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The Hudson River Mystery

The Hudson River Mystery

Titel: The Hudson River Mystery
Autoren: Julie Campbell
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clatter. ”Gleeps, that’s why I’m jumpy,” she stated excitedly. ”I haven’t told the rest of you.”
    ”You have an announcement?” inquired Mart. ”Let me guess—you’re changing your career ambition! You want to be a meteorologist when you grow up—should that fortunate day ever arrive. Or perhaps an ornithologist? A laryngologist? An anesthesiologist?”
    Trixie stifled a rude retort. ”Yes, I have an announcement, but it’s nothing like that. I simply saw a shark in the Hudson River today.”
    A variety of facial expressions greeted this speech.
    As usual, Mart was the first to verbalize his reaction. ”You should have told me you were short of cash,” he said. ”I would have—”
    ”What are you talking about?” Trixie demanded.
    ”You said shark,” answered Mart. ”I assume you meant a loan shark of some sort. You know, someone who lends money to others at ridiculously high interest rates. Or, since you say you saw him in the Hudson, perhaps I should change that to someone who used to lend money at high interest rates.”
    ”A shark!” Trixie cried impatiently. ”A fish-type shark!”
    ”So, you’re going to be an ichthyologist!” Mart crowed gleefully.
    ”A what?” his father asked, one dark eyebrow raised.
    ”Ichthyology,” Mart said airily. ”A branch of zoology that deals with fish.”
    Peter Belden shook his head. ”I don’t know about that. I don’t know about sharks in the Hudson, either. Care to tell us about it, Trix?”
    Trixie described what she had seen.
    Her father shook his head again. ”Can’t say as I’ve ever heard of a shark in this area.”
    ”We don’t know there is one now,” Brian told him. ”None of the rest of us saw it.”
    ”Maybe it was just a wave,” Mr. Belden said.
    ”That’s what I thought,” said Honey.
    ”It wasn’t,” Trixie said tersely.
    ”Or a bit of debris,” said Mrs. Belden.
    ”Heaven knows the river could be a lot cleaner,” Dan agreed.
    ”It wasn’t that, either,” said Trixie. Suddenly she felt something cold on her ankle. It was Reddy, hopefully nosing about for scraps.
    Mart chortled. ”Instead of fantasizing about jaws, perhaps you should concentrate on paws,” he said, handing Reddy a bite of chicken.
    ”Or gnaws,” said Brian, biting toothily into a chicken wing.
    ”That’s so funny I forgot to laugh,” Trixie grumbled. Jokes were unsurprising coming from
    Mart, but somehow she had been expecting more serious consideration from the rest of her family and friends.
    Loyola had been watching Trixie intently. She waited until nearly everyone was through eating before she spoke, quietly and thoughtfully. ”That was a delicious meal, Mr. and Mrs. Belden. You know, Trixie, you might want to talk to a friend of mine, Thea Van Loon. She’s a children’s book writer who happens to know a great deal about the Hudson.”
    ”Really?” asked Trixie, leaning forward.
    In fact, Loyola went on, ”that’s why she’s in Sleepyside this month. She lives in New York City, but she’s here researching for a children’s book she’s working on called The Wild and Wonderful Hudson. ”
    ”She sounds fascinating,” commented Mrs. Belden.
    ”I don’t really know her that well,” Loyola said. ”The public library once sponsored a lecture on common fish in the Hudson, and that’s where I met her. Thea almost knew more than the lecturer, and she asked him several embarrassing questions. She spends quite a bit of time by the river. I’m pretty sure I saw her down there this afternoon. She may be able to tell you what it was you saw.”
    Trixie was getting that familiar tingling feeling that told her she was on the trail of a mystery. Don’t be silly , she scolded herself. A shark isn’t exactly a mystery. Either I saw it or I didn’t.
    Aloud she asked, ”Is Thea staying with you, Loyola?”
    ”No, she’s staying with friends who live a few blocks from school.”
    ”Trixie, I’m not doing anything after school tomorrow,” Honey said. ”Do you want to stop off and visit Thea?”
    Trixie threw Honey a grateful look. Even when Honey wasn’t solidly behind Trixie’s notions, she usually could find some way to demonstrate her loyalty.
    ”Moms, I promise I’ll single-handedly can a thousand tomatoes this week...” Trixie began.
    ”If you can just have tomorrow off,” her mother finished for her. ”All right for now, Trixie. But why don’t you call me during your lunch hour, in case I run into
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