Thrill on the Hill Page 3

  “Maybe yes, maybe no,” Molly said. “But just in case it was someone else, I’m going to hang up lost-sled posters after school. I want everyone to know I’m offering a reward. Will you guys help me?”

  “Sure,” Nancy said.

  Bess and George agreed, too.

  • • •

  After school the girls went over to Molly’s house. Mrs. Angelo had made a big stack of lost-sled posters at work.

  “We can hang more signs if we split up,” Molly said.

  “Good idea,” George said. “Bess and I can cover Main Street.”

  Bess smiled. “Perfect,” she said. “We can window-shop at the same time.”

  George groaned. “You do the window shopping,” she said. “I’ll take care of the posters.”

  Nancy and Molly began hanging posters near Molly’s house. They taped them to streetlight poles. Nancy asked people they passed if they had seen Molly’s sled. Nobody had.

  Molly walked more and more slowly. “I bet we never find my sled,” she said.

  “I bet we do,” Nancy said. “I think I just found a clue!”

  7

  A Sporty Snowman

  Nancy pointed across the street. “Do you see what I see?” she asked.

  Molly shrugged. “I see Melissa Adams. She’s shoveling the walk in front of her house. But what does that have to do with my sled?”

  “Check out the snowman in Melissa’s yard,” Nancy said.

  The snowman stood under a big oak tree. He was a little taller than Nancy. He had gumdrop eyes, a carrot nose, a scarf around his neck—and he was wearing purple earmuffs.

  “Hey!” Molly said. “Those look like my earmuffs.”

  “I think so, too,” Nancy said.

  “So you think Melissa took my sled?” Molly asked.

  “No,” Nancy said. “I just—”

  Molly wasn’t listening. “Come on!” she said angrily. “I want to talk to her.”

  “Wait!” Nancy said.

  But Molly didn’t wait. She marched across the street and ran up to Melissa.

  “Hi!” Melissa said. She smiled, and her dimples showed. “Do you guys want to help shovel?”

  “No, we do not want to help shovel,” Molly snapped. “We’re here to find out exactly where you got those earmuffs!”

  “At the park,” Melissa said. She gave Nancy a puzzled look. She didn’t seem to understand why Molly was being so rude.

  “That’s exactly where I lost mine!” Molly announced.

  “Oh,” Melissa said. “Then I bet those are yours. Hold on a second. Let me get them for you.”

  Melissa went over to the snowman. She jumped up and got the earmuffs. Then she handed them to Molly.

  Molly put her hands on her hips. “Did you find anything else at the park?” she asked.

  Melissa shook her head.

  “That’s impossible,” Molly said. “Because I left these earmuffs under my sled. My stolen sled.”

  “Well, I found them lying in the snow,” Melissa said. “Although there was a sled nearby. An old pink saucer. Is that the sled you’re looking for?”

  “No,” Molly said. “My sled was brand-new.”

  Melissa shrugged. “The pink saucer was the only sled I saw,” she said. “At first I thought the earmuffs might belong to whoever owned it. But I asked around and found out they didn’t. That’s why I brought them home and put them on my snowman.”

  “Who did you ask about the earmuffs?” Nancy asked.

  Melissa thought for a second. “Um, Sam McCorry. He was waiting for some of his friends to come up the hill. He told me the pink saucer belonged to a girl he knew. He said the earmuffs weren’t hers.”

  Molly stopped looking angry and started looking confused. “I give up,” she said. “It seems as if my sled just vanished.”

  “Come on,” Nancy said. “Let’s go talk to Sam. Maybe he saw whoever took your sled.”

  Molly frowned thoughtfully. “Or maybe he took it,” she said.

  Nancy shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said. “Sam already has an identical one.”

  “Maybe he got mixed up,” Melissa suggested. “He could have taken Molly’s sled by accident.”

  “That should be easy to prove,” Nancy said to Molly. “You’d just have to show Sam where you wrote your name on the sled.”

  Molly’s face fell. “Actually, I didn’t write my name on it. I forgot.”

  “Well, let’s go over to the McCorrys’ anyway,” Nancy suggested. “If Sam isn’t around, we can talk to Laura.” Laura was Sam’s younger sister. She was in the third grade, too.

  Molly and Nancy said goodbye to Melissa. Then they walked over to the McCorrys’. Sam and Laura lived right across the street from Rebecca.

  As the girls were walking up the McCorrys’ driveway, an old car pulled in. A girl got out. Nancy recognized her. She was the same girl who had been sledding with Sam.

  “I bet that’s Sam’s girlfriend,” Molly whispered.

  “Why?” Nancy asked.

  “Look at her jacket,” Molly whispered.

  The girl was wearing a jacket that said River Heights High School Football.

  That’s Sam’s jacket, Nancy thought. She was surprised Sam had given it away. He wore it every day all winter.

  Nancy and Molly walked up to the McCorrys’ porch. Sam’s friend had just rung the bell.

  “Hey,” the older girl said.

  “Hi,” Nancy said back.

  Laura opened the door. “Hi, Angela,” she said.

  “Hey, squirt,” the girl replied. “Where’s Sam?”

  “In by the TV,” Laura said. “Hi, you guys!” she added to Nancy and Molly. “What’s up?”

  “We’re trying to find Molly’s lost sled,” Nancy said. “We thought you might be able to help.”

  “Sam might have seen whoever took it,” Molly added.

  “Come in,” Laura said. “You can ask Sam yourselves.”

  “Are you sure it’s okay?” Molly asked. She lowered her voice. “I mean, his girlfriend is here.”

  Laura laughed. “Angela isn’t Sam’s girlfriend,” she said. “They’re just friend friends.”

  “Then how come she’s wearing Sam’s jacket?” Nancy asked.

  Laura smiled. “Angela won it,” she said. “She beat Sam sledding at the Gulch. Sam is so mad. He loves that jacket.”

  Nancy thought back to the afternoon before. She had seen Sam race against Angela. His sled was really fast. So how had Angela won?

  An image popped into Nancy’s mind. She saw Angela sledding up to where Sam had knocked Bess over. She was riding . . . a pink saucer!

  Nancy grabbed Molly’s hand. “Come on,” she said. “We have to talk to Angela. I think she’s the one who took your sled!”

  8

  Snow Ice Cream

  Laura led the way into the McCorrys’ den. Angela and Sam were sitting on the couch. A plate of snacks was on the table in front of them. They were watching a cartoon on TV.

  “Angela,” Laura said. “My friends want to talk to you.”

  Molly looked at Nancy. “Go ahead,” she whispered.

  Nancy cleared her throat. “Molly’s sled is missing,” she told Angela. “Do you have any idea where it is?”

  Angela sat up straighter. She looked a bit embarrassed.

  Sam sat up, too. He lowered the sound on the TV. He gave Nancy a big smile.

  “A sled just like Sam’s?” Angela asked. “One that was left under the oak tree near the sidewalk at the park?”

  “That’s it!” Molly said.

  “I never saw it,” Angela said.

  Molly’s shoulders slumped.

  Angela laughed. “I’m just kidding,” she said.

  Sam gave Angela a push. “Stop teasing,” he said. “Go on and tell Laura’s friends how you managed to beat me sledding.”

  “All right, all right,” Angela said. “I did see your sled. In fact, I kind of borrowed it.”

  “It�
�s not borrowing if you don’t ask first,” Molly said.

  Angela’s face turned slightly pink. “I guess that’s true,” she said. “But one of the kids at the park said you wouldn’t mind.”

  “What kid?” Nancy asked.

  “Um, Carl Minelli’s little brother,” Angela said. “I don’t know his name.”

  “Mike!” Nancy and Molly said together.

  “I knew he had something to do with this,” Molly added.

  “Well, he didn’t have much to do with it,” Angela said. “He just told me you were letting everyone borrow your sled. I thought you wouldn’t mind if I took it up to the Gulch. We were only gone about half an hour.”

  “I wouldn’t have minded if you had asked first,” Molly said. “And I still don’t understand why you didn’t return it.”

  Angela shrugged. “I did. But when we got back to the park, you were gone. So was Mike. I didn’t know where to find you. Your name isn’t on the sled anywhere.”

  “That’s true,” Molly said. “But do you think I could get my sled back now?”

  “Sure,” Angela said. “It’s still in the trunk of my car. I’ll get it right away.”

  Nancy, Laura, and Molly followed Angela outside. Angela unlocked her trunk and lifted out the sled.

  “Yippee!” Molly yelled. She gave Nancy a big hug. “Thank you so much. I never would have found it without you.”

  “You’re welcome,” Nancy said.

  “I’m sorry you were worried about it,” Angela said. “I guess I should have tried harder to find you.”

  “That’s okay,” Molly said. “I’m going to put my name on the sled as soon as I get home.” She turned to Nancy. “But first it’s time for your reward.”

  Nancy smiled. “Snow ice cream,” she said. “We can make it at my house. There’s lots of clean snow in the backyard.”

  “Sounds yummy,” Laura said. “Can I come, too?”

  “Sure,” Nancy said. “We need to go find Bess and George over on Main Street. And let’s get Rebecca and Melissa, too. I’ll ask Hannah and my dad if I can have everyone over for dinner. Since it’s Friday, I don’t think they’ll mind.”

  Molly laughed. “Sounds good to me,” she said. “Now that I have my sled back, I’m ready for a party!”

  • • •

  All of Nancy’s friends gathered at her house. Molly showed the other girls how to make snow ice cream.

  Nancy and George went into the Drews’ backyard to get the snow. They scooped up some that wasn’t right on top or too close to the ground.

  Molly carefully folded the snow into the other ingredients. Then they put the snow ice cream into the freezer.

  “Just in time for dinner!” Hannah said.

  Dinner was yummy spaghetti and vegetables. The girls ate at the dining-room table with Nancy’s father. Mr. Drew even let Nancy light some candles.

  After everyone finished eating, the girls did the dishes together. By then the snow ice cream was ready to come out of the freezer.

  Nancy put the bowl in the middle of the kitchen table. She gave each of her friends a spoon.

  “You should have the first bite,” Molly told Nancy. “After all, it is your reward.”

  “Okay,” Nancy agreed. She took a spoonful and tried it. The snow ice cream wasn’t as smooth as store-bought ice cream, but it was sweet and cold. And it tasted a little bit like the outdoors.

  “Is it good?” Molly asked.

  “Yummy for the tummy!” Nancy said. “Dig in!”

  While the other girls started to eat, Nancy ran upstairs. She got her blue notebook and came back to the kitchen.

  “What are you writing?” Rebecca asked between bites.

  “Something that will help me remember this mystery,” Nancy said. She began to write.

  Molly’s Snow Ice Cream

  ½ cup of heavy cream

  1 tablespoon vanilla

  ½ cup powdered sugar

  2 quarts of very clean snow

  Put the cream into a mixing bowl. Whip with a beater until fluffy. Add the vanilla and sugar. Gently fold in the snow. Cover and put into freezer until ice cream hardens.

  P.S. Snow ice cream tastes best after solving a mystery.

  Case closed, Nancy thought. “Hey,” she added out loud. “Save some of that for me!”

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  Aladdin

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  Copyright © 1999 by Simon & Schuster Inc.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  eISBN-13: 978-1-4424-7193-1

  First Minstrel Books printing January 1999

  NANCY DREW, THE NANCY DREW NOTEBOOKS, and colophon are registered trademarks of

  Simon & Schuster Inc.