The Elusive Heiress

  Ned grinned at her. “I’m game if you are.”

  “Can we go along and watch?” Jennifer asked, looking up at Nancy, then turning to Grace.

  “I don’t see why not,” Grace answered. “I love to watch the dancers and downtown Cheyenne is always exciting during Frontier Days.”

  That evening, the downtown area was thronged with people slowing the traffic to a crawl, but Grace easily directed them to a parking lot where they could leave the car. Nancy looked around as they walked away from the lot, trying hard to spot any car that might have been following them; but the traffic was too heavy and the crowds on the sidewalk blocked much of her view.

  “All we have to do is follow the music,” Ned told them and Nancy had to agree. The familiar music and easy authority of the square-dance caller's voice came early on the night breeze.

  The roped-off area of the street was already filled with swirling dancers, and it was quite a while before a couple signaled their desire to leave the group they were dancing with and Nancy and Ned were able to take their place.

  During the time they were waiting, Nancy had a few minutes with Mr. Westmorelin and she quickly confided what she’d read in the diary.

  “P and D, huh?” He frowned. “Boy, that is hard. It’s been a lot of years, you know.”

  “I realize that,” Nancy assured him. “I just didn’t know anyone else to ask.”

  “Did she say anything about them, something that would give me a clue?”

  “There was something about living on a citrus ranch, I think.”

  “Pete and Diane,” Mr. Westmorelin said, snapping his fingers. “They lived on the Catlin ranch for about a year. There’s a little cabin in a canyon about four or five miles beyond the house. I didn’t take you there to search because Lindy and Leroy never lived in it.”

  “Would you have a last name and an address for Pete and Diane?” Nancy asked.

  “Not with me, but I’m sure it’s on our old Christmas list. It might not be a recent address, but it shouldn’t be more than a year or two old.” He smiled. “I’m sure they live somewhere in California.”

  “I’d really appreciate having the address,” Nancy said. “If I’m right, they must be the people that Clarinda and Leroy went to for help when they left Cheyenne. They are probably the only people that can tell me where to reach the Catlins now.”

  “I sure hope you are right,” Mr. Westmorelin said. ‘Til call you in the morning.”

  That good news made Nancy’s feet extra light and she found herself laughing as she and Ned twirled and danced through the patterns the caller gave them. They were panting into the final whirling steps when a scream brought them to a halt.

  “Nancy!” The voice was Grace’s, but when Nancy looked around, she couldn’t see her hostess standing where she’d left her and Jennifer.

  “Something is wrong,” she cried to Ned as she ran to the rope barricade and slipped under it, nearly stumbling over Grace’s legs as the crowd separated to let her through. “Grace,” she gasped.

  “I’m all right,” the woman assured her. “Two men just knocked me down—I think they were the ones who’ve been trying to hurt you. Nancy, they took Jennifer! You’ve got to go after them. I think they were headed toward the parking lot.” “But. . .” Nancy began, hating to leave the older woman, yet aware that Jennifer was in terrible .danger.

  “I’ll see that Grace gets home safely,” Mr. Westmorelin said, coming to kneel beside Grace. “You go after the child.”

  “Thank you,” Nancy called as she and Ned plunged into the crow4, holding hands to keep from being separated.

  “Where do you think they are taking her?” Ned asked.

  “If they were following us earlier, they probably ended up in the same parking lot,” Nancy guessed.

  “That does seem logical,” Ned agreed.

  “But if they take their car out of the parking lot ahead of us, we’ll never see which way they go,” Nancy commented, her mind spinning.

  “There’s just the one exit from that lot,” Ned said, slowing his pace a little. “Why don’t you wait near it while I go and get the car. If you can spot them, we’ll know what kind of car they have and which way they’re headed.”

  “Good thinking.” Nancy gave his fingers a quick squeeze, then ran to take a position near the exit while Ned raced into the lot, his muscular form disappearing into the shadows of the cars parked there.

  Once she was alone, Nancy realized how visible she was and quickly took a position near the side of a big van parked close to the exit. The shadows were deep there, but any car leaving the lot would have to drive directly by the van and would be under the street light for a few seconds—long enough for her to see who was inside.

  Two cars drove out as Nancy watched, then a third one pulled up. It was an older car, light in color, and Nancy had to cover her mouth to keep from gasping as she recognized the driver as the blond man.

  There was no sign of Jennifer in the front seat, but she could see shadowy forms in the back seat. For a moment, she considered trying to jump in the car, but before she could move, it was gone.

  Nancy memorized the license number and watched as the car merged slowly into the traffic. She looked back and was relieved to see the familiar shape of Grace’s car. She leaped in, hardly giving Ned a chance to slow down.“They went that way” she said, pointing. “It’s a different car, older and light-colored.” She gave him the license number.

  “I only hope we can catch them,” Ned said, maneuvering into traffic with the ease of an expert. “I just wish we’d had time to call the police, too. I don’t want to give them a chance to hurt you or Jennifer.”

  “I don’t think we should try to catch them,” Nancy told him, her mind spinning with plans. “I think we should follow them, find out where they are taking Jennifer.”

  “And if we do find out, what then?”

  Nancy shrugged. “I guess we won’t know that till we see where they go,” she admitted. “I only hope they’re taking her to where they are holding her mother.”

  “You really do think they are the ones who have Lorna Buckman, don’t you?”

  “It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Nancy replied, hoping that she was right. “Or as much sense as anything has made since we got to Cheyenne.”

  “Maybe we’ll find some answers this time,” Ned told her, then gave her a grin. “After all, this was your plan, wasn’t it? For tomorrow, I mean.”

  Nancy sighed. “I didn’t count on them hurting Grace and I really planned on being the one who was bait in the trap. I’d never have risked Jennifer.”

  “I know that,” Ned assured her. “But we’ll catch them.”

  “We have to,” Nancy murmured grimly as she peered ahead at the endless stream of cars. “For Jennifer’s sake, we just have to!”

  17. Cabin Escape

  After passing two pale cars that carried the wrong license plates, Nancy was beginning to lose hope. Then she spotted the car they were seeking just as it turned onto the interstate highway and headed out of town. Ned accelerated after it.

  “Where do you suppose they could be taking her?” he asked.

  Nancy shook her head. “I haven’t any idea,” she admitted, “but isn’t this the way we came yesterday?”

  “It sure is,” Ned agreed. “Do you think that means anything?”

  “We’ll find out soon enough.”

  The night closed in around them as the traffic thinned and Ned eased back a little so as not to alert the men in the car ahead. Nancy kept her eyes on the red taillights, but her mind was busy and when the car slowed, she put a hand on Ned’s arm. “Go on by,” she told him.

  “But they’re turning off,” Ned protested. “We could lose them.”

  “That’s the road to the Catlin Ranch,” Nancy reminded him.

  “Do you suppose they are going to take her to the ranch house?” Ned asked.

  “There’s a side road,” Nancy said, pointing. “We can
pull off there and watch. I’ve got an idea about where they might be taking Jennifer.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It was something Mr. Westmorelin said when he was telling me about Pete and Diane.” Nancy told him what th& man told her about the abandoned cabin.

  “Do you really think they could be using that cabin to hold Lorna Buckman a prisoner?” Ned asked when she’d finished.

  “Well, we know they haven’t been using the ranch house. We certainly would have seen signs if anyone had been in there, wouldn’t we?” Ned nodded. “So what do we do?”

  “We can go into the Catlin ranch as far as the house,” Nancy said. “The car went on past there—I’ve been watching the lights.”

  “Then what?”

  “I’m afraid to try to follow them. I mean, they could see our lights and maybe trap us or something.’’ Nancy frowned out at the night. “Why don’t we just hide the car in the barn and wait? When we see them drive back out, we can go and see about the cabin.”

  “You don’t think that they will stay at the cabin?”

  “I doubt it,” Nancy answered him. “They’ve acted as interested in what I’m doing as they are in Jennifer, so I think they’ll be going back into town to see what happened to us.”

  “Won’t they be surprised when they can’t find us,” Ned murmured with a chuckle as he drove down the narrow road to where the ranch buildings waited in desolate darkness and silence.

  It didn’t take them long to conceal the car in the old barn. After they closed the creaking door, Nancy looked around.

  “How about over there,” she suggested, pointing to a deeply shadowed area that had a good view of the road that led in from the highway. “I just hope that we don’t have to wait too long. Jennifer must be scared half to death.”

  “I just hope there isn’t another road out of there,” Ned observed after a few minutes.

  Nancy sighed. “I hadn’t thought of that,” she admitted. “I wonder how they found this place. I mean, it’s perfect for hiding someone, but how would they know that?”

  “I guess we’ll just have to ask them when . . .” Ned let it trail off and Nancy lifted her head, her ears catching the sound of an approaching car.

  Lights tunneled through the darkness, touching the collapsing corral fence and the far corner of the barn. They held their breath, but there was no danger, for the lights came no closer.

  “Well, I guess it’s time,” Nancy said, getting to her feet as the pale car bounced its way toward the highway. “Now all we have to do is follow their trail to the cabin or wherever they went.”

  “Let’s hope it’s a decent road,” Ned commented. “Grace’s car isn’t made for really rough back roads.”

  The road, though overgrown and rutted, proved fairly easy to follow once they left the immediate area of the ranch house. The land was rugged, but beautiful in the clear, starry night, and under other circumstances, Nancy would have enjoyed the ride. Tonight, however, she was glad when the car lights finally revealed an old log cabin tucked under the protection of a rocky wall.

  “What now?” Ned asked, stopping the car at once and cutting the lights. “Do you think they left a guard with them?—providing they are here, of course.”

  Nancy took a deep breath, then opened her car door and slipped out into the cool night air. “There’s only one way to find out,” she told him, wishing even as she spoke that she was wearing something less conspicuous than the bright red-and-white-checked gingham square-dance dress.

  Approaching the cabin carefully, they could see no sign of light behind the two small windows and Nancy was terrified that she’d been wrong. What if Lorna and Jennifer had both been in the car that passed them? What if they’d just come up here to get their first victim?

  When they reached the door, a new sound broke the restless night. It was a soft sobbing that nearly broke Nancy’s heart.

  “Please don’t cry, Jenny,” a woman’s voice whispered. “There’s nothing to be afraid of, really. They’re gone now.”

  Nancy looked up at Ned, reading his expression clearly in the starlight. “Jennifer,” she called. “Jennifer, are you all right?”

  “Nancy!” The joy was unmistakable.

  Nartcy tried the door, but it didn’t open. She rattled it.

  “It’s locked tight,” the woman’s voice said. “They locked it before they left and took the keys with them.”

  “How about the windows?” Ned asked, testing the door with his shoulder. It didn’t budge.

  “I’ve tried them, they’re nailed shut,” was the answer.

  “Want to try to pick the lock, Nancy?” Ned asked.

  “I guess I could try,” Nancy replied, “but it might take quite a while. This lock looks as though it was just installed and it’s a good strong one.”

  “Maybe it would be better to just break one of the windows,” Ned mused. “We don’t want to hang around here any longer than we have to. You never know when our friends might decide to come back.”

  Nancy nodded her agreement.

  Ned called to the two inside, warning them to get away from the window and to cover themselves with a blanket so they wouldn’t be hit by the breaking glass. When they said they were ready, he picked up a piece of wood and attacked the nearest window, first splintering the glass, then breaking the old wood that divided the window into panes.

  “Don’t you have any light in there?” he called through the open window.

  “They wouldn’t leave me any matches,” the woman answered. “I think they were afraid someone might see the smoke if I started a fire.”

  “There’s probably a flashlight in the car,” Nancy suggested. “Grace is the type who’d carry one, I’m sure.”

  “I’ll get it,” Ned said. “I don’t want to go in there without some way to see what I’m doing. I spread a lot of broken glass around when I broke that window.”

  While he ran to the car, Nancy introduced herself and was pleased and relieved to learn that the woman inside was, indeed, Lorna Buckman. Ned returned with the small flashlight, which Nancy held while he helped Jennifer, then her mother, to climb out the high, small window.

  Only when they were all safe in the car did Nancy ask, “How did you happen to be in that cabin, Lorna? Who are those men and why did they want to kidnap you and Jennifer?”

  Lorna sighed. She was a pretty woman, her features very like her daughter’s. However, she was frail-looking and even in the dim light, Nancy could see the dark circles around her eyes and the lines of strain in her face. She appeared to be exhausted.

  “Their names are Barry and Fred Mathews and the woman is Elinor. I think she is Barry’s wife.”

  “Mathews?” Nancy murmured, frowning. “But. . ”

  “I met the woman first. She came to my house Wednesday afternoon. She was asking me some questions about my family. I thought she was another insurance person. Since the accident I’ve talked to dozens of them, so . . She trailed off, shaking her head.

  “What happened?” Nancy prompted.

  “Well, I guess I told her whatever it was she wanted to know because all of a sudden she went to the door and opened it and the two men came in. They brought me to the cabin.” “Why?” Nancy asked.

  “I have no idea,” Lorna answered and when her eyes met Nancy’s, the girl detective could see that she was telling the truth. “I begged them to tell me. I told them that I didn’t have any money, but they just laughed at me. They kept saying that my mother had told them different.”

  “Whatever did they mean by that?” Nancy asked. “It must have been awful for you.”

  “It was terrible. They left me in that place for a couple of days, all alone. I thought they were never coming back, and I could hardly breathe. Very little air could come in.”

  “Did they give you anything to eat, Mom?” Jennifer asked from her position snuggled against her mother’s side.

  “They left me a supply of groceries whenever they came out.
They said they could keep me there forever and no one would know. They really didn’t even have to lock me in. Since the car accident, I can’t walk more than a few yards without having to lie down. There was no way I could escape.” Her voice broke and it was several minutes before she asked, “How in the world did you ever find us?”

  Nancy explained quickly about meeting Jennifer in the airport and the things mar nau Happened since. She ended by asking, “How soon do you think they will be checking the cabin again?”

  “They said they’d see us in a couple of days,” Jennifer supplied, sounding more like herself for the first time since their rescue.

  “Did you know where you were, Lorna?” Nancy asked. “I mean, where the cabin was located?”

  “Yes, I figured it out. I’d never seen the cabin before they brought me out to it, but I’ve heard it described often enough by Uncle Pete and Aunt Diane. They spent the first couple of years they were married living in that cabin.

  Nancy gulped and her voice was a little shaky as she asked, “Your Uncle Pete and Aunt Diane lived in that cabin?”

  18. Surprising Answer

  By the time they reached the outskirts of Cheyenne, the whole story was told and Nancy could hardly contain herself, she was so excited. “You must be Clarinda Winthrop’s daughter,” she murmured over and over. “I just can’t believe it. I’ve had Arlo Winthrop’s great-granddaughter with me all this time and I never even suspected it.”

  “My mother’s name is Lindy Greenfield,” Lorna protested. “It was Lindy Thorpe before she and Daddy got married.”

  “They must have changed their name from Catlin to Greenfield after they left Cheyenne,” Nancy said. “But when we get to the house, I’ll show you some pictures of Clarinda Winthrop. I think you’ll see that she is your mother.”

  “I don’t understand any of this,” Lorna protested. “Who are the Catlins?”

  Nancy carefully explained all she knew of Clarinda’s life in Cheyenne, then listened as Lorna described her own childhood growing up in California under the name Greenfield. Her memories were happy enough, yet she seemed relieved to have Nancy fill in some of the gaps in her own family history.