The Hudson River Mystery Page 4

  ”It is?” asked Honey, shaking her head in stunned disbelief.

  Trixie eyed Thea’s worn sneakers and said, ”Jeepers, it’s a shame that people responsible for encouraging kids to read aren’t millionaires.”

  ”I couldn’t agree more!” laughed Thea. ”But, of course, if I were interested in making a million, I wouldn’t be writing children’s books, would I? No, you’ve put your finger on the real reason for doing what I do, Trixie—to introduce the pleasures of reading into every child’s life.”

  ”What a beautiful idea,” Honey said softly. ”It’s a noble ambition,” agreed Thea, getting off the couch to pace about the room. ”And the children are the best of all possible people. As a writer named Isaac Bashevis Singer once said, children still believe in things like ’angels, devils, witches, goblins, logic, clarity, punctuation, and other such obsolete stuff.’ That’s what makes them such a joy to write for, because those are the same things I believe in.” Thea looked down at the girls and gave another dry laugh. ”I guess I should get off my high horse now, eh?”

  ”No, that was really moving, Thea,” said Honey.

  ”Tell us about your new book,” Trixie begged. ”The one called The Wild and Wonderful Hudson. It sounds so exciting—”

  ”Why don’t you tell me about it?” countered Thea briskly. ”Sounds like you know more than I do.”

  ”Well, no, I—that is, Loyola Kevins—”

  ”Ah, Loyola,” Thea said. ”How do you know her?”

  ”Through Brian,” said Trixie, sensing that Thea preferred not to talk about her latest project. ”You see, I saw something on Sunday that I’d never seen before. Loyola told me you might be able to tell me what it was.”

  ”I doubt it,” Thea said. ”What are you referring to?”

  ”A shark. I saw one in the river just before the storm.”

  ”You’re kidding!” Thea exclaimed, sinking slowly back down on the couch. She was silent a moment, then said, ”A shark hasn’t been seen in these waters for, oh, at least a year.”

  ”See, I knew Loyola was right—you are an expert on the Hudson,” Trixie crowed.

  Honey leaned forward anxiously. ”You mean, there are sharks in this area?”

  Thea looked from Trixie to Honey and back again. ”At one time, this river was loaded with sharks,” she began.

  ”Yipes!” squealed Trixie. This piece of news was more than she had hoped for.

  Thea looked as though she wanted to go on, but something made her change her mind. ”So it’s entirely possible that you did see one,” she concluded abruptly. ”However, if I were you, I wouldn’t worry about it or mention it to anyone else just yet. There’s no sense in causing a general panic. Let me do a little investigating on my own first.”

  ”Loyola said you spend a lot of time researching along the river,” recalled Trixie. ”Would you mind if Honey and I—” She paused, not sure of the polite way of inviting themselves along on Thea’s expeditions.

  The doorbell rang, and Thea leaped up to answer the door. She came back into the room with Brian, who motioned to the girls to get up.

  ”I think we’ve bothered Thea enough,” he said.

  ”No bother at all,” Thea said pleasantly. ”Thanks for the repair job.”

  Trixie hesitated. ”Brian, could we stay a few more minutes? We were just talking about—”

  ”Come on, Trixie. I told Moms we’d be home by now,” Brian said irritably.

  Reluctantly Trixie and Honey said good-bye to Thea and followed Brian out to the car. Next time, I’m going to visit Thea without Brian, Trixie promised herself.

  Honey, sandwiched between the two Beldens, wore a troubled expression on the way home. She glanced over at Brian from time to time and finally spoke up. ”Is there anything wrong, Brian?” she asked. ”Trixie told me about your accident, and I know it must have been upsetting. But you seem, well, really depressed about something. Can we help?”

  ”I’m sorry for being such a grouch back at Thea’s,” he said. ”I’m just short-tempered today. That’s all.”

  ”Are you sure?” Honey persisted. ”I’ve never seen you like this before. You’re always on such an even keel.”

  ”Maybe it would help to talk about whatever’s bothering you,” said Trixie.

  ”I guess I can’t hide anything from the two schoolgirl shamuses, can I?” Brian asked dryly. ”Nope,” chorused the girls.

  ”I just—well, frankly, I found out today that I didn’t do as well on that chemistry test yesterday as I had hoped.” The headlights from an oncoming car flashed over Brian’s face, pale and drawn.

  ”Is that all?” asked Trixie. ”Jeepers, Brian, you can’t get a perfect grade all the time! If I got that upset every time I flubbed up on a test, I’d spend my entire life moping around.”

  ”It—it’s not just that,” Brian said, taking one hand off the steering wheel to rub his eyes. ”I haven’t been feeling up to par lately.”

  ”What do you mean?” Honey asked anxiously.

  ”Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing.”

  ”Please tell us,” said Trixie.

  ”Well, I just feel weak a lot of the time, kind of sluggish. Sometimes I feel sick to my stomach, and sometimes I feel like someone is squeezing my chest.”

  Trixie was aghast. ”But, Brian, that sounds really serious! Why haven’t you mentioned this before?”

  Brian shrugged. ”Didn’t seem worth mentioning. You can’t go around complaining about every little ache and pain, and I don’t want to worry anyone. The fact is, I’m having trouble deciding whether I’m really sick or if it’s just nerves.”

  ”What have you got to be nervous about?” Trixie asked.

  ”Well, that chemistry test, for starters. I’ve told you before what kind of cutthroat competition there is in the sciences. I can’t afford to get a lousy grade in anything, much less in one of my most important courses.”

  ”What else?” prompted Honey.

  ”Then there’s the ecology project that Loyola and I are working on. She’s doing an incredible amount of work for it, and I have the feeling that I’m not pulling my weight.”

  ”Oh, Brian—” Trixie started to disagree.

  He shook his head. ”There’s so much at stake on that project,” he went on, his voice cracking slightly. ”If the Conservation Committee decides our results merit it, they’re going to give the school the money to start a lab right on the river—a floating laboratory with an underwater television camera. This could open up all kinds of possibilities for kids at school, not to mention the benefits it could bring toward ultimately cleaning up the Hudson.”

  ”So, you’re feeling a lot of pressure right now,” Honey said softly.

  ”I sure am. And the very thing I don’t need these days is the kind of thing that happened last night—that stupid accident. I just can’t figure out where my mind was last night. It must have disintegrated!”

  He swung the car onto the lane leading to Honey’s’ house. ”Fortunately,” he went on, ”Moms and Dad are being great about it, what with just letting me off with a warning to be more careful from now on. But I still feel guilty, like I’ve let someone down.”

  ”Yourself?” Honey suggested.

  ”I guess so,” he replied. ”I just feel sort of hopeless about everything.” He parked the jalopy near the Manor House veranda and stared straight ahead.

  Trixie made no move to let Honey get out. ”Brian, you’ve got so many things going on right now that you can’t afford to get sick,” she said practically. ”Don’t you think you’d better see a doctor?”

  Brian laughed mirthlessly. ”That’s the worst part of this whole business—the doctor thing.”

  ”What are you talking about?” asked Trixie, suddenly alarmed.

  ”I’ve gotten very confused about that,” he said. ”I—I just can’t seem to remember what I ever saw in becoming a doctor.” He sounded genuinely puzzled.

  ”What?” Trixie and Honey turned toward each oth
er, their faces frozen with shock.

  Brian’s Surprise Party • 5

  HOURS LATER, Trixie was having a painful time trying to fall asleep. Instead of sheep, it seemed more appropriate for her to be counting her problems in order to allow herself to sink into a peaceful numbness.

  Her most pressing concern, of course, was Brian. Every time she thought of his absolute refusal to discuss his career doubts any further, she punched her pillow in vexation. And then his making her and Honey promise not to mention it to their parents or discuss it with the other Bob-Whites.... ”I’m a big boy, Trixie,’’ he had warned. ”When I need someone to manage my life for me, I’ll let you know.”

  It wasn’t as though Trixie didn’t know what he was talking about. I admit, I’ve been known to meddle, she thought to herself. But Brian’s my brother, and I love him, and I hate to see him torturing himself, and there must be something I can do to stop it....

  Trixie sat up and pummeled her pillow into a new shape. She remembered that the following day was Brian’s birthday. Somehow that made his situation seem all the more pathetic. By the end of the day tomorrow, she vowed to herself, I’m going to think of some way to make Brian believe in himself again, or else I’m going to turn the problem over to Moms and Dad. That will be part of my birthday present to him. I know he’ll thank me someday....

  Mingled in with thoughts about Brian were reflections on meeting Thea Van Loon. Her mind kept going back’ to Thea so often that Trixie finally put Brian aside mentally for a moment. That was when it occurred to her that there was something odd about Thea, something that didn’t quite fit. What was it?

  ”Of course! It’s her car!” Trixie exclaimed softly to herself.

  Brian had mentioned at the dinner table that night that he was sure Thea’s car had cost quite a bit of money. Trixie had caught a glimpse of it that afternoon and agreed that it was certainly a beautiful little car.

  But Thea told us-.—she said she didn’t make very much money. That car is brand-new. How could she afford it?

  Trixie flipped onto her stomach and buried her head under the pillow with a heavy sigh. Perhaps there was a simple answer to the question about Thea’s car, she reasoned. But one problem for which she was sure no simple answers existed was the shark. Thea had asked them to let her do some checking first. In the meantime, however, surely there was something Trixie could do. I wonder....

  Her mind beset by one riddle too many, Trixie fell into a deep, troubled sleep.

  When the alarm jangled her awake the following morning, Trixie was no closer to answers about Thea or the shark. But somehow, in her sleep, she had reached the decision to shove those concerns to the back of her mind and concentrate on helping her brother.

  Riding on the school bus, she was still pondering just what course of action she should take next, when a shout rang in her ear: ”I said,

  ’Good morning!’ Are you still asleep?”

  ”Huh? Oh, hi, Di,” Trixie mumbled.

  Di playfully jabbed Trixie with her elbow. ”What’s with you Beldens this morning? First I wish Brian a happy birthday, and all he does is stare back at me. Then I have to tell you good morning three times, just to get your attention!”

  ”There’s nothing wrong with us,” Trixie snapped. ”It’s a bit early in the morning for long-winded conversation.” She glanced anxiously at Brian, sitting several seats ahead of her and Di.

  ”I was just joking,” Di said plaintively.

  ”Gleeps, I’m sorry, Di. I didn’t mean to bite your head off. It’s just kind of early, you know?”

  Di nodded, then leaned closer to Trixie, her blue-black hair falling against her face. ”Have you noticed Brian acting a little, well, uh, funny lately?”

  Trixie’s heart sank. Don’t tell me even Di has picked up on Brian’s strange behavior, she thought. Oh, well, Brian told Honey and me to keep his secret from the other Bob-Whites for now, but he didn’t say the other Bob-Whites couldn’t talk to us.

  ”What do you mean?” she asked Di.

  ”Just that I’ve always thought of Brian as super smart, even smarter than Mart. That is, Mart is really clever, and smart, too. But Brian’s smartness is so great that it makes up for the fact that he’s not as clever with words as Mart, if you know what—”

  ”Get to the point,” Trixie begged.

  ”I am, I am. The point is, lately Brian seems kind of, well, uh—like he’s not interested in anything. Yesterday, even though I was wearing a new dress, he hardly noticed me, and today he seemed to be looking right through me. I don’t know—maybe I’m wrong, but do you think he could be studying too hard? Why, I hardly see him outside of school anymore, now that he’s always down at the river working on that old chemistry project. I’ll bet Loyola Kevins has been seeing more of him these days than all the Bob-Whites combined—”

  The bus jerked to a stop.

  ”It’s been great chatting with you,” Trixie said quickly as she grabbed her books. ”I’ll see you at lunch!”

  Trixie hoped that she hadn’t hurt Di’s feelings, but Di’s ramblings had given her an idea and she knew she had to hurry if she wanted to follow up on it.

  Trixie tore into the school building ahead of the others on her bus and headed straight for her locker. Sure enough, Loyola had just picked up

  her books and was walking down the corridor toward her homeroom. She turned around as she heard her name echoing through the hall.

  ”Hi,” Trixie said breathlessly, searching for the most direct way of broaching her subject. She suddenly felt that she didn’t really know Loyola all that well. ”Uh, how did you do on Monday’s chemistry test?”

  The black girl broke into a smile. ”I received the highest grade in the class. Why?”

  ”Er, congratulations. I was just wondering— you know, Brian was disappointed in his grade.”

  ”I know,” Loyola said politely.

  ”Well, he’s kind of worried about it, and—”

  ”I don’t blame him. A few more test scores like that, and his chances of getting into a top college could be shot. But if you’re asking me to tutor him, I’m afraid my schedule is too full right now. Maybe—”

  ”No, nothing like that,” said Trixie. ”I’m sure Brian doesn’t need private coaching. It’s just that there seems to be something bothering him, and I thought you might have a clue.”

  Loyola shook her head.

  ”Nothing?” Somehow Trixie had been expecting Loyola to give her all the answers, or at least some educated guesses.

  ”He seems fine to me. Of course, I don’t know him as well as you do....”

  The warning bell rang. Trixie was almost glad of the excuse to back down the hall toward her locker.

  ”Well, thanks, anyway,” she said brightly. ”And good luck on your next test!”

  All during her morning classes, Trixie’s thoughts kept returning to Brian. She managed to pay just enough attention in class to avoid making a fool of herself, although her history teacher gave her a knowing look when she handed back the results of Monday’s surprise quiz.

  ”Oh, Trixie,” the teacher sighed. ”If only you’d put your mind to it, you’d be one of my top students.”

  For a full second, Trixie felt guilty, but immediately her mind went back to Brian. My teachers sure know me well, she thought ruefully. I wonder... if maybe Brian’s teachers have him figured out, too. Hmmm, he didn’t say I couldn’t talk to his teachers. His chemistry teacher might be a good one to start with....

  The minute Trixie finished her peanut butter sandwich at lunch, she excused herself from the Bob-White table and went to find Mrs. Cowles. She located the young, white-coated teacher in the lab, preparing for her next class.

  Trixie knocked on the door and rushed inside.

  ”Hi, I’m Trixie Belden, Brian Belden’s brother, and—”

  ”Oh, really?”

  ”I mean, his sister! I can’t seem to talk right today! Anyway, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Brian se
ems to be having problems lately. Well, you must have noticed, since failing chemistry class is one of his most major problems!” Trixie stopped to catch her breath. ”Anyway, what’s even worse than that is how he’s forgetting about becoming a doctor, and my brother has always been positive about becoming a doctor!”

  Mrs. Cowles stared at her for a moment, then spoke kindly but firmly. ”I’m afraid I have a policy against discussing students with other students, Miss Belden. However, since you’re Brian’s bro—sister, I will go so far as to recommend that he talk to the school’s guidance counselor. I’d be glad to talk to him, myself. Doubts about careers, especially one that demands as much hard work as medicine, are common at this age. It sounds as though he’d find it reassuring to talk to a counselor.”

  ”I hadn’t thought of that,” Trixie said gratefully.

  ”Oh, and don’t worry about Brian failing chemistry. Despite what he did on the test the other day, he’s still close to being the best student

  I have. I’m sure he’ll sail through the rest of the semester with flying colors.”

  ”Gleeps, I hope so. It was really nice of you to talk to me,” said Trixie, turning to hurry to her next class.

  ”One more thing,” Mrs. Cowles called after her. ”I look forward to having you in one of my classes a few years from now, Miss Belden.”

  ”Twenty years from now, at the rate I’m going,” Trixie said, a grin lighting her freckled face. ”Thanks again!”

  Trixie couldn’t wait to tell Brian of his teacher’s suggestion and encouragement, but it wasn’t until the bus ride home that afternoon that she had the chance. She swung into the seat next to him and spoke in low tones. She hadn’t got more than a few sentences into her story before he twisted toward her, his handsome face a sickly white.

  ”Trixie, I told you to leave me alone, and I meant it! Can’t you see all the trouble you’re causing me?”

  ”No,” Trixie answered honestly.

  ”I know you’re just trying to help,” he went on, ”but you’re only making me feel more conspicuous. Look, Moms is making a special birthday dinner for me tonight, so I’ll be getting enough attention as it is. I still feel like I’m in the doghouse over that accident, and I don’t want to cause any more stress to Moms and Dad right now. Let’s just have a nice, peaceful evening, okay?”