Nancy Drew: 1. The Old Clock at Lilac Inn

Secret of the Old Clock

"Sounds good to me," said Helen as she grabbed each girl by the hand. "Let's go!" She practically dragged the two outside where they began a thorough search of the property. But, as Nancy had figured, they didn't find any more than the typical signs of the usual traffic. Nancy led the way back into the inn, Helen mumbled and grumbled the whole way. She was more upset about not finding any clues to the ghost. But, with everything that Jane gave them to do, the hour passed rather pleasantly.

With a quick goodbye to Jane, the three girls dashed out to Nancy's car and took off for the Archers' house. Helen gave Nancy directions using her GPS, and before long, they were pulling up to a lovely, two-story house with green trim and surrounded by a lovely garden.

"Wow, it's so pretty!" said Helen with awe.

Emily chuckled. "The Archers have put a lot of work into it. They have a gardener who's been working for them for years. He's worked on Lilac Inn's garden every now and then."

"Well, if the outside is anything to look at, then the inside must just be as lovely," said Nancy as she parked the car.

"Oh yes! Though, it has been a while since I've been here, they could have changed a few things," said Emily.

"Do they have any children?" asked Nancy.

Emily nodded. "A daughter named Jenny, who's a year younger than us, and a son named Madden, who's in seventh grade, I think?"

"Well, if they're anything like my parents, we'll find out soon enough," said Helen before she got out of the car. Emily and Nancy followed suit, and all three girls walked towards the house. Nancy reached it first and rang the doorbell. There was a moment before the door was opened by a middle-aged woman. She glanced over the girls, and gasped with delight when she saw Emily.

"Oh, Emily dear! How are you doing?" she said as she wrapped Emily up in a hug.

"I'm getting better, thank you, Mrs. Archer," said Emily. "Not quite well yet, though."

"Of course not! How could you be? It's only been three months, I wouldn't expect anyone to get over it that quickly! Unless you have a heart of stone, which we all know you don't have."

Emily chuckled. "Thanks, Mrs. Archer."

"Now come on in! Jim, Jenny, and Madden will be so glad to see you!" Mrs. Archer led the girls into the living room, where the rest of the Archer family was sitting. Introductions were quickly made before talk turned to the old clock.

"Did you find anything in the clock Mr. Crowley left at Lilac Inn?" Madden asked excitedly.

Helen grinned as she glanced at Nancy with pride. "Nancy definitely did."

"Well, at least Emily helped."

"All I did was read the poem! You figured out that we needed the numbers in the poems!"

"What?" said the Archers. The whole story came out and Emily showed them the piece of paper they had found in her clock.

Mr. Archer read the paper. "This is an odd poem."

"But wasn't Mr. Crowley always kind of odd?" asked Madden. "In a good way," he quickly added when his parents shot him a reproving look.

Mr. Archer chuckled. "Yes, he was odd in a good way."

"Which is why it was so much fun having him over," said Mrs. Archer.

Her husband nodded. "Right, and reading this really makes me miss him, a lot." Mrs. Archer rubbed his shoulder reassuringly.