This page is dedicated to Andrea, an author with an uncommon talent. She has penned a series of children's adventure stories in the style of Nancy Drew or The Famous Five, all revolving around a similar theme. In those stories, that theme was usually about the child, or children, confronting adversity and triumphing in the end... and so it is with The Petticoat Detective Squad.

Alas, these are all there are in the series, and there can be no more. Andrea was taken from among us. We will miss her great talent and her gentle spirit as exhibited in these elegant tales of naiveté and wonder.

These stories are posted with permission. All stories  © 1998 - 1999 Daphne, all rights reserved. Please contact [email protected] if you would like to know more about Andrea, or the Petticoat Detective Squad. These stories are presented just as they first appeared on "Daphne's Secret Garden." I have not changed anything except some minor HTML coding in order to get each story onto a single page.

These stories are written to depict a young boy's first innocent encounters with cross-dressing and his subsequent feelings. If the reader is seeking descriptions of explicit or adult sex then they will be disappointed because this sort of thing is not included here.

Return with me to the age of innocence and as a child, thrill in the mystery and adventure, as Andrea's stories come to life on these pages.

The Mystery of the Girl in the Garden

This tale concerns a young boy spending a holiday with his older girl cousin and favorite aunt. The children become obsessed with the mystery of the figure of a lonely girl who regularly appears in the garden of a nearby manor house. When our hero's cousin and a small group of school friends are invited to spend a couple of days staying at the manor to work on a school project, she is presented with the perfect opportunity to solve the mystery. To make her plan work, however, she must enlist her cousin's help and get him included in the party. The only problem is that the party must consist of girls only...

"No, sorry, can't." It was just getting harder and harder for Tom to take 'NO' for an answer.

"Oh, come on, then Sandy, why not?" came the plaintive reply.

The Trouble With Kacey

The trouble was that Kacey was innocent — and the girls refused to believe him! Even Carly didn’t believe him — and she was his sister! Carly and Kacey’s mutual friends, Sarah and Maren, were furious. Never mind that Ned and Tom, their other so-called friends, were the true culprits. The girls believed that Kacey was to blame!

Ned and Tom always had been mischievous, especially Ned. They enjoyed playing obnoxious but harmless jokes on people. Normally, they did such things as putting food dye or salt in someone’s drink or loosening the top of a salt shaker so all the salt would dump onto the plate of the poor sap who picked it up. This time, however they had gone too far — and Kacey was on the hook for it!

Without a trace part 3: some answers,

Part 3 of without a trace

Jonathon slowly walked down the stairs to the kitchen where his mom was sat at the table just pouring a cup of coffee. JR slowly walked in and sat facing her; she did not look up for a few minutes as she slowly stirred in some sweetener. Without a word she pushed the pot forwards and JR poured himself a cup and slowly turned the cup in his hands.

“Well JR, do you want to explain?” Mom asked.

I have sometimes found myself wondering if vampires have problems with the hems of their cloaks fraying, as they glide along with the fancy, satin, floor-length item trailing behind. It seems to me that some type of ball-bearing system, offering both weight, to assist in the dramatic drape of the cloak, and protection, from the ground upon which they are dragged, may be a good idea (ignoring the noise that would make the whole appearing from nowhere more difficult). So it was not surprising that last night this thought crystallized into a Far Side like vision of some salesmen, knocking on the door of a vampire’s castle, with the caption, ‘Rex Simpson, door-to-door salesman of the Heminator-5000.’ And though this story has nothing to do with that vision, it did lead my mind to wander in this direction, rather than letting me go to sleep.

To be or not to be (a female). Harold finds his role as an effeminate boy in a fraternity house has changed him and the crude brothers of the House in critical ways, and he is at a crossroads. He makes the decision after a jarring incident.

Born Twice
By Alyssa Plant

'Tonight felt weird. She couldn’t put a finger on it. It wasn’t the weather, anything that had happened; she just felt nervous.

Sighing, she realised it was just her stupid fear of being seen as a boy cropping up once more. Stupid irrational, senseless, fear... She kicked herself mentally.'

Harold is a slight and effeminate boy who finds both friends and tormenters as he begins his freshman year in college in one of the rowdiest of frat houses. Sometimes he is a lovely girl named Heidi and his beauty is stunning and convincing. Yet, he finds joy as well by being a boy named Harold. He struggles to find the best direction for his future.

Oscar Night by Jennifer Brock

A flippant remark by a mild screenwriter to an obnoxious TV reporter snowballs into more than he had bargained for, at one of the most glamorous of events! (There's no actual TG stuff in this first part, but there will be. I promise.)

      Gentles all:   The following story contains reference to a form of Japanese street fashion, the adherents to which refer to as Elegant Gothic Lolita. Note, that the term “Lolita” refers to this style of clothing. This, with Gabi's kind help, is a revised and illustrated version of the story that originally appeared on Crystal’s Storysite.

Hansel and Gretel: A Fairytale. Act 1. By Sarah Lynn Morgan

Does this Doctor character really have a clue? Or is he making it up as he goes along????