Hardy Boys Fan Fiction at the Hardy Detective Agency Presents "Quality Time" by CQB

Frank Hardy was glad to see the sun finally breaking through the cloud cover. After the rain had stopped, it remained overcast, keeping the members of the rescue team damp and chilled. They had stopped along the trails several times for brief periods, just to change drivers or get quick drinks of water. They had just stopped again and Frank was resting against a nearby tree. Jack Wayne was sitting sidesaddle on the quad, swallowing a gulp of water from his canteen.

"How far to go?" Frank asked Sheriff Colt Tanner, who was standing about four feet away from him. The sheriff glanced up the trail, looked at his watch and then turned to face the youth.

"Now that the rain has stopped, we’re making better time," the sheriff stated, "I think we’ll reach the creek bed in about an hour." Frank nodded and moved to take his turn in the front of the quad, as they prepared to get under way again.

* * *

Carl brought out a box of small, metal cars. He excitedly placed one after another on the bed beside Joe. Joe smiled and looked at each little car with interest. When most were out of the box, Joe signed to Carl asking, "Which is your favorite?" Carl didn’t hesitate to pick up a sleek, silver racecar with dark blue stripes running along both sides.

"Nice," Joe signed. Carl then asked Joe to pick a favorite. He placed the box containing the rest of the cars on Joe’s lap. Joe glanced at the cars on the bed, but then looked through the box. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He found a cherry red, 1957 convertible mustang, his ‘dream machine’. He held the car for Carl to see. Carl smiled, seeing the gleam in Joe’s eyes. He nodded his head to his new friend in agreement. It was a very nice car.

Fenton had watched the exchange between Joe and Carl. ‘There is no way Carl is a murderer. It doesn’t make any sense that the police would accept a confession from him. Just what happened five years ago on that ranch?’ the man questioned himself.

"Maddie, Joe," Fenton called out, "We need to talk." Joe focused on his father as Maddie came near the bed. She signed for Carl to go play in the bedroom for a while.

"I’ve been watching Carl with Joe," Fenton said, "I have a difficult time imagining that gentle boy killing anyone. I’m not sure if there is anything that can be done to clear Carl, but I’m willing to look into the matter as soon as I get back home to Bayport."

"Yes!" Joe shouted, pumping his good arm in the air, "I knew you’d come through, Dad!" Maddie quietly wiped away the tears that were spilling down her cheeks.

"I’d be forever grateful for anything you could do, Mr. Hardy," she said.

"Now, we need to deal with the problem at hand," Mr. Hardy continued, "Since no one in Torrey knows of Carl’s existence, we can’t have the authorities come here."

"You two can’t travel into town yourselves, though," Maddie added, "It’s a rough 30 mile ride." She looked over at Carl, who had come out to sit on the floor near the fireplace. "There might be a way. I take off into the mountains to look for herbs and natural medicines from time to time. Carl goes with me and we stay in caves along the way."

"It’s too cold! You can’t do that!" Joe protested, remembering how cold the inside of the plane was at night. Maddie smiled at Joe’s concern.

"We’ve done it before." she said, "We know these mountains and take necessary precautions. To be honest, I don’t plan on going very far. I just need your rescue crew to think I’ve gone off into the mountains."

"I really don’t see any alternative," Fenton stated, "But we need to make it look as if Joe and I have been fending for ourselves here, too."

After a quick meal of soup and crackers, Maddie packed her and Carl’s backpacks with necessary items. She laced their sleeping bags into place on the backpacks. Once she had their things all packed and ready to go, she hid all of Carl’s remaining clothes and toys in the shed out back. She then tidied up the place, as she would before leaving on any trip.

Carl watched his mother carefully. They were going away. He liked to go in the mountains with his mother, and he hoped that Joe would be going with them.

Fenton and Joe Hardy watched Maddie, wishing there was something they could do to help. They were helpless and both felt terribly guilty.

"Now, we need to take care of you two," Maddie finally said, looking at the Hardy’s with a smile. "I’m afraid, you wouldn’t have been able to clean yourselves up as good as I did, so we have to make you look a little rough."

Maddie helped Mr. Hardy move to a chair. She then moved to help Joe up. The teenager looked at her with wide eyes as she came near. ‘Joe’s clothes!’ she thought, seeing his shocked _expression. She winked at the distressed boy and went into the kitchen. She returned with Joe’s boxers, his torn jeans and other clothes.

"Can you put these on?" she asked, handing him his boxer shorts. Joe nodded and pulled the shorts under the quilt, wiggling his body and pulling them on with his right hand. "I’ll help with these," she said, pulling back the quilt and helping Joe into the torn jeans, causing the youth to blush. She then unfastened the towel that was acting as a sling. Joe held his breath and gritted his teeth as Maddie carefully pulled one of Carl’s t-shirts over his swollen, discolored arm; then pulled it over his head. Joe pushed his right arm up through the other sleeve. She put Joe’s dirty sling back in place around the injured arm.

Fenton thought he heard a motor of some kind. He looked out of the nearest window. Through the trees across a wide ravine, he could see several dark green quads bearing riders in yellow rain ponchos.

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors 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.