Frank instinctively reached up and shut the engine off after putting it in park, although he doubted it was going anywhere. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the handkerchief he always carried with him. He used the handkerchief to dust the glass from his face, particularly his eyes.  

When he felt he had most of it away from his face, he slowly opened his eyes, anticipating tiny pricks that would let him know there was still glass there, but there was none.  

Frank looked forward and saw a spider web effect in front of him. He let out a breath feeling very lucky he really wasn’t hurt.  

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when there was a tapping on the driver’s side window. Frank jumped, started at the noise. He turned and saw a state trooper standing beside his car.  

“Sir, are you all right?”  

“I think so,” Frank said.  

“Can you get out?”  

“I think so.”  

Frank carefully reached for his seatbelt and unlatched it, seeing several cuts marking both arms. He opened the door and slowly climbed out, shards of glass falling to the ground. The state trooper took hold of his arm and assisted him up to his patrol car. Frank sat down on the ground beside the car letting out a shaky breath.  

“Sir, can you tell us what happened?”  

Frank took a deep breath and related what had happened. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t get the license plate number.”  

“Don’t worry about it,” the trooper said. He looked down the road. “Just hang tight and let the paramedics treat those cuts.”  

“All right.”  

Within moments, a paramedic was on each side of him, cleaning the wounds and bandaging them. Once they were finished, Frank stood up and looked at his car. It was slightly on its side, but it looked to be relatively undamaged from what he could see, except for the windshield.  

He could hear the sound of a car door closing and quick footsteps moving in his direction, but his gaze was primarily focused on his car.  

When Frank felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see Caren standing there, her face pale.  

“What are you doing here?” Frank asked, pulling Caren into his arms.  

“I was on my way to your house when I saw you standing here,” Caren said, hugging Frank in return. “What happened?”  

“A brick was thrown through my windshield.”  

Caren leaned back and looked him in the eye. “Are you all right?”  

“Just some minor cuts which the paramedics have taken care of.”  

“Did you see who did this?”  

"I saw the other car, but that’s about it.”  

“Sir,” a male voice said making Frank look to see who was talking to him.  

“Yes?” Frank asked, looking at the trooper.  

“It looks like it’s going to be a little while until the tow truck gets here to pull your car out. If you want, we can get you a ride home.”  

“I can take him,” Caren said. “I was heading that way as well.”  

“Can you have my car taken to Marty’s garage on Main Street? He does a lot of the repair work for the family.”  

“Not a problem. And if we have any more questions for you, we know where to reach you.”  

“All right,” Frank said.  

As the trooper made his way down to the ditch again, Caren wrapped her arm through Frank’s and said, “Let’s get out of here,”  

“Sounds good to me.”  

* * * * *  

A short while later, Caren pulled up in front of the Hardy home, right behind Vanessa’s Jeep. As they got out, she said, “I guess Vanessa is making Joe feel better.”  

“You’re probably right,” Frank said, easing himself out of the passenger seat as he felt his body ache from the crash.  

Caren came around the front of the car and looked at him. “Maybe you should have gone to the hospital.”  

“Nah,’ Frank said, straightening up. “My body is just dealing with the impact in the ditch. Give me a day and I’ll be fine.”  

“If you’re sure.”  

“I’m sure.”  

Frank closed the car door and took Caren’s hand in his own. They made their way up the front walk and into the Hardy house. They moved over to the entryway to the living room and saw Vanessa was sitting on the couch with Joe’s head pillowed on her lap. Joe appeared to be sleeping.  

“He’s been out for about a half-hour,” Vanessa said softly.  

“He needs his rest,” Frank said. “Do you want something to drink, Vanessa?”  

“Iced tea?”  

“We have that.” Frank looked at Caren. “What about you?”  

“Iced tea is fine,” Caren said.  

“I’ll be back in a minute.”  

As Caren headed into the living room, Frank made his way into the kitchen and poured four glasses, knowing Joe would probably want some when he woke up. He returned the pitcher to the refrigerator and made his way back to the living room. He handed one glass to Caren and then one to Vanessa. He placed Joe’s on the coffee table before settling in his father’s recliner.  

“Frank, are you all right?” Vanessa asked. “Your face is pale and you have a lot of scratches on your arms.”  

“I’m all right. It was just a little accident,” Frank said.  

“Accident?” Joe asked, sitting up quickly and looking around.  

“I thought you were sleeping,” Frank said.  

“I was, but when I heard accident, I woke up.” Joe swung his legs to the floor and leaned back on the couch. “Tell us what happened.”  

Frank told the story to the others. As he finished, Joe said, “It was lucky that you didn’t get hit by a brick.”  

“I know,” Frank said.  

“But why would someone throw a brick at you in the first place?” Caren asked. “It doesn’t make sense.”  

“I know,” Frank said. “I honestly haven’t figured that out yet. There’s a good possibility that it was just some teenagers having a field day.”  

“Where’s your car now?” Joe asked.  

“I asked them to take it to Marty’s,” Frank said. “He will probably get the windshield replaced quickly.”  

“He probably will,” Joe said. “So, what’s for dinner?”  

“Actually, your mom said there was stew on the stove if you got hungry,” Vanessa said. “She got called to the library for a couple hours.”  

Joe looked at Vanessa. “How do you know all this?”  

“Well, your mom had to tell someone and you were asleep, so she gave me the information.”  

“Knowing Mom, there’s probably enough for all of us if you’re hungry,” Joe said.  

“I am,” Vanessa said. “It’s tiring watching you sleep.”  

“Right,” Joe said.  

“Why don’t we go dish it up?” Caren suggested. “These two have been through enough today.”  

“I think that will be a good idea,” Vanessa said, getting to her feet. “With their track record these past couple days, they’d probably drop the dishes.”  

“We would not,” Joe protested.  

“Just humor us,” Caren said, following Vanessa’s lead. The two of them exited the living room.  

Once they were alone, Joe looked at his older brother’s pale face. “Are you sure you’re all right?”  

“Yeah, I’m all right,” Frank said. “It was a surprise and now I have to deal with getting a new windshield.”  

“Well, at least it’s not winter.”  

“True, but I didn’t need this on top of preparing for finals.” Frank closed his eyes and groaned.  

“What? What is it?”  

“My books are still in my car,” Frank said. “Now I have to go get them.”  

“I can’t believe you forgot them.”  

“I was more interested in getting safely out of the car.”  

“If you want, you can take the van after we eat and go get them.”  

“How did the van get here?” Frank asked, opening his eyes and looking at his brother. “I thought it was still at school.”  

“Actually, Mom and Dad went and got it this morning so they wouldn’t have to cart me around until I returned to school.”  

“That’s lucky for you.”  

At that moment, Caren and Vanessa returned to the living room, each carrying two bowls of stew. They settled down and enjoyed their dinner.  

* * * * *  

That evening after the girls had left, Frank took the van and headed to the garage. Joe had opted out saying he was going to rest.  

When Frank arrived at the garage, he saw his car parked closed to the garage door. He pulled in behind the car and shut off the engine.  

Frank climbed out of the van and moved to the passenger side to see the damage. Even in the dim light, he could easily make out the scratches and dents. He sighed realizing how much the work was going to cost. Getting back to the reason he was there, Frank made his way around to the driver’s side. He pulled the door open and saw his backpack was in the same place he had left it, except that now several of his books were on the front seat floor.  

Frank leaned in being cautious in case there were any more shards of glass in the car. He grabbed his books and tossed them into the bag. Blindly, Frank reached under the passenger seat for anything that he couldn’t see and found a loose paper.  

Pulling the paper out, he noticed that it was folded in half. He unfolded the paper and read what was written in black marker.  

Revenge: Oh, so sweet!!!

 

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.