TRIXIE BELDIN FLUNG her spade to the ground with a loud groan .

As of three o'clock, her Sunday was offering about as much excitement and Mystery as a punctured balloon. It was bad enough that she and her friend, Honey Wheeler, where spending the day helping Mrs. Beldin with an endless number of late fall chores in the garden. At least Trixie could simpathize with how frantically busy her mother was. And honey to help, the backbreaking task of working leaves and plant debris into the soil was going as well as could be expected

What was harder for Trixie to tolerate was the weather. It was turning uglier and uglier as they worked, which meant she and Honey would be unable to ride the Wheeler horse later, as they has planned.

''Between my baking yak and those clunder_thouds,'' said Trixie, '' i definitely think it's time we took a break.''

Honey straightened up put her hands on her blue_jeaned hips. '' taking a break's the best idea you've had all day ,'' she said finally. '' But what in heavens name was that other thing you said ?''

I guess I've been talking to Mart and Bobby too much lately ,'' giggled Trixie, running the cleaner of her two hands through her mop of her unruly blond curls.

Mart was one of Trixie's two older brothers, her "almost_twin," who loved to entertain and confound people by using big words, small words or indeed any kind of words he could think of. Bobby was Trixie younger brother ,six years old and always attentive to what the "big kids" told him. Sometimes Bobby was a little too attentive.

"Ever since Mart amused Bobby one afternoon with those things_you know, where you mix up initial sounds of words_spoonerisms, I think they are called... Well ,Bobby's been fracturing them left and right.