The Red Trailer Mystery

Officer," she gasped, "we—we don’t deserve such kindness."
    The trooper went on as though he hadn’t heard her. "And then there’s the question of the rewards. All together they amount up to quite a tidy sum, and we boys would like to add a little something to it. I don’t even have to ask the men in my troop." He reached into his hip pocket and produced a thick leather wallet. "In the first place," he said, "the disappearance of the Robin fixed those trailer thieves. As long as it didn’t show up right away, the way the other ones did, the reporters in the press and on the air kept howling for action. All the hue and cry ruined the crooks’ racket. Smart of your husband to figure that out, Mrs. Darnell. And very modest of him not to give us his name when he tipped us off. We could use a man like that." He slipped a twenty-dollar bill into the pocket of her apron. "Just a small token of our appreciation for all the time and trouble you saved us. If Mr. Darnell ever wants a job, let me know."
    It was all Trixie could do to keep from throwing her arms around the trooper’s neck and hugging him. He slapped his cap back on his head and saluted smartly. "I’ll be getting back to headquarters now. When Mr. Darnell is ready for the motorcycle escort, have him drop by and just say the word."
    His broad shoulders disappeared through the trees before anyone could utter a sound.
    And then the silence was broken by Mrs. Darnell’s weeping, but this time she was crying for joy. "That dear, kind man," she sobbed. "We don’t deserve any of it, but I’ll pray for his health and happiness every night of my life. If we could only find Joeanne now, our troubles would be over."
    Trixie reached out and patted her hand. "I know where Joeanne is," she said with more confidence than she felt. "You go back and wait in the trailer for your husband. Honey and I will bring Joeanne to you."
    Mrs. Darnell smiled shyly. "I believe you do know where my daughter is. I’m glad I was right about you girls. Deep down inside me, I was sure from the beginning that I could trust you." She turned and darted away like a timid little gray squirrel.
    "Trixie Belden," Honey said sternly, "I’m ashamed of you. You had no business arousing false hope in that poor woman. You don’t know where Joeanne is any more than I do."
    Trixie tugged at Honey’s bare arm. "I don’t know, but I’m practically certain. Both Jim and Joeanne are not far away. Come on!"
    Bud sat down on his haunches mournfully, as though undecided as to whether he should follow Mrs. Darnell or his mistress. Honey bit her lip. "I love that little black nuisance," she said more to herself than to Trixie, "but I think he’d be happier with a family of children than with me, all alone in that big old house. Wait," she told Trixie. "I won’t be a minute, but I want to give him to Sally right now and get it over and done with."
    Trixie watched Honey disappear through the trees, with Bud frolicking at her heels. "Honey’s mother has just got to adopt Jim," she said grimly through her teeth. "He’ll be a perfect brother for Honey. Mrs. Wheeler has got to see it that way. She’s just got to!" Honey came running back then, her cheeks flushed and her hazel eyes sparkling. "That Sally!" She panted as she followed Trixie around the base of the hill. "Her mother made her thank me, of course, but she was as fresh as paint about it. ‘Thank you for bringing back my puppy,’ she said like a little queen. ‘He was losted, but I won’t let him get losted anymore.’ " Trixie chuckled. "Sally makes me homesick for Bobby. He’s an awful pest, but I guess I miss him even more than I do Brian and Mart. Oh, Honey," she went on enthusiastically, "won’t it be wonderful to be back home again? We can ride every day, and go swimming in your lake, and—"
    "Nothing will ever be the same again without Jim," Honey interrupted sadly. "Please don’t keep me in the dark anymore. What makes you think we’re going to find him and Joeanne close by?"
    "I don’t know why we were both so dumb we didn’t guess before," Trixie admitted. "Remember what Mrs. Smith said about two boys who bicycled up to the farmhouse and offered to help pick the beans?" Honey nodded. "I don’t see what that’s got to do with it. I thought for a while that her hired hand who fell out of the old apple tree might have been Jim, but Jim is too smart to have done anything so stupid." The neglected path they had been following