“Please give it to me, Lester,” Nancy begged.
Lester pulled his claw away from Nancy. “VEEGATESDEERGROSSMUDDER!” he squawked.
“Try tickling him,” Katie suggested.
Nancy made a face. She carefully tickled Lester’s feathery chest with her finger. “Kitchy, kitchy, koo.”
“Hee, hee, hee, hee!” Lester cackled. He dropped the paper, and Nancy snatched it up.
“Got it!” Nancy said happily.
“Is anybody out there?” a voice called from inside the house.
“It’s Ms. Zagon,” Bess whispered.
Nancy stuffed the paper into her pocket. Katie pushed Lester back into his cage.
“VEEGATESDEER—”
“Shh,” Nancy warned.
The girls leaned against the side of the house. When the coast was clear, they hurried back to the sidewalk and ran all the way to Main Street.
When they were a safe distance away, Nancy pulled the mysterious paper from her pocket. She began to unroll it.
“That was the scariest thing we’ve ever done,” Bess said.
“Speaking of scary,” George said. “Look who’s coming.”
Brenda Carlton was walking up the street with her mother. When Mrs. Carlton stopped to look at a store window, Brenda walked over.
Nancy hid the paper behind her back. “Hi, Brenda,” she said quickly.
Brenda looked at Lester. “What’s Cracker Breath doing here?”
Lester pecked at his cage.
“We just came from the grocery store,” Katie said. “Lester likes to pick out his own crackers.”
Nancy giggled.
Brenda looked at Nancy. “Have you proved that Ms. Zagon isn’t an alien yet?”
Nancy squeezed the paper behind her back. “I still have until tomorrow, remember?” she answered.
“Good luck,” Brenda said. “Because I’ve already started writing the article.”
“Snooty pants,” Katie whispered as Brenda walked back to her mother.
Just then Lester opened his mouth and screeched loudly, “Snooty pants! Snooty pants! ARRRK!”
Brenda spun around angrily. She stuck her tongue out at the girls, then ran to catch up with her mother.
“Lester is cured!” Katie let out a big sigh. Nancy, Bess, and George jumped up and down and cheered.
When Brenda and Mrs. Carlton were out of sight, Nancy carefully unrolled the mysterious paper that Lester had taken from Ms. Zagon’s house.
“What is it, Nancy?” Katie asked, placing Lester’s cage on the sidewalk.
Nancy examined the paper. It had all sorts of squiggly lines and arrows. On top were the words “Carl Sandburg Elementary School.”
“It’s a map of our school grounds,” Nancy said.
“Why would anyone need a map of the school?” Bess said. “It’s not that big.”
Katie shrugged. “Ms. Zagon probably needs lots of maps to get around Earth. It’s like she’s on vacation down here.”
Nancy followed the little arrows on the map with her finger. They led to a bright red X under the drawing of a tree.
“That’s the big oak in back of the school,” George said. “I tried to climb it once.”
“Wait a minute,” Nancy said. “There’s something written under the X.”
Nancy squinted her eyes to read. “It says ‘capsule.’”
“Capsule?” George repeated slowly.
The four girls looked at each other.
“I know what it is!” Katie shouted. “It’s a map giving directions to Ms. Zagon’s space capsule!”
7
Buried Treasure
Nancy shook her head. “Don’t you think we would have seen a space capsule parked behind the school?”
“Maybe it’s covered with trees or bushes,” Katie suggested.
“We have to go to the school and check it out,” George insisted.
Nancy looked at her watch. “It’s four-thirty. Hannah said we could stay out until dinner, so we have time.”
“Let’s go get Chocolate Chip, Nancy,” Bess begged. “We might need a dog to protect us.”
Katie picked up Lester’s cage. “I’m going home. Lester’s been scared enough for one day. So have I.”
Nancy knew how Katie felt. She wasn’t quite sure if she wanted to go herself.
• • •
It was almost five o’clock when Nancy, Bess, and George returned to the Drew house.
“Hannah?” Nancy asked. “Can we walk Chip over to the school?”
Chip wagged her tail happily.
Hannah looked puzzled. “Why the school, Nancy?”
“Chip likes the school yard,” Nancy said. “There’s lots of space over there.”
George gulped. “Space?” she repeated.
Nancy nudged George lightly.
“I suppose it’s fine. But be back home by a quarter to six,” Hannah said. “I just put a pan of lasagna in the oven.”
“Lasagna!” Bess cried. “Yum!”
“We promise, Hannah,” Nancy said, clipping on Chip’s leash.
The girls left the house and walked briskly to the school. When they reached the school yard, they saw some other kids playing on the swings and jumping rope.
“Ugh,” Bess said. She made a face. “There’s Jason, David, and Mike.”
The boys were walking slowly around the playground. They were waving long plastic rods with flashing lights at one end.
“What are they doing?” Bess asked.
“They’re using alien detectors,” Nancy explained. “I’ve seen commercials for them on TV.”
“Boys and their stupid toys,” George said.
“I don’t want them to see us,” Nancy warned. She grabbed Chip’s leash and led her friends to the back of the school.
“I don’t see any space capsule around here,” George said.
Suddenly a round, flat disk soared over their heads.
“Eeek!” Bess shrieked.
“A flying saucer!” George screamed.
The object landed at Nancy’s feet. She laughed. “It’s a Frisbee.”
A fifth-grade boy ran over. “Throw it back!” he shouted.
Nancy threw the Frisbee to the boy.
“Thanks,” the boy called. He caught it and ran back around the school.
Then Chip barked.
“What is it, girl?” Nancy asked.
“Maybe Chip sees an alien,” George said.
Nancy pointed to a small, furry animal scurrying by. “It looks more like a field mouse.”
Chip tugged at her leash. Nancy strained to pull her back.
“Chip, no!” Nancy commanded.
But it was no use. Chip broke loose from Nancy’s grip and began chasing the little animal.
“Chip, come back here!” Nancy called.
The mouse was too fast for Chip. He dashed over to the oak tree, popped into the ground, and disappeared.
Chip barked at the hole and began to dig after the mouse.
“Oh, no,” Bess wailed. “That’s where the space capsule is supposed to be!”
Chip stopped digging. She lifted her paw and brought it down on something hard. It made a tapping noise.
“Chip’s found something!” George exclaimed.
Nancy knelt down and brushed away some loose dirt. “It’s a black metal box,” she said. The box was rusty and closed with a silver hinge.
Bess sighed with relief. “It looks too small to be a space capsule.”
George lifted the box from the ground. “Oof! It’s as heavy as a spaceship. Let’s open it.”
“We should find out what it is first,” Nancy said. She tugged at the box in George’s arms. “Let’s put it back.”
“Let’s go home!” Bess wailed.
Nancy and George struggled with the box. Chip barked and jumped up on Nancy.
“Oh, no!” Nancy groaned as the box slipped from her arms. It tumbled to the ground and snapped open.
Nancy held her
breath as everything inside the box spilled out. No one said a word as they stared down at the ground.
“I’m going to investigate,” Nancy finally said. She knelt down and sifted through the things.
“What is it?” Bess asked.
“It’s all sorts of stuff,” Nancy said. “From Carl Sandburg Elementary School.”
Nancy picked up a Carl Sandburg school hat. “Look at the date on the brim,” she said. “It’s from twenty-five years ago.”
“So is this,” George said, kneeling down next to Nancy. She held up a Carl Sandburg school pin. “And it says ‘Have a Groovy Year!’“
“Let me see,” Bess said, inching her way over.
The girls examined more objects. George read an old report card for a boy named Scott. Nancy found a newspaper. On the front page was a president they had learned about in history class.
“These clothes were cool!” Bess said. She held up a fashion magazine showing a model with a splashy flowered dress.
Suddenly Nancy spotted a book with a dark red cover. It was an old school yearbook.
“Why was all this neat stuff buried in a box?” George asked, trying on the hat.
Nancy scratched her chin. “An old yearbook, an old hat, an old report card . . . I know!”
Bess and George stared at Nancy.
“This isn’t a space capsule,” Nancy said. “It’s a time capsule.”
“A time capsule?” Bess repeated.
Nancy nodded. “A Carl Sandburg class probably buried this stuff over twenty years ago.”
George whistled. “Wow!”
“Like this yearbook,” Nancy said. She picked it up and opened it to the last page. It was covered with pictures of smiling third graders.
Nancy read the names out loud: “‘Beth Zachar, Anthony Zaffino, Diana Lynn Zagon . . .’” Nancy’s mouth dropped open.
“As in Ms. Zagon?” George asked.
Nancy pointed to a picture of a girl with long, dark hair. “That must be Ms. Zagon when she was eight years old.”
Chip nuzzled the page with her nose.
Bess smiled at the picture. “Ms. Zagon had a hairdo just like mine.”
Nancy found a piece of paper inside the yearbook. “Here’s a composition called, ‘Why I Love Astronomy.’ It’s written by Diana Lynn Zagon.”
Bess chuckled. “Ms. Zagon loved the planets back then, too.”
“I can’t believe Ms. Zagon went to Carl Sandburg,” George said.
“That’s it!” Nancy shouted. “This is the proof I need that Ms. Zagon is not an alien!”
“You’re right,” George said, and gave Nancy a high five.
“If Ms. Zagon went to our school twenty-five years ago, she couldn’t be a recent visitor from outer space,” Nancy said happily.
“Or the queen of planet Zagon,” Bess added.
Nancy touched the black metal box. “This was probably the surprise Ms. Zagon was talking about.”
“The school must have given her permission to dig it up,” George said.
“Let’s call Katie right after dinner,” Bess suggested. “I can’t wait to tell her the news.”
Nancy rubbed her hands together. “And I can’t wait to tell Brenda.”
“Let’s call her, too,” George said.
Nancy shook her head. “I’ll tell Brenda in school tomorrow. I want to see her face when she finds out that I solved the mystery.”
“What are we going to do with all this stuff in the meantime?” George asked.
“Let’s put the time capsule back where we found it,” Nancy said. “Then we’d better hurry back to my house.”
George rubbed her stomach. “And Hannah’s lasagna.”
• • •
The next morning Nancy went to school feeling great.
“I never really thought Ms. Zagon was an alien,” Katie told Nancy as they walked into the classroom.
“Yeah, right.” Nancy laughed.
Suddenly Bess grabbed Nancy’s arm. “Nancy, look!”
Nancy froze. The kids were sitting at their desks busily reading the Carlton News. On the front page was Nancy’s school picture. The headline underneath the picture read, “Nancy Drew Discovers a Space Alien at Carl Sandburg.”
“Oh, no!” Nancy cried.
“Good morning, Nancy,” Brenda called sweetly from her desk.
Nancy glared at Brenda. “I had until today to solve the mystery, Brenda!”
Brenda spread her arms wide. “Well, your time is up.”
Jason Hutchings looked up from his copy of the Carlton News. “Hey, Nancy. Did you really catch Ms. Zagon fueling up her spaceship?”
“No!” Nancy cried.
“And did you really catch Ms. Zagon polishing her antennas?” Phoebe Archer asked.
Nancy’s heart sank. Brenda’s article was full of lies about her. Big lies!
Suddenly the door opened. Ms. Oshida, the assistant principal, stepped in with a student teacher.
“Boys and girls,” Ms. Oshida announced. “Ms. Rizzoli will be in charge of the class for the next few minutes.”
Then Ms. Oshida turned to Nancy. “Nancy Drew,” she said. “May I see you in my office please?”
8
Back to Earth
This must be a bad dream, Nancy thought as she followed Ms. Oshida.
“Come in, Nancy,” Ms. Oshida said, opening the door to her office.
Nancy wasn’t surprised to see Ms. Zagon standing next to Ms. Oshida’s desk.
Ms. Oshida sat down and picked up a copy of the Carlton News. She opened it and began to read:
“‘According to Nancy Drew, Ms. Zagon means no harm. She just wants to take over planet Earth.’“
Nancy felt her face turn red.
“Can you explain this article, Nancy?” Ms. Oshida asked.
Nancy took a deep breath and explained everything to Ms. Oshida and Ms. Zagon.
“So you almost believed I was an alien?” Ms. Zagon asked.
Nancy nodded slowly. “I hope you’re not mad, Ms. Zagon.”
Ms. Zagon smiled and shook her head. “When I was your age, I imagined myself as a queen of another planet. I guess my wish finally came true.”
“Does this mean your case is closed, Detective Drew?” Ms. Oshida asked Nancy.
“Almost,” Nancy said. “I just need to ask Ms. Zagon a few questions. They’re really important.”
“Go ahead, Nancy,” Ms. Zagon said.
“Why was there a picture of space aliens in your car?” Nancy asked.
Ms. Oshida peered over her glasses at Ms. Zagon. “Space aliens?”
“Oh, that!” Ms. Zagon laughed. “My friends and I dressed up as aliens last Halloween. I found the photo in the glove compartment.”
Nancy smiled. Then she went on. “My next question is, why did Katie’s parrot fly out of your house speaking so strange? It sounded something like . . . Veegatesgrossmudder?”
“Lester probably heard me talking on the telephone to my grandmother,” Ms. Zagon explained. “Grandma speaks only German,”
German! Nancy thought. So it wasn’t the secret language of Planet Zagon!
“Wie gehtes dir, Grossmutter means, ‘How are you, Grandmother?’” Ms. Zagon said.
“Any more questions, Nancy?” Ms. Oshida asked.
“One more,” Nancy said quickly. “Why did Peaches get so fat?”
Ms. Zagon looked confused. “Peaches?”
“I can answer that,” Ms. Oshida said. “Mrs. Reynolds was supposed to announce this week that your hamster is about to have babies.”
“Oh!” Nancy said.
Nancy returned to the classroom with Ms. Zagon. She stood in front of the class and explained everything.
“So you’re not an alien, Ms. Zagon?” Mike asked.
Ms. Zagon pointed to the top of her head. “See? No antennas.”
“Too bad!” Jason groaned.
Orson Wong held up his copy of the Carlton News. “Then this newspaper is one big lie!”
he shouted, ripping the paper in half.
“It is not!” Brenda cried. But it was too late. The rest of the class was ripping their newspapers in half, too.
Ms. Zagon clapped her hands for attention. “Okay, class. Now that we’ve returned to Earth, how about that surprise I was talking about?”
The class murmured excitedly.
“Where is it, Ms. Zagon?” Phoebe Archer asked.
“It’s outside, behind the school,” Ms. Zagon said. “Can anyone guess what it is?”
Nancy smiled to herself. Could it be the time capsule?
• • •
The class had fun digging up the time capsule and looking through it.
“It’s like going back in time,” Emily said, trying on a bead necklace.
“Ms. Zagon?” Nancy asked. “Do you think we could make our own time capsule when Mrs. Reynolds comes back?”
“That’s a great idea, Nancy,” Ms. Zagon said. The rest of the class agreed.
“What should we put in it?” Bess asked.
Ms. Zagon held up a copy of the Carlton News. “You could start with this.”
Nancy laughed with the rest of the class. But she had a better idea. She would write her own composition for the time capsule. It would be called “Why I Love Mysteries.”
• • •
That night Nancy sat on her bed. She opened her detective notebook to a clean page. Then she wrote:
One thing I learned during this “space case” is that rumors can sometimes be exciting or funny, but you have to work to find out if they’re true.
Nancy gazed out the window just in time to see another shooting star.
I’m glad Ms. Zagon is not an alien.
And I’m very glad I’m a detective!
Case closed.
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
First Aladdin Paperbacks edition May 2002
First Minstrel Books edition March 1998
Copyright © 2004 by Simon & Schuster, Inc
ALADDIN PAPERBACKS
An imprint of Simon & Schuster
Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas