What happens when you've got 5 unfinished stories that need to be finished and you've got a month off of work to work on them? You start a new one, of course!
Disclaimer: Trixie Belden is property of Randomhouse Publishing and is being used without persmission. The Bob-Whites, Ned Schulz, the Hubbel twins, and Dot Murray are all characters in Trixie Belden and the Happy Valley Mystery and were all used without permission. This story is simply my take on Dot Murray's point of view as she meets the Bob-Whites while they are staying at Andrew Belden's farm in Iowa.
A big Bob-White thank you goes out to Susansuth for proof reading! Thanks!!!
The Happy Valley Games
April 1962
Happy Valley,
Iowa
“I’m not all that wild about basketball,”
the tall blond high school senior said, as she yanked a few outfits from her
closet. “But Roger’s playing, you know. It’s like it’s my duty
to sit there, be bored out of my skull, and yell ‘woohoo’ once in a while.”
Sandi, her friend, stretched across
the bed and glanced up at the other girl. “You staying for the dance
afterwards?”
“Not sure, Sandi. I think
that’s up to him to decide.”
Sandi flipped her blond locks back
and grinned. “Tonight’s the night, huh?”
Dottie simply smiled and pulled
a wool skirt from her closet and matched it with her white Rivervale High
letterman cowl-neck sweater. “Tonight will be the night, Sandi.
I feel it. I’ve felt it for a long time now.”
“Roger won’t know what hit him!”
Sandi squealed. “He’s been so slow moving with you, Dottie, that it’s
about time you take matters into your own hands.”
“You ain’t just whistlin’ Dixie,
Sandi,” Dottie replied as she stripped her blue jeans and blouse and slipped
the sweater down over her head. It clung perfectly to every curve.
She pinned her hair up away from her face so she could flawlessly
apply her makeup. When she was done, she brushed out her long golden
hair into large bottle curls.
Sandi, who had been ready for a
long time, whistled as Dottie modeled in front of the mirror. “If Roger
calls a time out and takes you out behind the gym, I won’t be surprised.”
“You think so?” Dottie asked as
she turned around but kept her head facing the mirror so she could still
see herself. “You’re right, Sandi. Roger won’t know what hit
him at all.” She puckered her lips slightly and lifted her chin.
“Let’s go. I need a cig.”
Dottie grabbed her purse and slung
it over her shoulder and grabbed her light blue jacket. Sandi draped
her own lavender jacket over her shoulders, grabbed her own handbag and
held the door for her friend as they headed downstairs.
“You’re so lucky, Dot.” Sandi sighed.
“How do you get your parents to travel so much and leave you here alone?”
“Pretty simple, Sandi Lu,” she said
as they headed out the front door. “Mom and Dad have to travel ‘cause
of Dad’s job. They really have no clue what I do. For all they
know, I’m spending my time doing my homework, watching The Mickey Mouse Club
and playing with my old Chatty Cathy doll.”
Sandi put a cigarette between her
lips and lit it. “Shoot, Dottie. You have the best parents.”
Dottie accepted the cigarette from
her, opened the car door and got in. When Sandi was seated beside
her, she continued, “It makes life so much easier when you’ve got parents
like them. It’s like all they know is Dad’s work, traveling, and that
little Dottie is being a good girl and staying home on Saturday nights.”
She pulled out onto the main road and headed for Rivervale High. “Life
is perfect. I’m doing what I want, and they don’t know it.”
Sandi accepted the cigarette back
and took a few puffs. “Well, I’ll get Robby to drop me off close to
home. Unlike some people, Dottie, I’ve got a curfew.”
“Yeah, but just think,” Dottie said
as she pulled into the school parking lot. “We’re seniors. We
graduate in about five weeks. You can’t get any better than that.
Then you and Robby can do anything you want.”
“But Mom and Dad don’t know about
him. They’d kill me if they knew I was making it with a drop-out.”
“You know what I feel like doing?”
Dottie asked as she parked the car. “I feel like finding Roger now
and bringing him a little luck before the game.”
Sandi took one last puff on the
cigarette and handed it to Dottie. “Why don’t you? In fact, I
might just ditch the game and find Robby up at Cherry Pointe.”
“You are not ditching me,” Dottie
ordered, throwing her cigarette to the ground and smothering it. “You
can ditch me later when I’m ready to make Roger’s dreams come true, but not
before then. Okay?”
Sandi opened her handbag, pulled
out a bottle of mouth spritz to hide the cigarette odor and handed it to
Dottie when she was done. Dottie, in turn, pulled a bottle of perfume
out of her purse and sprayed around her neck and down the front of her sweater
before handing it back to Sandi.
As they walked into the crowded
gymnasium, they noticed the Rivervale team practicing their lay-ups and free-throw
shots. Quickly, the girls found seats in the bleachers and waited.
As the crowd began to settle down,
Dottie noticed that there were some new kids sitting down by the Rivervale
team talking to Ned Schulz. Must be friends of
his. I feel sorry for them, she thought to herself. Ned is such
a geek!
“Wonder who they are?” Sandi asked,
pointing to the very people Dottie was staring at. “They don’t look
familiar.”
“I don’t know, Sandi. It looks
as if Ned knows them, though.” Dottie craned her neck to get a glimpse
of all of them. It looked as if there were six of them. They
didn’t look like they were from around this part of Iowa...if they were from
Iowa at all.
“This is boring as all get out,
Sandi,” she muttered. “I’d rather watch Dad fill out forms and papers
than this. Wonder what’s going on? The other team should be here
by now.”
The Rivervale coach stood in the
middle of the court and made the announcement that the other team from Indianola
High had been delayed for about fifteen minutes. As he relayed the
story to the crowd, the cheerleading coach hurried over to the girls who
were sitting down on the first bleacher. The six girls sorted out their
pompoms and fluffed their hair as they lined up.
R-I-RIV! E-R-ERV! A-L-ALE!
RIVERRRRRRRRRRRVAAAAAAAAALE!!!!
The girls jumped around, shook
their pompoms, yelped and whooped.
“It’d be a whole lot simpler if
they just sat down,” Dottie said as she studied her flawless nail polish.
“Not like there’s any rival team here for their cheer to have any effect.”
“You’re just sore ‘cause you didn’t
make the team.”
Dottie snorted. “Hey, you’re
looking at the girl who is apparently known for the alternate meaning of
‘drill team’.”
Sandi gasped in mock horror.
“Dottie! You’re so wicked!”
One of the boys on the basketball
team tossed the ball to one of the boys in the group that sat next to Ned.
“Let’s see what you can do!” he called as the three boys headed out to the
court.
Oh, this is
just getting out of hand,
Dottie thought to herself.
The three boys passed the ball around
and expertly swished the ball right into the basket. The redheaded
boy, the most athletic of the three, and the dark haired boy amused the crowd
as they played the ball off each other and made baskets. The blond
boy clowned around a lot and made everyone laugh. Everyone, that is,
but Dottie and Sandi.
“Here’s an idea,” Dottie said as
she leaned over to Sandi. “Why doesn’t Rivervale play against these guys?
Apparently the other team isn’t going to show, and these guys seem to know
their stuff.”
Sandi shrugged and flipped her blond
hair back. “I think that redhead could take on Rivervale and win.
Just look at him, will you?”
Dottie snorted. “Who cares?
Besides, it’s not how the game is played that really matters. It’s what that dark-haired
cutie gets after the game.”
“Mmmmm, he is handsome, isn’t he?
Well, take your mind off him, Dottie. You’ve got Roger to think about.”
The boys sat back down next to Ned
continuing to talk and chat with the team. A slight murmur grew
in the gymnasium, as the spectators chatted while waiting for the rival team to arrive.
“Can it get any more boring than...”
Dottie stopped herself as she saw a dark-haired girl emerge from the crowd.
She was sitting with the group next to Ned Schulz. The girl looked
a few years younger that her, but more attractive. “And just what the
heck does Roger think he’s lookin’ at?”
“I might be mistaken, Dottie, but
I do believe your Roger is...”
“Don’t even say it, Sandi Lu!
Besides, she’s got nothin’ on me. I mean, look at all that black hair.
How unattractive
can you get? And look
at that nose! It’s so huge!”
Sandi studied the dark haired girl
and nodded in agreement as Dottie talked. The girl switched places
with a shorter blond girl so she could talk with one of the cheerleaders
when they finally sat down.
“Hey, Dottie,” came a voice from
behind them.
Dottie turned around to see Reggie
Finks, the class clown. “Yes?”
“What do you call a pretty girl
in Iowa?”
“Shut up!” she scowled and turned
around to face the court. To her horror, the short blond girl was now
up in front of everyone, sinking perfect free throw shots. Dottie noticed
that Roger was still staring at the dark haired girl, but the blond shooting
baskets didn’t help.
“Oh, this is just dandy,” muttered
Dottie. “Indianola is delayed, so we get treated to the Harlem Globe
Trotters and Miss Teen Sporto, while Roger stares at Miss Pretty Princess!
This is ridiculous!”
“Hey Dottie,” Reggie said from behind.
“Shut up!” Sandi growled at him
and nudged her friend. “Don’t pay any attention to him. He’s
just jealous.”
I know what
I’ll do, thought Dottie.
I’ll
get him back. I’ll grab Mr. Handsome later on at the dance and make
time with him. She
stared at the boy with the tanned skin and dark brown hair who was sitting
next to a girl with shoulder-length honey colored hair.
The boys made catcalls to the girl
who was shooting baskets. Everyone clapped as she sunk one after the
other. Honestly, Dottie had never seen anything like her and was soon
impressed by the girl’s talent. She must play for
a girl’s team at the school she’s from. Her eyes drifted back to Roger
who was now joining in the catcalls and cheering for the blonde girl.
“Roger’s gonna hear about this,”
Dottie fumed. Let’s just hope that
Mr. Handsome isn’t as geeky as Ned Schulz!
Soon after the blond girl sat down,
the team from the opposing school arrived. After the first quarter,
Rivervale was trailing the opposing team by three points but by the end of
the second, they were well in the lead by fifteen points. The Rivervale
cheerleaders stood, as the court cleared for a small break.
“TWO BITS, FOUR BITS, SIX BITS A
DOLLAR! ALL FOR RIVERVALE STAND UP AND HOLLER!”
As they jumped around and yelped
some more, Dottie rolled her eyes and leaned over to Sandi. “That is such a lame cheer.”
“Ancient too,” agreed Sandi.
“Hey, Sandi,” came Reggie Fink’s
voice again. When the girls turned around he continued, “What’s
the difference between a gorilla and a girl from Iowa?” When they didn’t
answer, he went on. “Generally speaking, the gorilla will peel the
banana before he eats it.” He broke out into giggles as he finished.
“Forget the cheer, Sandi.
That joke is the lamest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Do you think we have time to go
outside for a bit?” Sandi asked. “I need a smoke.”
“Smoke one for me while you’re out
there, Sandi,” Dottie said. “I’ve gotta keep an eye on Roger.
He seems to find the new blood fairly interesting.”
“Knock yourself out, Dot.
Later.” She grabbed her jacket and handbag and headed out.
Dottie kept her eye on her boyfriend.
He seemed to be having trouble with his wandering eye tonight. First
it was the black haired girl who switched places with the blond girl to talk
to the cheerleader. Then it was the blond girl herself who got his
attention with all the baskets she made. That was just obscene!
What a show off! I’ll bet no one likes her because she shows off all
the time.
As the game started with the third
quarter, Sandi came running back into the gymnasium and hurried up the bleachers
to Dottie’s side.
“Robby’s waiting outside, Dot,”
she said quickly. “I’m ditching this thing. Rob’s gonna take
me up to the Pointe.”
“Thanks a lot, Sandi,” Dottie muttered.
“I really appreciate that.”
“No problem, toots!” Sandi laughed
and patted Dottie on the knee. “It’s only about an hour and a half
more including the dinner and dance. I’m sure you can make it.
Besides, whatever you and Roger do tonight will more than make up for it.”
“If I can pry his eyes away from
the fresh meat in town.”
“Good luck!” With that, Sandi
hurried back down the bleachers and outside to where Robby was waiting for
her in his white rusty car. She scooted over next to him, as he put
his arm around her and kissed her temple.
“You ready to go?” he asked.
“You got it, Rob. Let’s go.”
“Dottie understands, right?
I know you came with her.”
“Hey, I don’t care if she understands
or not, Rob. She’s got her problems at the moment, and right now, you’re
here.” She slid her hand down his inner thigh. “What are we waiting
for, Rob? I’m aching for a little lovin’, if you get my drift.”
He leaned down and hungrily kissed
her. “Yeah, what’re we waiting for?” He put the car in gear and
sped away.
Back in the gym, as the game continued,
Dottie sat up in the stands, bored out of her mind. Why couldn’t Roger
just be good looking? Why do sports have to be in the picture? She barely noticed when Roger scored
a point for his team, because she had let her eyes stray to the dark-haired
boy who sat with the new kids.
It was getting on to the end of
the fourth quarter when Dottie noticed the score. Rivervale was ahead
and they were winning, which meant that the cheerleaders were out on
the sidelines cheering with every basket they made. She noticed an
open seat close to the new kids and hurried to fill it. It was just
her luck that the seat was right behind Mr. Handsome.
Miss NBA cheers
and claps every time Rivervale scores a point, while the other two Prom Queens
just politely clap. Mr. Athletic seems to be getting into the game,
but not as much as Mr. Goof-off. Mr. Handsome almost looks interrested, but as if he can’t
wait for the game to be over so he can socialize. He can socialize with me all night long if he wants to.
With only two seconds left on the
clock, Roger sunk the last basket. Once the buzzer went off, the team
hoisted him up on their shoulders to congratulated him. The score
was seventy-six to forty-two. Soon the gymnasium was all abuzz as
the players headed for the locker rooms, and teachers and students set up
the long tables for the big dinner.
Dottie made her way into the crowded
bathroom to quickly run a brush through her hair. She shared a mirror
with Lucy, the head cheerleader who was reapplying her makeup, while six
other girls stood behind her craning their necks to see their reflections
in the mirrors. Things got so hectic that she headed for the sinks
in the locker part of the bathroom. Even this area was crowded, but
at least the small windows along the ceiling of the room were open, letting
some fresh air in.
“Hey, Dot,” Lizzie Bains greeted
when she saw the blond girl. Lizzie Bains was a second-year senior
with short, dark brown hair. She stood up on an overturned bucket with
her hand resting on the window sill, holding a cigarette out of the window.
Dottie smiled. “I didn’t think
you were the type to come to these things.”
“Nah, I just come for the partying
afterwards. The games are boring but what comes afterwards makes it worth my while.”
Dottie breathed in the fresh air.
“I sure could use a smoke right now, you know?”
“Why?” Lizzie asked, as she pulled
her hand in and handed her cigarette to Dottie. “What’s got you so stressed?”
“Oh, it’s Roger.”
Lizzie snorted. “Dot, you
gotta keep him in line.”
“I know.” Dottie put the cigarette
up to her lips and deeply inhaled. “I guess I just don’t get it, Liz,”
she said, as she gave the cigarette back. “He claims he loves me, yet
he’s never bothered to make a move on me, and he keeps looking at other girls.
It’s like I only exist when no one else does.”
“Aww, come on, kid,” Lizzie said,
as she puffed on her cigarette and tossed it out the window. “You know
what you need to do? Screw the dance, Dot, and take wonder boy back
to your place. Your parents are gone, right?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think it’ll be
that easy. You see, he doesn’t even know I’m here tonight. He’s
spent so much time staring at those new girls. You know, the kids sitting
with Ned?”
“To tell you honestly, Dot, I haven’t
been paying attention. I arrived just before the game was over.
I’m here for the booze later on, after the whole she-bang is over.”
She stepped down off the bucket and leaned up against the cold cement wall
next to Dottie. Lizzie’s dark eyes searched Dottie’s creamy features
and sparkling blue eyes. “I suggest you skip this silly dinner dance and take him back to your place, Dot.”
If Sandi were
here, she’d tell me to just go far enough with Mr. Handsome to make Roger
jealous. What does she know? She’s never had to make anyone jealous
for them to finally notice her. Now Lizzie is telling me to just confront
him and take him back to my place.
“I guess I’ll go find him, Liz.
Thanks for cheering me up.”
“No problem, kid,” Lizzie said, as
she tucked a strand of Dottie’s blonde hair behind her ear. “But first,
you need to freshen up.”
Dottie grabbed a washcloth from
the closet by the showers and ran it under the warm water. As she dabbed
at her face, the bathroom door opened and what sounded like possibly three people entered. Dottie tried not to eavesdrop on the conversation, but the bathroom was now quieter than before, and they were being so loud she couldn’t help it. Neither she nor Lizzie moved from their positions at the risk of being seen.
“Ned Schulz has everything, hasn’t
he, Trixie?” said the first voice.
Dottie smirked. Ned Schulz is a dweeb!
“And you used a pretty sneaky way
to get him interested in you,” said the same voice.
Dottie couldn’t believe her ears.
Oh Lord!
She was doing that to impress him? Guys who can belch the alphabet
impress him!
“Yes, wasn’t I a show-off?” the
second girl answered. Dottie could only assume that this girl was Trixie.
“I was, wasn’t I, Honey? I honestly forgot where I was. When
that boy challenged me, I just had to prove that I could hit the basket.
Was it too awful?”
Yes, Trixie.
You were a show-off. But you still got nothing on me. You and
your little friends.
Dottie pulled her little tube of lipstick out of her purse and touched it
to her lip.
“If you were anyone else, I’d have
been sure you were doing it to attract Ned,” the first girl said. Dottie
assumed that this girl was Honey. “The last thing in the world you’d
ever be is a show-off.”
Tell that to
the players’ girlfriends, Honey girl!
“Do you think anyone else thought
I was trying to attract Ned’s attention?” Trixie asked.
If not Ned,
then probably the whole friggen’ basketball team!
“Only about fifty percent of the
girls in the gym,” a third girl said. “Never mind, Trix. It was
sensational. They don’t know your heart belongs to Jim.”
Oh, please don’t let Jim be Mr. Handsome! Please,
oh please!
“I like Jim, of course,” Trixie
said, “just the way you like Mart and Honey likes Brian. My heart doesn’t
belong to anyone.”
Dottie finished applying her lipstick, silently smacked her lips together a few times and blotted them.
I wonder
which of those guys is Mr. Handsome? If I could figure out which of
those girls is the one that was sitting next to him, I could get a better
idea of whom I’ll be dealing with.
“I know that,” the third girl said.
“I was only teasing.”
“We’re all too young,” Honey said.
“At least, people keep telling us so.”
Dottie looked up at Lizzie’s expression
in the mirror. Slowly, a very wicked grin spread across her face as
their eyes met. Lizzie was having thoughts, too. If those girls are
buying into this ‘too young’ crap, we can easily score with all three of
their guys if we need to!
“My mother and daddy have known
one another since they were ten years old,” said the third girl. “And
Mother told me that she knew, even then, that she was going to marry Daddy
someday.”
Oh man.
This girl is a piece of work! All three of them! She grinned at Lizzie, who was
holding her gut and beat red in the face. Tears were streaming down
her face as she tried her hardest to keep from laughing. Like taking candy
from a baby!
“It does happen, I guess,” Honey
said.
The girls finished getting themselves
ready and headed out the bathroom door. They didn’t realize that there
were two other girls at the other sinks, at the other end of the bathroom,
on the other side of the line of stalls just out of view.
Lizzie burst out laughing, using
the cuff of her black sweater to wipe her eyes. “Those must be the
new girls, the ones you were telling me about who were sitting with Ned.”
“I think so,” Dottie said, straightening
her white sweater and fluffing her hair. “Get yourself together, Liz, and come on out and sit with us.
“Were you thinking what I was thinking?”
Lizzie asked, turning on the water. “That those girls are just too
easy? I mean, the whole ‘my heart doesn’t belong to anyone’ bit won’t
last long when she sees someone else making time with her man. What
are they, fifteen?”
“Something like that. They
looked like freshman girls.”
“How old did those boys look?”
“It’s hard to say, Lizzie,” Dottie
said, heading for the door. “I’d say no younger than juniors.
I’m going to go find Mr. Handsome and make him sit with me during dinner.
Roger’s on his own, unless he seeks me out first.”
Dottie swung the bathroom door open
and headed for the gym. Slowly, she passed the blond girl and a tall
redhead who were talking. He was complimenting her on all the baskets
she made before the game. That one must be
Jim. She darted her
eyes around the gym, looking for one of three men: Mr. Handsome, Mr.
Goof-off, and Mr. I Have a Hopeless Wandering Eye That Just Can’t Help Itself.
Hopefully, she would find Mr. Handsome first.
She did find him first. But,
unfortunately, Lucy, the captain of the cheerleading squad found him ahead
of her. Dottie’s eyes stared bullets at the other girl. You skank! Quickly, she amended her list
of three men to look for from Mr. Handsome to Mr. Athletic. He was
better than what was behind doors two and three. She felt she could
take her chances at the wrath of Trixie, and, if not, then at least she was
helping the young and inexperienced find her own feelings.
Dottie shook her head as if to come
back to reality. Listen, Dot.
Since when have you been interested in the well being of some freshman girlie
who can’t decide what she wants in life? All you want is to make Roger
jealous. If you make Roger jealous, then he will make a move.
If he makes a move, then you will be happier than pie.
She spotted Jim the Athlete in a
group of other girls. Most of them were giggling and flirting and he
had this look on his face that plainly told her he was not having fun at
all. He seemed as if he thought it would hurt their feelings if he
just walked away, or even politely excused himself.
Dottie flipped her hair, straightened
her back and squared her shoulders. With the redhead in her sights,
she stepped right up to him and slipped her arm around his. A few other
the girls took the immediate hint and left. She smiled at him, and
he smiled in return.
“Hi there,” she said, trying to
sound poised. “My name’s Dot. Dot Murray.” She heard a
few girls walk away and call her ‘On the spot Dot’. She cringed, hoping
he hadn’t heard them. She had earned that nickname after a kegger last
year.
“My name’s Jim Frayne,” he said.
He didn’t look as if he had heard the girls. “That was some game, huh?”
She smiled warmly and started to
lead him away from any girl who still had the guts to hang around.
“It sure was,” she said. “You must play basketball for your school.
You really have what it takes, you know.” As she led him to the table,
she darted her eyes around, looking for Roger. He didn’t seem to be
anywhere.
“Actually, I’ve been asked to play
for our team back home, but we live too far outside of town. It takes too long to go back and forth for practices and games.” He held
her chair out for her and let her sit down. “The two other guys you
saw hamming it up with me live next door, and they have a basketball hoop.
So, we practice quite a lot there.”
She reached out and gently wrapped
her fingers around his bicep. “You must work out as well, Jim.”
“I used to work on a farm when I
was younger,” he explained and put his arm around the back of her chair.
“What about you? Are you involved in sports?”
Dottie threw her head back and laughed.
She made sure her long blond hair touched his arm. “Me? I’m really
no good with basketball or these kind of sports. I prefer to ice skate, though. I’m a member of the
Des Moines Ice Skating Club.”
“Really?” he said, smiling.
“My friends and I all ice skate. In fact, we just ice skated in a benefit
show in February.”
“Sounds nice,” she said. It
was then that she noticed the blond girl named Trixie standing about four
feet behind Jim, talking with Ned. He rambled on and on, while Trixie
was blatantly ignoring him and staring daggers right into Jim’s back.
The little scene almost amused Dottie. “I took second in the state
figure skating competition one year.”
Jim’s eyes widened. “Hey,
that’s pretty neat. Do you think that maybe you could teach us a little something before we leave?”
Dottie smiled. At least he’s talkative
about things that interest me. All Roger does is yammer at me about
basketball and stuff. “Maybe. I’m skating tomorrow afternoon
at the rink. Why don’t you come along?”
“I’d love to,” he said, but his
grin disappeared. “I can’t though. You see, we have to help the Gormans repair their fences.”
“Then come by and just watch.
You don’t have to skate.” Dottie noticed that they were now serving
the lamb. “So, where are you from? I can tell by your accent you
aren’t from around here.”
“I’m originally from Rochester,
New York, but right now, I live in Sleepyside, a small town just outside of
the city.”
“Outside of Rochester?”
Jim laughed. “No, no.
I’m sorry. I just get so used to calling it ‘the city’ that I sometimes
forget that others don’t know what I’m referring to. New York City.”
Dottie smiled. She had always
wanted to go up to New York City and see all the sites. “This might
sound rather naïve of me, but does that city really have everything?”
“It really does, Dot. There’s Broadway, Time Square, a deli on every corner, and some of the best restaurants in the world.
Every year, they light the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, and it almost
lights up the entire city. Of course, I can’t forget the Statue of Liberty,
Dot. If you ever come up to New York, you have to make a point of taking
a ferry out there to see it.”
Dottie’s eyes lit up. “Some
day I’ll make it up there, Jim. I’ve got a question. I’ve heard that people who live in
Manhattan don’t own cars. Is that true?” Dottie was seriously
beginning to enjoy her conversation with him, and he honestly looked as if
he was enjoying it, too.
“There are a lot of people that
live in apartments right in downtown Manhattan who don’t have cars, but
not everyone lives that way. If you ever do make it up there, look
us up, Dot. The Bob-Whites would love to show you around.”
“Bob-Whites?”
Jim reddened. “I-I didn’t
mean to say that. I mean, it’s okay and all, but it’s just the name
of our little club.”
He looked as if he was embarrassed
that he let it slip. Dottie lightly touched his arm and gave him a reassuring look. “No, that’s okay, Jim. Tell me about your club.
What do you do?”
“Well, Trixie and I are co-president. She’s the girl who was shooting baskets like a pro earlier.
The other members are her brothers, Brian and Mart, and my sister, Honey,
and our neighbors, Diana and Dan. We got together to hang out, since
we all live so far away from school, and we just sort of got into organizing
charities and benefits.” Jim sipped his milk, and took a bite of the
lamb steak in front of him. “We’re almost like brothers and sisters.”
That’s not what
it sounded like in the bathroom, Jim…
Jim and Dottie talked and chatted.
A few times, she let her eyes roam in search of Roger. When she was
certain that he wasn’t anywhere to be found, she forgot all about him and
paid attention to the redheaded, green-eyed boy from New York. He told
her about how he came to Sleepyside, and she told him about her skating competitions.
“I guess they’re clearing the floor
for the dance,” Dottie said, as she flipped open her compact. Good. Not a
hair out of place.
Jim stood and held out his hand
for her. She smiled, as she carefully laid her hand in his and let him
help her up. Roger isn’t this
gentleman-like. The
music started, and Jim swung her out on the floor.
As the orchestra played a jazzy
tune, they danced. Dottie was beginning to like being at his side,
and soon forgot about Roger…and Trixie. Not only is he athletic,
he’s a heck of a good dancer! As the song ended, he spun her
around and slightly bowed to her.
Dottie grinned as they turned towards
the orchestra and clapped. “Next dance?” she asked.
“Sure,” he said and took her hand.
The orchestra played a slower song
this time, as the couples on the dance floor swayed in time.
“So what brings you and your friends
out to Happy Valley?” she asked. “I mean, what could New Yorkers seriously
want with Iowa?”
“We’re out here visiting Andrew
Belden, Trixie’s uncle. He got called away to Scotland on short notice,
so we’re just having fun and keeping the Gormans busy.” Jim seemed
to catch site of something and did a double take. When he turned back
to the conversation, he had a look of guilt on his face.
Dottie stole a glance in the direction
he just looked and saw Trixie dancing with Ned. She was laughing and
having a good time, and didn’t seem too worried as to what Jim was doing.
She felt a pang of guilt hit her in the gut, as she knew that Jim was spoken
for. Jim’s actions belied Trixie’s statement in the girls’ bathroom.
‘My heart doesn’t belong to anyone.’ Yeah right.
Anyone who saw that look she gave him earlier would know better than that.
“Is she your girl?” Dottie asked.
Jim looked back at her and reddened.
“She’s always been a special friend to me, I guess. I just never thought
it would bother me to see her dancing with some other guy.”
Dottie actually started feeling
sorry for him, but at the same time, devised a plan. Maybe she could
skip the rest of the dance and go home early. Then Jim could finish
out his night with Trixie.
“I would love to meet Trixie,” she
said, hoping to pair the two up so she could leave.
Jim grinned. “She’s really
a swell girl, Dot. You’d like her.” He led her over to Trixie
and Ned, who seemed to be deep in conversation about sheep.
I’m sure that
has got to be one of Ned’s topics.
“Some band!” Jim said to Trixie.
Her eyes widened and twinkled, as
she stared up at Jim. She looked as if she felt warm and at ease around
him, but tightened up at seeing Dottie at Jim’s side, and holding his hand.
Dottie, at seeing this, quickly removed her hand from his.
“Trix, this is Dot Murray.
She’s a senior here.”
Dottie gave Trixie her winning smile
and shook her hand. Trixie seemed apprehensive about her, but warmed
up rather fast. It was almost as if she forgave Jim for dancing with
another woman. Jim didn’t seem to see anyone but Trixie.
“Next dance, Trix?” he asked, as
the music started again. He held out his hand to her, just as he had
for Dottie.
“Yes, Jim,” she said, and she put
her hand in his. She grinned from ear to ear and blushed a bit.
Jim put his hand around her waist
and whirled her out on the dance floor. Dottie watched as they danced
close, not paying any attention to anyone else on the dance floor but each other.
She also found Mr. Handsome, dancing with the same girl who was sitting beside
him earlier, the one with the honey-colored hair.
“It’s you and me, then, Dot,” Ned
said, grinning.
Not on your
life, buddy.
“No, thank you, Ned,” said Dottie,
trying to be polite. “I have to be up early for skating tomorrow.
See you later.”
Dottie puffed on her cigarette, as
she turned onto her long driveway. When she got half way, she and saw
Roger’s car out front. She grinned slightly as she thought about what
made him drive to her place. Was it to apologize
for oogling the girls, or was it to tell me…or show me how he’s so much better
than Jim? When she
parked next to his car, she saw he was still in the driver’s seat.
“Hey, Roge,” she said, flipping her
long blond hair back and pulling the cigarette out of her mouth. He
looked slightly hurt when he looked up and saw her.
“Dottie, can we go inside?
It’s cold out here.” Roger asked quietly. “Your parents are
still gone, aren’t they?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Come on
in.” She let him in and turned the lights on. “What’s up?
I looked all over for you at the dance and couldn’t find you.”
“I came out of the locker room and
saw Lizzie,” Roger explained. “She said she thought you were going
to head home or something. So, I came out here to meet you.”
“You weren’t seriously waiting all
this time, were you?”
“No,” he said. “I went back because I thought that maybe you had stayed a while at the dance. I walked into the
gym and saw you laughing and having the time of your life with one of those
guys who were shooting baskets earlier. I got upset and came back out
here to wait for you. I’m not mad now, though, Dottie. I’ve had
a little time to think.”
His words made Dottie feel uneasy.
What
did Roger think about? Did my plan backfire?
“Dottie, you looked as if you were
having fun. It wasn’t just ‘fun’, though. You were thoroughly
enjoying yourself with him.”
“Oh, come on, Roger,” she said,
sitting down on the sofa. “He’s nothing, you know that? He belongs
to another girl.”
Roger shrugged and ran a hand through
his dark hair. “If he ‘belongs’ to another girl, then why was he with
you? I don’t know, Dottie, it just seems like you were just making
time with him.”
Dottie studied his features.
He really
is hurt. My plan worked! “You really should have seen the
situation, Roger. I overheard his girl in the bathroom going on about
how she likes him, but her heart doesn’t really belong to anyone. She’s
the one who was shooting baskets, Roge. She was so worried that everyone
in the gym thought she was doing it to attract attention. I am witness
to the fact that she was successful in attracting attention, Roger.
She seemed to be the only girl in the gym after you got done staring at that
dark-haired girl.”
Roger blushed. “I-I wasn’t
really looking at them, Dottie,” he stammered. “First of all, the dark
haired girl was beautiful, but most of all she had nothing on you.
Then the blonde girl was doing a great job sinking baskets. One of
the guys from our team challenged the boys, and then he challenged the girl.
So, if she was hooked with the guy I saw you with, then why weren’t they together
at the dance?”
“Because they just don’t get it,
Roger. They are obviously falling apart over each other, and yet neither
one is willing to face it. So, I stepped in, since you were nowhere
to be found. Looking back, I’m not sure just what I was supposed to
accomplish, but I caught sight of her when she saw us together. It
actually made me happy, and I’m not sure why. I mean, for all she knows,
I was making time with her boy. But she must’ve been trying to make
him jealous, too, because she was flirting with Ned Schulz of all people.
Her ploy must have worked because he was jealous. He told me his feelings for her. Those two needed
a nudge, and they got it.” Dottie thought for a second. Gosh, for someone
whose plan was to make it with Roger, I sure messed up. Roger doesn’t
look like he’s buying any of this, but it sort of ended up to be true.
He won’t know about Mr. Handsome, though. Besides, what goes around
comes around. If it’s okay to stare at pretty girls, then it’s okay
to flirt with good-looking, athletic men. “You know, Roger,” she said,
“eye for an eye. You were staring at that other girl, so you shouldn’t
even be questioning my actions anyway.”
“But I wasn’t putting my arms around
her, dancing with her, or openly flirting with her. I left because
I thought we were going to ditch the dinner dance, but I guess you had
different thoughts.” Roger stood up. “At least my excuse was
true and not as lame as yours. I didn’t claim to be Cupid or the Good
Samaritan.”
Dottie ignored his last comment.
“I only hung around because I was looking for you,” she said. It’s partly true,
since he’s one of the three men I was looking for as I came out of the bathroom. “Roger, I’m sorry if you thought
I was trying to hook up with him. I seriously wasn’t.”
Roger put his hands on his hips.
“You seriously weren’t?” he asked, sounding doubtful. “That
other guy means nothing to you?”
Dottie stood and wrapped her arms
around him. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?” he whispered.
“Nothing,” she confirmed again and
moved closer.
He wrapped his arms around her and
pulled her even closer. “I knew I could rely on you,” he said quietly
and kissed her soundly.
Dottie soon grew impatient with
just kissing him and moved her hands down to his butt and squeezed it.
Roger pulled back and grinned. He leaned down to kiss her neck and
squeezed her tight.
“Hey, Roge,” she whispered.
“Do you want to go up to my room?”
“Sure,” he said and let her lead
the way up the stairs. “When are your parents supposed to be home?”
“Not until tomorrow evening sometime.”
Dottie opened her bedroom door and let him in. She reached for the
light, but Roger stopped her.
The grandfather clock downstairs
chimed midnight, as she shut the door. Roger took her in his arms and
hungrily kissed her. As he held her around her waist, Dottie felt her
body heat up in anticipation. Roger was never so
quick to make out before.
She grinned and pulled away from him. In the moonlight that poured
in from the bedroom window, she pulled her school sweater up and over her
head, arching her back as she did this.
She threw her sweater on the floor
and fell back into his arms again. He moved his strong hands down to
her butt and squeezed. As he kissed her neck, she unbuttoned his shirt
and helped him take it off. At this moment, he seemed nervous and pulled
away from her.
“Dottie,” he said, holding his shirt.
“Are you sure?”
She smiled and sat down on her bed.
“Yes, Roger. I’m sure.”
“I only ask, because together, we’ve never
been that far.”
She held her hand out for him to
take it. “I know. But I’m ready. I’m sure.”
It was daylight when Dottie blinked
her eyes open. She looked out across her room and saw her sweater lying
in a heap on the floor where she had tossed it last night. Draped
across her chair were a pair of slacks and a white button-down shirt.
She could feel Roger’s light breathing against her neck, as she snuggled up
next to him. His strong arm slid around her waist, pulling her protectively
against him.
She rubbed her eyes and glanced
at her alarm clock. It was seven-twenty in the morning. “Roger,”
she said softly. He responded with a moan. “Roger,” she said,
nudging him. When he opened an eye, she rolled over to face him.
“I have to be at the rink at noon. Can you make it?”
He leaned back and rubbed his eyes.
“I’m not sure I can,” he said through a yawn. “I have to work at twelve-thirty
today. Mr. Johnson needs me at his shop then.”
“That’s okay,” said Dottie, leaning
against him. “It’s just for practice anyway. I’ll get Sandi to
come with me, if she even came home last night.”
“She went out with Robby again?”
He pulled his girlfriend up on top of him and held onto her. “Her parents
don’t know yet?”
Dottie laughed. “Hey, Mom
and Dad don’t know half the things I do, Roge. Sandi’s parents are
just as dumb, you know.”
Roger chuckled. “My parents
think I’m spending the night at Stubby’s. He’s covering for me.”
Dottie laughed and kissed his lips.
“I guess I’ve forgotten how to be sneaky. I don’t have to get anyone
to cover for me.”
Dottie wrapped her plush robe around
her and tied it at the waist. Roger was in the shower, so he wouldn’t
hear her talking on the phone. She picked up the phone and waited for
the operator to come on the line.
“Andrew Belden, please. Happy
Valley Farm.”
“Just a moment,” said the operator
and put her through. The phone rang a few times before someone answered.
“Hi. Is Jim Frayne available?”
“Who shall I say is calling?”
“Dot Murray.”
“Hang on.” She heard muffled
voices until he came back on the line. “Jim’s not available right
now. Can I leave a message?”
“Oh, that’s all right. He
knows who I am and why I’m calling. We met at the dance last night.”
“You’re the blonde girl, right?
The one he sat next to during dinner?”
Dottie blushed. “Yes, I am.”
“Okay. I’ll tell him you called.”
After they hung up, she continued
to blush. Did everyone seem
to notice or did Jim go back and brag to his friends about me? Is that
what happened? A tear
welled up in her eye as she thought about how several of the seniors from
last year bragged about how they ‘bagged’ her. He’s probably bragged
to Ned and his other two friends about how he met this ‘blonde girl’ and
he’ll go home and probably tell his other friends about how he nailed a blonde
babe in Iowa. No one would ever know because, well, she’s miles away
in Iowa. Oh, he probably won't. He seems too honorable to do that, and besides, he has Trixie.
Roger was already dressed when she
headed back to her bedroom. She still seemed upset, but did her best
to hide it. After all, she had a routine she had to concentrate on.
He stayed around until she finished getting herself ready and packing her
costume.
“I’m wearing my little Bavarian
outfit today. I’ll be skating to Mozart’s ‘Eine Kleine Nacht Musik
Serenade Thirteen’. It’s the one I skated to before and the same program.”
Roger nodded. “You’ll blow
everyone away as usual, Dottie,” he said and gave her a quick kiss.
“It’s getting on towards noon, so I should get going.”
Dottie smiled and returned his kiss.
“I wish you could be there because I start out my routine by blowing you
a kiss.” A guilty pang hit her again as she thought of whom she could
blow that kiss to, but she forced it out of her thoughts. Jim said they weren't even going to be there anyway.
“Just skip that part of the routine
this time, Dot.”
She nodded. “See you later,
then.”
Dottie thought about her routine
some more, visualizing her maneuvers and how she kept in time to the music.
When she arrived, there were several members of the club already skating.
Some were practicing for the state championships coming up again this year
while others were just having fun. Balancing on her skates, she made
her way past the blaring jukebox to the waiting area to organize her belongings.
She smiled at the several boys who
helped her remove her blade guards and waved at them, as she skated by on
the ice. She skated a few laps around the rink and practiced her turns
and spins. She waited for a spot to practice her double axle.
As she flawlessly landed, a few skaters and observers clapped. When
she felt good about her routine, she headed back to her bench where her bags
were.
But there was something else there
other than her gym bags. Jim could make it
after all! And he brought his friends. She waved at them and blushed
slightly, as she noticed that Mr. Handsome was there as well.
“Hi there,” she said, as she let
Jim help her off the ice. “I didn’t think you could make it.”
“We weren’t, but Ned Schulz helped
us with the fences, and then the Gormans told us that the rink would be closed
tomorrow, so we decided to come anyway.” Jim’s green eyes sparkled.
“Those jumps you did out there were great.”
Dottie smiled. “Thank you.”
She noticed Trixie sitting inbetween the other two girls, and she did not
have a happy look on her face. While the other girls were allowing
the boys to help them with their skates, Trixie fought them off like flies.
When she looked up and noticed Jim and Dottie together, a mournful, heartbroken
look came across her face. She stopped lacing up her skate and reluctantly
held her skate out to Ned. “Can you guys do any kind of figure skating?”
“Trixie and Honey can. They
skated in that benefit I told you about.” Jim looked out at the other
skaters. “I wish we had a rink in Sleepyside, but we have to settle
for the one in White Plains. This is really neat.”
“Your outfit looks terrific!” the
girl with the dark hair said.
The girl struck a small nerve with
Dottie. She was the one that Roger was staring at before the game.
“Thank you. It’s Bavarian.”
Fortunately for Dottie, the conversation
was cut short by their coach who turned off the jukebox. He lifted
a megaphone to his mouth and called for everyone’s attention.
“We have visitors here from New
York. They are members of a club called The Bob-Whites of the Glen
in Westchester County, New York. They have just staged a very successful
ice carnival in their city for the benefit of the Central American earthquake
victims. We hope that they will now give us a demonstration of some
of their skating. Most of you saw them during the warm-up period at
the gym last night. If they skate as well as they hit the basket, we
will have to surrender the Des Moines Club Trophy. Miss Honey Wheeler
and Miss Trixie Belden.”
Dottie noticed that Jim had an exceptionally
pleased look on his face. Honey’s eyes grew big as she held onto the
bench, refusing to get up. Trixie, on the other hand, gave her one
of the best pep talks Dottie had ever heard. Nervously, Honey walked
to the ice, hanging on to Trixie for dear life.
Trixie rattled off instructions
to her, as they removed their rubber guards and glided out onto the ice.
Honey stumbled a bit out of nervousness. Dottie sympathized with her.
The first few times she had been asked to skate unprepared, she held back
and even gave in to stage fright. After winning medals at state competitions,
she was used to it now.
But what impressed her the most was what Trixie said as she steadied Honey on her feet.
“Chin up!”
Dottie stole a glance at Jim as
Trixie said this. His grin widened as he watched Trixie and his sister
out on the ice. While they skated, he never took his eyes off her.
He really
has it bad for her, Dottie
thought. Those two need to
get over this silliness and tell each other how they feel.
As they made their bows, Dottie
clapped. She genuinely thought they were very good for people who don’t
practice or compete. Jim left Dottie’s side for only a moment as he
helped Trixie off the ice. She watched the exchange between the two
‘special friends’, as he slid her rubber guards onto the blades of her skates.
A voice of reason told her that she should just head out onto the ice just
to leave them alone, but before she could act on it, the coach got on his
megaphone again.
“That was excellent. Thank
you, girls,” he said. “No wonder the carnival was so great a success.
Now we will let our visitors rest for a while, and Dot Murray will give an
exhibition of figure skating.”
Dottie laughed and shook her head
as she skated out and circled the rink and waved at the small crowd.
Geez,
coach, it’s only a rehearsal. She circled around until she
found her starting point. She closed her eyes, as she concentrated and
assumed her pose. When the music came over the loud system, she lifted
her head and held her arms out and with a regal stature, slowly glided forward.
She then spun around and circled the rink and, true to her routine, she blew
a kiss to where Roger was standing.
Except Roger wasn’t there, and it
was Jim. She did it before she could stop herself. She put it
out of her mind and didn’t think about it as she quickened her pace.
Once she was up to speed, she quickly turned so she was skating backwards
on one foot. With grace, she held her arms out and concentrated.
She brought her other foot back to push herself up and into a double axle
and flawlessly landed. The crowd clapped as she then danced around
and did a perfect spin. After a second double axle, she sailed around
the rink on one foot and held her hands out. Many told her that when
she did this, she reminded them of a graceful bird, flying through the air.
After a series of Arabian cartwheels,
Dottie skated to the middle again and began to spin. As she spun, she
lowered herself down and hooked her finger through the blade on her skate
and lifted it to her waist and twirled, arching her back and lifting one
arm in the air. When she let go of her skate, she slowed her momentum
down and, as the song ended, she resumed her starting position with her arms
held out, but this time down on one knee.
The audience cheered and clapped,
as Dottie waved and took her bow. As she skated back to her bench,
she could see Jim and Trixie, both clapping. They look happier
together than when they’re apart. Dottie smiled warmly, as Jim left
Trixie’s side to help her put her rubber guards back on. She really
didn’t feel that Jim should be helping her, but at the same time, no other
boy was willing to help her. Did they all feel
threatened by Jim’s presence? He’s athletic and all, but not threatening.
“You were fantastic!” Jim crowed
as he helped her. “I can’t believe you took second last year, Dot.
With that performance, you should’ve taken first.”
Dottie blushed. “Thanks, Jim.
That’s kind of an old and easy routine of mine, though. It’s one that
I often do to warm up.” She moved closer to him so the others couldn’t
hear her. “I didn’t mean to blow a kiss at you, Jim. It’s part
of the routine because Roger is usually standing there. I was just
going to skip it this time, but I forgot to. I hope I didn’t embarrass
you.”
“That’s okay, Dot,” Jim said, feeling
a bit nervous. “I, uh, hardly noticed it anyway.”
You make such
a rotten liar! Dottie
teetered her way over to the bench to give her feet a rest. “Unless
our coach has any more announcements to make, everyone’s free to skate.
Do you guys skate? Or is it just Honey and Trixie?”
“Brian and I both skated at the
carnival. Mart does speed skating, so if anyone’s up for competition,
he’d be more than happy to skate.” Jim kicked his shoes off and pulled
on the cuffs of his socks to straighten them out.
“They only allow speed skating on
certain nights,” Dot said as Jim laced up his skates. “You have to
have special ice for speed skating. This ice is so jagged because of
all our spins and jumps. Every spin and jump puts grooves into the
ice and that would slow a speed skater down, or it could seriously harm them
because of the speed they are going. If Mart needs regular skates,
he can get rent them up at the counter.”
Jim shrugged. “He seemed to
do all right on our lake back home. I’ll ask him because I think he
only has speed skates.”
Dottie didn’t notice until then,
that they were sitting on a separate bench than the rest of Jim’s friends.
She felt bad about that and was determined to set Jim straight. She
didn’t know if he was really attracted to her, but it really seemed as if
he would attend to Trixie to keep her happy, and then attend to her.
“Jim?” Dottie asked. “This
might sound personal, so you don’t have to answer it, but I’m just wondering
how special Trixie is?”
Jim regarded her question with a
confused look. “What do you mean?”
“What I mean is I’ve seen more guilty and hurt looks from Trixie than from any other girl who has ever seen
her boyfriend flirting with another girl.” Dottie put her hand on Jim’s.
“You don’t really have to dog my trail, Jim. I can do all right by
myself.”
Jim blinked. “You think I’m
making time with you, right?”
“Listen, Jim,” she said. “You
might not see it that way, and really, neither do I. But someone else
apparently sees it that way, and she probably isn’t brave enough to tell
you so.”
Jim turned and looked over at the
other three girls. Honey and the dark haired one were chatting with
boys, while Trixie was deep in conversation with Ned. Brian was already
skating around, getting the feel of his skates. Mart looked as if he
was trying desperately to get away from one of the local girls. Dottie
smirked as she recognized the girl as Pammie Watson, the class chatter box.
When Jim turned back, Dottie could
see that he looked bothered again. He didn’t say anything, but just
stood up and headed for the ice. So that’s how it
is, Jim. You’re not flirting with me, but it bothers you to see her
chatting it up with Ned. Personally, it bothers me, too, but Ned just
does that to me.
Dottie spotted Sandi and Robby over
on the other side of the rink. She looked back at Jim’s friends and,
without a word or so much as a ‘good-bye’ wave to them, she packed her bag
up and headed to where her other two friends were sitting.
“You were great!” Sandi said, hugging
her friend. “I was tempted to yell for an encore, but had to control
myself.”
“Thanks, Sandi. It was really
nothing. I messed up a few times, but nothing serious.” Dottie
turned to Robby and smiled. “Hey, guy,” she said and took a seat.
“How’s life treating you?”
He gave a non-committal grunt and
shrugged. Seeing it as a satisfactory answer, he continued counting
the lights.
“So, Dottie, how did things go last
night?” Sandi asked. “You have a certain glow about you today!”
Dottie blushed. “Yes, things
didn’t go quite as planned, but the outcome was so much more satisfying.
Roger was a little upset at seeing me dancing with another guy and sitting
next to him at dinner, but I countered him with his actions before, and how
he was staring at those other two girls. Needless to say, Sandi Lu,
we made it up to each other.”
“You seriously should’ve been up
at the Pointe last night, Dot. The moon was simply gorgeous!”
“It always is around Spring Equinox,”
Dottie said. “It added a nice touch to our night as well.”
Sandi put her arm around her friend.
“So, Dottie. Who’s that redheaded fella you were chatting it up with?
Is he part of the same group from the game?”
“His name is Jim Frayne, and they
are all from New York.” Dottie leaned back and crossed her legs.
“He’s been your slave since they
arrived, Dottie. You better tell him you’re involved.”
Dottie shrugged. “He’s involved
with the girl who was shooting baskets last night, Sandi. They’ve got
it bad for each other, but I guess they just don’t know it yet.”
Sandi laughed. “Congratulations,
Dottie. You have just been labeled ‘the other woman’. Tell me,
how does it feel to know you’ve reached this point in your career?”
Dottie smirked. “As long as
Ned, being ‘the other guy’, doesn’t have to pair up with me, I guess I’m
fine with it.”
“So what happened with Mr. Handsome?
Why Mr. Athletic all of the sudden?”
Dottie laughed. “Lucy, the
captain of the cheerleading team, is what happened. I saw that there
was no getting to him, so I chose Mr. Athletic instead. Besides, Pammie
Watson already claimed Mr. Goof-off. Look, there he is now trying to
skate away from her.”
Sandi giggled. “I can just
imagine the look on his face when he found he couldn’t get away from her.”
She turned to her friend. “So what are you and Roger up to tonight?”
“I think we’re going up to the Pointe. Mom and Dad are coming back home tonight, so he can’t stay there.” Dottie sighed. “What about you guys?”
“I can’t get anyone to cover for
me, so Robby’s gotta get me home by curfew again.”
“Just tell them that you’re spending
the night with me,” Dottie said. “I’ll cover for you.”
“Dottie, you know I can’t do that.
Mom always makes sure she calls to check on me to see if I’m okay.
I can’t convince her not to do that. It drives me crazy.”
“Thank God we’re graduating in a
few more weeks.” Dottie stood up and fixed her sweater. “It looks
as if Jim and his friends are gone now, so I’m going to hit the ice a few
more times before Roger comes by. We’re going out for dinner at Shakey’s
and then a movie at the theater. We might go parking afterwards.”
Dottie teetered over to the ice entrance and slipped her rubber guards off.
She skated up to where Sandi and Robby were sitting. “Think about what
you want to do for tonight, Sandi. I’ll cover for you if you want.”
“I’ll see,” she said. “Mom
and Dad like to keep close tabs on what I’m doing these days.”
Dottie looked over to Robby, who
looked very disinterested. She knew her parents disliked Robby, and
forbade her to see him, so she had to be very sneaky. “Tell you what,
Sandi. How about the four of us stay at my house? Like I said,
Mom and Dad won’t even be in until very late. Knowing them, everyone
could spend the night in my room, and they wouldn’t know it.”
“How wonderful it is to have dense
parents,” Sandi sighed. “Mine are just flat out annoying.”
“Well, think it over,” Dottie said
as she skated backwards a little and turned to join the skating.
“What do you think, Rob?” Sandi
asked. “Do you mind spending the night at Dottie’s?”
He leaned over and slid his arm
around her shoulders. “Don’t care,” he murmured.
“As long as I can spend it with you.” He leaned over and sniffed her
hair and gently left a trail of kisses along the back of her neck.
“Oh, Rob,” she sighed, leaning into
him. “You know I’m putty in your hands when you do that to me.”
He gave a throaty laugh and continued
kissing her.
“I heard you were a star at the
rink today,” Roger said as he helped Dottie make popcorn.
Dottie shrugged. “It wasn’t
my best, but it was all right.”
“Say, that’s pretty awesome of you
to arrange for all of us to spend the night in your room! You sure
you’re parents won’t mind?”
Dottie hooted with laughter.
“They won’t even notice, Roger. Notice Robby and Sandi
wasted no time going up there? I just hope they aren’t making out in
Mom and Dad’s room. Then they would notice.”
Roger stepped closer to her as he
delicately slid his hand down her neck and shoulders. “So, if your
room is occupied, where do we go for four or so hours until your parents
get home?”
Dottie leaned into him and kissed
his neck. “We can make out on the sofa for a while.”
“Perfect,” he whispered and claimed
her lips.
The living room was dark and the
television had been long since shut off, when Dottie awoke to a familiar sound
of a car door slam.
“Crap!” she cried and woke Roger
up. Quickly, they raced around the living room, gathering their clothes.
She sent Roger up to her room as she made one last check up and decided that
it looked satisfactory and hurried up the stairs, picking her bra up where
Roger had dropped in along the way.
Robby and Sandi stirred when Roger
burst in, but kept quiet. When Dottie showed up, Sandi asked quietly
if her parents were back. She nodded and listened at the door.
Her parents were making their way up the stairs, talking quietly among themselves.
“I’ll check up on Dottie as soon
as I put our luggage in the bedroom,” her mother said quietly.
Without a word, Dottie pointed to
the closet. As if everyone understood, they quietly made their way
in there to hide while Dottie hurriedly looked for her pink pajamas.
In record-breaking time, she slipped them on and quietly got into bed.
As if on cue, a soft knock was heard at the door.
“Come in,” she said, trying to sound
as if she just woke up.
“Hi, dear,” her mother whispered.
“Everything okay?”
Dottie nodded. “Yeah, Mom.
I went to the game last night and then practiced at the rink today.”
Her mother smiled. “Great.
Well, good night, then.” With that, she shut the door. Dottie
listened, as her mother headed back to her own bedroom. Quickly and
quietly, Dottie jumped out of bed, locked her bedroom door, and pulled her
friends out of the closet.
“You sure it’s safe?” Sandi asked.
“Pretty sure,” Dottie whispered.
Roger came out with his shirt covering
himself. “Dottie, is there any other place you could stuff us in emergencies?
It’s rather crowded in there with Robby and Sandi.”
Dottie giggled quietly and threw
her arms around her boyfriend. “You guys are all good sports to do
this. I’m sure Mom and Dad won’t know if we just keep quiet.”
Robby looked as if he’d rather be
anywhere but there, but he didn’t make any noise about it and settled for
the floor and curled up with Sandi. Roger slid in bed and made room
for Dottie, who quickly shed her pink pajamas. After talking quietly
among themselves, the four young adults finally went to sleep.
Dottie’s alarm woke her up at six
in the morning. Roger moaned and rolled over. Sandi opened her
eyes and almost seemed startled to find Robby lying next to her, but soon
relaxed as she realized she was at her friend’s house. Robby rolled
over and put the blankets up over his head.
“Guys, I’m going to get up and scope
out the place. If Mom and Dad are still sleeping, you guys need to
beat it. Got it?” Dottie quickly donned her pink pajamas again
and wrapped her plush robe around her.
Lightly, she unlocked her door and
crept out down the hallway to her parents’ room. She heard her father’s
light snoring. There wasn’t anyone in the bathroom, or anywhere downstairs.
She made her way past the sofa and saw something white sticking up between
the seat cushion and the armrest. She grabbed it and nearly died, as
she realized it was her underwear. Stuffing it in her pocket, she hurried
up the stairs and checked the bathroom once more. It looked as if her
parents were still in bed. It wasn’t surprising since they had arrived pretty late last night.
When she opened her bedroom door,
she found Roger and Robby sorting through their clothing, trying to figure out
which article belonged to whom. Within fifteen minutes, Sandi was dressed
in one of Dottie’s pajamas, and they were walking their boyfriends to the
front door.
As Sandi said good-bye to Robby,
Dottie and Roger sat down on the front steps. “Sorry the night was
so awkward,” she apologized. “It would’ve just been us, or we could’ve
parked or something, but Sandi needed somewhere to be so
her parents wouldn’t yell.”
Roger nodded. “Don’t worry,
Dot. I had fun anyway. He put his arm around her and pulled her close
for another kiss. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
Dottie nodded and leaned on his
shoulder. “Maybe we can go to the drive-in tonight since we didn’t
get to last night.”
“Maybe.”
After saying good-bye for about
ten minutes, the girls reluctantly let their boyfriends go. They quietly
sneaked up stairs and shut the bedroom door.
“Man, this place is a mess,” Dottie
sighed. “I suppose we should tidy it up a little. Mom and Dad
know that normally, I am neat with my room at least.”
“Boy, I’m not sure, Roger.
It looks like a deluge out there!” Dottie said on the phone. “I suppose
you could come over and we could watch television or listen to my records.”
“The weatherman gave us flood warnings,
Dot. I’m not sure I should go anywhere.”
“You sure? I mean, it looks
like just a heavy rain.”
Roger laughed. “How long have
you lived in Iowa, Dot? You should know by now that floods could happen almost
daily this time of year.”
“Yeah, yeah, Roger. I know,” Dottie sighed. He was being sarcastic, and she knew it. “We’ll
see each other Sunday night for sure, then. Okay?”
“Sounds good.”
After spending a few more minutes
on the phone, they hung up. The rain was now coming down harder and
harder. She watched at the window as the streets began to flood.
She went upstairs and turned the
radio on and started reading a book. I’m supposed to
have ten chapters read by the time we go back to school on Monday.
I guess now is a good a time as any to do it.
Dottie awoke the next morning very
early. Her radio was still on and her book lay open on the bed next
to her. A news report was telling about the damage the flood had caused to certain parts of the area. As she dressed, she didn’t pay much attention
to it until she heard about three teenagers who were stranded in the middle
of it...three teenagers from New York.
She clapped her hand
over her mouth. The report ended without giving their names, but at
least the announcer had said they were all right. Before shutting off the radio, she heard the announcer say something about sheep theives. She shook her head before turning the dial to the off position. Dottie hurried as she dressed to go to the police station, where the announcer had said the teens were at the moment. As she pulled the car out of the driveway, she quickly turned the radio on.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is Jerry Hoff, your roving reporter down at the Rivervale police station. I’m sure by now, most of the residents of Happy Valley have heard about the fantastic show these teens from New York put on at the Rivervale gymnasium…”
Yadda, yadda,
get on with it!!!
“…but just last night, they summoned
their strength and will power to survive the storm we had last night, folks.
That’s right, these three kids were stranded in the middle of the flood and
used their good sense to survive. While trying to save their necks,
they came across a little puppy. Now what did you say you named him,
miss?”
“Moses,” rasped a girl’s voice.
Even thought her voice was hard to hear, Dottie immediately recognized it
as Trixie’s voice.
“How appropriate! And not only did they save this puppy’s life, they also spotted two men who have
been on the run from the law for stealing sheep from the different livestock
farms. Trixie, who is Andrew Belden’s niece, found a cap and knife
on her uncle’s property that belonged to one of the two suspects who were
turned in to the police department this morning. He admitted to the
crimes, making Trixie Belden a town hero. More on this story later.
We return you to your regularly programmed radio.”
As Dottie rounded the corner, she
saw a large group of people huddling around the group of students from New
York, along with Ned Schulz and his friends, Bob and Barbara Hubbell.
When she parked, she saw Jim standing behind Trixie with a large grin on
his face. Trixie was holding on to a cute, little black puppy, as Honey
coddled it. Their other friends crowded around them as the
photographer tried to take their pictures. When everyone had left,
and the crowd dwindled away, Dottie hung around. She felt uneasy about
it, knowing how Trixie felt about her, but it was something she had to do.
Slowly, she approached Jim while Trixie was talking with someone and relaying
the story again.
“I’m glad you guys made it out of
that flood alive,” she said.
Jim shrugged. “I’m a survivor
at heart, Dot, but when the water kept going higher and higher, and there
appeared to be nowhere for us to go, I did get scared.”
“Well, I just had to come out to
tell you guys how happy I am that you made it. I nearly choked when
I heard the report this morning.” Dottie grabbed a hold of Jim’s arm.
“I would have felt just horrible if you didn’t make it.”
“Well, we did and it was a scary
experience. I’m glad Trixie was along, though. She was just as scared as Honey and I were, but she pulled us right through it.” Jim chuckled
and looked over at Trixie, who was chatting with the Hubbell twins.
“I hate to think what would have happened if she didn’t have courage.
I know I sure didn’t have much.”
“Well, never mind about all that
then. That was yesterday. What do you have planned for today?”
Dottie grinned, seeing as he couldn’t take his eyes off Trixie.
“Our plane leaves tomorrow morning,
so we’re going to go back to the ranch and relax.” Jim sobered.
“Dot, I know you might’ve thought that I was ignoring Trixie and flirting
with you. I thought a lot about that while we were up on top of the
roof in the flood waiting for someone to come by. I’m sorry if you
thought I was coming on to you or flirting. The fact is Trixie is
someone so dear to me that I wouldn’t want to damage that. She never
brings it up, but I know she’s hurt. When Brian told me you called
the other day, the look on her face nearly tore me in two.”
Dottie smiled. “Jim, I feel
I should apologize to you, too. I have to confess that I started flirting
with you at the dance to make my boyfriend feel jealous. You see, he
was staring at the dark-haired girl in your group and then started making
cat-calls at Trixie when she was shooting baskets. I felt irritated
enough to flirt with someone else.”
Jim’s face fell. “So you were
using me?”
“To begin with, Jim, yes, I was using you. But then I began to think of you as someone fun and
interesting. But, by then, my boyfriend and I had already patched things
up.” Dottie felt herself getting choked up. “I feel bad about
what I did, Jim. I look back on it and feel embarrassed. The
girls in this school don’t call me ‘on the spot Dot’ for nothing, you know.”
Jim crossed his arms. “I suppose
I feel more flattered than hurt at this, so I’ll forgive you. I wish,
though, that you didn’t play with emotions like this.”
Dottie raised her eyebrows.
“Playing with emotions? Jim, no one made you dog my trail yesterday.”
She then saw Trixie chatting with Ned Schulz again. Right then, things
began to click for her. “You know, Jim, if I have my girl-games straight,
I would say you are playing them right along with Trixie and I.”
“What?”
“It’s simple, Jim. You don’t
have to be a detective to figure it out. I flirted with you to make Roger jealous. Trixie
flirted with Ned to make you jealous. And you flirted with me to make Trixie jealous.” Dottie smiled at her
revelation. “It’s plain and simple.”
Jim’s face grew a slight color of
red. “Are you insinuating that I am playing these little girlfriend-boyfriend
games? You’re insane. Just insane. For your information,
Dot, I was being nice to you. That’s all. There’s one thing you
should learn about me right now, Dot Murray. I never play games.”
“Is that so?” Dottie said, feeling
defensive. “Then what about all those times you looked over at Trixie
with a longing expression? What about being my slave at the skating
rink? I suppose you were just being ‘nice’. What about those
times when Ned was gabbing with her and you looked hurt? It’s not hard
to notice her expression, Jim, or yours, for that matter. I’m not blind,
you know, and neither is anyone else. She has it bad for you, and you
feel the same for her. Did you even bother to tell her how you felt
about her when you were in the middle of danger last night? She’s not
going to wait around forever, you know. Dang it, Jim, make a move!”
Jim narrowed his green eyes and
set his jaw, as he glared at her. Without saying a word, he walked away
to be at Trixie’s side. The other two boys, Mr. Handsome and Mr. Goof-off,
hardly noticed as they stood next to the other two girls. Dottie slipped
away, hoping that anything she said left ideas in Jim’s head. As she
drove away, she seriously hoped that he would forgive her flirting, but she
also hoped that he would be able to see what could happen to a relationship
if not cared for.
It almost happened
with Roger and I, she thought
as she pulled a cigarette out of her purse and lit it. A slight tear
welled up in her eye as she drove home.
THE END
Author's notes:
All characters in this story with the exception of Sandi Lu, Roger, Lucy, Lizzie, and Robby are all property of Randomhouse Books and used without permission.
The book did not specifically state that it was Spring Break for the students at Rivervale High, but since they didn't seem to be stuck to a certain curriculum, I decided that it would be Spring Break for them as well.
The events of this story are based on those in "The Happy Valley Mystery" but just taken from a different point of view. The dialogue between Trixie, Honey, and "the dark-haired girl" (Diana) in the locker room, between Trixie, Jim, Ned and Dot at the dance, and the skating club coach's introduction was all taken word for word from the book. Dot's thoughts were not.
Trixie Belden Fan Fiction