A/N: So as promised, here is the next installment. It's a little on the short side, but personally one of my favourites so far. Please enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Trixie universe. Just a happy loaner.
Between the words was a pictured of a slender girl, with blonde wavy hair that flowed down her back, and a kind open face.
The more that Trixie looked at the photo, the more she forgot her mystery induced excitement, and become queasier by the second. The photo made it real. Trixie wasn't playing a game; real people, a real life was gone.
With her hair and easy smile the girl almost reminded Trixie of –
"Looks a bit like Honey, doesn't she?" Ben asked taking the flier out of Trixie's hand to inspect it closer. Jim crowded closer, to look over his shoulder and Trixie began to pace, her thoughts racing.
It had to be Jane; Trixie felt it in her gut – but why? What could cause someone to murder such a sweet looking girl? Maybe, Trixie thought, maybe, she saw something she shouldn't have – like a robbery or-or a kidnapping! Maybe she saw another murder!
Trixie let her imagination runaway with her, coming up with more and more elaborate scenes until the boys interrupted her.
"I should go phone the police about this." Jim gave both his companions a grave look.
Trixie hitched her thumb over her shoulder in the direction she had just come from, "I saw a phone in the post office."
"Excuse me," Jim nodded grimly and went into the building, leaving Ben and Trixie alone.
Ben continued to start at the photo, an odd expression growing over his face.
"It's strange to think that-that thing we accidently found could have been, probably was, this girl – alive and smiling only a year ago," Ben turned his gaze towards Trixie, "I mean, I knew that it had to have been someone- but to actually know- to have a face... it somehow makes it more sad than I thought it would be."
Trixie knew exactly what he was talking about, but before she could tell him so, a small brunette woman, who couldn't have been older than Trixie, probably a few years younger, came out of the post office, and started towards them.
"Excuse me," she walked over to them, an odd look of slight distress on her otherwise plain face, "excuse me, I'm sorry, but I saw you take that advert off the board, and then I saw your friend come in to use the phone. Forgive me for intruding, but I had to-hope that you wouldn't do that if your didn't-do you… do you know something, something about Jane?"
Trixie looked down at the flier, and then back up at the girl in front of her. She looked so desperate to know, it seemed unfair to keep her in the dark, and yet what if she was wrong? She couldn't rightfully tell this girl such awful news unless she knew it was the absolute truth, could she?
Trixie exchanged a look with Ben before holding out a hand to the girl, "I'm Trixie Belden, and this is my friend Ben Riker."
"Angela Bradshaw," the girl shook her hand gingerly, a look of confusion crossing her face, "I've never seen either of you before – what could you know of Jane?"
Trixie bit her bottom lip; Angela had a one track mind, of course, in this case, Trixie couldn't blame her.
"Our friend, the one who just went inside – he's Jim Frayne," Trixie went on with her introductions instead, ignoring her question, "Myself and some other friends of ours are staying with him for a few weeks; Ben here is working for him. He just bought some land a few miles over, a field over in, Peel County I believe."
Angela who had been getting paler as Trixie spoke couldn't keep in a gasp at this last bit of news, "not the old Baker land?"
"Why, yes – have you heard of it?" Trixie's sleuth senses began to tingle. Jim's new land obviously meant something to this girl – but what?
"Yes," the girl replied in a daze. Her voice was low, and appeared more to be thinking out loud rather than to be saying anything she intended for Trixie and Ben to hear, "we use to have parties there, but not since—no one saw Jane after that…"
She trailed of as Trixie and Ben shared a sharp glance. So Jane had been to the field the night she disappeared – it was the last place she had been seen.
It was starting to seem more and more like Trixie's hunch was right, but still…
Could she tell this girl what she thought? Should a complete stranger, of no significance, be the one she heard it from?
"So, you knew Jane then?" Trixie fished. Maybe if they were only acquaintances she could…
"We were the best of friends," Angela smiled sadly at them, "we had spent most of the night together – if only I hadn't lost her before Zachariah…"
Trixie couldn't tell this girl anything. If she was the police, or knew anything for sure, rather than a hunch… but she wasn't and she didn't.
"But what about you – what do you know of Jane?"
Trixie flung a desperate look at Ben; she couldn't tell this girl the truth, not until she was 100% sure, but she couldn't lie! And even if she did, what could she say that this girl would be likely to believe?
"Some of the builders that work for Jim live here, in town," Ben jumped in speaking for the first time, "I've heard a few mention a Jane in passing – I didn't want to pry into personal matters, but I must admit I was dying of curiosity. Trixie, knew this, so when she saw the poster…"
Ben trailed off and Trixie held her breath. Would she believe it?
Angela nodded her head slowly before slipping once more into a suspicious look, "but what about your friend – the one on the phone?"
"Jim? He just realized he'd forgotten his list – always a little scatter brained that one – and went to go call the school. He wanted to make sure his memory hadn't failed him, and he had managed to forget anything else. It's a bit of a drive into town you know."
The lies rolled off Ben's tongue as smoothly as if they were the truth. Trixie was caught between admiration and disapproval.
The final lie seemed to pacify Angela, and relief covered her features as, Trixie imagined, she realized there was no bad news. The relief was short lived though as the realization that there was also no good news over took it.
She shrugged and gave a sad little laugh, "Well, you know what they say, no news is good news."
"I'm sorry –" the rest of Trixie's apology was cut off as Jim came out of the store, and signaled for Ben and herself to join him at the truck, "We have to go now."
She started to follow Ben to Jim, only a thought struck her mid-step, and she stopped to turn around.
"Angela – who's Zachariah?"
The girl had mentioned the name in one of her half dazed rambles, but until that moment, it hadn't struck Trixie as someone to worry about. Now, however…
If only I hadn't lost her before Zachariah…
Surprise coloured the other girls face.
"You haven't met him yet? Zachariah Bates is an old hermit who lives in a small cabin in the woods around that clearing. He's thought to be harmless enough, but…" the girl stopped, and looked over both shoulders before continuing in a conspiratorial whisper, "the police thought that if foul play had happened to Jane, God forbid, it was Zachariah who'd done it."
It was a silent ride back to the school; each person was wrapped up in their own thoughts
Trixie, for her part, was caught up in finding a way to get to Zachariah. Now that things were started to fall into place, she couldn't just let go of her mystery. There was just no way – nothing the boys, or anyone else said was going to stop her.
And Zachariah was the next step; she could feel it in her bones.
There were only two problems before her. One was to sneak past the boys, to get to Zachariah, ant the other was finding him once she was past the boys. Angela had said nothing other than he lived somewhere around the school. As far as Trixie could calculate, there were miles of woods around the school. It would be as easy to maneuver through as the Wheeler's game preserve had been. A labyrinth – it was as good as trying to find a needle in a haystack.
The solution to one problem, unfortunately, lead to the other. She could confide in Honey with easy, but the other girl - who after her fainting spell was quite ready to leave this one up to the police – didn't know the area any better than Trixie did. Her guess would be as good as Trixie's. One more uninformed girl, although her best friend, wasn't going to help the situation.
The only person who would know where Zachariah would be the leader of her lynch mob if he found out she was sleuthing again – Jim.
As the truck turned a corner and the school came into view, Trixie cut a sly look at Ben.
He had been here almost as long as Jim – it was possible that he knew…
He didn't seem as against her as the others. Could she trust him?
Maybe she wouldn't have to. Ben didn't know her as well as the others. Was it possible for her to get what she needed without him being suspicious?
Jim got out of the car, grim determination etched into every one of his features, "I'll let the others know what we found… hopefully the police will be able to confirm it once they find DNA samples to compare it to."
Trixie hung back, watching Jim's back retreat. Pulling herself up onto the hood of the truck, she looked across the lawn at the bright police tape that glowed in the twilight.
For a brief moment she was caught up in the thought of what it must feel like to die, to be murdered. She had been so close many times in her life – more times than a girl her age should have been. She had felt the fear; she had been on the brink of losing hope, a couple of times she thought she had – but then someone had always been there to save her. The other Bob-Whites – Jim – someone had always been there. She had never had that moment where she knew, truly knew, that it all had been completely and hopelessly lost.
She had never died.
"What do you think happens?" Trixie murmured to herself, unable to keep such serious thought in her head alone anymore, "when we die – what happens?"
"I don't know," Ben said, leaning on the truck beside her, making her jump. She had forgotten that he had been there, but suddenly his presence was oddly comforting, "I'd like to think there's somewhere you go – like they say, but I don't know. I don't know if I can actually believe that."
Trixie pulled her knees up, hugging them to her chest, and rested her chin on them.
"I think there's somewhere to go, something to see. I can't believe that all this could just end, suddenly – one second you're there, the next it's all over – I just can't believe that this is it."
They were silent; the late evening breeze blew across the field, picking up Trixie's hair and blowing it across her face.
She was startled a moment later, when a hand appeared, pulling the strains back to where they originally were, gently brushing her cheek as they did so.
"Not the trip you were expecting, when you agreed to come, huh?" Ben smirked slightly once he had put his hand back into his jacket pocket.
Trixie unconsciously started running her hands through the hair Ben had just moved, a slight smile playing on her face, "Not exactly."
They lapsed into silence once more.
"Earlier today, Angela mentioned someone named Zachariah," Trixie said slowly, not wanting to break the odd spell that had fallen over them, but at the same time feeling like it was necessary, "I wondered who he could be, what he has to do with all this?"
"She probably meant Zachariah Bates," Ben replied, a faint smile growing on his lips, "but then again, you already knew that."
Trixie looked startled, her checks started to colour with emotion, "How do you – I never—"
"I heard you ask her, Trix," the faint smile had now grown into a large, open one, "and even if I hadn't I'm not as stupid as I look."
"I didn't mean to-I just…" Trixie trialed off unsure of what to say next.
"You just wanted to solve this mystery, and," Ben held the word, making it sound more important than it was, creating a suspense for what was to follow, "you were hoping I was more willing to help you then other people around here."
"Are you?"
Ben sighed, the amusement gone from his features, "I meant what I said the other day – it's probably best if you – we all – just stay out of it. It's not safe to go meddling where violent people don't want you to be meddling."
Despite the calm tone, and the reasonability behind his words, Trixie set her features into a determined glare.
"That's fair – however, it's just as fair for me to tell you the truth that I'm not going to give up. I'm meant to do this – I'm sure of it… it's the only thing I'm sure of anymore," Trixie paused a moment, and then shook her head, "I'll find Zachariah with or without your help."
Sliding off of the car she started towards the building, and Ben, slightly stunned by the declaration was left staring after her.
When she was just beyond his sight, hidden by the shadows casted by the dying sunlight she stopped and turned around.
"You know, I was thinking – tomorrow would be a nice day for a ride, around lunch," there was just enough light for Ben to make out her Cheshire smile, "what do you think?"
With a flip of her hair, and a turn of her hips, she continued her walk, leaving Ben finally alone.
"Whoa there Sterling – that's a good boy," Trixie petted the large black horse's nose as she pulled him out of the stable.
She had him all roped up and was ready to go – and still there was no sign of Ben.
Trixie wasn't surprised. She had half expected that to happen. What she was surprised about was how disappointed that fact made her.
Oh well, she thought haughtily, we can find it without his help, can't we Sterling?
Petting the horse one more time, Trixie put her foot into he stirrup, and started to mount the horse.
Only to almost fall off when a voice behind her called.
"After all that, you were going to go off without me?"
A/N: So that was the chapters. I really hope you enjoyed it, and as always, reviews, are welcomed and wanted. Please tell me what you think!