Студопедия

Главная страница Случайная страница

Разделы сайта

АвтомобилиАстрономияБиологияГеографияДом и садДругие языкиДругоеИнформатикаИсторияКультураЛитератураЛогикаМатематикаМедицинаМеталлургияМеханикаОбразованиеОхрана трудаПедагогикаПолитикаПравоПсихологияРелигияРиторикаСоциологияСпортСтроительствоТехнологияТуризмФизикаФилософияФинансыХимияЧерчениеЭкологияЭкономикаЭлектроника






Celebration






 

Once they reached the resort and the sheriff left with his prisoners, Maria served a huge meal, restoring Nancy’s good spirits. She and Ngyun told and retold their stories of what had happened during the long afternoon and evening.

Nancy was just finishing a detailed description of how she’d managed to escape her captors when Heather spoke up, changing the subject. “I know this is a nice dinner and everything, but I think we should have a real celebration, ” she began.

“What do you mean? ” Nancy asked.

“How about a party for all our friends and neighbors? I’m sure they’d love to meet Nancy and hear about what she has done. And it will give everyone a chance to make Ngyun feel welcome in the area after all the trouble he’s had.” She paused, then asked, “What do you think? ”

“How about having it tomorrow night? ” Chuck suggested. “It could be a welcome home for Grandfather, too.”

“Is he coming back? ” Heather asked. “Why didn’t you tell me?

“Actually, I’ve been too busy. In case you’ve forgotten, I was talking on the phone to him when Ngyun rode in, and after that...” He broke off with a grin.

“What kind of a party shall we have? ” Maria asked.

“How about a barn dance? ” Heather suggested.

“Don’t you need a barn for that? ” Bess asked. “I mean, your stable is very nice, but there isn’t any room for dancing.” She looked around. “That is what you do at a barn dance, isn’t it? ”

Heather laughed. “As a matter of fact, we do have a barn, a genuine, old relic from the days shortly after Jake Harris died.”

“You do? ” Nancy frowned. “I don’t remember seeing it.”

“You haven’t, ” Chuck confirmed. “Or rather, you saw it, but you didn’t know what it was.”

“What are you two talking about? ” George asked. “How could we see it and not know what it was? A barn is a barn.”

“True, ” Chuck conceded. “What I meant was—we drove by the barn on our way here, but you didn’t know it was our barn. You see, after Jake’s death, there were all kinds of rumors about this old house. People were always claiming to see lights in it at night, things like that. Anyway, the people who took over the ranch didn’t want to live here, so they built a small house and a barn on what was then the trail to town. We passed it on our way here from the airport. ”

“And the house? ” George said. “I don’t remember seeing any house that close.”

“The house burned down years ago, ” Heather answered. “We talked about tearing the barn down, but then we decided that our guests might enjoy an old-fashioned barn dance from time to time, so we fixed it up instead. Now what do you think of the idea, Nancy? ”

“I think it sounds just fantastic, ” Nancy told her. “I can hardly wait.”

Heather got up from the table. “You folks enjoy dessert, ” she said. “I’m going to start making some phone calls. We’ll never be ready if I don’t.”

“And I’d better start planning the menu, ” Maria decided. “We’ll need lots of food and some punch, of course.”

“What can we do? ” Bess asked. “Can’t we help? ”

“You can be the cleaning and decorating committee, ” Chuck told them. “That way, Heather will be free to help Maria with the cooking.” He paused, then added, “The barn is weather-tight, so it isn’t real dirty, but it will need sweeping out and some kind of decorations.”

“We’ll do it, ” George agreed, “if we can borrow the jeep tomorrow. We’ll have to go into town to get the decorations.”

“It’s yours, ” Chuck told them. “In fact, you could use the station wagon in the morning, if you like. I will have to have it in the afternoon, though, to pick up Grandfather.”

“The jeep will be fine for us, ” Nancy told him, her eyes sparkling at the prospect of a party. “Besides, it may take us till afternoon to decide what we’re going to use for decorations. We haven’t even seen this barn yet, you know.”

The rest of the evening passed quickly as plans for the party grew. Still, Nancy managed to slip away for a little while to follow Ngyun to the stable, where she found him leaning on the stall door, petting Cochise.

“He mine forever now, ” he said, looking up at her. “I thank you.”

“And I thank you, ” Nancy replied. “If you hadn’t come back here and sent help, I could never have escaped. You were very brave.”

“I try keep men away, ” he went on. “They almost catch me. I hide. I sorry they go back.”

“You did just fine, ” Nancy reassured him. “We’re a great team.”

Smiling at each other and laughing together, they gave Cochise and Pepper Pot each a final pat, then went back to the house.

Everyone was still working on plans for the party, which was to include a number of the children in the area and their parents, as well as young people of Chuck and Heather’s age. By the time she said good night, Nancy had decided that it had been a truly satisfactory evening after all the bad hours she’d spent in the canyon.

The next day dawned clear and beautiful, but Nancy woke with a feeling that all was not well. As soon as she opened her bedroom door, her premonition was confirmed. George was standing in the hall looking very unhappy. Nancy quickly asked her what was wrong.

“It’s back, ” George announced.

“What is back? ” Nancy asked.

“The Kachina ghost. Bess and I saw it last night.”

“You what? Nancy frowned. “Where did you see it? Was it in the hall? ”

George shook her head. “Outside. I thought I heard something, and when I went to the window, it was over on that little ridge. I thought maybe I was seeing things, but Bess woke up and she saw it, too. ”

“What was it doing? ”

“Just watching the resort. At least, it didn’t do anything else while we were looking at it.”

Nancy sighed. “I wish I’d seen it.”

“What would you have done? ” George asked.

“I don’t know, ” Nancy admitted. “Maybe asked it for a clue.” She forced a laugh.

“It probably would have given you one, too, ” George told her, joining in her laughter.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to wait to find out, ” Nancy said. “Now, how about some breakfast? I think we’re going to have a very busy day, don’t you? ”

“The way Heather has been planning, I’d say so.”

The barn proved to be a real challenge—one that they met with brooms, mops, and dust cloths. Once it was clean, there were decorations to be decided on. A trip into Apache Junction provided a wide selection of colorful Mexican hats and baskets, which they stuffed with bright paper flowers.

Ward and Chuck brought in a half-dozen bales of hay for makeshift benches, and a number of folding tables and chairs for the more conventional guests. Paper streamers and more flowers were draped from the rafters to finish the effect, and the barn was quite festive by the time Nancy and her friends were through. They were feeling quite pleased with themselves as they drove back to the resort to have dinner and change for the party, which was scheduled to begin at seven sharp.

Dinner was a very simple meal, and they ate by the pool so they wouldn’t get in Maria’s way as she finished fixing the food for Ward and Chuck to take to the barn. Mr. McGuire, a friendly, white-haired man with a white mustache, was now happily settled in a lounge chair, his wrist still in a cast and his knee resting comfortably on a padded cushion.

As soon as Nancy filled her plate, he signaled her to his side. “I want to hear all about your finding Big Jake’s journal, ” he said. “Chuck barely mentioned it on the way home. He was too busy telling me about your adventures in the canyon at the end of Leaning Tree Ravine.”

“That’s a strange name for that ravine, ” Nancy observed. “I don’t remember seeing a single tree, let alone one that was leaning.”

“It was named for an old palo verde tree that died years ago, I think.” Mr. McGuire laughed. “The story was that when the tree was blown over, the roots were full of gold. ”

“Gold? ” Nancy raised an eyebrow.

He shook his head. “I don’t believe it either. Most of the washes and ravines have names like that and stories to go with them. We may change that one to Golden Gulch, however, if there is a pocket of gold in the cliffs of the canyon.”

“That would be quite appropriate, ” Nancy told him. “I hope it works out.”

“Now, what about the Kachina you saw? Tell me all about it. What was it like? ”

“Well, to begin with, it was the Cloud Kachina, or at least it looked like the Cloud Kachina painting.” Nancy did her best to tell him everything that she’d seen and heard that night.

Once she’d completed her story, Mr. McGuire began describing his experience with the same spirit. When he finished, he asked, “Do you think that was the solution? Finding the journal, I mean. Have you routed our resident ghost? ”

Nancy sighed and put down her fork. “I’m afraid not. ”

“What do you mean? Have you seen the thing again? ”

Nancy shook her head. “I haven’t, but George and Bess saw a Kachina on the ridge outside last night, and I’ve heard the chanting every night I’ve been here.” The young sleuth sighed. “I don’t know what it means, but I’m sure there is more to this mystery, and I’m still trying to solve it. ”

“Well, you just watch yourself, ” Mr. McGuire told her. “I don’t want you to end up in the hospital the way I did. You have taken altogether too many chances already.”

“I’ll be careful, ” Nancy assured him. The conversation was ended by Heather’s announcement that they had less than an hour to get ready for their guests.

The moment she entered her room, Nancy sensed a change. She looked around quickly, seeking a reason for the feeling. At first, everything seemed to be in order. Then she saw that the bedspread had been disturbed.

Remembering the incident with the scorpion, Nancy approached the bed cautiously, not sure what to expect. However, when she eased the spread back, no dangerous creature awaited her. Instead, she found a feather lying in the fold of the heavy material!

It was very old and slightly dusty, and when Nancy picked it up, she gasped. She recognized it as being from the headdress of the Kachina spirit she had followed in the hall!

 






© 2023 :: MyLektsii.ru :: Мои Лекции
Все материалы представленные на сайте исключительно с целью ознакомления читателями и не преследуют коммерческих целей или нарушение авторских прав.
Копирование текстов разрешено только с указанием индексируемой ссылки на источник.