“I’m glad of that,” said Bess. “Nancy can think up more dangerous things to do than anyone else I know.”
“And how!” George added.
During lunch not only Nancy’s group but all their ghost-hunting friends whispered excitedly about what was taking place. As Nancy left the table, each of them wished her luck in the errand.
Bess added, “Whoever that woman is who called, she was pretty mean to bring your Grandfather Drew into it.”
Nancy smiled. “I think so, too. He was a darling person and I don’t like to have his name dragged into some underhanded scheme.”
About twenty minutes to two she and Ned were ready to set off. Ned carried the box to the car.
Although Bess was worried about the whole adventure, she could hardly keep from giggling when she thought of the contents. “Somebody’s going to get a whale of a surprise,” she said to George.
“Serves her right,” George retorted.
Nancy and Ned drove to Vernonville and found Route 23. They watched the speedometer closely. At exactly one mile from town they came to a stone bridge and parked at the side of the road.
“I guess this is it,” Ned said, and they both climbed out of the car.
The bridge was old and partly covered with moss. The stream which ran under it was narrow and fairly shallow, and was full of sharp-pointed rocks over which the water gushed and gurgled.
Nancy and Ned looked on both embankments to see if anyone were lurking there. They saw no one and did not hear a sound. Finally they climbed down one embankment and peered under the bridge. No one was there.
It was evident that the bridge had been built a long time ago and had been rather crudely put together. There were many ledges on which the box could be set.
“I see a good spot,” Nancy remarked. “I’ll find out how level it is, and then you set the box up there, Ned.”
Nancy stepped along the muddy edge of the stream and reached up. Her hand touched something furry! Before she could yank it away, there was a hiss. Claws reached out and scratched her!
“Oh!” Nancy exclaimed as she looked at her hand. It was already starting to bleed.
The next instant the head of a large cat looked over at her. A moment later two tiny heads appeared. Kittens!
Ned began to laugh. “Old tabby doesn’t want to be disturbed,” he remarked. “I’m sorry about your hand,” he said as Nancy reached down to wash it in the cool water.
At that moment they heard a boy’s voice behind them and turned quickly. He was about ten years old and looked as if he had just come from some farming chores.
“Hello,” Nancy and Ned said together, and Nancy added, “Is that your cat up there?”
“Nope,” the boy replied. “Say, mister, are you Ned Nickerson?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Your friends are up on the road. I saw them lookin’ around. I said maybe you were down here and I’d take a look.”
“Friends of mine?” Ned asked, suspicious as to wh ) the people might be.
“That’s what they said. Their names are Burt and Dave.” The boy left.
“Ned, you’d better go see what they want,” Nancy suggested. “They may have brought some information or a message for us.”
“Okay. I’ll be right back.”
He handed the box to Nancy, who began looking around for, another ledge. Choosing a wide one, she stood on tiptoe and made sure no animal was resting there. Then she raised the box and set it in place.
“I’ll go up to the road now and see why the other boys came,” Nancy told herself.
As she walked along the muddy path toward the embankment, the young detective heard footsteps behind her. She turned quickly but was too late to defend herself against the sudden attack.
A huge hand was clapped over her mouth. Then a husky man began to drag her toward the water! I
CHAPTER XI
Spooky Mistake
CHIDING herself for having been duped, Nancy struggled furiously to get away from her captor. She tried again and again to scream but only muffled sounds came from her throat.
“You little vixen!” the giantlike man said. “It won’t do you no good to struggle. You’ll only hurt yourself. I should warn you I’m an expert at judo and karate. If you get too flip, I’ll use one or the other on you!”
Nancy was powerless but she kept thinking that Ned would return any moment. Where was he?
Now the girl’s captor pulled her into the water and began to push her down. Horrified, Nancy wondered if he intended to drown her. She began to struggle again.
Just then a voice demanded, “Hold it!”
Nancy’s assailant dropped her suddenly and she hit the rocks. Her captor had already started to run.
Nancy stood up quickly. Two men rushed past her after the fleeing figure. They caught him easily, and though he tried some judo and karate tricks, the other two men were more than a match for him.
“You’ve got no right to stop me!” their prisoner protested. “This was. a personal matter. This girl here is a troublemaker and needed to be punished.”
“We’ll hear her side of the story,” one of the men said.
The two newcomers introduced themselves as plainclothesmen from the local police department.
One of them said, “I’m Sergeant Brothers. This is Detective Peron.”
“Who was in touch with you?” Nancy asked to double-check them.
“Mr. Kittredge.”
Nancy was satisfied. “Thank you for coming to my rescue,” she said.
Before leaving, Nancy pointed out the fake box. The men suggested leaving it. A policeman would come there to watch for anyone who might pick it up.
In all the excitement Nancy had forgotten that Ned had not returned. Was he still talking to Burt and Dave?
When she and the detectives and their prisoner reached the road, Nancy was amazed not to find Ned there. Her own car stood where it had been parked, but no other car was in sight nor any of their friends.
Nancy told the detectives about the boy who had come to give Ned the message.
“I’m worried that it may have been a hoax, and that something has happened to him, too.”
“That could well be,” said Sergeant Brothers.
He turned to his prisoner. “Do you know anything about this?”
“No.”
“What’s your name?” Detective Peron inquired.
The prisoner remained silent. The detective searched him, but he carried no identification.
“Have you anything to say for yourself?” Sergeant Brothers asked the man.
“Just one thing. Ordinarily I don’t work for nobody doin’ this kind of work. I went to see a medium and she told me I had to seize Nancy Drew when she was alone under the bridge.”
“And then?” Detective Peron urged him.
“She said if I didn’t do what I was told, I would be punished real bad—maybe be killed.”
“Who was this medium?” Nancy asked.
“I ain’t sayin’ ”
Sergeant Brothers spoke up. “Why not?”
The prisoner said he would say nothing more because he was afraid. “I guess you think that’s cuckoo, ’cause I’m such a big strong guy. But when the spirit world tells you to do something, all the physical strength in the world won’t help you none to keep out of it.”
Nancy looked at the captive in amazement. She had a feeling that the medium was probably the same person who had telephoned her. But since she could not be sure the man was not part of a gang headed by the Prizers, Nancy said nothing.
Changing the subject, she said, “I must hunt for my friend Ned Nickerson.”
The two plainclothesmen looked at each other. Finally Sergeant Brothers said, “You mustn’t do it alone. Drive your car into town to police headquarters. We’ll follow. As soon as this man is arraigned, we’ll come back here again with you and see what we can find out.”
The trip to town took only a few minutes. While Nanc
y was waiting for the officers to accompany her, she called the motel to find out if by any chance Ned was there. The answer was No. Then she asked if he had phoned a message.
“No, Miss Drew.”
Nancy was becoming more alarmed by the minute. The longer it took to find Ned, the more he might be suffering at the hands of their enemies.
Nancy was asked to sign a statement charging one John Doe with assault and battery. Then the two plainclothesmen said they were ready to leave. Nancy drove back to the stone bridge, followed by the two police officers.
The three alighted and at once went down the embankment opposite the one where Nancy and Ned had been, since that was the way he had returned to the road. They began hunting for Ned’s footprints. At first they were hard to locate, because the soft embankment was full of foot-marks. After a search Nancy was able to spot some ripple-soled shoe prints she was sure were Ned’s. At the foot of the embankment, they led away from the stream toward a hollow.
“Let’s go!” Nancy urged.
The three proceeded silently, picking their way among rocks, mounds of coarse grass, and brush. At last they reached the hollow which was filled with a thick growth of trees. It was much easier walking.
Excited, Nancy ran ahead of the plainclothesmen. She had spotted a shack among the trees.
“Maybe Ned is a prisoner inside!” she thought.
“Hold on, young lady!” Sergeant Brothers called to her. “We don’t want anything more to happen to you.”
Nancy stopped, but urged the men to hurry. When they reached the cabin, the searchers found all the windows boarded up. Tall grass indicated that no one had lived there for some time, or if someone had, he was not using it as a permanent home.
The two detectives searched all around the place. They could not trace the footprints any farther.
“I’m so fearful Ned may be a prisoner in there,” Nancy said. “Would it be all right to look inside?”
The detectives agreed to unboard one of the windows. Using sharp-pointed stones, they managed to pry the wood loose. Sunlight streamed in through the window.
Nancy stood on tiptoe, then gave a gasp. A motionless figure lay on the floor, his back to the onlookers. He wore a white shirt and dark trousers as Ned had. The head was partially covered with a scarf.
Nancy’s heart was thumping, but she managed to say, “Oh, please break in! We must find out who that is.”
The detectives worked on the window until they had it open. As Sergeant Brothers climbed inside, Nancy held her breath. The detective walked over to the figure, knelt down, then burst into laughter.
“It’s a dummy!” he exclaimed.
“A dummy?” Detective Peron repeated.
Nancy was so relieved that she found it hard to keep from crying. Blinking back tears of joy, she climbed through the window and looked at the figure. It was indeed a large dummy, the kind used by magicians and ventriloquists.
So the footprints had not been Ned’s! Where was he, then? Nancy felt sure he had been kidnapped so he could not save her from the man who had tried to drown her. She tried not to think what might have happened to her friend.
“I wonder if this belongs to a medium,” Nancy remarked as she looked around the room.
Hanging on a wall hook was a robe similar to the one Madame Tarantella had worn at the séance. On a table lay a collection of tiny wires with miniature electric bulbs attached.
“If all this gear is used for legitimate purposes,” Detective Peron said, “why did the people board up the windows?”
Nancy said she thought the place was a hideout, and not a home.
“I think it warrants investigating,” Sergeant Brothers said. “First we’ll find out who owns this cabin.”
Nancy continued her search and a few seconds later came across a shell. A small card tied to it read:
A Crusader’s Shell, so-called because it was the emblem of the Crusaders and was worn by Saint James, patron saint of Spain. Generic name Pecten.
Detective Peron came over to see what Nancy was reading. “That’s a beautiful specimen,” he said. “My wife has a set of those scalloped shells. She uses them to serve salads in and sometimes creamed dishes.”
Nancy inspected the shell closely. At first it seemed to contain nothing of special significance. Then she discovered that two tiny initials had been carved into one of the scallops. They were M T.
“Madame Tarantella!” Nancy said to herself. “Does this shell belong to her? In fact, is all this paraphernalia hers?”
Sergeant Brothers interrupted the young detective’s speculations. “We’d better board this place up again and be on our way. Now what about your friend Ned Nickerson?”
Nancy’s heart suddenly sank again. Their search for Ned had been in vain! Where was he?
CHAPTER XII
Code Identification
THERE was no conversation as Nancy and the two detectives retraced their steps. Nancy’s heart was heavy. She was convinced that Ned had been kidnapped and taken from the area.
Noticing Nancy’s quiet, worried mood, Sergeant Brothers said, “We’ll make every effort to find your friend. I suppose it’s small comfort to you, but you’ve put us on the track of something I strongly suspect is not a legitimate operation.”
Nancy smiled wanly. “Please let me know what you learn from the owner of the shack.”
“I will,” the officer promised.
As they neared the embankment, Nancy noticed a third car on the road. The detectives saw it too and got ready for possible trouble.
They had just cautioned Nancy to stay behind them while they investigated, when four young people stepped from the car and one of the girls called, “Hi, Nancy!”
Detective Peron looked at the young detective. “Do you know them?”
“My best friends,” she replied, a note of relief in her voice.
“Where’s Ned?” Burt inquired as Nancy and the detectives climbed the embankment.
“We don’t know,” Nancy replied.
She introduced Bess, George, Burt, and Dave to the police officers. Then the conversation turned to the mystery. The newcomers were briefed on the present situation.
“Ned has been kidnapped?” George cried unbelievingly.
“We’re afraid so,” Nancy answered. “We don’t know where to look for him.”
Bess remarked, “You must have had some frightful moments when you saw that lifeless form and thought he was Ned.”
“I certainly did,” Nancy agreed. She looked at the car in which the young people had come from town. “Did you borrow this from Helen and Jim?”
“Yes,” Dave replied. “Do you want us to go on a search for Ned?”
Sergeant Brothers said he thought this was useless at the moment. The police would send out a missing-person alarm.
“I think it would be best for you young people to return to the motel and wait for some word from us.”
Burt and George decided they would ride with Nancy and bolster her spirits. They were careful, however, not to be oversolicitous, and talked calmly about their speculations. George was positive that the Prizers and Madame Tarantella were back of the whole mystery.
“But their motive eludes me,” she said.
Burt suggested hopefully that Ned might not have been kidnapped. “He could have hidden in the back of the car or truck that dropped off the gorilla who attacked you, Nancy.”
“He seemed like a gorilla, all right,” Nancy said with a smile.
“Burt is right,” George added. “I’ll bet Ned will return with a big surprise.”
Nancy hoped so, but she was well aware that her friends were trying to cheer her up. When they reached the motel, she insisted upon staying in her room.
“I want to be right by the telephone if any calls come. The police may phone or someone else.”
She did not mention Ned’s name, but Bess and George knew he was uppermost in her thoughts.
“Aren’t you coming to supper?” Bess
queried.
Nancy shook her head. “I’ll have a tray sent here.”
There was no dissuading her so Bess said she would attend to ordering it. “I saw the menu. How about some jellied consommé, southern fried chicken, rice croquettes, beans with mushrooms au gratin, lettuce and cucumber salad, and a chocolate parfait for dessert?”
Nancy closed her eyes. “That much food would make me feel positively ill. I’ll just have a plain chicken sandwich, tea, and some fruit.”
After arranging a signal of three knocks on the door for safety, Bess and George showered and changed their clothes, then left the room. Nancy tried to read, but she could not keep her mind on the book. She paced the floor until interrupted by the knocking signal. She opened it. One of the bus boys from the dining room was bringing her supper on a tray.
He smiled. “You’re not feeling well, miss?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m all right,” Nancy replied. “I’m not very hungry and besides I’m waiting for a phone call.”
The boy placed the tray on a low table and left the room. Nancy sat down and began to munch the chicken sandwich. But after two bites she did not feel like eating any more. The hot tea was so refreshing that she drank two cups of it. She eyed a delicious-looking nectarine but could not bring herself to eat it.
“I’ll keep the fruit until later,” she told herself, and began pacing the floor again.
At eight o’clock the telephone rang and she sprang to answer it. “Nancy?” It was Ned’s voice!
“Oh, Ned, are you all right?” she cried.
“Never felt better.”
“Where are you?”
“At the third stop on our hunt.”
“You mean the red barn with the ghost horse?” Nancy asked in amazement.
“Right. Just outside of Middleburg.”
“How did you get there?”
“I got a ride most of the way, then walked the rest. I have lots to tell you, Nancy, but most of it will have to wait until I see you.
“I was kidnapped by two masked men but I escaped. I can’t tell you any more now. What I want you and all the ghost hunters to do is get up here as quickly as possible. I’ve made reservations at Red Barn Guesthouse for everyone.”