Fellowship & Fairydust

“Nancy!” cried out Helen, but Nancy was already out of the room. She dashed into their room, slipped on her slippers, grabbed a flashlight, and practically flew down the stairs. She yanked open the front door and dashed out into the yard, throwing the light from her flashlight everywhere. She wasn’t worried about stealth, just time. She had to confront this so-called ghost before she vanished again. But the longer Nancy scoured the grounds, the more she realized she had already missed her chance. The ghost was long gone. She kicked a loose pebble in frustration before heading back to the last spot she had seen something, whatever it was, from Emily’s window. She poked and prodded around the lilac bush before glancing up at the window. The curtain was closed, but Nancy could just barely see the shadows of her friends and Jane. Letting out a breath, she turned back to thoroughly searching the lilac bush and the area around it. She gasped when her fingers closed around an object. She pulled it into the light of her flashlight, and grinned. It was a piece of white fabric! Ghosts shouldn’t be getting their clothes stuck on branches. 

She looked around one more time before calling it quits and heading back inside. She ran up the stairs and found that the other guests had gotten up, and were arguing with Jane. 

“Please, there is nothing to be concerned about,” said Jane. 

“Well, I can’t get any sleep with that girl screaming every other night!” blurted one man. 

“She must have seen something!” blurted a woman. 

“She did!” shouted Nancy, getting everyone’s attention. 

The woman gulped. “A ghost?” 

Nancy shook her head. “This was definitely a woman in good health. I don’t know why she’s prowling the Lilac Inn property, but we should take extra precaution and make sure all windows and doors are locked until we know more.” 

There was a bit of grumbling from a few people, but in a matter of minutes, every door and window was thoroughly secure. Once all the guests had gone back to bed, Jane approached Nancy. 

“Did you see something?” 

“Only something white from Emily’s window as the person, thing, whatever it is, tried to get out of view quickly. Whoever, or whatever, it was was long gone by the time I got outside.” 

“Did you find any clues?” asked Jane, a little too quickly. 

Since Nancy knew Helen didn’t trust Jane, she figured keeping this piece of evidence to herself until further proof could be found was a wise decision, so she shook her head. “Nothing concrete. Sure, the bushes looked like someone had walked through them, but any one of us could have done that at any point.” 

Jane nodded. “That is true. Well, hopefully next time you’ll find something. It would certainly put Emily’s mind at ease, and my own.” 

Nancy nodded. “Of course. Why don’t you go to bed? Helen and I will take care of Emily tonight.” 

“Are you sure? I am her guardian . . .” 

“I’m sure.” 

“How can we ever repay you two for all that you’re doing for us?” exclaimed Jane as she gave Nancy a hug. 

Nancy smiled. “Keep Lilac Inn running in memory of Mrs. Crandall.” 

Jane wiped a tear from her eye. “We’ll definitely do that. Well, thank you again. Good night.” 

“Good night.” The two parted ways, Jane went into her room and Nancy went into Emily’s, where she and Helen spent the rest of the night. 

Nancy was the first to wake up the next morning. She rubbed her eyes, yawned, and proceeded to meander towards her room to change. She noticed that the other guests seemed to be up and about and, hopefully, hadn’t checked out due to last night’s incident. She figured on checking in with Jane on that first thing after she was dressed. She stretched before entering the room, gathering clothes and toiletries, and dashing into the bathroom for a quick shower. 

When she finished getting ready, she searched out Jane. She found her at the front desk. 

“Why Nancy, you’re up bright and early!” 

Nancy smiled. “Not that early.” 

Jane glanced at her clock. “Eight is still pretty early.” 

“Well, in comparison to getting up at six for school, this is sleeping in.” 

Jane chuckled. “Touche, touche. Did you need something?” 

Nancy leaned in and whispered, “Did anyone check out?” 

Jane nodded with a soft sigh. “Yes, that couple did, but everyone else said they understood and have stayed. One guy even prolonged his stay here.” 

“Well, at least that’s good news.” 

“You’re telling me,” said Jane. “Did you need anything else?” 

Nancy shook her head. “That was all.” 

“Alright. Now then, what are the plans for today?” 

Nancy smiled. “See if we can visit the Archers and the Turners.” 

Jane nodded. “Good luck.” 

“Thanks!” said Nancy before racing back up the stairs. She went into Emily’s room. Emily and Helen were wide awake and already dressed. 

“Where did you run off to?” asked Helen as she brushed her hair. 

“I went to talk to Jane real quick. Apparently a couple of the guests checked out due to last night’s incident.” 

Emily began to tear. “Oh no! It’s all my fault!” 

Nancy pulled her into a hug. “No it isn’t. That ghost last night was obviously trying to scare you, and it worked.” 

“But what should I do? Everyone thinks I’m going crazy!” 

Helen put her arm around Emily. “We don’t think you’re going crazy. Nancy saw it too.” 

Emily glanced at Nancy in surprise. “You did?” 

“I didn’t fully see her, but I did see something white moving quickly out of sight.” 

“But, you saw her when you investigated the yard, right?” asked Helen hopefully. 

Nancy shook her head. “No, I think she was long gone by the time I got outside, but . . .” She paused, leaned in, and whispered. “I did find a piece of her dress. A real ghost wouldn’t wear a real dress, now, would they?” 

Emily let out a soft gasp. “So she is a real person pretending to be a ghost!” 

Nancy shushed her. “Keep it down, you don’t trust Jane, remember?” 

“Oh, right.” 

“So, now what?” asked Helen. 

Nancy walked towards the phone. “We call the Archers and the Turners and see if we can visit them both today. The sooner we can get the clocks figured out, the better.” Nancy picked up the piece of paper with the information and dialed the Archer phone first. It rang a few times before a female voice came on. 

“Hello?” 

“Mrs. Archer, I hope?” said Nancy. 

“This is she,” said Mrs. Archer slowly. “Who am I speaking with?” 

“Hi, I’m Nancy Drew, a friend of Emily Crandall’s.” 

“Oh you are? How wonderful. How is the dear girl doing?” 

Nancy glanced at Emily, she was definitely looking better. “Oh, she’s starting to get out of the thick of it,” she said knowingly. “Speaking of, that was why I called. See, we were wondering if we could stop by for a visit.” 

“Oh, that would be wonderful! You absolutely must! We haven’t had Emily over in some time. We know it’s partially due to her grief, which is completely understandable, and the other part is due to her guardian having to take on such a load. The poor things. Will just Emily be coming?” 

“Of Emily and Jane, yes, Emily is the only one free. I will be coming, and so will Emily’s cousin, Helen Corning.” 

“Oh, Rosemary’s granddaughter? That would be absolutely lovely! Hang on just a minute, Nancy.” Nancy heard Mrs. Archer walk away from the phone. A few minutes later, she heard her walking back. “Nancy, are you still there?” 

“Yes ma’am.” 

“Wonderful, my husband Jim and I would be more than happy to have you girls over for lunch. We’re eating at eleven o’clock today since my husband has a meeting in the afternoon. Will that work?” 

“Oh, yes! Of course! May we come over a little earlier?” 

“I don’t see why not.” 

“Wonderful, thank you Mrs. Archer!! See, Emily has asked me to locate Josiah Crowley’s will, and we have reason to believe he left clues in the old clocks he gave to his inheritors.” 

Mrs. Archer gasped. “Really? Then by all means, come as early as you please! Well, at least, come anytime after nine thirty. My husband has an important call coming in at eight thirty, and based on how long those calls have gotten, an hour might just be long enough.” 

“We’ll be there for nine forty-five,” said Nancy. 

“Marvelous! See you then!” Mrs. Archer hung up. 

Nancy let out a breath as she hung up the phone and picked it right back up to call the Turners. 

“So?” said Helen. 

Nancy finished pushing in the numbers and held the phone to her ear before glancing at Helen and Emily. “We have lunch with the Archers. We’ll be eating lunch at eleven, but we can get there between nine thirty and ten to look over the clock.” 

Emily picked up the book Josiah had left her mother. “Do you think that will give us enough time to figure out the clocks?” 

Nancy shrugged. “We’ll just have to wait and find out.” 

“Hello?” came a tired voice over the line. 

“Oh! Hello! Is this one of the Miss Turners?” 

“This is Edna Turner.” 

“Hi Miss Edna, this is Nancy Drew, I’m a friend of Emily’s.” 

The voice turned cold. “Oh, really? Did she get you to call me to get my hopes up just to dash them?” 

“Oh no Miss Edna! I’m hoping to make those hopes come true!” 

“What do you mean by that?” Edna asked slowly. 

“Emily has asked me to find Josiah Crowley’s will, and we have reason to believe he has hidden clues in the clocks he gave you and the other inheritors.” 

There was a pause on the line, and Nancy hoped Edna wasn’t going to hang up. “We’ve been over that old clock hundreds of times and didn’t find anything.” 

“But I may have found the key to opening it. Sorry, correction, keys, I don’t know which key goes to which clock yet.” 

“Has Emily had it this whole time?” 

“Yes ma’am, except she didn’t realize what it was until I looked at it. Of course, with her mother gone, Emily really hasn’t thought of much . . .” 

Edna gasped and it seemed her whole demeanor changed. “Gloria’s dead? Why, I, I didn’t know!” 

Nancy arched her eyebrows. “How come you didn’t know?” 

“Well, no one’s told us, and, well, we’ve had to cut back on a few things just to scrape by, so, no newspapers, no internet, no cell phones, just a regular old landline, and just one at that.” 

Nancy gasped. “Oh, you poor things! No wonder why you need Josiah’s will to be found so badly!” 

“You are absolutely right, and if you have found something that could lead us to Josiah’s will and need the clocks to do so, then come on over! My sister Mary won’t be home until two. Will that be alright?” 

“Of course! We’re having lunch with the Archers.” 

“What about the Tophams?” 

“Unfortunately, they’re out of town for the next three days, but we did set up a time as soon as they return. So, we won’t be able to complete the puzzle until they return, but if we could have the majority of the pieces all set up by the time they return, we can find the will that much quicker.” 

“Oh, alright. I’ll see you at two then. Do you have our address?” 

Nancy told her the address she had. 

“Oh no, we’ve moved. Here’s our new address.” Nancy quickly wrote it down, but her eyes were wide with surprise at the address. That was in one of the poorest neighborhoods in town! The Turners desperately needed money.

“Alright, we’ll see you at two. Good bye!” 

“Good bye, dear,” said Edna before hanging up the phone. 

“Well, if we’re not due at the Archers for another hour and a half, what should we do?” said Helen as Nancy put the receiver down. 

“We take a look at Josiah’s clock downstairs. Emily, bring the book please,” said Nancy as she walked towards the door. Helen and Emily followed her down the stairs and into the living room. Nancy took the clock off the mantle and set it on the floor. The three girls sat around it. 

“Emily, read each of the four poems, slowly.” 

Emily nodded. “OK.” She flipped open the book to the first circled poem and began to read it. 

Meanwhile, Nancy picked up the clock and very carefully turned it over, looking at every side of it, and feeling around every little nook and cranny. She continued her investigation while Emily read the poems. She sat there, thinking, why did Josiah choose those poems? What did they have to do with clocks? Suddenly, it clicked. “Emily, read that last poem again!” 

Emily glanced at her, startled. “Um, OK.” 

Nancy listened intently. Was she imagining things? No, there they were, numbers, five of them. “Emily, just read me the numbers.” 

“What . . . oh!” Emily read the numbers and Nancy moved the hour hands into the various positions. Three, five, three, six, and four were set into place. Nothing happened. 

“Go back to the first poem and give me the numbers.” 

Emily nodded excitedly and read off the numbers. “Two, two, six, five, seven.” 

Nancy shook her head when nothing happened after putting in those numbers. “Next one.” 

“Five, four, five, two, two.” 

Nancy gasped as she heard a tiny click and the bottom of the clock opened up. Helen and Emily leaned in closer as Nancy pulled on it with shaking fingers. They had figured it out!

 

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