"Would you look at that?" Joe Hardy's blue eyes tracked the vehicle until he had to move, and then he turned to keep the vehicle in his view. "Wow."

"Are you going to get in the van or not?" Frank closed his door and started the engine.

Joe watched the car for a little longer until it turned and disappeared from view. He hurried over to the passenger side and got in. "Do you know what that was?"

Frank mimed a shiver and shifted into reverse. "As you're so fond of saying, it's freezing out there."

"That was a 1938 Packard Town car."

Frank had gotten a quick glimpse of the low-slung car. The color – a bright fuchsia – had caught his eye. "Wow, that's an old car."

"Yeah."

Frank glanced over at his brother and saw a vacant expression on Joe's face. "Hey, you forget about the Aston-Martin, already?"

"That was so last month," Joe muttered, waving a gloved hand as if to wave the thought away. "A 1938 Packard Town car."

Frank heaved a sigh and shook his head as he left school property and headed home. Today was the last day of the school semester and the beginning of Christmas break.

Things had been quiet lately. School, mid-term exams, and the cold weather had pretty much kept them close to home.  Frank settled into his seat, letting the heater blow warm air over him. He'd actually enjoyed the quiet here lately.

A loud horn startled him and he glanced in the rear view mirror. Behind him was the long low-slung fuchsia-colored car. "Hey, Joe, Packard's behind us."

Joe twisted in his seat. "Oh wow. Think we could get them to stop?"

Frank rolled his eyes and spared another glance at the car. "Man, the driver must be freezing, out in the open like that."

He could see the driver looked like nothing more than a bundle of coat, woolen scarf and hat pulled low. The hands holding the oversized steering wheel wore thick knitted gloves. The horn sounded again and he frowned. "What? I'm going the speed limit."

Joe shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe they want to pass you."

The driver turned to look in the covered back and then lifted one hand in a wave. Joe frowned. "You think they need help?

Frank flicked the turn signal to move to the side of the road. As he did so, the Packard pulled even with him. The driver gave the big wave again and then Frank saw Leigh Wolfe grinning in the back seat. She was squeezed in the back with her sister and cousins. She waved and the Packard moved on past them.

Joe stared at it. "That wasn't Leigh, was it?"

"Yeah."

Frank glanced to see if anyone was behind him and then pulled out onto the road again. "Looks like someone's visiting them, or something."

"Someone who owns a 1938 Packard Town car," Joe said almost reverently.

Frank just shook his head and headed home.

                                                ***

Joe got out of the van as Frank parked in the driveway. He headed inside and Frank saw that he'd left his book sack again. Frank shook his head. It was a wonder how his brother got the grades he did, he rarely cracked open a book. And of course he wasn't going to even bother with homework for the next two weeks.

Frank walked inside and savored the warmth. It was cold outside. Imagine driving in the open like that driver had been. It would take hours to thaw out. He started for the stairs, changed his mind and headed for the kitchen. Just thinking about it, he needed a nice hot cup of hot chocolate.

Joe was already in the kitchen, eating cookies and with a mug of hot chocolate. Their mother turned from the counter as Frank walked in. "You want a cup of hot chocolate, dear?"

Frank sat down at the table. "Sounds perfect, Mom."

"I was telling Mom about the Packard," said Joe between bites of cookie.

Laura Hardy nodded. "I told him there might be a car show in town. Sometimes we see old cars here when there's a car show."

"Car show?" came a new voice. "Where?"

Frank grinned at his father. "Hey, Dad."

"Hello, boys. What is this about a car show?" Fenton walked over and kissed his wife and then sniffed. "Mm, I could go for a mug of that myself."

Laura laughed. "Don't worry. I heard you drive up."

Joe told Fenton about his car sighting. Fenton joined the boys at the table. "Interesting. Two classic and quite expensive cars showing up in Bayport in two months' time."

"It belongs to someone who knows the Slades," said Joe. Suddenly, he looked at Frank. "Like the owner of the Aston-Martin."

Frank took the mug of hot chocolate his mother handed him. "Thanks, Mom." He looked at Joe. "I seriously doubt that means anything."

"You think they'll let us look it over sometimes?"

Fenton chuckled. "I'm sure if you ask nicely, Joe." He winked at Laura and settled in his chair to enjoy his hot chocolate.

The doorbell rang right then and since she was the only one still standing, Laura smiled. "I'll get it."

Fenton helped himself to one of Joe's cookies but before he could take a bite, he heard his wife let out an odd little scream. Fenton frowned, set his drink down and hurried out of the kitchen, his sons right behind him.

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.