Dare at the Fair

  “Sorry, girls,” Tony said. “I didn’t find any passes.”

  “That’s what everybody’s told us.” Nancy sighed. “But thanks anyway, Tony.”

  As Nancy and her friends walked away, they heard a voice calling to them.

  Nancy looked around. She saw a woman sitting outside a red tent. The woman had silver-colored hair. The woman waved to the girls. She pointed to a sign. It read, Madame Valenska, fortune-teller. Why wait? Learn your fate!

  “Maybe she can tell us where the passes are,” Bess said.

  “I don’t believe in fortune-tellers,” Jessie said.

  “Come on, Jessie,” Nancy said. “It’s worth a try.”

  The girls followed Madame Valenska behind a beaded curtain.

  Inside the tent was a small table and two chairs. Madame Valenska sat down in one of the chairs. “Whose fortune shall I tell first?” she asked the girls.

  Nancy stepped forward. “Mine. I mean . . . maybe you can tell me about something I lost.”

  Madame invited Nancy to sit in the chair facing her. She waved her hands in front of Nancy’s face.

  “I can see your name begins with a P. Is it . . . Patty?”

  Nancy heard Jessie begin to laugh.

  “It’s Nancy,” Nancy said.

  “Nancy, Patty—close enough,” Madame said with a shrug. She took Nancy’s hand and traced Nancy’s palm with her index finger.

  “That tickles!” Nancy giggled.

  “I can see that what you lost is very valuable,” Madame Valenska said.

  “Can you also see where they are?” Nancy asked.

  Madame Valenska’s eyes twinkled. She leaned back in her chair. “All I will say is this: Be aware. The clues are there. Be wise. And use your eyes.”

  Nancy wrinkled her nose. “That sounds more like a riddle than a fortune.”

  “It is a riddle,” Madame said. “But it also tells your fortune.”

  “Thanks,” Nancy said. But she felt disappointed.

  “I’ve gotten better fortunes in cookies,” Jessie whispered as they headed out of the tent.

  The girls walked silently to a bench near the Rambling Rosie.

  “We’re never going to find our passes,” Bess said as everyone sat down.

  Nancy opened her hand and stared at her palm. “I wonder what Madame Valenska meant when she said ‘the clues are there.’ Maybe ‘clues’ means that I have a new mystery to solve.”

  “You mean, the mystery of the missing passes?” George asked Nancy.

  “You’re a great detective, Nancy,” Jessie said. “But there are a thousand people at this fair. The passes could be anywhere. And anyone could have taken them. You would never solve this mystery.”

  Bess jumped up from the bench. She put her hands on her hips. “Nancy can solve any mystery—even this one.”

  Bess pointed to the Rambling Rosie. “And if she doesn’t, she’ll ride the Rambling Rosie three times in a row!”

  4

  Daffy

  for Taffy

  Bess!” Nancy cried. “Why did you make that promise?”

  “Because you will solve the mystery,” Bess said.

  “And if you don’t, we’ll all ride the Rambling Rosie together,” Jessie said. “It would be so neat!”

  “Okay,” Nancy said with a sigh. “I’ll ride the Rambling Rosie, but only if I don’t find the passes.”

  “You will,” Bess said. “Did you bring your detective notebook?”

  Nancy shook her head. “It’s in my room. I’ll have to wait until I go home.”

  “Can we come over and help?” Jessie said. “If we all get permission, that is.”

  “Sure,” Nancy said. “I can use all the help I can get.”

  “You’ll find the passes,” George said. “But let’s go on some more rides. Just in case it’s our last day.”

  The girls went on one more ride. Then they played the ring toss game. They even watched Coconut play peekaboo with a little boy. Then they met Mrs. Shapiro.

  On the ride to Nancy’s house, everyone told Mrs. Shapiro about the rides they had gone on. But all Nancy could think about was the missing passes. She couldn’t wait to open her notebook and get to work.

  When they reached Nancy’s house, Bess and George called their mothers and got permission to stay for a while. Then everyone went upstairs to Nancy’s room.

  All the girls sat on the rug beside Nancy’s bed. Bess held a stuffed cat she’d won at the ring toss game.

  “Isn’t she beautiful?” Bess asked. She combed the cat’s long pink hair. “I’m going to call her Pretty Kitty.”

  “I wish you had picked the stuffed soccer ball,” George said. “Now, that was neat.”

  Jessie stared at Bess and George. “Sometimes I can’t believe you’re cousins. You two are so different.”

  Nancy opened her notebook. She turned to a clean page. She wrote: “Missing: Passes to Big Thrills.” Under that she wrote: “List of Suspects.”

  “Who’s first?” Jessie asked. She was looking over Nancy’s shoulder.

  “Rebecca Ramirez,” Nancy said. She wrote down Rebecca’s name. “She looked upset when she found out Jessie gave us the free passes instead of her.”

  “She also knew that the passes were in your pocket,” Bess added.

  “Then she ran away before the carousel ride began,” Nancy said. She wrote everything down in her notebook.

  “I’ve known Rebecca since kindergarten,” Jessie said. “Even though we had a fight, we’re still friends. Besides, she’d never steal anything.”

  “My dad says that even friends can make mistakes,” Nancy told Jessie.

  Nancy’s father, Carson Drew, was a lawyer. He often helped Nancy with her cases.

  Nancy thought for a moment. “My next suspect,” she said, “is Orson Wong.”

  “Yeah,” George said. “Did you see the weird look on Orson’s face when he found out about the passes?”

  “Orson always has a weird look on his face,” Jessie said.

  “If Orson could make a tarantula appear in my pocket,” Nancy said, “maybe he could make the passes disappear.”

  “Into his own pocket,” George said.

  Nancy added Orson’s name to her list.

  “I should have bought some taffy at the fair today,” George said. “I could go for some now.”

  “I had a whole bag in my pocket before it was stolen,” Nancy said sadly.

  “Whoever stole the free passes,” Jessie said, “must like taffy, too.”

  Nancy sat up straight. “Coconut!”

  “Nah. I like chocolate,” Jessie said.

  “No, no, no,” Nancy said. “I mean Coconut the Peekaboo Chimp. His trainer told me Coconut loves taffy. Maybe he took the passes.”

  “Why would a chimp want passes to a fair?” George said.

  “Coconut reached in my pocket for the taffy,” Nancy said. “When he did that, he might have accidentally pulled out the passes, too.”

  “Where would he have put them?” Jessie asked.

  Nancy snapped her fingers. “Coconut was wearing overalls with huge pockets.”

  Bess shook her finger. “I knew that smelly chimp was up to no good.”

  “Coconut didn’t smell,” Nancy insisted. “And he’s still just a suspect. Just like Orson and Rebecca.”

  “Yeah, but a whole lot hairier.” George laughed.

  Nancy leaned against her bed.

  “I wish we could go to the fair tomorrow and do some investigating,” she said.

  “How are we going to do that without our passes?” George asked.

  “I know,” Nancy said. “Hannah offered to take us to Big Thrills this year as a treat. Maybe tomorrow could be the day.”

  Hannah Gruen worked as the Drews’ housekeeper.

  “I still have my pass,” Jessie said. “So I can go with you tomorrow.”

  The girls gave each other high-fives. Then George looked at her watch. “We’d better go home,” she sai
d. “It’s almost dinnertime.”

  Nancy walked her friends outside. Suddenly she heard two boys yell out.

  “Look out!”

  “Beep! Beep!”

  Nancy froze. The boys were speeding down the sidewalk on roller skates.

  Bess and George backed up against a tree. Jessie and Nancy ran for the curb.

  “Watch where you’re going!” George shouted as the boys screeched to a stop.

  Nancy recognized them. They were Lonny and Lenny Wong, Orson’s brothers. They were six years old, and they were twins.

  Lenny pointed to the pin on Nancy’s jacket. “Hey! Isn’t that Coconut the Peekaboo Chimp?” he asked.

  Nancy nodded. “Did you ever meet Coconut?” she asked the boys.

  “Nope,” Lonny said. “But maybe we’ll see him tomorrow.”

  “Orson is taking us to Big Thrills for the whole day,” Lenny said.

  “We saw Orson there today,” Nancy said. “Is he going to be at Big Thrills tomorrow, too?”

  “Why?” Lonny asked with a silly grin. “Do you like him?”

  Lenny made sloppy kissing noises. The twins laughed as they skated away.

  “Is Orson going to be there or not?” George yelled after them.

  “You bet,” Lenny called over his shoulder. “He just got three free passes!”

  The girls stared at one another.

  “Did he say—” Bess started to say.

  “Yup,” Nancy said. “Three free passes.”

  5

  Pocket Full

  of Trouble

  Nancy could hardly sleep a wink that night. When Sunday morning finally came, Hannah drove Nancy, Bess, George, and Jessie to Big Thrills.

  “Thanks for taking us, Hannah,” Nancy said as they pulled into the parking lot.

  “This is as much fun for me as it is for you,” Hannah said. “I haven’t eaten cotton candy in years.”

  Just then Bess grabbed Nancy’s arm. “There’s Orson Wong,” she whispered.

  Orson was walking toward the gate with his father and brothers. The three boys were waving pink passes with orange borders in the air.

  “We have free passes! We have free passes!” Orson sang as he followed his father to the ticket taker.

  Nancy took her notebook out of her jacket pocket. Under her list of suspects she wrote: “Orson—three free passes. They look just like ours.”

  “Okay, girls,” Hannah said as they walked inside. “What ride should we go on first?”

  “Um . . . Hannah?” Nancy asked. “Would you mind if we did something else right now?”

  “Like solve a mystery?” Hannah chuckled. “I thought you were on a new case when I saw that blue notebook.”

  “Can we? Please?” Nancy asked.

  Hannah tilted her head. “Well, as long as you check in with me every hour. We can meet at the balloon stand.”

  “You’re neat, Hannah!” Nancy said.

  “Thanks,” Hannah said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I simply must ride the Curly Caterpillar.”

  After Hannah left, Nancy turned to her friends. “Let’s follow Orson first. Then we’ll look for Coconut.”

  “I think I’d rather go on the Curly Caterpillar with Hannah,” Jessie said.

  “That’s okay, Jessie,” Nancy said. “Go catch up to her. We can meet you later.”

  “And if you don’t solve the case by the time the fair closes, you’ll—” Jessie started to say.

  “I know, I know.” Nancy sighed. “I’ll have to ride the Rambling Rosie.”

  “There’s Mr. Wong,” George said after Jessie ran to catch up with Hannah.

  Orson’s father was sitting on a bench. He was loading a video camera. The twins were watching a clown make balloon animals.

  “Where’s Orson?” Bess asked.

  “There he is,” Nancy said. “He’s walking toward the Barrel of Monkeys.”

  The Barrel of Monkeys ride was shaped like a giant wooden barrel. People stood inside it as it spun faster and faster.

  The girls stopped at a sign outside the ramp. It read, Warning: Empty your pockets before going on this ride.

  “I guess one of us should stay outside and hold our things,” Nancy said.

  “I’ll do it,” Bess offered happily.

  “You’ll do anything to get out of this ride, Bess.” George laughed.

  After they emptied their pockets into Bess’s hands, Nancy saw Orson staring at the sign. He looked both ways before dashing up the ramp.

  “Orson isn’t emptying his pockets,” Nancy said angrily.

  Nancy and George entered the giant barrel. They strapped themselves in across from Orson.

  A voice came over the loudspeaker. “Is everybody ready?” it said. “Then here we go-go-go!”

  The barrel began to spin. Nancy held on, but she didn’t have to. The barrel spun so fast that everyone stuck to the sides.

  “It’s going faster!” Nancy shouted happily.

  Then the barrel tilted. “This is the best part!” George cried.

  Suddenly, all sorts of things started flying around inside the barrel. Nancy saw baseball cards and a few sticks of gum fly by. Then she saw pieces of pink-and-orange paper floating in the air.

  The passes! Nancy thought with a gasp.

  The ride came to a stop. Everything that had been flying around floated to the bottom of the barrel.

  “Who do these things belong to?” the ride operator asked sternly.

  Orson unstrapped himself and ran forward. “Me. They fell out of my pocket.”

  “You were supposed to empty your pockets,” the man scolded.

  “I’m sorry,” Orson said. “I just had some things that I didn’t want to lose.”

  “Orson, may I have those passes, please?” Nancy asked in a firm voice.

  Orson stared at Nancy. “No way!” he shouted. He hurried off the ride. Nancy, Bess, and George followed.

  The girls chased Orson all the way to Marv the Magician’s stage. Lonny and Lenny were there, chomping on cotton candy. Their father stood nearby, filming everything.

  Just then Marv walked over. He was carrying a silver cape. “What’s going on, kids?” he asked.

  George pointed to Orson. “The assistant you picked yesterday might be a thief!”

  Nancy explained everything about the missing passes to Marv. She even told him about the rubber spider.

  Marv threw his head back and laughed. “Orson slipped that spider in your pocket while you were watching the wand. Right, Orson?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Orson admitted. “But that trick is supposed to be a secret.”

  “Then it’s our little secret,” Marv said with a friendly wink.

  “Well, that explains the spider,” Nancy said. “But how did Orson get three free passes?”

  “From me,” Marv said.

  “From you?” Nancy asked.

  “I gave them to Orson for being such a great assistant,” Marv said. Then he draped the silver cape around Orson’s shoulders.

  Lonny and Lenny smiled proudly.

  “Nyah, nyah, nyah!” Orson sneered. Then he showed the passes to Nancy.

  “These passes are good from Sunday to Sunday,” Nancy whispered to George.

  “Ours were good from Saturday to Saturday,” George said.

  “Sorry,” Nancy said. She handed Orson the tickets.

  “That’s okay,” Orson said. He grinned and waved his wand. “And now . . . Orson the Awesome is going to turn you all into lizards. Abraca-dopey, canta-lopey!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George screamed and ran away.

  • • •

  “Orson is no longer a suspect,” Nancy said. Nancy, Bess, and George were at the snack stand. Nancy opened her notebook and crossed Orson’s name off the suspect list.

  “That leaves us with Rebecca and Coconut,” George said. She took a long sip of her blueberry smoothie.

  Nancy checked her watch and gulped. There were only a couple of hours left before she might
have to ride the Rambling Rosie.

  “What time is it, Nancy?” Bess asked.

  “Time to meet Hannah,” Nancy said.

  The girls joined Hannah and Jessie at the balloon stand. Everyone rode on the Loopy Loop and the mini train. Then Hannah and Jessie headed for the fun house.

  “Let’s get some taffy,” George said to Nancy and Bess.

  When they got to Tony’s stand, George bought a bag of vanilla. Bess wanted to try the kiwi-flavored taffy. Then it was Nancy’s turn.

  “I’ll have a bag of banana taffy, please,” she told Tony.

  “I was afraid of that,” Tony said.

  “Why, Tony?” Nancy asked.

  “Someone got into my taffy truck early last night,” Tony explained. “The banana taffy boxes were ripped open.”

  Nancy stared at Tony. “You mean—”

  Tony nodded. “Almost all of my banana taffy was stolen!”

  6

  Monkey Business

  Who do you think did it?” Nancy asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Tony said. He glared at Nancy’s Coconut pin. “But I think I have a pretty good idea.”

  “Coconut?” Bess gasped.

  “He did it once before,” Tony said. “We found the taffy in his trailer.”

  “Tony,” Nancy said. “Could you tell us where Coconut’s trailer is?”

  “Sure,” Tony said. He pointed to the parking lot at the other side of the fair. Nancy could see some trailers parked in a neat row.

  “It sounds like Coconut might have taken Tony’s taffy,” Nancy said to Bess and George as they walked toward the trailers. “He also might have stolen my taffy.”

  “And the passes,” George said.

  Nancy stopped walking. She wrote “stolen taffy” under her list of clues.

  The girls reached the row of trailers. “That one has a sign on the door,” Nancy said. She stepped closer. “It says, Coconut the Peekaboo Chimp.”

  Nancy peeked in through the screen door.

  “What do you see?” George asked.

  “There’s a small couch, a bucket of bananas, a cage,” Nancy whispered. “And—wow!”

  “Wow what?” George asked.

  “The overalls that Coconut wore yesterday are lying on the cage,” Nancy said. “I want to look inside the pockets.”