Nancy Drew: Mystery of Melbourne Manor

Chapter 3

The next morning, Nancy woke up and saw that Ned was already up. She took a quick shower, got dressed, and walked down the hall. In Annalise's room, she found Ned.
"Ned, have you found anything yet?"
"I found out how to open the box. This was inside."
He handed it to Nancy and she lifted the lid. Inside was an old locket, a wilting rose, and a letter.
" Dearest Abigail,
The truth lies with you. Tie your ribbons on the secret places. Meet me by the lake at dawn. "
Nancy handed the box back and went into the closet. She noticed that in the corner was another wilting rose and letter. Ned opened it.
" Dearest Katherine,
We will all be together again. Tie your ribbons in the willow. I will be under the willow after dawn."
The two of them started to sense a pattern.
"These letters are ancient. This must be Abigail and Katherine's room."
"Wait, I see something under the bed." Ned said.
He reached his arm under the bed and brought back another letter. Nancy opened it.
"Dearest Violet,
We can all play tonight! Tie your ribbons near the boat dock and we all will meet you there."
" Who sent them these letters? Why all the ribbons?" asked Ned.
Then, the old maid came into the room.
" The old groundskeeper loved the Melbourne daughters. Abigail was eight, Katherine seven, and Violet was six.  He used to love the ribbons they wore and told them to tie them in select places. One night, the girls disappeared. " she said.
" How long ago was this?" asked Nancy.
"About thirty years ago. This was their room. They used to play on the third floor, but Nathaniel doesn't like us going up there."
With that, she turned and left.
"Ned, we have to go up there. It may help this case."
Nancy and Ned quickly walked up the staircase to the third floor. It had a long hallway with three rooms. Nancy walked into one while Ned checked the other.
The room looked like a master bedroom. There were dark curtains over the main windows and the closet was shut. Slowly, she walked towards it and opened it. What she saw made her gasp.
Pictures of three little girls were taped to the door and ribbons were scattered on the floor. The older girl, Abigail, had blonde hair while Katherine and Violet's were dark brown.
"This must be the groundskeeper's old room," she whispered to herself.
The room Ned was in looked to be like an old playroom. Toyboxes and small Victorian dresses surrounded the room. The walls were painted bright blue.
Suddenly, he heard a faint musicbox and saw Nancy walking into the last room. He followed her and they saw the room was empty except for a music box.
"I wonder what turned it on," he said.
Then, the door shut behind them and the air grew cold. Nancy's heart raced and Ned's hair on his neck stood up. In front of them, three small girls stood.
One was a blonde and she wore a pale blue dress. The next wore a white one and they youngest wore pink. The first and last girls's hair was soaked while the middle had mud smudges on her cheek.
"He said you can't come up here," the blonde said.
"Are you Abigail?" asked Nancy.
The girl looked angry.
"How do you know my name?"
"You're going to make him mad," the middle one said.
"You're Katherine?" Ned asked.
" How did you know?"
" Do you want to play?" the youngest asked.
" You must be Violet. You're the same age Annalise, do you know her?" Nancy said.
The girl smiled a little before they all shared horrified looks.
"You must leave, now!" they screamed.
The door swung open and Nancy and Ned walked downstairs. What they had just witnessed couldn't be explained in words.
"I was right, there is so much more to the case than what we thought." Ned said.