Chapter 2

Saturday, May 23, 1997

Trixie woke with a start. She had been having a dream that disturbed her. She wouldn’t have categorized it as a nightmare but it wasn’t a pleasant dream either. She had been out riding in the Wheeler’s game preserve all by herself. She was riding her favorite mount, Susie, and had just passed the old schoolhouse when Susie reared up, but it wasn’t Susie she was riding. Now she was on Jim’s favorite mount, Jupiter. Ever since Jupiter had thrown Trixie off the one time she had ridden him, she never had tried to ride him again. In her dream, Jupiter was bucking like a wild bronco that had never been saddled. Just when she thought she was going to fall off the horse and get trampled, Trixie sat bolt upright and woke up. She was breathing heavily and sweat was rolling down her forehead. It took a few minutes for her to get her bearings. Then she glanced around to assure herself that no one else was in her bedroom witnessing the episode. Knowing full well that she was alone, she shook herself and tried to put the dream behind her.

Glancing at the clock, she realized it was still rather early, even though the sun had already peeked over the horizon. Her mother didn’t expect her downstairs to help with the Saturday chores for at least another forty-five minutes.

She decided to take advantage of the extra time and put in a little studying for her upcoming finals. With Brian and Jim home for the summer, it would be harder to stay motivated over the next week and a half. The Bob-Whites had made plans to go on an evening trail ride and picnic, and that would cut into Trixie’s normal study time.

Trixie shook her head when she realized how boring her life had gotten since spring break. After the Todd Roberts debacle, she had been gun shy about dating anyone else.

It took her almost a month to get over the feeling that everyone was laughing behind her back about the entire incident. She had put up a good front but her self-esteem and confidence had suffered dearly. Diana and Honey had both been very supportive of Trixie and had tried to convince her that people weren’t talking.

Trixie had just about begun to believe them when she overheard Jane Morgan in the restroom going on about how naïve Trixie had been. It had taken all of Trixie’s courage to walk out of the stall, wash her hands and walk past Jane and her friends with her head held high.

Dan and Mart, along with the rest of the basketball team, had also tried to help. When word had leaked out about what Todd had done to Trixie, they were livid. Trixie was like one of the boys to them. Whenever they were short a person for a pick-up game of basketball, they’d ask her. They had often wondered why Trixie never went out for the high school girl’s team.

It had been easy to get into the habit of spending at least portions of Friday and Saturday night studying. The good news was that her grades were the best she’d ever had. The bad news was she felt like she was hiding from something she wasn’t responsible for. Hopefully things would change this summer when she no longer had the excuse of homework.

Trixie sat down to try to figure out the organic chemistry Mr. Stone had introduced earlier in the week. It took awhile to figure out what he had meant but with a little work she felt she would be able to do well on the final.

When she glanced up at the clock, she realized it was almost eight. She had been so absorbed in her homework that she hadn’t even heard the rest of the family begin to stir. After putting away her books, she headed downstairs for some breakfast before beginning her Saturday morning chores.

As she bounded down the steps, she almost tripped over Reddy, who lay sleeping right at the bottom of the stairs. That startled Trixie since Reddy would usually be found in the kitchen getting under Moms’ feet while she prepared breakfast.

“Sorry, Reddy,” she said. “Are you ready to go outside for a bit?”

Reddy raised his head and gave a slow thump of his tail but didn’t move any further. As Trixie left the room, he put his head back down and returned to his nap.

“Good morning, Moms,” Trixie said as she walked behind her and gave her a hug. “Where’s everyone else?”

Moms reached around and gave her daughter a quick hug and then returned to making pancakes without missing a beat. “Your father had to run to the bank this morning. There was some sort of crisis, but he said he’d be back soon. Mart and Brian haven’t come downstairs yet, although I heard the shower going so it shouldn’t be long before they show their faces. Bobby has already left. He’s with the Lynch twins. Their class decided to put together a float for the Memorial Day parade and they’re putting the finishing touches on it this morning.”

Just then two sets of feet could be heard tromping down the stairs. Suddenly, it sounded like someone had tripped and Reddy let out a yelp. Before Moms or Trixie could go and investigate, they heard. “Reddy, why don’t you go and sleep in the family room where you’re out of the way?” It appeared that Mart had been the one to trip over the dog.

A couple of minutes later, Mart, Brian and a very slow moving Reddy had come into the kitchen. Reddy decided to lay down right in front of the sink, right where most of the work was being done.

“Reddy,” Moms scolded. “You need to move.”

Reddy looked up at Moms as if to say, “Sorry, but you’ll have to work around me.”

Moms sighed in frustration, “Brian, will you try and get Reddy to go outside? Unless your father let him out before he left, he hasn’t been out since last night.”

All three siblings looked at Moms in surprise. More often than not, the dog would wake someone in the family to let him outside long before they were ready to get out of bed.

Brian gently prodded Reddy to get up and go outside. After putting him out, he came back inside. “Boy,” he said. “Reddy sure doesn’t seem like himself these days.”

Trixie shrugged. She hadn’t realized what a change there had been. Everything had been so gradual, but now that she thought about it, he did seem to be moving rather slowly.

“I guess we’d better make an appointment with the vet,” said Moms.

The conversation then turned to what everyone was planning on doing for the rest of the day. Talk of Reddy died down and no one thought to let the dog back in. Usually, if he wanted to be let in, he would let someone know by barking at the back door.

When breakfast was finished and the kitchen cleaned up, everyone scattered to do their chores. Brian and Mart had promised Dan they would help patrol the preserve and repair some feeders that had been damaged over the winter. They wanted to get it done before the sun was high over head. With the recent rains, the preserve was rather humid and once the sun was high, it could start to feel like a sauna.

Trixie had decided to do the indoor work first before it got too warm. Even though it was still May, the weather forecast called for temperatures in the eighties for the day. Trixie just hoped the meteorologists were wrong about the possible thunderstorms tonight. She was looking forward to the moonlight ride and late dinner with the B.W.G.’s. They hadn’t been on one as a group since last summer.

It hadn’t taken long to get the living room and family room dusted, run the vacuum in both rooms, and straighten up her bedroom. Over the past few years she had discovered that it was much easier to put things away than to have to clean them up later. Her dirty clothes could still usually be found on the floor, but at least it was the floor of the closet and not strewn around her entire bedroom.

As Trixie headed out the door to pick the eggs and feed and water the chickens, she realized that no one had let Reddy back in after breakfast. She looked for the dog as she headed to the chicken coop.

“Oh, where did that dog run off to now?” she muttered. “I hope he didn’t follow Mart and Brian to the preserve, especially if Patch is with them.”

Trixie fed and watered the chickens and got the eggs picked. As she headed back to the house, she looked out into the crabapple trees. She noticed how pretty they were with their blooms and thought that, with all of the blooms, she and her mom would be canning a lot of crabapple jelly in the fall. She stopped in her tracks when she realized that next fall might be the last time she would be helping her mother can jelly for a few years. She would be off to college and wouldn’t be able to come home every weekend if she wanted to keep her grades up.

Slowly, she realized that Reddy was lying among the trees sleeping. This alarmed Trixie. Reddy liked playing among the trees but if he were going to sleep outside he would do so on the terrace with the sun warming him.

“Reddy,” she called. “Come on. Let’s go inside.”

Reddy didn’t move.

“Reddy, come,” she called again.

Still no response.

“That dog,” she muttered under her breath. “All of us trying to teach him to obey years ago and he still hasn’t figured it out.”

She set the egg basket on the porch steps and then walked back to the apple orchard to coax Reddy back into the house.

“Come on, Reddy. I’ve got a treat for you.” She was about ten feet from the dog. He looked like he was sleeping soundly, however he still didn’t move. By now Trixie was getting concerned. She raced up to Reddy and gently shook the beloved dog. There was no response.

Tears welled in Trixie’s eyes as she sat on the ground and took the unresponsive dog in her arms and hugged him. “Oh, Reddy, what happened?”

Trixie gently pulled the dog over to a tree, sat down and leaned her back against it and just sat there hugging Reddy, tears flowing down her eyes.

Trixie had no idea how long she had been sitting with the dog in her arms. She came back to reality when she heard a dog barking in the distance. For a second she thought it was Reddy barking and this had been just a bad dream. When she looked down into her arms, she realized she was wrong.

The happy barking suddenly stopped and was replaced by mournful howling. Trixie looked up to see Jim’s Springer spaniel, Patch, cautiously approaching her. The dog instinctively knew his pal was no longer with them.

“Here, Patch,” Trixie called out, holding her hand to him. Slowly, the dog made his way over to Trixie. With compassion that Trixie didn’t understand, the dog sat down next to Trixie and Reddy and placed his head on her lap next to Reddy’s. Tears fell harder down Trixie’s face and suddenly she broke into a heart-wrenching sob.

She didn’t hear Jim calling out for Patch or his approach. It wasn’t until he sat down on the other side of her that she even recognized him. Then she just nodded and sobbed some more. Gently, Jim placed his arm around Trixie. She turned her head into his shoulder and continued to weep.

“If only I’d picked eggs sooner,” Trixie sobbed. “Maybe he would still be alive.”

Jim didn’t say anything for a long time. He just let Trixie cry and say whatever it was she wanted to say. He realized that she really didn’t need his advice or ideas. She just needed to talk out her feelings and cry.

Tears started to well in Jim’s eyes as well. Reddy had been a nuisance at times, but he had also been a true and loyal friend. He had gotten help when he, Brian and Trixie had been stranded in old school house waiting out a snowstorm. Of course, he had also been the reason they were out in the storm. Jim had never been too upset over that though because that night confirmed how much he really liked Trixie.

He remembered how Reddy and Patch had gotten into so much trouble that first summer he moved to Sleepyside. Reddy’s spirit would be missed.

Finally, Trixie had cried all the tears she thought she had in her. She gently placed Reddy on the ground and stood up. After dusting herself off, she instinctively grabbed for Jim’s hand. “We’d better go and break the news to everyone else. Bobby won’t be back until later but we can let everyone else know,” she said.

“Where is Bobby?” Jim asked. Bobby had some sort of internal radar that always knew when Jim was around. He had learned to respect Trixie and Jim’s relationship when they were dating. That didn’t mean that he wouldn’t bother Jim, he just knew when to back off.

“He left earlier with the Lynches. Their class was putting together a float for the Memorial Day parade and it needed some finishing touches.” Trixie took a deep, shuddering breath to try and quell the tears that threatened again. “How am I going to tell him his best friend has died?”

“You’ll find a way that will be compassionate. I think he suspected something was happening,” Jim said. “He tried one last time to train Reddy. Even though he seemed to be successful, I think Bobby knew that Reddy was getting older.”

Jim gently placed Reddy under the tree and started to walk back to the house with Trixie. He whistled to Patch to follow but Patch just stood as if at attention next to Reddy, standing watch so nothing would happen to his beloved friend.

“Oh, there you are,” said Moms as the two walked into the kitchen. Trixie had picked up the basket of eggs and had gone over to the sink to rinse them off before putting them in the refrigerator. Moms looked up from the piecrust she was rolling up and greeted Jim. “I was wondering what had happened to Trixie. Now I know.” Moms’ eyes twinkled. She didn’t notice the stiffness and red eyes of either young adult.

Trixie continued to rinse the eggs and put them away. As she did, she tried to quell the tears that once again flowed down her cheeks. For several minutes, no one said anything. Jim stood uncomfortably in the doorway not sure what to do as Trixie struggled with her emotions.

Finally, Moms looked up from her task and realized something was wrong. Trixie’s shoulders shook as the tears returned. Jim had rushed over to her and turned her around pulling her into another embrace.

“What’s wrong, Trixie,” Moms said. “Have you been having trouble with Jane Morgan?” Moms had been surprised at how long it had taken Trixie to recover from the Todd Roberts incident. She also knew that raging hormones sent Trixie in a tizzy and made her uncharacteristically emotional.

“No, Mrs. Belden,” Jim replied. “Trixie found Reddy in the crabapple orchard. He went down there when he was let out this morning and laid down and died.”

Mrs. Belden gasped and then grabbed the corner of her apron to dab away the tears that had formed in her eyes. “Oh, dear,” she said. “I knew that Reddy had been acting strangely lately but I just thought it was the change in weather. I should have realized something was wrong and called the vet sooner.”

“It won’t change anything by playing ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda’, Mrs. Belden” Jim tried to comfort her. “Reddy was getting old. He knew it was his time and he wanted to cause the least amount of heartache.”

Not knowing what else to do, Moms returned to making her pie. In times of stress, she found that keeping her hands busy helped her deal with the stress. People often had commented on what a good baker she was. She didn’t tell anyone how her baking skills had improved so much after Trixie had announced she was going to be a private detective when she grew up.

Once Trixie had her emotions in control again, she felt like she needed to take control of the situation. “What should we do with Reddy?” she asked. “It’s supposed to get really warm today. We can’t just leave him.”

The three were in serious discussion when Brian and Mart came into the kitchen. They looked tired and grubby from working all morning in the preserve.

“Moms, you are a gem. Do I smell another apple pie?” said Mart. He came up behind her to give her a grateful hug. He stopped mid-hug when he looked over at Trixie and realized she had been crying. Immediately, his back straightened, thinking Jim had said something to upset her. “What’s the matter?” He cast a wary eye at Jim and realized that he was almost as upset as Trixie.

Quietly, Jim simply said, “Trixie found Reddy dead in the apple orchard.”

The wind rushed out of both Brian’s and Mart’s lungs. “You’re kidding right?” said Mart, refusing to believe it could be true.

Fresh tears came to Trixie’s eyes as she explained what had happened. Before she could get the final words out of her mouth, Brian and Mart had turned and raced outside to confirm what Trixie had said.

Patch was still standing watch over his friend as the four Bob-Whites approached Reddy. Trixie and Jim held back while Mart and Brian walked up to the dogs. Mart knelt down next to Reddy and let the tears flow. Brian walked out into the orchard to deal with his grief. All the time Patch still stood at attention.

Jim put his arm around Trixie as they watched her brothers deal with their grief. “We do need to make some sort of plan,” he said.

“Well, we can’t do anything until Bobby gets home. He’s going to be devastated and if we don’t let him say goodbye, he’s never going to forgive any of us.”

Mart stood up and walked over to Trixie and Jim. “I agree, but we can prepare things.”

“I think we should bury him in the orchard,” said Trixie. “We don’t have to put a permanent grave marker but we could put something there so that we know where Reddy rests. He loved running through the orchard.”

The three friends discussed what they were going to do for several minutes. Brian had still not returned.

Brian had walked away from Reddy because he couldn’t control his emotions and felt that, as the oldest, he had to be in control of them. As soon as he got out of earshot, he sat down next to a tree and sobbed. He was kicking himself for not realizing something was wrong with his beloved dog. How was he going to be a good doctor if he couldn’t tell when his dog was ill? He knew in his mind that he was being unreasonable, but his heart just ached too much.

Reddy had been such a good friend. Only Jim and Honey knew what an important sounding board Reddy had been to him. When he started doubting whether he would make it through pre-med, much less medical school, he voiced his concerns to Reddy. The dog listened without judging or giving any opinion. Reddy would just sit there, often with his head in Brian’s lap and offer looks of encouragement. Now who would be that sounding board?

Brian had no idea how long he sat out in the grove. He knew that it had to be some time because the sun was way overhead and his stomach was grumbling. At some point, Patch had come over to comfort him. He didn’t lay his head on Brian, sensing that would be his undoing. Instead he just sat down as close to Brian as he could get.

Suddenly, Brian felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up and was amazed to see Honey. He scrambled to his feet and embraced her. Somehow, Honey had known something was wrong and that he needed her. Later, he would learn that Trixie had called her, broken the news and asked her to come over and be with Brian.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Brian whispered into Honey’s hair. “I keep thinking that maybe if I had just come home more often I would have noticed the change in Reddy and maybe the vet could have helped him.”

“You can’t beat yourself up about what you could have done, Brian,” Honey comforted. “Reddy had lived longer than anyone could have expected. It was just his time.”

Honey tightened her hug and reached up and placed a kiss on Brian’s cheek. “I know you’ve lost a good friend. You have to allow yourself to grieve.”

Brian lifted his head and looked off into the trees. “It seems so stupid to be upset over a dog. It’s not like he was one of the family.”

“That’s where you are wrong, Brian,” Honey said. “Reddy was just as much a part of the family as anyone else. Sure, he didn’t have chores to do and he didn’t share the dinner table with you, but he still was an important and loved member of your family. You need to allow yourself to grieve. No one is going to think you are crazy for doing so. Everyone in your family is going to grieve in some way or another.”

“I know, Honey, you’re right. I just dread telling Bobby about it. He is going to be devastated.”

“He won’t be any more devastated than you, or Mart, or Trixie. In some ways he may handle it the easiest because he won’t be as concerned about showing his feelings. Trixie thinks he already suspected this was coming for a couple of weeks. I don’t think he even realized what he had done and that guilt will be the hardest thing for him to realize.”

Slowly, Honey and Brian made their way back to the house. When he arrived he saw that Dan and Diana had joined Mart, Trixie, and Jim on the terrace. Before he knew it, Brian was engulfed in a B.W.G. group hug. It was just what he had needed.

It had been decided, with Mr. and Mrs. Belden’s permission, that they would bury Reddy in the apple orchard. Dan and Jim would go and prepare the grave so that when Bobby returned and was ready, the dog could be buried. While everyone thought a ceremony would be a bit much, they did want to put Reddy to rest in a respectable way.

Brian and Mart set about gathering up some of Reddy’s favorite toys. They didn’t want to just throw them away so they decided to bury them with Reddy.

Honey, Diana and Trixie went to Trixie’s room and started to write down memories they had of Reddy. They wanted to start the list while it was fresh in their minds. Diana loved to do scrapbooks and the three of them decided to make one to remember Reddy.

Moms prepared a light lunch for all of the Bob-Whites before they finished their tasks. Uncharacteristically, conversation was almost absent from the table during the meal. Everyone’s thoughts were elsewhere. They had all gotten over their initial shock of Reddy dying but still were distracted by all that had happened.

Bobby returned about one o’clock after having lunch at Wimpy’s with Larry and Terry and their dad. Larry and Terry had come inside with him as Bobby had invited them over earlier in the day with the excuse that they were going to practice baseball. The three younger boys bounded into the kitchen and for several minutes they talked non-stop.

Several classes had decided to do floats for the Memorial Day parade. Each class was assigned a different war in which to honor the fallen. Bobby’s class had been assigned the Vietnam War.

“We’ve got the coolest float,” said Bobby. “We took a small snowmobile trailer and covered it with black plastic. Then we took plywood and spray painted it shiny black. Joey Lambert’s dad helped to stand up the plywood on end. It looks just like The Wall.”

“Yeah,” said Larry. “Some of the girls did some research and found the names of people from the surrounding areas that are on The Wall in Washington, D.C. They then lettered those names in gold on the wall so they would be big enough for everyone to see.”

“I didn’t realize how many names I recognized,” Terry commented. “Did you know that Lester Mundy’s uncle was killed over there?”

The Bob-Whites tried to show some enthusiasm toward what the younger boys were talking about. No one wanted to be the one to break the bad news.

Finally, Bobby asked, “So what’s up? I thought you weren’t going to get together until later this evening for a ride and picnic?” Suddenly, he really noticed his siblings and their friends. It looked like Trixie was crying. With the exception of around spring break, Trixie never cried. But then Mart’s and Brian’s eyes looked red as well. Even Jim looked sad.

Trixie, Mart and Brian looked at each other, their glances speaking without using words. The three got up and walked over to Bobby. Trixie realized she didn’t have to kneel down to look Bobby in the eye. He had gotten so tall lately he was almost ready to pass her in height even though he was only ten.

“Bobby,” Trixie said softly. “When I went out to pick eggs this morning I found Reddy in the apple orchard.”

Bobby, not really wanting to think about what Trixie was saying, said, “Reddy always loves to chase squirrels in the orchard. What’s so special about that?”

Brian gently placed his hand on Bobby’s shoulder and continued, “Reddy wasn’t chasing squirrels, Bobby. You’ve been the one who has noticed Reddy had slowed down over the past few months.”

Bobby nodded as he started to feel tears pool in his eyes. He didn’t say anything.

Mart broke the news to Bobby. “Reddy died,” he simply said.

To everyone’s surprise, Bobby seemed to take it the best. He didn’t try to deny what he had been told or get angry about him being just a dog. Larry and Terry, who knew what a great friend Reddy had been to Bobby, went over and stood next to him to comfort him. They were at that awkward age where hugging a friend was uncomfortable so they just stood by him.

“Where is he?” Bobby finally asked.

Jim walked over to Bobby and placed a hand on his shoulder. “He’s still out in the orchard. Patch has been standing watch over him since he found Trixie with Reddy this morning.”

Dan joined Jim by Bobby, Larry and Terry. “Your parents have agreed to let Reddy be buried in the orchard. We have the hole dug but were waiting for you. It’s supposed to be hot today so we don’t want to wait too long or the vultures might start surrounding him.”

Bobby nodded. “I hope you weren’t planning some big fancy funeral for a dog.”

“No, Bobby,” Trixie replied. “We weren’t going to do anything elaborate but we did want to find a nice place for him. He was too good of a friend to all of us to just dig a hole anywhere.”

Bobby nodded and then turned to go outside. Larry and Terry started to follow but Diana stopped them. “Let him go out there by himself,” she said. “I don’t think he wants anyone to see him cry. We’ll give him a few minutes and then we’ll all go out to be with him.”

While they waited, Mart and Brian showed everyone the things they had found. There was an old ratty tennis ball that Mart had used to try to teach Reddy to fetch with. They’d also found an old worn out blanket that had been washed many times. Reddy had slept with that blanket since he was a baby. The friends reminisced some more about Reddy and the things he had gotten into.

After about ten minutes, Trixie said, “Well, let’s go see how Bobby’s doing. He could probably use a good friend about now.”

As the group approached Bobby, Reddy, and Patch, they could see that Bobby had finally broken down and cried. They could hear him talking to Reddy.

“You’re just a stupid old dog,” Bobby cried. “I don’t know why I care so much. You never listened and always got me into trouble. I’m never going to have another pet again.”

Trixie raced over to be with Bobby while the rest held back. “It’s okay to cry, Bobby,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “He was an important part of our family and it hurts that he won’t be with us anymore.”

Finally, Bobby turned into Trixie’s arms and freely let the tears flow. “I noticed he wasn’t doing as well and I didn’t do anything about it. I hoped I was just imagining it and soon Reddy would be like his old self.”

“Don’t blame yourself, sweetie,” Trixie said. “Reddy was old and it was time. I think he waited until he knew you were gone so you wouldn’t have to be the one to find him.”

Mart and Brian had joined Trixie. They each gave Bobby their trademark man-shake. Then the group went about laying their beloved dog to rest.

Trixie went in to get Moms while Brian and Bobby gently carried the dog over to where Jim and Dan had dug the grave. Patch followed them at a respectful distance. When they reached the grave he sat down at attention to guard the group. Carefully, they placed the dog into the hole. Mart placed the blanket and ball in it as well. There were no words said as all of the young people each were caught up in their own thoughts.

Dan and Jim began filling the hole with dirt. Trixie stood next to Bobby to offer comfort if he needed. No tears were shed as the hole was filled. Bobby hadn’t wanted to place a marker on the grave. He knew where it was and would never forget it. He knew Reddy would not need a grave marker to be remembered.

It was Trixie who suggested they carve Reddy’s name in the closest crabapple tree as an informal marker. She suggested that should they get another pet, the tree could become a memorial to all of them. Everyone thought that was a good idea.

One by one, the group left the grave. It was Jim who was the last to leave. Patch gave one last mournful howl and then turned to follow his master at his command. Jim slowly walked back through the orchard to the farm. It was mid-afternoon and he wanted to have some time to himself. He knew that he would have a difficult time dealing with the passing of Reddy. He always had troubles with death. Just when he thought things were going well, he would lose someone or something special to him. It felt like he could never be truly happy.

Having taken quite a few psychology classes, he knew that wasn’t the case. But getting his mind to tell his heart was something completely different. He tried to deal with the problems on his own. He didn’t want to burden anyone else and the only person he really felt comfortable talking it over with was Trixie.

Well, at least that had been the case up until January. Sure his relationship with Trixie was better than it had been, and he knew in his heart that they would eventually get back together. It was just that right now he didn’t trust himself to confide in her. Once again, his mind understood where Trixie stood and he respected her for recognizing her need to do some growing. And once again his heart seemed to be in conflict with his mind.

When he reached the farm he turned to Brian, who was standing with the rest of the B.W.G.’s, and said, “I’m going to head back home. We’re still on for tonight, aren’t we?”

“I don’t know,” said Brian. “I’m not sure how everyone else feels about it.”

Trixie had overheard the conversation and interjected. “Well, I think we should go. It will be good for all of us. It’s all I’ve thought about for the last week.”

After some discussion, everyone agreed the moonlight ride was just what was needed. Trixie was a little worried about Bobby, but plans had previously been made that Larry and Terry would be spending the night at Crabapple Farm while the Bob-Whites had a house party at Manor House planned.

“If we’re going to go riding, I’d better go down and remind Regan. I don’t want him to get mad at us for not exercising the horses,” Jim said.

Trixie knew that it was just an excuse for Jim to get away. Mart and Brian had spoken with Regan earlier in the morning before they went out with Dan to patrol. She knew that Jim would be having a difficult time with Reddy’s death. She had recalled how upset Jim had been when Matthew Wheeler’s great-uncle had died and Jim had never even met him. It had been the same when Dan had had to make the decision to put old Spartan down last summer because he had become so arthritic.

Trixie made a note to herself to make sure to talk privately to Jim that evening. It would be hard because, as much as she knew she wasn’t ready to resume her dating relationship with Jim, she was also experiencing lots of special feelings toward him that had never really gone away.

 

 

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