Part Two

Early the following morning, before anyone was likely to be up and about, Trixie and Jim fixed themselves some breakfast and crept out into the early morning light. They made their way down to the farm, to meet with the other Trixie and check on what Brian was doing. They made their rendezvous just behind the dog house.

“He’s still in bed,” alternate Trixie whispered to the hiding pair. “Moms has gone grocery shopping with Bobby. Dad is in his study. Mart’s out somewhere – he was up before I was and I don’t know where he went, so you’ll need to be careful.”

Regular Trixie nodded and went inside the farmhouse, hoping that Jim was right behind her. She paused in the kitchen to listen, closing her eyes to find the threads of deception that Brian had traced around himself.

“It’s definitely not in the attic, any more,” she whispered. “I think, maybe, it’s been split up. I’m thinking there’s a part in the closet under the stairs and part on the highest shelf in the pantry.”

She opened the pantry door, climbed on a chair and felt around behind the boxes and cans. Her hand closed on something unusual and she pulled it out.

“Let’s just take that piece and go,” Jim whispered, the feeling of his hand on her arm causing her to jump. “We can work on the other piece next time.”

Trixie nodded and stuffed the component into the bag she carried. In moments, they were outside and headed for the clubhouse. They reached it without too many troubles and had soon locked themselves inside. Jim went into the bathroom to become visible once more, then set to work with the soldering iron the other Trixie had supplied for the purpose. While he worked, Trixie went on a brief reconnaissance mission, locating several other items that Brian had hidden so that they could retrieve them later. She returned just as he was finishing.

“I think that’s it,” he announced, setting the soldering iron on its stand and switching off the power. “Can we take it back right away, or do we have to wait?”

Trixie consulted the schedule. “We only need to wait ten or fifteen minutes,” she decided. “Let’s go over the plans again while we wait.”

She pulled out the papers, along with a cold drink for each of them, and sat down to frown over them. Her finger traced down the page, looking for tasks still needing to be performed.

“I found some of Brian’s books hidden in the boathouse,” she told him. “I tried to bring them back here but I had to stash them in the bushes because I heard someone coming. There’s some other kind of electronic thing there, too. I still don’t know where the plans are, though.”

“Maybe there won’t be anyone at the farm when we take the other piece back,” Jim suggested, “and we might be able to make a proper search.”

Trixie laughed. “There’ll be someone there for sure. There’s always someone at Crabapple Farm. The last time there was no one at the farm was in 1862, and that was only for fifteen minutes.”

Jim shook his head at her, not deigning to reply to the obvious exaggeration and the conversation turned to other topics.

“Is it almost time to go?” he eventually asked. “I guess I’d better go and get ready.”

In a few minutes, the bathroom door opened without visible means and Jim’s voice invited her to come along. Trixie checked that the coast was clear before they went outside, taking the path to her family home. The kitchen was quiet and empty when they got there, making it easy to return the item they had taken. They next tried the other place Trixie had indicated earlier, easily locating another component under the stairs.

“I’m just going to take a look upstairs,” Trixie whispered, waving Jim into a corner of the living room and dropping a cushion from the sofa over the top of the component they had swiped. “You wait here.”

Her steps were light as she ran up the stairs and along the corridor at the top. She paused at the door to her older brothers’ room. Hearing and seeing nothing to alarm her, she entered. She closed her eyes briefly, feeling the strong surges of the mystery surround her. Her eyes snapped open and she plucked a large, folded piece of paper out of the pile of old car magazines under her eldest brother’s bed. Her mouth went dry as she examined it.

The palms of her hands prickled with excitement as she rolled the plan into a cylinder and tucked it under her arm. Her retreat was even faster than her arrival and she hoped against hope that she would make it out of the house unchallenged. In her haste, she almost forgot Jim. She was almost at the back door when she remembered that he was still inside and she did a quick about-face, stopping just short of slamming into her brother Mart.

“What have you got there?” he asked, suspicion dripping from his voice.

“Plans,” she told him, hoping that the truth – albeit, partial truth – would be more believable than a lie. “Honey and I are planning a big project and I just have to go and show these to her.”

“You’re not headed towards her place,” he pointed out, still suspicious.

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Of course not. I was, but I forgot something and I need to go back for it, so if you’ll get out of my way…” She pushed past him and ran back up the stairs to ‘her’ room. She picked up the first credible item that came to hand, a tube of Honey’s lip gloss, and ran back down again, not even pausing as she passed the place where Jim presumably still hid.

Her brother’s outright disbelief had not completely disappeared, but it was tempered by doubts when she waved the lip gloss at him as she raced by. She dared not stop until she was not only out of sight, but out of his potential line of vision. Considering his ability to see through solid objects, that was a considerable distance away. She stashed the plans and Honey’s lip gloss in the clubhouse, retrieved the books she had hidden earlier and stashed them also, then stopped for a moment to think about how to go back for Jim without giving the game away. She had not yet devised a plan when a knock sounded at the door.

“It’s me,” Jim’s voice added, as she peeked through the curtains.

She opened the door and let him inside, noting with a lurch of her stomach the way the piece of electronics dipped in apparent mid-air as he moved. Without a word, she took the item from him and set it down. The bathroom door closed. When Jim emerged, she could see the strain on his face.

“That was too close.” His voice sounded a little shaky. “We’re going to have to be a lot more careful, I think.”

Trixie walked over to the timetable and groaned. “Even worse, we’re going to have to stay inside for the rest of the afternoon. We only had another fifteen minutes until we had to be back inside, which means we won’t be able to do anything from now until dark.” She picked up one of the electronics books she had found and, as she opened it, let out a groan. “Just look at this! It’s not even an electronics book at all – it’s a pet-care book in a different cover. They all are. Which means that we’re back where we started on that front.”

Jim shrugged. “Well, at least we’ve got some things to work on while we wait.”

“You mean, you have things to work on,” Trixie objected, with a groan. “I’m just waiting.”

All the while that Jim was working with the soldering iron or the plans, Trixie paced. It did not matter how many times Jim asked her not to, she simply could not keep still. The afternoon dragged on, hour after hour. Every so often, they heard some of the other Bob-Whites talking and laughing nearby, but none tried to enter the clubhouse. Jim finished his work and the pair sat down to a light meal. By the time they had finished eating, it was time for the next part of the plan.

Trixie looked at her watch as Jim tidied up. “They should all be up at Manor House by now. Are you going to get ready to go?”

Her boyfriend shrugged. “If I have to.”

A few minutes later, they left the clubhouse together, with Jim in his invisible form. They reached Crabapple Farm without incident and only had to wait a little while for Trixie’s mother to move away from the door. Jim took the electronic component and went to replace it while Trixie distracted attention from the sounds of his movements.

“Moms! It’s just me,” she called, as she thundered up the stairs. “I just forgot something.”

“Okay, dear,” her mother replied from somewhere out of sight.

A couple of minutes later, Jim and Trixie met in Brian’s room. Trixie had begun to pile items on Brian’s bed.

“You’d better go,” Jim’s disembodied voice advised.

Trixie nodded and went back downstairs. Once outside, she skirted the house until she reached the windows of her own room. She was relieved to find that her double had managed to execute her part of the plan: a ladder was ready and waiting. Trixie climbed up. The window in front of her opened, seemingly by itself, and a large book emerged from it. She took it and carried it down to the ground, before returning to repeat the procedure. At the end of ten minutes, they had ferried quite a number of books and papers out of the house and Jim had climbed down to join her.

“Let’s go,” he whispered. “I’ve got an idea.”

They gathered up their haul and returned to the clubhouse. Once locked inside, Jim explained.

“I think these are the covers that go with the books you found earlier. How about if we put all of the books back in their correct covers and return the pet-care ones to Brian’s shelf? That way, he might not notice that his books are gone for long enough to tie everything else up.”

Trixie nodded her agreement and started matching the pairs of books. “Good idea. Have we got everything we need to do that, though?”

Jim shook his head. “I’ll scout around and find everything. Here’s a blade. You start cutting the tape that’s holding the pages to the covers.”

Working carefully, Trixie removed each of the books from its temporary cover and matched it back to its original. By the time Jim had returned, she had the four electronics books matched by their title pages to their covers and the four pet-care books lined up next to them.

“Let’s start with Parrots for Dummies,” Jim suggested, with a smile. “Somehow, that seems strangely appropriate for Brian, these days.”

Before long, he had also repaired a pet-care encyclopaedia, complete with very cute baby rabbits on the cover, a large reference book on crustaceans, whose cover showed red and white crabs, and a dog-care book picturing what Trixie called “the ugliest dog I’ve ever seen.” He set the other four books aside for later.

“Let’s get these back, before Brian decides to call it an early night, or something.” Jim headed back to the bathroom to get invisible.

The return trip was easy enough. Jim got back into the house through Trixie’s window, then she handed him the four large books. He was still inside the house, however, when Trixie sensed that Brian was coming. She raced up the ladder and stuck her head inside.

“Jim!” she whispered. “Are you here? Hurry! He’s coming!”

“Get down the ladder and get it down on the ground,” she heard him say from somewhere near the door. “Go and hide – I’ll get out some other way.”

Trixie did as she was told, going down so quickly that she almost lost her footing once or twice. She heaved at the ladder, only just able to keep it from dropping uncontrolled to the ground. As it was, it made a thump as it landed and she would not be surprised if it had left deep marks that they would not be able to disguise. She ducked into shadow of some nearby shrubs and waited to see what would happen next.

“I told you I didn’t need a babysitter, Mart. Why don’t you just go back to the party? I’m sure I can find my way home from here.” Brian sounded exasperated and rather ill-tempered.

“It’s no trouble, Brian.” Mart did not seem to notice his brother’s lack of gratitude. “I just thought it would be better to make sure you got home okay, since you’re not feeling well.”

“So, I’m home, okay? You can go now.”

“I’ll just see you inside,” Mart insisted.

Brian made a rude noise, but suffered himself to be escorted right inside the house. Trixie, after creeping closer, could hear Mart pouring out his concern to their mother, while Brian protested that he only wanted some peace and quiet. A few minutes later, Mart walked back out into the night and departed in the direction of Manor House. It was not much longer before Trixie felt a touch on her arm and heard Jim’s voice in her ear, urging her to move. They walked together, away from any of the buildings, where people might possibly hear them, before speaking further.

“Something’s going on,” Jim told her. “Brian is definitely not sick, but he has noticed that someone’s been in his room. He didn’t find that the books had been tampered with – at least, not that I saw – but he knows some of his papers are missing. He climbed out Bobby’s bedroom window and into the tree next to it a few minutes before I left, but I didn’t see where he went.”

Trixie sighed. “I wouldn’t have been able to see that from where I was. Mart left as if he was going back to the party, but I get the feeling that he wasn’t. So, how are we going to get back? Either of them could be anywhere and I definitely can’t afford to let either of them see me.”

“I guess I’ll have to do some reconnaissance,” Jim decided. “You wait here and I’ll see if I can find them.”

Somewhere near this point, Trixie’s evening descended into the ridiculous. She was led, by Jim, from one safe place to another, only to find that either Brian, or Mart, or both of them in combination, blocked her path. At one stage, she was trapped between the two for more than half an hour, unable to get away and also having to keep still and quiet. Her muscles ached and she itched to do something rash – to make a run for it, or throw something at one of her brothers to distract them, or some similar plan – which she knew would just get her into trouble. After what seemed an eternity, Brian slipped away into the Preserve and Mart gave up and went home.

It was late at night when Jim and Trixie felt safe enough to return to the clubhouse. Without talking much, they both changed, brushed their teeth and tumbled into bed. The awkwardness of the night before was washed away by their extreme tiredness. Trixie awoke the next morning feeling as if she had only just closed her eyes. She turned over in bed to see if Jim was awake, only to find his side empty.

“Oh, good. You’re awake,” she heard him say. “I’m just fixing some breakfast. And I’ve put those other books back in their covers. Maybe we can borrow a car and take them to a used book store somewhere.”

“Sounds good,” she answered, feeling distracted. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus of the threads of deception. She had a feeling she was missing something. In a moment, it came to her. “First, though, I think I need to make one more trip to the farm. I think there’s still something to find there.”

They had their breakfast and crept out into the morning sunshine. On their way to Crabapple Farm, they met up with the other Trixie and told her of their planned visit.

“Keep an eye out for Mart,” she warned them. “He was looking at me very suspiciously at breakfast just now.”

“Maybe you should go back,” Jim – who was invisible – suggested, making the other two jump. “I could go and find it myself, without him seeing me.”

“How would you find it without me, though?” regular Trixie objected. “Whatever it is, it’s small and I can’t quite get a fix on it at this distance. I’m pretty sure I have to be there.”

“I hope it’s worth it, then,” Jim answered, tugging on her arm to make her move along.

They came up to the house without seeing anyone else and Trixie started looking around underneath Bobby’s bedroom window. It was not long before she found the thing that had drawn her there – a sheet of paper folded almost into a wad. She was just starting to unfold it to find out what it was when a noise alerted her to the fact that she was about to be discovered.

Trixie shoved the paper in her pocket and ducked around the corner of the house, catching a glimpse of Mart as she did so and felt sure that he had seen her. The knowledge of his hidden talent came to mind and she knew that she was lost. A moment later, she heard his footsteps coming towards her.

“What are you doing there, Trixie?” he asked, coming into sight.

“Oh, just hanging around.” She desperately hoped that he would not notice that she was wearing different clothes from those he had seen her wearing perhaps ten minutes before. “How about you?”

Mart’s eyes narrowed. “I was looking for Jim. Have you seen him?”

Trixie shook her head. “No. Why should I?”

Before Mart could reply, a bump could be heard from around the corner of the house, where she had been only a few moments before. Trixie wondered if it was the sound of Dan landing after a flight, or if, perhaps, he had been watching from the branches of the tree. He soon appeared from that direction, his hair ruffled. She watched the silent communication between the two men and considered her options.

“You’re not the right Trixie,” Mart accused, before she had made up her mind. “You’re wearing the wrong clothes and you don’t flinch when I say Jim’s name. What are you doing here? Who brought you?”

Continue to part three.

Author’s notes: A huge thank you to Mary N. (Dianafan) who did a very speedy edit for me. This story will be CWP Anniversary 7. An element list will appear at the end of the story.

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