“It’s a perfect day for a party!” Chet Morton declared as he poured charcoal from a bag into a barbecue. He added some lighter fuel, and then standing as far back as possible, put a match to the fuel.  

The barbecue came to life rather dramatically; there was a great WHOOSH!   and flames shot three feet into the air! The n, just as quickly, the flames died back and the barbecue was ready.  

Vanessa Bender, who was setting bowls of salad and bread onto a nearby table couldn’t help laughing at Chet’s slightly blackened complexion. “You know, there are easier ways of lighting a barbecue, Chet, I don’t think setting the whole garden alight is really necessary.”  

Chet stuck his tongue out good naturedly at the blond girl.  

“It’s the Morton way,” he declared. “Makes the food taste even better.”  

“That’s if we get any. I know what you’re like Chet, sampling the food….” Joe Hardy came up behind his girlfriend and put his hands around her waist as he spoke.  

She turned and kissed him lightly on the lips.  

“HEY, HEY!” Chet’s voice rose. “No mushiness before lunch, I can’t handle looking at the pair of you wrapped up in each other until I get some food in my stomach.”  

Soon, the barbecue was in full swing. Frank, Callie, Biff, Tony, Phil, as well as Fenton and Laura Hardy were all crowded into the back garden of the Hardy’s beachfront apartment.  

The party had been Frank’s idea; it was just over a week since Joe had been found, and although physically he had made quite a good recovery, and was almost back to normal, mentally he was still quite fragile.  He hadn’t yet spoken much about his ordeal, preferring instead to enjoy the company of his family and friends.  

Since Biff and Chet were going back East the next day and Phil and Tony were departing shortly afterwards they decided to make the best of their last day together.  

The whole ordeal had taken its toll not just on Joe, but also on his family and friends. Even though Joe had been missing for only 3 days it had seemed like so much longer and even when Frank had eventually found his brother, the sight of the normally ebullient Joe Hardy lying pale, pinched and unnaturally still in a hospital bed had shaken everyone to the core.  

‘He almost died…’ Frank couldn’t get the image of his brother lying in that basement; too weak even to sit up. Even now, in the heat of the summer sun with Joe sitting on the bench beside him arguing with Biff over baseball, Frank couldn’t help giving an involuntary shudder. ‘A couple of more hours, and he was dead.’  

“Hey, Frank, helllooooo, snap out of it!” his brother's hand waving in front of his face snapped Frank back to reality.  

“Sorry Joe, I was miles away,” he smiled at his brother.  

“I can tell,” Joe replied, a grin forming on his face. You didn’t even notice Chet stealing your last bit of chicken.”  

Frank looked down and the plate in front of him was indeed empty. “Chester Morton, just you wait till I get hold of you!”  

Chet grabbed his plate and held it high in the air over Frank’s head. “Ah-ah,” he said, smiling. “You snooze, you lose!”  

Frank simply shook his head and sat down again. At 6ft 3 inches tall and over 220 pounds of pure muscle, there was no point in arguing with Chet Morton.  

And so the afternoon progressed into evening and, exhausted from the days activities, the party retired to the living room of the apartment where they all made themselves comfortable on sofas, armchairs and bean bags.  

The group chatted easily, talking about old times good and bad, school, their families, and laughed until their sides split as Chet and Biff kept them entertained with impressions of each other, and of some of their old high school teachers.  

When Fenton and Laura couldn’t help but suppress a smile as Chet stood and did a perfect impression of Chief Collig berating the Hardys for getting themselves “Mixed up in something that wasn’t any of their business in the first place.”  

Only Joe was silent. Usually a joker himself, he didn’t join in with Biff and Chet as he normally would. Frank said nothing, but noticed the preoccupied expression on his brother’s face. He decided to broach a subject that as yet had been surreptitiously avoided.  

“Joe, you’re quiet,” he said during a pause in conversation. “Anything the matter?”  

Joe opened his mouth to say “No, nothing” but faltered.  

“Well, yeah, I guess its lousy timing, but, well, it’s just…I never asked how you guys found me, because….well….I guess I wasn’t ready to hear….but now…l…now….I’d like to know.”  

He automatically looked to Frank who smiled softly and said “I was wondering when you were going to ask….but first things first, why don’t you tell us how it all started?”

He shot a look of encouragement at his younger brother.  

Joe sat up slightly in his seat and shifted his weight a little. “Well you see, it was like this…….”

 

 

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.