Nancy Drew: The Castle & The Masquerade

Hello, first Nancy Drew fan fic ever! Please enjoy~!

Chapter One

I watched as the rolling hills passed by the rocking cab. I was going to Castle Moher for, no not a case, but a nice summer of relaxation with my best friend Bess. Something I definitely deserved after a stressful case back home, not to mention my bad break up with Ned. I sighed at the bad thought. I seriously needed this vacation. The taxi turned into a cobble road that followed along a cliff. From my window, I could see the aggressive waves splash against the walls of the cliff. After a few minutes, I could see the towering mansion in the midst of a large acre of forest. The taxi went to an abrupt stop, still far from the castle grounds.  Bess quickly woke up from the sudden stop, and looked around in confusion. “Sorry ma’am, but this is as far as I can go.”The driver mumbled.

“Oh. Okay. Here, let me get the fair.” I said, on a confused note. We got out of the taxi, and the driver quickly propped the trunk open.  I fumbled through the things in my purse to try and find my wallet.

“I-it’s alright ma’am. You don’t have to pay me.” With that, the driver sped back to the main road

“What was that about?” Bess asked with a sleepy yawn at the end.

“I don’t know ,but we better start walking.” We both sighed and hulled our bags toward the large castle.

The castle was a few yards away from where the taxi driver took off, but it took an hour or two to final arrive because of Bess’s several suitcases. 

“Nancy! Bess! I saw you two from the window just a few minutes ago. Why are you walking here?” Aunt Lucey helped us with our bags and instead of entering the luxurious doors of the mansion, she took us around the back. Quite odd, but not the only odd things I’ve noticed.

“Aunt Lucey, why are you taking us through this way and why are there so many grand cars here?” I questioned as we came into the kitchen. “Also, the reason, I’m delayed is because the taxi man wouldn’t come near the castle at all.” Nancy knew it wasn’t courteous to ask questions before even greeting her, but something odd was going on and her detective sense were tingling.

Aunt Lucey sighed solemnly. “Well, I guess it’s time you knew. You and you’re detective attributes. I couldn’t be able to keep this a secret without your pestering.” Aunt Lucey smiled warmly. She walked to one of the lime green cupboards and took out two tall glasses. Then retrieving a small pitcher with an orange liquid inside, she it poured into the glasses. “Take a seat, girls.” Aunt Lucey sat in a seat across from me and passed the orange liquid towards us. “You see girls, a few days after I contacted you to finalize your arrival, something…” she paused looking for the right word. “strange happened.” She continued; still unsatisfied with the word she conjured. She sighed, “Let me inform you about the past about this castle first. As you can see, this castle is quite old and antique with it stone walls and ruins running into the woods to the west. I inherited this castle from my great great great grandfather, Fanzo Leonardo Margaretto. He was a highly seen detective and loved to travel the world solving mysteries, like you Nancy.” She smiled kindly towards me. I smiled back, and she continued. “While solving a case here in Ireland he met a wealthy young lady who owned this castle, and to make the long story short, they got married and had a large quantity of children. Those children had a large quantity of children and the castle continued to grow and grow. And I, somehow I ended up with castle, with no family except your father. So, what is a lonely old woman like me to make of this large castle? I made it into a hotel. Now, don’t give me a look. I didn’t do it for the money, but a large sum of royal families travel here for vacation and can’t find an,” she pauses again. “appropriate accommodations for their class. I quote from a recent customer. So, I made this in to a royal hotel, and I was quite satisfied since they enjoy the architecture of the castle. They seem to appreciate it and marvel at it. But,” her tone changed drastically. “Ruth, your extended cousin-“