The motor roared, the car turned around, and after a moment the lights disappeared. Nancy let out her breath in relief, then patted the burro, who was nibbling the grass at her feet.
“Well, I guess we’re on our way now,” the girl said. “How do you feel about being ridden?” She vaulted onto the small creature’s back, feeling oversized, since her feet hung close to the ground. The animal looked at her for a moment, then trotted forward into the open roadway. Nancy didn’t even have to guide her as she turned her head south toward Mesa del Oro.
The ride was a nightmare. The road was dusty and winding, and as the burro kept on walking, Nancy had to be continually on the alert, for patrols were soon driving by at irregular intervals. Each time she heard the distant sound of an engine, she had to dismount and lead her burro off the road into the shelter of whatever trees or brush were available. She was in constant fear of being caught in the open by one of the drivers.
Hunger nagged at her, reminding her that lunch had consisted only of sweet rolls, and she’d had no dinner. Toward dawn, exhaustion caught up with her and she found herself dozing as the patient creature trotted along.
“What. . . huh?” Nancy started, nearly falling off the jenny’s back.
She blinked in the paling light of dawn, wondering why the animal had stopped. Then she realized that they were standing at the base of a small rise. Above them were the first signs of human habitation. Trees, fences, a few roof peaks and chimneys could be seen, but there was no sign of any people.
“Good girl,” Nancy said, patting the tired burro as she slipped off. She nearly fell as her knees buckled. Desperately, she clung to the animal until feeling returned to her legs, then she studied the terrain.The road led to a village, but to the left was a narrow path winding up a small hill. Nancy tied the burro to a tree, and it began to graze contentedly while the girl crossed the road and scrambled up the rough path. It was a steep climb, but once she reached the top, she was rewarded for her effort. Though there was no signpost on the dusty road, she recognized from the layout of the village that she’d found Mesa del Oro.
Eight small buildings were loosely grouped around an open plaza with a water well. All the houses looked deserted but one.
-
A battered motor scooter was parked in front of it and an armed guard sat on the porch. Nancy had no doubt that Elena and Ricardo were inside. The question was, how could she get them out?
12. Rescue Attempt
Nancy made her way back to where the white burro waited. She slipped off the halter, then hugged the little creature. “Think you can find your way home, girl?” she asked. “Go rejoin your friends and convince everyone that you had nothing to do with my escape.”
The burro nuzzled her for a moment, then turned and trotted into the brush, as though she’d actually understood Nancy’s command. The girl stared after the animal for a time, then turned her attention to the village on the mesa above her.
She climbed up the road and began working her way carefully around the rear of the houses, heading for the one where she’d seen the guard.
A glance in the windows of each structure confirmed what she’d suspected. The houses were deserted. Mesa del Oro was a ghost town except for the one building!
When she reached it, Nancy slowed. There was little danger of her being seen from the porch as she moved along the back wall, so she peered in the rear window. What she saw made her gasp. Elena and Ricardo were seated in the room tied to their chairs, gagged. Elena’s tear- streaked face was turned her way, and Nancy could see the joy in her friend’s eyes as their gazes locked. The young detective waved and held a finger to her lips, even though she knew it was unnecessary.
Nancy sat down on her heels, pondering a plan. Since there was no one in the room with the two captives, she could lure the guard away from the door and slip inside while he was gone. Then she could free Elena and Ricardo, and the three of them would then be able to overpower the jailer.
But how to do it? Nancy retreated to a sheltering bush and studied the area carefully. The most tumble-down of the deserted buildings was on the far side of the well. Nancy felt that it would serve her purpose perfectly. Her decision made, she inched toward it gathering an
armload of dry wood, damp leaves and other debris.
“I hope they didn’t nail the door and windows shut,” she thought when she reached the old shack.
There was no window in the rear of the place, just a yawning opening Nancy could slip through with ease. Once inside, she examined the fireplace and set to work building a fire. It took several minutes to catch properly, then Nancy placed the smoke-producing debris over the crackling flames and retreated.
Her heart pounding, she worked her way back to the building next to the one holding Elena and Ricardo. From there she could see the guard clearly.
Minutes passed, and nothing happened. Nancy chewed her lip, debating another type of diversion but nothing short of burning down one of the buildings was likely to work, unless . . .
Suddenly the guard leaped to his feet, shouting angrily. He looked in both directions, then raced toward the smoking cabin. Nancy hurried into the shadows near the porch, and when the man plunged into the other structure, she raced to the door, praying that it wasn’t locked. In a moment, she was inside.
Quickly she jerked the gags off Ricardo and
Elena, then untied their ropes. “Nancy,” Elena gasped, “thank God you’ve come!”
“Speak softly,” Nancy whispered. “Your guard is just across the square and may come back at any time. Stay where you are just in case he decides to check on you.”
“You are alone?” Ricardo asked.
“Yes. Are you two all right?”
Elena nodded. “We were afraid that they’d caught you,” she said. “How did you escape? Is my aunt all right?”
“I’ll explain later,” Nancy said, and crossed to the front of the cabin, where she peered through the filthy window. What she saw made her heart stop for a moment.
“He’s coming back!” she hissed, then looked around, seeking a weapon she could use to protect herself. Her gaze fell on a battered iron frying pan on the counter. Nancy snatched it up and stationed herself next to the door, well aware that surprise was the only advantage she would have.
A moment later the door crashed open and the guard strode in, his face dark with fury. “What is going on here?” he demanded in Spanish. “Where—”
He got no further, for Nancy brought the frying pan down on the back of his head with all
her strength. He dropped heavily to the floor, and Ricardo jumped up, using his ropes to tie the man’s wrists and ankles before the burly guard revived.
“Now tell us everything,” he said to Nancy. “How did you find us? What is going on at the hacienda?”
Nancy opened her mouth, but no words came out. Suddenly the stress caused by fear, hunger, and lack of sleep swirled around her, and the room began to spin. She was barely conscious of Ricardo’s arms, which caught her, or the worried sound of Elena’s voice, as she was carried to a blanket in the comer.
“Get her some water,” Elena told her fiance.
Nancy tried to sit up.
“Lie still,” Elena said. “Are you hurt?”
Nancy took a deep breath, then relaxed for a moment. “I’m okay. Just tired from riding all night and not having anything to eat yesterday,” she explained.
“How about some cold tortillas and beans?” Ricardo asked. “It is not the greatest, but if you are really hungry, it helps.”
“It sounds heavenly,” Nancy admitted, sipping the water, then allowing herself to be helped into a sitting position. “Now tell me how you got here.”
“Cordova caught us going into Aunt Rosalinda’s room,” Elena answered. “He was furious at me for coming back to Colombia, and when I accused him of turning my aunt against me, he called in the guards and they brought us here.” Her eyes filled with tears. “They wouldn’t listen to me, Na
ncy. They take orders from him now. They don’t even care about Aunt Rosalinda.” “He has been rotating the guards,” Ricardo added. “He told me that he wanted the men to be familiar with all parts of the estate, but now I see that he was getting rid of everyone who was loyal to Senora del Luz or to Elena.” Nancy nodded, accepting a plate of beans from the handsome young man. “Cordova seems to be completely in charge, and that Isabella woman is helping him.”
Between bites, she told her friends everything she had learned while she’d roamed about the mansion, and about her narrow escape the night before.
Elena gasped. “Rosa Blanca brought you here! She’s mine, Nancy. I raised her. Thank goodness you found her to ride. The rest of the burros are half-wild these days. Cordova hates them.”
“She found me,” Nancy corrected. “I knew she had to be a pet when I first saw her at the
burro compound. She acted much friendlier than the others. It’s a good thing she knew the way to Mesa del Oro.”
“I used to come here often as a child,” Elena explained. “I liked the place, and sometimes Uncle Jose would let me ride the burro while he followed me in a car.”
Nancy smiled, then her expression turned serious again. “We’d better start making plans to—” She stopped as she caught a sound from outside, the whine of a motor laboring up the steep road. “Who’s that?” she gasped.
“It must be the other guard,” Ricardo replied. “He might have seen the smoke, too.”
“What will we do?” Elena asked helplessly. Nancy looked around the room, aware that they had no time for an elaborate plan. “Could you do what I did, Ricardo?” she asked. “With the frying pan?”
“Of course.”
“Then let’s get in the chairs, Elena,” Nancy said. “Pretend to be tied, and as soon as he stops out in front, start screaming for help as loudly as you can.”
Nancy was aware that her friends were looking at her as though she’d lost her senses, but she moved quickly to settle herself in Ricardo’s chair. If it was just a single guard coming to take
over, she was sure they could handle him as they had the first guard, but if it should be Cordova and his driver . . .
The motor sounds grumbled to a stop, and Nancy looked at Elena. “Now,” she hissed.
13. Outwitting the Guard
Elena’s screams sent chills along Nancy’s spine. They sounded truly terrified. The door burst open and a burly man appeared, his stance ready for attack. His eyes went to Elena, then to Nancy, and Nancy saw the shock in his face. Fearing he’d notice Ricardo if she didn’t draw him inside, Nancy yelled and dived sideways off the chair, bumping painfully on the hard-packed earth floor.
“What are you doing here?” the man demanded, stepping inside. “Where is Ricardo?”
“Right here,” Ricardo muttered as he swung the frying pan. The man went down as easily as the first guard, and the three young people tied him up beside his colleague.
“Now what?” Ricardo asked, when they were finished.
“We need help,” Nancy said.
“What about Aunt Rosalinda?” Elena asked. “There’s no way we can get her out by ourselves,” Nancy replied quietly. “Cordova might harm her if we tried.”
“But where can we get help?” Ricardo frowned.
“What’s the nearest city?” Nancy inquired. “Cartagena,” Ricardo answered.
“Could we get there in the jeep?”
He nodded, then looked at Elena. “Is that what you want to do?”
Elena appeared troubled, but agreed. “It seems our only choice.”
“What about them?” Ricardo pointed to the guards.
Nancy shrugged. “Someone will come for them eventually.”
The jeep was battered and old, but the gas tank was full, and Ricardo had no trouble starting the engine. As they drove away from Mesa del Oro, he glanced at Nancy. “What do we do in Cartagena?” he asked.
“Go to the police,” Nancy suggested.
“No,” Ricardo said flatly.
“What do you mean?” The young detective was surprised by his reaction.
“You are in the country illegally,” he reminded her.
“I was kidnapped and brought here against my will,” she protested.
“So you would tell them,” Ricardo said.
“Don’t you believe me?” Nancy gasped.
“Of course I do,” he answered quickly, “but I know you, and I was there when you jumped off the plane. That makes a difference.”
“Elena was there,” Nancy said. “She could vouch for me.”
“But you have no proof,” Ricardo warned.
“If we all told them ...” Nancy began, but she had an icy feeling that he was right.
“And what if Senor Cordova were called in?” Elena added. “He would deny everything and accuse us of making trouble. Whom do you think the authorities would believe?”
“But he’s done terrible things,” Nancy protested.
“He is also a wealthy, respected man, with friends in high places. He came to the hacienda as a highly-esteemed lawyer, not the sort of man that could be suspected of—of whatever it is he’s done.”
“He’s tried to force your aunt to sing a Power
of Attorney that would give him complete control over the del Luz holdings,” Nancy exclaimed. “I’ve seen the paper and heard him talking to Isabella about it. He’s in a desperate hurry to take over before you come of age and can challenge him.”
“You have no proof of that either,” Ricardo pointed out. “And Senora de Luz is certainly in no condition to support your story, is she?” Nancy had to admit that he was right. “What about the American Consulate?” she suggested. “I’ll talk to the officials there and they’ll help me reach my father. I’m sure he could convince them to believe me.”
Elena shook her head. “You’d never have a chance,” she warned.
“What do you mean?” Nancy asked.
“Mr. Dodsworth, the Consul General, is a very good friend of Seiior Cordova’s. He has even been to the hacienda for visits. He’d never believe you, and he could make it very difficult for you to reach your father.”
“But we have to do something,” Nancy stated. “We need proof that can make people believe
99
US.
She leaned back and closed her eyes, trying to think. There seemed little hope that she’d find anything in Cartagena that would support her
charges against Cordova. Yet, there was the mystery of the ships that had gone down, and she knew that there had to be a connection between them and the hacienda.
“What do you know about the Rayo del Sol and the MIC Transport Company?” Nancy asked, then added the names of the other two ships and the companies that owned them.
Ricardo frowned. “I know them. We have used all three firms in the past. I have had little to do with the shipping since my father died about a year ago, but prior to that, I am sure we worked with them. Why?”
Nancy explained about the case she’d been on before her kidnapping. “I don’t know what it means or what the connection is, but I do know there must be one. It can’t be a coincidence that I was brought to the del Luz hacienda. Cordova knew who I was and he sure was determined to keep me from leaving.”
“And you think that the ships weren’t carrying the cargo they were supposed to have?” Ricardo asked.
Nancy nodded. “That’s the only thing that makes sense. But I don’t know how we can tie it all to Cordova.”
“Well, he did make his money in shipping,” Ricardo said, “but not with any of the companies
you named. He had two or three freighters of his own, but he sold them several years ago. However, I am pretty sure of one thing.”
“What’s that?” Nancy asked.
“Some of the cargo that supposedly went down on those freighters came from the del Luz holdings. I remember hearing the Sehora talking about the fact that it had been terribly under-insured and the losses were hig
h.”
“So, if Cordova is behind all this, he’s been stealing from the estate for some time,” Nancy mused.
“He has been running everything since my father’s death,” Ricardo stated grimly. “And lately the Señora has been in no condition to question his decisions.”
“And I was kidnapped because I was poking my nose into the business with the ships,” Nancy added.
They drove in silence for a while, then Ricardo slowed down. “We will be in Cartagena soon,” he said. “Where do you want to go?” “Does Cordova have an office in the city?” “He does,” Elena replied. “I went there once with Aunt Rosalinda, before he came to live at the hacienda. I’m sure it’s still there. He goes into the city once a week—to take care of his other clients, he says.”
“We need to do two things,” Nancy decided. “We must investigate the waterfront area and the shipping companies, and we have to get into Cordova’s office to examine his files.”
“What do you expect to find there?” Ricardo inquired.
“Perhaps a clue that will connect all the loose ends,” Nancy replied.
“I think I can get us in,” Elena spoke up, her voice becoming excited. “I’ve been there before, and his assistants should remember me.”
“Perhaps I could check out the shipping companies meanwhile,” Ricardo volunteered. “Just tell me what you want me to look for. I know some of the employees there. They may be able to help.”
“Great,” Nancy said. “If we split up, we’ll be finished faster.”
After discussing Ricardo’s approach, Nancy and Elena left him with the jeep near the harbor, planning to take a taxi to the downtown area. While they waited, Nancy looked curiously around. Even her anxiety couldn’t keep her from being fascinated by the teeming city they’d entered.
“Beautiful, isn’t it,” Elena said. “I love to come here and just walk around the old town, visit the churches the Spanish built, look at the
ancient buildings and tour the old fortifications in the walls.”