Part 13 (1/2)
”If you change your plans, let Hannah know,” the lawyer directed. ”By the way, you're all going to have company this afternoon,”
”Here?”
”Yes.”
”How nice,” Nancy said. ”Who?”
Mr. Drew replied that it was to be a surprise. He wished his daughter good luck and said good-by.
When Nancy returned to the table and told Bess and George they could all expect company, they began to guess who it might be.
”Mrs. Tenney hasn't heard from you, Nancy,” Bess declared. ”Maybe she's coming here for a report. Did your dad give her your address?”
”I guess he must have. I'm sorry I haven't better news for her.” Nancy sighed. ”Perhaps I will have soon.”
The girls helped tidy the kitchen. Then Mrs. Glick, the children, Bess, and George went to weed the vegetable patch. Nancy asked to be excused to look around the property. She hoped to find the footprints of the person who had painted the hex symbol.
After figuring out which footprints belonged to the Glicks and her friends, Nancy found an unfamiliar set that led from the barn across a field. She followed them until they came to a road and disappeared. Disappointed, the girl returned to the farm, wanting to be ready to greet the company her father had mentioned.
After lunch Bess disappeared and returned, wearing an attractive blue dress. Mrs. Glick smiled. ”You must be expecting a young man.”
Bess blushed. ”You never can tell,” she said, peering out the window. ”I had a hunch-and I was right!”
Pulling to a stop in the Glicks' driveway were Nancy's friend Ned Nickerson, Burt Eddleton, who often dated George, and Bess's friend Dave Evans! Delighted, the three girls hurried outside to greet the boys.
”Surprise!” Ned exclaimed.
”Hil” the other boys greeted the girls.
”This certainly is a surprise, and a grand one,” Nancy said. ”You're just in time to help us solve a mystery,” she added.
”That's what we're here for,” said tall, athletic, and brown-haired Ned. ”Your dad told me a little about the case. Too bad I was away when it started.”
Nancy smiled. ”I can sure use a man's help. I hope you've brought us some luck.”
”We sure have!”
”We'll all cooperate,” said Burt, who was blond and a little shorter and heavier than Ned.
The group went into the house and Nancy presented the boys to Mrs. Glick. At once she insisted that the new visitors stay there. Ned thanked her and accepted.
”Wait until you taste Mrs. Glick's cooking,” George remarked to Dave, a rangy, dark-haired young man with green eyes. ”You boys will have to go into training to make the football team after you leave here.”
Mrs. Glick promised to prepare a special supper in honor of the boys. She refused any a.s.sistance from the girls, suggesting that they take their friends on a tour of the countryside.
”Then later you can attend one of the gatherings,” she told them. ”Over at the Stoltz farm they're having a sing right after supper. Or maybe you would prefer the barn dance at Fischers'.”
They all voted for the barn dance, then left on their tour of the area. As the group drove about, Ned became interested in the Amish carriages that pa.s.sed by.
”Suppose we two go to the barn dance in one of them,” he suggested to Nancy.