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”And call me Thea.”
    The girls followed her and sat in the chairs Thea pointed out.
    ”My goodness, Brian is certainly a conscientious young man,” Thea commented.
    ”That’ s one of many reasons why he’s going to make such a good doctor,” Trixie said proudly.
    ”A doctor, hmm?” Thea stretched out on a couch. ”I’m sorry I can’t offer you girls a snack, but this isn’t my apartment, and I don’t know where anything is.”
    ”Oh, we didn’t come for food,” Trixie blurted. ”What Trixie means,” said Honey, ”is that we were hoping you might tell us something about your job. What’s it like to write books for kids?” Thea snorted inelegantly. ”Not as glamorous as you might think,” she said. ”For one thing, the pay is terrible.”
    ”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