The group stood stock still for several minutes as the bell tolled yet again before the echoes faded into silence. Arden took off running.
"Arden, wait!" called out Terry. Arden didn't pay her any mind. She was already figuring that she was too late as it was, but there might still be a chance she could happen upon whoever was ringing the bell.
The whole group made their way towards the belltower, but by the time they arrived, the ringing had stopped. They fanned out to search for the mysterious bell-ringer, but no one could be found on the premises. At least not in the immediate vicinity. They did happen upon two young girls out and about, one pushing the other's wheelchair. The girl in the wheelchair had reddish-orange hair, a face full of freckles, and laughing amber eyes while her companion had light brown hair and grey-green eyes.
"You heard the bell too?" asked the girl in the wheelchair.
"Hard to miss it," replied Jim as the others looked through some bushes.
"I don't know how he, or she, did it, but they're definitely long gone by now!" said Maurice as they regrouped.
"And you're sure no one came past you?" Arden asked the two girls.
They nodded firmly and briskly. "Positive," said the brown-haired girl.
"If anyone came by us, we would have naturally assumed it was the culprit!" said the redhead.
"Though, to be fair, I almost did think the lot of you did the ringing of the bell before you asked us those questions," said her friend. "Because if you did, then I would have to ask you how you did it!"
Louise laughed. "And if we did, we wouldn't tell you. A wizard never reveals his secrets!"
"Magician," muttered Ethel. "Magicians and wizards are two different things."
Sim shushed her. "Does it really matter?"
Arden glanced between the two, but before she could say anything, the redheaded girl spoke up. "What is the difference?"
Ethel glanced at her before shooting a look at Sim. Sim just sighed and shrugged. Ethel turned back to the girl. "Wizard was an old word that meant wise man and is used for people with powers. Magicians are just those guys who use stage magic."
"Oh, I never knew that there was a difference. Thanks!"
Ethel smiled. "You're welcome!"
"Oh, we didn't get your names!" exclaimed Terry. She quickly introduced everyone, and they found out the brunette was Mary Louise Burrows and the redhead was Eileen Macfarlane.
Seeing that there was nothing else they could do to shed some light on the mystery, the group decided it best to head back to the campus with Mary Louise and Eileen.
"So what were you two doing out here, if you don't mind my asking?" said Arden.
Mary Louise shrugged. "Just a walk. We wanted to see the campus at night."
"I wanted to see the campus at night and dragged Mary Louise into it," added Eileen with a laugh. "I just thought it would look a bit more magical in the moonlight and starlight. Didn't expect to hear the bell ringing."
"What were you doing out at this hour, if you don't mind my asking?" said Mary Louise.
"We were at a party!" exclaimed Terry.
"What?" chorused the two friends. Everyone took turns talking about the party at Pixie's and Louise and her group related about their friend group from Green Falls, the rest of whom were attending Sanford.
"Ooh, and there's a party every night this week?" asked Eileen.
Terry nodded, grinning. "Oh definitely! There wasn't a large crowd this time, but I'm sure once the word spreads, everyone will be there!"
"And you said that a few mermaids were going to Sanford, really truly?" asked Eileen, the pitch in her voice rising with every word, the sentence ending on a squeal.
Terry gave a firm nod of her head. "Yes indeed, and they said they would try and get them to come along."
"Well, that is, if the gang sees them again," said Louise. "They only saw them at the orientation."
Eileen gave out a squeak and clapped her hands. "Can you imagine, real live mermaids! Oh, this is going to be so awesome!"
Mary Louise bobbed her head. "Oh quite! We must be sure to tell Josie all about it. I'm sure she wouldn't mind getting to meet a mermaid herself!"
"Um, may I ask, who's Josie?" said Sally.
"Oh, a good friend of ours," replied Mary Louise, "and our roommate. She, unfortunately, didn't want to see the campus at night, and so didn't join us."
"But I'm sure she wouldn't mind going to the party tomorrow night," remarked Eileen. "You're sure everyone from Cedar Ridge and Sanford are invited?"
Terry bobbed her head. "Positive, it's just the invitations are by word of mouth only, it seems. So now that we've told you about it, you've been invited."
Eileen clapped her hands. "Excellent, maybe we can convince Josie to go to that one!"
Mary Louise laughed. "That should be easier than getting her out here tonight! Though I bet if she had known we would be witnesses to the mysterious bell-ringing, she would have come for sure."
"Oh, does Josie like mysteries?" asked Terry, shooting a glance in Arden's direction.
Mary Louise bobbed her head. "Oh definitely! She's working on becoming a detective just like her dad."
"Oh, how excellent! A detective on the premises! Maybe with her help, we can get to the bottom of this in no time," said Louise.
Mary Louise wrinkled her nose. "Eh, I don't know, she prefers a more, shall we say, a more dramatic mystery? Say, a murder or a theft rather than the mysterious ringing of a bell."
"That is true," said Eileen with a nod, "but didn't she also tell us her father wants her to get in as much practice as possible?"
"Hmm, I don't know …"
"Why don't we tell Josie what we know and let her decide for herself," said Eileen.
Mary Louise chuckled softly. "Fair point. We'll tell her upon our return and see what she says." She smirked at the group. "You might get to see a detective in action."
"Now that I would like to see," said Arden with a half-smirk. Even though, deep down, Arden wanted to solve the mystery herself. But, having someone who had a little bit more experience than she did in solving mysteries could come in handy. She could learn a few tricks of the trade. True, she wasn't going to become a detective like Josie, but she couldn't say no to a mystery. There was just something about a mystery that fascinated her.
Terry chuckled. "And you would. Arden likes mysteries, a lot. Favorite genre in the whole world."
"But you're not going to become a detective?" asked Mary Louise.
Arden shook her head. "No. I am going to get a degree in Psychology, but that's because I like working with people. But I will always like mystery."
"I prefer travel and adventure," remarked Sim.
"I, however, much prefer the romantic genre," said Terry.
"Oh, romance is so good!" said Louise.
Eileen squealed. "Ah, fellow romance fans! Finally, I can talk to someone about them besides just Mary Louise!"
"You like romance too?" Louise asked Mary Louise.
Mary Louise smiled. "Of course! You can thank Eileen for starting me on it!"
"What's your favorite mystery?" Eileen asked Arden.
Arden's eyes sparkled. "Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles. There's just … something so thrilling about a mysterious ghost hound on the moor."
"Oooh, and a little romantic!" said Mary Louise.
Louise shivered. "Oooh, that book always gave me shivers. It was too spooky for my taste."
"Well don't worry, there's no moors here," quipped Jim. "And if there were, I'm sure Maurice wouldn't mind making sure you stayed safe."
"Wh-what? I-I m-mean, s-sure!" stammered Maurice, going a little red in the face.
"Aw, aren't you sweet!" cooed Louise as she grabbed his arm. He chuckled nervously. Jim and Kit shared a glance, grinned, and winked.
The group continued to chat away about their favorite books while Arden drifted to the back of the group. She paused and glanced around the campus grounds before looking in the direction of the bell tower. Who had rung the bell? Was it a human with a special device, or was there a supernatural explanation? Arden's brows furrowed. Tom Scott had mentioned that there was a secret society that took care of the bargain between the school and the sprites. Was there any information to be found in the school library? Did Tom know anymore about it? Also, why did the bell ring this night? The school didn't seem to be in any danger. In fact, it seemed that no one else but the group heard the bell, and only because they were nearby. Why was that? Shouldn't someone else have heard it, or at least half the school by now? Arden figured more research was necessary to find the answers to her questions and as such, a trip to the library was in store.
She took another look around the school grounds before turning and returning to the group. They were getting ready to split up and exchanged numbers, with a promise from Mary Louise to let them know if Josie would work on the mystery.
Finally, the three girls were back in their room.
"Wowee, what a night," said Sim as she fell back on her bed.
"Right?" said Terry as she began removing her make-up. "We meet such a fabulous group of people, especially those guys from Sanford," Terry shot Arden a mischievous smirk. Arden thought the room was getting a little warm, but ignored her for the most part. "Then we met Mary Louise and Eileen, and we heard the bell ringing!"
"Odd that it happened after you told us about it this morning," said Sim, sitting up in her bed and rubbing her chin.
"You mean yesterday morning," quipped Terry, pointing at the clock. It was almost one a.m.
Sim rolled her eyes. "Ok, yesterday morning. Point is, it's kind of odd to think that we also heard it." She paused and thought for a moment. "Were Mary Louise and Eileen with the girl who heard it last night?"
Arden shook her head. "No, definitely not. None of them had light brown hair, and Eileen's hard to miss."
"So they definitely were just out to see Cedar Ridge at night," said Sim.
"Well obviously. What, are you getting as invested in this mystery as Arden now?" asked Terry.
Sim shrugged. "Not really, I suppose, but I do find it very odd that a bell that has no rope to pull on could be ringing in the middle of the night." She glanced at Arden. "What's your plan?"
Arden tapped her chin. "I think we should wait until Mary Louise lets us know if Josie wants to solve this, but I definitely want to go to the library tomorrow and do some more research into the bell and the secret society."
Sim nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. Count me in."
Arden smiled. "Thanks." She glanced expectantly at Terry.
"What are you looking at me for?"
"Oh come on Terry, it's always been the three of us," pleaded Arden. "I don't want to do this without you."
Terry scoffed. "Come on Arden, I can't keep dropping everything I want to do to do what you want to do. I was thinking I would hit the mall with Louise, Kit, Sally, Jane, Millie, and Greta."
"How about a compromise? Come with us to the library in the morning, then we'll go meet the others for lunch and go shopping afterwards."
Terry thought for a moment. "Well, that does sound like a good compromise …"
"You'll join us?" asked Arden excitedly.
Terry sighed before letting out a chuckle. "Alright, let's do this!"
Arden put out her hand. "Let's, Pentville Pals!"
Sim laughed as she put her hand on top of Arden's. "We are going to have to come up with a better group name than that."
Terry quickly placed her hand on top of Sim's. "Well, it's the one we've got, and it's the one we'll use! The Pentville Pals are on the case!"
(Author's Note: Hello rosy readers! Yes, more characters are met in this chapter! lol, and there's more coming, though it's only about four more and they won't show up as often, but we'll see. XD There's still a couple of details that need working on, but otherwise, this mystery is coming along nicely now, yay! Thanks for reading and have a great week! God bless!)