Read Online The Mystery at Maypenny's by Julie Campbell - Free Book Online

immediately. Or, barring that, he should give David power of attorney so that if anything happened to Mr. Maypenny, David would be able to act to see that he was taken care of.”
    Brian whistled softly, Jim frowned, and Mart put his hands over his head as if he expected the roof of the school bus to cave in any minute.
    Trixie and Honey just looked at the boys in confusion. “What’s power of attorney?” Trixie asked.
    “It’s a legal agreement,” Jim said. “If Mr. Maypenny gave David power of attorney, then David would be able to write checks for him, sign contracts, things like that. What David meant was that if Mr. Maypenny suddenly became ill or something, David, with power of attorney, would be able to get at Mr. Maypenny’s money in order to make sure he was taken care of.”
    Now it was Trixie’s turn to whistle. “I don t think Mr. Maypenny would like that idea,” she said.
    “He didn’t,” Dan said. “He said he could take care of himself without help from anybody. David still didn’t give up. He tried to keep talking. Then Mr. Maypenny really blew his stack. He ordered David to get his things together and leave—immediately.”
    “And David left,” Jim concluded.
    Dan chuckled. “When Mr. Maypenny got angry, I think David finally saw that this was no feeble old man. David actually looked a little frightened. He packed up his stuff and left on the double.”
    The bus pulled up in front of the school just as Dan finished speaking, so there was no time for further questions as the Bob-Whites piled out and hurried to their first classes.
    Throughout the morning, Trixie thought about Mr. Maypenny and how upset and disappointed he must be. He had been so excited about meeting his only nephew, and now the nephew was gone again.
    At lunch, she suggested that they ride to Mr. Maypenny’s that afternoon and see if there was anything they could do to cheer him up.
    The boys all had chores to do, and Di had more teachers to meet with. So in the end, it was Honey and Trixie who saddled Strawberry and Susie and rode to Mr. Maypenny’s.
    Halfway to the cabin, Trixie spotted something lying alongside the road. Pulling Susie to a halt alongside it, she saw that it was a dead duck. “I wonder if somebody’s been hunting out of season,” she said, starting to dismount.
    “Don’t touch it, Trixie!” Honey said sharply. “It could be diseased,” she added more gently.
    Trixie settled back into the saddle. “You’re right,” she said. “I know better than to handle something like that. At least, I should know better. Brian and Jim have warned me about it enough times. Still, I hate to just leave it there.”
    “We can tell Mr. Maypenny about it,” Honey suggested. “He can come back wearing gloves and examine it, and then bury it. That’s actually his job, as Daddy’s gamekeeper.”
    “That’s a good idea,” Trixie said. “Let’s go.” The girls found the old man in surprisingly good spirits, although he did seem happy to see them. He offered the girls glasses of lemonade and settled down on the front porch to talk.
    “I was sorry to see David go,” Mr. Maypenny said. “He is my only relative, after all. I was looking forward to getting to know him better, to having him come to visit once in a while. But once he started trying to take away my independence, why, I wasn’t about to put up with that!”
    Trixie nodded. “I understand. I know you’re disappointed that things didn’t work out with David. But it isn’t as if you didn’t have any other family. You do-all the Wheelers and Beldens and Dan and Di.”
    Mr. Maypenny nodded. “That’s right,” he agreed. “If I were a lonely old coot, with nobody to talk to, with nobody who cared about me, I suppose I might be willing to sign my life away to my nephew just to keep him around. But since I’m not, I won’t. And that’s that.”
    Something in Mr. Maypenny’s tone told the girls that he had said as much on the subject as he