Nancy Drew and The Mystery Of The Ghost Maiden

Chapter Thirty-Five

Ned and Nancy arrived outside the maze. Nancy noticed a heavily foggy area beside the hedge maze and dashed over to investigate. There hidden just behind some greenery was a huge metal tub which contained water and dry ice. This combination of materials was creating a thick ghost-like mist.

Once again, the duo heard someone scream and exited the cloud of fog, only to witness George come running out of the maze. To their horror, a ghostly figure holding a butcher knife emerged right after their friend. The couple quickly formed a rescue plan before dashing off purposefully.

George felt hopeless because she knew it was only a matter of time before the creature, for the lack of a better word, caught up to her. She glanced back, only to realize that her follower was now carrying a long knife. She swallowed hard and pleaded,"Oh my lord, how am I going to survive? I have my whole life ahead of me." Then from the corner of her eye, something caught her attention. There was Nancy standing beside the glass greenhouse. She seemed to be pointing inside the structure before disappearing behind some foliage. George decided to trust her friend and ran into the building not knowing what awaited.

Meanwhile, Ned had already entered the greenhouse from the back entrance and wedged the door shut. As he crept along, a strange sound like someone digging could be heard. He stayed in the shadows while venturing deeper into the foliage. After following the sound back to the source, Ned spotted the same man that had been stalking Nancy.

He skillfully crept up a few feet behind the man. Ned silently waited for an opportunity to attack. It came when there was a loud scream of terror from the other side of the greenhouse, causing the man digging to jump in fright. Ned took this chance to grab the stranger from behind and pinned him to the ground. The teen took off his leather belt and tied the man's hands tightly, before hurrying off to help the girls.

On the other side of the greenhouse, Nancy had managed to take a short cut and get ahead of George. The young sleuth had found a really long gardening hose and tired one end of it to a bench. Nancy then hid on the other side of the path and waited. It was not long before George came along and crossed in front of her. Nancy reacted quickly by pulling on the hose and tripping the creature. As it fell to the ground, the knife flew out the creature's hands and ended up wedged in a nearby tree trunk.

George felt exhausted, however, she could not resist helping subdue the criminal. Nancy leaped on the creature putting it into a choking hold as George checked the creatures clothing making sure it had no more weapons.

Ned walked up a few minutes later and burst into laughter after seeing what had happened. "You finally are a firecracker. I need to remember never to make you angry, my love." he said to Nancy. He wasted no time and ran over to a nearby convenience store and called the police for help.

Officer Jones arrived on the scene to handcuff both of the criminals, before asking for a full explanation. Nancy explained, to the best of her ability, what had happened. She also shared the theory about the suspects working for the banker. "He had been determined to get that mansion no matter what. They must have heard the legend of the lost pigeon blood necklace and thought they could find it. Why else would they try to scare us off and steal the painting of Heather?" Nancy argued.

Later on, at the police station, the man who had been captured admitted to all of the crimes claiming to just be a hired hand, "The banker was the brains behind all of this". He explained that the man had once been childhood friends with Aunt Betty's son. They would often have play dates in the mansion and discovered the secret rooms. When the banker had recently learned of the legend of the lost necklace, he was sure it was hidden within the walls of the home. So when Aunt Betty refused to sell him the house, he hired the man in custody to do his dirty work. Later on, when he learned of Miss Drew's arrival, the banker convinced his own daughter to dress as the ghost and try to scare people off.

Nancy and her friends sat on a bench in the garden as they watched the cops wrap things up. "But one thing still bothers me."Wait, what is that?" George asked as she pointed towards something shining on the other end of the garden.

Upon closer inspection, the light was coming from an angel statue, like the one Nancy had found outside the old ruined church. It held a blue glass orb which reflected the moonlight. There was a large stone wall behind it, with some of the mortar darker color from the rest.

"Ned, can I borrow your pocket knife for a moment?" Nancy asked. With this she dug at the dark mortar and removed the stone behind it, to discover a small hollow. She put her arm inside and felt around. Nancy's hand grazed a small metal box covered in dirt. After freeing it from the wall and wiping it clean, the item turned out to be an antique jewelry box with the name "Heather" engraved upon it.

They all held their breath as Nancy opened it, inside was a set of gold wedding bands and a small velvet pouch. Taking the fabric bag into her hands, Nancy opened it to find the most beautiful necklace the teen had ever seen. It was Heather's pigeon blood necklace that was lost so many years ago. The gems base color was a deep red but when the moonlight shone upon it, the stone appeared to royal purple.

That night, Bess and Aunt Betty meet the group at the front door. The police had called but only told them a very vague explanation. Nancy led them into the office and locked the door. First, she explained what had happened with the banker, then she took Aunt Betty's hand in hers and said, "I have something that is yours." From her pocket, she pulled out the small pouch and gave it to her aunt.

The old woman looked quite puzzled and hesitated a moment before opening it. Once she realized what she held in her aged hands, the old woman fainted. With this priceless necklace in hand, Aunt Betty was able to pay off all the debts and stay in her own home.

The group of teens left two days after finding the necklace but would never forget the grand adventure they had experienced. Bess was so taken with Carter, that they started going steady and quite often traveled to see each other.

As they drove away, Nancy stopped at the great Iron Gate and looked back at the grand old home. "If only walls could talk." she thought. Just then something caught their eye. They could see the figure of a girl in a long flowing dress up on Heather's Balcony. "Wasn't that room still locked when we left?" asked George.

They started at the girl who was waving to them as if saying "Goodbye my friends. I will miss you." A chill went down their spines as the girl seemingly faded into nothingness before their very eyes.

"What are you waiting for Nancy? HIT THE GAS!" Bess commanded.

They took off like a rocket as the car speeded down the road heading back home. Pure terror shone in their eyes, none of the girls could bring themselves to look back at the haunted mansion.

The End.