Frank sat on the edge of his bunk early the next morning. He hadn’t been able to get much sleep the night before. Derek, on the other hand, had gone to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, snoring rhythmically. In fact, it was Derek’s snoring, which sounded like a freight train, that had kept Frank up.

Stifling a yawn, Frank grabbed a sweatshirt and went out on the porch. He sat on the steps and absently watched the birds flying off in search of food. He looked around and realized how peaceful the camp was this early in the morning. He has never seen an area as restful as Camp Funtime. Closing his eyes, Frank soaked up the silence.

The sound of crunching footsteps startled him. When Frank opened his eyes a few seconds later, he was surprised to see Ned walking up the path. As soon as Ned was close enough, Frank greeted him with a soft, "Morning."

"Nancy’s missing," Ned said tensely to Frank.

"What?" He couldn’t believe he heard Ned correctly. "You’re kidding, right?"

"No," Ned said looking into the woods. "George woke up early this morning and discovered Nancy’s bed hadn’t been slept in. She told me and I need your help to find her."

"Okay," Frank said getting to his feet. "Let me tell Derek."

"I’ll get Joe," Ned said and headed for Joe’s cabin as Frank went inside.

Frank touched Derek on the shoulder and his eyes popped open. Derek mumbled, "What?"

"Ned needs my help," Frank said. "I’ll meet you at breakfast."

"Fine," Derek mumbled and pulled his sleeping bag up over his head.

Frank pulled on a pair of socks and sneakers and quietly left the cabin. As he started down the steps of the porch, he saw Ned coming toward him with Joe.

While they walked toward the dining hall, Ned told him what he knew. "After the campfire, Nancy came over to Steve and asked about the story he told. We said good-night a few minutes later and she headed for her cabin that she’s sharing with George."

"But she didn’t make it back there," Frank finished.

"No," Ned said. "George thought she was with me until she woke up about an hour ago and saw her bed hadn’t been slept in."

"Then we need to check the path between the campfire and the girls camp," Frank said.

"What are we looking for?" Joe asked sleepily as they walked past the infirmary.

"Anything that might tell us where she went," Frank replied. "Joe, you take the left. Ned, take the middle and I’ll take the right."

They walked along looking for a clue that could tell them where Nancy was. Frank was slowly checking the right side of the path when he stopped suddenly. The glare of sunlight on something metal caught his eye. Squinting into the light, he could make out a flashlight in the grass.

Sprinting over, he picked up the flashlight. The glass was broken and when he turned it over, he saw a name taped on the handle. "Drew."

"Ned! Joe!" Frank yelled. "Over here! I found her flashlight!"

The two hurried over to Frank and Ned took the flashlight from him. "This is Nancy’s."

Joe wandered away from where the flashlight had been found. Checking the ground for signs of what happened, Joe found two sets of footprints heading into the woods away from the path. He crouched down to get a closer look.

"Someone was with her," Joe said peering intently at the ground to get a closer look at the prints.

Frank and Ned came over and peering over his shoulder, Ned asked, "How can you tell?"

"There are two sets of prints," Joe replied standing up. He pointed off into the woods. "The prints go that way."

"Then let’s go," Frank said and started to follow the prints into the woods with Joe and Ned close behind.

"I just hope she’s all right," Ned said looking around. Frank and Joe felt the same way.

*****

Nancy awoke to an intense pounding in her head. She slowly opened her eyes and realized she was laying on her side in the dirt. She slowly rolled onto her back and could tell it was early morning from the color of the sky. She closed her eyes as the throbbing in her head increased.

What am I doing here? she questioned herself. She vaguely remembered someone grabbing her and pulling her into the woods. Who was it the grabbed me and why?

She opened her eyes and pushed herself up to a sitting position. She wrapped her sweatshirt tightly around herself shivering slightly. I must have been out here all night, she thought as she saw the sun coming up behind her. The camp was likely to be southeast of here.

Nancy rose to her feet and started of toward where she thought the camp was. To get her mind off the throbbing in her head, she tried to recall anything about the person who grabbed her. She was pretty sure it was a man, because of the deep, gruff voice, but in all fairness, it could have been a woman. But what’s most puzzling is why I was grabbed in the first place. She had only been at the camp a few days. What could have made her a victim.

After walking for more than a half hour, Nancy was forced to sit down on a fallen log. He head felt like a brass band was playing inside it. She put her head in her hands. All of a sudden she thought she head her named being called off in the distance.

She lifted her head and yelled, "I’m over here!"

Jumping to her feet she scanned the woods looking to her left first. She heard the rustling of leaves and the breaking of branches, she spun to her right and could see Ned and the Hardy’s coming toward her.

"Ned!" Nancy yelled and ran over to him.

Ned pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. After a moment, Ned let go and looked at her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Nancy said leaning against Ned’s chest.

"What happened?" Frank asked.

"Someone grabbed me," Nancy shuddered, but it wasn’t because she was scared, she was cold.

"Let’s get you back to camp," Ned said putting his arm around her waist. "You can tell us after the nurse checks you out."

"All right," Nancy said and the four of them headed to the infirmary.