NANCY DREW AND THE SECRET OF MERMAID COVE

Chapter One

Nancy and Bess felt excited as they stepped off the airplane. They had been riding on an eight-hour flight from Riverheights to England. "Man my legs are so stiff! Remind me never to travel by air, again." Bess complained while she tried to stretch out her limbs.

"Yeah, next time we are going to travel the world cruise ship. I just hope you are not prone to sickness." Nancy added as Bess nodded in agreement. "It was extremely nice of Aunt Betty to pay for us a real vacation," Nancy commented while they walked up to the baggage claim area. She could see her blue polka-dotted bag coming down the conveyor belt.

"Aunt Betty was so grateful to us for finding the long-lost ruby necklace that she insisted on sending us on a spring break vacation. It is just too bad George had to stay behind for that marathon." Bess replied before sitting down and opening her large teal duffel bag. She pulled out a small, gold compact mirror and checked her makeup and hair. All she needed was just a little more shimming lip gloss to complete her sultry look.

"Keep in mind that George has been looking forward to that marathon for close to a year. I hear that her rival, Deirdre Shannon will be there. I am sure George will easily win and raise a lot of money for the local animal shelter." Bess said while grabbing another matching teal suitcase from the baggage claim, leaving only her large spinner suitcase to be located.

Bess spotted the last piece of their luggage and tried to grab it but a young woman blocked her way. Bess sidestepped past the women before chasing after the spinner as to move along the conveyor belt. The girl stretched to grab the piece of luggage but could not reach it. Just then, a strange hand reached out and grabbed ahold of it.

 "Pardon me but I believe this is yours." said a handsome young man.

"CARTER IT IS YOU! I can't believe it! Wow, you just as cute as ever!" Bess exclaimed as she pulled him into a gentle embrace. Carter held Bess in his arms and gently lifted her up on to her tiptoes. He had a slightly athletic build with deep green eyes and dark, blonde, wavy, hair. 

Carter a relative of Ned Nickerson,  was athletic, well mannered, and intelligent. He had first met Bess a couple of months ago when the sleuthing teens were trying to solve the mystery of the ghost maiden and had been smitten on each other ever since.

Watching from the sidelines, made Nancy feel a little jealous. She knew Bess's heart had been broken so much in the past. Hopefully, now she had found someone wonderful to spend time with. 

 "I am so happy to see you but why are you here?" Bess asked as they parted from the warm embrace. 

"I spent all my savings and wanted to surprise you," he explained. Then he looked to Nancy,  "Ned had wanted to come with me but had to stay behind. He sends his love." Nancy looked down at her feet and sighed. She was feeling depressed from being so far away from home. She also hated the feeling of being the third wheel in this three-person group. Nancy wondered if she ever made her friends feel excluded when she was with Ned Nickerson.

 It turned out that Carter had planned this whole thing out with Bess's mother in secret. He was also going to stay in the same small inn as the girls. He had done his research on the area and knew of many fun actives and interesting places to travel while here. 

The taxi ride felt awkward to Nancy because all the love birds did was flirt with each other. To combat her boredom, Nancy just took out her little old camera to pictures of the lovely passing scenery. Two hours later, they arrived at a small old townhouse near a beautiful park. Nancy had noticed lots of metal and stone statues of different figures scattered throughout the park as they drove by.

After paying the taxi driver, Carter carried the luggage in for the girls. Once inside, they were greeted by the smell of freshly baked bread. Bess's stomach growled with hunger, reminding her that she had not eaten for hours. The house was decorated in a shabby chic meet beachy style with lots of colored bottles, starfish, seashells, and candles. 

A kind couple, in their mid-thirties, came out from the kitchen to meet them at the front door.  Their names were Mark and Pearl Greene. They explained that Pearl ran this inn while Mark owned and operated a whale-watching service.

 Pearl happily led the girls upstairs to their bedroom. There was no closet, instead, it has an amour with built-in drawers made into the front of it. There were two twin size beds, a small writing desk, and a large cedar chest. The room might be simplistic but once Nancy went over to pull back the cherry-colored curtain to find that the view from the window was amazing. It looked out over the park, which had many flowering plants and trees. She could even see a little bit of the blue ocean behind the other buildings. 

Later, when they had finished unpacking, the girls decided to change in something more suitable for the beach. Nancy chose a pair of white high -waisted shorts with a teal loose-fitting tank top. With this, she wore some cat-eye shaped sunglasses with small pearl stud earrings. Bess, on the other hand, took much longer to pick something out. Trying to impress Carter, she chose a knee-length, white lace, sundress, and some matching heels. To keep things simple, she wore a gold locket necklace from her grandmother.

Authors Note* 

In the passage below they are referring to the mystery in the first book, The Mystery Of The Ghost Maiden.

 "Aunt Betty was so grateful to us for finding the long-lost ruby necklace that she insisted on sending us on a spring break vacation. It is just too bad George had to stay behind for that marathon." Bess replied before sitting down and opening her large teal duffel bag. She pulled out a small, gold compact mirror and checked her makeup and hair. All she needed was just a little more shimming lip gloss to complete her sultry look.