19) The Secret of the Unseen Treasure
The Bob Whites stumble upon an arsonist preparing to set fire to the flower farm of long term family friend, Ethel Elliot. After some snooping, Trixie is convinced that somebody has been trying to sabotage this harmless widow's business. The question is, who wants her out of the way, and why? As well as trying to discover the answers, the Bob Whites aim to help this struggling pensioner make ends meet.
* Ethel Elliot was Mrs Belden's babysitter when Helen was a little girl. Ethel married a horticulturalist named Sam who had a teenage son named Max. Now Sam is long dead and Max has grown up.
* Charles (or Charley) Hartman is a retired cop and ex-judo instructor who still has a very sharp edge. With such a combination, he's not a guy to mess around with. I admire his patience and respect for Trixie's work. Other elderly chaps in his position may well be too ageist and too sexist to take her seriously. Go, Charles!
* The cover of my oval edition is a little misleading. It gives the impression that the 'unseen treasure' of the title may lie deep at the bottom of a sea or lake. In actual fact, the Bob Whites' discovery in the Wheelers' lake is a total accident and red herring. It's a very cool and unexpected scene though, so not a bad choice for the cover. Because of the main setting and subject matter though, I might have preferred a riot of colorful cottage flowers.
* Jim and Brian shoot off for two weeks to work at a boys' camp. Apparently they both shine like the models of young manhood they are. Jim performs a heroic rescue and then Brian delivers some crucial first aid. This is all totally off scene for a chunk of the book, just in case we forget how awesome they both are. They are still in the story though.
* Hmm, I reckon Peter Belden is a bit too chatty with his family regarding privileged information from the bank. Sure, he tells his wife and kids, 'What I say has to stay at this table and go no further,' but it happens more than once. I hope he doesn't start making a habit of these information leaks. At least he just does it in front of Trixie and Mart, and not chatty Bobby.
* Kathryn Kenny does a brilliant job of describing a dodgy florist shop. There's just something about Manton's that's on the nose.
* Hey, how about the outcome of the flower photograph contest? Did Mart's photo end up winning the grand prize for Mrs Elliot? Sure, it doesn't really matter anymore, yet it's still a thread that peters out and would have been nice to know. (By the way, this boy turns out to have another talent, along with music, general knowledge, research skills, furniture restoration, agricultural know-how and a super-dooper vocabulary. It turns out he can take terrific photos too.)
* Whoa, a hidden cannabis crop is a controversial discovery. Not to mention awkward when Dan, who wasn't along for the find, assumes the others have all been smoking pot! I mean, what the...? How well does he know his fellow Bob Whites? (Just in case you're wondering, this isn't the 'unseen treasure' of the title either, haha.)
* Dan is a bit sus and touchy in general in this book, because he's spotted Al Finlay, a gang leader he once knew, hanging around Sleepyside. After what happened to Dan in The Uninvited Guest when his old gang members turned up, I guess we can't blame him for being a bit paranoid. His past never seems to stop haunting him.
* I appreciate Trixie and Honey's innocence in being unable to identify the strange leaves. Even Brian, the future doctor who was credited with so much botanical knowledge in The Marshland Mystery isn't sure. Once again it takes Mart, the budding agriculturalist and general trivia buff, to figure out what the girls have stuffed in their pockets. And he ain't impressed.
* I'm not sure I'm a big fan of allowing Mrs Elliot to remain oblivious about the shenanigans going on under her own roof, and on her own property over the years. In her position I'd want to know. It might help her appreciate the true character of her stepson too.
* But her assessment of him is still good enough to be the quote of the book. 'Max has too much of the city in him. With growing things you have to wait, to be patient.' That's a good life lesson for all of us, and no doubt includes kids, ambitions and dreams.
20) The Mystery off Old Telegraph Road
Trixie discovers that Art students at Sleepyside High are really badly funded, so she and the Bob Whites decide to host a bikeathon to raise money for art supplies. Serious opposition stuns them, especially from talented artist Nick Roberts, one of the very people they're trying to help. Why would he object? Who is behind the anonymous threats for them to stop their plans or else? And what's with the counterfeit German bank note Trixie finds blowing in the breeze? It all comes to a head when the Bob Whites are forced to consider whether persevering with their plan will jeopardize anyone's safety.
* The notorious Ben Riker is back, staying with his aunt and uncle Maddie and Matt Wheeler. This 'poor little rich kid' was in with a bad crowd at boarding school, and his parents hope his cousins and their friends will rub off on him. Instead, he's fallen in with a new bad group at Sleepyside. Trixie finds him annoying as hell because he's monopolising Honey and Jim. She sure doesn't want to make Ben one of her personal help projects. He's where she draws the line.
* Just for the record, Ben's uncouth friends are Mike Larson, Jerry Vanderhoef and Bill Wright. We'll know them if they pop up in the halls of Sleepyside High again.
* Hmm, nothing much has really changed in the decades since this book was written. So often it seems to be the arts that miss out on support or funding. Sports get far more financial backing. That speaks volumes about people's general priorities, then and now.
* Okay, times have changed dramatically in other ways though. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be considered ethical in our day and age, for an art student like Nick Roberts to sketch other people's houses and then sell them to the general public at his stall. Yet in the seventies when this story was written, privacy and permission weren't such hot topics. Trixie and Honey are simply glad to come across his drawings of Crabapple Farm and Manor House before anyone else snaps them up. Come to think of it, does it strike you as slightly creepy to think of anyone else buying them?
* 'Kathryn Kenny' is as interesting and comprehensive as ever, when it comes to educating us readers more about the themes of the book. Nick Roberts gives the girls a good tutorial about pen and ink drawings, and later Mr Crider, the art teacher, does the same regarding silk screen printing. (It's Laura French's first look-in, I believe, who later became quite prolific in the series.)
* Helen Belden, the one and only Moms, was in a similar position to these struggling Art students. It seems she was an Art major before she married Peter, but her life took a different turn when she had babies and could no longer afford art supplies. A lovely landscape on the wall of Crabapple Farm is her link to the past, painted back in the day. She never shows any signs of regretting the loss of that side of her life. I suppose she hasn't had time for much introspection.
* Ouch, one of Trixie's famous temper flashes puts her briefly into the bad books of her bestie Honey! And Honey goes so far as accusing Trixie of seeking attention! Yep, the same Honey who snaps at anyone else (especially Mart) who ever dares to suggest such a thing. Just for the record, it's clear that Honey was pushed just a bit too far, and was quite justified. Both girls deal well with their difference of opinion, without letting it fester too long.
* Awww, I love it when Trixie and Mart have an honest heart-to-heart about Trixie's rift with Honey. In fact, Trixie shows up well in this book. I like her best when she's vulnerable and ponders her possible flaws and overbearing approach.
* Trixie, in her effervescence, simply assumes that others will share her enthusiasm for the bikeathon project and agree to be 'in'. Lucky for her Mrs Vanderpoel and Mr Maypenny are both good sports when she 'volunteers' them for hospitality and food. But Nick Roberts makes it clear that she can't presume too much as far as he's concerned.
* We get a hilarious Bobby moment, when he locks himself inside the house, then launches into full-on panic mode. Neither his mother's fruitless attempts to soothe him, nor Mart's wordy instructions to solve the problem do the slightest bit of good. It takes the future Dr Brian Belden to cut the Gordian knot. He knows the only solution is to forcibly break the door chain. And the dramatic Bobby thanks him for saving his life!
* Whoa, Nick's a bit reckless toward the end, for a standoffish, deep thinking art student. But perhaps he was simply pushed too far.
* Wow, good old Jimbo gets the chance to utilise some impressive strongman tactics again. What a guy! But our Jim is more than just an impressive bicep and six pack. He has a great heart too.
* Both Ben Riker and Nick Roberts come across as angry young men throughout this book, and both eventually confess that they find the Bob Whites cliquey and feel excluded. What a flashback to Tad Webster in The Mysterious Code. On one hand, those inclusive Bob Whites haven't learned their lesson. But it's interesting because on the surface they're just a small group of out-of-town kids who bond because they feel geographically removed from other Sleepyside High students. And they're sort of geeky, in their matching red jackets. Yet jocks like Tad and Ben and art nerds like Nick alike seem to feel and envy their mystique.
* Overall, I wish I could have been at that bikeathon, peddling up Glen Road and through the Wheelers' game preserve, sampling Mrs Vanderpoel's famous cookies and Mr Maypenny's legendary stew. Oh well, bring on more stories instead.
* Quote of the book. Trixie: I have a bad habit of assuming that other people know all the details of things I'm involved in, just because I spend all my time thinking about them. Mr Crider: That's a fairly common habit with us human beings, Trixie.
21) The Mystery of the Castaway Children
The Beldens discover a tiny baby, apparently abandoned in Reddy's doghouse. It's a ready-made challenge to trace his family. Since he bears several bruises and scrapes, they must tread with caution rather than reunite him instantly with whoever caused them. Once the baby's identity unfolds, it appears his older brother is still missing and kidnappers are involved. It'll take some delicate probing to return both little boys safely to their parents, but can impulsive Trixie restrain herself?
* I love the start of this book, with the six Beldens doing their best to cool down on a sultry summer night, culminating in that refreshing thunder storm and shock discovery in Reddy's doghouse. (I'd call it a kennel, but the story consistently says 'doghouse.' International differences.)
* Reddy is a hero. Not all dogs would simply stand back being hospitable, when an interloper has been placed in their domain.
* It's a dramatic moment when Mart and Trixie discover the baby's bruises and wonder whether he's been battered by someone intentionally. But technically, these two aren't the first to reveal baby Dodgy's tiny torso. Their mother gives him his first bath the previous evening, and surely would have noticed the bruises then.
* Once again, Brian and Mart have a ginormous responsibility of the running of the farm placed on their young shoulders. As their father heads off to his air-conditioned bank in the heatwave, he casually commands them to irrigate the raspberries. What a long, hot, sweaty and tedious job for two High School lads. They never once complain though. I tend to think Peter and Helen may be in for a rude awakening when their sons leave home.
* Diana relishes the chance to help care for a three-month-old bub, and is a natural when it comes to hands-on care. Trixie tends to get a bit impatient and snappy with Di, as we've seen before.
* This story serves as a warning that little kids may have under-developed senses of humor, as poor David Dodge finds out. The conversation which young Davy takes at face value is astounding, but not at all implausible for someone his age. We must learn David's lesson and love our young relatives but never assume that they always cotton on to our jokes, haha.
* We meet Ella Kline again; the wheelchair bound girls who does some sewing for a living and boards at the Glen Road Inn. She's the godsend who helped with Juliana's wedding clothes back in The Uninvited Guest.
* When the Bob Whites come across Nancy the goat and her teenage owner, Brian confesses he's unable to milk a goat, even though he lives on a farm. Yet he and Mart both milked those Ozark cows in The Mystery at Bob White Cave with no hassles. Come on Brian, how different do you think it could be?
* Elmer Durham the wealthy, sorta-smarmy auctioneer, had teeth so perfect they were bound to be dentures, we're told. Haha, those days are over. Some elderly family members inform me that dentures are now made with intentional flaws to appear natural.
* This novel is a bit of a tear jerker. I remember sobbing over the big family reunion near the end of the book in my teens. In fact baby Dodgy is a very sweet character, bringing the best out of all the Beldens and their friends. Peter and Helen could so have another one! (I'm pretty sure they'd say I have to be joking.)
* This was written in the 1970s, long before backward facing car capsules for babies were invented.
* It's incredible that a boy Davy's age could escape attention for so long out on his own with his baby brother. You'd hope that in a similar scenario these days, that work crew would have intervened.
* The way I see it, Trixie causes as much trouble as she solves. She, Honey and Jim make a rash visit to certain people against Sergeant Molinson's advice. Sure enough, she causes crooks to follow her. It's like stirring up a hornet's nest with a stick. Not only does she endanger the lives of her own loved-ones, but those of the small Dodge brothers too. Then Molinson shakes her hand in the aftermath. Does he not understand what just happened? If ever there was a time to rebuke her it's now. Perhaps he will when he has time to reflect.
* For quote of the book, I've chosen a line from the narration, instead of a speech from a character. 'Sharing the work was the price each Belden paid for living a quiet, uncluttered life.' (And as I mention above, the two elder boys seem to shoulder a particularly hefty share.)
Join me next time for Series 22 - 24
And catch up on Series 16 - 18
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