The Sky Phantom (14 page)

Bess, George, Burt, and Dave agreed to do the errand. Nancy told Pop she would be taking a flying lesson and hoped that Ned would go along to watch her at the controls.

Ned accepted the invitation with a broad smile. She wondered why he was grinning. Did he think all this flying business was a joke and that she was not much of a pilot?

“I’ll show him,” she thought, and smiled back.

Pop offered to drive Nancy and Ned to the flying school, so in a few minutes the group separated. Burt and Dave went to choose ponies for their ride, while Nancy and Ned were driven to Excello in a ranch wagon.

Bruce was waiting for Nancy at the school’s office. She introduced Ned and asked Bruce, “Could we possibly take up a four-seater today? I’d love to have Ned go along.”

“I think so. Let me check.”

He consulted the flight-schedule board, then made a request of the manager. Bruce came out of the office a few minutes later and said, “Everything’s okay. We’ll take
Lady Luck.”

Ned Nickerson said he hoped the craft would live up to its name. Then he maneuvered Bruce aside and whispered something to him. The pilot asked a couple of questions, then nodded. Both young men smiled and returned to Nancy. Neither told her what had been said and she did not ask.

In a few minutes the trio was ready for takeoff. Nancy’s performance with the plane was so smooth and effortless that Ned was delighted. “I see Bruce is a great instructor,” he commented.

The flying-school pilot responded with a twinkle in his eyes. “And Nancy is a great student.”

The girl flyer blushed a bit and headed the craft toward the great cloud. As they neared it, Nancy told Ned about the mystery and the Indian legend. She ended by saying, “We think it’s a hideaway for the sky phantom when anyone else is nearby.”

Ned remarked, “That’s a fantastic story. I wonder how the sky phantom gets through when all the electrical equipment in your plane went hay-wire.”

“That’s part of the mystery,” Nancy replied. “I hope that pilot doesn’t show up for a while, so we can investigate on the ground.”

She set down at the nearest suitable spot, which was about quarter of a mile from the edge of the giant cloud.

Bruce said, “With all the strange things that have been happening lately, I think it best if I stay here and guard the plane. You go off and investigate.”

Nancy and Ned headed directly for the area beneath the cloud. When they reached the area below the edge of it, the couple began searching the ground minutely. Almost directly under the middle of the cloud, Nancy stopped abruptly. Excited, she called Ned to her side and pointed at the area.

“Here’s a spot that looks newly dug,” she said, “and newly raked over. Do you think something might have been buried here?”

Ned nodded. “Let’s see if we can find anything underneath?”

At once the two began digging up the dirt with their heels and fingers. In a few minutes they made a discovery. They had unearthed a long, narrow wooden box. Painted on the top of it was the word “RIFLES.”

Nancy and Ned were so astonished they just stood still, staring first at each other, then down at the marked box.

“Let’s see if there’s anything else hidden here,” Nancy urged.

They hunted around and came to a section that had not been tampered with recently, but looked different from the surrounding area. The grass growing over it was very short and sparse compared to the longer growth around it.

“Want to dig here?” Ned asked.

“Yes.”

Again the two sleuths dug their heels into the dirt. It was sun-parched and dry, and harder to dislodge than the other spot. Ned kicked at it vigorously with his heel while Nancy brushed aside the loose dirt and felt around in the hole he had made. Presently her efforts were rewarded.

“Ned, I think I’ve found a second box!” she said, excited.

Together they worked vigorously and a few minutes later had uncovered part of another box. Apparently this one was square. The two discoverers stared at the print on its lid.

The couple’s first thought was to run, in case they might have disturbed the cache and somehow triggered one or more of the bombs. But then Ned noted some more printing below the word “bombs.” It was “DEFUSED.”

“Wow!” he called out. “For a moment I thought it might be our last second on earth!”

“Don’t think I wasn’t scared too!” Nancy confessed.

At this moment they both heard a plane. Had Bruce taken off? They looked in his direction but the craft was still on the ground.

“Somebody else is coming,” Nancy exclaimed. “Maybe it’s the sky phantom! If so, we mustn’t let him see us!”

“There’s no place for us to hide around here,” Ned pointed out.

Nancy felt that the first thing they should do would be to heap dirt over the boxes. She and Ned worked frantically to do this.

The sounds of the oncoming plane were louder now. Suddenly an idea came to Nancy. Both she and Ned were wearing long-sleeved, dark sweaters and dark jeans. She suggested that they take their arms out, put them down inside their sweaters, and pull part of the knitted material over their heads.

“Then we’ll curl up on the ground and hope we won’t be spotted.”

Quickly they did this, then waited, holding their breaths. Would the plane settle down near them? Was the pilot the sky phantom? Nancy listened carefully and was sure the sound was the same as that of Roger Paine’s stolen plane.

Evidently its pilot had spotted the
Lady
Luck. It was doubtful that he had seen the two detectives on the ground, however, because while the craft dragged the area, it made no attempt to land. Instead, the plane went on and was soon out of sight. Nancy and Ned pulled their sweaters down.

He remarked, “Wow! That was a close call!” He laughed. “It’s my first experience of suffocation because of an airplane flying overhead!”

Nancy chuckled. “There’s a first time for everything! Well, I think we’d better get back to our own plane and report this whole discovery to Pop Hamilton. By the way, Ned, he’s a deputy sheriff.”

Bruce was standing outside the craft. He said, “I thought that plane was Roger Paine’s, and I was afraid the pilot would spot you two. Thank goodness you’re all right.”

Nancy told him about their disguise and he laughed. “Very ingenious.” After hearing the entire story, he said, “I suppose you want to get right back and report all this to Pop Hamilton.”

“Yes, we do,” Nancy replied.

To the girls’ complete surprise Bruce now said, “Ned, how about your taking the controls?”

“I’d like to,” the Emerson student replied with a wink at the girl detective.

Nancy stared unbelievingly at the two of them. “Are you kidding?” she asked.

Ned now admitted that he too had been taking flying lessons. “I couldn’t let you get ahead of me!” he said to Nancy.

Ned proved to be an excellent pilot. When he brought the plane down smoothly on the flying school’s runway, both Bruce and Nancy praised him.

She added, “That really was a marvelous surprise, Ned, and you kept your secret well.”

Bruce drove them to the Hamilton ranch. Fortunately Pop Hamilton was near the entrance and heard their story. The rancher’s eyes opened wide in amazement.

“Something must be done at once!” he exclaimed. “We must remove those buried rifles and bombs and try to capture the sky phantom and his buddies!”

Bruce, who had stood by, now spoke up. “I’m sure all my instructor friends at the school would be glad to help.”

They discussed the best way to accomplish what they wanted to do. Several schemes were mentioned and discarded. It seemed to the flying group that the best way to catch the sky phantom was in the air.

Nancy said, “How about several planes surrounding the phantom flier when he comes? If he disappears into the cloud we can force him to surrender.”

Bruce and Ned thought this was an excellent idea, and finally Pop was convinced.

Getting into the spirit of the game he said, “We’ll start off at sunset.”

BRUCE made some phone calls to the flying school to arrange for the sunset flight. He talked confidentially with the manager and asked if he would be willing to let certain planes and the instructors go on the mission the next morning.

After a long conversation, he came back to Nancy, Ned, and Pop, smiling. “Everything is arranged,” he reported. “How about all you visitors going on the adventure?”

“That would be great,” Ned replied. “Here come our friends now.”

Bess, George, Burt, and Dave were just riding in. Walking behind them were two Brahman cows with their day-old calves. Pop and the others hurried forward to meet them.

As Bess slid from her pony, she said, “Aren’t they adorable?”

“They certainly are,” Nancy agreed.

She went up to one of the cows, patted her neck, then ran one hand up and down the calf’s nose. He eyed her shyly, ready to bolt if she should try to stroke any more of his body. Two cowhands appeared and took charge of the animals.

“We’ll put them in separate stalls for a little while,” Pop said.

George now asked what Nancy and Ned had discovered. When the group heard about the couple’s find, they were astounded.

“You actually uncovered rifles and bombs?” George asked incredulously.

Ned chuckled. He turned around and said, “Look at these heels of mine! They were my spade and rake.” There was no doubt that the deep scuff marks on Ned’s shoes had been made by hard digging.

Pop excused himself, asking Nancy to extend the invitation for the evening flight.

“We’re going somewhere tonight?” Bess asked.

Bruce repeated Pop’s offer. At once George, Burt, and Dave accepted.

Dave said, “I can hardly wait to help capture the villain and solve the mystery.

“Who do you suppose he’s going to turn out to be?” Burt questioned. “The sky phantom, or some political terrorist?”

Nancy confessed that all she had done so far was to eliminate suspects. “But within a few hours I hope we can catch the leader of the revolution,” she added.

“And is he the sky phantom, or is the sky phantom his pilot?” Burt asked.

“I’m sure we’ll soon find out,” Nancy replied.

All this time Bess had said nothing. Finally George prodded her cousin into giving an answer about going on the sleuthing trip.

“If you want the truth,” Bess said, “I’m scared to death. It sounds like war!” Then looking at Dave, she asked, “Do you want me to go?”

“I sure do,” he replied.

It took several seconds for Bess to make up her mind, but finally she agreed to accompany the others.

Nancy and Ned lingered behind the rest as they set out for the ranch house. The girl detective had whispered to Ned that she wanted to inquire about Chuck and Range. Both at the corral and the bunkhouse she was told that the two cowboys had not returned.

She and Ned did not comment until they were out of earshot of everyone else. Then Nancy said, “Do you suppose Chuck and Range are staying away on purpose to avoid all of us?”

Ned agreed this was possible, but said with a smile, “You mean Dave and Burt. But personally I’d rather Chuck and Range didn’t give in so easily. Running away from a problem isn’t going to solve it.”

No more was said on the subject. When the couple reached the ranch house, they separated to go to their rooms. Bess and George were already there. The blond girl was walking the floot and continuously running her hands through her hair.

George was a bit annoyed. “Oh Bess, for Pete’s sake, stop walking around and trying to pull out all your hair! You may need it!”

Bess eyed her unsympathetic cousin but did not answer her. Instead she turned to Nancy and asked, “If you were in the predicament I am in, what would you do about it?”

At once her young detective friend replied, “I’d have a good talk as soon as possible with the boy who’s the loser.”

Bess answered at once, “But how can I talk to Chuck if he isn’t here?”

Nancy smiled and George winked at her. “So you’ve decided on Dave?” Nancy asked. “That means you’re not going to stay out here and marry Chuck?”

Bess said this was right. She had thought the matter over and while she was very attracted to Chuck she had concluded that in the long run Dave would be a better companion for her.

Nancy and George felt relieved, and Nancy hugged Bess. “I’m glad,” she said, and went to take a shower.

But George asked teasingly, “Bess, when did Dave ask you to marry him?”

Bess blushed to the roots of her hair. “He has never asked me, and maybe he never will, but right now he is my favorite boy friend.”

George said, “Thank goodness.”