XVIII
During the Storm
In a frenzy of excitement, Nancy Drew crouched in her hiding place. She dared not move, scarcely breathe, lest she agitate the bushes or make a noise which would attract attention to herself. Mary Mason stood with her back to the brush, but so close that Nancy could have reached out and touched her.
As she waited in an agony of suspense, expecting at any moment to be discovered, a dozen questions raced through her mind. Who were Mary’s companions and what had they been doing with a luxurious motorboat? What did Mary mean by saying that there was plenty of work yet to be done that evening? It was all very puzzling, but Nancy Drew determined that she would unravel the mystery before she left Dockville.
Her thoughts were rudely interrupted as Mary called again to her friends, more sharply than before:
“Aren’t you ever coming?”
“Say, give a fellow a chance for his life, will you?” came the rejoinder. “We’ve got to tie up this boat unless you want it to go drifting off down the river!”
Mary muttered something under her breath which Nancy did not catch. However, she waited for the two men.
Presently Nancy heard heavy footsteps on the path and knew that the men were approaching. Though she realized that it was a dangerous thing to do, curiosity overcame her, and she cautiously arose and peeped from her hiding place.
Through the gathering gloom and mist she beheld the two men. The younger, whom Mary had addressed as “Bud,” could not have been more than eighteen or nineteen years of age, but his face was that of the hardened criminal. He bore a marked resemblance to Mary, and Nancy correctly judged that they were brother and sister. She had never set eyes upon him before.
“Why, he wasn’t the man I followed to Winchester!” she ruminated. “I wonder who that other man could have been!”
Glancing toward the older man who was following Bud up the path, she gave a little start of recognition. It was the stranger with the hooked nose!
“He must be a friend of Bud’s and happened to be carrying his address,” she reasoned. “That’s why I thought he may have been Mary’s brother.”
In her excitement at the discovery, Nancy unwittingly agitated the leaves of a bush against which she was leaning. She quickly ducked down out of sight, but to her horror Mary had noticed the movement, slight as it was.
“What was that?” she demanded tensely. “I saw those bushes move.”
“Only the wind,” Bud answered indifferently. “Don’t be such a coward.”
“I’m not a coward,” Mary retorted hotly. “But this business we’re mixed up in is beginning to give me the jim-jams!”
“Aw, lay off on the fighting,” the older man interposed bluntly. “It’s going to storm and we’ve got to make our getaway.”
“Yes,” Mary agreed quickly, “we must collect our things and escape before the river becomes rough.”
“We’ll split three ways and settle everything tonight,” Bud added.
“Three ways, eh?” The other man laughed harshly. “I tell you I’ll have more than a third of the swag!”
“Don’t you remember our agreement?” Mary demanded sharply.
“What do I care for that?” the man snarled unpleasantly. “I furnished the boat.”
“And who took all the risk?” Mary countered angrily. “Answer me that!”
“I’ll have two-thirds or I’ll send you all to jail!”
“Then you’ll go with us.”
“Not much I won’t! Tom Tozzle knows how to look out for himself!”
“Aw, quit that arguing and come on!” Bud interrupted. “We’ll settle this thing in the house.”
To Nancy Drew’s disappointment, the three walked on up the path and disappeared inside the house. After a few minutes, Nancy came out from her hiding place, trembling with excitement.
“It’s evident they’re up to some shady business,” she told herself, “but of course I don’t know whether they had a hand in the Lilac Inn mystery or not. If only I can find out!”
What she was to do next Nancy Drew did not know. It would be dangerous to enter the old house, for if she were discovered she would be entirely at the mercy of her captors. She guessed that the rooms were bare of furniture and that would make the problem of finding a hiding place all but impossible. What should she do?
While Nancy hesitated, the first drop of rain splattered down upon her hand. Glancing up, she saw that black clouds were swirling about overhead.
“There’s going to be a terrible storm!” she thought nervously.
Nancy Drew was by nature a brave girl, but as she glanced up at the leaden sky she was more than a little disturbed. Almost in an instant it had grown dark, and the blackness seemed to have a terrifying quality. The air was warm and heavy. An oppressive quiet was broken only by the moan and rush of the river.
Suddenly there was a vivid flash of lightning, followed by a violent clap of thunder. The clouds seemed to open wide, pouring down a torrent of rain.
“Oh!” Nancy gasped, momentarily blinded.
She could not see a foot ahead of her, but she remembered an old shed which she had noticed at the rear of the house. In desperation, she groped her way toward it. A second flash of lightning showed her the way. Reaching the door, she slipped gratefully inside and shook the water from her dress and hair.
“Just my luck the storm had to break at this very minute!” she thought dismally. “I hope it won’t last long.”
She glanced anxiously toward the house which Mary and her companions had entered. Through the rain she could see a dim light burning in one of the rooms. Probably at this very moment the three were dividing the loot they had mentioned.
“I wonder if they meant the Crandall jewels?” she asked herself.
The thought drove her to action. Another impatient glance at the sky convinced her that the storm was likely to last for several hours. If she waited until the rain ceased, she would learn nothing.
“I don’t mind getting wet,” she assured herself grimly.
Nevertheless, as she stepped out into the pouring rain, a dazzling flash of lightning caused her to cringe. Resolutely continuing again, she crept around to the north side of the house. There, to her relief, she saw a broad piazza partially sheltered by vines.
Thoroughly soaked, she reached the porch and tiptoed across to a window which she could see gleaming in the dark. To her disappointment she found that the blind had been pulled down and she could not see inside. She could hear a faint murmur of voices, but it was impossible to distinguish a word. It was tantalizing to be so close and yet not to be able to learn a thing she wanted to know. Frantically, she glanced about. She must find a way to enter the house!
Thinking that she might gain admittance through a cellar window, she started away from the porch. Just at that moment another flash of lightning made everything as bright as day, and in that brief instant of illumination, she saw another window at the east end of the piazza.
Softly retracing her steps, she reached the ledge and listened. She could still hear a low murmur of voices from inside, so it was evident that she had not been seen. Cautiously, she tried the window. At first it offered stubborn resistance, but as she applied more strength it slowly gave, accompanied by an alarming creak.
“I’ll be caught if I don’t watch out,” Nancy thought.
She waited an instant, but as there was no unusual sound from the interior of the house, she raised the window until it was high enough to admit her body. Thrusting head and shoulders through the opening, she peered inside. At first she could see nothing, but in a moment was able to make out several rows of empty shelves along the walls of the room. Evidently, she was looking into an old storeroom.
“Here goes!” Nancy decided rashly.
She swung herself through the opening and was about to lower herself to the floor of the storeroom when she thought of her shoes. They were soaking wet as well as muddy. If she walked across the floor, she would leave a trail.
“No use to court disaster,” she chuckled.
Quickly removing her shoes, she held them in one hand and dropped lightly to the floor below. Creeping to the far wall, she listened. To her satisfaction, she found that she could hear what was being said in the next room. Evidently, the three were engaged in a heated argument.
“I tell you we’ve got to settle up tonight and get out while the getting is good,” she heard Tom Tozzle say.
“Bud and I will never settle on your terms,” Mary replied angrily. “You want too much.”
Tom made a response which Nancy did not catch, but the next moment she was startled to hear Mary say:
“Oh! What a vivid flash of lightning! That must have come close. I wonder if all the windows are down?”
Nancy glanced guiltily toward the storeroom window. In the excitement of entering the house she had forgotten to close it. Before she could make a move she heard Mary say:
“I can hear water dripping somewhere. I think the storeroom window must be open. Wait a minute and I’ll shut it.”
Desperately, Nancy glanced about for a hiding place. She was convinced that her own carelessness had trapped her. Had there been time she would have vaulted out the window, but it was too late for that.
Her only hope was an empty packing case. Hastily climbing into it, she flattened herself against the bottom just as Mary Mason opened the door.