Seventeen-year old Joe Hardy slowed the van down as he tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle a yawn. He glanced sideways to the passenger seat, where his year older brother was sound asleep. Joe knew he should probably wake Frank and let him take over the driving for a while. Joe listened to the hammering of the rain as it hit the van from all directions and decided not to wake Frank. The dark-haired older youth hated driving in the rain, while it didn’t bother Joe as much. Besides that, he didn’t want to stop. Joe was anxious to get home.

The boys had run an errand delivering a set of documents to a colleague of their father, private detective Fenton Hardy. The trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania had been uneventful and the boys had enjoyed the spectacular views of fall foliage the mountains of eastern Pennsylvania had to offer.

Now, heading around New York City to reach their hometown of Bayport, the blond haired younger Hardy was tired and ready for home. Joe tried again to access a local radio station, but there was too much interference from the storm. He sighed and popped a familiar CD into the slot on the dash, keeping the volume low enough to not disturb Frank.

"Twelve-oh-one," Joe said softly, "It’s officially Halloween day." Joe began thinking about the Halloween bash at the Morton farm they would be attending that night. He and his girlfriend, Vanessa Bender, had hit several second hand stores, putting together incredibly authentic looking pirate costumes. Frank and his girlfriend, Callie Shaw, were going as a cowboy and Indian princess. Joe smiled as he thought of all the fun they would be having at the annual event.

Joe was suddenly blinded by the glare of headlights reflecting in his rearview mirror. He was surprised when the vehicle accelerated and sped up along side Joe’s van. Without warning, the small sports car swerved in front of Joe, clipping the van’s front, left fender.

Joe felt the van skidding toward the guardrail and worked feverishly to regain control, but his efforts were useless and the van hit the rail with a sickening crunch, and then toppled over the rail, sliding to a stop at the bottom of a short incline.

Joe was relieved that the van, though it had rolled, stopped right side up. The youth quickly scanned his body for possible injury. ‘Everything seems to be okay,’ he thought, ‘though I’ll probably be black and blue by tonight!’ Joe unfastened his seat belt and knelt beside his brother.

"Frank?" Joe asked in a shaky voice, "You okay big brother?" Joe found Frank’s pulse and it was beating steady, but when he pulled his hand away, Joe noticed that his fingers were covered with blood. He quickly looked for the source of the bleeding and found a large gash on Frank’s forehead, near his hairline. Joe crawled to the back of the van and found the first aid kit. He cleaned and bandaged Frank’s wound. Joe then tried to revive Frank again. When his brother still wouldn’t respond, Joe became concerned that Frank might have a concussion or worse.

Concern for his brother overrode his desire to just stay in the warm, dry van. Joe stuck a small flashlight in his jacket pocket, and grabbed a larger flashlight from the glove compartment. Reluctantly, Joe climbed out of the van and walked through the rain to the road.

When he reached the road, Joe noted that the rain had slowed down considerably. "Okay," Joe pondered out loud, "What do I do now?" He was wishing that the van still had a two-way radio in it, but the boys had taken that out when they got cell-phones. Joe knew their cell-phones were useless in this area because he’d tried to call home earlier, only to find there was no coverage here.

Joe debated about just staying on the road and waiting for a passing car, when he noticed a light in the trees across the road. "A house, maybe?" Joe wondered, heading toward the edge of the wooded area.

He hadn’t gone far when he found the source of the light. A woman, about thirty years old, was standing in the woods. She held a lantern of some kind in her left hand. She had dark, shoulder length hair and was wearing a long, dark coat.

"Do you live around here?" Joe asked, approaching the woman, "My brother is injured and I need to get to a telephone."

The woman smiled at Joe, but then turned and began moving quickly, deeper into the shadowed woods.

"Hey!" Joe cried, "Wait! I need your help!" Joe took off following the young woman.

* * *

Frank Hardy groaned and stretched. He hadn’t realized how tired he’d been. He smiled, grateful that his little brother was with him and had offered to take over the driving.

Frank’s smile turned to a frown as he realized that the van wasn’t moving. He opened his dark, brown eyes and looked around cautiously. ‘Where in the world are we?’ he wondered, then noticing the empty driver’s seat, he thought, ‘Where in the world is Joe?’ 

Frank stepped out of the van and looked around. ‘Why would Joe pull over to the side of the road and park, then leave me here without saying anything?’ Frank questioned. He checked the tires to make sure they didn’t have a flat. Nothing appeared to be wrong. So, where was Joe?

Frank took out his cell-phone, but then sighed, remembering that they couldn’t pick up a signal on this stretch of road. He went back inside the van to look for some clue as to where Joe could be and discovered the missing flashlight.

Frank crawled to the back of the van and found an old flashlight in there emergency kit. He left the van, locking it and taking the keys that Joe had left in the ignition. He was about to head down the road when he noticed a light bobbing in the woods on the opposite side of the road. It seemed like the light was some distance away, but Frank felt for sure that it must be Joe. He took off in a dash, calling his brother’s name as he ran.

* * *

Joe had continued to follow the woman through the woods for what seemed like hours. He couldn’t understand how a girl could be so fast on such an uneven surface. He was constantly tripping over rocks and twigs, while the woman almost seemed to glide over them. That thought suddenly brought a shiver to the blond boy and he slowed down.

‘What am I doing?’ Joe thought, ‘I have no idea where she’s leading me and Frank’s bleeding back in the van.’ Joe turned and glanced back the way he had just come. Total darkness shrouded the woods and there was no sign of the road. Swallowing hard, Joe turned back to where the woman had run, realizing that his only hope was to catch her. He froze in his tracks. He could no longer see the woman or her light. Joe Hardy was completely alone and completely lost.

* * *

Frank kept going towards the light in the distance, calling out for Joe along the way. ‘What had made Joe take off in the woods like this anyway?’ Frank wondered, feeling a mixture of fear and anger in his gut. Yes, Joe was impulsive and impetuous, but he wasn’t stupid. If he’d gone to help someone or something, he would have at least left a note for Frank.

Joe Hardy was shaking, partly from being cold and wet and partly from fear. ‘Okay,’ he surmised, ‘all I have to do is go back the way I came.’ He took a few tentative steps, unsure which way was actually going to lead him ‘back’. Just when he was ready to have a full-blown panic attack, Joe heard someone calling his name.

"Frank? Is that you?" Joe asked, peering through the darkness and seeing a pale yellow flashlight beam.

"Joe? What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?" Frank asked, moving to where he heard Joe’s voice.

When the two brothers finally met up with each other, Joe grabbed Frank in a wet embrace, so relieved that Frank had found him, but also relieved that Frank’s head injury wasn’t serious.

"Yuck!" Frank exclaimed, "You’re all wet! What happened? Why’d you leave the van?"

"You were hurt and I..." Joe started, but then stopped. The bandage he’d wrapped around Frank’s head was gone. He showed the light of his flashlight on Frank’s head, causing the older boy to squint.

"What are you doing, Joe? You’re blinding me," Frank complained, putting up his hand to shield his eyes, "I’m not hurt. I was just sleeping. Why didn’t you wake me up?"

Joe was speechless. Hadn’t a sports car clipped his fender? Hadn’t he lost control of the van? Hadn’t he seen Frank’s head bleeding? Joe began shaking uncontrollably.

Frank sensed that something had happened that Joe wasn’t able to tell him about, yet. Instead of pressing, Frank took his brother by the arm and led him back through the woods to the van.

When they reached the van, Joe’s sapphire eyes went wide. He walked silently around the van, noticing that absolutely nothing was wrong with it. Joe looked at the guardrail that was completely intact.

"I-I d-d-don’t understand," Joe said, running a hand through his thick hair, "I... we... wrecked. Y-you were hurt." Frank watched his brother with growing concern, but then Frank smiled. Of course, Joe had been dreaming.

"Joe," Frank stated calmly, "You were tired. You probably pulled over to rest and fell asleep. You dreamed the wreck and my injuries."

Joe looked at Frank, but was unconvinced. He told Frank the whole story once they were safely inside the van. Frank climbed behind the wheel and started driving as he listened to Joe’s story.

"I know it seemed real to you Joe," Frank said after Joe was finished, "but the only logical explanation is that you were dreaming."

Joe stared moodily out the window. He wanted to believe Frank, but he knew what he saw was real. ‘Maybe I’m going crazy,’ Joe thought, tears threatening his eyes.

"Frank! Stop!" Joe shouted, sitting up in his seat. "Look there, at the guardrail!" Frank pulled the van to a stop along the rail. It was broken as if a car, or van, had just crashed through it.

"It’s old, Joe," Frank said, looking at the rail more closely, "See? There’s rust on the edges. This rail broke a long time ago, not tonight."

Just then, a police cruiser pulled up behind the boy’s van. Two officers stepped out and moved toward them.

"Gentlemen, please step on this side of the van," one of the men called out. The Hardy boys walked to the road side of the van, keeping their hands in plain sight.

"Are you boys having some trouble with your van?" a dark-haired officer asked. His nametag said his name was Officer Ortiz.

"Ah, no sir," Frank answered quickly, "we, my brother and I, were just heading home to Bayport. We stopped to, ah, trade drivers for a while."

Both officers eyed them suspiciously and checked their driver’s licenses and van registration, before believing that the boys weren’t in trouble or looking to cause trouble.

"You kids move along now," Officer Ortiz ordered, "This is a dangerous stretch of highway. Been too many accidents along here."

"Yeah," added his partner, "There was an accident exactly one year ago at this very spot."

Both Frank and Joe looked at each other. "What kind of car was involved?" Joe asked in a shaky voice.

"A little sports car of some kind," Ortiz offered, "Seems the woman driving lost control around the bend here and went right through the guardrail. She wandered out of the car in a daze. Some hikers found her dead up there in those woods across the road."

"Want to hear something crazy?" asked the other officer, "Some of the locals have started calling this stretch of the highway, ‘Hallowed Ground.’ Some people believe the woman’s ghost haunts these woods."

With that, Joe Hardy quickly climbed into the van and turned the heater on full blast. He found himself shaking again and it had nothing to do with his damp clothes.

Frank quickly thanked the officers and climbed into the driver’s seat, putting the van in drive and pulling away. The brothers never again talked about what Joe experienced that night. They didn’t have to. Joe knew Frank now believed him and Frank knew Joe had experienced something that he would never be able to logically explain. The Hardy boys went home.

* * *

"You just had to throw in that ghost story, didn’t you Smith?" Officer Ortiz asked, "Did you see the look on that blond kid’s face? He was scared to death!"

"Yeah," replied Officer Smith, "I just love seeing people’s reactions to those silly ghost stories! Happy Halloween, Ortiz!"

 

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.