The Witch Tree Symbol

  A long time ago, the storyteller related, when the Hoelts lived on the farm, some members of their family vanished mysteriously and were never seen again. Neighbors concluded that there was a hex on the family. One day a band of gypsies came along, and they set up their tents on the property.

  “Old Mr. Hoelt was furious,” Groeszdawdi said. “He was sure the gypsies would bring him even worse luck. He ordered them away, but instead of leaving they only moved to the woods on his property.”

  It seemed that old Mr. Hoelt was not aware of this, but several of his children went to the encampment and became friendly with the gypsies. One of the women was a beautiful, young fortuneteller. Mr. Hoelt’s eldest son and she fell in love and planned to marry.

  The old man found out and stopped the marriage by threatening to disinherit his son. The fortuneteller was furious. She told him that she knew the secret of why members of his family had disappeared, but she would never tell him unless he consented to the marriage. It was a terrible choice for the old man to make, but he decided to keep his son at home.

  Later, people said that the gypsy woman, out of love for the young man, had left him a clue to the secret. She had written it down in English on a piece of paper and hidden it in a table, which she had left behind for her beloved. According to rumors, this table had somehow been acquired by the gypsies from the collection in George Washington’s home.

  As Groeszdawdi Esch finished the story, Nancy and Bess glanced at each other. Was this the table Roger Hoelt had been searching for?

  Mr. Esch told the girls that the present owner of the property, Mr. Fuller, had also had bad luck on the farm. No one in his family had disappeared, but his cattle had become ill and died, he had had poor crops and several accidents, and illness had hounded the family.

  “Who is operating the farm now?” Nancy asked.

  “No one,” the man replied. “The Fullers have left, but they have not put the property up for sale. I do not know whether they intend to come back.”

  Nancy concluded that this might explain why Roger Hoelt and his wife had chosen this particular place in which to hide. He was trying to find out what the secret was. Should he discover it, and learn that the answer might bring him a lot of money, he would undoubtedly offer to buy back the property.

  A faraway look came into Groeszdawdi’s eyes. Then he said, “You say that maybe Manda Kreutz is hiding on the Fuller property?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Nancy answered. “I’m going to go there and try to find her. Have you any idea what makes the place dangerous, so I could avoid any trouble?”

  Groeszdawdi Esch said it was a mystery to him and that he had never heard anything to give him the slightest clue as to what the secret was.

  “But the few people who know the story stay away from the place like the plague!” he told them.

  Nancy thanked the man for his information and promised to be very careful in her search. He smiled and said he hoped that Manda would be safe at home soon and that her papa would not be too harsh with her.

  “Manda is pretty and she is a good worker,” he said. “She will soon get a husband and her papa will not have to worry,” he added, chuckling.

  The girls laughed, recalling that Melinda had said the same thing. They left.

  Nancy wanted to start immediately for the Fuller farm, but Bess protested. “Nancy Drew, after all you’ve heard, you’re going to go there?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, you’ll take somebody except just me,” she announced firmly. “We’ll collect George and half a dozen other people.”

  Nancy laughed. “Where are we going to get all these people?”

  Bess said she did not know, but they were not going alone. The girls continued to discuss the matter as they drove off.

  “You’re hinting that I call in the police, Bess,” said Nancy. “I don’t want to do that. We haven’t one definite thing to go on. Dragging officers out on what may be a wild-goose chase wouldn’t be right.

  “What I propose to do is find out whether Mr. and Mrs. Hoelt are really hiding at the Fuller farm. And if Manda is there working for them, I want to get her away before I call the police. We don’t want Manda to get any bad publicity.”

  Bess finally conceded that Nancy was right. “But it’s getting late. I won’t hear of your going until tomorrow morning.”

  “All right,” Nancy agreed.

  Presently she remarked that it was likely the furniture thief and his wife were using Manda as a front. So far as the Amish girl knew, the couple were honest.

  “Manda has led a sheltered life,” said Nancy. “She would probably believe any story the Hoelts might tell her and pass it on to any unexpected visitors.”

  “Of course the unexpected visitors aren’t supposed to include you, George, and me,” Bess said. “Roger Hoelt tried to brain us in that little cabin. No telling what he’ll do if we show up at his real hideout.”

  Nancy did not comment on this. Instead, she said, “I’m convinced now that the woman who screamed in the woods and ran away was either Manda or Mrs. Hoelt. With the Amish head covering, it’s hard to distinguish faces from a distance.”

  Bess looked worried. She suggested that the secret danger connected with the property might have caused the woman to scream. “Maybe it’s some kind of a witch or other hex,” she murmured.

  “It was probably only a snake,” said Nancy.

  At the Glicks’ farm, Nancy and Bess related their latest news. The children and their parents were intrigued.

  “What is a gypsy like?” Becky asked. “And how do you tell fortunes?”

  Her mother explained, then said, “There is no more sense to fortunetelling than there is to hexing. Now we will talk no more about nonsense.”

  The visitors took the cue, changed the subject, and later helped Mrs. Glick prepare supper. Glancing outside, Nancy saw Becky and Henner playing in the barnyard.

  As she watched, the little boy raised a slingshot. Nancy was amazed that his parents would let him use this dangerous plaything. Henner was very proficient and could make a stone whistle a long distance through the air.

  “Henner would make a good hunter,” Nancy remarked to the boy’s mother. “He has a very accurate aim with his slingshot.”

  Mrs. Glick agreed, but said that once in a while he became erratic and hit something he had not intended to. “But he is improving every day,” she said.

  Directly after supper the three girls took a walk and discussed the mystery again. They had just started back to the house when Mrs. Glick called to them.

  “Telephone call for you from home, Bess,” she said.

  Bess hurried into the house. The other girls followed, thinking there might be some news for them too.

  As they stepped through the door, Bess was saying, “Hello!” She listened for a few seconds, then hung up.

  Suddenly Bess burst into tears!

  CHAPTER XVI

  A Slingshot Strikes

  “BESS, what happened?” Nancy cried, rushing to her friend’s side and putting an arm around her. “Is it bad news?”

  Bess stopped sobbing and said in a quivering voice, “Nancy, I hate to tell you this, but it was your father’s secretary calling. Oh dear, I don’t know how to break such news.”

  Nancy’s heart began to pound. “Tell me, whatever it is,” she begged.

  Finally Bess said that Mr. Drew was dangerously ill in a hospital and it was doubtful that he would recover. “He keeps calling for you all the time, Nancy,” Bess went on. “Everybody thinks you should come home at once.”

  Nancy had turned chalk white. She was completely stunned—too stunned even to shed a tear. Like someone in a trance, she turned toward the stairway, saying she would get her car keys and leave at once. Bess quickly said she would go along.

  Mrs. Glick hurried to Nancy’s side. Putting a motherly arm around the girl’s waist, she told her how sorry she was to hear the bad news.

  Mr. Glick had risen from his
chair. He also came to Nancy’s side to offer his sympathy. “You should not be driving all night,” he said. “Anyway, it would be faster for you to fly. I will telephone the airport to see about a plane and drive you over there.”

  Nancy thanked him, agreeing that would be the best way for her to get to River Heights in a hurry. She hoped she would not be too late to see her father alive.

  All this while George had remained silent. It was not because of lack of sympathy, but it had occurred to her that the whole procedure was almost irregular. If Mr. Drew were so ill, Hannah would have returned to River Heights and called Nancy direct. Or, her own or Bess’s parents would have been in touch with the girls.

  The more George thought about it, the more suspicious she became that the telephone call might have been a hoax. Mr. Drew’s secretary was on vacation and a substitute was taking her place. Bess had never spoken to the girl, so she would not have been able to identify the voice. It would be very easy for someone else to pretend to be his secretary.

  “Mrs. Glick,” said George, “did the operator tell you the call was from River Heights?”

  “Why, no,” the Amish woman replied. “It was the secretary herself I talked to.”

  George now told them of her suspicions and suggested that they call the Drew home. If there was no answer, she would try her own house.

  Nancy had paused on the stairway. Her heart leaped with hope! George’s idea was very good. Nancy prayed the girl was right and that this was a hoax!

  Everyone waited breathlessly while George placed the call to the Drew house. There was no answer. Nancy relaxed a little. This must mean that Hannah Gruen was still visiting her sister! But George wasted no time in trying her own home. Less than a minute later she was saying hello to her mother, and adding, “Is it true that Nancy’s father is in the hospital and very ill?”

  “Why, absolutely not!” Mrs. Fayne answered. “I was speaking with Mr. Drew only five minutes ago. He had returned home from the trip he told Nancy about, but was leaving for another overnight trip.”

  “Hold the line just a moment, Mother,” said George. She turned and relayed the good news to everyone. Nancy’s eyes filled with tears of joy and relief. She was sorry not to have spoken with her father. He had probably just missed the telephone call. George resumed talking with her mother, telling her about the fake message they had received.

  “Why, how dreadful!” exclaimed Mrs. Fayne.

  “It’s wicked,” said George. “Nancy has almost solved the mystery. The furniture thief is here. It was a pretty cruel method for him to use to get Nancy out of this area.”

  Mrs. Fayne felt that in view of what had happened, Nancy should not pursue the case any longer.

  “Mother, you know how Nancy is,” George replied. “She won’t give up!”

  “I suppose not,” George’s mother replied. “But do tell her to be careful, and you and Bess watch your step too.”

  George promised to do so, then hung up. Nancy came down the stairs and hugged George. She complimented the quick-witted girl for realizing the call might be a fake.

  “Mrs. Roger Hoelt got the better of me that time,” she said ruefully.

  Nancy and the other girls, weary from their long day and the fright they had just had, went to bed early. All of them wanted to be fresh for the exciting detective work ahead of them.

  The following morning, the girls were downstairs even before Mrs. Glick appeared. Not knowing what she had planned for breakfast, they walked outside. Henner was practicing nearby with his slingshot.

  “Whom are you shooting now?” George asked him playfully.

  “Goliath,” the little boy answered. “I’m David.”

  The girls laughed, but Henner did not. He said he was perfecting his aim so that if any bad people came around to bother Nancy, he could use his slingshot as David had.

  “Oh, Henner, you mustn’t have such ideas,” Nancy said. “If any bad people come around here, you let your dad handle them.”

  Henner was not convinced. He insisted that he was bigger than Nancy realized and was old enough to help if anything like that should happen. Nancy said no more on the subject. Deciding to pick some flowers for the breakfast table, she wandered off to the garden.

  She had just gathered a large bouquet when suddenly she heard Bess shriek, “Look out!”

  Nancy started to turn to find out what Bess meant. She was too late. At that moment something hit her in the back of the neck and she slumped to the ground, unconscious.

  Bess was at her friend’s side almost immediately. “Oh, Nancy!” she wailed.

  Behind her, Henner was saying, “I didn’t mean to do it. Is Nancy bad hurt?” The little boy dashed over to the girls.

  By this time, George had also run up and together she and Bess carried Nancy into the house and laid her on a sofa. Mrs. Glick, who was just coming downstairs, rushed to find out what had happened.

  “I did it, Mama!” Henner cried. “Oh, Mama, maybe I’ve killed Nancy with my slingshot.”

  Before his startled mother could calm the small boy, Henner hurried up the stairs, weeping. Mrs. Glick immediately turned her attention to Nancy.

  “This is dreadful,” the woman said.

  She inquired where Nancy had been hit with the stone, and upon learning it was in the back of the neck, said at once, “We must quick get the doctor!” She made the call, then returned to Nancy. She took hold of one of the girl’s hands and began to murmur a prayer. Bess, meanwhile, had wrung out a cloth in cold water, which she now placed on Nancy’s forehead. George began chafing her friend’s wrists.

  Nancy slowly regained consciousness but was still groggy when the doctor arrived twenty minutes later. He said that, fortunately, Nancy had received only a glancing blow, judging by the scratches on the back of her neck. The doctor assured her friends that she would be all right, but should be quiet the rest of the day.

  When Nancy’s mind cleared, she smiled wanly and asked what had happened to her. George related the details of the accident.

  Henner, meanwhile, had quietly come downstairs. “Poor Henner!” Nancy remarked. “Please don’t punish him, Mrs. Click. He meant no harm.”

  Mrs. Glick said she felt sure her son had learned his lesson but that she would take away the boy’s slingshot. A few minutes later the doctor said he was sure Nancy would suffer no ill effects from the accident and that he must be going.

  “I want you to rest today, Miss Drew. Don’t even walk around—stay on this sofa until bedtime,” he ordered.

  He left at once, giving Nancy no opportunity to object. When she sadly mentioned having to postpone her sleuthing, Bess spoke up.

  “Finding Roger Hoelt isn’t worth risking your health,” she said sternly. “Nancy, if you try to get off that sofa, I’m going to tie you down.”

  Nancy smiled. At the moment she entertained no such thought. Going to sleep was the only thing that appealed to her. For the rest of the day, Nancy napped a good bit and ate lightly. She went to bed right after dusk. To her own and everyone else’s relief, she felt fine the next morning and ready to resume the search for Manda and her thieving employers, the Hoelts.

  As soon as breakfast was over, Mrs. Glick playfully shooed the girls out of the house. They headed for the convertible. To their surprise, the car was not in its usual place by the barn.

  “Did one of you move it yesterday?” Nancy asked.

  The cousins shook their heads. “Maybe Mr. Glick put the car in the barn,” George suggested. But he had not.

  Then the girls went to the little stone building near the barn, where Mr. Glick had his cobbler’s shop. They asked the kindly man where the convertible was.

  “I, too, have wondered,” he replied, “but I thought one of you girls had moved it.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George frantically searched everywhere, but the convertible was nowhere on the Glick farm.

  “It’s been stolen!” Bess cried out.

  CHAPTER XVII

  Wheel
Off!

  THE full import of Bess’s words dawned on Nancy and George. There was no doubt, they realized with despair, that Nancy’s convertible had been stolen!

  “You’ve been hexed again,” Bess added dolefully.

  “Whether it was a hex or not, it’s certainly bad luck,” Nancy agreed. “I’ll bet Roger Hoelt is responsible for this. He couldn’t get me to leave this area, so he thought of another trick. Without a car it will be more difficult for us to find his hideout.”

  “But that isn’t going to stop you, is it?” George asked at once.

  “Of course not!” Nancy said, tossing her head vehemently. “It gives me an even better reason for finding him. I’m sure my car is at the Hoelt hideout.”

  “Why not rent another one?” Bess suggested.

  Nancy said it was an excellent suggestion, but first she would notify the police. It was possible that the car thief was not Roger Hoelt but a local prankster. If so, the police might easily locate the convertible. It might even have been abandoned on some nearby road.

  By now, all the Glicks had assembled and were aghast to hear the story. Henner felt particularly bad that Nancy was having more trouble. He shyly took one of her hands in his own.

  “Nancy,” he said, “to make up for what I did yesterday I want to help you now.”

  The little boy had such a pleading look in his eyes that Nancy gave him a loving hug. “I’ll try to figure out how you can assist me,” she replied.

  Henner said he already had an idea. His face brightened as he said it was not too far to the schnitz. “I’ll drive you there with our horse and carriage,” he said.

  “That might be a good solution,” Nancy said, smiling. “But first I’ll report the theft.”

  She hurried into the house and called State Police headquarters. Within half an hour an officer arrived and took down all the data. He also inspected the area where the car had been parked.