The Secret of the Mansion (8 page)

her delight at the end of the lesson that she could grip with her knees and rise up to meet Lady’s gait almost as rhythmically as Honey. She was trotting

around the field with Regan beside her on Jupiter when he was called into the 75 house to answer the phone. Regan dismounted and handed Honey Jupiter’s

reins. “You two just walk the horses till I get back,” he said.

“Boy,” Trixie cried when Regan had gone, “I’m dying to ride Jupiter, Honey. Couldn’t I just walk him around the field once while you lead Lady, instead?”

“I wouldn’t,” Honey said cautiously. “He’s got an awfully strong mouth, Trixie, and Regan’s only got a snaffle bit on him today. If he started to run, you’d

never be able to stop him. Even Dad won’t ride him outside of the corral without a curb bit.”

Oooh.” Trixie slipped out of her saddle. “He’s as gentle as a lamb, and I won’t let him out of a walk. I just want to know how it feels to be on the back

of such a

beautiful creature as Jupiter.”

“Well, I guess you’ll be all right.” Honey reluctantly transferred the reins. “But I’d feel safer if they’d finished fencing in this field.”

While Trixie was mounting, Jupiter stood perfectly still, but the minute she was in the saddle he tossed his head, and, as she was bending forward slightly,

he hit her hard in the face. Blinded with tears of pain, Trixie gathered up the reins too quickly, and Jupiter stepped right out into a fast trot. Trixie

jerked at the leather, trying to pull him down to a walk, and Jupiter broke into a 76 canter. Too late, Trixie realized that she had about as much hope

of controlling this horse as she would a steam engine. Faster and faster, he raced around the field, and as Honey, shouting, “Whoa, Jupe, Whoa!” tried

to cut him off, he swerved sharply an4d galloped out of the corral and up the path to the woods near the old Mansion.

The stirrups, which had been adjusted to Regan’s long legs, swung free, but the big horse’s gallop was so smooth Trixie managed to keep her seat by leaning

forward slightly and gripping his sides tightly with her legs and knees. Branches whipped against her face, and a spray of pebbles flew out from under

the horse’s feet. Trixie was so frightened she couldn’t do anything but hang on and wonder what was going to happen when the trail ended at the hedge around

Miser’s Mansion. Would Jupiter turn there and take the downtrail to the hollow and Crabapple Farm?

Trixie knew she wasn’t a good enough rider to stay on the horse’s back if he ran downhill. I’ll be thrown over his head, she thought hopelessly, and he

won’t be able to stop, so I’ll be trampled under his feet.

They flew around a bend in the trail, and there, smack in front of them, was the almost impenetrable hedge. For one awful second, Trixie was sure Jupiter

77 planned to plunge right through the thick underbrush, but at that moment the game cock, on the other side of the hedge, suddenly flapped its wings and

burst into a loud, triumphant crow. Jupiter shied in astonishment, planted his forefeet, and stopped dead in his tracks.

Trixie shot over his head as though she had been jet-propelled and landed in the bushes. Although she was dazed by the fall, she saw Jim slip silently from

the hedge and grab Jupiter’s dangling reins. The big black horse reared once and came down dangerously close to where Trixie was sprawling, then quieted

to a nervous standstill.

“There, boy,” Jim was saying soothingly, “it’s all right, boy. Nobody’s going to hurt you.” And, without changing the tone of his voice, he added to Trixie,

“You’re a little fool to let a horse run like that on such a hot day.” He patted Jupiter’s sweat-soaked neck. “There, boy.”

“Ride him?” Trixie scrambled to her feet, rubbing a bruised hip. “He let me stay on his back, but that’s about all I had to do with it,” she said sourly.

Jim grinned. I heard a horse pounding along the path, and it sounded like a runaway to me, so I slipped into the bushes to watch. I figured that, even if

it wasn’t a runaway, whoever was riding the horse was going to

90 78 have a nasty spill when the horse took the downhill fork.” Jupiter nuzzled Jim’s shirt. “Gee, I’d like to ride this fellow,” Jim said. “Is he yours,

Trixie?”

Trixie shook her head. “No, he belongs to Honey’s father. I had no business getting on his back at all. I’m just learning to ride, you see; but he’s so

beautiful I couldn’t resist it.”

“I don’t blame you,” Jim said as he handed Trixie the reins. “Someone’s coming along the trail on horseback now. Sounds like two horses. I’ll duck into

the

house. Whistle when it’s safe for me to come out.”

It was Regan on Strawberry, and in a minute Honey appeared on Lady. Regan looked very cross and red in the face. He paid no attention to Trixie, except

to snatch Jupiter’s bridle from her, and went back down the trail without a word.

“I’ve spoiled everything,” Trixie wailed. “He’s furious, and he’ll never give me any more riding lessons.” Honey slid off Lady’s back. “Don’t worry about

Regan,

Trixie,” she said comfortingly, “He gets over being mad very quickly, and I honestly think he admires you for daring to ride Jupiter. He was awfully worried

when he came out of the house and saw you tearing into the woods. I was too, Trixie,” she said gently. “You could have been killed.”

“I guess nobody was as scared as I was,” Trixie

91 79 admitted. “But when I was flying through the air over Jupe’s head, all I thought of was that he might run down the hill, trip on the reins and get

a bad fall.” She told Honey, then, about Jim appearing just in time, and both girls whistled, “Bobby!” in unison.

In a minute or two, Jim came through the bushes. He patted Lady and fed her a carrot he had pulled in the garden. “I may sound like I’m boasting,” he told

Honey, “but I bet I could ride your father’s horse. Dad had a big black gelding like that, and I could manage him when I was only five years old. I learned

to ride bareback with nothing but a halter rope to guide him.”

“If you’re smart,” Trixie said ruefully, “you’ll never touch Jupe without a curb bit.”

“I wouldn’t,” Jim said. “Not until he got used to me, anyway. Gee, do you think you could fix it so I could ride him, sometime? I haven’t ridden anything

but Jonesy’s big old farm horses since Dad died. That’s not really riding.”

“I’ll fix it, somehow,” Honey promised impulsively. Then her hazel eyes sparkled. “I tell you how we can arrange it. Regan always has Sunday afternoons

off, and Miss Trask always takes a nap after Sunday dinner. Mother and Dad are leaving tonight for Canada, so I’m pretty sure I can lead Jupe up here for

you to ride tomorrow as soon as Regan leaves.”

92 80 Jim’s face flushed as he said, “Gosh, Honey, that would be swell. Thanks.” He turned to Trixie, then. “How’s your kid brother?” he asked. “Honey told

me he was bitten by a copperhead.”

Trixie shuddered. “I can’t bear to talk about it. But

he’s all right now.”

“It’s a good thing you know your first aid,” Jim said approvingly, and Trixie realized with relief that he really had forgiven her for doubting the story

he had told the day before.

“Let’s tie up Lady and look inside the Mansion some more for your uncle’s money,” she said, turning toward the big house. “I just know we’re going to find

something.”

“That’s what I did all yesterday afternoon,” Jim said. “I’ve just about given up hope.”

“Well, I haven’t.” Trixie determinedly led the way through the thicket. “And I’ll bet that brass key has something to do with it.”

They were halfway across the clearing when Trixie heard a dog barking down in the road below the Mansion. “It doesn’t sound like Reddy or Bud,” she said

thoughtfully. “But there aren’t any other dogs around here.”

“You girls had better get inside the house,” Jim interrupted quietly as the barking came nearer and they

93 81 could hear the animal running up the hill. “There is a strange dog around here. I saw it this morning, a vicious-looking mongrel.” They climbed quickly

in through the window. “I don’t know whether it’s the same one that got tangled in the vines yesterday or not,” Jim said, picking up his gun. “But I’m

not taking any chances. A stray dog that’s been running wild for a long time can become very ugly.”

94 82

A New Hiding Place

The girls crowded around Jim at the window. Suddenly, with a loud squawking, Queenie burst out of the woods and flew into the clearing. Right behind her

was a thin, mean-looking cur whose yellowish coat was matted with burrs. It wore no collar, and its cruel mouth was flecked with foam. Jim raised his gun

to his shoulder.

Trixie grabbed his arm. “Don’t shoot,” she begged. “You might miss and hit Queenie.”

At that moment, the plucky little game hen turned in midair and came down, clawing and scratching, on the mongrel’s nose. The dog skidded to a stop, struck

out at Queenie with one paw; then, with its tail between its legs, slunk into the thicket. At the same moment Queenie, squawking as though in pain, and

dragging one wing, darted across the courtyard and disappeared under a clump of thickly matted bushes.

They could hear the dog running away through the woods in the opposite direction, and Trixie cried out, “Oh, oh! It’s hurt poor little Queenie. We must

try to catch her and fix her wing.”

95 83 She was out of the window and across the clearing in a second, tearing at the vines and branches which cut off her view of Queenie’s hiding place.

Then she got down on her hands and knees and began crawling after the game hen. Sharp twigs scratched her face and pulled her curly blond hair, but she

struggled on.

Jim was right behind her. “Let me go first, Trixie,” he argued. “Queenie may fly in your face and scratch you badly.”

At that moment, Trixie tripped and plunged forward, bumping her head against something hard. She scrambled quickly to a crouching position and, with Jim’s

help, pulled at the overhanging boughs and vines until they could see the lower half of the door which was blocking their path.

“It’s the summerhouse,” Trixie cried excitedly. “We’ve found it at last!”

“I guess you’re right,” Jim said as together they tugged away at the heavy branches which covered the rest of the door. “And we’re in what once must have

been

a little arbor leading to it.”

They tried the rustic door but it was locked, and the windows on either side were so thickly covered with dirt they couldn’t see inside. “The key!” Trixie

suddenly shouted. “The brass key, Jim. I’ll bet it fits.”

96 84 But Jim was already crawling back through the arbor, and in a minute or two he reappeared, making the passageway larger so that Honey could follow

him. Honey winced away from the vines and was sure every time she put her hand down on a stick it would turn into a snake, so Jim had the door open by

the time she joined the others.

“I’m going in first,” Jim told Trixie firmly as she started across the threshold. “I brought some matches. It’ll be safer if I investigate before you girls

come in.”

Trixie opened her mouth to argue but even in that half-light she could see the stern, stubborn set to Jim’s jaw, and waited impatiently until he called

out, “Okay. Nothing but spiders and a few old squirrels’ nests.”

By the light of matches, they could see that the summerhouse was one long room with two large windows on each of the four sides.

“It’s more like a detached sunporch than a house,” Trixie said. “But I imagine it was cool out here in the evenings when they had the windows open.”

Jim nodded. “And it’s on a higher spot of the grounds than the main floor of the big house, so they must have had a good view of the river from here.”

Honey, who was too afraid of spiders to venture far inside, said from the entrance, “I suppose your uncle let

97 85 it get overgrown like this because he didn’t want to have anything around to remind him of the tragedy.”

“I suppose so,” Jim agreed. “One thing is certain, nobody would ever have discovered it if Trixie hadn’t barged right into it. Say, that gives me an idea.

This’ll be a swell place to hide if anyone comes snooping around here. The old latticework is so rotten and covered with vines nobody would ever guess

there was once an arbor leading to the door.”

“Do you think your stepfather may be looking for you now, Jim?” Honey asked.

Jim shook his head. “Not yet. I know that guy. He’s telling everyone right now that I won’t have the courage to stay away very long, and he’s describing

the licking I’m going to get when I do come cringing back.” There was a note of such grim determination in Jim’s voice that both girls knew that, no matter

what happened, Jim would never return to Jonesy.

We’ve just got to find that money, Trixie thought desperately. Aloud she said, “Well, there’s obviously no hidden treasure in here, and I’d better go home

now and see if Mother needs me.”

“I’ll go with you,” Honey said. “But what about that dog, Jim?” she asked timidly. “Won’t he come back?”

“I don’t know,” Jim said as he crawled after them to 86 the clearing. “I got a good look at him just now, and I don’t think he’s got rabies. A mad dog wouldn’t