Nancy Drew: 1. The Old Clock at Lilac Inn

A Breakthrough

Nancy stood there for a few minutes that seemed to last an eternity, shocked. What in the world was going on? What was going on at the lake? What else was Buddy not telling her? Why did he know her mother's name, and why was he swearing on her grave? He was trying to tell her something, wasn't he. Just, what exactly was he trying to say? Besides staying away from the lake and let him handle it. Could she trust him to handle it? As a matter of fact, handle what? Bringing the culprits to justice? When exactly would that happen? If she told him they had stolen several pieces of her mother's jewelry, would he try to handle it sooner? There were so many questions, and not enough answers. Would she be able to figure them all out anytime soon before the culprits tried to bail, or before Buddy tried to handle them? As a matter of fact . . .

"Hey Drew!" Nancy jumped, startled out of her musings. She turned, and groaned inwardly. Deirdre began laughing. "What's the matter Nancy? Is the ghost that haunts Lilac Inn actually your mother?" Nancy blinked. What kind of insult was that? "It's been six years! Time for you to get over it!"

Nancy sighed. "Deirdre, now's not the time . . ."

"Oh wait, you wouldn't, because I have my mother and you don't!"

Nancy balled her hands into fists. She just heard her mother's name spoken to her by a complete stranger, at least, she didn't know who he was and now Deirdre was pulling her usual torment. Nancy was done with it. "Well that's because your mom doesn't do anything!" she shouted back before walking briskly past a surprised Deirdre. Sure, she was done with this, but she was still angry and she needed to cool down. She practically stormed into the inn past Jane, dashed up the stairs, grabbed her purse, and dashed back down.

"Nancy, what's wrong?" asked Emily, worry spread on her face.

"I'm fine," she mumbled. She got to her car, got in, and drove off. She had no idea where she was going to go, only that she had to get away from Lilac Inn for a bit, just a few minutes. That was all she needed, a few minutes to calm down her fiery temper, and maybe the sound of a familiar voice could help with that. She didn't seem to pay much attention to where she was going, until she found herself in the parking lot of Ariel Park. She smiled ruefully, her mind was still on the mystery, even when she was technically emotionally compromised, she still thought about the mystery. She just had a thing for puzzles, just like her mother. And, just like her mother, she had a fiery temper. Apparently Scottish tempers were hard to get rid of. Speaking of her mother, she thought Deirdre was right about one thing, it had been six years. Why hadn't she let go yet? She placed her head on the steering wheel and let out a breath before lifting it up again. She saw the sign for the park and her previous thoughts about Ariel being a character in a Shakespeare play came back. Her lips curled slightly, guess it was time to call him after all. Kill two birds with one stone, right? She winced, though, as she reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. She liked Frank, she liked him a lot, but she felt like she was using him as a crutch to cope. She bit her lip as she pushed the dial button, maybe going out with Don a few times might not be such a bad idea, if just to give Frank a break. But right at this very moment, she needed to hear Frank's voice.

"Um, hello? Who is this?"

"Frank? Hi, it's Nancy."

"Nancy! Hi! Wow, you're, you're calling my cell! This is, this is . .. wow!"

Nancy chuckled. "Don't freak out on me, Hardy."

"What? Didn't Joe tell you? I don't freak out, I geek out!"

Nancy burst out laughing at that, the tears flowing freely now. "Thanks, I needed that."

"Oh, Deirdre again?"

Nancy nodded and sniffled as she wiped her eyes. "Yeah, except this time, I told her that the reason why she still has her mother was because her mother doesn't do anything."