Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

Swallowing the urge to cough, Joe made his way to the kitchen without his usual bounce of energy. His appearance drew the immediate attention of both his brother and mother who were sitting at the kitchen table.

"You better hurry and eat your breakfast, Joe, or you will be late," his mother said.

Her son shook his head. "Not hungry. I'll just have some juice." His voice was raspy and cracked. It hurt his throat to speak.

Laura was immediately on her feet and by his side. "You sound terrible!" Her hand automatically reached for his forehead, frowning as she felt the slight warmth there. "You better stay home today."

Joe shook his head again. "Can't. I've a report to hand in." He reached for the glass of juice and took a few tentative sips, wincing as its tartness irritated the sensitive nerves of his throat.

"I can take the report in for you," Frank offered quietly.

Joe looked at his brother. They had not exchanged words since their argument the morning before. Frank had been out of the house almost all day yesterday, and he himself had gone to bed before his brother returned.

After a brief hesitation, Joe shook his head. "No, I'll hand it in myself. Don't want to miss the classes I have today."

Laura frowned. "I don't think you should go, Joe. You are obviously not feeling well."

He gave his mother a small smile. "I'll be fine. Just a few sniffles." He glanced down at his watch. "We better get going or else we will be late." He avoided looking at his brother. "Mom, where's my old jacket? I need something to wear today."

Frank reached behind his chair and retrieved the bulky bag that he had set there earlier. "You won't need your old jacket. I picked this up for you yesterday." He did not mention that he had driven to three different stores, at the opposite ends of town, before he had at last found what he was looking for.

Wordlessly, Joe drew the jacket from its bag, an exact replica of the one that had been taken from him. The tags were still attached to the jacket. "Thanks. I wasn't looking forward to squeezing into my old jacket again."

His older brother smiled and shook his head. "I didn't want to see you looking like an overstuffed sausage either."

In spite of himself, Joe laughed and was immediately launched into a fit of coughing.

"Joe, I really think you should stay home today," Laura made one more effort at persuading her son. "That cough does not sound good."

"I'll be all right. Colds always sound worse first thing in the morning. Don't worry, Mom," Joe said, giving her another smile as he removed the tags from his new jacket.

Laura sighed audibly. "Easier said than done. Take it easy then, okay? No sports today. And come home right after school. I don't want you heading off to the Youth Center tonight."

"Okay, Mom," Joe said. "We better go. See you."

Instead of their usual good-natured bantering, both brothers remained quiet this morning, the silence in the car broken only occasionally by Joe's coughing and sniffling.

Joe could feel Frank's eyes on him each time he coughed or sniffled, but he continued to stare wordlessly out of the passenger window. A part of him felt guilty for not responding to his brother's unspoken concern, but he also felt a certain awkwardness that prevented the flow of words from his mouth. He certainly wasn't angry with his brother anymore, but at the same time, he was not quite ready to carry on as if nothing had happened. He knew it was childish, but then Frank wasn't making any effort either to break the impasse. Maybe they both needed more time to put that argument behind them.

When Frank pulled the van into their usual parking space, Joe quickly grabbed his knapsack and climbed out of the car.

"See ya," he muttered to Frank before closing the car door.

"Joe?" Frank called out after him.

He stopped and turned to face his older brother with a questioning look.

"I'll see you at lunchtime, okay?" Frank said.

Joe nodded and managed a smile. "Sure."

By the time he got out of his third class of the morning, Joe had decided that coming to school today wasn't such a good idea after all. His head pounded with a relentless headache and his throat was getting increasingly sore, so that even swallowing was becoming a painful effort. Joe decided that he would call an early end to this school day.

After retrieving his jacket and knapsack from his locker, he headed to the office to sign out early and to phone his mom to see if she could come and get him. He had thought briefly of tracking down Frank to get him to give him a ride home, but had decided against it in the end. There was no point for his brother to miss classes as well and besides, he wasn't sure if he was ready to deal with another round of uncomfortable silence on the drive home.

"Hey, Frank, wait up!"

Frank turned and saw Chet weaving his way through the crowd of students.

"Hi, Chet," Frank greeted his friend. "Where are you off to?"

"The vending machines. I'm starving," Chet replied.

"There's only one more class until lunch," Frank reminded.

"Can't wait that long. Where are you off to?" Chet asked.

"I have a free class this period. I was going to the library to do some research for a project that's coming up," Frank said.

"Oh, I thought you would be driving Joe home," Chet said as he sidestepped a group of students.

"What do you mean?" Frank asked immediately.

"He looked half-dead in the last class we were in. Even the teacher told him that he should go home. Last time I saw him, he was heading to the office to sign out and, I assumed, to get you to give him a ride."

"No, he didn't come looking for me," Frank said, frowning. "I better go check at the office." Without waiting for the other to say anything else, Frank hurried in the direction of the office.

"Was my brother here earlier?" Frank asked one of the secretaries behind the counter.

"Yes, he said he was sick and was going to go home," she replied.

"Did he say how he was getting home?" Frank asked.

"I believe he tried calling your mother, but she wasn't home. I think he said he was going to take the bus," she said. "I suggested that he should go and find you. I thought that was what he did."

"No, I haven't seen him. I better sign out as well and go and look for him," Frank said. "He really shouldn't have come to school today."

"He sounded pretty sick," she agreed. "All right, sign out there and I will let your teachers know."

"Thanks!"

He hurried to his locker to pick up his jacket, hoping fervently that he could still catch Joe at the bus stop. Oh Joe, are you still so mad at me that you would rather take the bus than to ask me for a ride? You hate taking buses! You even said that you would rather walk than to take the bus if you had the choice. He hoped that Joe wasn't foolish enough to walk home in this cold. A familiar sense of exasperation began to fill him, as well as the urge to shake Joe to his senses. Calm down, Frank. Haven't you done enough to antagonize your brother yesterday? The last thing Joe needs now is more nasty words from you.

Frank shook those thoughts away. Grabbing his jacket from his locker, he fairly ran out of the school and made a beeline to where the van was parked. The tires spun on the hardened snow as he sped out of the parking lot in a manner that would have made Joe proud. Joe had always teased that he drove with the caution of a Sunday driver. Not when it matters, little brother.

There was someone in the bus shelter and even before he was near enough for a clear identification, he knew it was Joe. His heart began to thump frantically when he noticed that the lone occupant of the bus shelter was slumped down in the corner of the shelter.

"Joe!" he was yelling even before he was completely out of the car.

The blond head lifted and a look of surprise flitted across the pale features.

"Frank?"

"Are you okay?" Frank crouched down beside his brother, his hand gripping the other's shoulder.

"Yeah, I was just feeling a little light-headed. Thought I better sit down before I fall down," Joe said, allowing himself to be pulled up by his brother. "What are you doing here?"

"Get into the car first," Frank said, not releasing his hold on Joe.

"'kay," Joe said meekly and followed his brother's tug toward the van.

Once they were settled in their seats, Frank took off his own jacket and tucked it around his shivering brother who was seemingly seized with a sudden bout of chills.

"Th-thanks," Joe managed to say through chattering teeth. "H-how did you kn-know I was h-here?"

"Chet told me that you were heading home. I checked with the office and they told me that you had already left. Why didn't you come to get me to give you a ride?" Frank asked.

"Th-thought I'd t-take the bus, b-but I missed it," Joe said.

Frank frowned. "You know I would drive you home. All you had to do is ask."

Joe looked at him and produced a sickly but apologetic grin. "Know that, b-big brother, b-but I was being anally s-stubborn."

Frank shook his head, smiling and gave his brother a gentle swat on the shoulder. "Glad to hear you admit it yourself. Let's get you home, brat."

Let the author know what you think of this story

Home Library Authors Rogue's Gallery Vehicles Chums Message Board Rap Sheet Links Contact

Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.