Fellowship & Fairydust

As soon as the boys got back to the Hardy residence, Frank and Joe made a mad dash into the house. They paused in surprise when they saw Janelle Radley and her children sitting with Trudy in the living room. Her two daughters, Samantha and Jordan, got up and hugged Frank and Joe.  

“We’re sorry to hear about your dad,” said Jordan as she hugged Joe tightly. 

“We want to help you get him back,” Samantha said firmly. 

Stephan, the youngest and the only boy, hopped off the sofa and marched up to the Hardys. “I want to beat up some bad guys too!” Janelle cleared her throat. Stephan groaned and crossed his arms. “But Mom won’t let me.” 

Frank chuckled and patted his shoulder. “Thanks, Steph, but we’ll leave fighting the bad guys to the police, alright? Though I’m sure there’s something you can do to help.” 

“And the only way to find out what that is is to let them get upstairs and plan this rescue already,” blurted Trudy. 

“Mom’s already in the study?” asked Joe. 

“No duh. Sam and Jack are with her and Collig’s already on the line.” 

The boys gasped and dashed up the stairs. 

“Hey, wait for us!” blurted Chet as the rest of the group dashed up the stairs after them. 

Frank and Joe burst into the study where their mother was sitting in their father’s desk chair with Sam and Jack standing on either side. Jack, Jerry, Slim, and Pete seemed to have forgotten the telescope as they had been paying more attention to what was going on at the desk. They had jumped when the boys burst in. But Laura was soon across the room upon the entrance of her sons. She wrapped an arm around each boy and pulled them into a big hug. The boys were more than happy to return the hug. 

“The boys just showed up, didn’t they?” came Collig’s voice over the phone. 

Sam chuckled before answering. “You got that right, Ezra.” 

“Hi Chief!” called the boys. 

“Hi Frank, Joe! I assume, I hope your trip was successful.” 

At that moment, the rest of the Hardys’ friends came into the room and heard the question. Biff and Chet whooped. 

“Oh boy, yes sir we did!” shouted Tony to be heard over the cheers.

“Ah, the whole gang is there! Wonderful! Now, tell us what you found.” 

The boys took turns telling about the whole trip, ending with the mostly relaxing swim. 

“So you have it marked down, Phil?” 

“Yes sir!” said Phil with a salute. 

“You know he can’t see you, right?” whispered Jerry. Phil grinned sheepishly as he brought his hand down. 

“Tony, Biff, think you can find your way back to that cave in the dark?” asked Laura thoughtfully.

“I think so,” said Biff. 

“I’m pretty sure I can,” said Tony. 

Laura nodded. “Good.” 

“What are you thinking, Laura?” asked Collig. 

Laura went back to the desk chair and sat down. “I’m thinking that the boys split up. Tony, Biff, and Phil will go with the Coast Guard and keep an eye on the cave. I think Jack, Jerry, Chet and I will go with you and the State Police to keep an eye on the road. Slim and Pete should be with Sam and Jack and keep an eye on things from the air.” 

“Wait, but who’s going to pose as Frank and Joe?” asked Jack. 

Laura sighed. “No one, none of you could pose as brothers, and none of you have blonde hair.” 

“But, I do,” said Jerry, fingering his hair. 

Laura shook her head. “No, Jerry, that’s sandy-blonde, there is a difference. Besides, I’m sure they’ve figured out by now that it was Frank and Joe and not the Masons that visited yesterday.” The boys glanced at Frank and Joe, who nodded vigorously. They too had come to that same conclusion. Snattman was no idiot. 

“So then, you expect Frank and Joe to go in by themselves?” asked Chet incredulously. 

Laura huffed. “I expect them to be very careful and get into the house without being seen to try and save their father.” 

The boys gasped. “Man, Mrs. Hardy, that’s kind of a tall order,” said Chet with a whistle as his eyes widened. 

“We barely got away ourselves today!” blurted Biff. 

Laura glanced at Sam and Jack. “Sam and Jack will provide a distraction. They’ll fly over low, that should get their attention.” She glanced at her sons. “And give you two enough time to get into the house. I don’t expect you to get out of the house in time, you can try, but it’s more likely that you’ll have to find a hiding place and to text me every five minutes until we’ve captured the gang.”

Joe looked at his mom, impressed. “That’s a pretty good plan.” 

She smiled. “Thank you.” 

“Well it’s the only one we have,” said Collig. “Unless you boys have anything better.” 

The boys shook their heads as they approached the desk. “No,” they chorused. 

“The only one I had was for two of the guys to pose as us and try to sneak into the house once they had their backs turned,” said Frank as he put his hands on the desk and leaned on it. “But since Mom came to the same conclusion we did, that Snattman would have figured it out that it had been us and we wouldn’t get to use that trick again, well, this one works much better.” He grinned at his mother. “Much much better.”   

She smiled ruefully. “But you two have to be extremely careful.”

Frank and Joe nodded as they chorused, “We will.” 

Joe went to his mother and wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t worry, it’s going to work out, just you wait and see.” 

“You’ve always come up with the best plans,” said Jack. “Joe’s right, it will work.” 

“And we’ll all be there to help!” shouted Tony. 

“You got that right!” said Biff. He popped his knuckles. “If any of those crooks so much as hurt a hair on their heads, they’ll feel my wrath.” 

That seemed to lift Laura’s spirits a little. She chuckled. “Thank you all so very much.” The boys gave firm nods. 

“Well now that that’s settled,” broke in Collig, “Jack, Sam, you have to be over that house right at seven o’clock, not a minute later.” 

“You got it,” they chorused. 

“Which means that we have to be at the helipad no later than 6:30,” said Sam. 

Slim and Pete nodded. “Got it.” 

“Tony, Biff, Phil, you three are going to meet up with Chief Warrant Officer Robinson at the Coast Guard station at 6:45. Jack and Sam are going to fly over you after they’ve flown over the house, that will be the signal to head out and hopefully that the Hardys have gotten in unseen. Chet, Jerry, Jack, you’re going to meet up with me and the State Police at the station at 6:30, we’ll leave at 6:45.” 

“Yes sir!” chorused the boys. 

“But I want to do something!” blurted a small voice. 

“Stephan!” said Sam. He walked towards his son and crossed his arms. “You are not a part of this conversation.” 

“But I want to help!” 

“So do I,” said Jordan with her hands on her hips. 

Laura snapped her fingers. “I know, you can keep an eye on the Pollitt Place!” Everyone glanced at her quizzically. She got up and patted the telescope. “You can watch all of the action from here, but you must watch out for anything. You’re going to have to make sure the bad guys don’t escape and that we do catch them all.” 

“But I want to be part of the action!” blurted Stephan. 

“That’s a brilliant idea!” blurted Collig. “If we have someone watching the house, we can be absolutely sure they’re not going to try anything when we’re not there. You can tell us everything you see.” 

Laura went to Stephan and got to his level. “What about it, Stephan? You can still be a part of the action. This is a very important part of the plan. You’ll be able to tell us where the bad guys are so we can find them easier.” 

Stephan seemed to think for a moment before slowly nodding his head. “Oh, alright, I’ll do it.” 

Laura gave him a big hug. “Thank you so much!” 

“I’ll come by later and get a radio set up so you can be connected to us at all times.” 

Stephan bounced. “Wait, I get to use the police radio?” 

“That’s right,” said Collig. 

“Sweet! This is going to be the best day ever!” 

They went over the plan again, making sure everyone knew their parts and the timetable quite well before Collig ended the call. Everyone went downstairs for dinner, Trudy and Janelle had ordered pizza. After dinner, they did a quick recap of the plan before everyone left. Except for the Radleys and Jack who had planned to stay the night. Collig showed up a little after eight and set up the radio, giving the Radley children and Trudy a course on how to use it. Once he left, they figured out how to accommodate everyone and went to bed. Frank and Joe stayed up a little later, whispering about the mystery. 

“I can’t believe it’s almost all over,” said Joe. 

“I know,” said Frank, “it’s just been a little over a week.” 

“A lot has happened in that time.” 

Frank chuckled softly. “No kidding. But we still have to make sure the Tower treasure gets into Mr. Applegate’s hands before we can officially say the case is closed.” 

Joe nodded. “Right.” He turned over and propped himself up on one arm. “But once it’s all over, what then?” 

Frank shrugged. “We enjoy our summer, prepare for Grandpa Willie and Grandma Dottie, and, well, keep an eye out for any other mysteries.” He glanced slyly at his brother. “That is, if you want to keep solving mysteries.” 

Joe grinned. “Are you kidding? Of course I want to. It’s what we’ve always wanted, to solve mysteries like Dad.” He turned onto his back. “It’s just, some dangers are going to need some time getting used to, that’s all.” 

“And better planning, not on Mom’s part, our part. We have to start planning better. And speaking of plans, we’d better get to sleep, we have a long day tomorrow.” 

“No kidding,” mumbled Joe. “I’m so nervous, I don’t think I would ever fall asleep.” But in a few minutes, both boys were sound asleep. 

The next day at church, the boys prayed like they had never prayed before. They wanted everything to go well for that night. But that seemed to be the fastest part of the day. When they got home, they found that the wait was agonizing, even though they watched the Pollitt house. Their friends came over around lunch to try and help stave off the anxiety. But their friends got caught in the impatient waiting as time seemed to drag. Was Snattman telling Fenton how he was going to nab Frank and Joe the instant they showed up and that he had better give in to Snattman’s demands, or else? Was he given enough food, or just enough to survive? Questions and wild scenario after wild scenario kept popping up in their vivid imaginations, driving up the anxiety quite a few notches. 

Finally, six o’clock came and a quick supper. Once dinner was over, they split up. Sam and Jack took off with Slim and Pete towards the helipad, while Chet took Jack, Jerry, and Laura in Queen and sped off towards the police station. Biff, Tony, and Phil quickly sped off towards the Coast Guard station, leaving Frank and Joe to make their way back towards the Pollitt place while the rest of the Radley family and Trudy held down the fort at the Hardy residence. 

The boys parked their bikes a distance from the Pollitt place and jogged the rest of the way there. When they got to the driveway, they saw that there were only a couple of guards at the front door. 

“Everyone must be in the back, waiting for our arrival,” whispered Frank. 

“That would make sense.” 

Frank took a glance at his watch in the rays of the setting sun. “It’s almost time. Be ready and follow my lead.”

“When have I not,” said Joe with a grin. Frank shot him an annoyed look, but said nothing as he looked at his watch again. It was only a few minutes until seven, but the boys were poised to make a dash for it. A minute before seven, they could hear the helicopter blades, as could the men on the inside. There was a commotion as they tried to find the helicopter. Jack was more than willing to let them know where they were, apparently, as, at seven o’clock sharp, he maneuvered really close to the house. 

“Remind me to never take flight lessons from Jack,” muttered Joe. 

“Come on!” hissed Frank, grabbing him by the arm. They dashed towards the front door and snuck in. They had made it! Into the house for now. Next step, find their father. The two cautiously peered around every corner before stepping any further. 

“I think they all went outside,” whispered Joe. 

“Let’s hope so.” 

“But where’s Dad?” 

“Let’s check upstairs, there’s no reason to hide him in the cellar or anything.” 

“Right.” They dashed up the stairs, and though sure that all of Snattman’s gang was outside, they continued to be cautious and peered around every corner. It was Joe who had found him. “Dad!” Frank rushed towards him and entered the room. There was their father, bound to a bed. 

Fenton’s eyes widened as his sons rushed towards him and began untying him. “What are you two doing here?” he asked hoarsely. “If Snattman knows you’re here . . .” 

“Then he’s going to have to deal with Mom, and I don’t think he would want to do that,” quipped Joe. He shot his father a toothy grin as tears of relief filled his eyes. 

“Speaking of Mom, this is her plan,” said Frank with a broad grin as they finished untying Fenton and helped him sit up. 

Fenton stared at them. “Your mom . . . planned this?” 

“If you hadn’t heard, that was Jack Wayne showing off for Snattman’s gang,” said Joe as his grin widened. 

“What? But . . .” 

“Come on Dad, we have to go, there’s not much time,” said Frank. 

Fenton nodded. “You’re right. They’re leaving in the morning.” The boys helped him stand and put his arms around their shoulders. Slowly, but surely, they made their way out of the room and towards the stairs. But then they paused. 

“It was a set-up! The Hardys didn’t show up and that helicopter did!” 

“Of course it was Klein, did you really think the Hardys were going to try to save their father without help from their friends? You really are stupid.” There was a wack. “What do we do, boss?” 

“I think it’s time we got a little rough with Mr. Hardy. They want him back so bad, well, we’ll give him back, in pieces if we have to. Come on!” 

The three glanced at each other in shock as they could hear footsteps coming towards them. They had to find a hiding place, and fast. But, where could they go? Time was running out!

 

<Previous | Next>