The cold water shocked her as she struggled to the surface. Trixie finally broke through and gasped for air. She glanced at the shore and saw Honey was struggling with Amy. She knew she had to get back, but the water was swiftly dragging her downstream.

Trixie tried swimming to shore, but her clothes were soaked and weighing her down. She struggled to make it to the sore before she drowned. As she swam, she thought, I have to get back to Honey before Amy hurts her. I should have never gotten Honey involved in this. I put her and the baby in danger. I need to get back to make sure they are both fine.

Trixie’s left hand touched something hard, a rock. She knew she had reached the shallow part of the river. She just had to pull herself out of the water.

She shakily got out of the water and made her way back up the shore along the river. She had to reach Honey quickly. As she hurried along, she was unaware of herself shaking from the cold. She was determined to protect her best friend and sister-in-law.

I’ve got to get back there before something happens, she thought. If Honey gets hurt and something happens to the baby, I don’t think I could forgive myself.

Trixie stumbled over a tree root and hit the ground hard. She pushed herself to her hands and knees, trying to ignore the cold chill that seemed to have taken hold of her.

“Trixie!”

That must be my imagination, she thought. The dip in the water must have affected my hearing. I need to keep going. I have to get to Honey.

“Trixie! Answer me! Where are you?”

She lifted her head. She knew that voice. “Jim!” her voice was scratchy and quiet. She knew she had only one choice: Bob, bob-white.

She heard the call answered and sat down on the ground as she heard branches breaking. She kept an eye out for Jim. He quickly came through the brush and made his way toward her. His face was as white as the snow in the winter.

Jim wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She felt safe. Jim asked softly, “Are you all right?”

Trixie nodded her head. “Honey?”

“She’s fine.” Jim leaned back and took her face in his hands. “I’m so glad you’re all right.” He gave her a kiss. “You’re cold.”

“Just a little,” Trixie said through chattering teeth.

“We need to get you warm.” Jim slipped off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

In one quick motion, he had his one arm under her legs and the other around her back. She leaned her head against his chest. She just wanted to get warm. She was unaware of very little as he carried her.

“Is she all right?” she heard Honey ask a few minutes later.

“She’s cold.”

Trixie forced her eyes open as Brian touched her face. “We need to get her back to the Academy.”

“Let’s go.” She closed her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, she realized she was in Jim’s office. Honey and Di were helping her get her wet clothes off and into something dry. Once she was changed, they wrapped her in a blanket. A moment later, Brian and Jim came into the room with Mart. Jim moved over to her and handed her a steaming cup as he sat down beside her. She was starting to feel human again.

“How are you feeling now?” Brian asked, kneeling in front of her. He reached up and touched her face with the back of his hand. “Warmer?”

Trixie nodded as she sipped the tea. She wanted to get down to business. “How did you find me?”

“You have Matthew and Rick to thank for that,” Jim said.

“They came flying into the gymnasium,” Mart said. “They were terrified something was going to happen to you.”

Trixie looked at Honey. “Amy didn’t hurt you, did she?”

Honey shook her head. “The guys showed up just in time.”

“Before you ask anymore questions, let us explain,” Jim said.

The guys explained that after the boys told them what happened, they ran out of the Academy, leaving Di there. They ran to the river’s edge and saw Amy backing Honey to the water. Amy heard them approaching and quickly turned around. Amy told them that Trixie had fallen into the river, and she was trying to keep Honey from going in after her.

Honey had then told them that Amy was lying, and what Amy had done. That was when Jim started down the riverbank, searching for Trixie. Mart took hold of Amy and led her back to the school, while Honey and Brian started in the same direction Jim had gone.

“I started searching the water, terrified I had lost you.” Jim squeezed her hand. “But when you answered with the Bob-white whistle, I knew you were going to be all right.”

Trixie leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for coming to find me.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Well, since Trixie looks relatively unscathed from this adventure, I say we get back to the gymnasium and finish what we started,” Mart said.

“Hopefully, the boys haven’t trashed the place yet,” Di said.

Brian looked at Trixie. “I think you should take it easy, Trix. We don’t need you getting sick.”

“All right.”

“Could you send Matthew and Rick here when you get there?” Jim asked.

“No problem,” Brian said.

The four of them left the office. Trixie took another sip of the tea and leaned against Jim. He took another blanket and wrapped it around her.

“Are you warming up, Trix?”

“Yeah.”

“I think you’ll be fine, even though I’m not Dr. Belden.”

“I think you’re right.” Trixie turned and looked into Jim’s eyes. “I really am grateful that you came to my rescue. That means a lot.”

“I couldn’t let anything happen to you.” Jim said, tenderly squeezing her shoulder.

Trixie nestled her head against his shoulder and asked, “Why do you want to see the boys? They helped rescue me.”

“They did help, but they broke one of the rules before that.”

“Which rule?”

“They were skipping class. They need to know they have to follow the rules or there will be consequences.”

“But you will be lenient because of what they did for me, right?”

“I’ll take it into consideration.”

Before they could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. The door opened a little and Matthew stuck his head in. “You wanted to see us, Mr. Jim?”

“I did,” Jim said, getting to his feet. “Come in and close the door.”

Matthew and Rick stepped further into the room and moved toward Jim as he leaned back against his desk. He crossed his arms in front of his chest as he looked at both boys.

“Do you know why you were called here?” Jim asked.

“Because we were out of school when we were supposed to be in class,” Rick stated.

“Why weren’t you in class?”

“We just decided to skip,” Matthew said.

“Do you two remember the rules that were reviewed when you arrived?” The boys nodded but kept quiet. “Then I know you’ll understand about the consequences you’ll have to live with because you broke the rules.”

“Mr. Jim,” Rick began. “Do we get, or could we get, an easier punishment because we helped Miss Trixie and Mrs. Belden?”

“Could we please, Mr. Jim?” Matthew asked. “We promise we’ll never skip class again.”

“Really?” Jim asked.

“We promise,” Matthew and Rick chorused.

Jim stared at them and Trixie knew he was having a hard time. She wondered what he was going to do.

“All right,” Jim finally said, breaking the silence. “While you did help by getting us to the river before anything happened to Trixie and Honey, that doesn’t change the fact that you broke the rules. Since that is the case, you will be punished.”

Matthew and Rick looked down at their feet.

Jim glanced at Trixie for a moment before returning his gaze to the boys. “For your punishment, you will have extra chores added to your daily chores for the next week. Any grumbling, arguments or not getting the work done, more punishment will be added. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Mr. Jim,” they chorused.

“Now, I hope we don’t have to do this again.”

“You won’t,” Matthew said.

“I don’t want to get punished again,” Rick added.

“Good, now go ahead back the gymnasium to finish helping decorate for the party.” The two of them turned and hurried out of the office.

Trixie smiled as Jim looked at her. She said, “You work so well with them.”

“I enjoy working with them, but I really dislike having to punish them.” Jim moved over to the couch and sat beside her.

“But that may be the only way they’ll learn,” Trixie said and tried to stifle a yawn as she leaned against him. She felt her eyelids drooping. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right,” Jim said, brushing the curls back from her face. “You went through a lot today. Go ahead and get some sleep.”

“I should probably go to the station,” Trixie mumbled. She was tired, but wanted to stay awake.

“Brian told the officers you would be down later once you warmed up. We‘ll go in a little while.”

“All right,” Trixie said and finally fell into an exhausted sleep.

*****

The next evening, Trixie stood near the gymnasium door watching the students have a good time. She was manning the table where the drinks were located. The table with the foods was right beside her so that she could easily stop the kids when they started throwing the food at each other.

As she looked around, she could see the happiness on the students’ faces. They were having a good time. She watched the students walk past the pumpkins they had carved and glued cotton to the top to make them look as if they were covered in snow.

As her gaze shifted, she saw Honey and Brian working the apple bobbing game. Honey was dressed as a pumpkin and Brian looked like a farmer. Trixie was happy because they were happy. Trixie looked at Mart and Di as they ran a variety of games for the children. They looked perfect as Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein.

The Academy staff also looked great in their costumes. Most of the students had gone with the traditional ghost and goblin outfits, but a few were a bit more creative. One of the students had on a pair of red boots that squeaked as he walked, and another had dressed as a cat, whose tail make him look like he had three legs.

As she watched the children have fun and move to the “Monster Mash“, she thought about her visit to the police station that morning. Chief Molinson took her statement so it was on file and also put the tapes Trixie had made of the calls with it. He told her that Amy admitted leaving the threatening messages, trying to hit her while she jogged and being at the accident scene and not calling for help. Amy admitted doing all those things because she wanted Jim for herself and felt the only way to accomplish that was to get Trixie out of the picture.

“Hey,” a voice said, getting her attention.

Trixie looked up and saw Jim, dressed as a warlock, making his way toward her. She smiled as he stepped behind the table so he was standing beside her.

“Hey, yourself.”

“Are you all right?” Jim asked. “You had a far off look on your face.”

Trixie gave Jim a small smile. “I’m fine. Just thinking.”

“I know what it is, but don’t think about it. She can’t hurt you anymore.”

Trixie sighed. “I know.”

“Just remember that.”

“I will.” Trixie’s smile got even bigger.

He took a step closer. “Have I told you that you make a beautiful witch?”

“No, you haven’t.”

“Well, you do. You look amazing.”

Trixie felt the color rising in her cheeks because of the compliment. She was wearing a long, black dress with a black cape. She had found a witch’s hat to go with it. She felt comfortable with her choice. “Thanks, Jim.”

“Trix, after the party, stick around. I want to talk to you about something.”

Trixie looked confused, but said, “All right.”

“Good.” Jim looked back out at the partiers. “It looks like all the kids are having a good time.”

“It sure does. It’s a good thing the party is inside too, especially with the storm raging outside.”

“I know. It wouldn’t be safe for them to be out there.”

All of a sudden, the lights in the gymnasium went out and screams could be heard.

“Everyone calm down!” Jim called out. The room grew silent. “There’s a storm raging outside which must have knocked out the power. Now, I want everyone to sit down where you are until we get some lights on in here.”

Voices came out from around the room, agreeing.

“Come on,” Jim said, taking Trixie’s hand. ”I have flashlights set aside in the office.”

“All right,” Trixie said.

She allowed Jim to lead her to his office. He handed her several flashlights. As they made their way back to the gymnasium, Jim said, “We need to gather the kids and move them to one of the classrooms. It’ll be easier to keep track of them that way.”

“Good idea. I’ll make my way around and gather them together if you want to stay by the door.”

When they returned, Trixie made her way around, gathering the children. She could see a flashlight moving in the other direction. Once she was sure she had all of them, she made her way to the doors where two flashlights were set on the floor. She led them down the hall to a classroom.

“Come inside, guys, and have a seat,” Jim said. “This is where you’ll be for a few minutes to make sure everyone is here. Andrew, would you do a roll call to make sure all the boys are here?”

“Got it,” Andrew, the teacher, said.

Trixie stood in the hall with Jim, her brothers, Honey and Di.

“I guess we’ll be staying here tonight,” Mart said wrapping his arm around Di’s shoulder.

“I wonder if the twins are okay,” Di said.

“They are in good hands with Moms,” Mart said. “You shouldn’t worry.”

“Jim,” Andrew said, coming out of the room. “We’ve got a problem.”

“What is it?” Jim asked.

“Matthew and Rick are missing.”

“What?”

“They’re not in here.”

Jim stepped into the room. “Who knows where Matthew and Rick are?”

“They said they were going to their favorite spot in the woods,” a voice said. “They were upset about being punished.”

“Where is it?” Jim asked.

“Near the river,” the voice answered.

“Everyone stays put,” Jim said and stepped back into the hall.

“We should go get them,” Trixie said. “Anything could happen to them with this storm.”

“Count me in,” Brian said.

“Me too,” Mart said. “The more people searching, the better.”

“We better go change,” Jim said.

*****

A half hour later, Trixie had a hold of Jim’s arm as they made their way through the woods. Trixie knew they shouldn’t be out in the storm, but the importance of finding the two students outweighed any concern they had for their own personal safety.

The freezing wind blew against them, trying to pull them apart as they called out for the two boys.

“Where are they?” Jim grumbled.

“We’ll find them and they’ll be all right.”

Suddenly they heard the bob-white call. Two voices were calling. Trixie knew the call wasn’t coming from her brothers or the other adults that had joined the search.

“That’s them,” she said.

“This way,” Jim said leading her through the trees.

Jim whistled and they heard the call returned. They knew they were going in the right direction. The call got louder.

“We’re here!” one of the boys yelled when they were almost on top of them.

They found the boys huddled by some bushes, trying to stay out of the wind. The two of them crouched down beside the boys. Trixie shined the light on them and asked, “Are you two all right?”

“We didn’t know the storm was coming,” Rick said.

“I really want to know what you are doing out here,” Jim began, “But that can wait until we get back to the school. Are you two hurt?”

Before they could say anything, a loud cracking sound could be heard.

Trixie looked up just in time to see a branch falling toward them. She grabbed the boys by the arm and pulled them toward Jim sending all of them sprawling. Jim landed on his back with the two boys on his chest. Before she could scramble out of the way, the branch fell on top of her pinning her to the ground.

“Ohhh,” Trixie groaned, feeling the weight on her chest.

“Trixie!” Jim yelled.

She felt him touch her cheek. She opened her eyes and looked at him. In the glow from the flashlight, she could see his pale face.

“Hang on, Trix. We’ll get this branch off of you in a second.”

She watched Jim and the boys try to lift the branch off her. She saw them struggling and realized they wouldn’t have any luck.

“Jim,” Trixie said, getting his attention.

“What is it?”

She took his hand in hers. “Jim, you need to get them back to the school. They have to be your first priority. You also need to get help.”

“Your hands are ice cold,” Jim said. He slipped out of his jacket and covered the upper part of her body with it.

“Jim, listen to me.”

“I’m not leaving you here,” Jim said harshly.

“Jim, you’ll need help getting this off me. Get them back to the school where they will be safe.”

“There has to be a way to get this off you,” Jim said, brushing the wet curls away from her face.

Before she could say anything else, she heard voices yelling in the distance. Jim used the bob-white whistle, keeping his eyes on her.

Trixie closed her eyes as the wind picked up. She was cold and wanted to be warm.

“Over here!” Jim yelled.

“We see you!” Brian yelled.

“What happened?” Mart asked when they finally reached the group.

“The branch fell,” Jim said, squeezing her hand. “We need to get it off her.”

Trixie opened her eyes as Brian kneeled down beside her. She watched him reach for her neck and look at his watch.

“She’s going into shock,” Brian said. “We need to get her out of here.”

“Let’s move the branch.”

Trixie closed her eyes again. She wanted to sleep. She could feel them lifting the branch. Once they had it off her, the pain seemed to increase. She clenched her teeth trying not to cry out due to the intense pain she felt.

“We can’t move her,” Brian said. “He spine may be injured. We’ll go back and call for help.” Brian slipped off his coat. Mart did the same. “We’ll be back soon.”

“Fine.” Jim covered Trixie with the coats. “Matthew, Rick, return to the school with them.”

“Yes, Mr. Jim,” they said.

“We’ll be back,” Brian said.

“We’ll be here,” Jim said.

Trixie watched the lights fade away, leaving them alone. Jim took her right hand in his as he used his left hand to brush the rainwater off her face.

“Just hang on,” Jim said. “They’ll be back with help soon.”

Trixie took a breath. It hurt. She had a feeling her injuries were severe. She wasn’t sure how much longer she was going to stay conscious, but knew she had to say what was on her mind before she passed out.

“Jim,” she said softly.

“Don’t talk. Save your strength.”

Trixie shook her head. “Jim, I want to thank you for all you’ve done.”

“Trixie.”

“Please, Jim.” She took another breath. The tightness was getting worse in her chest. “I’m sorry for the way I left five years ago. I wasn’t running away from you. I was just trying to find myself. You are my best friend. I‘m so lucky to know you.”

“I’m the lucky one.” Jim touched her cheek. She could hear the emotion in his voice. “And you know it.”

Trixie closed her eyes. She was tired. She wanted to keep talking, but the strength was gone.

“I love you, Trixie Belden,” was the last thing she heard before she blacked out.

Continue to Epilogue