Nancy stood in the kitchen looking out the window into the backyard. She was working on making dinner. Bess and George had volunteered to help but there wasn’t much to do. As she stood there, she wondered if Frank was really all right. He had seemed so pale to her. It really bothered her.

She was deep in thought when she felt a pair of hands touch her shoulder. She jumped, startled at first until she saw Ned standing behind her. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t believe you. You seem like you’re miles away.”

“I was thinking about Frank.”

“No, you’re worrying about Frank, but you shouldn’t. He’s pretty tough. In fact, he probably enjoyed the dunking.”

“Yeah, right,” Nancy said sarcastically.

“Come on, Nancy. Frank will be fine.”

“I guess,” Nancy said quietly.

Ned wrapped his arms around Nancy’s waist and pulled her toward him. Ned kissed the back of her neck. “Is there anything you need help with?”

“Not really. Everything is all set.”

“Are you sure?” Ned asked kissing her neck again.

Nancy smiled. She turned in Ned’s arms. She reached up and wrapped her arms around Ned’s neck. She said softly, “I’m positive everything is all set.”

“Okay.”

Nancy closed her eyes as their lips met. She forgot all about Frank and the rest of the people in the other room. She only felt how perfect it was being in Ned’s arms.

“Hey, Nancy.”

Nancy pulled away from Ned and looked toward the door seeing Joe standing there. She felt her face turn red. She could tell Joe was embarrassed too. “Do you need something Joe?”

“I...uh...was just wondering when dinner would be ready.”

“Shortly,” Nancy replied.

“All right,” Joe said and quickly left the kitchen.

Nancy put her head against Ned’s chest. Ned said, “We’ll have to finish this later.”

“Absolutely.”

* * * * *

As they sat down to dinner, Frank came back down to the living room with Callie. They all could see some of the color had returned to his face as he sat down on the couch with Callie.

They filled their plates and started to talk about what they would be doing over the next few days. Callie asked, “So, what’s on the schedule for tomorrow?”

“Well,” Nancy said leaning back in the chair. “Tomorrow night is the hayride as part of the winter carnival.”

“The carnival also has a bunch of buildings that have been set up with holiday displays as well.”

“There are also some sports competitions tomorrow. They have speed skating races around the lake. Hockey games, figure skating and a fort building contest,” George added.

“That sounds like fun,” Joe said.

At that moment, the front door opened. A minute later, Carson Drew came into the living room. “It’s nice to see you two again,” Carson said looking at Frank and Joe.

“It’s nice to see you also,” Frank said.

“Can I fix you a plate, Dad?”

“No thanks,” Carson said. “I had something to eat at the office. I still have some paperwork to do, so I will leave you all alone.”

Carson left the living room. They talked late into the night. They made plans to meet the following morning and check out the winter carnival.

* * * * *

Frank sat quietly in the back seat as Ned drove to the winter carnival. He was thinking about the purse-snatcher from the day before. There was something about the thief that was sending warning signals to him. Maybe he was making more out of the incident than he should, but deep down, something bothered him.

Ned found a parking spot and they made their way to the festival entrance. Frank remained quiet as they walked. Frank finally pushed the thoughts out of his head as they neared the entrance. He saw Callie and Vanessa standing by the door with Nancy. When they reached the door, Callie moved over to Frank and took his hand.

Nancy asked, “Are you ready to check this place out?”

“Definitely,” Joe said rubbing his hands together. “Where are the food tents?”

“Don’t tell me you’re all ready hungry,” Frank said. “We just finished breakfast.”

“What can I say, I’m a growing boy.”

Everyone smiled. Nancy said, “Come on. Let’s go check out the festival.”

* * * * *

The six of them spent the morning exploring the festival. They watched as local artists worked with blocks of ice and turned them into beautiful sculptures. They went out to the lake and watch the figure skaters compete and the hockey game in progress.

It was early afternoon and they had just finished eating lunch. They decided to head to the convention center and check out the holiday displays inside. They walked along a winding path, which had finished ice sculptures set along the sides.

Ned and Nancy were following the others. Nancy leaned against Ned as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She said, “This was a good idea. I’m glad we came here.”

“It has been fun.”

Nancy was about to say something when she felt something being shoved into her back. She stopped quickly. She watched Ned stumble forward taking his arm away from her shoulder. She felt whatever it was move away from her back. She glanced out the corner of her eye and saw a knife getting pressed against her throat.

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.