The Strange Message in the Parchment Read online

  All this time Tony had stood by, silent and motionless. Now he asked Dan a question in Italian.

  Instead of replying, Dan asked Eezy what his answer was. “Why of course I’ll take this boy in. I don’t get much company up here and it will be fun for me.” He asked, “Doesn’t Tony speak English?”

  “No,” Dan replied.

  Eezy snapped his fingers. “Then I’m going to start right in teaching him some. Any boy who lives in these United States should speak our language!”

  Eezy produced pencil and paper, and Dan helped Tony compose a note to his uncle.

  While he was doing this Eezy talked to Nancy. “So the boy was born in Italy and has been here ten years, but has never been allowed to speak anything but Italian.”

  The shepherd looked off into the clouds, then said, “You know, Nancy, it says in the Good Book, ‘It is an ancient nation, whose language thou knowest not, neither understandeth what they say.’ ” 7

  Nancy made no comment but she agreed entirely. It would be interesting to see how fast Eezy could teach Tony some English. “He seems very bright and I’m sure he’ll catch on quickly,” the girl detective thought.

  She reminded Eezy that Tony apparently had great talent as an artist. “While he’s here, why don’t you give him some paper and pencils and let him sketch? I’m sure that will make the boy very happy.”

  “I’ll start as soon as you folks leave,” the shepherd promised.

  By this time Tony had finished the note. Dan folded it and put the message into his pocket. As he and Nancy started off, she called back, “We’ll return tomorrow.” Dan repeated the message in Italian and Tony smiled.

  When the two hikers reached the Flockhart farmhouse, they found Junie waiting there with Dan’s car. “Tell me what happened!” she urged.

  Nancy and Dan told her the whole story. Then they went on to say that they had not discussed Mr. Rocco’s possible underhanded deals with Eezy because of Tony’s presence.

  “When are you going to get in touch with Mr. Rocco?” she asked Dan.

  “Right now. I hope he will be at home.”

  Someone else answered Dan’s call. He asked for Mr. Rocco in Italian and wondered what the man on the other end of the line was thinking. “I’m sure he’s puzzled,” Dan decided, smiling at the situation.

  This was confirmed when Mr. Rocco answered. He inquired who the speaker was and where he was from.

  Dan did not reply. Instead he said, “Go to the big oak tree opposite the general store for a note to you from Tony.” He hung up.

  When Dan returned to the girls, Junie asked him, “How soon do you think we should go look for an answer?”

  “Not until tomorrow morning,” he said. “What do you think, Nancy?”

  The girl detective nodded. “For one thing there might be trouble when someone picks up the answer to Tony’s message. If so, it would be much better to have it happen in the daylight.”

  Dan stayed at the Flockharts’ overnight. He and the girls were up early to drive to town for a possible answer to Tony’s note. They had decided to use his car and to park it some distance from the oak tree, yet close enough so those remaining inside could have a clear view of what was happening.

  When they reached the spot, Dan got out and walked quickly up the road to the tree. The girls, who were watching carefully for any attack on him, merely saw him take an envelope from the hollow in the tree, wrinkle his forehead, and then start back to the car.

  He jumped in, then said, “What do you make of this?”

  The envelope he had picked up had printed words on it, which said, “To the kidnappers of Tony Rocco.”

  “Kidnappers!” Junie cried out. “We’re not kidnappers! We’re only trying to help the mistreated boy!”

  Nancy did not comment, but was thinking hard. “This is a new angle. If Mr. Rocco has some spies around, they may track us right to Triple Creek Farm and demand the return of the boy or go to the police and charge the Flockharts and Dan and me with kidnapping!”

  This was a twist Nancy had not counted on. By this time Junie had torn open the envelope and removed a slip of paper inside. Again it was addressed to Tony’s kidnappers, and read: If you are looking for a ransom, forget it. I have nothing to fear from the police, but you certainly have.

  Sal Rocco.

  While Junie read the note aloud, Nancy looked in all directions to see if she could find any spies. Her eyes became riveted on some heavy bushes a distance in back of the oak tree. Was she mistaken, or did she detect some movement behind it? As she continued to stare, she was positive that two men stood there, peering through the bushes and up the road toward the car.

  “Mr. Rocco did have spies!” she decided.

  Nancy relayed her thoughts to the others and suggested that Dan take a circuitous route to Triple Creek Farm to throw off pursuit by their enemies. Junie directed Dan to drive down one road and up another and finally all the way through a farm, which had a long lane that exited onto another main road. From here they went home.

  As the trio walked into the house, the phone rang. Junie answered it and called Nancy. “It’s for you,” she said.

  To the young sleuth’s delight Ned Nickerson was calling. After a cheery greeting, he said, “If the invitation is still good, Burt, Dave, and I will come up very soon with Bess and George. I hope you have some detective work for us to do.”

  “Indeed I have,” Nancy replied. “A big important job is waiting for you!”

  CHAPTER XVI

  Reinforcements

  ALL that day there was a flurry of excitement in the Flockhart farmhouse. Rooms were prepared for the guests and the refrigerators were filled from the well-stocked cold-storage rooms.

  The task was almost completed when the telephone rang. Nancy was closest to the instrument, so she answered the call. It was from Vincenzo Caspari.

  “Is that you, Nancy?” he asked. When she told him it was, he said, “I’m so glad I found you at home. I have some very important and exciting news to tell you!”

  “Good! What is it?” Nancy asked eagerly.

  The artist said he had been in touch with his grandparents in Rome. They in turn had tracked down Diana Bolardo!

  “Marvelous!” Nancy exclaimed.

  She was tempted to ask him a lot of questions, but she listened silently as Mr. Caspari gave her the rest of his message.

  “The young woman is indeed the person who painted the parchment Mr. Flockhart purchased. Incidentally, I did not tell them it had been stolen. They would have wanted to know all the details and I would not have been able to explain.” Nancy thought this was probably wise.

  “My grandparents reported that Signora Bolardo admitted she had painted the parchment picture, but otherwise had been very secretive. One thing she mentioned will surprise and, I am sure, delight you. Diana Bolardo plans to leave at once for the United States. She’ll fly over, so she should arrive soon.”

  Nancy was amazed and delighted to hear this. “Where will she stay in the United States?”

  The girl detective could hear Mr. Caspari chuckle at the other end of the phone. “This will be a really big surprise to you,” he replied. “She is coming directly to my home and then going to the Flockhart farmhouse!”

  Nancy could hardly believe her ears. She was actually going to see and talk to the woman who had made the parchment picture! Again the thought flashed through her mind that the baby in Signora Bolardo’s picture might be Tony!

  Since Vincenzo Caspari had no more to report, she thanked him for doing this valuable bit of sleuthing, then they said good-by. She rushed off to inform Mrs. Flockhart and Junie of the latest development.

  Both of them looked at her unbelievingly. Then a sudden thought occurred to Mrs. Flockhart. She threw up her hands. “One more guest!” she exclaimed. “And she’ll want her own room, I’m sure! This house is large but does not have rubber sides! It’s going to take some figuring to decide where to put so many people!”

&nbs
p; At this moment Mr. Flockhart walked in. He was told the latest news. First Nancy revealed that Bess and George were coming with Ned, Burt, and Dave, then surprised him with the announcement that Signora Diana Bolardo was also arriving.

  The big man stood in the center of the floor with his feet far apart. He chuckled. “I’d say we’re going to have a houseful. How would it be if we put the boys out in a vacant tenant house?”

  Junie spoke up. “Oh, Nancy, they are darling houses. I wouldn’t mind living in one of them myself.”

  “That sounds great,” Nancy said. “I’m sure the boys will be happy there.”

  The housecleaning continued for more than an hour, then Nancy and Junie went to one of the tenant houses.

  “This place looks spic and span to me,” Nancy remarked, walking in.

  Junie smiled. “My father is very strict about that. When tenant families move, they are required to leave it clean and tidy.”

  There was nothing for the girls to do but a little dusting. As soon as this was finished they left. Nancy helped Junie with her farm chores, but all the time she kept thinking about the mystery and the turn it would take when Signora Bolardo arrived. It would be exciting, she was sure.

  The following morning Ned, Burt, and Dave drove in with Bess and George. As Nancy introduced them to the Flockharts and Dan, she realized how proud she was of her friends.

  Ned was tall and good-looking. Burt and Dave were a little shorter. All of them were athletic. Bess and George were cousins but quite different from each other. Bess was a slightly plump blond with dimples. George wore her hair short and was a brunette. She liked plain clothes, whereas Bess tended to admire frills.

  “What a wonderful place this is!” Bess exclaimed enthusiastically. “Land, land, as far as you can see.”

  Dave said, “How would you like to mow six hundred acres of it?”

  Junie replied, “We let the sheep do it.”

  Ned asked, “With a tractor?”

  “Sure,” said Junie, her eyes twinkling, “We train all our sheep to ride mowers, rake and bail hay, and store it—!”

  “Enough!” cried Ned.

  After a hearty second breakfast, Dan took the boys to their own house. They changed into farm clothes, then joined the girls, who also were in shirts and jeans.

  The boys were eager to be off on their mission. Mr. Flockhart had explained the situation to them and asked that they try to have a full report for him at least by the following evening. Dan joined them and the four drove off, with the girls wishing them luck.

  Junie asked Bess and George, “How would you like to have a tour of my father’s barns and his factory?”

  “Great!” they answered.

  Everything went well and the visitors were extremely interested in the work until they came to the slaughterhouse. Then Bess rebelled. She covered her ears with her hands and said, “I can’t stand that bleating! Oh those poor things! Why, oh why do they have to be killed?”

  Junie, used to this since childhood, smiled. She replied, “They’re killed so you and others will have lamb to eat, Bess. Don’t you like it?”

  Bess said, “Oh, yes, I love it. But don’t ask me to watch the slaughter in this barn.”

  She walked off and returned to the barn where the baby lambs were. Meanwhile the other three girls went into the slaughterhouse, but after watching the operation a few minutes came out and joined Bess.

  “Let’s go to the place where your father sells articles made from sheepskins,” Bess suggested to Junie.

  Nancy said, “I must warn you, Bess. You’re going to lose your heart to a lot of things you see in this shop. Watch your pocketbook!”

  George was just as intrigued by the sheepskin articles as Bess was. The cousins bought gloves for their parents and treated themselves to after-ski booties.

  The tour continued for some time, then the girls drove up the hillside to see Eezy. Though the shepherd was in front of his cabin, Tony was nowhere to be seen. Nancy asked the sheepherder where he was.

  After being introduced to Bess and George, Eezy said, “In his schoolroom.”

  Nancy looked puzzled. “Where is that?”

  Eezy took his visitors to a well camouflaged bower beyond the rear of his cabin. They walked inside. Tony was seated on the ground, writing English words.

  The boy jumped up and when he was introduced made a low bow to the newcomers. To the amazement of Nancy and Junie he said in perfect English, “Good morning. I am very glad to see you.”

  “How wonderful!” Nancy said. “You learn very fast.”

  Tony was pleased. “Mr. Eezy good teacher,” he told the girls.

  Bess whispered to George, “Isn’t he darling?”

  Shyly Tony opened his notebook and showed the girls a sketch of Eezy, which he had made. Nancy and Junie exclaimed in amazement. “It’s a marvelous likeness!” Junie remarked, smiling at Tony. “You have a lot of talent.”

  At this moment Rover came bounding up. He stood still, looking at the group and barking furiously.

  “This means,” said Junie, “that there is a disturbance somewhere among the sheep. Perhaps some strangers are arriving.”

  Tony looked frightened. Quickly he gathered up his books and papers and disappeared behind a screen of trees, bushes, and vines.

  By this time Eezy had started to follow Rover among the sheep. George puckered her mouth and quipped, “He ought to be called Uneasy!”

  Nancy and Junie had already started running after the shepherd, so Bess and George followed. Soon they could see two men trudging up the hill. Their clothes indicated they were law officers. Both wore badges.

  When Eezy and his group met the two men, the shepherd asked, “What do you want?”

  Without answering him, one of the men asked, “Which of you girls is Nancy Drew?”

  When the young sleuth answered, “I am,” the same officer said, “Then you are accused of kidnapping Tony Rocco!”

  CHAPTER XVII

  A Denial and a Chase

  THE accusation against Nancy astounded everyone. George, incensed, cried out, “Nancy Drew is not a kidnapper! That’s crazy! You’d better leave!”

  Nancy, herself, having recovered from the shock, said, “Where are you men from? Show me your credentials.”

  The spokesman for the two said, “We’re from the County Welfare Association and we have the power to make a charge against you and have you arrested!”

  All this time Rover was growling at the men. He made a sudden jump toward one of them. The officer kicked him viciously, lifting the dog into the air. Rover came down with a thud and whimpered, but a moment later he was back, ready to attack.

  Eezy, who had grabbed his shepherd’s crook when they left the cabin, brandished it in the air. Then he said, “Nancy Drew is not a kidnapper, and I think you two had better get out of here quick before my dog Rover chews you up!”

  The man who had not spoken now urged his companion to leave, but the other one stood his ground. “We’re taking the guilty girl along with us!” he shouted.

  Nancy spoke up. “I am not a kidnapper and I am not going with you!” she declared.

  “Oh yes you are!” one of the men snarled and grabbed Nancy’s arm. “You’re coming with us whether you want to or not!”

  His strong fingers dug into Nancy’s skin as she tried to wrench herself away. “Let go of me!” she cried, as the man’s partner took her other arm.

  “Stop it! Stop it!” George shouted at the pair, pulling hard on the second man’s wrist.

  He released his hold briefly and swung his fist at the girl, who ducked. As she dodged his attack, she-got a closer view of his badge.

  “C’mon,” he said to his companion, “let’s get out of here before I really lose my temper.”

  “Just a minute!” George cried. “I think your badge is phony!”

  “Aw, now who’s crazy!” her attacker exclaimed.

  His partner quickly loosened his grip on Nancy, allowing her to ret
reat toward Eezy. The other girls stepped forward to look at the badges.

  “They certainly look like play badges and not real ones,” Junie remarked, scrutinizing them closely.

  The men glanced nervously at each other and tried to sidestep her. “I’ve got better things to do than play games with a bunch of teenagers!” one man snapped.

  Rover was still growling and trying to get out of Eezy’s grasp to attack the two strangers. Eezy straightened himself to his full height, brandished his shepherd’s crook and bellowed, “Get out of here! And don’t ever show your faces here again!”

  The intruders, apparently bewildered at this point, suddenly turned and ran down the hillside. Rover tried to get loose from his master and follow them, but Eezy kept a tight hold on his collar.

  Suddenly one of the men turned and cried out, “Nancy Drew, don’t think you’re free! We’ll get you yet!”

  Nancy was glad to see the men go, but would have liked to find out more about them. She felt sure they were working for Mr. Rocco.

  “Let’s follow those men!” she urged the others. “Eezy, please let us take Rover. I promise I won’t let him hurt them. But I’d like to see where they go.”

  The shepherd agreed and said he would go back to the cabin. The chase started and the girls managed to get within shouting distance of the men.

  Suddenly one of them turned around. He cupped his hands to his lips and shouted, “You give us back Tony and we’ll drop the charge!”

  Nancy did not answer. With another thought in mind, she shouted back, “You tell me where the stolen parchment is hidden, and maybe we can manage some kind of a deal!”

  There was no answer, although the two men looked at each other as if wondering what to say. They kept quiet, however, and soon reached the foot of the hillside. At the road a car with a driver was waiting for them. The motor was running, and as soon as the men jumped into the vehicle, it took off in a hurry.