Author's Note

Trixie and Mart have always been described as "Almost" Twins….But what if they actually were twins? Would things have been different?

Disclaimer: I don't own the Trixie Belden Book Series or the Events, Characters Etc.. They belong to their rightful owners. On a side note In some of the TB fanfiction I've read I really dislike how the characters have been modernized(CellPhones etc…) because the books begin in 1948 and continued to mostly take place in the early 1950s.

The Secret of The Mansion

A Trixie Belden Mystery #1

By Julie Campbell

(As Adapted Unofficially by Itsahopeforallthehopeless)

Chapter 1. The Haunted House

"Oh, Moms" Trixie moaned dramatically running her hands through her short sandy curls. "I'll just die if I don't get a Horse!".

Helen Belden looked up from the row of tomato plants she was currently transplanting into the fenced in garden. "Trixie" she sighed trying to look stern, "if you truly died as many times as you've said you would in a day, you'd have to be cat with nine lives".

"I don't care " Trixie wailed tears of indignation welling up in her eyes. She scooped up a fat brown worm, Watching it wriggle in her palm before gently returning it to the earthy ground.

Mrs. Belden sighed, "Last summer i recall you claimed the same fate if we didn't get you a bike". Trixie absently gathered a handful of dirt in her hand allowing it to cascade through her fingers, "But Moms, I'm so bored" she pouted.

"Why don't you go see what your brother is up to?" Mrs. Belden suggested growing tired of this conversation. "I can't find him anywhere" Trixie replied, "I wish Brian wasn't away at camp".

Mrs. Belden stood up, frowning in the glare of the hot July sun. "Now listen Trixie, once and for all if you really want a horse like the one you fell in love with at the county fair yesterday, you will have to earn the money yourself. You know perfectly well the only reason Brian could go to camp is because he was old enough to get a position working as a junior counselor".

Crabapple Farm, Trixie reflected really was a wonderful place to live, and she had always had a lot of fun there, but she did wish there was another girl nearby, after all she could only spend so much time with her twin brother Mart before she wanted to scream. The big estate known as the Manor House, which bordered the Belden property on the west had been vacant ever since trixie could remember.

There were no other homes nearby except the crumbling mansion on the eastern hill, where queer old Mr. Frayne lived alone. The three estates faced a quiet country road two miles from the small town of Sleepyside that nestled among the rolling hills on the east bank of the Hudson River. Trixie's Father Peter Belden worked in the bank in sleepyside, and Trixie and her brothers went to the town school.

She had many friends in Sleepyside , but Trixie rarely saw them except when school was in session. Now that her brother Brian had gone to camp, there was nobody but her little brother Bobby and Her bothersome Twin Brother Mart to spend time with.

Trixie impatiently kicked a hole of the dusty path with her shoe."It's not fair. You wouldn't let me try for a job as a waitress or anything. Maybe Mart and I could have gone to camp too.". "You're only thirteen," Her mother reminded patiently.

"Next year we might consider something of that sort. Dad and I are really sorry dear" She added gently, "That we couldn't afford to send the two of you to camp this year.". Trixie suddenly felt very ashamed of herself, and she impulsively threw her arms around her mother. "Oh, I know Moms, I'm such a pest to nag at you. I won't ask anymore I promise!."

"You can start earning your money for a horse right here, sweetheart" Mrs. Belden said laughing. "There's plenty of chores to do around here. I'll pay you a little something every week if you help me with Bobby and the Housework. And I know Dad would be glad to increase your allowance if you do some weeding in the garden daily and get along with your brothers."

"Oh Moms" Trixie squeezed her mother tighter."That sounds wonderful, perhaps I could earn up to five dollars a week!, Do you think I could?". Mrs. Belden nodded and smiled, "something like that," she said "at any rate if you really work hard you should be able to have a horse by next summer".

Helen shaded her eyes against the sun and stared at the car coming up the drive,"Why isn't that Dad now? What could have possibly happened to bring him home from the bank before lunch?".

Trixie had already darted through the gate and was sprinting up the path from the vegetable garden, calling back over her shoulder, "I'll talk to Dad right now, and then maybe I can start earning money for my horse today."

At the top of the driveway Mr. Belden backed up and turned the car around. Trixie jumped onto the running board shouting, "Dad! Mother said I could earn money for a horse if i help with the garden and the housework and Bobby. May I? Please, Daddy May I?"

Mr. Belden left the motor running but pulled on the emergency brake. "I guess so Trixie," He said, "But we'll talk about it later. Helen, I've just been to the hospital," He spoke to Mrs. Belden as she joined Trixie beside the car. "On my way to town this morning I found old Mr. Frayne lying next to his mailbox. He was unconscious, So I took him straight to the hospital."

"Oh, Peter!" Mrs. Belden cried. "That poor old man living up there all alone! I've worried about him so often, but he would never let anyone come near him. He's probably been sick for days, We should have been better neighbors and made sure to check up on him or sent a casserole every so often."

"Don't Fret Helen, We couldn't have known this would happen, The doctors said he's suffering from severe pneumonia complicated by malnutrition they said there's very little chance he'll pull through" Peter said grimly. "Serves him right," Trixie said wiping her grimy hands on her faded blue jeans. "The mean old miser. You should have left him lying in the driveway, Dad". Mr. belden's face darkened."Why Trixie! I don't like you to talk that way, and you know you don't mean it. Although Mr. Frayne might not have always been a very pleasant neighbor, he is still a neighbor."

"I'm sorry Dad" Trixie squinted up at the crumbling mansion half concealed by the trees on top of the hill. "He never seemed like a neighbor to me" she added under her breath.

As her father drove away, she turned to her mother. "Why old man Frayne said he'd call call the police if he ever caught any of us trespassing. Remember that time he yelled at Brian and-?" "Now Trixie" Mrs. belden interrupted. "You're old enough to understand Mr. Frayne's attitude. He and your father had a disagreement about the boundary line between the two properties. Of course your father didn't want to take the matter to court because nobody really cares who owns that little patch of woods, but Mr. Frayne insisted, Naturally when the decision went against him he resented it."

Trixie pulled up a piece of grass and chewed it thoughtfully. "Well his game chickens come down to our property whenever they please, and nobody complains. And just last week. Moms, Reddy chased Queenie the black hen, into Mr. Frayne's property. Mart and I tore after him because we didn't want him to hurt Queenie, even though she does belong to the mean old miser.

But I needn't have worried because i guess those 'ole game hens can take care of themselves. Just as we caught up to them, she suddenly turned and flew right into Reddy's face, flapping her wings and squawking and scratching like no tomorrow." Trixie laughed."Reddy was the most startled irish setter you ever saw. He tucked his tail between his legs and raced off into the woods, and just then Mr. Frayne burst out of his house, waving a shotgun and shouting at us. Golly, I was awfully scared for a minute,Moms he said he'd shoot Reddy if he ever crossed the boundary line again"

"Well I'm sorry that happened dear, It sounds frightening" Mrs. Belden said as they strolled back to the garden. "But I honestly don't think Mr. Frayne would really shoot Reddy honey" "Well I Do" Trixie kicked a stray pebble across the path. "He's such a wrinkled up old man with such a cross face. I bet he doesn't weigh much more than Bobby does, and in those funny patched clothes Mart says he looks just like a scarecrow that walked off its post.

And his land is in such a terrible state. It's all choked with weeds and vines except for a clearing right around the house which isn't even a lawn anymore, because the chickens have scratched it bare." "He wasn't always a cross old man, Trixie" Mrs. belden said quietly. "And Ten Acres was once as much of a showplace as the Manor House on the other hill is now. Grief can have a harsh effect, you know before Mrs. Frayne died, he quite the charming old gentleman, and he and his wife were very kind to your father and me when we moved up here from the city.

They were such a blessing when you and Mart were born I don't know how I would have managed with two babies and a toddler without their help." she carefully slipped a wire collar around one of the tomato plants. "I'll never forget the night Nell Frayne died. It was a terrible shock to all of us, I was so thankful you, Brian and Mart were too young to remember it."

"What happened,Moms?" Trixie knelt in the next row and began thinning the feathery little carrots. "All I know is that she was bitten by a copperhead snake. But you don't have to die from a copperhead bite. Dad taught us all long ago what to do in case any of us were bitten. First, you put on a tourniquet; then you cut into the fang marks with a knife or razor blade, and then you suck out the blood to keep the poison from spreading. Didn't Mr. Frayne know what to do Moms?"

Mrs. Belden pressed the final tomato plant into place with her fingers and stood up. "I don't know Trixie, He was terribly upset He absolutely adored his wife. She was a beautiful sweet old lady and everyone loved her" She slipped off her gardening gloves and wiped her face with her handkerchief. "It happened one lovely evening when they were sitting in their summer house. The snake must have been curled in the shade underneath Mrs. Frayne's chair and she must have kicked it accidentally.

When Mrs. Frayne cried out, just picked her up in his arms to rush her to the hospital for anti venom. Naturally he took the shortcut, and right in the middle of that deserted upper road, the car broke down. Whether he didn't know what to or if he was too flustered to do anything, I don't know though it was strange Mr. Frayne knew a great deal about copperheads having lived in the area his entire life, one would assume Mr. Frayne knew what to do.

At any rate, they simply waited until another car came along., They waited for hours, and by that time it was too late for Nell" "How dreadful, Moms" Trixie gasped. Shading her eyes with her hand Helen gazed up at the old mansion on the eastern hill. "Poor Mr. Frayne" She murmured. "He never was the same again. He left the car right there on that lonesome road where it had broken down and never allowed another automobile on the place after that"

She added slowly. "I wonder what happened to the summerhouse. You used to be able to see it quite plainly from here".

But Trixie was no longer looking at the Frayne mansion. She was looking the opposite direction. "Moms!, Moms!" She cried. "There's something happening at the Manor House. See all those vans? Somebody must be moving in?".

Mrs. Belden turned and glanced up at the huge estate which bounded Crabapple Farm on the west. "Why yes, Trixie," she said. "I meant to tell you last night, but you were too excited about the horse to listen. A family named Wheeler moved in yesterday. Your father met Mr. Wheeler at the bank. He has a daughter the same age as you and told your father he hoped you'd run up and see her."

"Oh Moms," Trixie interrupted excitedly."Do you see what I see? Horses! Horses being lead out toward the stables. Couldn't I go up right now and see Mr. Wheeler's daughter?. Mrs. Belden smiled."Well I guess that's alright. But what about your job?" Trixie saw her four year old brother Bobby racing across the law giggling with Reddy hot on his heels.

"Mart could watch him for a little bit, So you don't have to worry about him getting in the way or trampling the garden" Trixie suggested quickly. Mrs. Belden raised her eyebrow. "Or i could just take Bobby with me?" Trixie hastily changed her offer.

Mrs. Belden."Smiled that'll be just fine,trixie". "Come on, Bobby, hurry up." Trixie pulled the gate open so hard she almost tore it off its hinges. "Hey!" Bobby shouted as he started down the path to the gate. "Where're you going? I wanna come too? Wait for me Twixie" The middle of the path was rough with partially exposed tree roots and Bobby tripped as children of his age often do, and sprawled in the reddish brown dust.

Trixie stared at him with annoyance. "Oh, Bobby, Bobby" She cried, "now you're all filthy. You can't go calling on rich people looking like that!" Bobby scrambled to his feet rubbing the dirt into his moist skin as he attempted to brush it off. He grinned cheekily, "What rich people? Do I look alright now, Twixie? I wanna go calling on rich people" Trixie turned to her mother in despair, "Mother do i have to take him with he's going to call me Twixie and embarrass me" Mrs. Belden shrugged, "It depends on whether you feel a horse is worth working for, besides Bobby only does it for attention he's long grown out of not being able to pronounce names.".

"Oh, all right, Moms" Trixie grabbed Bobby's grimy hand. "But first I'll wash you up" She told the small boy as they entered the house, "and put a clean romper on you. And for heaven's sake, Bobby when you meet these people, don't tell them I said they were rich, And please stop yelling "Hey" all the time."

Once the bathtub was full of warm soapy water Trixie plopped the little boy into the water. The water quickly turned to a muddy reddish brown as the dirt practically melted off Bobby.

"Why do I have to take another bath, Twixie, Mommy gave me one last night before bed" Whined Bobby. Trixie sighed exasperated. "I told you already Bobby, you can't go calling on rich people looking dirty. They don't like that sort of thing". "Why not?" Bobby said trying to gather bubbles in his hands. "well" Trixie said scrubbing the small boy vigorously with a washcloth "that's just the way it is". "Oh" Bobby chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Then how come you don't have to take a bath, Twixie?".

Trixie paused then looked down, her legs and feet were covered in dirt from spending the morning in the garden. A snort of laughter from the doorway split the silence, "Yeah, Twixie, you gonna go calling on the rich people and give them some free dirt as a housewarming gift" said Mart smirking.

Trixie too a deep breath remembering her promise, she really wanted that horse. She turned flashing a grin at her brother. "Mart be a dear and go get Bobby a fresh romper from his top dresser drawer". Mart stood numbly he hadn't seen that one coming., he recovered quickly,"My pleasure, Sister dear" he replied saccharinely sweet.

Fifteen Minutes later Trixie was pacing in the kitchen holding Bobby's small shoes waiting for the small boy to come downstairs. "Bobby, hurry up" Trixie shouted. Bobby came barrelling down the stairs with Mart trailing behind.

"Twixie I want Mar to come with us to meet the rich people" Bobby said while Trixie fastened his shoes. Trixie rolled her eyes just what she needed two annoying brothers to embarrass her, "Sure Bobby, we'll make a party out of it" she said through clenched teeth.

Ten minutes later, Trixie, Mart and Bobby began the long climb up the Manor House driveway with Reddy racing on ahead of them. At the turn in the road , a fat little cocker spaniel rushed down to meet them. Right behind the puppy was a tall thin girl whose pale face was frame in shoulder length light brown hair. She cringed as Reddy, disdainfully ignoring the black puppy, raced around her in circles, bark furiously.

"Don't pay any attention to him" Mart said, quickly seeing that their new neighbor was genuinely frightened. "He's just showing off. He wouldn't hurt a fly. I'm Mart Belden" he went on."My kid sister, brother and I live in the hollow in that little white frame house-"

"I'm not actually his kid sister, he just likes to say that because he's three minutes older" Trixie interrupted. The girl stared solemnly from Trixie to Mart to Bobby and back again. "How do you do?" She said. Holding out her slender hand to Trixie. "My name is Honey, Honey Wheeler".

Trixie shook hands, feeling rather foolish at such a display of formality. Oh my she thought, almost sick with disappointment, she's stuck up. "Who goes around in a white linen dress and stockings unless there's a party" Mart hissed with his lips barely moving soft enough that only Trixie could hear.

It was a skill that twins had long ago perfected to converse with each other semi privately. Trixie swiftly stepped on his foot hard, "Do you ride horseback" She blurted out. Honey smiled brightly then, "oh, yes" she said. "Do you?" Trixie shook her head ruefully. "Nope" she sighed. "She's crazy about horses ever since We saw a horse show at the counTy fair yesterday" Mark added. Trixie smiled gratefully at her twin. "It's true I want to learn more than anything. The only thing I have to ride is a dumb old bike. But I'm earning money now to get a horse as soon as possible.

"A Bike?" Honey's smile widened, and trixie had to admit that the girl was pretty in a fragile pale sort of way like a flower. "I wish i had a bike" she said wistfully. "Mother wouldn't let me have one in the city because of all the traffic, and the rest of the time I was away at boarding school in Europe and camp where they're not allowed" Timidly she moved a step closer to the Belden Bunch. "I'll teach you to ride horseback" She offered "and then perhaps you could show me how to ride a bike". Trixie couldn't believe her ears. "That's great" she gasped. "Let's start right away, the horse thing, I can teach you to ride a bike any ole day".

Trixie turned to her brother, "ok you and Bobby can go home now" she said dismissively."Bobby want to go home and play in the sandpile,doesn't that sound fun?" Trixie said cheerfully calling Bobby's attention away from the puppy he was making friends with. Bobby ignored his big sister and grinned up at Honey,. "Are you rich?" He demanded, "Hey! What's it like to be rich?, Do you get to eat cookies everyday?".

Trixie felt her cheeks flame bright red and heard Mart try to unsuccessfully cover his laughter with a coughing fit. But Honey took it all in stride and merely smiled and said, "It's not nice at all Bobby. I can't recall a time when i didn't want to be like other people" she turned shyly back toward Trixie and Mart and added, "when I was little, my nurses never let me play in the dirt the way Bobby is now, and i was never allowed to go anyplace myself for fear of being kidnapped." she stopped suddenly as her large hazel eyes filled with tears, "I hardly ever saw my father and mother until i got sick. And now they've bought this big old place just for me. But what good is it? What good is anything if you're never allowed to have any fun?.

Trixie could never bear to see anyone unhappy. "Gee" she said putting her arm sympathetically around Honey's thin shoulders. "I never thought about it like that. I always thought it would be wonderful to have a lot of money" She stopped as the word money gave her an idea a mischievous smile slide across her face. Trixie whirled Honey around and pointed across the woods to Ten Acres, which she privately called Miser's Mansion.

"See that big ancient yellow and grayhouse on the opposite hill?" Honey nodded looking perplexed,"Yes but what does that have to do with anything?" she asked the Beldens. "Well, A crazy old man lives there but, Dad took him to the hospital this morning" Trixie exclaimed excitedly. "I've always wanted to see the inside of that house" Mart commented casually. "Let's go explore it" Trixie burst out her eyes shining with glee.

Honey gasped loudly, "why i've never heard of such an impolite thing to do, You wouldn't actually break into someone's house just for the fun of it" she said sounding horrified.

"Of course not" Mart grinned. "Old Mr. Frayne would have us thrown in jail in the blink of an eye if we did such a thing. But there's no reason why we couldn't just peek in the window and check up on the ole ramshackle place".

"Besides do you know what they say in town?" Trixie demanded. They say there's near a half million dollars hidden there. Let's go, right now!" . "Well I wouldn't go near that creepy old place" Honey said firmly, "and i certainly don't believe there's any money in there, Why the house is nearly falling to bit and it hasn't been painted in ages".

"How do you know all that?" Trixie accused. "Yeah nobody can see it that clearly from here" Mart said raising his eyebrow at Honey in suspicion. "I was there earlier this morning" Honey explained."Father and i were out riding and went up that old driveway by mistake thinking it was a road to the woods, we didn't realize it lead to ten acres until we were halfway up, and then of course we knew we were trespassing so we turned around. I was happy to get away from there it looked like a spooky deserted house to me , Nobody would want to live in such a run down place"

Trixie bent down to fumble with her shoelace,"She's worse than I thought, she's afraid of everything too" Trixie hissed quietly her lips barely moving soft enough only for Mart to hear. Aloud she said coldly, "of course a lot of people think Mr. Frayne went insane after his wife died and he lost all his money, that's why the place is so run down, anyway we're going to go look around while Mr. Frayne is still in the hospital. You don't have to if you don't want to".

"Are you sure he's in the hospital?" Honey asked suddenly. Mart straightened up, "Of course, Dad took him early this morning. He's not expected to live much longer". "That's funny" Honey said slowly looking worried."We were there about an hour ago. As we rode up the hill I got that creepy feeling you get when someone is watching you. I looked back over my shoulder and I saw a face at one of the windows" She shivered slightly. "I bet that house is haunted".

"And Mr. Frayne would choose to willingly live in a haunted house?" Mart said dryly. "I know what I saw, Didn't Trixie saw the man was crazy" Honey said defensively.

END OF CHAPTER 1

Please Let me know what you think, Is it too dull? Is it unrealistic? Does it feel like it's copied too much? I've never written Trixie Belden Fiction out of fear that I wouldn't be able to correctly capture that characters, Also if Trixie & Mart seem harsh to Honey it's because they don't know her and literally this is how the book has Trixie acting around her.