A St. Louis Night

Trixie and Honey were okay, of course; and thank Heaven for that. They were only staying in the hospital overnight as a formality (and the fact that Honey had fainted). But even knowing this did not dispel the fear that had clutched at the boy’s heart while his sister and his… and Trixie were in danger; and he suspected the same was true for the other Bob-Whites and his adopted father. It was fear caused by helplessness when they discovered that the girls were gone and the note they left did not check out. It was fear caused by the guilt they felt that the girls would never have been taken had they not gone to see the exhibit.

Feeling restless suddenly, Jim decided to take a walk. Whispering to his father what he was doing, he stood and headed away from the waiting area. Without consciously realising it, he was walking in the direction of the room that Trixie and Honey were in. He only noticed where he was when a nurse came out of their room and spoke to him.

“What are you doing here?" she asked in a harsh whisper.

“Taking a walk to stretch my legs,” he whispered in reply. “I didn’t realise I was coming this way.”

She gave him a look as though she did not believe him. “The girls are sleeping peacefully, so you can set your mind at ease.”

“Thank you.”

“You should try and get some sleep.”

Jim chuckled softly. “Have you ever tried to sleep in those chairs?”

The nurse smiled. “Try anyway. It’s better than staying awake worrying needlessly.”

Jim knew that he was worrying needlessly, but that did not seem to stop him. This narrow escape of Trixie and Honey’s haunted him. It was the latest in narrow escapes that the girls have had in the last year or so; and deep down he knew that it would not be the last. They were determined to have the Belden Wheeler Detective Agency for real when they grew up, and Trixie always seemed to fall into a mystery. The thing was, Jim knew he would not have it any other way. Part of what he liked best about Trixie was her sense of adventure, her willingness to do almost anything. She would not be the same indefatigable Trixie Belden otherwise.

But that did not stop him from worrying. In fact, it made it worse. The more Trixie got herself embroiled in mysteries, the more he worried. He knew it grated on her a lot of the time, but he also knew that she knew it was because he cared; although he doubted she was aware of how much he cared. He wondered if it was time to let her know.

“Hey,” he heard a loud whisper, and turned to see Trixie standing in the doorway of her room. “What are you doing up?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” he returned. “The nurse said you were sleeping peacefully.”

She snorted. “Very hard to sleep when a nurse comes in to check on you every hour or so. Why aren’t you sleeping?”

He grinned back at her. “You try sleeping in one of those chairs.”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “No thanks. I may not be getting much sleep, but the bed’s a lot more comfortable than those chairs.”

Jim chuckled. “I’d better leave you to get your rest before that nurse comes back and blows strips off me for talking to you. She wasn’t too happy when she caught me here just now.”

Trixie cocked her eyebrow. “Which brings me to my question, what are you doing up?”

“I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to take a walk and stretch my legs.”

“To our room?”