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Captured!






 

When the three girls finally debarked from the vaporetto, they returned to their hotel at once. To Nancy’s disappointment, she discovered that she had missed the long-awaited call from her father by only a few minutes.

“I’d better try to reach him right away, ” she said. “I don’t want him to worry.”

So the instant the girls were in their room, Nancy dialed the operator who, unlike previous occasions, was able to place the call immediately.

“Dad, is that you? ” Nancy said when the man’s resonant hello crackled over the line.

“Nancy? ”

“Yes, Dad. Oh, I’m so glad I finally got hold of you.”

She explained the trouble that Ned and the other two boys had gotten into, quickly adding, “But we met a duchessa—”

“Who has connections in high places? ” Mr. Drew chuckled.

“Exactly, ” Nancy said, smiling to herself.

She revealed the details of what had occurred, finishing in a cheerful tone. “So that’s the story. No assignment for Dad this time! ” she declared.

“Maybe you’ll find one before I arrive, though, ” he replied.

“Before you arrive? ” Nancy asked excitedly. “Are you coming to Italy? ”

“Day after tomorrow. Believe me, it’s as much a surprise to me as you. I have to help out a client in Rome. He was planning to consolidate his business with an Italian company that wants to expand to the States. But a problem came up, and I’ve been handling one end of it while his lawyer in Rome was supposedly taking care of the other.”

“What do you mean ‘supposedly’? ” Nancy inquired.

“Well, it seems that the lawyer hasn’t been pushing things along fast enough to suit my client. Anyway, I don’t intend to spoil your fun with all of this dreary business.”

“It’s not dreary, ” Nancy insisted. “I just hope you find time to enjoy yourself while you’re here. You are coming to Venice, aren’t you? ” There was some hesitation in her father’s voice before he answered. “If I can manage it—I’ll call you as soon as I get into the hotel in Rome. I’ll be staying at the Grand.”

The conversation ended shortly, and Bess let out a long sigh. “I’m tired, ” she said.

“But it’s not even three o’clock, ” George remarked, giving an involuntary yawn.

“See what I mean? ” Bess said. She stretched out on the bed, shutting her eyes for a moment while Nancy spoke.

“It’ll be another hour before we can pick up the boys at the police station, ” she said. “I’d like to visit the basilica on the way. Anybody want to join me? ”

“Sure, ” George responded, but the gentle snore that dissolved in Bess’s pillow proved she had already fallen fast asleep. “We can leave her a message.”

“Good idea, ” Nancy said and scribbled something on a piece of hotel stationery. “I’ll tell her to meet us in front of the central arch in forty- five minutes.”

“What if she doesn’t wake up in time? ”

“Then we’ll go on to headquarters without her.”

Wasting no more discussion on the subject, the girls left the hotel for the piazza, which was now filled with pigeons and a long line of tourists in front of the basilica.

“It’s really awesome, ” George said, following Nancy inside, and fastening her eyes on the colored mosaics and marble which were no less splendid than the arrangement of domes and arches.

Although Nancy had told George her idea that Filippo might be held captive in the building, both girls now tended to dismiss the idea, seeing the number of people who poured endlessly through the cathedral.

Nevertheless, they stayed in the line of visitors until they found themselves on the steps of the presbytery, the space around the main altar, gazing at a magnificent block of fine, hammered gold composed of enamels and precious stones.

“It’s beautiful, ” Nancy murmured, pulling back to get a broad view of it along with several other visitors who were taking pictures.

George, at the same time, had moved down the marble steps, closer to the panel and away from Nancy. She was suddenly surprised when the young detective darted toward her and tugged on her arm urgently.

“Come on, ” Nancy said.

“What’s the hurry? ”

“I’ll explain later.”

But as the young detectives pushed their way to the far side of the cathedral, the twilight glow from the overhead windows was swept into darkness.

“Can’t you tell me where we’re going? ” George asked her companion.

“I’m looking for someone—a man who came up behind me while I was standing at the altar. Unfortunately, he ran off toward the north transept. I didn’t get a good look at him before he fled.”

“Did he talk to you? ” George asked.

“Yes. He—he—warned me to stay away from the Dandolo family. Otherwise—”

“Otherwise what? ”

“He said I’d end up like the Doge Dandolo himself.”

“He’s buried in a crypt below here, ” George said, her throat catching on the words.

“I know.”

“Maybe we ought to go back to the hotel.’"

“Are you kidding? No, sir.”

Undaunted by the mysterious threat, Nancy pressed deeper into the arm of the transept, discovering a small, empty chapel at the end. The scent of burning tallow was unusually strong, suggesting that someone had recently doused candles near a door hidden in the shadows. Curious, the girls walked toward it, wondering whether the man had used it to escape.

For a fleeting moment, they imagined footsteps running in their direction and turned sharply. Then, unexpectedly, the door flung open and four strong arms reached out and grabbed them.

“Let g—” George cried, her words garbled quickly by the hand that dragged her through the doorway.

Nancy also tried to shriek but to no avail as a gag was quickly drawn over her mouth and she was thrown face down alongside George on something soft and tufted like a quilt. The girls’ wrists and ankles were tied next. Then the men left, closing the door after them and locking it.

Question after question tripped through Nancy's mind as she wondered who the men were and what they intended to do with their captives. Were they connected with Filippo’s abduction? If so, might they not keep Nancy and George prisoners until they had finished with the Dandolo family?

We could be trapped here forever! Nancy concluded.

A similar fear had also occurred to George and she made a futile attempt to roll over but found herself pinned next to a wall. It felt cold and damp as her fingers brushed against a thin opening that seemed to run up and down in a straight line. George grunted into her gag, trying to tell Nancy she had discovered another door, maybe one that was unlocked!

Nancy understood instantly and looked up and down the crevice, searching for a doorknob but none was apparent in the darkness. So, with a hopeless sigh, she lay back on the blanket, breathing in its dank, musty odor.

 

Bess, on the other hand, had awakened out of her deep sleep and upon discovery of Nancy’s message, she had quickly freshened up. She took the elevator to the lobby and strode toward the door, stopping midway when the night clerk greeted her.

'“Where are you going in such a hurry? ” he said, flashing a smile as he approached the girl. “You must slow down. Enjoy yourself.” He added something in Italian that Bess did not understand.

“I have to meet my friends in front of St. Mark’s, ” she told him.

“Well, perhaps I will go with you.”

Bess looked at him quizzically and although she didn’t wish to offend the man, she said abruptly, “I’m sure I can find the piazza without assistance.”

“I’m sure you can, but I would like to come anyway. We go.”

So rather than discuss it further and lose more time, Bess let him follow her outside.

“Shouldn’t you be working? ” she asked him.

“Not till later, ” he said. “Now tell me about you and your friends. Do you plan to stay in Venice a long time? ”

“Not really. Just a week. Of course—”

“Of course, what? ”

By now, the two had passed over a small bridge leading to a string of calli that fed into the square, and Bess tried to avoid giving an answer.

“Thank you very much for accompanying me, ” she said pleasantly, hoping at last to part company as the basilica loomed into view.

But the man pretended not to hear the remark and picked up his pace as they crossed under the arcade. When they reached the main portal of the church, however, Bess was disappointed to find her friends weren’t there.

“I don’t see them anywhere, ” she said anxiously.

“Perhaps they are inside.”

“Perhaps, ” Bess replied. A glance at her watch told her she was only a few minutes late, so it was quite possible that the young detectives had not yet left for headquarters.

“Follow me, please, ” the man said in a tone of authority. “We’ll find them.”

“But—” Bess tried to protest, thinking she would miss the girls if they stepped outside while she went in. Even so, she tagged close to her guide, concluding that Nancy and George might, by chance, wait for her.

Once inside the building, however, Bess almost lost sight of the man as he dived between the huge marble columns leading to the north transept. Before taking another step, she glanced through the crowd, but not seeing Nancy or George, she darted ahead, following the clerk a few feet. Then she stopped, suddenly aware that he had drawn her away from the rest of the tourists.

Instinct told her to turn back, but the man’s voice echoed out of the shadows, halting her.

“They’re here, ” he called, and drew the unwitting girl forward.

 






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