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Ned’s Rescue






 

At the same time, Bess and George were talking with a young policeman in the Drew living room. Although the River Heights Police Department had a description of Cliff on file, the officer requested additional information.

“Since the young man has been staying here, ” the officer said, “has he undergone any physical changes? ”

“Hardly, ” Hannah remarked from a corner chair. “He came here only today.”

“Oh, I see, ” the policeman said, clearing his throat. “Well, did he say anything at all that might give a clue to where he went? Judging merely from the looks of things, I’d say he might have left voluntarily.”

George flashed an I-told-you-so glance at her cousin.

“Do you suppose he could have gone back to the hospital for some reason? ” Bess suggested.

“Now why would he do that? ” George muttered.

As she spoke, the policeman was examining a spot on the carpet which the others had overlooked near the entranceway.

“Chloroform, ” he said crisply.

His listeners gasped. “Then Cliff was kidnapped! ” Bess exclaimed.

“But the front door was locked when we got here, ” George pointed out.

“Maybe Cliff recognized the person and let him in, ” Hannah put in.

“Or maybe—” the policeman said, heading for the back door. Bess and the others trailed after him. “Just as I thought, ” the young officer concluded. He pointed to a hole in the kitchen screen door.

The cousins now stepped outside, pinning their eyes to the ground for footprints.

“There! Look there! ” George cried as prints loomed from the driveway. They traveled across the dampened grass to the back steps.

“He must’ve been very tall, ” Bess said, observing the long stride and large footprints.

While the mystery of Cliffs disappearance had not been resolved, Nancy, too, was seeking an answer to freedom. She twisted her arms, causing the rope to cut into her wrists, but steeled herself against the pain, looking for something, anything with which to sever the rope.

There! she gasped, spotting a thick nail that protruded from the base of the wall. It wasn’t much, but it might work!

The young captive pulled close, hooking the rope over the iron head. Back and forth she rubbed the twine, hoping to wear down the strong threads, but they held firm.

I’ll never get out of here! Nancy moaned.

Her arms ached now, and she lay back against the wall, intending to relax only for a minute, but instead falling fast asleep. When she awoke, two birds were chirping on the window ledge above and the sky had begun to lighten.

Morning had come, and Nancy had lost precious time in her search for Ned. Although the hours of rest had given her renewed energy, her body felt stiff and she longed for freedom even more.

Again she worked on the rope, stopping only when she heard the sound of footsteps outside the cabin.

Was it her captor? the girl wondered.

Panic-stricken, she froze and quietly lifted the rope off the nail.

Who is it? she thought anxiously as the door creaked open, revealing muddy sneakers and blue jeans.

“Ned! ” she cried happily.

“Nancy, are you all right? ” he asked immediately.

As Nancy spouted several questions, Ned began cutting the rope at her feet with a penknife. The rope binding Nancy’s wrists did not sever so easily, but after several minutes of steady pressure, it, too, came free.

“Your wrists—” Ned murmured when he saw the deep red bruises.

“I’m fine, ” Nancy insisted, even though she felt a twinge of pain. “Really I am, Ned.”

But the boy suspected otherwise.

“Forget me. Tell me what happened to you, ” the girl went on. She got to her feet slowly, with Ned’s help.

“They dumped me in another shelter a few yards from here, ” he said, adding, “I still have a throbbing headache from the chloroform.”

“They must’ve given you an extra dose, ” Nancy commented. “I didn’t see who the men were. Did you? ”

“Nope, and so far as I know they never came to check on me.”

Nancy paused momentarily as they stepped outside into the sunlight. “I just don’t get it—why us? ” she said.

“Maybe someone doesn’t want us to find the retreat, ” Ned suggested, a thought that had occurred to Nancy as well.

“But why? ” she repeated. “Retreats are places for quiet and meditation, not for trouble.”

Nancy linked her arm into Ned‘s, leaning on him until the stiffness in her legs had passed. Although she would have liked to continue the hunt for the swami’s retreat, she knew that she must get home quickly. The Drew household would have realized Nancy had not come home and they would be frantic.

“How far do you think we are from the lodge? ” the girl asked Ned.

“I have no idea, but my guess is that we’re at least a mile away.”

The thought of the long trudge back through the same tangled woods made Nancy groan. But as the sun’s warmth enveloped her again, she smiled.

“At least we don’t have to swim through another flood, ” she remarked, letting Ned lead the way when the trail narrowed to a thin footpath.

By the time they reached the lodge, they realized that they had returned along a different route. But where it lay in relation to the one they had taken the day before remained a mystery.

“I wonder if there’s a road to the retreat, ” the young detective said as they headed for the car. “Maybe I ought to ask Mr. Lal.” And without giving Ned a chance to reply, she raced into the building.

There were different clerks on duty, however, and when she asked for the Indian man, she was informed that he was not in and wouldn’t be back for a few days.

Nancy returned to the car, reporting the little she had learned.

“Don’t worry, ” Ned said. “We’ll track that retreat down eventually.”

“I hope so, ” Nancy replied. She lapsed into silence, saying no more on the subject until they were inside the Drew home. Then, before Hannah or Mr. Drew could reveal their news, the couple spilled out their story in detail.

“By the way, where’s Cliff? ” Nancy inquired when she finished speaking.

“Oh, Nancy, please don’t blame me, ” Hannah pleaded, causing the girl’s face to close in fear.

“Has something happened to him? ” she asked.

“We don’t know, ” Mr. Drew replied.

“He’s been kidnapped! ” Hannah blurted out. “Someone came in while I went food shopping and took him! ”

The woman fixed her eyes steadily on the girl. “Bess and George were here, too, when we found out he was missing. We called the police right away.”

As the reality of what had occurred sank in, Nancy sat down next to her father. “This is awful, ” she said. “I should never have left the house.”

“Nothing else was taken, ” Hannah remarked.

“Only Cliff, ” Nancy murmured dejectedly.

The housekeeper bit her lips as a rim of tears developed in her eyes. “Excuse me, everybody, ” she said, and left the room.

“Maybe I should go too, ” Ned said. “I’ll call you later, Nancy.”

The girl stared at her father for some offer of advice. “I don’t know what to suggest, dear, ” he said. “I’m sure the police will find Cliff.”

“But he was our responsibility, Dad, ” Nancy answered.

She telephoned Bess and George, and after they agreed to meet her for lunch at a downtown restaurant, Nancy decided to talk with the Drews’ neighbors.

To her delight, she learned that the son of one couple had noticed a car speeding away from the Drew home the previous afternoon.

“Cool car, ” the boy said. “Stripes and everything.”

“Did you notice the license plate? ” Nancy asked excitedly.

“I noticed everything, ” he said, repeating the number. “197-MAP.”

By now, Nancy’s heart was pounding as she wondered if the vehicle was the one she had seen at Rosemont Hospital and the one that might have caused Tommy Johnson’s accident!

She raced back to her house and telephoned the information to the police, who promptly fed it into a computer. It was only a matter of minutes before the girl had an answer.

“We have traced the owner of the car, ” the officer reported. “His name is Dev Singh. He lives near the river.”

Nancy quickly jotted down the address, eager to reveal the discovery to her friends.

What intrigued her most, however, was the man’s name. Was he from India? If so, might he be the man who had accompanied the bearded stranger to Mr. Jhaveri’s shop?

 






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