Carolyn Keene - The Clue in the Crumbling Wall

Nancy looked around on the ground floor but saw nothing of interest. She climbed up and found a little door at the head of the stairway. Cautiously pushing on it, she peered beyond. As her eyes became accustomed to the somber light, she saw that there was nothing in the tiny room, nor on the open parapet beyond it. In disappointment, Nancy leaned on the wide rail.

"All this work just to get a view," she thought. "But at least I have an idea of the layout."

Suddenly her attention focused on a figure running far in the distance. A boy had moved toward the wall and was carrying a bundle under his arm. Just before he disappeared from sight behind tall trees, he dropped something. It looked like a pair of slacks.

"Oh, my goodness!" Nancy thought with a fearful pang of conscience. "Maybe he stole George's clothes! I should never have left her alone at the tool house. And the boy looked like Teddy Hooper!"

The youngster appeared again, but this time outside the walls, running across the beach toward a boat. "There must be a way out besides the main gate," Nancy thought. Since the boy was much too far away for her to call him, she quickly retraced her steps to the courtyard door below.

When she tried to pull it open, the door would not budge. She yanked and yanked. Finally she realized that somebody must have locked it! She tried the key she had to the castle, but it did not fit.

She was a prisoner in the tower!

"Oh, I must get out!" she murmured.

Nancy refused to panic and told herself there must be some way to escape! She returned to the open parapet and looked about. It was a forty-foot drop to the ground and there was no possible way to climb down the tower wall.

Thoroughly discouraged. Nancy went to try the locked door again. As she twisted the knob vainly, she heard voices. Her heart leaped! Two men were outside.

"We'll get caught, I tell you!" one was arguing in a loud voice. "And if we do, the old man'll say he never saw us before!"

Nancy wondered if "the old man" might be Hector.

"Oh, quit worrying," the other man growled. "Just leave the brainwork of this job to me. We'll find that clue yet. It's somewhere in one of the walls of the estate."

"Yeah? Which wall?" the first man asked sarcastically. "The place is full of them. Anyhow, I'm satisfied with what we've found and kept." "When he sees all the walls we've blasted, he can't say we didn't do a pretty thorough job for him." The other snickered.

The voices faded out, and Nancy assumed that the two speakers had moved away. Who were they? Their voices had been unfamiliar.

"Well, a few of my theories are confirmed, anyway," Nancy said to herself. "The walls of Heath Castle and the gardens have been damaged deliberately, and on orders from a person who wants to find a valuable secret."

Nancy hoped to catch a glimpse of the men and returned to the parapet. She did not see them, but a moment later heard them whistling and calling to the dogs. Then all became quiet.

"They've gone," Nancy thought in relief. "Maybe I should have let them know I was in here when I had the chance. But no, they're not honest, and they probably would have ruined all my plans. I'll get out somehow!"

Nancy was in a predicament, nevertheless. George, stranded without clothes at the tool house, could not help her. Bess, she assumed, was still waiting in the parked car outside the castle gate.

Nancy roved restlessly about the ground floor of the tower in her vain search for an exit. Looking at her watch for the first time, the imprisoned girl was amazed to discover that it was after four o'clock-and she was hungry!

"By this time Bess and George must be pretty annoyed with me," she thought guiltily.

While Nancy worried, Bess was perched in a tree a considerable distance from the castle. Surrounded by the watchful dogs, she would not descend for fear they might tear her to pieces! Badly shaken and near tears, she suddenly heard a whistle. The dogs pricked up their ears, then raced away.

"Thank goodness," Bess gasped, sliding down from her leafy prison.

So much time had elapsed she decided it would do no good to look for Nancy and George. If they had not encountered Mr. Hector already, they surely would have returned to the car.

"I'll go back there," Bess concluded. "But which way?"

Hopelessly confused, she started off. After a while Bess came to the estate wall. Just ahead of her she noticed something in the grass.

"George's slacks!" Bess thought with a start. There was no sign of either her cousin or Nancy. Bess could not believe that they had gone for a swim. As she picked up the slacks, she wondered apprehensively what had happened.

"This path seems to run along the wall," Bess said to herself. "If I take it, I should get back to the gate eventually."

But she found that the trail changed direction. Instead of the main gate she reached a large pond.

"Oh, where am I?" Bess fretted desperately.

Suddenly she heard her name called. She whirled around. No one was in sight. A few yards away stood a stone tool house, its window hidden by overhanging branches.

" Bess! " George shouted impatiently. "Over here ! I'm in the tool house!"

Bess hastened to the small building and looked inside.

"I've been stranded here for hours!" George fumed.

"How did you lose your clothes?"

"I fell into the water and took them off to dry. Nancy put them on the bank. Then she went off to do some exploring. A boy came along and ran away with my things!"

"How terrible ! What became of Nancy?"

"I wish I knew. She's been gone a long while. But tell me, how did you get up your courage to climb the wall?"

When Bess told of her secret ride with Hector, George burst into laughter despite her worry about Nancy.

Then she sobered. "Hector is on the grounds! Maybe Nancy ran into him!"

The cousins were not sure what they should do. Finally Bess said, "Let's go back to the car. Nancy might be there."

"How can I go anywhere like this?" George cried.

Bess handed the girl her slacks. "I found these by the wall. The boy must have dropped them. And you can wear my sweater. I'll be warm enough in my blouse."

George put on the clothes and was relieved to find her sneakers still lying near the bank of the pond. The girls hurried off.

Without meeting anyone, or being attacked by the dogs, they managed to find their way to the front wall and climbed over. Nancy was not in the car.

"Let's drive to town and get help," Bess said. "Nancy has the car keys!"

"Oh, I'd forgotten. Well, we are in an awful mess!"

"We'll have to find Nancy, that's all there is to it," Bess declared.

Each of the girls ate a sandwich from the picnic lunch, then started to scale the wall again. On the ledge they hesitated. The dogs had come back and began to growl fiercely.

"Maybe if we feed them-" George said. She got the rest of the sandwiches from the car. At the sight of the food the hounds became friendly, but the instant they had gobbled it up, they lay down on the ground, panting. Again and again George tried to descend, but each time the dogs rose menacingly.

Bess would not even try to re-enter the grounds. "It's no use," she said.

"I suppose you're right," George said, and jumped down on the outside.

"Tell you what," Bess said. "You stay here and I'll go for help!"

CHAPTER IX Trap Door

For hours Nancy had refused to acknowledge that there was no means of escape from the tower. She had pried at the lock with a nail file from her bag. She had tried to break the door panels by sheer force, but their strength had defied her.

Now she wandered aimlessly about the dimly lighted circular room. Hungry and thirsty, she grew more and more desperate. What had become of George? And Bess? In utter dismay Nancy realized that she had the car keys with her. She sank down on the bottom step of the winding iron staircase to try to figure things out. Staring straight ahead at the dusty wooden floor, she thought, "This is the worst trap I've ever been in !"