Free The Hudson River Mystery by Julie Campbell Page B

was so warm that it was no surprise to see several pleasure boats floating down the river. Trixie watched them for a minute, then cried, ”Gleeps, look at that sailboat! Isn’t it clever?”
    A small catboat was floating past them, close enough so that Trixie could see the two young boys inside it. On the boat’s one sail was printed its name, Quarter Moon , as well as a picture of a crescent moon.
    ”It must have been named after the Half Moon," Trixie explained to Bunker. ”That was the ship Henry Hudson came in during the seventeenth century, when he became the first white man to explore this area.”
    ”I know,” said Bunker, looking up briefly from his work. ”I also know who that boat belongs to—a couple of boys by the names of Ken and Carl. Spoiled rich kids, and none too handy with a boat, either.”
    Trixie sank back down on the boulder, deep in thought about sharks. Bunker certainly seems to know what he’s talking about, she told herself. But almost everything he said contradicts what Thea told me. And she’s supposed to be an expert on the Hudson! Thea had said a shark had been seen in the Hudson a year before, and Bunker said it had been thirty years before. She had said that the river used to be loaded with sharks, and Bunker said that simply wasn’t true. She seemed to take my word for it that I saw a shark, and it’s plain that Bunker would think I was insane if I told him I had seen one. Who am I supposed to believe ...?
    Before Trixie could think of a way to prove Bunker right or wrong, she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye.
    ”Oh, no!” she screamed. ”Bunker, look at the Quarter Moon —it’s capsized! Ken and Carl went overboard!”
    To Trixie’s horror, Bunker hardly glanced up from his mending. ”They’ll have life preservers,” he grunted. ”Maybe this’ll teach them a lesson.”
    ”But—” Trixie helplessly watched the two boys flailing away at the water. She couldn’t see any life preservers. ”Teach them a lesson?” she cried. ”Do you call drowning a lesson?”
    Finally Bunker craned his neck to get a look at the boys. As he and Trixie watched, the sailboat drifted out of the boys’ reach. No other boats were nearby. The smaller boy’s head bobbed under the water once, and then again.
    Trixie knew she had to do something. But she couldn’t very well dive off the cliff, and she wasn’t an overly strong swimmer herself. Almost instinctively, she braced herself to yell louder than she’d ever yelled before. As far as she knew, there was only one other person within earshot, and Honey Wheeler was just about the best swimmer Trixie had ever seen.
    ”Honey! Honey, heeeeelp!”
    Trixie’s voice ricocheted down the cliff. Bunker was staring at her oddly, but Trixie ignored him. She kept roaring Honey’s name, meanwhile praying that her friend would hear.
    As if in answer to her prayers, suddenly Trixie caught a glimpse of Honey’s golden head down below on the shore. Honey was looking at Trixie, who waved and pointed frantically at the boys. Just as Trixie had hoped, Honey saw the problem immediately. In one smooth motion, she ran for the bank and dived into the blue-green water.
    Panting with relief, Trixie sank to her knees and kept her eyes on the boys. With her smooth, powerful strokes, Honey had almost reached them. Just as Trixie began to wonder if Honey was going to have trouble towing two boys in to shore, she saw another figure leaping off the bank into the water. It was Brian!
    ”Jiminy jeepers,” she groaned. ”Brian’s an awfully good swimmer, but he just got out of the hospital! And that water must be freezing, not to mention how strong the current must be...
    Bunker didn’t seem to pay any attention to Trixie’s remarks. He threw his mending aside and disappeared down a path in the opposite direction from which Trixie had come. Rather than ponder this mysterious behavior, Trixie merely glared after him and turned back to watch the river