Read The Mystery at Mead's Mountain for Free Online

I didn’t think you were that dumb.” Trixie looked Eric right in the eye. “Someone locked our patio door that opens out onto the pool.”
    Eric just shrugged and walked away.
    Di ran ahead and tried their door. “Hurray!” she yelled. “First dibs on the shower!”
    While Honey and Trixie waited their turns, Honey said, “Trixie, don’t you think you were kind of rude? Why, the way you looked at him, you were practically accusing him of locking our door.”
    “Well, he called us dumb for getting locked out,” Trixie said defensively. She knew she tended to jump to conclusions.
    Trixie went over to examine the lock on the patio door. “This isn’t the kind of lock you can accidentally lock,” she announced. “Someone must have locked it from the inside.”
    “It must have been that practical joker,” said Honey. “I don’t like this, Trixie. You don’t really believe there is a ‘ghost’ who doesn’t want Daddy to buy the lodge, do you?”
    “Of course not. Nobody else really believes it, either. But if a person is playing ghost, I’d sure like to figure out how and why.”
    “Why can’t we ever go anywhere without strange things happening?” Honey sighed. “Trixie, why are you grinning? There’s nothing funny about this!”
    “I know,” Trixie said honestly. “I just—well, when your father started telling us about the ghost, well, I was kind of hoping for some excitement.”
    “Well, I think you’re getting more than you bargained for,” Honey cautioned. “Come on, let’s get ready for breakfast.”
    Trixie’s short curls dried much faster than the shoulder-length cuts of Di and Honey, so she decided to meet the others in the restaurant later. She thought she would take a walk before breakfast and see more of Mead’s Mountain.
    When she stepped out into the hall, she saw a young couple coming toward her, arm in arm. He was tall and slim, with smooth, dark skin and long, black hair. She was shorter, but slim and dark, too. Her hair was pulled back and piled on her head, and her features were delicate and finely chiseled. Whispering and flashing smiles to each other, they stopped at the door next to the Bob-Whites’ suite.
    “Good morning,” Trixie greeted them and introduced herself. “We’re staying in the suite next to you. If we make too much noise, just bang on the wall.” They smiled and introduced themselves as Mr. and Mrs. Allessi. “Welcome,” said the woman. “Don’t worry about bothering us.”
    “Have a good day on the slopes,” said the man as they disappeared into their room.
    Honeymooners are lovely people, thought Trixie as she walked down the hall. Once she got outside in the courtyard, she took a deep breath of mountain air and gazed at the beautiful scenery around her.
    The lodge was situated in a hollow at the base of a string of mountains, and it was much larger than it had looked the previous night. The way its Alpine styling was silhouetted against the mountains almost convinced Trixie that she must be in a mountain meadow in Switzerland. She guessed that the largest peak in the chain of mountains must be Mead’s Mountain. Except for the mountains, most of the land Trixie could see around the lodge was gently sloping, forested hills.
    The main lobby and restaurant faced the mountains, showing off the spectacular view. Connected to the main building, and housing the guest rooms, was a rectangular building with the open courtyard in the center, where the swimming pool was located. A breezeway passed through the center of the courtyard, and Trixie followed it, marveling at how the sun made everything snow-covered shine like diamonds. Coming around to the front of the main lodge, she could see a bunny tow and a more advanced rope tow meet the start of the chair lift. She was looking forward to learning how to cross-country ski.
    Tromping through snowdrifts and breathing the invigorating air was making her hungry, so Trixie headed for the restaurant. None