen Road

his hand away and then stared at her hand. “Hey! You’re not wearing your ring. Betcha you losted it.”
    “Don’t be silly,” Trixie said quickly. “Ladies don’t wear rings when they’re wearing blue jeans.”
    “Hey,” he jeered. “You’re not a lady.”
    Trixie hastily gathered the funny papers and handed them to him. “You carry these while I go ahead and turn down the covers on your bed.”
    He followed her upstairs without another word and, after both threats and bribes, brushed his teeth thoroughly. But Trixie had hardly tucked him into bed when he began to ask questions again about
    her ring. She knew that he was peevish because he was so tired, and she tried to be patient.
    “Betcha you losted it,” he insisted. “Betcha you losted it. Hey! Betcha you losted it.”
    Trixie was finally forced to go into her room and scrabble through her top bureau drawer until she found the imitation that Honey had loaned her. She gave it to Bobby and asked exasperatedly, “Now are you satisfied that I haven’t lost, it? You and your - one-track mind!”
    The phrase, one-track, immediately reminded her of the single-tire tread tracks she had discovered in the clearing. She shivered involuntarily, remember-; ing how awful it had been to be lost in those dark woods. She might still be there, and by now the catamounts would be prowling.
    Bobby brought her back to the present by yelling, “Take your old ring. I don’t want it. Read Peter Rabbit . ” Fretfully he tossed the ring at her. “Read, - read , READ!”
    Trixie picked it up and slipped it on her finger. “You shouldn’t throw things, Bobby. How would you like it if I started throwing some of your valuable things at you?”
    Instantly he was all smiles. “Throw my panda at me. Let’s play catch. Throw my panda at me.”
    Trixie couldn’t help laughing. “It’s too late for games. Now, move over so I can sit beside you. We’ll read the funnies together. Your teacher at school says you read very well, Bobby.” She pointed to the paper. “I’m sure you know this word. T-h-e. What is it?”
    “Ted,” he said promptly. “It’s short for teddy bear. I want my teddy bear —and my panda. Read, read , READ!”
    He nestled down on the pillow, cuddling the two battered stuffed animals, and in less than five minutes was sound asleep. Trixie tiptoed out of the room and into her own room across the hall. There she carefully put Honey’s ring into the handkerchief box that her Aunt Alicia had given her as a birthday present.
    “I’ve got to be more careful of that imitation,” she scolded herself. “If I’d lost it, Bobby would have talked about it until everyone was suspicious.” A few minutes later she toppled into bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

    When Trixie awoke before dawn the next morning, she found that snow had fallen during the night. But, although the air was crisp and cold now, she knew that when the sun was high in the sky, the white carpet would have disappeared. Honey—holding both horses, which she had already saddled and bridled—was patiently waiting for her in front of the Wheeler stable.
    “B-r-r,” she said as they mounted. “It’s fuh-reez-ing. I’m wearing fur-lined gloves, and here’s a pair for you. Starlight and Strawberry are feeling their oats like anything. If our fingers grow numb, we’ll never be able to hold them down.”
    The horses were so full of pep that they started right off at a canter. “Rarin’ to go,” Trixie agreed. “At this rate, we’ll cover the whole north end of the preserve easily before breakfast.” They fairly flew along the trails, so there was no sense in trying to talk until, at last, the horses were willing to slow down to a trot. Then Trixie told Honey about the strange single-tire track she had discovered the afternoon before.
    “A unicycle,” Honey gasped. “I didn’t know there were any except in circuses.”
    “Is that what you call a one-wheeled bike?” Trixie asked.
    Honey giggled. “Of course, as in unicorn. The bi in bicycle means that it has two wheels. I think it’s Greek, like Phi Beta Kappa.”
    “It’s all Greek to me,” Trixie said with a grin. “Even if I do get better marks in math so I graduate from high school and go to college, nobody’s ever going to give me a Phi Beta Kappa key.”
    “Oh, I don’t know,” Honey said cheerfully. “Jim is sure to get one. He’ll give you his.”
    “That will be the day,” Trixie retorted.