FIC: The Clue of the Scribbled Note (Nancy Drew, Nancy & Bess, PG)
The Clue of the Scribbled Note (by Bearolyn Keene)
Nancy Drew, Nancy & Bess
For the_avril_game
"Nancy, you won't believe what's happened!"
Nancy Drew's blue eyes widened in shock at the sight of the girl before her. She was barely recognizable as Bess Marvin, the blonde and pleasantly plump chum who, along with Bess's tomboyish cousin George Fayne, had helped Nancy solve many mysteries. It was obvious that Bess had dressed quickly, for her clothing was askew and her socks didn't match, and her normally pretty face was blotchy and red. Though she clutched a sodden handkerchief, tears streamed freely down her face.
"Bess, what's wrong? Is George all right?" Nancy exclaimed. When Bess could only muster a choked sob, Nancy continued, "Good heavens, come in and sit down before you faint! I'll have Hannah prepare you some tea and you can tell me all about it, all right?"
Bess nodded miserably and honked into the handkerchief. Nancy soon summoned Hannah, the Drews' housekeeper and a mother figure to Nancy since the death of Nancy's mother when Nancy was very young. Within minutes, Hannah's tea and cookies had calmed Bess down considerably.
"These lemon tea cookies are divine!" Bess exclaimed, her tears stopping at the cheery prospect of food.
"Now Bess, please tell me what's the matter," Nancy said soothingly, knowing that if George were there she would be scolding Bess for her indulgence.
"It's almost too awful to say!" Bess cried, nearly starting to cry again. "It might be a problem more suitable for your father, if anything. There has to be some sort of law against this!"
Nancy smiled at the mention of her father, Carson Drew, who was one of River Heights' most prominent and successful attorneys. It was because of her father that she became involved in The Secret of the Old Clock, and he had lovingly supported her sleuthing endeavors all the way through her most recent case, The Mystery of Tor Libris. However, Nancy quickly set her filial devotion aside and turned her attention back to Bess.
"Please, Bess, you must try to stay calm and tell me what's wrong. Besides," she said, "if it really is a problem for my father, telling me will let you practice saying it without crying!"
Bess sniffed and nodded. "I guess you're right, Nancy. But saying it makes it real, and I don't want it to be real! I don't want George to be gone forever!"
Nancy gasped. "What do you mean?"
"It was such a silly thing to argue about. George and I were driving home from the soda shop yesterday afternoon and I was telling her about my date with Charley Abel, and she suddenly snapped at me! She said she was tired of hearing about 'my boys' all the time and why couldn't I understand that some women didn't want anything to do with men, but when I told her that didn't make any sense because how were women supposed to get married without men, she called me a horrible name and didn't talk to me for the rest of the trip home. And when she dropped me off she didn't say good-bye or anything! Oh, Nancy, I didn't mean anything by it! I would never dream of upsetting George on purpose, only it's hard to tell what will upset her sometimes because her ideas are so queer."
"There, there," Nancy said, giving her friend another cookie, which Bess gratefully devoured. "I'm sure George has already forgotten about your fight and is ready to be friends again! The two of you are much too close to let a silly fight get between you. She's not gone forever."
"That's just it, though!" Bess said, starting to cry again in earnest and trying to talk through the sobs. "When I ph-phoned her th-this morning to ap-po-pologize, her mo-mother said she'd le-left town on the fi-first bus without telling the fi-final destination! And sh-she left me thi-this note."
Bess thrust the crumpled and damp piece of paper into Nancy's hands. The note, which was indeed in George's handwriting, read:
Dearest Bess,
I'm sorry for our quarrel yesterday but at least I now know that what I had dearly hoped for will never be a reality. Spending every day with what I can never have is crushing me, so I am leaving River Heights for good. Be a dear and take my plants, will you? Mother has a brown thumb. Give my best to Nancy, and maybe one day I'll send the two of you a postcard of the Golden Gate Bridge.
All my love,
your cousin,
George
"Goodness!" Nancy exclaimed. "It certainly appears that George knew what she was doing," she said thoughtfully. Beside her, Bess sobbed inconsolably. "But maybe she was forced to leave! Have you checked her plants yet? Maybe she left a message in them!"
Bess perked up immediately. "I haven't picked them up yet but I'll phone George's mother right now and ask if there are any secret messages!" Grabbing another cookie from the tea tray, Bess strode toward the kitchen.
Nancy leaned back in the armchair and smiled at the return of her chum's cheerful disposition as she turned the possibilities over and over in her mind.
When Bess returned from the kitchen, though, her sad face said it all. "No secret messages in the plants, I'm afraid," she said. "I had her mother check, but there's not so much as the slightest scrap of paper tucked in or around any of them."
"Rats," Nancy grumbled. "Well, it was worth a try. Besides, there are probably lots of clues in this note! She talks about spending every day with something she can never have. If we could find what she was talking about, we might be able to deduce why she left!"
"But what could it be? The only things George spent all day with were things she already owned. It's not as though she had a part-time job at a jewelers or an art gallery where something she loved would be impossible for her to get. Besides," Bess added sensibly, "she would have told us if there was anything bothering her."
"I wonder what she could have meant by something she dearly hoped for that would never be a reality?" Nancy mused. "Do you suppose that George wanted to move to Hollywood to be an actress? Roles are awfully hard to come by in River Heights..."
"And George had a television at home!" Bess exclaimed. "Maybe that's what she meant by spending every day with what she could never have!"
Nancy nodded excitedly, but then her eye caught the last sentence. "Look, Bess, at the end she mentions the Golden Gate Bridge! What if she didn't want to become an actress after all and her final destination is San Francisco?"
Bess beamed. "Oh Nancy, your hunches are so clever! Do you think we should book train tickets now so we can try to find her before she goes too far?"
"Who's going to San Francisco?" a pleasant baritone voice boomed. Nancy and Bess looked up to see Carson Drew standing in the doorway to the library, eyes twinkling with affection for his Titian-haired daughter.
"Oh, Dad!" Nancy exclaimed. "I'm so glad you're home. George left town on the first bus this morning without a word to anyone and we're trying to solve the mystery of where she's going!"
Mr. Drew frowned. "Are you sure this isn't a matter for the police? They have an entire bureau to devote to missing persons, you know."
"She's not missing, exactly," Nancy said, then the girls explained about Bess and George's argument and the note George left that morning.
"May I see the note?" the handsome lawyer asked. Nancy handed it over quite willingly and as Mr. Drew read his frown grew deeper and deeper.
"Dad? What's wrong?" Nancy queried. "Do you think someone has hurt George?"
Carson Drew sighed, looking suddenly much older than his years. He said, "This is very serious, Nancy. San Francisco can be a dangerous town for someone with George's vulnerabilities."
"She's not vulnerable!" Bess insisted. "She knows judo!"
"You're very loyal, Bess," Mr. Drew said, "but George's judo won't help her with the problems of ... er, of being alone in a big city. Someone might come along and try to take advantage of her confusion."
"But she won't be alone!" Bess cried. "Ned is there!"
Nancy said, "Bess, you're right! I can't believe we forgot! Ned can protect her."
Ned Nickerson, a local youth and Nancy's sometime beau who helped investigate cases between his classes at Emerson College, had recently transferred to Berkeley because of his interest in politics and in what he called the "San Franciscan lifestyle." Another amateur sleuth of Nancy's acquaintance, Joe Hardy, had gone with him because the two were such dear friends they couldn't bear to be parted. In Ned's latest letter he told Nancy that he and Joe were sharing a small studio apartment somewhere called Castro Street.
"Now Nancy," Mr. Drew cautioned, "You know I really believe in your sleuthing skills, but don't go jumping to conclusions too fast. It could be that George isn't going to San Francisco at all."
"We did think she might want to be an actress," Bess told him. Then a frown crossed her pretty face. "But George and I spent almost every day together and she never said anything to me about wanting something she couldn't have. Oh, it is so strange!"
Nancy nodded sympathetically and patted Bess on the shoulder. Then, since it looked like Bess was in danger of crying again, she gave her another lemon tea cookie. Bess smiled up at her gratefully.
"Nancy, I know George would be upset with me for eating at a time like this, but sometimes food is a girl's only consolation!"
Mr. Drew interrupted Bess's tea cookie rapture by telling Nancy that phoning Ned would be a good idea, just in case San Francisco really was George's destination.
Several minutes later, Nancy bounded back into the library with good news. "Ned said George called him from a bus stop in Nevada! She's on her way there and she gave him the arrival information so he could pick her up. She's safe!"
Bess smiled at the news. "Oh, Nancy! I'm so glad! It was breaking my heart to think the last words we had were part of our silly fight."
"Would it make you feel better to go to San Francisco and meet her?" Nancy asked.
"Do you think we could? Would we be able to get there in time?" Bess wondered.
Nancy looked at her father, who nodded.
"If you fly tomorrow morning you should be able to get to the bus station just before George arrives," Mr. Drew said. "But Bess, are you sure your parents will agree to a trip on such short notice?"
"Of course! Mother was very upset when I read her George's note, so I'm sure everyone in the family will be happy to know that we're going to find her." Bess was so pleased by the turn of events that she helped herself to another cookie. "Oh Nancy, I'm so excited!"
"Very well, then, I'll call the airline and make arrangements for your flight. But Bess, you'd better hurry home to pack -- it will be a very early morning for you girls tomorrow!"
Bess said her enthusiastic goodbyes and the girls made arrangements to meet at the airport in the morning, and then Nancy rushed upstairs to pack. As she lay in bed that night, she could barely sleep from all the excitement. Whatever happened tomorrow, it was certain to be an adventure!
***
A/N: Big thanks to snarkhunter for saving me a trip to the library by helping to resolve my Hardy Boys dilemma.
Nancy Drew, Nancy & Bess
For the_avril_game
"Nancy, you won't believe what's happened!"
Nancy Drew's blue eyes widened in shock at the sight of the girl before her. She was barely recognizable as Bess Marvin, the blonde and pleasantly plump chum who, along with Bess's tomboyish cousin George Fayne, had helped Nancy solve many mysteries. It was obvious that Bess had dressed quickly, for her clothing was askew and her socks didn't match, and her normally pretty face was blotchy and red. Though she clutched a sodden handkerchief, tears streamed freely down her face.
"Bess, what's wrong? Is George all right?" Nancy exclaimed. When Bess could only muster a choked sob, Nancy continued, "Good heavens, come in and sit down before you faint! I'll have Hannah prepare you some tea and you can tell me all about it, all right?"
Bess nodded miserably and honked into the handkerchief. Nancy soon summoned Hannah, the Drews' housekeeper and a mother figure to Nancy since the death of Nancy's mother when Nancy was very young. Within minutes, Hannah's tea and cookies had calmed Bess down considerably.
"These lemon tea cookies are divine!" Bess exclaimed, her tears stopping at the cheery prospect of food.
"Now Bess, please tell me what's the matter," Nancy said soothingly, knowing that if George were there she would be scolding Bess for her indulgence.
"It's almost too awful to say!" Bess cried, nearly starting to cry again. "It might be a problem more suitable for your father, if anything. There has to be some sort of law against this!"
Nancy smiled at the mention of her father, Carson Drew, who was one of River Heights' most prominent and successful attorneys. It was because of her father that she became involved in The Secret of the Old Clock, and he had lovingly supported her sleuthing endeavors all the way through her most recent case, The Mystery of Tor Libris. However, Nancy quickly set her filial devotion aside and turned her attention back to Bess.
"Please, Bess, you must try to stay calm and tell me what's wrong. Besides," she said, "if it really is a problem for my father, telling me will let you practice saying it without crying!"
Bess sniffed and nodded. "I guess you're right, Nancy. But saying it makes it real, and I don't want it to be real! I don't want George to be gone forever!"
Nancy gasped. "What do you mean?"
"It was such a silly thing to argue about. George and I were driving home from the soda shop yesterday afternoon and I was telling her about my date with Charley Abel, and she suddenly snapped at me! She said she was tired of hearing about 'my boys' all the time and why couldn't I understand that some women didn't want anything to do with men, but when I told her that didn't make any sense because how were women supposed to get married without men, she called me a horrible name and didn't talk to me for the rest of the trip home. And when she dropped me off she didn't say good-bye or anything! Oh, Nancy, I didn't mean anything by it! I would never dream of upsetting George on purpose, only it's hard to tell what will upset her sometimes because her ideas are so queer."
"There, there," Nancy said, giving her friend another cookie, which Bess gratefully devoured. "I'm sure George has already forgotten about your fight and is ready to be friends again! The two of you are much too close to let a silly fight get between you. She's not gone forever."
"That's just it, though!" Bess said, starting to cry again in earnest and trying to talk through the sobs. "When I ph-phoned her th-this morning to ap-po-pologize, her mo-mother said she'd le-left town on the fi-first bus without telling the fi-final destination! And sh-she left me thi-this note."
Bess thrust the crumpled and damp piece of paper into Nancy's hands. The note, which was indeed in George's handwriting, read:
Dearest Bess,
I'm sorry for our quarrel yesterday but at least I now know that what I had dearly hoped for will never be a reality. Spending every day with what I can never have is crushing me, so I am leaving River Heights for good. Be a dear and take my plants, will you? Mother has a brown thumb. Give my best to Nancy, and maybe one day I'll send the two of you a postcard of the Golden Gate Bridge.
All my love,
your cousin,
George
"Goodness!" Nancy exclaimed. "It certainly appears that George knew what she was doing," she said thoughtfully. Beside her, Bess sobbed inconsolably. "But maybe she was forced to leave! Have you checked her plants yet? Maybe she left a message in them!"
Bess perked up immediately. "I haven't picked them up yet but I'll phone George's mother right now and ask if there are any secret messages!" Grabbing another cookie from the tea tray, Bess strode toward the kitchen.
Nancy leaned back in the armchair and smiled at the return of her chum's cheerful disposition as she turned the possibilities over and over in her mind.
When Bess returned from the kitchen, though, her sad face said it all. "No secret messages in the plants, I'm afraid," she said. "I had her mother check, but there's not so much as the slightest scrap of paper tucked in or around any of them."
"Rats," Nancy grumbled. "Well, it was worth a try. Besides, there are probably lots of clues in this note! She talks about spending every day with something she can never have. If we could find what she was talking about, we might be able to deduce why she left!"
"But what could it be? The only things George spent all day with were things she already owned. It's not as though she had a part-time job at a jewelers or an art gallery where something she loved would be impossible for her to get. Besides," Bess added sensibly, "she would have told us if there was anything bothering her."
"I wonder what she could have meant by something she dearly hoped for that would never be a reality?" Nancy mused. "Do you suppose that George wanted to move to Hollywood to be an actress? Roles are awfully hard to come by in River Heights..."
"And George had a television at home!" Bess exclaimed. "Maybe that's what she meant by spending every day with what she could never have!"
Nancy nodded excitedly, but then her eye caught the last sentence. "Look, Bess, at the end she mentions the Golden Gate Bridge! What if she didn't want to become an actress after all and her final destination is San Francisco?"
Bess beamed. "Oh Nancy, your hunches are so clever! Do you think we should book train tickets now so we can try to find her before she goes too far?"
"Who's going to San Francisco?" a pleasant baritone voice boomed. Nancy and Bess looked up to see Carson Drew standing in the doorway to the library, eyes twinkling with affection for his Titian-haired daughter.
"Oh, Dad!" Nancy exclaimed. "I'm so glad you're home. George left town on the first bus this morning without a word to anyone and we're trying to solve the mystery of where she's going!"
Mr. Drew frowned. "Are you sure this isn't a matter for the police? They have an entire bureau to devote to missing persons, you know."
"She's not missing, exactly," Nancy said, then the girls explained about Bess and George's argument and the note George left that morning.
"May I see the note?" the handsome lawyer asked. Nancy handed it over quite willingly and as Mr. Drew read his frown grew deeper and deeper.
"Dad? What's wrong?" Nancy queried. "Do you think someone has hurt George?"
Carson Drew sighed, looking suddenly much older than his years. He said, "This is very serious, Nancy. San Francisco can be a dangerous town for someone with George's vulnerabilities."
"She's not vulnerable!" Bess insisted. "She knows judo!"
"You're very loyal, Bess," Mr. Drew said, "but George's judo won't help her with the problems of ... er, of being alone in a big city. Someone might come along and try to take advantage of her confusion."
"But she won't be alone!" Bess cried. "Ned is there!"
Nancy said, "Bess, you're right! I can't believe we forgot! Ned can protect her."
Ned Nickerson, a local youth and Nancy's sometime beau who helped investigate cases between his classes at Emerson College, had recently transferred to Berkeley because of his interest in politics and in what he called the "San Franciscan lifestyle." Another amateur sleuth of Nancy's acquaintance, Joe Hardy, had gone with him because the two were such dear friends they couldn't bear to be parted. In Ned's latest letter he told Nancy that he and Joe were sharing a small studio apartment somewhere called Castro Street.
"Now Nancy," Mr. Drew cautioned, "You know I really believe in your sleuthing skills, but don't go jumping to conclusions too fast. It could be that George isn't going to San Francisco at all."
"We did think she might want to be an actress," Bess told him. Then a frown crossed her pretty face. "But George and I spent almost every day together and she never said anything to me about wanting something she couldn't have. Oh, it is so strange!"
Nancy nodded sympathetically and patted Bess on the shoulder. Then, since it looked like Bess was in danger of crying again, she gave her another lemon tea cookie. Bess smiled up at her gratefully.
"Nancy, I know George would be upset with me for eating at a time like this, but sometimes food is a girl's only consolation!"
Mr. Drew interrupted Bess's tea cookie rapture by telling Nancy that phoning Ned would be a good idea, just in case San Francisco really was George's destination.
Several minutes later, Nancy bounded back into the library with good news. "Ned said George called him from a bus stop in Nevada! She's on her way there and she gave him the arrival information so he could pick her up. She's safe!"
Bess smiled at the news. "Oh, Nancy! I'm so glad! It was breaking my heart to think the last words we had were part of our silly fight."
"Would it make you feel better to go to San Francisco and meet her?" Nancy asked.
"Do you think we could? Would we be able to get there in time?" Bess wondered.
Nancy looked at her father, who nodded.
"If you fly tomorrow morning you should be able to get to the bus station just before George arrives," Mr. Drew said. "But Bess, are you sure your parents will agree to a trip on such short notice?"
"Of course! Mother was very upset when I read her George's note, so I'm sure everyone in the family will be happy to know that we're going to find her." Bess was so pleased by the turn of events that she helped herself to another cookie. "Oh Nancy, I'm so excited!"
"Very well, then, I'll call the airline and make arrangements for your flight. But Bess, you'd better hurry home to pack -- it will be a very early morning for you girls tomorrow!"
Bess said her enthusiastic goodbyes and the girls made arrangements to meet at the airport in the morning, and then Nancy rushed upstairs to pack. As she lay in bed that night, she could barely sleep from all the excitement. Whatever happened tomorrow, it was certain to be an adventure!
***
A/N: Big thanks to snarkhunter for saving me a trip to the library by helping to resolve my Hardy Boys dilemma.