The Hudson River Mystery

trouble.” She rose from her chair to start clearing the dishes. ”In the meantime—”
    ”Oh, let me get the dishes,” Mart interrupted. ”It’s my turn, although you’d think people who tell fish stories at the dinner table would help.”
    ”Seeing as how you ate more than anyone else,” his mother said wryly, ”it seems appropriate that it’s your turn. Anyway, as I was saying, Loyola, would you like to stay in our spare room tonight and take the bus into town with the kids tomorrow? I just hate to think of you traveling in this storm tonight.”
    Loyola hesitated, looking at Brian.
    ”I was going to give Loyola a ride home,” said Brian, ”but to be honest, I’m really bushed. I was thinking of heading for bed right after dinner. We’ve got a big chemistry test tomorrow, and I’d like to get in a little studying first thing in the morning.”
    ”I’ve already studied,” Loyola said, a touch smugly. To Mrs. Belden she said, ”That’s very kind of you to offer. After I help with the dishes, may I use your phone again?”
    Mrs. Belden hurried off to prepare the spare room, while Loyola, Mart, and Mr. Belden cleaned up the kitchen. Dan and Honey decided to risk going home in the storm—Dan because Brian had reminded him about the chemistry test, and Honey because her parents were expecting her. Brian said good night and went up to his room, and Bobby pestered Mart with more of his jumbled spoonerisms.
    Trixie sat near the fireplace in the living room, trying to sort out her thoughts. She still felt edgy and unsettled, frustrated that everyone was unwilling to take her word about the shark. At the same time, she was excited about meeting a children’s book author. I’ve lived near the Hudson all my life, Trixie reasoned. Maybe I can actually help Thea Van Loon with her book....
    Trixie was deep into dreams about coauthoring books by the time her father came in to build up the fire. Mrs. Belden brought in a huge bowl of popcorn, and Mart broke into a rousing sea chantey that jolted Trixie out of her reveries. Taking a cue from Mart, the Beldens began trading Washington Irving tales and old ballads having to do with the river. Loyola retold the legend of the Storm Ship, the mysterious vision people reported seeing just after storms. It became easier to ignore the storm raging outside while concentrating on the song and laughter inside.
    ”I’ve got a good one for you,” said Mart. ”Bobby, I bet they don’t teach this one in school anymore:

”West Point and Middletown
Konnosook and Doodletown
Kakiak and Mamapaw
Stony Point and Haverstraw.

    That was a rhyme people used to teach place names along the river.”
    Bobby yawned.
    ”Maybe this one will impress him,” said Loyola, laughing. ”This is an old lumberjack song my grandfather used to sing to me:

”Transported I am
From the haunts of man
On the banks of the Hudson Stream,
Where the wolves and owls
With their terrible howls
Disturb our nightly dream.”

    Loyola’s strong voice dropped to a ghostly quaver on the last phrase.
    ”Spooky,” Bobby admitted.
    Trixie agreed with a shiver. The wolves and the owls... and the sharks , she added to herself.

Brian in Trouble ● 3

    THAT’S JUST REPULSIVE!” Di Lynch’s violet eyes widened in dismay. ”Why, I’ve been swimming in that river. And just last month, I took the twins swimming at the Croton Point beach, and I can’t bear the thought that there might have been sharks in that water!” Di had two sets of twins in her family, and she adored baby-sitting for them. ”I just can’t believe it.”
    ”It sounds too weird to be true, Trixie,” agreed Jim Frayne. He leaned against a locker and frowned down at her.
    Trixie avoided his eyes and reached for a notebook inside her locker. She should have known better than to bring up this subject again! She had deliberately kept quiet on the bus ride to school that morning, not wanting to provoke any more sarcastic remarks from her brothers. Patiently she had listened while Di had rattled on about the inch of water that had crept into the Lynch basement, and Jim had told about the hard time Regan had had keeping the horses calm during the storm. Biding her time until the group was inside the school building, she had cornered Di and Jim, the last two Bob-Whites who hadn’t yet heard of her discovery. Once again, her friends’ reactions gave her very little satisfaction.
    The notebook Trixie had grabbed dislodged a torrent of