Read The Mystery at Maypenny's for Free Online

for Mart’s feisty nature.
    Trixie considered joining the others in the living room, but she decided against it. She would hear Brian’s debate at school, since the principal had invited the whole school to attend. Right now, she wanted to get away from International Pine for a while.
    She wandered up to her room and stood in front of her bookshelf. She looked over the rows of books and pulled out Huckleberry Finn. It was an old favorite, one she’d read over and over and had never tired of. She flopped down on the bed, opened the book, and started to read. Soon she was lost in the story. Sleepyside and International Pine were far away. What was real was the Mississippi River, the raft, and Huck and Jim.
    She was laughing at Huck, dressed up in a girl’s clothes complete with bonnet, when a soft knock on her door brought her back to the real world.
    Come in,” she said, a little impatient at having her fun interrupted.
    The door opened, and Bobby wandered into the room. For a moment, Trixie felt startled by the fact that Bobby had knocked. Ordinarily he barged in wherever he wanted to go, with a six-year-old’s confidence that he’d be welcome.
    “I’d like to have a talk, Trixie,” he announced.
    Trixie bit the inside of her cheek to stifle a smile. Now she realized why Bobby had knocked. He wanted to have a “grown-up” talk, so he was doing everything in the most grown-up way he knew how.
    Trixie closed the book and laid it on the night table next to her bed. She pulled herself up into a sitting position, her back propped against the headboard of the bed, and folded her hands in her lap. “What is it you want to talk to me about, Bobby?” she asked seriously.
    Bobby sat down near the foot of the bed, his feet dangling over the edge. He folded his hands in his lap in imitation of Trixie’s and looked at her for a moment, his forehead creased in a frown, before he spoke.
    “I wanna know about the pine company,” Bobby said. “I wanna know how come everybody’s talking about the pine company.”
    Trixie leaned her head back until it rested against the wall above the bed. She closed her eyes, trying to figure out how she could explain to Bobby something that she herself only partially understood.
    “Don’t go to sleep, Trixie,” Bobby said shrilly. “I wanna know about the pine company.”
    Trixie opened her eyes and raised her head. “I’m not going to sleep, Bobby,” she said. “I’m just trying to remember everything I know about the pine company so that I can tell you about it.” She paused again, chewing her lower lip. Then she took a deep breath and plunged in. “The pine company is International Pine, Bobby,” she began. “They make furniture.”
    “I know that,” Bobby said. “Daddy told me that.”
    “Well, what else did he tell you?” Trixie asked. “He said it’s Inter—Inter— He said it’s what you said. And he said they make furniture. And he said they wanna make some more furniture, so they wanna buy some land from Mr. Maypenny and Mr. Wheeler. And he said Mr. Wheeler wants to sell it to them, and Mr. Maypenny doesn’t. And he said some of the people think Mr. Wheeler is right and some people think Mr. Maypenny is right. And he said everybody’s getting all excited and upset about it.”
    Trixie nodded. “That’s about it, Bobby. It sounds as if Daddy did a good job of explaining the whole thing to you. What more do you want me to tell you about ‘the pine company’?”
    “What I want you to tell me about the pine company,” Bobby said slowly, “what I want you to tell me is, who’s right and who’s wrong?”
    In spite of Bobby’s serious, grown-up expression, Trixie laughed out loud, scooped Bobby up in her arms, and hugged him. “If I knew the answer to that question, I could rule the world,” she told him.
    Bobby looked confused, and Trixie knew she’d have to try to explain things more clearly. She took a deep breath and went on. “Bobby, nobody knows