Tuesday morning dawned cold and clear. Joe looked out of his hotel room and wondered if there was a ski resort anywhere near the hotel. The pristine snow looked like it was begging for skiers to glide over it. He glanced over at Frank and sighed. "When do you think everyone else will be up?"

"They may already be up. It's after nine."

"Yeah, but they're a rock band. They probably stay up till dawn most nights."

Frank shrugged. "Let's go get breakfast."

The brothers – both clad in sweaters and jeans – headed out of their hotel room and veered for the nearest elevator. They got into an empty one and Joe pressed the lobby button. The elevator jerked once and slid smoothly down. "You know, I kept wondering about Leigh last night. That nightmare must have really freaked her," said Joe.

"That's why they're called nightmares, Joe. They're supposed to be freaky and scary and unsettling."

Joe grunted as the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. "You're smirking, aren't you."

Frank grinned as he led the way to the hotel restaurant. "Can't imagine why you'd think that, little brother."

Joe mumbled something under his breath as they settled at a table. A waiter came and took their order and left. A few minutes later, Joe looked and saw Leigh coming towards them. "There she is."

"Joe, don't mention it unless she does," said Frank in a low voice.

Leigh walked over to them but she wasn't smiling. "I don't think I want to go on this tour right now." She looked around absently. "I'm sure Marc would postpone it."

Joe frowned. "What's wrong?"

Leigh shuddered again and gave each of them a long look. "If Marc or Ryan suggest a quick plane trip, tell them no." She turned on her heel and walked away.

Joe shared a startled look with his brother. "What was that all about?"

                                                            ***

By two o'clock Tuesday afternoon, Joe's muscles were sore. He and Frank and the other four roadies who hadn't already gone off for Christmas break had set up the equipment. Prior experience had made Joe think the set for the band would be this extravagant stage show. Except for the tower of speakers on either side of the stage, nothing else was over the top. From what the head roadie, Simon Gallaghar, said, they rarely did pyrotechnic shows.

Frank joined him by the bucket of ice-cold sodas. "You know, I have to say this surprises me. I thought all heavy metal bands went for the glitz and overkill."

"I would be insulted but I would also have to agree with you."

The brothers turned to see Ian walk up to them. Today he wore a thick cable-knit sweater and zebra-patterned jeans. He grinned at them. "It's all about the music with us. I'm not saying that to brag. And I'm not saying that every song Marc writes will end up on an album. But we learned our lesson a long time ago."

"Sounds like a story," commented Frank, helping himself to one of the sodas.

Ian shrugged. "A short one. We were with a whole group of rockers, playing a charity thing and we were all like, this is cool, we're famous, everyone loves us." Ian shook his head. "Not true. Anyway, we realized we could either be full of ourselves and lose fans or we could be true to the music."

"Hey, Ian, have you seen Marc?" came Carl Dixon's voice from the other side of the stage.

"Nope. He should be around here somewhere. It's not like we tossed him out the nearest window." Ian paused, looking thoughtful. "Or did we?"

Carl threw his hands up and stalked off. Frank bit back a grin. "I know that feeling."

Joe punched his brother's shoulder. "Be quiet."

Ian laughed. "Gotta go find lead singer. I can't sing." He laughed again, rather maniacally and hurried off.

"Ian's at it again," said a now familiar voice from behind them. "Hand me a soda will you?"

Joe grabbed a cold can and turned to hand it to Erick. "He's looking for Marc."

"Marc's calming Leigh down. She keeps saying she wants to go home. Kari thinks it's that twin thing or whatever. Casi and Cat don't do that." Erick shrugged. "Whatever. Who wants Marc?"

"C.D.," answered Joe.

"I'll go tell him. Thanks for the drink." Erick gave them a salute and walked off as well.

Joe turned to Frank. "Do you think that nightmare has something to do with it?"

"I don't know." Frank finished off his soda. "Simon's signaling us, let's go."

                                                            ***

Marc tilted the microphone stand to one side, caught it and pushed it hard enough for it to tilt to the other side. He swung around with the mike stand in his hands and then set it back down. He pointed out to the middle of the auditorium and then to his mike. He unhooked the microphone from the stand and switched it on. "Testing....testing..." He put his hand to one ear and shook his head.

It was five o'clock and everything was done. Frank and Joe were in the front seats, watching the band members check their instruments and microphones. Joe scooted down in his chair and rested his head on the chair back. "This is gonna be awesome. Front row seats."

"I'm thinking I might want earplugs. It's going to be loud. Both of those speaker towers are aimed for the front row."

Joe rolled his eyes. "I wonder how Marc talked Leigh into staying?"

"Well, you could ask her." Frank gave a slight nod and Joe turned to see Leigh walking toward them. She didn't seem worried any more, and actually smiled as she joined them.

"Hey, how are you?"

Joe arched an eyebrow. "We're fine. You?"

"I'm fine." She gave a rueful little laugh. "I guess I spooked you this morning. I didn't mean to. Just...I tend to take nightmares too seriously." She gave a small shrug. "Silly, isn't it?"

Joe glanced at Frank who just gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Well, not really. Some nightmares seem really vivid..."

Leigh looked over at him and smiled. "You don't have to be nice about it. I was really abrupt this morning. Just ignore whatever I said." She looked from Joe to Frank, her expression almost hopeful. "Please?"

"Okay," said Frank.

A squeal of feedback had the three of them turning back to the stage. Marc made a cutting motion with his hand and the sound cut out completely. Joe settled back in his seat. "Concert's tonight, what is tomorrow?"

"A promotional thing, I think," said Leigh, getting comfortable herself. "The music channel that sponsored the album cover contest set it up."  She glanced at the tower of speakers to her right and jumped out of her seat and ran to the stage.

Frank sat up as he heard the creaking sound. "Leigh, no!"

 

 

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.