Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter 1 - A Spooked Horse
Chapter 2 - The Wildcat
Chapter 3 - Mountain Mishap
Chapter 4 - Trixie, Lifesaver
Chapter 5 - The Spying Stranger
Chapter 6 - Sign Language
Chapter 7 - Old Joe’s Secret
Chapter 8 - Pyramid of Rocks
Chapter 9 - The Black Deluge
Chapter 10 - Space Trip
Chapter 11 - Human Birds
Chapter 12 - Where? What?
Chapter 13 - A Discovery
Chapter 14 - A Valuable Clue
Chapter 15 - Lab in the Forest
Chapter 16 - The Eerie Cave
Chapter 17 - Fire!
Chapter 18 - A Rewarding Find
Chapter 19 - A Strange Reunion
Chapter 20 - UFO Capture
WHEN Nancy and her friends ride deep into the Shawniegunk Forest in search of a flying saucer, they find themselves in the middle of more than one mystery.
Wildcats, runaway horses, deadly snakes, a disappearing Indian, and a loveable old naturalist in search of treasure hidden by his father years before, keep the sleuths tangled in danger and suspense.
Finally, during a frightening windstorm, the spacecraft arrives. Nancy and Ned experience an unforgettable journey before they return to solve not one but two spectacular mysteries.
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Copyright © 1980 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved. Published in 2005 by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. NANCY DREW MYSTERY STORIES® is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. S.A.
eISBN : 978-1-101-07759-7
http://us.penguingroup.com
1
A Spooked Horse
“Good-bye! Good luck! And be careful, Nancy. This new mystery you want to solve sounds dangerous!”
The words of farewell were spoken by Mrs. Hannah Gruen, the Drews’ housekeeper. She kissed the eighteen-year-old, titian-blond girl and hugged her affectionately.
“I’ll be very careful,” Nancy promised, adding lightly, “Has anyone got the best of your favorite detective yet?”
“No, but there’s always a first time!” Hannah replied as Nancy jumped into her father’s car.
Without further discussion, Carson Drew, a distinguished lawyer, headed for the River Heights airport. As they pulled up to the terminal, two girls stepped out of a sedan.
“Bess and George!” Nancy exclaimed.
Bess Marvin and George Fayne were cousins and were Nancy’s closest friends. The three girls, who were going on a camping trip in the Shawniegunk Forest, now set their large backpacks and sleeping bags on the sidewalk in front of the terminal entrance. Mr. Drew and Mrs. Fayne said they would park their cars and come back to see the girls off.
“I had to leave so much at home!” complained Bess. She was Nancy’s age and pretty—but slightly plump.
“Well, I brought lots of rain gear and not much else.” George giggled. She was an attractive slim brunette. “If it doesn’t rain, I’ll be out of luck!”
“If it does”—Bess frowned—“I’ll be wetter than a guppy.”
“You mean a whale!” George laughed.
“Thanks a lot, George!” her cousin replied, narrowing her eyes.
That was Nancy’s signal to lead the way to the ticket counter where the girls’ camping equipment was weighed and checked in. They each picked up a ticket and seat assignment, and walked to the departure gate.
Mrs. Fayne and Mr. Drew arrived just a few minutes before takeoff. As the boarding announcement was made, Mr. Drew kissed Nancy. “I hope you solve the mystery, honey,” he said as a twinkle came into his eyes. “But be on the lookout for strange creatures in the forest!”
Bess shuddered. “What do you mean, Mr. Drew?”
Nancy’s father refused to explain further. “You’d better hurry, or you’ll miss your plane.”
The girls scooted quickly through the check-in area and soon were seated side by side in the plane.
“I had no idea this trip would be dangerous,” Bess said. “I thought it was going to be fun.”
“It should be,” Nancy replied. “After all, I did promise you a mystery, and isn’t solving mysteries fun? I’ll tell you more about this one when we join the boys.”
The trip had been arranged by Mr. Drew. At his suggestion, the girls had asked their boyfriends to meet them in a little town at the foot of the wooded Shawniegunk Mountain where the small plane would land. Jan and Hal Drake, their guides, were to be there also.
During the two-hour flight, the three teenagers hardly spoke to one another. Each was wondering what lay ahead. Bess and George knew there was bound to be danger—as well as a thrilling adventure—on a trip with Nancy.
By the time the plane landed, the boys were already there. Tall, athletic Ned Nickerson was Nancy’s boyfriend. Burt Eddleton, a short, husky blond, was George’s friend, and Bess’s special companion was blond, green-eyed Dave Evans.
The boys introduced the Drakes, an attractive couple who had lived in the area since their marriage a few years before.
“I’m sure all of you are going to have as much fun here as we do,” said Jan, a vivacious blond with streaks of gray in her hair. “We love to camp out and ride through this magnificent forest.”
“Sounds wonderful,” Nancy replied. “Is everything set for go?”
Hal smiled. “At your service. Follow me.”
The young people picked up their backpacks and sleeping bags and followed Jan and Hal to a long shed where several horses were tied up.
“Here’s your means of transportation,” said Hal. He was a tall, slender man with a ruddy complexion and a firm jaw. His mouth turned up at the comers in an engaging grin.
“Oh, how marvelous!” George exclaimed, dropping her things in a heap and admiring the line of horses. She patted and spoke to each one while Hal and the others conferred over which animals they ought to use.
“What’s the name of my horse?” Nancy asked, as she mounted easily.
“Susan B,” Hal told her as she leaned forward to hug the beautiful, young bay mare.
“You and I are going to solve a big mystery!” she whispered to Susan B.
Ned mounted his horse and rode alongside Nancy, saying, “This is Goalpost. Appropriate?”
“Appropriate, but I don’t believe it.” Nancy smiled. “Somebody must’ve known the captain of Emerson College’s football team was coming. Even so, I’m sure you’re not going to find any goalposts in the forest.”
“But I can run for a touchdown!” Ned quipped. “The solution to the mystery may be right there.”
Within minutes the string of riders and horses started off. It was not long before they came to the forest and followed Jan up a steep trail.
They had ridden about an hour when the stony path led them to a pleasant spot by a mountain brook.
“Oh, doesn’t it smell wonderful here?” Bess said, breathing in the pine scent. “And look at all the wild flowers.”
Sweet-smelling woodbine was entwined around stately trees and white flowers peeked through ground shrubbery.
Jan signaled for the procession to halt. The riders dismounted, allowing the horses to res
t while Jan unloaded a sack of picnic food from one of the two packhorses.
Before letting the horses graze, Hal and the boys led them to the brook for a refreshing drink. After tethering two of the horses, everyone sat down on the ground to enjoy a variety of sandwiches, as well as tomato juice and nutcake.
“Now, Nancy, let’s hear about the mystery we’re going to solve,” Ned suggested, after tasting a ham sandwich.
Nancy leaned forward and spoke softly. “Dad received word—secretly of course—that several people in the vicinity of Shawniegunk Mountain had seen a UFO come down and disappear. Some of them even hunted for it.”
“Was it from outer space?” Bess quivered.
“Everyone thought so,” Nancy said, causing her friend’s look of alarm to change to fright.
“Didn’t they notify the authorities?” Burt asked.
Nancy shook her head. “Apparently not. They were afraid of being laughed at. Anyway, they failed to find the UFO. Nevertheless, they were sure it had landed. There was a similar rumor about ten years ago, but nothing came of it.”
“And we’re supposed to find this flying saucer?” George inquired.
“Yes, we are,” Nancy replied. “Not only find it but try to learn something about the craft and where it came from.”
Dave grunted. “That sounds like a big order.”
“But a real challenge,” Ned added.
The words were scarcely out of his mouth when Bess screamed loudly and jumped to her feet.
“What’s the matter?” George asked her cousin.
Too frightened to answer, Bess merely pointed. A snake was wriggling away from her!
Hal ran to see if the snake was poisonous. He called back, “It won’t hurt us.”
Bess was still shaking. “It cr-crawled r-right across my b-boot!” she stammered. “I thought snakes didn’t like people. I thought they stayed away from them!”
“That’s usually true,” Hal agreed. “But even snakes have an appetite for good home cooking.”
“So you scared off your soul mate!” George teased.
Ignoring the remark, Bess declared that from now on she was going to eat standing up. “And I plan to walk around a lot, too.”
Her friends laughed.
As Bess spoke, her eyes fastened on the slithering reptile. It was crawling toward the horses.
“The snake’s going for my horse!” George gasped. “I must stop it!”
Before she could, however, the snake paused in back of the animal, then slowly wriggled up her rear leg. Instantly it spooked the horse, causing him to throw off the snake and run off at breakneck speed into the dense forest.
“Oh!” George exclaimed. “Burt, come quickly!”
Together they raced after the galloping horse but could not catch it. Meanwhile, the rest of the riders were trying to calm the other agitated animals and keep them from bolting, too. Ned and Dave offered to take their horses and go after the runaway.
Nancy clung to her horse’s bridle and talked gently to the mare. She was having trouble with Susan B, who appeared to be terrified. Finally the horse settled down.
Burt was shamefaced. “It was so stupid of me not to tie the runaway horse when she finished drinking in the stream.”
“She’s so gentle and obedient,” George remarked quietly, almost unaware of Burt’s arm around her shoulder. “I hope she comes back.”
Jan and Hal tried to comfort the distraught girl, too. “Horses hate snakes,” Hal said, “and with a scare like that, yours would have pulled free anyway.”
“What would you do if a snake crawled up your leg?” Jan added.
This made George and the others smile. “I think we’d all run!” she said.
While the campers waited for the two boys to return, they packed up, ready to move on. In twenty minutes Ned and Dave reappeared, leading George’s mount. Excitedly, the girl ran to her horse and got astride.
Once more the group was on the move. Jan led them higher and higher up the mountain.
At one point Bess remarked, “I’ll bet the view from here would be gorgeous if we could see through the trees.”
Jan agreed and said that before dark they would reach an area where they could see for miles. “Hal and I think someone camped at the spot for quite some time, even cleared a little section of the forest and grew a vegetable garden. In any case, it will be a good place for us to camp.”
When the riders arrived at their destination, Jan suggested, “Why doesn’t everyone unpack for the night? I’ll start cooking supper.”
“May I help?” Bess asked eagerly.
“If you like,” Jan said, removing a sack from one of the packhorses.
A few minutes later she cried out, “Oh, we left our cooking utensils at the picnic spot! How could I have been so forgetful and left one of the sacks on the ground?”
Nancy offered to go back.
“Not alone,” Jan answered quickly. “I’ll tell you what: we’ll draw lots. I’ll get four sticks and mark one, then we’ll choose by couples. Whoever gets the marked stick will go.”
Nancy was delighted when she and Ned drew the lucky stick. Instantly she mounted Susan B and Ned mounted Goalpost, and they set off down the narrow trail. The trip, Jan and Hal figured, would take at least an hour.
When two hours had gone by and it was dark, the riders still had not returned. Everyone was worried.
“Nancy and Ned are good horsemen,” Bess said, “but lots of things could have happened.”
A little while later Jan lay down and put her ear to the ground. “I hear horses coming,” she called out.
As she stood up, the campers were startled by eerie screams in the distance.
2
The Wildcat
The campers froze with fear when they heard the screams in the quiet forest.
Bess cried out frantically, “Nancy and Ned must have been attacked by a wild animal! Oh, what’ll we do?”
“We must find them!” George shouted.
“I’m sure,” said Hal, “those screams were coming from the north.”
“I’d say just the opposite,” George countered. “What do you think, Burt?”
“West,” he answered, “and Dave thinks east.”
Everyone felt helpless. Finally Jan spoke up. “I believe those screams were from a wildcat. I’ve heard similar ones before.”
Bess was even more terrified. “Oh, Nancy and Ned may have been clawed to pieces!” she exclaimed.
George looked severely at her cousin. “Don’t say such things!” she flashed back. “Let’s hope Nancy and Ned are nowhere near a wildcat.”
As a matter of fact the couple was not far from the menacing cat. They had found the missing bag of kitchen utensils, fastened it to Ned’s saddle, and started back to camp. Unfortunately, they had taken the wrong branch of a trail which led them away from their destination. Unaware of their mistake at first, they kept riding. Finally, however, the sun set and as darkness came on, the two riders stopped and looked at each other.
“Are you thinking the same thing I am?” Nancy asked. “We’re lost!”
“I’m afraid you’re right,” Ned conceded. “We’d better turn around and head for the other trail.”
Susan B and Goalpost started off in the opposite direction. A few feet before they reached the fork, Nancy caught sight of two glowing eyes and the shadowy outline of an animal on a branch of a pine tree.
“Ned!” she called. “Look up there! Some creature is watching us!”
As the boy gazed upward, the animal hissed, then broke the stillness with an unearthly scream. Chills went up and down the riders’ spines. The frightened horses reared and whinnied.
“We’d better run for it,” Ned suggested, urging Goalpost to go fast. “It’s a wildcat!”
The gleaming eyes in the tree fascinated Nancy. As she rode past the cat, she wondered if the beast would spring at her and Susan B. Nancy’s heart pounded.
Suddenly she and Ned were star
tled by the sound of a sharp whistle followed by the soothing voice of a man.
“Now, Kitty, behave yourself!” he said coaxingly. “Stop trying to scare folks!”
At once the glowing eyes sank back. Evidently the animal had jumped out of the tree and disappeared into the dark forest.
“Who’s there?” Ned called, as he and Nancy stopped.
“Old Joe,” came the reply.
A light was shone in the riders’ direction. A couple of minutes later a tall, slender man of about seventy appeared. His hair was gray and he had a beard that was as unkempt as his clothes. Was he one of the “strange creatures” her father had warned her about? Nancy wondered.
The man’s friendly smile, however, and his kindly blue eyes made her dismiss the idea.
“Howdy!” he greeted the couple. “What are you folks doing riding around in the dark? You’re strangers here, aren’t you?”
Quickly Nancy explained, then introduced herself and Ned. “We’re camping with a group of friends a little way up the trail.”
Ned added, “You called yourself Old Joe. Will you tell us what your full name is? And do you live around here?”
“My full name is Joseph Austin. Folks in the village gave me the nickname of Old Joe. I kind of liked it, so I kept it. I rarely use my last name.”
“By the way, many thanks for scaring off that hissing creature,” Nancy said. “What was it? A wildcat?”
“Yes.”
“We were sure he was going to attack us.”
“Oh, Kitty, as I call her, wouldn’t attack unless something bothered her.”
“Well, she sure wasn’t friendly to us,” Nancy grumbled.
Old Joe laughed. “Oh, it had nothing to do with you directly. I have a dog, Trixie. She was teasing Kitty. I suspected that, and came up here to see what was going on. Then I heard Kitty scream, and hurried. I must say it was a surprise to meet you folks.”
“You mentioned a dog,” Ned said.
“Oh, Trixie is too smart to let Kitty get the jump on her,” Old Joe replied. “She likes to tease Kitty but when the wildcat gets enough of it, she hisses and spits at the dog, even screams sometimes. Kitty and I have known each other for a long time. In fact she was just a kitten when we first became acquainted. Her mother must have abandoned her and she kind of brought herself up. I leave food out for her up near my cabin. It’s some distance from here. You must come and visit me there.”