Carolyn Keene - The Ringmasters Secret

"I haven't told you," said Nancy, "but I'm a friend of your daughter Lolita."

"Lolita?" Mrs. Flanders frowned, as if she were trying very hard to recall the name.

"Lolita is with Sims' Circus now," Nancy went on. "She's one of the most brilliant aerialists in the United States."

"Little Lolita," Mrs. Flanders said, hardly audibly. "My little Lolita. She died when she was very young."

Nancy was shocked. Apparently Mrs. Flanders had been told that her child was no longer living. Another one of Kroon's tricks!

Nancy decided not to pursue this subject. It might bring painful memories to the girl's mother.

Instead she said, "Mrs. Flanders, a queen once gave you a beautiful bracelet with horse charms, didn't she?"

Again Lola Flanders rose from her chair, and her eyes flashed.

"Yes," she said excitedly. "Mrs. Ayres, where Is my bracelet?"

Nancy motioned the woman not to reply. Pulling up her coat sleeve, Nancy said:

"Mrs. Flanders, is this your bracelet?"

Mrs. Flanders stared at the piece of jewelry as if she were seeing a ghost. Nancy removed the bracelet and put it on Lola Flanders' thin wrist.

As the woman stared at it, all the unnaturalness about her seemed to disappear. She straightened up, lifted her chin, and smiled at Nancy and Mrs. Ayres.

"Please tell me more about this bracelet. You say it is yours, Miss Drew. How did you get it?"

Nancy decided to make the story brief.

"It came from a shop in the States," she said. "An aunt of mine saw it and bought it for me."

Lola Flanders nodded, and Nancy hurried on with her task of awakening the woman's mind completely. Putting an arm about her, she said:

"You have thought so many years that your lovely little girl was no longer living. This isn't true. Lolita is alive and well. She lives in the United States. She's one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen."

On the spur of the moment, Nancy decided not to mention again that she was an aerialist. It might recall Lola's accident to her and have a disastrous effect on her mind.

"My little girl is alive?" Lola Flanders exclaimed happily.

Nancy nodded. "How would you like to see her?" she asked.

This question almost overpowered Lola Flanders. She looked at Mrs. Ayres as if it were necessary to obtain her permission.

The woman smiled and came forward. Taking hold of Lola Flanders' hand, she said:

"This is wonderful news, isn't it? I think you should go and see your daughter."

Nancy now told the women that her father, who was a lawyer, was outside waiting for her. He could arrange the legal steps so that Lola Flanders might accompany them back to the States very soon. Nancy also went on to say that Pietro and his son were waiting with her father.

"Oh, I want to see them!" Lola Flanders said.

Suddenly she looked at her shabby clothes. Then she shook her head. Speaking like an old trouper, she told the others that she could not possibly appear in public until she had something done with her hair and she had a pretty new gown. Nancy and Mrs. Ayres laughed. For the next few moments they helped Lola Flanders array herself as she wished. Nancy helped comb her hair in a more modern and becoming style. From a closet Mrs. Ayres brought out her own best dress. She wore it only to church, she said.

"Put this on," Mrs. Ayres insisted.

Lola Flanders slipped it over her head, and giggling as happily as a girl, she surveyed herself in the mirror.

When she was ready, the former circus performer went downstairs. Nancy hurried outside and brought the men in.

"Lola! Lola! This is wonderful!" the elder Pietro cried, kissing her.

Mrs. Flanders blushed. Then Nancy introduced her father and the younger Pietro.

"How soon could Mrs. Flanders be ready to leave?" Nancy asked Mrs. Ayres.

"Any time," the owner of the nursing home said. "She has very little in the way of baggage. It wouldn't take ten minutes to pack it."

Before Lola Flanders knew what was happening, she and her suitcase were in the big automobile, and she was saying good-by to Mrs. Ayres, promising to write to her often and tell her what was happening.

The trip back to London did not take long. By the following morning, Mr. Drew had made arrangements for taking Lola Flanders back to the States. He and Nancy had decided not to cable Lolita. While they hoped Mrs. Flanders would not have a relapse, they agreed that it would be better to wait until they arrived home before telling Lolita the wonderful news.

At the airport the Pietros said good-by. The younger clown took Nancy aside and asked if she would let him know when it might be feasible for him to return to the States.

"Do you think I should tell Mrs. Flanders that Lolita and I are going to be married?"

"Not yet," Nancy replied. "There are a lot of things to be done before the mystery is completely solved."

As the travelers boarded the plane, Lola Flanders clung to Nancy. It had been a long time since she had made a trip across the ocean and never by plane. But the journey was a smooth and happy one.

When they landed in New York, a messenger delivered several telegrams to the plane. The stewardess handed one of them to Nancy.

Quickly she tore it open, then stared at the sheet in horror. The message had been sent by Bess from River Heights and read:

lolita badly injured. will meet you hotel coles new york with details.

CHAPTER XXIII Dodging Spies

For a few moments Nancy sat in stunned silence. Then quickly she showed the telegram to her father, and in a whisper cautioned him not to read it aloud.

"Mrs. Flanders mustn't see it," she said hurriedly.

"You're right," her father replied in a low voice. "This is dreadful news."

Trying not to show her agitation, Nancy helped Mrs. Flanders from the plane. The woman looked around in a dazed fashion. For a moment Nancy was fearful that Mrs. Flanders might suffer a mental relapse. But suddenly the ex-circus performer smiled and said:

"To think that I am back in the U.S.A.! Oh, it doesn't seem possible that in a little while I'll see my daughter again!"

"We'll have to find out where she is," said Nancy gently. "I don't know where the circus is right now."

Mrs. Flanders was trembling with excitement. When Mr. Drew went to claim their baggage, Nancy suggested that she sit down and relax.

She led Mrs. Flanders to the women's lounge and asked the matron if she would please look after her for a few minutes. The kindly woman promised to do so.

"Please don't let her out of here," Nancy requested.

"Don't you worry, miss," the matron said. "I'll guard her as if she was my own mother,"

Nancy hurried off to find her father. At the baggage desk, she said to him in a low voice:

"Dad, I've just come to the conclusion that the telegram is a hoax. Nobody in the States knew when we were flying back."

"It's just possible," said Mr. Drew, "that the doctor who attended Lola Flanders may have visited the nursing home and found out that she had left for the States. He could have cabled Kroon."

Nancy decided that the only way to settle the matter was to call Bess's home. Going at once to the telephone booth, she placed the call. Bess herself answered.

"Where are you?" she asked Nancy.

"New York City. I just landed. Bess, did you send me a telegram?"

"Why, no," Bess replied in surprise. "What made you think I had?"

Nancy told her that someone had signed her name to a very unfortunate message. Then she asked if Bess had heard from Lolita recently.

"Why, yes. I just spoke to Erika. Lolita is fine. Why do you want to know?"

Nancy told her about the latest developments. Bess gasped, first in horror that anyone could be so cruel as to send such a message, and then in delight to hear that Lolita's mother had been found.