Frank rubbed his wrists against the tree he was tied to. He had been struggling for a wile, but wasn’t exactly sure how long. He could tell the ropes holding him in place were not loosening one bit.  

He listened to the three men talk. Dave said, “We need to hurry up and get away before we’re caught.”  

“You’re right,” one of the others said. “We don’t want to spend time in jail.”  

“We made a good haul,” Dave said. “We’ll get the cattle at the end of the road and leave. We’ll sell the cattle, split the money and then go our separate ways.”  

“Then let’s move,” the last guy said.  

“Good,” Dave said. “I’m tired of living on a ranch.”  

“You sure didn’t turn into a cowboy,” the second guy said. “You never gave up your sneakers.”  

“Those boots were uncomfortable,” Dave said. “If I am going to work, I need to be wearing comfortable shoes.”  

“So,” the third voice said, “What are we going to do with our package?”  

“We’ll leave him here,” Dave said. “There’s no need to kill him. The animals will get him. Come on. Let’s go.”  

“You won’t get away with this,” Frank said. “You’ll get caught.”  

He heard a voice real close. Dave said, “No one will stop us.”  

“You will be stopped,” Frank said.  

Frank felt a kick in his ribs. He gritted his teeth as he was kicked three more times. He struggled to breathe.  

He heard an engine start. A moment later the engine faded in the distance. He struggled to break free. His ribs hurt. He figured several were bruised, or even broken.  

He was angry at himself for getting caught. He knew he should’ve gotten Nancy or Joe. The three of them together could’ve stopped Dave. He continued to struggled making his ribs hurt even more. He stopped struggling after a little while. He knew he had been tied tightly. He was going to have to wait to be freed.  

* * * * *  

Joe, Nancy and Stan made their way through the dark woods. Stan led them as they slowly made their way along. Nancy hoped Frank was all right. She felt bad. She wished she’d gone outside with him. She figured they wouldn’t be in this mess now if she had.  

Stan stopped quickly. She asked, “What do you see?”  

“There’s something up ahead.”  

“Can you see what it is?” Nancy asked.  

“I can’t make it out,” Stan said. “It may be someone hiding by a tree.”  

“We need to take a closer look,” Joe said.  

The three of them slowly made their way toward the tree. They moved as quietly as they could.  

They were ten feet away when Joe stepped on a branch, breaking it.  A voice asked, “Who’s there?”  

They realized the voice was Frank’s. Nancy said, “Frank!”  

“Nancy!” Frank called out.  

The three of them hurried over to Frank. Nancy saw Frank was blindfolded and tied to a tree. She removed the blindfold while Stan and Joe untied him.  

She watched Frank lean his head against the tree as he pulled his arms back to the front.  

Joe asked, “How did you end up here?”  

“I got a little too close to those involved.”  

“Who is involved?” Nancy asked.  

“Dave.”  

“How do you know that?” Stan asked.  

“I’ll explain while we go after Dave. He has the cattle at the end of the road. We need to get him before he gets away.”  

“We should go then,” Joe said.  

Nancy reached for Frank’s arm to help him up. She started to help him when she noticed he was gritting his teeth.  

“Let go,” Frank said. He sank back to the ground.  

“What’s going on?” Joe asked.  

“Frank’s hurt,” Nancy said.  

“We need to stop Dave. That’s the most important thing right now. Dave needs to be caught.”  

Nancy looked at Stan. “Go get the truck.”  

Stand took off the down the road.  

Nancy looked back at Frank. “We’ll catch them, Frank. And you’ll be there when we do.”  

Nancy and Joe helped Frank to his feet. Frank gritted his teeth. Nancy said, “You’ll be fine.”  

“My ribs may be broke,” Frank said putting his arm across his midsection.  

“How did you get hurt?” Joe asked.  

“I think Dave was the one who kicked me before leaving. The pain isn’t that bad as long as I stay still.”  

Nancy saw the lights coming toward them. The lights were bouncing around. The truck pulled up beside them. Nancy opened the passenger door. She and Joe helped Frank climb in. She climbed in beside Frank while Joe climbed into the truck bed.  

Nancy said as she closed the door, “Gun it.”  

She was thrown back as Stan hit the gas pedal. The truck bounded along the road. Nancy knew this wasn’t good for Frank’s ribs if they were broken.  

The road curved and Nancy saw red lights ahead. The headlights were pointed at two trailers.  

“That’s them,” Frank said.  

Stan pulled the trick close to the trailer. He parked so the other vehicle couldn’t go anywhere. Stan, Nancy and Joe jumped out of the truck. Nancy easily recognized Dave in the dark. She made her way toward him. The other two took off with Joe and Stan in hot pursuit.  

Nancy faced Dave. “How could you do this to William?”  

“William doesn’t need all those cattle.”  

“That’s not the point. You’re stealing from William. Stealing is illegal.”  

“You don’t understand. I’m out of here.”  

“You’re not going anywhere.”  

Nancy glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw Frank standing beside the truck. He was holding onto the truck. His right arm was around his ribs. He made his way toward Dave.  

“It’s time you gave yourself up,” Frank said. “It’s over.”  

“You have nothing on me.”  

“We have the trailers. The cattle in them can be identified. You’re caught.”  

“No one will find the cattle. No one will know.”  

“They’ll know,” Nancy said.  

“No one will believe you. I’ll be long gone before anyone realizes anything.”  

“You’ll be caught,” Nancy said.  

“It’s my word against yours.”  

“People will believe us,” Frank said. “Everything you’ve said is on tape. I’ve been recording everything.”  

Nancy had a feeling Frank was bluffing, but she wasn’t sure.  

“You have nothing.”  

“How can you be so sure? The authorities will have the tape and you can deal with them.”  

Dave charged at Frank going past Nancy. He knocked Frank onto his back. Nancy winced as she watched Frank struggle with Dave. She could tell his ribs were bothering him.  

She looked around for something to help Frank. She saw a tree limb on the ground. She grabbed the limb and moved toward Frank and Dave. She hit Dave on the back of the head. He rolled off Frank, unconscious.  

She moved over to Frank. He was holding his chest. He said through gritted teeth, “Tie him up. We need to get him to the authorities.”  

Nancy moved over to Dave’s truck and looked in the back. She grabbed the rope she found and tied Dave up. Once that was finished, she turned back to Frank. “Can you sit up?”  

“I should stay where I am.”  

At that moment, they heard branches breaking. Nancy turned. She saw Stan and Joe pushing the other two guys toward them. The two guys had their arms tied behind their backs. Joe and Stan pushed them to the ground by the trailer.  

“Any problems?” Nancy asked.  

“Piece of cake,” Joe said.  

“We need to get the authorities here,” Nancy said.  

“I’ll go,” Stan volunteered. Nancy nodded. “I’ll get an ambulance too. I’ll be back soon.”  

Stan jumped in the truck and drove off. Joe looked at Frank. “How ya’ doing?”  

“Okay,” Frank said.  

“Are your ribs broken or bruised?” Joe asked.  

“I’m not sure.”  

“Frank,” Nancy began, “did you really tape Dave’s confession?”  

“I was bluffing. I wanted to catch him off guard.”  

“You sure did that,” Nancy said. “You sure did that.”

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.