NANCY DREW AND THE SECRET OF MERMAID COVE

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The girls arrived back at the inn shortly after nightfall. Upon entering, the innkeeper gave Nancy a message from a police officer offer asking to be called back.

Nancy went into the study to make the phone call. A man who sounded to be in his late fifties answered the phone. "This is Captain Spears here. Can I help you?" 

"Yes, someone called and left this number to reach you. This is Miss Nancy Drew."

"Oh yes, Miss Drew! Hold on a moment while I pull out this file." In the background, it sounded like something was knocked over. "Damn it! Why did it have to soak my notes..."? After a few minutes, he continued, "The young boy that was caught in your room has woken up. He told us that last night he was approached by a strange man, who offered him a pile of money just to get back a lost hanky."

"A Lost hanky? That is an odd thing to pay someone to retrieve."

"Indeed, it is a miss. I will let you know if we find out anything else."

"Thank you for your time. I am glad to know that the kid is alright. Have a good night sir." 

"You too miss." The police officer said before hanging up his phone. 

Afterward, both girls went up to their room and took turns taking bubble baths. At dinner, the innkeeper told stories of when he had been a sailor many years ago. He claimed to have once seen a beautiful mermaid that was later proven to be a dolphin.

While in the middle of telling another story about a drunk seagull, the phone rang. The innkeeper paused his story to answer the call. His face went pale as he listened. Then he turned to Bess and said, "You need to take this call."

Bess's hands trembled as she took the phone. "Hello, this is Bess," she answered.

There was a long silence as Bess listened to the caller. "How could this happen? " she replied as tears came to her eyes. "A birth defect?"

Nancy got up from the table to put a comforting arm around Bess.

"Do I need to schedule a flight home?" asked Bess. "Ok, thank you. Tell dad, I love him." Bess hung up the phone and held her head down low.

"Bess, what has happened?" Nancy asked.

"It is uncle, Norman. He had a small heart attack while working on his farm. They said it was caused by a hole in his heart that must have been there since he was born."

"Is he going to be ok?"

"He will have surgery in a few days to fix it. The doctors seem to think of his chances for recovery are good. " Bess said as she cried tears.

"You need to rest," said Nancy.

"That would help."

"Are you going to go back home early?"

"My parents are insisting that I finish out the trip. So, I guess not."

Bess was so upset that she could not eat the rest of her dinner. So, she went upstairs to bed early.

Nancy, on the other hand, found that she could not fall asleep after dinner. She tried to rest but kept tossing in turning for hours. Finally, she got up and grabbed a book, and tiptoed out of the bedroom. Once downstairs, she sat in a worn leather chair with a hardback copy of Journey to the Center of the Earth in her hands. She was soon engrossed in the classic book.

Hours later,  she looked up from the book, to check the time on the wall clock.  "Good lord, how can it be two in the morning?" Nancy whined.

How was she going to get enough sleep to go out exploring in the morning at this rate? While patting the book she said, "Sorry Professor, your journey will have to wait for another night."

Authors Note*

When I was growing up, I loved the books written by Jules Verne. To this day his imitative novels still are some of my favorites. If you have the time to read it, I would recommend it.

Journey to the Center of the Earth is a classic novel by Jules Verne. It was first published in 1864.

In the story, Professor Otto Lidenbrock is the tale's central figure, an eccentric German scientist who believes that there is a world within the world. He, his nephew, and their Icelandic guide rappel into Iceland's celebrated inactive volcano, then contend with many dangers, including cave-ins, subpolar tornadoes, an underground ocean, and living prehistoric monsters. Eventually, the explorers are spewed back to the surface by an active volcano, in southern Italy.