The Mystery of the Emeralds (Trixie Belden) [Library Binding]

Kathryn Kenny (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 24, 2006 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Trixie Belden (Book 14)

Trixie’s on the trail of a century-old mystery! She’s headed to Williamsburg, Virginia, to find an old plantation house, Rosewood Hall, that was the home to the Sunderland family during the Civil War. Rumor has it that a cursed emerald necklace is buried in a secret passageway there. But after all that time, Rosewood Hall is just a ruin. Is it too late for Trixie to find the missing emeralds?


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1
“Rabbit! Rabbit!”
Trixie Belden awoke slowly, with the sound of a summer rain beating against her window. She half-opened her eyes, stretched her arms above her head, and then, catching sight of a large sign tied to the foot of her bed, yelled out, “Rabbit! Rabbit!” She bounced out of bed and ran out of her room and down the hall.

“I’ve finally done it!” she cried as she dashed into the large bedroom shared by two of her three brothers.

The oldest, Brian, responded by drawing the covers tightly over his head and turning thumpily toward the wall, but Mart, her almost-twin, sat up excitedly and demanded to know what she had done to cause all this rumpus at eight o’clock in the morning–enough rumpus, in fact, to wake up Bobby, who at this moment appeared in the doorway.

Trixie’s blue eyes were sparkling as she picked up her youngest brother and twirled him round and round. Then, plunking herself down on Brian’s bed, she said, “Well, ever since I was Bobby’s age I’ve been trying to remember to say ‘Rabbit! Rabbit!’ and make a wish just before going to sleep on the last night of the month. If you say it again in the morning, before you’ve said another word, your wish comes true.” Trixie laughed.
“But when I’d remember to say the magic words at night, I’d always say something else before I went to sleep, or forget them in the morning, or something. This time I put up a sign to remind me. Gleeps! I hope that doesn’t spoil the charm!”

“I must say you’re the luckiest of girls,” Mart said in his most sarcastic voice, extending his hand to congratulate his sister. “And what stupendous thing did you wish for, Trix? That you’d pass English next year?”

Brian, unable to sleep through all this talk, rolled over, poked his head out of the covers, and said, “I bet I know what she wished for–another mystery. You know she’s never happy unless she has some puzzle cooking.”

Trixie’s face sobered, and in a characteristic gesture she pushed back the short, sandy curls from her forehead. “As a matter of fact, I did sort of wish for some excitement.” She sighed. “After Cobbett’s Island, Sleepyside seems–well, a little pallid.”

“Wow! Look who’s getting sophisticated,” jeered Mart. “Watch out, old girl, or you’ll die of ennui.” He loved to use long or unusual words.

“What’s ‘ennui,’ Trixie? Is it sumpin’ like measles or chicken pox?” Bobby asked, his eyes wide as he scrambled up on the bed beside his sister. “I don’t want Trixie to die,” he cried. “She’s the only sister I got.”

“Of course she’s not going to die,” Brian assured him softly. “ ‘Ennui’ is just a fancy way of saying you’re tired of doing the same old thing all the time.”

The tears dried magically, a smile broke over Bobby’s face, and he said, “Oh! That’s what I get every morning when I have to eat my cereal!”

The call of “Breakfast, children” interrupted their laughter, and they dashed downstairs in their pajamas to the large, friendly kitchen where Mrs. Belden was frying bacon and eggs on the old-fashioned stove.

Their father, who worked in the Sleepyside bank, put aside his paper as they came in and, looking over the top of his glasses, greeted each of them. Trixie planted a quick kiss on top of his head as she went past him to her place at the table.

The Beldens lived in a comfortable old white farmhouse, a few miles outside the Hudson River town of Sleepyside. It was called Crabapple Farm and had been in the Belden family for six generations. Although larger and grander houses had been built around the ancient homestead over the years, they loved Crabapple Farm with its orchards and gardens. Mrs. Belden never found it a chore to care for and harvest the fruits and vegetables the place yielded, and in the fall, her pantry shelves were loaded with preserves, pickles, and jellies. Even though the boys sometimes grumbled about having to take care of the chickens, they freely admitted that the Belden eggs were the biggest and best they had ever seen. Trixie, who hated housework, sometimes complained, too, about having to help with the dishes or the dusting, but once when her mother, pretending to be serious, suggested they sell the house and move to an apartment where the housekeeping might be a little easier, Trixie nearly exploded. It was quite a long time after that before she was heard to say, “Do I have to? You mean right now?”

Trixie’s best friends, Honey Wheeler and her adopted brother, Jim, lived a little farther up Glen Road in an impressive mansion on a huge estate. The fact that the Wheelers’ wealth allowed them a staff of servants and every luxury never interfered with their close
friendship. Honey and Trixie had met soon after Mr. Wheeler had bought the Manor House, with its stable of horses, game preserve, and swimming pool, hoping it would benefit his somewhat sickly daughter. Honey’s real name was Madeleine, but no one ever called her that now, and no one seemed to remember who first gave her the nickname. Everyone agreed, however, that it suited her perfectly, for Honey was always as cheerful and sweet as she was pretty.
After the two girls became friends, Honey somehow forgot her ill health. There just wasn’t time to be sick with all they found to do. Their first adventure had been helping Jim Frayne, a wonderful boy, who was running away from a cruel stepfather. It had ended by Jim’s inheriting a half-million dollars from an uncle, his only relative, and being adopted by Mr. Wheeler.


“What are you all going to do this rainy day?” Mr. Belden inquired as he put on his raincoat and prepared to leave for work.

“Don’t you worry about them not having anything to do,” Mrs. Belden answered. “I’ve been waiting for just such a day as this to clean out the attic and the top of the barn.”

“Oh, Moms! Not again,” groaned Brian. “Why, we just cleaned the barn–let’s see, when was it?”

“Tempus fugit, dear brother,” Mart said cheerily. “It was at least four years ago, because I remember what a fuss I made when Moms wanted to throw out my magnificent collection of rocks.”

“Will it take all day?” Trixie asked a bit impatiently. “We’re supposed to have a meeting of the Bob-Whites this afternoon up at the clubhouse. The president of the Heart Association wrote and asked if we’d help with their White Elephant Sale, and we have to talk it over and see what we can do.”

“Well, that’s a coincidence,” Mrs. Belden said, “because I thought if we cleaned out the attic and barn we might find some things to donate to the sale.”

Trixie was suddenly all smiles. “Gleeps, Moms,” she cried, “what a perfectly spiffy idea! You can count on all the Bob-Whites to help!”

The Bob-Whites of the Glen was a secret club which Jim had organized soon after he came to live with the Wheelers. Although they were forever getting involved in some mystery, they also found time to be of help to others. There were now seven regular members in the club–the three Beldens, Honey and Jim, Dan Mangan, and Diana Lynch. Dan’s part-time jobs and a heavy school program prevented him from joining in all of the Bob-Whites’ adventures, but he was with the club whenever he could be. Di, as she was called, lived close by in another large house. Her twin brothers and sisters were much younger than she, so she welcomed membership in the club because it gave her a chance to be with people her own age. Di had always been considered the prettiest girl in the group, with her shoulder-length black hair, fair skin, and large violet eyes.

“I think I’ll phone Honey and Di and tell them to check what they can collect at their houses and then we’ll all meet late this afternoon to see what needs mending or repairing,” Trixie said, her enthusiasm for the project growing all the time.

“Come on, Mart,” she continued, “you and Brian get dressed and do the barn, and Moms and I will tackle the attic.”

“I was planning to fix the muffler on my car,” Brian said. He was always fussing with his old jalopy, usually quite successfully, because he was a superb mechanic. “But the co-president of the Bob-Whites is issuing orders, so I guess the Queen of the Highways will have to wait. All set, Mart?”

“All set,” Mart growled, “but let me tell you, Trixie Belden, one day is all I’m going to give up for any elephant, white or purple. So don’t try to inveigle me into working all week on some old wrecked piece of furniture or something.”

Mart and Trixie frequently appeared to be in some kind of feud, but underneath they were very fond of each other. Their birthdays were less than a year apart, and although Mart was taller than Trixie, they looked enough alike to be twins.

Trixie met her brother’s statement with a chilly silence as she went off to telephone.

“This promises to be a productive day,” Mrs. Belden commented as she walked with her husband to the door and bade him good-by. She didn’t know, as she said it, just how productive it would turn out to be. She gathered up several cartons from the porch and headed for the back stairs that led to the attic. She was soon joined by Trixie and Bobby who volunteered, “I wanna hunt for the elephant, too.”

“Where do you want me to start?” ...

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Library Binding: 272 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (January 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 037593054X
• ISBN-13: 978-0375930546
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,724,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mystery of the Emeralds, August 10, 2006

By 

J. Budworth (australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mystery of the Emeralds (Trixie Belden #14) (Hardcover)

Another great Trixie Belden book. This time Trixie and the Bob-Whites are on the trail of a missing emerald necklace, after Trixie finds an old letter in her attic. The trail leads them to an old historic mansion and some interesting characters. There are plenty of references to life in America during the Civil War which i found informative.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trixie on the Trail of a Long Hidden Necklace, April 4, 2006

By 

Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mystery of the Emeralds (Trixie Belden #14) (Hardcover)

Faced with a rainy summer day, Mrs. Belden announces it's the perfect day to clean out the attic and barn. While Trixie is helping with the attic, she finds an unknown crawl space. Investigating further, Trixie finds a letter dating back from the time of the Civil War that references an emerald necklace.

The letter was headed to a family in a neighboring town, so Trixie and her best friend Honey go over to investigate. The trail quickly leads to a small town in Virginia. At first, it looks like this might be the end of the trail, but soon Diana comes up with a way to bring almost all the Bob-Whites along.

Things aren't quite as easy as they had hoped in Virginia. The house they need to search is closed to them, and someone else is also looking for the necklace. But they stumble on some good luck when they visit a neighboring house and meet the owner, Mr. Carver. He's more the willing to let them look around. But can Trixie find a necklace that's been hidden for 100 years?

Every time I read this book, I am reminded about just how good it is. This is the only time in the series that the trail of the mystery starts in Sleepyside and leads Trixie somewhere else. While the solution is a little easy (it helps to have rich friends), seeing the Bob-Whites struggle with this is nice. The mystery itself is well done with nice set backs, a couple twists, and suspense that keeps me turning pages even though I remember how it all ends.

On top of this, this Kathryn Kenny did a great job with the characters. The Bob-Whites are their best selves, focusing on their strengths and not the negative caricatures they can be in some of the books. Also, the plot uses all the characters to a certain extent. Except for poor Dan. He doesn't even get to show up to say he can't go but has to send the message through others. The new characters in the story are bright and alive, especially Miss Bates, who leaps off the page and leaves me a little breathless every time she appears.

A quick note about the timing of the book. This book was originally written around 1965, which makes the timeline of events from the Civil War to Trixie finding the letter work.

It's funny I never think of this as one of my favorites in the series because I enjoy it so much every time I do read it. This is a perfect example of why I still love the series so much. Anyone familiar with the series will love this book. It could work for new comers as well, but I do recommend starting with the first few books in the series.

5.0 out of 5 stars Trixie Belden, January 19, 2012

By 

Mary in the Morning - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mystery of the Emeralds (Trixie Belden #14) (Hardcover)

I enjoyed these books when I was a kid and now my daughter loves them. They are nicer for early teens than Nancy Drew because the kids in the story are in their early teens.