The Red Trailer Mystery (14 page)

Trixie moved toward the door as a loud clap of thunder broke the outside stillness. “Well, I’m glad you’ll save the beans, after all,” she broke in when Mrs. Smith stopped for breath. “Thanks a lot for the wonderful tea.”

“Come again soon,” Mrs. Smith called to them from the back steps as Honey and Trixie hurriedly mounted their horses.

They waved good-by and trotted toward the main road.

“It’s going to rain all the rest of the day,” Honey moaned. “Now we can’t look for Jim or the abandoned barn or anything.”

“Yes, we can,” Trixie said grimly. “We’ve got to, between showers. We’ll wait at the riding academy until this storm blows over and start out again. It’s the kind of a day when the sun shines half the time. See? It’s struggling to come out from behind those clouds now.”

Sure enough, it poured for about fifteen minutes
after the girls returned their horses, and then the rain stopped as abruptly as it had begun.

“It’s awfully hot and muggy,” Honey complained. “Let’s not walk far. Can’t we look for the barn tomorrow?”

“We can but we won’t,” Trixie said firmly. “I have a feeling that barn is not far from where we saw the bicycle tracks and the blue jeans.”

“You must be crazy,” Honey said wearily. “It’s in exactly the opposite direction. At least the old orchard is.”

Trixie shook her head. “While Mrs. Smith was going on and on about her new hired help I was trying to get my bearings, and now I’ve a nice little map in my mind.”

Honey sniffed, but Trixie ignored her. “In the first place,” she began, “we know that three big routes converge just north of the Smith farm. It stands to reason that one of them forms the northwest boundary line of the Smith property. It also stands to reason that since they sell their vegetables, there must be a road from the garden to that main highway. It would be silly to drag the stuff all the way out to this road when the garden is such a short distance from the other route.”

“That makes sense,” Honey admitted. “But what are you driving at?”

“It must have been the road from the main highway
to the garden that the Darnell family got stuck in during that rain on Sunday. They were probably riding along as carefree as could be, thinking that the man who owns the
Robin
was still away from home. Then the news came over the radio that he had returned unexpectedly and reported the theft to the police. What would you do in that case?” Trixie demanded.

“Get off the main roads as soon as possible,” Honey said.

Trixie nodded. “That’s just what they did, and the next thing they knew they were stuck in the mud on the Smith property.”

“I follow you closely,” Honey agreed, “but what’s that got to do with the abandoned barn?”

“Follow me even more closely from now on,” Trixie said and grinned. “Follow that road the Darnells got stuck on down to the old orchard. After it passes the vegetable garden, you probably wouldn’t know it was a road since it may not have been used after those old apple trees stopped bearing six years ago.”

“Oh,” Honey gasped, “then that is the old road Jeff and his bushy-haired friend were talking about, and it must go right on down from the orchard to the abandoned barn.”

“It has to,” Trixie said, “since they were planning to
drive the van along it. It’s a wonder the van didn’t get stuck in the mud too, but heavy as it is, it must be much easier to manage than a trailer.”

They had walked about half a mile through the fields by this time, and Honey interrupted suddenly with, “Where are you taking me? Trixie Belden, if we get lost again, I’ll lie right down and die!”

“We should be almost there,” Trixie said, laughing. “But first I want to ask you a question. If that old barn is so well hidden Mrs. Smith doesn’t even know about it, how on earth did Jeff’s foxy friend discover it?”

Honey looked at her blankly. “I give up without even trying,” she admitted.

“Simple,” Trixie said with a grin. “He must have seen it from the clearing where they hid the van before we happened upon it. The driver’s seat is so high he could look right over the trees and down into the hollow.”

“Then why,” Honey demanded, “did they have to drive that van miles out of the way and through the Smith property to get to the barn?”

“Because,” Trixie explained smugly, “there is no other way of getting to it except on foot. You couldn’t drive even a light truck through these fields without getting stuck, and between the barn and the main highway are thick woods.” She stopped and pointed straight
ahead of her. “The way I figure it, the barn must be on the other side of that clump of trees.”

They walked downhill for a few more minutes and then Honey sucked in her breath and let it out again in a long whistle. For only a short distance ahead of them, almost completely covered with heavy vines, was a high, dilapidated structure that looked as though a puff of wind would blow it down.

Trixie could hardly control her own excitement, but she quickly silenced Honey with a warning finger. “Sh-h, they might be in there now. Let’s sneak up to it and peek through a window.”

And then the rain began to come down again in torrents. Honey clutched Trixie’s arm. “I’m scared,” she whispered. “We’ll get soaked if we stand here, but I wouldn’t go inside that old barn for anything!”

“Wait a minute,” Trixie whispered back. “I’ll bet that old thing hasn’t even got a door. I’ll creep around and see if I can get a view of the front.”

She crawled off through the trees, slipping and sloshing in the mud and in a couple of minutes she caught a glimpse of the entrance to the barn. One door had fallen off completely and the other hung precariously from a rusty hinge. There was no sign of the van or the men, but from this spot Trixie could plainly see
heavy tire marks in the old road that led up from the hollow to the sloping orchard.

“Come on,” she shouted to Honey. “The coast’s clear,” and raced for shelter.

Once inside, the girls stared around them in amazement. It was as though they had walked from the rainy outdoors into a storage warehouse. There were three almost new refrigerators with matching electric stoves, two radios, a portable Victrola, vacuum cleaners, lamps, mattresses and springs, pressure cookers, and all sorts of expensive-looking electrical appliances.

“Whew!” Trixie shouted. “There must be thousands of dollars’ worth of stuff stacked around here.”

Honey clapped her hand over Trixie’s mouth. “Hush,” she whispered. “Someone’s coming! Can’t you hear footsteps sloshing through the mud?”

Trixie listened and then grabbed Honey’s arm. “Quick! Up in the loft.” She started for the rickety ladder but Honey hung back.

“It’ll never hold our weight,” she gasped. “It’ll collapse and we’ll both be killed.”

Desperate, Trixie gave her a little shake. “Whoever is coming is bound to be either Jeff or his foxy pal,” she whispered hoarsely. “I’d rather risk the loft than be caught by either one of them.”

Numb with fright, Honey began to climb with Trixie right behind her. They reached the top and crawled under the eaves just as the sound of men’s voices came to them through the drumming of the rain on the ancient roof.

“—but what about that redheaded kid?” someone was asking. “Suppose he rats on us, Al?”

Cautiously Trixie bent forward and peered through a crack in the wide floor boards. Jeff and his bushy-haired friend were standing just inside the entrance.

The man called Al shrugged. “That kid doesn’t worry me one little bit.”

“I don’t get it,” Jeff whined. “Two dumb little girls scare you away from a swell hiding place right off the road, but you let that redheaded punk—”

“Oh, shut up,” Al interrupted gruffly. “That kid isn’t going to rat on anybody, see? Now, get the jack you so cleverly left in here. The van’s not doing us any good sitting on the side of the road with a flat tire.”

“I’m going to take a look up in that loft first,” Jeff argued. “If he’s hiding there, I’d like to have a few words with him.”

Trixie didn’t dare look at Honey. She held her breath and closed her eyes, listening with horror to the heavy footsteps on the floor below.

Trixie’s fists were clenched into tight little white-knuckled knots as she waited tensely for Jeff to climb up the ladder to the loft.

And then Al’s voice snarled. “You thickheaded numbskull! That kid’s not in the loft. And if he is, so what? He’s no more friendly with the troopers than we are.
Pick up that jack
and get going. Do you want someone to take a look inside of that van while you play hide-and-seek with a boy who’s a fugitive from reform school?”

The heavy footsteps stopped, and Trixie opened her eyes. She peered down through the crack again.

The two men were glowering at each other. Jeff was not whining and cringing now although Al, a big, heavy-shouldered man, looked as though he were going to knock him down any minute. “You’d better watch who you call a numbskull around here,” Jeff said evenly. “And in case you’re interested, I’m getting fed up with your giving all the orders. This is a fifty-fifty racket, see?”

A sneer twisted Al’s sharp features. “Fifty-fifty! That’s what
you
think! I’m the brains of this outfit and I
thought up the idea. I’ve also taken most of the risk. You’re lucky I’m going to give you a third just to keep that big mouth of yours shut.”

Dull red spots mottled Jeff’s high cheekbones. “Why, you—” he sputtered. “You double-crossing rat! I’ve taken the big risk all along. Who forged those references so we could get jobs at the trailer camp? Do you think they’d have given you that classy uniform without those big-shot signatures I copied on the letters of recommendation?”

“That’s just the point,” Al said coolly. “You have a prison record; I haven’t. All I have to do to get rid of you is to drop a small hint to the Autoville manager that it might be a good idea to have your fingerprints checked.”

Jeff laughed. “You wouldn’t dare. I’d sing a little song that would land you in stir so quick you’d never know what hit you.” His expression slowly changed to one of deep suspicion. “So, you’ve been double-crossing me all along, huh? It was you who nabbed that red trailer all the radio ballyhoo is about. Got it hidden somewhere so you can make a quick getaway with all the loot sometime when I’m back there sweating in the kitchen.” He took a threatening step toward the bushy-haired man. “Painted it a nice shiny blue by now, eh, with new license plates? All set to go, leaving me to take the rap when
the cops close in and things get too hot, huh?”

“Don’t be a complete fool,” Al hissed. “Whoever stole the
Robin
ruined us and you know it! Since that happened there are more state troopers on the road than there are cars. As long as the other trailers were found right away, nobody kicked too much. Their owners were all heavily insured, so as long as they got their little traveling homes back, they were satisfied. But the amateur who made off with the
Robin
hasn’t got brains enough to abandon the thing and give the troopers a rest.” He whistled through his teeth in exasperation. “The sooner they catch that guy the better.”

Trixie could tell from the frown on Jeff’s ugly face that he still suspected Al. “No amateur swiped that red trailer,” he growled. “Only a smart guy like you could pull one like that without being picked up before he changed into high gear.”

Al reached into his pocket and produced a cigarette. He tapped it on his thumbnail and stuck it in one corner of his mouth without lighting it. Then he said, hardly moving his lips, “I’ve stood enough of your yap. As soon as you’ve changed that tire, we’ll load up the van and I’ll get going for the coast. I’ll send you your share when I’ve sold the stuff. Or if you don’t trust me, I’ll give you a grand now and call it quits.”

“A grand!” Jeff chuckled evilly. “Big boy, it’ll cost you exactly five thousand dollars to get that tire changed.”

For the first time since they had scrambled in fright to the old hayloft, Trixie stole a quick look at Honey. She was lying flat on the floor, peering intently through another crack. She didn’t look the least bit frightened now; in fact it was obvious that she was thoroughly enjoying herself, as though she were safe in a theater watching an exciting moving picture.

Trixie smiled inwardly. Slowly but surely Honey was conquering her fear and timidity. When the girls had first met, Trixie had thought Honey was a sissy, but during the adventures connected with the old mansion, Honey had proved over and over again that she was anything but that.

She’s a swell sport
, Trixie thought, proud of her friend.
A couple of weeks ago she would have fainted dead away without even trying to climb up that rickety ladder
. And then she thought about Miss Trask. It was growing late. How long would the men stay down there arguing?

“You’ll change that tire for nothing,” Al was saying tensely. “If you don’t, I’ll beat you so your own mother will never recognize you.” He clenched one big fist.
“We’ve wasted too much time already. That guy may come to any minute. The van’s parked too close to his car to be healthy,” he finished. “Whatever made you leave the jack in the barn?”

Jeff moved backward, cringing a little. “I didn’t. Honest, Al. It was that redheaded kid, I tell you. If you’d only listened to me none of this would have happened. He took the jack out of the van and he loosened the valve core on that tire so we’d have a nice slow leak. Why didn’t you let me tie him up and gag him when we found him asleep up in the loft last night?”

“Sure, sure,” Al jeered, lighting a match to his cigarette finally. But he had lost some of his poise, for Trixie could see that his hand was shaking. “You tie him up and gag him and then what? He smothers to death and we have a nice little murder on our hands.”

Jeff had apparently noticed Al’s growing nervousness for he said quickly, “What about the guy you slugged and left in a closed car with the motor running? When he gets a lungful of carbon monoxide, he ain’t going to be too healthy.”

Al carelessly blew a series of smoke rings. “Ah, somebody’ll find him before enough gas seeps up through the floor boards. I just want him to sleep nice and quietly until we can get the van down here. So
will you please pick up that jack and get going?”