NANCY DREW AND THE SECRET OF MERMAID COVE

Chapter Twenty-Eight

In the morning, the teens traveled to a beach that Ryan had told Nancy about a few days ago. This area was mostly undeveloped except for a few small beach houses. Thankfully it was very quiet here with little to no other people in sight.

While Bess laid out on a beach towel attempting to achieve to perfect sexy tan, Nancy explored the area. Nancy felt so here free here like a bird let loose from a gilded cage. The wind played with the ends of her strawberry blonde hair while the sand gently shifted underfoot. All-round her seagulls appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "Sorry little guys, I did not bring anything to share."

With her camera in hand, Nancy made it down to the water's edge. It was still very cold to the touch. Slowly she walked along the coast taking in the sights and sounds. Keeping an ever-watchful eye out for anything interesting washed up on the shimmering sands.

Then she spotted a wet pile of sand that was bubbling. "What could it be? Perhaps a crab or starfish," she asked. Nancy grabbed a small piece of driftwood to poke at it. When nothing emerged from the sand, she fell to her knees and began the dig through the sand. After a few minutes of searching, all she found was shell fragments. Flustered she let out a sigh. But then she gave the fragments another looks through to discover a few shark teeth of different sizes.

She continued down the shoreline in search of seashells, until a strange sound caught her off guard. It sounded like a high-pitched noise. "What in the world?" Nancy questioned as she scanned the area for the source of the sound. Nancy laughed at herself once she noted the pod of small dolphins playing offshore. She pulled out her camera and attempted to take some photos of the animals. "Ryan was right this is an amazing place," she commented.

Nancy wandered around aimlessly for a while until she found an area full of tide pools. She ventured closer to the side of a large tide pool for a more detailed look. To her surprise, she found that it contained different kinds of starfish and crabs that dominated the area and hunted what they could. Nancy sat down for a rest on the ground as she continued to watch the little world in front of her.

A little orange hermit crab emerged from the tide pool. Its shell was covered in flaking gold paint which Nancy assumed meant that it had once been a pet. "Someone must have set it free along this beach," she commented.

The little crab paid no mind to the giant that rested just a few feet away as it slowly made its way towards a small sand dune. As it traveled, it dragged its over-sized shell along with it. "That one is way too big for you little guy," Nancy said as he began to look for a more appropriately sized seashell. Nancy could not find one anywhere close by, so she walked over the sand dune to continue her search. Once she was on the other side, however, she found something very interesting. It looked to be an abandoned lighthouse. The lighthouse rested on top of a rocky platform, rusty metal railings and stairs clung to the side of the building.

Nancy has overcome with curiosity. So, she walked up to the building and made her way up the rickety metal stairway. Once outside the heavy metal door of the lighthouse, she found that it opened easily. "Strange for an abandoned building. I expected the hinges to be rusted in place." Inside she was greeted by the faint smell of carnosine. The space inside of the lighthouse was filled by a small living room and kitchen that looked bare.

Next, she went upstairs and discovered a bedroom. It housed a small bed, a dresser, and a closet. The bed was a mess and the room was full of cobwebs and dust. Nancy looked in the first few drawers of the dresser. It was full of vintage men's clothing. Then she tried the closet to find that it was locked. "What is worth locking up in an old forgotten place like this?" she asked. With a hairpin, she picked the lock. To her surprise, this door did not lead to a closet, instead it was a doorway to another bedroom.

This room looked to be in good shape. A futon was in the corner with messy covers. Beside it was a dresser Nancy found to full be more modern men's clothing. She found a gray shirt with a bird Symbol on. "Where have I seen that before?" she wondered.

Nancy locked the door back before making her way to the very top of the building to look at the lighting mechanism. Here she found that the huge light bulb was broken probably by an old baseball bat that lay across the floor. The copper wiring had also been cut out of the mechanism.

As Nancy was leaving, she crossed the room on the first floor to notice something she had missed earlier. It appeared to be a door to another room. She opened the door to find a small storage room. In the corner was an old gasoline backup generator. "It must have been gasoline that I smelled earlier and not carnosine. I wonder if this thing still works?"

Nancy looked over the machine until she found a button marked "ON". Upon pressing it the machine started up resulting in the buildings overhead lights came on. "So that is how a person is living here!" she exclaimed. Then she turned off the machine before leaving the building. Before heading back down the beach, she took one last long look at the rust bucket of a lighthouse. "I wonder who has been hiding out in a dump like this?" she questioned.