The rest of the counselors rose noisily and headed outside. Joe stood up with Bess and George and said, "I guess we’ll meet you outside."

Frank nodded in agreement.

The three of them stayed seated. They watched as Steve went through a few papers in his clipboard. He picked up his clipboard and moved toward their table. Steve said, "Thanks for hanging around."

"No problem," Frank said. "What’s up?"

"One of our kids will be arriving tomorrow before lunch," Steve said flipping through the papers as he sat down. "I would have talked to Derek about him, but this is a special situation."

"Why is it a special situation?" Frank asked.

"The camper is Jamison Williams, son of Governor Williams. The Governor wanted to make sure his son had a normal summer camp experience without bodyguards." Steve looked at Frank. "I wanted you to know about this for several reasons. First, he hasn’t had it easy. He’s constantly being shipped around and rarely has a chance to make friends."

"So, I guess I’m supposed to treat him like a normal kid even though he has political connections."

"Right," Steve said. "Try to help him fit in without using his father to swing the scale. Second, your application mentioned your detective work and since he is the Governor’s son..."

"No problem," Frank said.

Steve looked at Nancy. "I hope you’ll keep this to yourself.

"Of course," Nancy said.

"Now, the reason I asked you to stay along with Ned is because I know you two are engaged. But I need to make sure the kids won’t be seeing anything they shouldn’t."

"We’ll be completely professional," Nancy said reassuringly. "Ned and I know how to act around kids. We’re really good friends, not just an engaged couple."

"We will be careful to watch what we say and do so the kids won’t get the wrong impression," Ned added.

"I just had to be sure," Steve said. "The only reason I’m checking is because I had a problem last year with two counselors that were engaged. They had forgotten about the kids and were caught acting unprofessional. I had to dismiss them on the spot. Luckily, the campers didn’t catch them."

"Don’t worry, Steve. We will be professional," Ned said..

"Good." Steve got to his feet. "Come on. We need to get the hike started."

*****

Once the sun had set that evening, all the counselors were gathered around the fire ring across from the dining hall. They had gotten a chance to know each other pretty well on the hike and everyone was chattering excitedly about the campers arrival the following day.

Frank glanced around the campfire looking at the other counselors. Derek, the one who complained about hiking, was his assigned bunkmate and Derek wasn’t too happy to be sharing a cabin with him. Derek was used to everything being done his way and wasn’t about to compromise. At least Derek was one of the swimming instructors, so Frank knew they wouldn’t run into each other that often.

Frank looked over to where Joe was sitting with Bess on one side and a guy and girl on the other. Allan Stern was Steve’s nephew and an expert trailsman. He was also Joe’s bunkmate. Allan seemed like a nice guy. He had pointed out a lot of wildlife to the rest of the counselors when they were hiking.

Then there was the girl. Joe had his eyes focused on her. Her name was Misty Allen and she was Bess’ bunkmate. She was a lifeguard with George. He could see why Joe was interested in her. Misty was really cute. She had shoulder length brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, large brown eyes and a contagious laugh.

As Frank glanced around, he wondered about some of the counselors. Some of them seemed dedicated to working with children, but there were some others that seemed to have a problem remembering which way was up.

Frank looked up and saw Nancy staring at him. She was leaning against Ned who was sitting on the trunk of a fallen tree. Nancy said, "You look like you’re miles away. You okay?"

"Just thinking."

"About what?" Nancy asked.

"Nothing in particular." Frank decided to change the subject. "Aren’t you going to be bored without a mystery to solve?"

"I need this break," Nancy admitted. "Once summer’s over, we’ll start planning our wedding."

"What about you, Frank?" Ned asked. "Aren’t you going to be bored?"

Before Frank could respond, Joe said, "No way. This will be exciting enough. For a change, no one will be shooting at us."

"The way you three talk, I’d think you were secret agents," Misty said.

"They aren’t secret agents," Bess said proudly. "Nancy and the Hardy’s are detectives."

"You’re kidding?" Allan asked.

"We sure are," Joe said. "Our father taught us everything we know."

"My father is an attorney," Nancy said.

Frank suddenly jumped to his feet. "It’s getting late. I’ll see you all in the morning."

"Night," Nancy said with a wave and watched him walk into the darkness toward boys camp.

"I think Frank has the right idea," Bess said stifling a yawn. "Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

"I agree," George said getting to her feet. "Are you coming, Nancy?"

"I’ll be there in a few minutes," Nancy said.

"Night guys," Ned said.

Joe and Allan also said good-night and headed for their cabin.

Nancy leaned back against Ned and closed her eyes once they were alone. It felt nice to be in his arm, she thought. She had missed being so close to him when he was away at school. Ned kissed her gently on the neck and she said, "I missed you so much when you were away at school."

"I missed you too."

"But I really do need to get some sleep," Nancy mumbled turning her head so she could kiss Ned on the lips.

"Okay," Ned said kissing her.

After a few minutes, they pulled apart. Nancy murmured, "That was nice."

"That’s only the beginning," Ned said.

"It’ll have to wait, Romeo," Nancy said with a grin. She glanced at her watch. "It’s really getting late and we both need our sleep."

"All right," Ned sighed giving her a quick kiss. "I’ll walk you back to your cabin."

"That’s okay," Nancy said. "Remember the rules."

Ned stood beside her and pulled her close. Ned said, "Sleep well and I’ll see you in the morning."

"You too," Nancy said. "I love you."

"I love you, too."