Missing!

“What is it, Nancy? ” her father asked, taking the receiver from her cold and shaking fingers.

“He... he said that the resort is closed, ” Nancy gasped. “He said there’s no one there but him! ”

“What? ” Her father’s eyes met hers, but offered no answers. “Let me make some phone calls, after which I’m going to have another talk with Sheriff Boyd.”

Nancy nodded, sinking into the nearest chair, her worry and frustration paralyzing. She needed action—she wanted to be on her way to Nassau or Anchor Island, not sitting in a hotel room.

Her father’s first call went to Avery Yates,

warning him that he would hear from the angry sheriff soon. After he told of their early morning visitor, his voice changed as he said, “Oh, really? That’s wonderful. Sounds intriguing. How soon? Terrific, just give us a call.”

As soon as he replaced the receiver, he turned to Nancy. “Avery says he worked on the medallion most of the night. He’s convinced that it is definitely from the time of the Spanish galleons.”

“Has he been able to make out what is engraved in the gold? ” Nancy asked.

“He’s still working on it, but he thinks he’ll finish it sometime today.”

“Wonderful.” Nancy sighed.

“I’m going to call Nassau now, ” her father said. “Someone at the airport there might know something about what happened to the girls.” It was almost an hour before her father finally slammed the receiver down in frustration. “If one more person tells me they’ll get back to me when they have some information, I’m going to make them eat the telephone, ” he growled.

Nancy sighed, then looked at her watch. “If we’re going to drive to Palm Cove before noon, we should leave pretty soon, ” she warned him. Her father looked for a moment as though he’d like to refuse to make the drive. “I don’t suppose we’ll be able to leave till we talk to the man, so we might as well get it over with.”

“Do you think he’ll let us go to Anchor Island? ” Nancy asked.

“He has absolutely no reason to keep us here, ” her father stated. “He asked me to investigate the abandoned boat, which I did. I had nothing to do with its disappearance and I’m sure he’ll realize that.”

“He was so angry this morning, ” Nancy murmured.

“Well, once he realizes that we may be able to learn something important by going to Anchor Island, I’m sure he’ll be happy to let us go.

“I hope you’re right, ” Nancy sniffed.

The trip to Palm Cove was uneventful, and when they reached the sheriff’s office, they were treated politely as they made their brief statements about the boat and their activities afterwards. Only when Nancy mentioned the caretaker at the Sweet Springs Resort did the sheriff seem truly interested.

“Did you ask to speak to the DeFoes? ” he inquired.

“I asked to speak to someone in authority, ”

Nancy replied. “But he said no one was there. The resort was closed.”

“Did you believe him? ” The sheriff s question startled her.

“Well… I… ” Nancy gulped. “I wanted to ask him more questions, but he hung up.” “That’s why we’d like to charter a seaplane and fly to the island this afternoon, ” Mr. Drew said. “I’ve instituted a search of the Nassau airport area for the two girls, but I definitely feel we have to check the island ourselves.”

Sheriff Boyd stared at them coldly, his gaze telling Nancy that he still felt they were keeping something from him—which made her feel guilty. “And the DeFoes? ” he asked.

“We would do everything we could to locate them, too, ” Mr. Drew said. “I have no idea what is going on but I do feel that it is all connected through that phony prize that was sent to Nancy—the prize that Bess and George were claiming when they disappeared.”

Sheriff Boyd nodded. “I’ll want to know what you find, ” he warned. “Especially if you can learn anything about that boat.”

“We’ll definitely keep you informed, ” Mr. Drew promised.

“You’ll be leaving today? ”

“That depends on how quickly I can make the arrangements, ” Carson Drew replied. “And what I learn from my calls to Nassau.”

“Let me know before you leave, ” Sheriff Boyd ordered, then dismissed them.

“Do you want to have lunch at the same place? ” her father asked as they stepped out into the warm sunshine.

Nancy shrugged. “It’s all right with me.” “I’ll make a couple of calls while you order, ” her father said. “I’ll try what you had yesterday—it looked good.”

Nancy laughed without humor. “I doubt that either one of us will taste it, but I suppose we have to eat.”

Her father patted her shoulder fondly. “We’ll find them, honey, ” he assured her.

While she waited at the table, Nancy tried to find a logical pattern in everything that had happened. But she’d made little sense of it by the time her father sank into the other chair at the table.

“Well? ” she asked.

“No calls yet from Nassau, ” her father answered, “but I did talk to a man about renting a seaplane to take us to Anchor Island.”

“When? ” Nancy asked.

“The earlier the better, ” her father replied. “He says landing there after dark is possible, but he’d prefer to get us there in daylight.”

“And if no one’s there? ”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, ” her father answered. “Right now let’s eat our lunch and get back to the hotel to pack. I still have to call Avery before we check out.”

Nancy picked up her fork obediently, but tasted little of the food.

Once back at the hotel, Nancy began packing for them both while her father once again placed a call to the authorities in Nassau. This time the discussion was a long one, and after he hung up, he was frowning.

“Did they find them? ” Nancy asked.

“No, they don’t know where they are, but I spoke to one of the flight attendants who met the girls during their flight to Nassau.”

“Did she know what happened to them? ” Nancy asked.

“Well, according to her, after the girls passed through customs, they were met by a man who was to take them to Anchor Island.”

“What? ” Nancy gasped. “But...”

“She couldn’t give a very good description of the man, just said he was young and was wearing the kind of clothes that a man from a boat would wear: deck shoes, that sort of thing.” “But if the resort is closed, where could he have taken them? ” Nancy asked.

Her father could only shake his head. “That is the first question we’ll ask the caretaker on Anchor Island.”

“When do we leave? ”

“As soon as you’re ready. I’ll call the seaplane port.”