Trixie Get Your Gun

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"'Vice-principal Albert Reed, told this reporter that his investigation had been thorough, that the school had provided for student security, and that he had been questioning Mrs. Travers closely,'" Mart Belden was reading aloud from the next morning's edition of the Sleepyside Sun, which had made the backstage vandalism front page news. He thumped the page with his fingers and turned to Brian who was finishing his cereal. "Yeah, right, they questioned her after Trixie told them to and not before more property damage was done and more people were endangered," he said with a harrumph.

"Mart, do my ears deceive me or are you actually giving your younger sister credit for saving the day?" Mr. Belden asked, taking a sip of his morning coffee.

"Don't worry, Dad, it won't last long," Trixie said. She'd told her parents the entire story when she'd come home from rehearsal the night before. This time, she included her own brushes with danger. Her parents were proud and not a little concerned about her safety. They were also angry Mr. Reed had considered her a suspect, however briefly. Mr. Belden threatened to complain, but Mrs. Belden persuaded him that Mr. Reed probably didn't need to talk to any more irate parents just at the moment.

"That poor Alison," Mrs. Belden said now, as she carried dishes to the sink. "Imagine having to turn in your own mother."

"Yes, I remember how bad I felt when I had to rat out Moms," Mart said to Trixie, Brian, and Mr. Belden with a broad wink. "I knew it had all gone wrong somehow when I found that black jacket hidden away in the hall closet," he continued mournfully. "Nightmarish. But I never dreamed she had become a modern day Ma Barker, hanging out at roadside taverns, stealing hubcaps from Lytell. I can still see the headlines: Moms Belden: the Blonde Booster."

Mrs. Belden laughed at Mart's absurd fantasy. She put her hands firmly on his shoulders and gave a shake. "Go. To. School."

The three Beldens gathered their books and started toward the door.

"Have a nice day at school, kids," Mr. Belden said. "And, Trixie, if any highway robbers or hijackers stop the school bus today, at least let the police help you solve it - it makes them feel useful."

Trixie smiled as she and her brothers ran to the bus stop. The next week flew by. Because of the canceled and interrupted rehearsals, Mrs. Catania scheduled an extra rehearsal and ran some rehearsals longer. Cast and crew, however, were so relieved to know the trouble was behind them that everyone threw themselves into their jobs and the production came together solidly. For Trixie, the week was a flurry of extra rehearsals, chores, and schoolwork. She had to find time to get her history book report completed, among other assignments that she'd put off.

Alison did not return to school. The students learned that the county had sent her to a foster home for a few days and a tutor from the school district was working with her temporarily. To avoid scandal and a lengthy trial, the school district had tentatively agreed not to press charges if Mrs. Travers would agree to seek treatment and never return to the premises.

When Opening Day arrived Trixie was sitting in Algebra when she was called to the vice-principal's office. "Oh, brother, now what?" she thought, wondering if she was in some kind of trouble after all. But when she entered the reception area of the vice-principal's office she was surprised to see Honey, Di, and Jim talking with Alison and a tall woman with graying dark brown hair.

She walked over to the group and Alison turned to her. "Trixie, I wanted to say good-by to you and to thank-you. My mother is going to be in an institution for a while," Alison turned bright red, but went on. "I'm going to stay with my Aunt Rosalie," Alison gestured to the lady standing beside her and introduced Trixie to her aunt. "I just wanted to say thank-you in person because I didn't have a chance before. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't pointed the investigation towards my mother."

"I'm just sorry I was so clumsy and embarrassed you," Trixie mumbled.

"I don't blame you. I'm just glad my Mom was stopped before she did real damage," Alison's lower lip trembled and Trixie felt her own eyes filling.

"We're just here to collect Alison's school records," Mrs. Shorey said. "I've got temporary custody of Alison and she'll stay with us until she graduates from high school. My youngest daughter is 15 and she and Alison are almost like sisters - except they get along!" she explained and the group chuckled. "We want to thank-you and your friends for taking an interest in Alison. You made a very difficult situation easier for her to get through."

"I hope so," Trixie said.

"I just wish we could have done more," Honey gave Alison a quick hug.

"I hope you have a great time back in Pennsylvania," Jim added.

Trixie, Honey, Jim, and Di watched quietly as Alison and her aunt headed for the last time into the Sleepyside High Main Hallway.

"I'm really sorry for her and I'm really glad for her at the same time," Di said. "Know what I mean?"

The other three nodded. "It's for the best," Honey said.

The four then started down the hall to return to class.

"Tonight's the night and I've had goose bumps all day," Trixie said. "How do you feel?" she asked Di.

"I'm really scared and I can't wait - know what I mean?" Di laughed.

"I'm totally in the 'can't wait' category - but I guess I'll have to and in Algebra, more's the pity," Trixie said in mock self-pity and ducked back into her classroom.

There seemed to be electricity in the air when Trixie and Honey finally arrived at the theater that evening for the performance. The cast and crew knew they had overcome big obstacles to get their show mounted and they were "up" for the performance. Trixie worked first with Del and Nancy and the rest of the crew to get the scenery and props for the opening scene in place.

Then she had time to go to the downstairs dressing room where Honey and another crewmember were styling hair and applying the cast's make-up. Di sat in front of one of the big, oval mirrors studying her pigtails. Robert Wells sat in the chair next to her and, after Honey had powdered his face, put on his cowboy hat at a rakish angle.

"Thank-you, ma'am," he said with a grin as he whirled around in his chair.

"He's almost as handsome as Brian," Trixie whispered to Honey when she moved over to Di's chair.

"Not even close," Honey sniffed.

Trixie blinked in surprise as Honey grinned mischievously.

As he got up to leave, Robert leaned over to Di and squeezed her arm. "You break a leg now, ya hear?"

"You, too. Break a leg," Di said with a smile.

"Break a leg?" Trixie asked curiously.

"Break a leg is what theater people say instead of 'good luck,'" Di explained. "It's another theater superstition - it's bad luck to say good luck and good luck to say, 'break a leg.'"

"Then definitely break a leg!" Trixie exclaimed, giving Di a quick hug.

The cast and crew went upstairs and took their places on stage and in the wings. Everyone watched the clock with growing excitement. Trixie and Ryan took turns peeking through the curtains, watching the seats fill up. About 15 minutes before the curtain was to go up Mrs. Catania came bustling backstage for a last minute pep talk.

"Okay, we've got an SRO crowd - Standing Room Only. You've all worked hard and as I've said all along, this is going to be a great show. Go out and show 'em what you've got! And, break a leg!"

Just before showtime Nancy called the cue to flicker the houselights to warn the audience to take their seats. A few minutes later she began the backstage cues for the cast and crew. "Ladies and gentleman, this is your Act One, Scene One beginners call. Act One, Scene One, beginners please. Technical and stage staff stand by please. Thank-you," she said into her headset microphone. A few moments later she continued. "Standby for houselights out cue, standby for orchestra overture cue." Then, finally: "Cue Houselights down, go! Cue Orchestra overture, go!" The taped sounds of an orchestra playing the overture to Annie Get Your Gun filled the hall.

"Standby for curtain raising cue. Standby for floodlights center stage cue." Trixie stood at the ready at the curtain. On the opposite side of the stage she saw Ryan grinning at her and giving a 'thumbs up.'

"Cue curtain raise, go! Cue floodlights center stage, go!" Trixie and Ryan methodically raised the curtain and the floodlights shone on the train bringing Buffalo Bill's Wild West show to town. The chorus walked on stage, launched into There's No Business Like Show Business and the show was underway.

The hard work of the last few weeks paid off handsomely. The cast threw themselves into their roles and the production was nearly seamless. When the final curtain fell, the audience rose as one for a standing ovation. The cast took their bows: first the chorus, then supporting players, and finally the two leads, Robert and Diana. After taking a bow, Robert approached the right wings and Nancy stepped forward with a dozen, long-stemmed red roses. Robert presented the roses to Diana and took a step back. The spotlight shown on Diana alone and the hall rang with cries of "Bravo!" Diana smiled and bowed repeatedly.

Afterwards, the Lynches hosted a party for the cast, crew, their parents, and, of course, all of the Bob-Whites. Del had taped the show's musical numbers and the tape played in the background on the Lynches' state-of-the-art sound system as guests mingled and helped themselves to the lavish buffet. The cast and crew relaxed by recounting all of the missed cues in rehearsal and the close calls in the first performance.

"You must be worn out from working so hard to get the cast and crew in shape!" Mrs. Lynch exclaimed to Mrs. Catania.

"Worn out, but happy," Mrs. Catania replied, helping herself to some stuffed mushrooms. "They say the two happiest days in a theater person's life are the day a show starts and the day the darn thing closes! So, I'm only three performances away from another one of the happiest days of my life."

"Here, Here!" Del cried, and the party-goers lifted their punch glasses in toast.

Trixie and Di joined the other Bob-Whites who were clustered near the punch bowl. Mart was holding forth to Nancy Norland on the finer points of the investigation. She listened in amusement and occasionally glanced at Trixie and Di with a look that said, 'I'm taking this all with a grain of salt.'

"So I took it upon myself to fill in the lacunae of Trixie's investigation," Mart was saying. "I availed myself of the periodical resources of our local library and was able to unearth a datum that could link geographically disparate occurrences, suggesting that we were dealing with a serial vandal."

Trixie and Di rolled their eyes and groaned. Trixie began to talk loudly. "So, Di, how did you like the effect of the black scrim with no follow spots, just the run lights?"

"It was really effective, Trixie, especially the way the douser worked so quickly on the spotlights. I mean, it's very dramatic to turn off that much candlepower so quickly, isn't it, Mart?"

Mart looked confused. "Um, what?"

"Of course," Di continued. "We're an old-fashioned hemp house and that means some work getting the traveler curtains to the trim on cue."

"Yes, but Del always had his trusty persuader ready to go to work on any frammus that wasn't cooperating," Trixie said.

"Well, and thank goodness there was gaffa tape on the floor to guide me between the sandwich battens, you know what I mean?" Di nudged Mart in the ribs.

"Huh?" Mart frowned.

"I mean," she continued. "What with all those trucks and collapsible rostra, in the dark you might not know if you're upstage or down, don't you agree?"

"What are you talking about?" Mart asked in bewilderment.

His fellow BWG's burst into cheers and applause. "At last, someone has stumped my loquacious little brother," said Brian.

"Someone give that boy a dictionary," Honey chimed in.

"Okay, you've got me," Mart took the ribbing good-naturedly.

Over the sound system came the strains of Annie Oakley's romantic duet with Frank Butler. "Come on," Di said to Mart. "If you'll be my partner for this dance, I'll explain the difficult words to you," she promised with an evil grin. Mart laughed and followed her willingly out onto the floor.

"Trixie, I think they're playing our song," Jim said with a grin, grabbing her hand. Happily, Trixie followed him out on the floor. As Di's voice came out over the speakers, they began a slow waltz:

They say that falling in love is wonderful,
It's wonderful, so they say.
And with the moon up above,
It's wonderful, it's wonderful,
So they tell me.
You leave your house one morning
And suddenly, without any warning.
You're stopping people, shouting that love is grand,
And, to hold a man in your arms, is wonderful, wonderful.
In every way, so they say.

The End

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Trixie Belden® is a registered trademark of Random House. This page and its author are not affiliated with Western Publishing/Golden Books or Random House in any way. The Lord knows I'm not making any money or profiting in any way from this site, which is intended as a fan's homage. All original text and graphics are copyright © 2003 by js@thesleepysidezone.com.