Mystery in Arizona (20 page)

“Look out!” Trixie shouted. “You almost sat on a box yourself.”

Mart jumped. “Wow! That was close.”

And then Jim, backing down from the top of the ladder, bumped into him, and Mart was forced to step on the very box of ornaments he had just avoided.

Honey and Di went off into gales of laughter while Mart hopped around trying to free his foot. But Trixie didn’t think it was funny at all.

“One whole box of beautiful red balls ruined,” she wailed when she finally examined the contents of the box. “That settles it. You boys clear out while we girls trim the tree.”

“Delighted,” Mart said with a bow. “We shall return to the culinary department where our services are both needed and appreciated.”

“Are you really going to make a chocolate sauce to serve with the turkey tonight?” Di asked.

“I’m brewing it right now,” Mart informed her airily. “Early this morning I cooked all three kinds of chili—
pasillo, ancho
, and
negro
—and then I ground them. I am now about to add to the chili fried and ground spices which include almond, raisins, chocolate, cinnamon, pepper, sesame, anise, and cloves.”

“That’s enough!” Trixie, pretending to gag, pushed Mart out of the living-room. “It may look like a watery chocolate pudding when you’ve finished it but I’ll bet it burns like fury.”

“It does,” Mart assured her. “It is not intended for unsophisticated little morons like you.” He fled, laughing.

“No kidding?” Brian asked. “Can you girls carry on by yourselves? Mrs. Sherman doesn’t really need us while she’s stuffing the turkeys although I did promise to fix the
guacamole
for lunch.”

“What is
guacamole?
” Di asked.

“You’ve eaten it every single meal except breakfast ever since you arrived. It’s that ever-present side dish of mashed alligator pears, tomatoes, onion, and a bit of chili. My
guacamole
, of course,” he finished, “has a very distinctive flavor.”

“So did your burnt bacon this morning,” Trixie informed him, her blue eyes twinkling. “And in answer to your question, yes we
can
trim the tree without your help.”

Jim looked doubtful. “Whoever trims the top branches will have to climb up on the ladder.”

“Naturally,” Trixie retorted, “since we haven’t got wings. What’s so wonderful about climbing a ladder?”

“Well, see that you don’t pitch headlong into the tree and break all the decorations.” He and Brian departed.

“How do you like that?” Honey demanded, giggling. “It’s the decoration my beloved adopted brother is worrying about. He doesn’t care whether we break our
necks or not. Furthermore, Trixie Belden, I have no intention of climbing that ladder. Just thinking about those top branches makes me dizzy.”

“Me, too,” Di agreed.

“Pooh,” said Trixie. “I’m not afraid of heights. Let’s start at the top and work down.” She clambered up the ladder. “Hand the stuff up to me.”

“How about these blue and silver balls?” Di asked.

Trixie nodded. “They’re the smallest and should go on top.”

As they worked, her thoughts wandered back to Mr. Wellington and she said again, “I wish there was some way we could make his kids come here. Mr. Wellington’s, I mean. It would be such a wonderful Christmas present for him.”

“I know,” Di agreed. “It was really very mean of them to disappoint him. If we knew their names and where they were staying I’d call them up and tell them what I think of them!”

“Rosita is someone else who bothers me,” Trixie continued. “She’s just got to go back to school at the end of the holidays. But I haven’t thought of any way of solving her problems, have you?”

“No,” Honey replied, “especially since she won’t discuss them with us. If she weren’t so proud I’d talk her
into borrowing the four hundred dollars she needs from Daddy. I know he’d love to lend it to her and she could easily pay him back after she starts working as a flight stewardess.”

“My father would be glad to lend her the money, too,” Di added. “And so would Uncle Monty, I’m sure. But since we aren’t supposed to know that she needs money, what can we do?”

Just then Uncle Monty burst in from the east patio, and right behind him were a pretty young girl and two tall boys.

“Guess what?” he shouted, rubbing his hands together gleefully. “Mr. Wellington’s children have arrived unexpectedly.”

“Wha-at?” Trixie almost fell off the top of the ladder.

The girl moved forward, smiling. “I’m Sally Wellington, and I can guess who you all are from the descriptions Dad gave us in his letters.” She shook her finger at each one in turn. “Trixie, Di, and Honey. Right?”

“Right,” they chorused in amazement.

Sally introduced her brothers then. “Bob is Mart’s age,” she said, “and Billy is a little bit older than Jim. And as you can see, they’re both as dark as Brian.”

“My goodness!” Honey cried. “Your father must have sent you colored pictures of us!”

“Almost,” Billy replied, laughing. “He wrote us reams about you kids and made everything here sound so wonderful that we decided to fly out after all. But,” he added, lowering his voice, “we want it to be a surprise. Do you think you can hide us somewhere until this evening?” he asked Uncle Monty.

“Certainly,” he replied. “Come on. You can hide in your own cabin. It’s been kept ready for you right along.”

“Is that right?” Bob looked very shamefaced. “Gosh, Dad must have been hoping against hope that we’d change our minds.”

Trixie climbed down from the ladder. “He was terribly disappointed when you told him you weren’t going to spend Christmas with him,” she said soberly. “And I don’t think you should wait until this evening to let him know that you’re here. You’ve been cruel enough to him as it is without—without,” she finished, flushing, “prolonging the agony.”

“I agree with Trix,” Di said staunchly, and Honey nodded vehemently.

“The girls are right,” Uncle Monty added. “Your father is down by the pool. Don’t you want to go to him now?” He started off toward the door to the west patio.

Sally’s cheeks were even redder than Trixie’s. “Yes, we do,” she almost shouted, and grabbing her brothers’ hands she raced off after Uncle Monty.

When the glass doors were closed behind them, Trixie said with satisfaction, “Well, that’s that. If only we could solve Rosita’s problems as easily!”

The Christmas Eve party turned out to be, as everyone agreed, the best party imaginable. The supper which Mrs. Sherman produced with the help of the boys was a delicious mixture of American and Mexican cooking.

Afterward they all trooped into the living-room where the
piñata
, in the shape of a reindeer, hung from the ceiling. One by one the guests were blindfolded and given a chance to break the
piñata
. Most came nowhere near it, wandering, helpless with laughter, in exactly the opposite direction.

And then to the amazement of everyone, little Miss Jane Brown walked straight across to a spot directly under the reindeer, raised the stick and with one
whack
broke it. Down came a shower of little presents, each one labeled with the name of a guest. Even Sally Wellington and her brothers were included, because Uncle Monty had made a special last-minute trip to town in order to buy gifts for the three of them.

Sally’s present was a tiny silver bobsled to put on her charm bracelet.

“It’s lovely,” she cried delightedly. “And just what I needed. I’ve got something to represent all of the other outdoor sports already. See?” She held out her graceful arm so that Trixie, Di, and Honey could look at the charms as she pointed to them one at a time. “Golf clubs, a tennis racket, sailboat, hockey stick, croquet mallet, polo mallet, bowling ball, skis, boxing gloves, surfboard—”

“Whoa,” her brother Billy interrupted with a shout. “Listing your charms could go on forever.”

“Thank you,” Sally said with a little curtsy. “I knew that other boys thought I was charming, but I didn’t realize my own dear brothers appreciated me so much.”

“Ugh,” Bob groaned. “She got us that time, Billy. And we’ll never hear the end of it.” He turned to Trixie and confided in a loud whisper, “Sally was born vain and we’ve been trying to cure her of it ever since she was in the playpen stage.”

Sally, who was very pretty, blushed. She had Honey’s coloring—hazel eyes and golden-brown hair—and Trixie thought she had a perfect right to be vain.

She’s nice, too
, Trixie told herself.
All of the Wellingtons are nice and lots of fun. We’ll have grand times together during the rest of the holidays
.

“I am not vain,” Sally was saying. “Oh, isn’t it
awful, Trixie, to have two brothers who do nothing but tease you from morning to night?”

“It is,” Trixie agreed. “Actually, I am blessed with three brothers, and all of them are awful nuisances.”

Mart and Brian hooted in unison with Bob and Billy Wellington.

“Could anything be worse than having a sister?” they asked one another in loud voices, and replied to their own questions immediately, “Nothing except having two sisters.”

Trixie and Sally pretended to ignore them, and Sally said pointedly, “Good heavens, don’t tell me you have another one of the awful creatures at home? Is he older or younger?”

“Younger,” said Trixie. “He’s Petey’s age.”

Sally frowned. “Petey? Who’s he?”

Trixie tried to explain about the Orlandos and their mysterious disappearances, but all of the other Bob-Whites insisted upon joining in so nobody made much sense. At last Bob Wellington held up his hand for silence.

“Enough, enough,” he begged. “This is Christmas Eve, not Halloween. Let there be no more talk of skeletons and giant apes and men with green faces and red horns.”

“I agree,” said Billy heartily. “But one thing is certain: If you kids are working to take their places here at the ranch, we’re going to help you.”

“We certainly are,” Sally added. “And with all of us working, there should be plenty of free time for riding and sight-seeing.”

“Great!” the Bob-Whites shouted.

“We don’t need any more cooks,” Jim added. “Too many would spoil the broth. Mrs. Sherman’s broth,” he explained in a whisper. “But the girls could probably use some help in the housekeeping department.”

“We certainly could,” Trixie announced crisply. “Who is the best bed-maker in the Wellington family?”

“I am,” Sally said dismally when her brothers, instead of replying, stared up at the ceiling, whistling and tapping their feet. “But I don’t like to make beds and I’m not much better than the boys.”

“That settles it,” said Trixie. “I hereby appoint Bob Wellington to take my place.”

Bob groaned, covering his face with his hands and cringing elaborately.

“And to think,” he moaned, “that like Mark Twain said when he got seasick, I got myself into this of my own free will.”

“Trixie needs someone to take her place,” Honey
said quickly. “She has to study for a while every day, you know. And Jim and Brian do give her such dreadfully hard problems.”

“Oh?” Billy and Bob gave Trixie inquiring glances.

Trixie’s cheeks flamed. “I’m being tutored,” she confessed ashamedly.

“That’s something,” Sally said quickly and cheerfully, “that ought to be happening to me. That is, if I hope to pass the midyears.”

“Let’s don’t talk about such unpleasant subjects,” Di begged. “Not on Christmas Eve anyway. I’m not being tutored and I probably won’t pass the midyears, but I don’t want to think about it now.”

“Suits me,” said Billy. “Anyway, all kidding aside, you kids can count on us to help with anything you need us for as of now. You know that goes without saying, don’t you?” His brother and sister smiled in agreement.

The Bob-Whites nodded.
The Wellingtons are swell kids
, Trixie thought.
Why, it’s almost as though they
are
Bob-Whites. Maybe some day they will become members
.

As though she had been reading her mind, Sally tucked her hand through Trixie’s arm and said, “And let’s don’t say good-by at the end of the holidays. Our schools aren’t far from where you live in the Hudson
River Valley. Maybe you’ll invite us to spend a weekend with you and maybe next summer you’ll come and spend some time with us in our home.”

“Oh, that would be just wonderful,” Honey cried. “We have lots of room at our house for all of you.”

“There’s lots of room at my house, too,” Di put in. “Mother and Daddy would love to have you.”

“But haven’t you two sets of twins for kid brothers and sisters?” Sally asked. “Your uncle told us you did. So you couldn’t have enough room for us, too.”

“Di’s place is enormous,” Trixie said, “and so is the Manor House where Honey and Jim live. Our place is small, but we could double up so you could stay with us, though not as comfortably as you would with either Honey or Di.”

“Your place must be enormous, too,” Brian said to Bob, “if you’re inviting all of us to visit you. But we accept.”

“Yes, yes, you can count on us, old things,” said Mart, making a monocle out of his thumb and forefinger. Peering through it he added, “However, you can also count on our arriving bag and baggage which means we’ll supply our own pup tents and sleeping bags.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Sally said with a giggle. “We have plenty of room and Daddy would love to have you. He’s so fond of you all and we think it was simply swell of you to adopt him until we arrived.” Again she blushed. “We’re all awfully ashamed of ourselves now for having let him down before. It was very thoughtless of us.” Her voice died away.