The Hudson River Mystery

even more comical.
    ”I’ve got to go, Loyola,” Trixie said hastily.
    ”Happy Halloween, or rather, happy studying!” After hanging up the phone, Trixie faced Honey and said gaily, ”Shall we depart, Boney Treeler?”
    ”I—I beg your pardon?”
    ”It’s a spoonerism,” Trixie said proudly, then added, ”sort of. We’re so mixed-up now—I mean, our clothes are so mixed-up now—that our names might as well be, too. Let’s see, that makes me, um... Whixie Helden!”
    ”Yes, let’s depart,” said Honey, dragging Trixie down the stairs, ”before you get any cleverer. Cleverer? More clever? Come on!”
    ”Shouldn’t we wait for Jim?”
    ”He left ages ago. Here, grab this hamper, will you?”
    Dusk was falling as the two girls left Manor House. The full moon cast eerie shadows over the familiar Wheeler estate.
    ”We need flashlights,” Trixie decided. ”There’re a couple of good ones in our tool shed,” said Honey. She disappeared and returned seconds later with the lights.
    As they made their way down the path to the clubhouse, Trixie filled Honey in on her two phone calls. She had to pause every few minutes to maintain her balancing act of holding up Honey’s skirt so she wouldn’t trip, aiming the flashlight accurately, and grasping the picnic hamper without spilling its contents.
    ”We’ll never get there at this rate,” complained Honey.
    ”I’m doing the best I can, Honey. Anyway, I’m getting more and more suspicious about Thea. I think she’s up to something down there by the river.”
    ”You haven’t any evidence for saying that!”
    ”You sound like the sergeant. And I do, too, have evidence. Well, let’s put it this way: I have a hunch, and as you very well know, sometimes my hunches—”
    ”Can we talk about this later?” Honey pleaded. ”I can’t really concentrate on—” A sharp intake of breath put an abrupt end to her sentence.
    ”Jeepers, what’s the matter?” asked Trixie. ”Did you see a field mouse? Or—or a rattlesnake?”
    Mutely Honey pointed straight ahead with her flashlight. Trixie followed the light with her eyes and gasped.
    In the vaguely lit clearing up the path were two dark shapes. The smaller shape was nowhere near as attention-attracting as the larger one. Completely unable to believe her eyes, Trixie focused her flashlight on it.
    It was several feet long, black, and shaped like a torpedo. Rising from its middle was the silhouette of a triangular fin! Trixie took a step backward, and then several more steps, when she saw that the shape—both shapes—were moving!

Halloween Terror ● 15

    A FAMILIAR VOICE rattled Trixie’s nerves.
    ”Hustle your bustle, Di,” it was saying. ”Only an auspicious arrival will impress Trixie and Honey.”
    ”Mart Belden!” Trixie roared.
    The ”shark” figure turned awkwardly toward Trixie, revealing a pair of human legs descending from its middle. ”Well, Di, I guess we can consider ourselves arrived,” came Mart’s muffled voice.
    Weak with relief, Trixie and Honey stepped closer to the two bizarre figures.
    The second, strangely feathered figure spoke plaintively. ”Well, let’s get into the clubhouse, then. I’m about to suffocate. You and your bright ideas, Mart!”
    ”Am I to assume,” asked Trixie, escorting her brother to the clubhouse, several yards down the path, ”that this dirty trick is your idea of a Halloween costume?”
    ”Pretty clever, isn’t it?” Mart asked smugly. ”We weren’t tryfhg to scare you, honest. Just having a little fun, unfortunately at your expense, sis.”
    ”More crude than clever” was Trixie’s judgment when the group entered the lighted clubhouse.
    Jim, Dan, and Brian, already getting things set up, guffawed appreciatively at the spectacle of Mart encased in black papier-mâché.
    ”Boy, when you decide to wear a costume, you really go all out,” said Dan.
    ”You aren’t kidding,” Mart said, lifting the contraption up and setting it on a chair. He smoothed down his hair and shirt. ”I asked Mary Brendan, a friend of mine who’s taking a stagecraft class, to help me design something suitably sharkish. I’ve been spending all my spare time in my room, fashioning the wire and wet newspapers. I had to be very careful with the glue and the paint, so Moms wouldn’t kill me. I even did intensive research at the library, to make this creature as accurate as possible.”
    ”So that was you who had that stack of books out on the library