 Why is Billy so drawn to Grannie Annie?
There she stood before a frantically gesticulating desk clerk, leaning on her faded green umbrella. "Mithter Trenwith, if thith lady ith a friend of yourth, you'll have to take her away. Pure fiddle-faddle, that's what they are. But to me she was still Grannie Annie, as old-fashioned as last year's hat, as modern as an atomic motor. Her annual income totaled into six figures, and her publishers sat back and massaged their digits, watching their earnings mount. Grannie spilled a few shreds of Martian tobacco onto a paper and deftly rolled herself a cigarette. Grannie Annie hailed a hydrocar. Grannie Annie pushed me into a seat in the front row.
 She's an eccentric adventurer at heart, and compelling.
 She knows about the Green Flame and Billy wants to know more about them.  Her writing wows him.  She's a famous author. He's naturally drawn to that fame.  She's an eccentric adventurer at heart, and compelling.