New York summers were the worst. They weren't a dry heat, as was the norm in the Southwest. They were hot and humid, so much so that a person's lungs assumed that human was inhaling a hot, wet terrycloth towel.

Even a thunderstorm provided no refreshing relief. When it rained, it only became steamier and more uncomfortable. Matthew and Madeleine Wheeler thanked goodness they invested in energy-efficient, powerful air conditioning for Manor House. It made the days bearable.

At night, though, when the breeze blew over the lake, the air freshened and the great outdoors became, well, great. It was lovely to stroll around the manicured grounds, maybe down to the lake or watch the horses grazing in the paddocks.

It was just such a clear, warm night that Maddie suggested to Matt that they meander around the property. What was the use if you owned so much land, and didn't go out to see it every so often?

They ended up by the lake. The moon was full, and the stars were pinpoints of brightness in the sky as the couple walked along the dock, holding hands. The sound of the water lapping in its gentle motion against the shore soothed and relaxed them.

"It's a wonderful night, Matt. Just look at that beautiful moon!"

"Cosmo's Moon," Matt teased, knowing the movie Moonstruck was one of Maddie's favorites.

"That's in the City, silly. This one is Matt's moon."

Matthew stopped and grinned at her. "I may own half the world, but I can't lay claim to the moon, babe!" He loved it when they were alone, and he could tease her like this.

When all the responsibilities weren't weighing heavily on his shoulders.

"Someday," she responded dreamily. "The water looks so inviting. Like liquid silver. Too bad we didn't bring our suits. I could fancy a swim about now."

"Why not swim?" he asked, a mischievous and rather sexy smile lighting his face.

"We don't have our bathing suits, Matt. Celia brought them all up to the house to be laundered." They usually kept their swimwear in the boat house. Celia washed everything at least once a week.

"Who says we need suits?" Matt waggled his eyebrows and leered at her.

She hit out at him with a gentle hand and giggled like a schoolgirl. "Oh, you! What if someone comes along? We aren't exactly alone on the hill, you know."

"Makes it more titillating, don't you think? A little more… exciting. Come on, Maddie! Brian and Honey are still in the City. I doubt if Regan, Margery, Celia or Tom are going to be out here at this hour. Jim and Trixie are spending the night at Crabapple Farm, and I'm sure the rest of the kids are with them. Let's live a little! It'll be fun."

Maddie bit her lip, glanced around, and smiled. "Let's do it!" They shucked off their clothes on the dock, each pausing to admire the other. It really was rather naughty of them!

Maddie dived perfectly off the end, followed by Matt's unorthodox cannonball. "This is just delightful, Matt." With her hair slicked back and her upper body lit by the moonlight, Maddie looked no older than college girl he met so long ago.

"You're beautiful, you know," Matt said hoarsely, enchanted by his mermaid.

Maddie moved closer to him, her eyes soft and playful. Her voice was low and sultry. "And you're… wet!" She soaked him with an enormous splash and struck off, laughing and swimming madly for the float a few hundred yards from the boathouse.

Matt sputtered out his indignation and took off after her, promising retribution. He caught up to her as she was trying to hoist herself up, strong arms pulling her under. That set them both off. Laughing, squealing and splashing as if they were a couple of teenagers.

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Dan and Mart heard the laughing and sauntered over, wondering what all the noise was about. In the distance, they could see a man and a woman having an insane splash fight, the water flashing in the moonlight. Dan turned to Mart. "Trix and Jim, at it again."

"Yeah, they have no common sense," he groused. "Look, their clothes. They're skinny dipping!" He pointed to the jumble of garments on the dock.

"Seriously. When anyone could walk in on them." A slow, evil grin spread across Dan's face. "What say we teach the au naturel couple a bit of a lesson?"

"What do you mean?"

"We'll remove their clothes from their current resting place. They can pick them up at your house. When they have to walk there, naked as the day they were born."

Mart considered the idea and broke out in a stifled, manly giggle. "Sounds like a plan. Maybe they'll think twice before skinny dipping where, yuck, family members can get a glance at family jewels."

Dan rolled his eyes, and the two scooped up the clothing and flip-flops. "What are we gonna do with this stuff?" Mart whispered as they snuck off into the night.

"We'll leave it on the porch at your house." Neither one noticed the clothing was not quite Jim or Trixie's style.

"Good plan." The two disappeared, snickering, as the unsuspecting swimmers continued their loud splash and dunking contest out by the float.

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A chill snaked down Maddie's spine as goosebumps arose on her body. "Matt, it's been fun, but I'm getting chilly."

"Okay, babe, let's head on in."

Matt reached the dock first, hauling himself up and reaching down to assist his wife. He turned to grab his shirt to hand it to her to towel off a little and… "Maddie? Didn't we leave our clothes here?"

She stopped squeezing the water out of her hair. Men! They can't find anything unless it jumps up and bites them! "Seriously, Matt! You'd lose your head…" Her voice stopped abruptly. They left their clothes in a pile, right here. "Maybe they blew off the dock?" She peeked over into the water.

"Wind wasn't blowing that hard, Mads." Just to be sure, they peeked over the sides and front of the wooden planks. There was no sign of their clothes.

"Oh, God, Matt. Maybe we knocked them off when we jumped in, and they floated away. Now, what do we do? We can't just stroll up to the house starkers. What if Margery or Regan see us? Or Cook? We have to cut across the lawn, too."

"I know. I know." Matt paced the dock, trying to come up with a plan. He stopped suddenly, and Maddie could swear she saw a lightbulb switch on over his head. "I've got an idea," he began.

"Am I going to like this idea? It's not weaving together leaves or anything, is it? I don't think we could tell what was poison ivy and…" Maddie let her voice fade as she shuddered, thinking of the consequences.

"No, no. You know Jim and Trixie are rebuilding Ten Acres."

"Matt, I doubt if they are leaving clothes there. It's barely framed out."

"No, but there's construction equipment there. The crew usually leaves the keys in the equipment when they are working in a rural area like this. Maybe we can walk along the edge of the woods to Ten Acres and find something to drive home in."

"Oh, and that's great! We drive up to Manor House in… in a loud bulldozer or something? Do you even know how to operate one?"

"It's that or walk nonchalantly up the hill naked, babe."

"Okay," Maddie conceded. "I guess we can scoot up as close as possible to the patio doors and make a dash for it. Everyone has their windows closed. Maybe we'll be lucky."

They linked hands and began to creep along the edges of the manicured grounds to Ten Acres. The absurdity of the situation set in, and Matt began to laugh, setting of Maddie's giggles. It was a lucky thing there was a full moon; they soon arrived at the construction site, the framing of the house glowing eerily.

"Be careful, there's probably a lot of debris on the ground," Matt cautioned.

There were several pieces of large construction equipment lying idle. Nothing had a key in it, though, and Matt doubted he could drive the steam shovel the construction crew was using to dig a new sewer line to the street, even if a key was present.

"Matt! Over here! Isn't this one of those commercial ride-on mowers?" Maddie pointed to the big rig, with its comfortable looking seat. A handle was on either side of the driver. Most of the area around the house was dirt, but Matt guessed they also needed to keep other grassy and weedy areas trimmed.

Matt walked around the machine. It certainly was large enough. "You'd have to sit on my lap, Maddie. But I think it's doable. And they did leave the key in it." Matt climbed into the seat. "Let me see if I can get this started…"

Wendell Molinson drove down Glen Road on patrol. Yeah, he was a Sergeant and all, but with a small force, everyone took turns on the night shift. It was quiet, and for that he was thankful. A part of him really missed the excitement of having Trixie Belden, no, Frayne now, and her propensity for attracting criminals. Made them all a lot more versed in different types of criminal activity than police forces in other small towns.

It cooled off some from the heat of the day, and he had his windows open, enjoying the freshened night air. He was passing Ten Acres when he heard it. The distinctive sound of a piece of equipment being started at the construction site. He might be a small-town cop, but he was nobody's fool. No way any of the workers were there at this time. Kids. Probably some idiot kids out for a joyride.

The driveway was partially blocked, and it sounded as if they were headed up near Manor House. Wendell executed a perfect U-Turn, heading towards the long driveway to the big white house on the hill.

Matt was finding it uncomfortable and hard to steer with Maddie in his lap. "This thing needs shock absorbers," he muttered as it jounced up and down, making her bounce on his lap.

"What did you say?" Maddie almost yelled to be heard above the vroom of the engine. So much for making a relatively quiet entrance!

Molinson reached the driveway and cut out his lights, his SUV gliding onto the lawn. He was sure Matt and Maddie would forgive him if the big tires chewed up the lawn a bit. No telling what damage the joyriders might do. He waited until the sound was a close as possible, and hit the high beams.

His eyes widened with the same amount of shock reflected on the faces of the two people… the two naked people… on the lawn mower.

Matthew and Madeleine Wheeler. A portion of his brain wondered why on earth they were out joyriding on a lawn mower, completely nekkid. But who was he to judge? He cut the lights as they cut the motor of the mower.

Later on, a blanket -wrapped Matt shook Molinson's hand, thanking him for the use of the emergency blankets kept in the back of the SUV. "We'll never speak of this again," Matt intoned, a furious blush covering his face and neck and God knows where else. Maddie had escaped upstairs as soon as she could.

"Uh, no, sir." Molinson got back into the SUV and started to laugh. And laugh, and laugh. He could just imagine the headlines now. CEO and Wife Arrested for Riding Lawnmower Naked.

God. He'd just have to remember to erase his cop cam.

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Mart and Dan finally made it back to Crabapple Farm after a slight detour to Mr. Maypenny's and stashed the clothes on the front porch, laughing about finally getting one over on the Fraynes. "I could use some chocolate cake after this caper," Mart was saying as he and Dan walked into the kitchen.

"What caper is that?" Trixie asked. She and Jim were seated at the kitchen table, also enjoying a late-night snack.

Mart stopped so short, Dan ran into his back, and they nearly toppled over. "You need brake lights, Belden," Dan snarked before he caught sight of the couple in the kitchen. "Jim? Trixie? What are you doing here?" His voice rose an octave.

Jim raised a copper brow. "Ah, in case it escaped your attention, Trixie and I are staying for a couple of days to work out some issues with the construction on Ten Acres. Remember? You guys been smoking the wacky weed or hitting the cooking sherry?"

"And you've been here the entire time?" Mart demanded.

"Yeah, why?" Trixie asked, her eyes alight with curiosity. "We binge watched The Walking Dead and needed a snack. You know, all that cannibalism can make you hungry." She smacked her lips.

Mart and Dan turned to each other, a look of horror dawning on their faces. They both gulped as Dan said, in a very small voice, "Then whose clothes did we steal?"