The Sky Phantom (11 page)

In his rapid speech he said, “Whatdidyoudotoyourself ? Fallinanoilbarrel?”

Nancy’s eyes sparkled. Speaking as fast as he did she answered, “No. Alotofmiceandltookaslipperytrip.” Bruce roared with laughter, but Hal merely stood there, looking puzzled.

When Nancy reached the Hamilton ranch house, she decided to go up to her room through the back door to avoid being questioned by other people. When she reached it, no one was there. Apparently Bess and George were not back from their horseback-riding trip with Chuck and Range.

During the past several hours, the cousins and their escorts had been having an unusual adventure of their own. For a while they had followed the well-trodden trails. Then the boys suggested going up a hillside and into a grove of aspen trees.

“There’s a spring of delicious water in there,” Chuck said.

“Wonderful!” Bess replied. “Why don’t we eat our lunch by the spring?”

The others agreed. They took the saddles and other gear off their ponies and hung them on limbs. The animals were tethered on long leads.

George was amused at the antics of her mount. Finding himself free, the pony jumped up and down several times, then lay on the grass and rolled over and over.

Bess giggled. “Wouldn’t you think he had had enough exercise climbing that hill?”

Her horse was standing perfectly still. He put down his head and seemed to be going to sleep.

“Chuck,” Bess asked, “what do you call a horse’s siesta?”

Chuck shrugged and grinned. “I guess only Spanish horses are allowed to have siestas. American ponies just take a rest.”

The others laughed and Bess said, “I stand corrected.”

The saddlebags containing the riders’ lunch and Thermoses of milk were opened. The little group sat down, facing the direction from which they had come.

The panorama before them was intriguing. Hills and valleys were interspersed. Off in the distance the young people could see the great cloud.

“I wonder how Nancy made out,” George said. “Let’s hope she picked up some good clues.”

Range said, “What’s a good clue as opposed to a bad one?”

Bess and George looked at each other. They had never thought of this, but finally George said, “I suppose a bad clue would be a misleading one.”

“I see,” he said. “A good clue would lead you right to the bad guy.”

Bess and George smiled and agreed that a good clue eventually led to the villain, but sometimes the way was not very well marked.

“But Nancy Drew is the kind of detective who doesn’t give up until a mystery is solved,” George explained.

By this time lunch was spread out and the pick-nickers helped themselves to ham and cheese sandwiches, cole slaw, big pieces of angel food cake, and milk.

“Do you think Roger Paine will ever be found?” Range asked.

“I hope so,” George answered, “but it seems very strange to me that he has never communicated with anyone, and yet we know he didn’t have a plane accident.”

Bess added, “Which means, as Nancy suspected, that he must have been kidnapped!”

Both cowboys said they thought it unusual that no demand for a ransom had been received if Roger had been abducted.

George replied, “There may have been some reason other than money for kidnapping him.”

“Like what?” Chuck asked.

Before anyone could answer, there was the crackle of twigs behind them. The four young people turned around quickly. A man, his big hat pulled low, ambled toward them!

Bess, George, and the boys jumped up.

“Who are you?” Chuck called out.

The plodding figure came on without replying, but just before reaching the group, he raised his hat.

“Ben Rall!” Bess cried out.

Under his breath Chuck asked Bess, “Is this the man who you think planned to kidnap Nancy the night of the masquerade?”

“Yes,” she replied.

George wondered why the Hamilton ex-cowboy had dared to appear. He must know by now that he was liable to a prison sentence since Pop had discovered he was a thief.

She asked him, “Did you come to give yourself up?”

“What do you mean? I ain’t done nothin’ wrong.”

“Maybe you don’t think it’s wrong,” George told him, “but I certainly think stealing is a criminal offense.”

Ben flared up, “What the heck do you mean? I didn’t steal nothin’. Pop gave me the pony.”

“I’m not talking about the pony,” George said. “How about the money you took from the other cowboys?”

The man glared at her. “I didn’t steal nothin’, I tell you!” he exclaimed. “And don’t you or nobody else accuse me of being a thief!”

He was so vehement in his denial that George began to wonder if Pop Hamilton were wrong. Since no one had seen the theft, it was possible some stranger had sneaked into the bunkhouse and taken the money at about the time Ben had left.

Range said, “We’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Now tell us what you want.”

Rall did not reply. Instead he pulled a sealed letter from his pocket and handed it to George.

She read aloud, “From Roger Paine to whom it may concern.”

The two couples were astounded. At once they demanded to be told where Roger Paine was.

“I don’t know,” Ben replied. “Honest I don’t.”

“How did you get this note from him?” George asked.

“I didn’t,” Ben answered. “A messenger brought it to me.”

Bess wanted to know why he had brought the note to them. “Why wasn’t it sent to his parents?”

Ben said he had been told to deliver it to Nancy Drew or someone in her group. “And that’s all I know!” he shouted angrily. “Don’t ask me any more questions.”

Then, as an afterthought, he added, “If Roger’s family, or his friends, or any of you people get any funny notions in your heads about hunting for him, there’ll be trouble. I was told to give you that message, too.”

“How did you know where we were?” Bess asked.

“I trailed you,” he replied.

George now examined the envelope thoroughly. On it was printed, “The person who bears the answer to this note must come alone and unarmed. He will meet Ben at this spot.”

Chuck and Range began to question Ben about this. Range said, “I suppose you’re being well paid to do this job.”

Ben shouted at him, “That’s none of your business and you’d better not be so snoopy!”

Chuck said, “Ben, you could get into a heap of trouble over this. Aren’t you afraid you might be arrested?”

For a brief second the ex-cowboy looked frightened. Finally he said, “No, I ain’t. I got friends. They’ll protect me.”

George asked him, “Suppose you should be followed from here by unfriendly riders. What would you do?”

This time there was no question but that Ben was frightened. Turning on his heel, he ran off quickly through the wood. At the edge of it, he jumped onto his pony and raced away.

Chuck said, “Shall we chase him?”

Both Bess and George thought this would be the wrong thing to do, and Bess added, “We have the note. Right now that seems to be the important thing. Let Pop Hamilton attend to Ben.”

A discussion followed as to who should open the note.

“Should we save it for Nancy?” Bess asked. “Or how about Pop Hamilton?”

George said this would be all right, but the boys felt that they should take the note to the police.

“That will take a long time,” George said, “and I feel this demands action. It says on the envelope, ‘To whom it may concern.’ We’re concerned.

Why don’t we open it?”

The others agreed and Bess slid one finger under the pasted flap. She pulled out a small sheet of paper.

“What does it say?” George asked.

Bess read aloud:

“LET’S call Mr. Paine—Roger’s father!” Bess ex claimed. “This is perfectly dreadful!”

George and their companions, Chuck and Range, agreed. The four studied the ransom note for some time. George even held it up to the light to see if there was a clue to the writer on the paper. She saw nothing.

Range asked, “Is it genuine?”

Chuck shrugged. “It could be a forgery. I’ve never seen Roger Paine’s handwriting, but the message sounds phony.”

Bess suggested that Pop Hamilton might have seen the missing man’s handwriting, so they decided to ride straight to the ranch. They kept talking about the strange note.

Chuck asked, “If Roger Paine didn’t write it, do you suppose Ben Rall did?”

“You mean to get the money for himself?” Bess asked. “But why four thousand dollars?”

Chuck said he would not put it past the cowboy. “The men who work at Hamilton Ranch think he’s dishonest. And this would be a way for him to make some easy money.”

George was skeptical of this explanation. She asked, “What would Ben do with an airplane? He’s not a pilot, or even a student.”

“He might try to sell it,” Range replied.

George said, “He’d have to turn over certain ownership papers and then he’d be caught, wouldn’t he?”

“Sure he would,” Chuck replied. “Ben Rall isn’t too bright, though, and he might not know this.”

The foursome rode along in silence for a while, then George said, “I’m eager to show this note to Nancy. She’ll have some interesting thoughts about it, I’m sure.”

The others could not argue against this, but had not given up the idea that Pop Hamilton should read the message as soon as possible.

“If he finds out it’s genuine, he’ll know how to proceed,” Bess said.

As soon as they reached the ranch, Chuck and Range inquired where Pop was. They were told that he was far away, checking cattle. He was not expected back for some time.

Bess and George thanked the boys for the ride and Bess said, “Chuck, riding with you is always exciting. But this time had all others beat. Imagine having a ransom note delivered to us!”

When the cousins reached their room, they found Nancy in the bathtub, with bubble-bath foam up to her chin. Her hair was soaking wet and she announced with a chuckle that she had just had an oil shampoo.

At this moment George spied a heap of messy clothes in one corner of the bathroom. “What’s this?” she asked.

Nancy grinned. “They’re the things I wore today. I’m not sure I’ll ever get them clean.”

“You had an adventure!” George exclaimed.

“Tell us about it!” Bess said.

Nancy explained exactly what had happened to her in the cave. When she reached the part about the mice coming out of everywhere and scurrying to the exit, George roared with laughter, but Bess squealed and made a face.

“Ugh!” she said. “I’m glad I wasn’t there with you. But, Nancy, didn’t they frighten you out of your wits?”

“They certainly startled me,” Nancy admitted. Then she added, “Bess, you won’t believe this, but those mice had more sense than I did. They seemed to know when it was going to rain oil in that cave and scooted. Of course I had no idea of such a thing and got caught in the shower.”

George threw back her head and laughed even louder. “What a picture! Oh, Nancy, stop please, you’re making me cry!”

The girl detective went on with her story of how she had been almost trapped by the slippery oil on the stone steps in the cave.

“That reminds me,” she said. “My sweater, which probably saved my life, is still in the container in Bruce’s plane.”

Bess suggested she leave it there. “Most people who work around planes don’t mind oil,” she said. “Don’t they call them grease monkeys?”

“And that’s not all,” Nancy said, laughing. “After the cave experience, Bruce and I had a forced landing in the plane.”

“A what?” George asked.

Nancy went on to tell her friends about the riverbed episode.

“Hypers!” George exclaimed. “I’ll say it again, you had your share of adventures today.” She suggested that Nancy get out of the tub now, have a good rubdown, and put on some fresh clothes.

“We have something really important to show you,” Bess said, “but we can’t let it get all wet.”

Nancy’s interest was aroused at once. “What is it that’s so important?”

George winked at Bess, and the two girls kept quiet.

“So you’re not going to tell me until I’m dressed?” Nancy said. “Okay, give me five minutes and I’ll join you.”

Bess and George went back into the bedroom and combed their windblown hair. In a few minutes Nancy appeared, this time in a robe and slippers. She sat down in a tufted chair and curled her feet up under her.

“Now I’m ready for your big story,” she said. “Which one of you is going to tell me, or are both of you?”

Bess and George looked at each other. Finally Bess said to her cousin, “You be the one.”

“Okay.” George told about the meeting with Ben Rall and his denial of the theft. “Then he handed me this.” She pulled the ransom note from her pocket and gave it to Nancy.

The cousins waited while she read the ransom demand a couple of times.

Impatient for a comment, Bess asked, “What do you think of it? Is the note authentic?”

“I’m inclined to think so,” the young detective replied. “I’ve been expecting something like this all along. But I must admit, having the note delivered to you by Ben Rall was unexpected. I wonder why.” Then Nancy asked, “Where is the Buffalo Spring?”

George told her it was at the same spot where they had received the ransom note. “It may be a hiding place for Ben,” she suggested. “But he galloped away so fast on his pony that we don’t know where he went.”

Nancy smiled. “Perhaps to Roger Paine’s abductor. Probably Ben works for the kidnapper. It’s too bad you didn’t have a chance to follow Ben, or at least see which direction he took.”