25) The Sasquatch Mystery
Sasquatch, Big Foot, Yeti, call him what you will, he's doing some scary stuff. The Bob Whites are camping in St Joe National Park with the Beldens' Idaho cousins. The mythical sasquatch is assumed to be responsible for rock throwing, theft and eerie noises. Then Cousin Cap disappears, supposedly eaten! But there are some strange, trigger happy humans around. Could any of them be behind the terror? And is Cap really gone for good?
* It's nice to see cousin Hallie Belden back in another story, this time with her older brothers Knut and Cap, who were mentioned back in The Mystery of the Uninvited Guest. Back then Hallie gave the impression that Knut was the reliable one, and Cap was a 'birdbrain.' The trio come across as vague counterparts to Brian, Mart and Trixie, but are also different in many ways. Double Belden family dynamics happening here.
* We learn that Uncle Harold Belden is a mining engineer, and he and his wife are presently off in Switzerland on a mining conference. His three kids are old enough to entertain their New York cousins and their friends on a camping holiday, yet apparently not so old that their guests aren't required to bring along their own grown-up chaperone, Miss Trask. Since I imagine Knut Belden is probably 18, it's a bit of a stretch that they even need her, yet she keeps agreeing to join the young folk on these getaways, which inevitably turn out to be hair raising. Poor Miss Trask never seems to learn.
* Trixie is sure her father would disapprove of Cap's swinging ponytail. Whoa, Peter Belden must be ultra conventional and dyed-in-the-wool! He's obviously rubbed off on his own sons too, since Brian and Mart both try awkwardly not to notice the ponytail when the cousins first meet up with each other. It seems Cap's a tad too shocking and radical for the conservative banker's boys! High time these cousins got together then, in my opinion.
* No wonder they don't see each other much, though, since Idaho and New York are right across the continent from each other. (Being an Aussie, I have to look these things up.)
* I can't help wondering if it's implicitly suggested that Uncle Harold married a woman with at least a dash of Indigenous American blood. It's just a feeling I get, from descriptions of Hallie's Pocohontas style beauty and Cap's moccasins and fringed jacket.
* Poor Dan misses out on the holiday again. No surprise there, but since it would have meant contact with Hallie again, it might have been nice if he'd got to go. After all, they developed quite a close bond in The Uninvited Guest, and were even briefly captives together.
* The cousins get along great on the whole, but unfortunately Cap gives Mart a thorough spraying for bringing a snack into their shared tent, because it could attract bears. It appears Cap's quick temper is legendary, since Trixie is about to but in but Hallie warns her to steer clear of the fracas.
* Hallie's Idaho hospitality leaves a bit to be desired too, since she frequently pays out her own tent mate, Diana, for being a scaredy cat. I'm sure many readers agree with Hallie, yet considering the bears, skunks and cougars getting up close and personal; pack rats scuttling over Di's face at night, and now park rangers going around warning campers about possible sasquatch peril, I honestly don't find Di overly reactive in this story. In fact she arguably comes across the bravest of them all, since she pushes through fear the others seem too obtuse to even feel.
* Di is very endearing during the incident when she decides to make fudge to lighten a tense campfire vigil. She's actually using a great therapeutic tool to lighten her own anxious mood, whether she knows it or not. Sometimes some hands-on activity is all it takes. (I'm sure having Mart's support boosts her satisfaction level too. A generous gesture plus enlisting help from a cute guy is surely a winning combo. It's a shame the environment let her down a bit.)
* Diana's impromptu campfire fudge will have to go into my dream series cookbook.
* There is a very thought-provoking environmental theme which comes through especially from the attitude and remarks of Cap Belden, the young woodsman. He says, 'In the time we're here, we'll have changed the whole growth schedule of all the plants we're walking on.' It's good and timely to keep that sort of consideration in mind.
* As usual, Trixie Belden books are quite educational. We get a crash course on gold panning from young Knut Belden, who obviously knows what he's talking about.
* I'm not sure I completely buy the dramatic incident when Miss Trask and Diana witness Cap's disappearance, in the presence of the 'sasquatch.' Even though Miss Trask says she tripped over and lost her focus, the whole 'now you see him, now you don't' quality doesn't quite ring true. But hey, I'm willing to go along with it for the sake of the story.
* Poor Trixie's inferiority complex is stirred up again, as she compares herself to the handsome, dark featured line of Beldens which includes her dad, Uncle Harold, Brian, Knut and Hallie, and considers herself lacking. Even though Moms is pretty, Trixie is not mad about the blonde, freckled Johnson genes she's inherited from that side. We are told, 'It was hard to think of herself as pretty, when each time she faced Mart, she saw herself.' Haha, that's clearly just a matter of personal taste. Ask Jim or Diana.
* The sasquatch puts me in mind of the trolls from the Harry Potter series. It's built like small shed, carries its own appalling stench wherever it steps and doesn't come across as super bright. Are we meant to buy into its true existence though? Kathryn Kenny invites us to believe it if it gives us a thrill of mystery! Even though a couple of the sasquatch sightings are debunked, the picture on the front cover of my oval edition seems to be presented on face value, if we wish to accept it.
* The quote of the book is from Trixie. 'The sasquatch in my imagination is a lot awfuller than the real one has been.' What a great generalisation for all sorts of scenarios life may bring our way.
26) The Mystery of the Headless Horseman
Washington Irving's legend of the Headless Horseman happened not all that far from Sleepyside. It appears the creepy phantom has migrated closer to home. Trixie and Honey spot him twice in the dead of night! Meanwhile, there's friction between Trixie and Di. Harrison the butler is acting strangely, and Trixie suspects him of theft. Nice Mr Jonathan Crandall, the former curator of the Sleepyside Art Museum, died recently under suspicion for stealing a prize Ming vase. Trixie wishes to clear his name, even if it means implicating Harrison and shaming the Lynch family. But how does the creepy headless rider fit into all this?
* Whoops, Bob White family staff have a habit of disappearing lately. Two book ago it was Regan who went AWOL from the Manor House. This time, Harrison the butler has done a bunk from the Lynch estate. The Bob Whites probably wouldn't care that much, except that he was meant to have held the fort for the Charity Bazaar on the Lynch lawns, in the absence of Mr and Mrs Lynch. Now that he's gone, it looks like it's all off.
* Luckily, not only is Harrison tracked down but Miss Trask steps up too.
* Sadly, the Bob Whites' Charity Bazaar is upstaged by the sudden arrival of a circus. Personally, I'd choose their bazaar over the 'lions, tigers and elephants' on the big roadside advert. These days, not only have traditional performing animals fallen out of favour at circuses, for their own sake, but there is generally much more lead-up to the starting day.
* To put it into a modern context, if this story was set during the twenty-twenties, Di would be blocking Trixie from all of her social media accounts. She's fed-up with Trixie's nosiness, and it's all because Trixie suspects that Harrison might be a crook. My initial reaction is, 'Huh, why the touchy protectiveness?' Surely there's no love lost between Harrison and Diana. In fact at one time, Di was eager to get rid of him because his prim and pompous presence mortifies her simple, unassuming values. So why is she taking Trixie's suspicion personally, as if Harrison is one of her nearest and dearest relatives?
* Down the track, I start to get where Di is coming from. Her loyalty to Harrison turns out to be extended loyalty to her own beloved Dad. Exposure of Harrison would mean loss of face for Mr Lynch, who trusts him implicitly. So it is a family matter after all. Fair enough, I guess.
* Mr Lynch is a serious art collector. He owns a priceless little jade statue named Tien Ling which he's lent to the Sleepyside Art Museum as an exhibit.
* Harrison's first name is never divulged. Okay, my guess is John. It would surely be something short, traditional, and totally straightforward. He's just the same as Stephens from The Remains of the Day; as proud and stately off the job as on, and even when he's seen riding a yellow pushbike. Sometimes we almost get flashes of humour from him. But not quite.
* There's a chapter entitled, 'Bob White Breakup?' The dreadful possibility of disbanding is all because of this rift between Trixie and Di. It translates to simmering discord within the Belden family too. Trixie doesn't want Mart to tell Di anything that might implicate Harrison because of this awkward tension, yet he's all, 'Hey, why should I keep any secrets from my girl?' (Not in those words of course, but that's the gist of it.)
* There are some great Reddy moments in this book. Mart acquires a dog training book and bets Trixie that he'll be able to train Reddy within a week. Naturally, Trixie is quick to take advantage of his tremendous optimism. And Reddy is such a good natured scatterbrain. How's this? 'For a moment, Reddy looked sorrowful, then remembering how much he loved them all, he sat back on his haunches and grinned.' Awww! And how about this? 'Reddy's tail, with its interesting accumulation of forest souvenirs, waved in triumph as he padded along beside them.' Such sparse sentences, yet he's right there in front of us.
* It's refreshing to get a cat character in this book too. It's fluffy, black Henry the Eighth, who belongs to Mrs Crandall. What a purring legend, who even has some impact on this story.
* Trixie refers to a Bob White adventure that was never published. As she and Honey descend into Sleepyside Hollow and see Mrs Crandall's house, she remarks, 'Don't you remember we were here once before, tracking down the lead on another mystery.' It seems Brian's jalopy broke down and Mrs Crandall let them use her phone. But that never takes place in any of the twenty-five books which proceed this one. I know, because I'm reading them all back to back. So don't scratch your heads trying to remember. That can't have been much of a mystery.
* Mr Jonathan Crandall was a keen gardener whose hobby was grafting different buds onto single fruit trees. He'd also enjoyed inventing cryptic riddles for his loved ones to solve. He was so good at it, that's part of the problem. The Bob Whites suspect a precious treasure might be hidden for safety with his wife's birthday present. But his clues have proven far too enigmatic and mystifying for discovery.
* Trixie's nose seems to be out of joint because Di is showing some initiative. When she mentions Di's unprecedented pushiness to Jim, he gently points out that it might simply seem that way because Trixie is used to running every show herself. She's miffed, to say the least, that he'd dare to insinuate any such thing.
* This exchange is good enough to be the quote of the book. Trixie: But I'm not bossy! Jim: Oh, sometimes you are. Just a little bit, maybe. But then, I guess someone's got to be the boss. Trixie: I thought we were all bosses. Jim: (wisely decides to change the subject). But she doesn't let him forget it.
* It also tickles my funny bone when Trixie reproaches him with, 'Jim, don't you ever notice anything?' I think the answer is that other than her cute curls and freckles, no, not much.
27) The Mystery of the Ghostly Galleon
Ahoy, me hearties. The Bob Whites are spending a weekend at Miss Trask's family home; an old pirate's inn run by her brother Frank. There is an old mystery concerning a disappearing ancestor, some spooky sightings of a glowing ghost ship and a sudden calamity when Frank Trask himself goes missing. If he doesn't return in time, the whole Inn will be lost. Can Trixie and the Bob Whites help track him down?
* Hooray, the stars align for once in a blue moon, and we have all seven Bob Whites off on a holiday together at the same time. It's a quick weekend getaway. Maybe that's why Dan can spare the time.
* Since another weekend plan falls through, Mr Wheeler suggests that all the teenagers gatecrash Miss Trask's personal retreat to her own family home, at Pirate's Inn. The Bob Whites feel a bit awkward, until she convinces them that it's not only fine with her, but there's also an old mystery to solve. Then they're all on board (excuse the pun).
* It seems Miss Trask had a rascally pirate ancestor named Captain Trask, who famously vanished over lunch, the instant a group of soldiers trooped in and surrounded his table to arrest him. The mystery has never been solved.
* We're never actually told what ailed Miss Trask's and Frank's sister. Just that she's been a longtime patient at hospital and the bills are gargantuan.
* This mystery turns out to include another ghost story, or more precisely, the ghost of a ship. Whenever the Sea Fox, (Captain Trask's old galleon), is sighted in real time, it signifies that something bad is about to happen to a current member of the Trask family. And of course, Trixie and Honey see it on their first night there. I can't help thinking of all the spots of danger Miss Trask has been in over the past year, in her chaperone duties with the Bob Whites. Perhaps that ship has been flashing on and off like a Christmas light.
* Trixie is a passionate fan of a series of mystery novels about a beautiful teenage detective named Lucy Radcliffe. Whenever Mart makes fun of them, she predictably blows her top! Trixie reacts as if criticism of her beloved Lucy books is akin to slinging mud at herself. Sort of understandable maybe, since she's a teenage detective girl herself.
* She tries to fling comeback insults about his favourite sci-fi novels by Cosmo McNaught, but Mart is too cool to take the bait. It's funny that these two should get into such heated disagreements about books of all things. Sometimes Trixie is almost reduced to tears. I rarely come across such intense literary arguments in any family but mine, haha.
* Hmm, time for a few psychological observations. Once again it strikes me that Trixie often directs thoughtless digs at Mart for no reason at all, then flies off the handle when he retaliates. But because she always makes more of a kerfuffle about hurt feelings, he's put in the 'bad guy' position more often, and forced to apologise. Trixie rarely apologises to Mart for anything, even though she says some equally cutting things to him. Personally, I suspect it's just because he conceals his emotions more, as boys of the era were taught to do. She is a bit of a diva, and it works to her advantage.
* Trixie and Mart's ongoing sniping at each other is clearly intended as a counterpart to Marge and Frank Trask's thorny relationship, which has been prickling them for thirty or forty years. In more recent years, Frank has irritated his sensible sister by making a series of crazy investments. This time, he seems to have transformed their ancestral home into a pirate theme park which just verges on being tacky, but not quite. (Although some readers may argue that he does indeed cross the line.)
* I like their fellow guest Mr Appleton, a polite, unassuming little man who goes around with a lifelike dummy as his travelling companion. Does the presence of Clarence the manikin make Mr Marvin Appleton just the slightest bit weird and suspicious? Or is it each to his own?
* I also like the gloomy, fearsome looking waiter named Weasel Willis, who turns out to have a chronic case of butter fingers. But he's great at using reverse psychology to sell the best dishes on the menu. There's also an archetypal proud French chef named Gaston Gabriel, who doesn't ever bother using false modesty for convention's sake. 'I am without doubt one of the world's best chefs.' That's a confident statement to make.
* The Bob Whites sure are shortsighted during this book when it comes to making food orders. Even though many things on the menu sound terrific, all seven end up making the same order more than once. Come on guys, branch out a bit, and then you'll have the fun of tasting someone else's dish. (Not to mention it'll be especially mind-blowing if Gaston truly is one of the world's best chefs.)
* Mart and Brian share a room in the inn, and Jim and Dan share another. I'd have thought the two bros might welcome a chance away from each other and opt for a Jim/Brian and Mart/Dan pairing, but nope. This might play out in the plot when the Belden boys discover something mysterious in their room.
* It's always good when Di gets a chance to share her knowledge. She explains all about how collateral works to Trixie, who claims to be clueless. However, Trixie herself put this very same principle into operation back in The Mystery off Glen Road when she bargained with Mr Lytell to hold onto her diamond ring in return for not selling Brian's jalopy. Has she really forgotten so soon?
* The bad guy is extremely gullible. I'd like to say a bit more about how they fooled him, but I'd better not flirt with spoilers.
* The very obvious quote of the book comes from Trixie. 'My almost twin and I are alike in so many ways. Maybe that's why we're always arguing.' Is she really getting this revelation just now? The moral is reinforced when Trixie goes on to wonder whether Miss Trask also learned the lesson that 'a brother was often a pretty nice person to have around.'
Catch up on Series 22 - 24
And join me next time for Series 28 - 30
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