The Mystery off Glen Road

“Jim wouldn’t even give me the time of day. All he’ll do, if you tell him about that dead deer, is give me a good bawling out.”
    “I won’t tell him a thing,” Honey promised. “I’m so glad you got proof that the dogs didn’t do it, Trixie, but you shouldn’t have gone into those awful woods alone when it was dark. Now that we know there’s a crazy person loose in there, promise me you’ll never do it again.”
    “Crazy person?” Trixie pulled Strawberry down to a walk and then a stop. Starlight promptly stopped, too, and lowered his head to lick at the melting snow. “What do you mean by crazy , Honey?”
    Honey shrugged her slim shoulders. “Nobody but a crazy person would try to ride a unicycle along those paths. Why, you can hardly ride a horse along them. Anyway, nobody but a circus performer would own a unicycle.”
    “That’s true,” Trixie admitted. “But circus people don’t know how to butcher a deer. Whoever toted away that venison, antlers and all, was an expert butcher. An amateur would have chopped off the head and left it there. But experts know that deer drain better if they are hung up by their antlers. The meat has to be aged before you can eat it, and in cold weather like this, a deer can hang for a month without spoiling.”
    “You’re much too smart for me,” Honey said. ‘How do you know so much about venison?”
    “From people like Tom Delanoy,” Trixie replied. “He taught Brian and Mart how to shoot and fish, you know, and I used to tag along after them until Bobby got to the age where I had to stay home and keep him from tagging along.”
    'Honey said nothing while they cantered back toward the stable. The sky in the east was now aquamarine and golden pink, as the rising sun scattered purples and blues. There were only little wisps of snow on the downward slopes, and by the time they reached the stable, there was no snow at all on the driveway.
    Regan met them at the door. “I’ll groom the horses and clean the tack,” he said. “You kids have barely got time to dress and eat your breakfast before the school bus arrives.”
    “Oh, thanks,” Honey breathed. “But you shouldn’t really do it for us, Regan. It’s all part of our job as gamekeepers.”
    “Not necessarily,” he said. “All I ask is that you do a good job as gamekeepers and keep the horses exercised at the same time.”
    Later, when they met at the bus stop down by the road, Honey said to Trixie, “I still think he’s crazy.” Trixie giggled. “If you’re talking about Regan, I agree with you. The reason why he hated Fleagle was that Fleagle didn’t groom his horse or clean the tack. Why he suddenly lets us get by—”
    “Don’t be silly,” Honey hissed. “Of course I’m not talking about Regan. He’s just being a good sport because he knows, as he said to Miss Trask last night, that we’ve bitten off more than we can chew. Don’t worry about Regan’s mentality. Soon as the holidays begin, he’ll make us groom and clean and everything again. He’s already got things fixed so Ben has to work, too, starting this very morning.”
    “Ben—work?” Trixie blinked. “Why, that creep faints from utter exhaustion if he has to change a phonograph needle.”
    “That’s not true,” Honey said, glancing worriedly over her shoulder at the boys who were strolling toward them. “Ben himself offered to work. He’s got his driver’s license now, you know, and he’s going to do all of the chauffeuring while Tom’s away. That, of course, made Miss Trask and Regan very happy.”
    Trixie nodded soberly. “It explains why Regan was so charming to us. I guess the answer is that Ben hasn’t had his license long enough to consider driving as work. I just hope Miss Trask keeps him so busy he won’t have time for any practical jokes.” She lowered her voice. “Is Ben the person that you think is crazy? If so, I agree.”
    The boys were so close to them now that Honey could only reply by whispering into Trixie’s ear: “No, dopey. The poacher!”
    Then suddenly Trixie realized that Honey was right. Nobody in his right mind would own a unicycle. And even if he did, he wouldn’t ride one while out poaching. It didn’t make sense. You just couldn’t ride a unicycle and carry a slaughtered deer at the same time!

Mart Asks Questions ● 14

    THAT’S THE ANSWER, of course,” Trixie said decisively. The girls had met at the stable after school and were now patrolling the