The Secret of Red Gate Farm - Carolyn Keene [11]
Nancy packed her clothes that night after telephoning the plans to Joanne. As she was dosing the suitcase, her eyes fell upon the copy of the coded message which lay on the dressing table.
“I’d better take it along and work on it whenever I have the chance,” she decided.
Nancy got up early the next morning and had breakfast with her father. After exchanging fond good-bys with him and Hannah, she hurried to her car.
It was close to ten o’clock when Nancy reached Riverside Heights. She stopped at a downtown service station and had her convertible filled with gas and checked for oiL Then she drove to Joanne’s boardinghouse.
Her passenger was waiting. Nancy was glad to find that Joanne seemed to be in better spirits.
“It’ll be such fun, all of us going together,” Joanne said, “and I know Gram will be happy to have you stay as long as you like.”
“Only on the condition that we are paying guests,” Nancy insisted.
“We’ll see about that later,” Joanne said, smiling.
They put her suitcase into the trunk of the car and soon were on their way back to River Heights. Assured by Joanne that they would be welcome at Red Gate, the cousins brought out their suitcases and put them in the luggage compartment.
George took Nancy aside and said excitedly, “A little while ago a man phoned here and asked for Miss Fayne. When I answered, he said, ‘Listen, miss, tell that snoopy friend of yours to stop her snooping, or she’ll be sorry!’ Then he hung up without giving his name.”
Nancy set her jaw, then smiled. “Whoever he is, he has a guilty conscience. So my suspicions were well founded.”
“Who do you think he is?” George asked.
“Either the strange man on the train who followed me here, or some accomplice of his.”
“I’m glad for your sake we’re going away, Nancy,” stated George.
“Let’s not say anything about this to Jo,” Nancy advised, as she and George walked back to the car.
“It’s a perfect day for our trip to the country,” Joanne said excitedly.
George could see by the expression on Joanne’s face that a visit to Red Gate Farm with her new friends was far more important to her than any other plans the girls might have had.
“I agree one hundred per cent!” George answered happily as she stepped into the car.
“And I’ll be so glad to get out of this heat,” Bess chimed in with a sigh. “I spent practically the whole night dreaming about the cool, refreshing breezes in the country.”
As Nancy steered the convertible in the direction of Round Valley, she said with an eager smile, “We’re off to rescue Red Gate Farm!”
Nancy and her friends thoroughly enjoyed the scenic route to Round Valley. They stopped for a quick lunch and then continued their drive. The winding roads led through cool groves and skirted sparkling little lakes. Each hilltop brought a different and beautiful view.
Gradually the worried expression completely left Joanne’s eyes, and color came into her thin face. She began to laugh heartily at the antics of Bess and George. As they rode along she told the girls a great deal about her home.
“You’ll like Red Gate, I’m sure,” she said enthusiastically. “We haven’t any riding horses, but there will be plenty of other things to do. We can explore the cave, for one thing.”
“Cave?” Bess questioned with interest. “How exciting! What kind is it? A home for bears or a pirate’s den?”
Joanne laughed. “There’s a large cavern located on the farm. No one knows how it came to be there, but we think it must have been made a long time ago by an underground river.”
“You must have explored it before this!” Nancy exclaimed.
“Oh, yes, of course, though I’ll admit I never did very thoroughly, and I haven’t been near the cave for years. As a child I was always afraid of the place—it looked so dark and gloomy. Lately I’ve been too busy working around the farm.”
“We’ll have to put that at the top of our list!” George declared. “I love spooky things.”
“Well, I’m not so sure I do,” Bess admitted.