Chapter 26:

Thanksgiving

The rain had dissipated by the time Trixie and Honey reached their bicycles. The girls were drenched but figured they'd dry off quickly in the heat. Neither had said much since leaving Aunt Izzy's. Basically, the pair was stunned. Once the humor of the situation had worn off, the young detectives weren't sure what to make of what they'd heard.

Sure, the girls' stray puzzle pieces had pretty much fallen in place. Only to their surprise, the picture before them didn't seem to be that of a poacher, but shockingly of a Rougarou! The two detectives felt defeated, if not a bit alarmed.

"Trixie, you don't think Papa LeBlanc really is a wolf-man, do you?" Honey asked nervously as she climbed aboard her bike.

"Heck no," Miss Belden replied, sounding more confident than she felt. "It's hard to say what the ladies were talking about, Hon. I think they were half-crocked and had no idea what they were saying. That's what happens when people drink. You can't take anything they have to say seriously. "

As the pair started down the road, Miss Wheeler supposed her friend was right. That didn't mean the young lady wasn't tempted to call her father and have him send the jet immediately. Honey wouldn't spend another night at the resort if she had a choice in the matter. But alas, her father wasn't about to believe Mr. LeBlanc was a Rougarou. At least the New Yorkers were flying home first thing in the morning.

"So what now?" Honey asked as she peddled alongside her friend, fingering her alligator-tooth pendant for courage. "I don't see much point in going to Gator Gardens beyond getting Brian a gift, do you? Mrs. Robert clearly isn't the one who's been cutting lines. Besides, we've been gone longer than planned," she added, glancing at her watch.

"In that case, I say we just head back to camp," Trixie returned with a dejected sigh. "You can give Brian that shriveled-up claw, Honey. It's time I face the facts. We're out of our league. That rotten poacher's beaten us. And do you know what? Now that I've said it, I feel much better." The resigned girl meant it, too.

Honey smiled sympathetically. "You know what they say, Trixie, you can't win them all. Still, we did solve one mystery," she went on with a giggle. "We know now, why Hallie's so attracted to Beau. I wonder why we're not drawn to her Mr. Wonderful when all the other girls seem to be?"

Trixie stopped peddling and let her bike coast. "It's probably because deep down in our hearts, we don't believe in stuff like hoodoo and curses, Honey. I mean, it's really easy to be scared of stuff like that – especially late at night. But it's different to honestly believe in it. "

"I know what you mean," her thoughtful friend replied. "Practically the whole time we've been in Louisiana, I've been afraid that the Rougarou would get us. But when I stop to consider that Papa LeBlanc might actually be one of the beasts, I find the idea terribly unbelievable. Still, it's going to be difficult to face Aunt Renee and Aunt Liz after what we overheard at Aunt Izzy's this afternoon. Why do you think the LeBlancs have been keeping Ms. Nadine's visit a secret?"

"Beats me," Trixie replied as the girls neared Anglers' Landing. "I'm pretty sure Hallie and Cap don't know their grandmother is in town, Hon. I think the best thing to do is keep that piece of information to ourselves. There's definitely something fishy going on around Camp, but I'm washing my hands of it. After today? The LeBlanc's dirty laundry is their own concern."

Gliding past Anglers' Landing's welcome sign, Trixie and her ever-faithful friend spied Sheriff Theriot's vehicle parked next to Aunt Liz's car under the carport. The girls hadn't expected Aunt Liz to be home from work so soon, and they were concerned that something was up.

Hurrying to the office, the girls found it empty, save for the taxidermy mounts, which forever seemed unpleased to see them. So off to the outdoor kitchen, the young ladies went. And sure enough, they located Aunt Liz there, gaily chatting with the towering lawman.

Nearby, in the shelter house, Aunt Renee was on a ladder, putting up a banner that read "Thank You!" in multi-colored letters. The structure's posts had been wrapped with crepe paper streamers, and Mylar helium balloons bobbed from bouquets Ms. Belden had previously set out on the tables.

The LeBlancs were preparing a farewell party for their New York Calvary, and the piece de resistance, as Mart would later say, was the foil-wrapped Turducken which Aunt Liz had warming in the oven – a plump little chicken stuffed into a de-boned duck, further stuffed into a massive turkey. Papa LeBlanc had prearranged for Josette to cater the big affair, and Aunt Liz had picked up the prepared food on her way out of town.

"Oh, dear," Ms. LeBlanc said as the stunned young ladies approached. "We thought you'd be at the park for another hour." Wiping her hands on a dishtowel, the girls' adopted mother then cried," Surprise!"

Trixie and Honey giggled. They were surprised—pleasantly so. And yet, the young ladies also felt more than a bit ashamed of themselves. Over the course of the week, the Sleepyside girls had thought some pretty awful things about LeBlancs. How nice it was of Hallie's family to have gone to so much trouble!

And so it was, like magic, Trixie and Honey's most recent concerns vanished in a puff of smoke. The Sleepyside girls finally had to admit they felt like a part of the LeBlanc family and shared hugs with Aunts Liz and Renee. Every family had its dysfunctions and skeletons in their closets, after all.

But that's when Sheriff Theriot cleared his voice. "How about saving a hug for me?" he asked jovially. "I'm the one who caught the alligator poachers."

"You caught the poachers!" Trixie and Honey cried in unison, each grabbing one of the big man's arms.

Aunt Izzy's beefy beau tipped back his hat and smirked. "Sure enough," he told the girls. "Couldn't have done it without your help, either. I just stopped by to give you the good news."

"Our help?" Honey asked with a bewildered expression.

"That's right," the lawman returned. "Yesterday, when the news hit that Maxine and your friend here had landed a gargantuan gator, I had to see it for myself. While at T's, Camille mentioned how the pair of you had been poking around in her freezer, looking for beasts with pink gums. I must confess I laughed. That is until I saw that mammoth monster's mouth. I got on the horn with a buddy of mine down in St. Mary's parish faster than a dog on a bone. We've had our eye on a particularly shady pair of brothers down there, and with your tip, we were able to nail the crooks red-handed. Or should I say pink-handed," he added, chuckling.

"Gleeps, Sir, that's wonderful news!" Trixie chimed. Maybe the Belden-Wheeler Detective Agency hadn't nabbed the criminals themselves, but they'd played a big part in solving the crime. The elated girl couldn't wait to tell the boys!

But alas, the Sleepyside sleuths were forced to wait – and longer than they'd hoped. The great gator hunters were late getting back to Camp that afternoon. There'd been a mishap on the bayou.

Beau, in an attempt to impress Papa LeBlanc by filling all of his and Cap's tags, had been racing to check their lines when the boat hit a cypress stump hidden beneath the water. The high-speed impact with the jagged obstacle not only ripped a gaping hole in the belly of the skiff but also sent everything inside the small craft flying—including the two boys.

Luckily, an older couple out taking a day cruise on their pontoon witnessed the accident and rushed to the young men's aid. The couple radioed the Department of Game and Fisheries for help and Lt. Hebert then had the pleasure of tracking down Papa. Beau and Cap were fine. But the three gators the boys had wrangled were lost, as was the box containing their unfilled tags.

Needless to say, Papa LeBlanc was far from happy about it, too. He rallied the Anglers' Landing troops to look for the lost container. But sadly, the tags were never recovered. And Mr. LeBlanc fired Beau in front of everyone at the boat launch.

Tapping out had become an impossibility, and Mr. LeBlanc Senior was good and steamed. Even now, as Trixie and Honey set the tables, the girls could hear Papa reaming Beau up at the boathouse.

"What do you mean you're skippin' dinner?!" the heated man was bellowing. "No captain of mine is gonna be a party pooper. So wipe that frown off your face and march your tochus down to the table, son. You hear me?"

"I hear ya, old man," Beau hollered back hotly. "But I'm not your Captain anymore, and you can't order me around. You fired me, Pops. What's the matter, you going senile?"

"Beau Benoit, mind vos manières," Bernie, who'd been drawn by the commotion, warned. "You will show your respect to the monsieur and his companies. We are guests here too, may moi remind vous."

There was a moment of silence, and Trixie wished she knew what was happening – or maybe she didn't.

"Like I said, I'm going to the cabin," Beau finally said. "Tomorrow, I'm moving back in with Mom. I think I've worn out my welcome. Mr. LeBlanc, you can dock my paycheck for the lost tags. Good night to you, Sir!"

A few minutes later, Papa LeBlanc joined his gator-hunting team at the shelter house. Bernie was with him, and Mr. LeBlanc seemed to have left his foul temper behind.

"My-oh-my, it looks like Thanksgiving came early this year!" Papa remarked, taking in the tantalizing spread. Then, raising his glass to the hungry crowd, the family patriarch toasted, "To the best team a man could ask for!"

As hear!-hear!s ringed the tables, Aunt Liz brought on the bird – or make that bird within birds.

Shortly before dark, Papa LeBlanc and his very full belly yawned his good nights and left the table. However, to Trixie's surprise, her host returned a few minutes later carrying a big box tied up with a red ribbon. Handing the package to the curious girl, Papa simply said, "Your boots, Short Stuff."

"My little sister's boots," the Sleepyside girl giggled, handing Hallie the gift with a warning that she wasn't to open it until her birthday. "Thank you for the opportunity to go gator hunting and your hospitality, Mr. LeBlanc. This is one trip I'll never forget!"

Papa gave the young lady a wink and asked her to fetch him a piece of pie to take home. As Trixie was rising to get it, Mr. LeBlanc Senior added, "Better make that two pieces. I was a little hard on Beau, and I think I'll take him his dessert."

Trixie smiled, and Papa returned it with a great big grin.

And that's when Miss Belden gasped. Backing away from her happy host, the young lady shivered as she thought she heard him mutter, "his just deserts."

"Sure thing, Mr. LeBlanc," Trixie stuttered. "Two pieces of pie, coming up. Honey, how about lending me a hand?" she added grabbing her friends arm.

In the sanctitude of the kitchen, the New York Miss Belden let it all come out. "It's true, it's true, Honey!" she cried. "Everything Miss Izzy and her friends were saying about Papa LeBlanc is true! He's a Rougarou, Honey! A real live, Rougarou!"

Honey stared at the unglued girl with disbelief. "Would you like me to see if Aunt Renee brought some of Mrs. Robert's tea with her?" she asked, thinking the day had caught up with her friend and the herbal concoction might help calm her nerves.

"No, no, I don't want any tea!" Miss Belden insisted hysterically. "You've got to believe me, Honey. Papa's cursed. When he smiled at me, I saw his gums. They're stained bright pink! Papa's the one who broke into the shed and ate Mart and Max's bait meat last night. Only he wasn't himself. He was a Rougarou!"

As Miss Wheeler shakily cut two pieces of cherry pie, she asked nervously, "Are you sure, Trixie? Maybe Papa's gums are stained from the blueberries in the pancakes he had for breakfast? Or perhaps he doesn't floss and has bad dental hygiene?" This time, it was Honey grasping at straws – and out of sheer fright.

"No, Honey, no!" Trixie insisted. "Papa's a Rougarou, all right -and he's going after Beau! So hurry with that pie. We've got to tell the boys. We've got to rescue Beau!"

After handing Mr. LeBlanc his container of sweets and bidding him goodnight, Trixie joined Honey, who was at the table filling in Jim, Dan, and Mart on the distressing state of affairs

"Ah, come on," Jim was saying as Trixie rushed up. "A Rougarou? Papa?"

The curly-haired girl warned the young man to keep his voice down. Trixie didn't want Hallie and Cap to overhear and become alarmed. The brother and sister pair were talking with their father at the next table. "That's right, Jim," she whispered hoarsely. "And I think Papa's after Beau. Mr. LeBlanc can't go to Idaho in his condition. He must either stay here and take his chances with Hurricane Diana or pass the curse on to someone else. Aunt Izzy had a feeling her brother was going to strike back at the Forets. But Mr. LeBlanc is furious with Beau after losing all those tags, and I overheard him mumbling something about serving Beau his just desserts."

Mr. Frayne laughed and tapped his best girl's noggin. "Knock, knock, anybody home?" he teased, causing the young lady to bristle.

"Jim Frayne, you better listen to me," she warned. "It's getting dark, and Beau's in trouble. Dan, tell him it's true. You saw cabin five. Papa's been holding up in there at night. He's the one who raided the freezer and the chicken coop. Papa's ex-wife Nadine is in town, and she's been helping Renee take care of him."

Dan scratched his head, appearing skeptical, but did admit seeing that nest of towels in cabin five had left him pretty creeped out.

Mart, too, confessed to suspecting Papa was a wolf-man. "When Mr. LeBlanc's chickens started going missing, I have to say I picked a leaf from the swamp to carry my wallet," he told Jim. "It's supposed to protect you from the beast."

Still, the red-headed boy had doubts and dismissed the idea as hogwash. "Beau's fine," he said, "The legend of the Rougarou is nothing but a fairy-tale, Trix."

Only Trixie was certain Mr. Wonderful was wrong on both counts. "Jim, what if Honey came to you claiming that one of those so called imaginary beasts was after me? Would you just stand by and do nothing, assuming her trolley had jumped its track? I don't think so."

That's when the suborn boy caved. "Sometimes, Trixie Belden, you have me questioning my sanity," he declared. "I'll go check on Beau. In the meantime, how about dishing up my dessert?"

But Trixie wasn't going to let Jim go anywhere alone, and neither was Dan. There was safety in numbers. So, in the end, while Mart assisted Honey in the kitchen, Goldilocks and her two bears set off into the twilight.

The three Bob-Whites felt uneasy as they approached the Benoit's cabin. The only light on the inside was dim and emanating from the main level. The young people's first thought was that Beau was alone and had turned in early. But as the teenagers grew closer to the residence, they could distinctly make out the sound of two males talking inside.

Trixie suggested she and her friends creep up to the front window and peek in. But Jim was quick to veto the idea. "I say we just knock on the door," he told the others. "I don't think Mr. LeBlanc would be conversing with Beau if the man were some kind of wolf-man. We'll just tell Beau we came to check on him when he answers. Maybe Mr. LeBlanc will take the hint and leave."

Dan agreed. "I think that's the best course of action, Trix," he said, backing up his buddy. "If Papa was going to transform into a Rougarou, he would have done so by now. That isn't the sun over our heads, you know."

Miss Belden glanced up at the silvery moon. She would have sworn on a stack of Mrs. Robert's bibles that Mr. LeBlanc was cursed. Had her keen senses been so wrong?

But as a blood-curdling howl rose from the cabin's rafters, followed by a series of thumps and bangs, Trixie knew she'd been right on the money. And so did Jim and Dan.

Racing for the cabin door, Jim, with his cohorts close on his heels, went for the knob with the ugly dangling foot. Only someone had twisted the lock. How were the young people to get in?!

Jim and Dan could only see one way. Not once, but twice, the brave boys slammed their combined weight against the impenetrable barrier. But the door just wouldn't give. Meanwhile, inside, Trixie could hear a horrendous scuffle.

"Get back! This is your final warning!" came Beau's panic-stricken cry. "I'll burn down this cabin with you and me in it. I'm not fooling, you pathetic monster!"

"Oh Jim, give it up; it's useless!" Trixie exclaimed as the boys tried yet again to force in the door. "I'm going to break window. Get back…GET BACK!" she ordered before either young man could protest.

Trixie then heaved the heavy metal table that had been set next to the porch swing into the glass. As the window shattered into a spider web of cracks, crumbled, and gave way, Jim stripped off his shirt and laid it over the sill.

Without pause, the Bob-White trio climbed inside, and there, pinned in the corner of the dining room by a snarling beast with blood-red eyes, they found Beau Benoit. In one hand, the courageous Cajun held a flaming cigarette lighter -in the other, like a prodding lion tamer, the youth wielded a wooden chair.

Never before had Trixie been so impressed by the boy. But as Mr. Benoit met his admirer's gaze, Miss Belden swore she saw remorse in his eyes. "Red, Slick, get her out of here!" Beau begged. But those words proved to be the young man's downfall. In his distraction, Mr. Benoit had given the nightmarish creature a chance to advance.

As the hideous man-beast lashed out with its long, sharp claws, the lighter, now extinguished, fell to the floor with a clatter. The next thing Trixie knew, the wooden chair hit the opposite wall, and Beau Benoit crumpled to the ground in a heap.

But there was to be no pause in the action. As the wretched Rougarou sprang atop the downed boy, Mr. Frayne jumped in.

Only as Jim wrestled to pull the hairy horror off his Cajun friend, Beau's snarling assailant reared its savage head. With gnashing teeth and stained pink gums, the Rougarou turned its attack on the New Yorker.

Dan, meanwhile, was engaged in a fight of his own. The wiry boy was doing everything he could to keep a kicking and screaming Trixie out of harm's way. But the feisty girl wouldn't back down. Trixie wanted a piece of the awful man in wolf's clothing! Jim's life was in danger, and Beau had yet to move. Somehow, she and Dan needed to drive the cryptic creature away? Only how?

"I guess now wouldn't be the time to tell Jim Beau kissed you, would it?" Dan commented randomly, feeling just as helpless.

"No, it wouldn't," Trixie spat. "Got any better ideas? If Miss Belden hadn't sworn off voodoo dolls, Mr. Mangan would have received a jab right where it hurt most!

But Mr. Mangan did have a better idea. Drawing his switchblade from his hip pocket, he called, "Jim catch!"

"Dan, no!" Trixie screamed as her friend prepared to toss it.

But the horrified girl's warning had come too late. Mr. Frayne had already caught the weapon and popped its steely blade. As Jim plunged the sharp dagger deep into the Rougarou's thigh, the beast let out an animal scream.

Trixie expected the hellish monster to retaliate in rage. Only the beast of the bayou, having gotten what it'd come for, merely turned and fled through the open window. The teens were safe.

As Miss Belden rushed to Jim's side, Dan went to check on Beau.

"Oh, Jim, are you alright?" Trixie cried as she helped him to his feet

Mr. Frayne wasn't sure. He was scratched and bruised but otherwise physically fine. It was his mental state Jim was questioning. Staring at the two half-eaten pieces of cherry pie on the dining room table, the young man asked, "Did that really happen?"

"Yeah, Red, it happened alright," Beau said as he rubbed his head and struggled to sit up.

"But it can't be," Jim insisted with disbelief. "Was that Rougarou really…?"

Trixie heard the name coming and did the only thing she could think of doing. Getting on her tiptoes, Miss Belden planted a great big kiss right on the freckled boy's lips to keep him from saying it!

If Jim wasn't dazed enough already, now his head was really spinning. "What brought that on?" he asked as a goofy grin slipped up one side of his face.

"Well, I wasn't testing the porridge," Goldilocks huffed, crossing her arms. "And if you ever want me kissing you again, Jim Frayne? I suggest you don't mention the Rougarou's name. Not for a year and a day!"

The End!

I hope you enjoyed the story! Thanks so much for reading!