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down.”
    ”Yourself?” Honey suggested.
    ”I guess so,” he replied. ”I just feel sort of hopeless about everything.” He parked the jalopy near the Manor House veranda and stared straight ahead.
    Trixie made no move to let Honey get out. ”Brian, you’ve got so many things going on right now that you can’t afford to get sick,” she said practically. ”Don’t you think you’d better see a doctor?”
    Brian laughed mirthlessly. ”That’s the worst part of this whole business—the doctor thing.”
    ”What are you talking about?” asked Trixie, suddenly alarmed.
    ”I’ve gotten very confused about that,” he said. ”I—I just can’t seem to remember what I ever saw in becoming a doctor.” He sounded genuinely puzzled.
    ” What ?” Trixie and Honey turned toward each other, their faces frozen with shock.

Brian’s Surprise Party • 5

    HOURS LATER, Trixie was having a painful time trying to fall asleep. Instead of sheep, it seemed more appropriate for her to be counting her problems in order to allow herself to sink into a peaceful numbness.
    Her most pressing concern, of course, was Brian. Every time she thought of his absolute refusal to discuss his career doubts any further, she punched her pillow in vexation. And then his making her and Honey promise not to mention it to their parents or discuss it with the other Bob-Whites.... ”I’m a big boy, Trixie,’’ he had warned. ”When I need someone to manage my life for me, I’ll let you know.”
    It wasn’t as though Trixie didn’t know what he was talking about. I admit, I’ve been known to meddle, she thought to herself. But Brian’s my brother, and I love him, and I hate to see him torturing himself, and there must be something I can do to stop it....
    Trixie sat up and pummeled her pillow into a new shape. She remembered that the following day was Brian’s birthday. Somehow that made his situation seem all the more pathetic. By the end of the day tomorrow, she vowed to herself, I’m going to think of some way to make Brian believe in himself again, or else I’m going to turn the problem over to Moms and Dad. That will be part of my birthday present to him. I know he’ll thank me someday....
    Mingled in with thoughts about Brian were reflections on meeting Thea Van Loon. Her mind kept going back’ to Thea so often that Trixie finally put Brian aside mentally for a moment. That was when it occurred to her that there was something odd about Thea, something that didn’t quite fit. What was it?
    ”Of course! It’s her car!” Trixie exclaimed softly to herself.
    Brian had mentioned at the dinner table that night that he was sure Thea’s car had cost quite a bit of money. Trixie had caught a glimpse of it that afternoon and agreed that it was certainly a beautiful little car.
    But Thea told us-.—she said she didn’t make very much money. That car is brand-new. How could she afford it?
    Trixie flipped onto her stomach and buried her head under the pillow with a heavy sigh. Perhaps there was a simple answer to the question about Thea’s car, she reasoned. But one problem for which she was sure no simple answers existed was the shark. Thea had asked them to let her do some checking first. In the meantime, however, surely there was something Trixie could do. I wonder....
    Her mind beset by one riddle too many, Trixie fell into a deep, troubled sleep.

    When the alarm jangled her awake the following morning, Trixie was no closer to answers about Thea or the shark. But somehow, in her sleep, she had reached the decision to shove those concerns to the back of her mind and concentrate on helping her brother.
    Riding on the school bus, she was still pondering just what course of action she should take next, when a shout rang in her ear: ”I said,
    ’Good morning!’ Are you still asleep?”
    ”Huh? Oh, hi, Di,” Trixie mumbled.
    Di playfully jabbed Trixie with her elbow. ”What’s with you Beldens this morning? First I wish Brian a