Free The Mystery at Maypenny's by Julie Campbell Page A

some of you, they are only facts and figures. To others of you, whose parents may have lost jobs recently, or who may be talking about leaving Sleepyside in order to find better jobs, they are more than facts and figures. They are a threat to your home life. They represent the possibility that you may have to leave the town where you grew up and where your friends are. They may represent a threat to your future, if your parents find that they don’t have the money to help you go to college. Here are some of those statistics.”
    As Brian went on, listing the increased figures in unemployment and welfare, Trixie felt a rush of pride in her older brother. His low, quiet voice made him sound older than seventeen. If he felt any nervousness, it didn’t show in his manner. He stood straight, his hands resting on the podium, his dark brown eyes looking directly at people in the audience.
    “And that,” Brian concluded, “is the story of the need for industrial development in Sleepyside. My partner will tell you how the expansion of International Pine will aid in that development. Thank you.”
    Brian turned, walked back to his table, and sat down. For a moment, Trixie felt upset that nobody was applauding. Then she became aware of the deep silence that had fallen over the auditorium, and she realized that that silence was a greater compliment than applause would have been. Brian had the entire audience deeply interested in this debate. Everyone was waiting to hear more.
    Todd Mauer was the first speaker for the negative team in the debate. Trixie had seen him in the halls, and she had read his name in the school paper. Todd was a member of the regular debate team at Sleepyside Junior-Senior High, and he and his partner had gone all the way to the state tournament the preceding year. For a moment, she found herself rooting against him in her mind. Then she stopped herself. Brian hadn’t decided to take part in this debate because he wanted to win. He just wanted both sides to have a fair say. Brian would be hoping that Todd did a good job—and so should she. She forced herself to relax and sit back in her chair.
    “Thank you, Brian,” Todd said. “The facts and figures you presented were very interesting. What interested me most was a phrase you used very early in your speech. You said that the economic problems in Sleepyside represented a ‘threat.’ Well, as far as my partner and I are concerned, it’s the expansion of International Pine that represents a threat—a threat to our way of life, and a threat to life itself.”
    In spite of herself and her loyalty to Brian, Trixie was impressed. Brian’s speech had been good, but it had all been prepared in advance. It had been exactly the same the night before, when she’d listened to him practice it, as it had been today in the auditorium. But Todd must have come up with that introduction right on the spot, after he’d heard Brian’s speech.
    “Those of you who grew up in Sleepyside, as I did—and as Brian Belden did, I believe—have been very lucky,” Todd continued. “We have been able to fish, to hunt. We have been able to enjoy a picnic on the spur of the moment, without having to drive for miles to someplace with trees and grass. We have been able to enjoy the more relaxed pace of small-town living. Any of you who have ever visited New York, with its pollution, its high rate of violent crime, and its pressures, will appreciate the difference.”
    As Todd went on to talk about the beauty of the wild areas around Sleepyside, Trixie could hear a buzz start in the auditorium. Todd was winning them over to his side, she realized, but it wasn’t with carefully gathered statistics and facts such as Brian had used. It was an appeal to their emotions. This wasn’t the fair airing of both sides that Brian had wanted, she thought angrily. Todd only wanted to make the best showing in the debate.
    She grew angrier and angrier as she listened. When Todd finished, the