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Nancy
was stunned for a moment as the snake watched her
with beady black eyes. She could hear the blood pounding in her head. She
wanted to open her mouth to scream, but she knew that the slightest
movement could make the snake strike.
Luckily
for her, at that moment
Togo
scrambled onto the end
of the bed, diverting the snake’s attention. Before its sharp fangs
could touch the dog,
Nancy
grabbed her pillow and
pressed it on top of the snake, grabbing
Togo
and leaping out of the
bed. The snake worked itself free of the pillow, and
Nancy
seized that opportunity
to scream.
***
Frank
Hardy hadn’t been asleep. He was alert; on his guard. He heard some
movement down the hall, but just assumed it was
Togo
. When he heard
Nancy
scream, he jumped off
his bed and raced down the hall, his heart hammering. What if he was too
late?
Frank
burst through her bedroom door, taking in the gruesome sight of
Nancy
, clutching a bloody
letter opener while a wounded snake writhed on the bed.
Time
seemed to pass in slow motion as the dying snake lashed out at
Nancy
. She jerked back, away
from the bed, stumbling. Frank caught her and they both edged away from
the bed.
Time
returned to its normal speed as Joe appeared in the doorway. He was alive,
but whether he was also awake, alert, and enthusiastic was debatable. His
eyes widened, however, when he saw the snake in its death throes. It
hissed and gurgled in agony, bathed in its own blood. Finally it stopped
moving, and its shiny eyes clouded over.
Joe’s
attention shifted from the dead snake to
Nancy
, wrapped in Frank’s
arms, her hand still clutching the bloody letter opener. There was blood
splattered on her hands and arms, too.
Frank
looked down at
Nancy
, only loosening his grip on her slightly. “Are you
okay?”
Nancy
gave a shaky laugh. “None of it’s mine.” she
replied, referring to the blood. In her mind, she was screaming ‘Pull
yourself together!’ How was she going to do that when she was trembling
uncontrollably?
Joe
looked impressed. “You killed that all by yourself?”
Nancy
glared at him defiantly. “Of course! Who do you
think you’re dealing with?” she snapped, obviously taking his surprise
as an insult.
“I
only meant that thing’s got to be four feet long!” Joe defended
himself.
“Joe?”
Frank looked at Joe significantly. Joe got the message and went to leave.
Before he reached the door he stopped. “Are you going to need help
cleaning that up?” he asked, nodding at the bloodstained sheets.
“No.
There’s no way I can sleep in here tonight. If I can sleep at all.”
Nancy
’s voice was timid this
time. Her brain was working overtime trying to keep her from going into
shock. She was grateful that Frank’s arms were steadying her.
Joe
looked worried but nodded and left. After a while, Frank spoke. “Are you
cold?”
“Huh?”
Nancy
came out of her daze and
realized that she was, in fact, shaking violently. “No.” she answered
his question, and then added, “I guess my nerves are just shot.” She
glanced at the snake’s corpse and shuddered.
Frank’s
arms tightened around her, and a wave of emotions broke over
Nancy
. Fear, shock, relief,
desperation, fatigue… She muffled a sob, trying to keep them in check.
Frank
rubbed her back, trying to calm her down. He hadn’t realized how much he
had missed holding her until just now. He shook the thought out of his
head.
Nancy
came first; he could
contemplate that later.
A
few minutes later,
Nancy
had regained some of her composure. Frank offered her
his handkerchief, which she used to wipe the blood from her hands.
***
Nancy
decided to sleep on the downstairs couch. A couple
minutes later, she and Frank were sitting on the couch,
Togo
at their feet.
Nancy
briefly wondered if the
snake had gotten there by accident. No, she realized, it had to be the
stalker. Frank had identified the snake as a copperhead, and very
poisonous. Her thoughts were jumbled; it seemed like ages since she had
had a good night’s sleep.
Not
even thinking about it,
Nancy
leaned against Frank’s chest. Frank squinted down
at her; stroked the hair out of her eyes, but she was already fast asleep.
***
The
first thing
Nancy
thought the next morning was, ‘Time to let the dog out.’
Her next conscious thought involved memories from last night rushing
back… threatening phone calls…strawberry syrup…large poisonous snake
in her bedroom… All ending with her falling asleep on the couch next to
Frank.
At
that last thought, her eyes popped open. She felt a warm blush spread from
her head to her toes as she realized that she was leaning against him. She
tried to get up. If she could get up without waking him maybe she could
avoid a situation with the potential to be more embarrassing than the one
she was already in. She carefully lifted her head off of his chest and
lowered her feet to the floor. Almost there… She stopped short as she
felt his arm around her waist. At this, she didn’t know whether to laugh
or cry. She gently freed herself and stood up. As she stepped away from
the couch her eyes were drawn to the sleeping figure. In his sleep, Frank
looked so peaceful and vulnerable and… cute.
Togo
’s frantic pawing on
the back door brought
Nancy
back to earth. She crossed the room and opened the door for
the dog, who rushed outside. She closed the door, then yawned and shook
her head. Since when did she have this bizarre fascination with watching
people sleep? And this wasn’t just a person; this was Frank Hardy, her
kinda-maybe-sorta-almost-ex-boyfriend.
What
was with him anyway? He came to
River
Heights
last summer and was so
darned caring and thoughtful that he made her fall head over heels in love
with him. He even made her think he loved her too! Then, one night, he
came to her and told her that it was all a mistake; that he loved Callie
Shaw, his Bayport girlfriend. Then he just left!
And
next year, what does he do? He comes back to
River
Heights
, of course! And again,
he acts so considerate and sweet that she was falling for him all over
again! What was wrong with him? Couldn’t he be satisfied with breaking
her heart once? Did he really need to come back and do it again? More
importantly, what was wrong with HER? Hadn’t she learned her lesson the
first time?
She
glanced back over at him and her stomach twisted. Apparently not. Another
glance confirmed it. No, she had not learned her lesson. Well, she
decided, she wouldn’t let him know that. He would not catch her with her
defenses down again!
By
now,
Nancy
desperately needed an
aspirin. All of the emphatic sarcasm and war metaphors flying around in
her head were giving her a migraine. Fortunately, the appearance of Joe
distracted her, and her headache subsided.
“Morning,
Joe.”
Nancy
said.
“Morning.”
Joe replied. He wisely refrained from saying anything about
Nancy
’s apparent fascination
with his sleeping brother, as well as avoided comments about their
sleeping arrangements.
Nancy
directed Joe to the assorted breakfast foods. She
herself, however, would be surprised if she ever ate again. “I’m just
not hungry.” she assured him.
***
Half
an hour later the three teens were all up and dressed.
Frank
was trying to persuade
Nancy
to eat. “Really,
Nan
, you should at least eat
something.” He looked down at her, concern in his eyes. “Are you
feeling all right?” he asked gently.
Nancy
was annoyed at the look he was giving her. He was
genuinely worried. About her! Well, she thought, she was in better shape
now than she was when he left her alone last summer. Why should he worry
now? she thought bitterly.
The
doorbell rang and a resigned looking Frank squinted through the peephole.
Seeing
Nancy
’s friend Bess Marvin, whom he had known for a while, he
opened the door.
Bess
stepped inside. When she saw Frank, she looked utterly confused. Then she
gave him a half-smile and walked past him, into the kitchen with
Nancy
.
In a
surprised tone, she asked, “Was that Frank Hardy?”
Nancy
gave her a look. “No, it was Celine Dion.” Then
she rolled her eyes. “Of course it was him.”
Bess
frowned. “You’ve gotten really sarcastic lately, you know that?”
Then her curiosity made her shake off her confusion. “I knew it was him!
What I meant to say was, ‘What is he doing here?’”
Frank
was amused. Why was she talking about him like he couldn’t hear her? He
was standing not eight feet from her! “Joe and I are helping
Nancy
out on a case.” he
explained.
“Oh.
A case.” Bess said, disappointed. She looked at
Nancy
, “Does that mean
you’ll be going on your blind date tonight?”
Nancy
sighed. Bess had been trying to set her up since last
summer. After several blind dates,
Nancy
had met no one whom she
was interested in seeing again. Ever. However, tonight was not a good
night for a blind date. The stalker could be back, and she had to be ready
for him.
Bess
watched Frank out of the corner of her eye while
Nancy
considered. He was
trying to look like he didn’t care one way or another, but he was
failing miserably.
“Bess,
tonight’s really a bad time for me. Would you mind letting him know?”
Bess
swore she heard Frank let out a breath.
Nancy
didn’t seem to notice.
Nancy
laughed, “I’m such a terrible person, I don’t
even remember who I’m supposed to be going out with in the first
place.”
Bess
grinned. “Alright. I’ll call him. His name was Bobby Wilson, though. A
friend of a friend. Oh, by the way,” she continued, “I found this on
your doorstep.” Bess handed
Nancy
a large white envelope.
Nancy
’s breath caught, and she looked at Frank. He
examined it for a moment. “I don’t think it’s a bomb.” he told
her.
Bess
gasped. “A bomb!”
Frank
shook his head. “Not a bomb.” He looked at
Nancy
, his brown eyes
mirroring caution. “Do you want to open it, or should I?” he asked
gently.
In
response,
Nancy
picked up the envelope and opened it to reveal a smaller,
brown envelope, addressed in a scrawling hand to Miss Nancy Drew. The
crimson ink did a good imitation of blood.
Nancy
opened this envelope, too. She pulled out a sheet of
ordinary white paper and read the message aloud. “
Nancy
, congratulations. If you
are reading this it means that you are not dead. Yet.” The opening sent
a shiver down her spine.
She
read on. “The snake was a gift from me. Although being the pretty,
smart, talented girl that you are, you had probably already figured that
out. I know that your friends, the Hardy boys are there. Say hi to Frank
and Joe for me. I’m not worried; they can’t help you.”
Nancy
looked up at her friends as she read the last
sentence. “No one can.”
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