Free The Clue of the Broken Locket by Carolyn Keene Page A

helped, but Nancy and Bess paid no attention to her protests. “We don’t want any more spills,” Bess told her.
    When they reached the cottage, George refused to lie down, saying what she needed was a good, juicy steak.
    Cecily, after expressing her sympathy over George’s accident, offered to get supper. “We do have steak and it won’t take long to broil it.”
    Nancy offered to help, saying she had a surprise for Cecily and would tell her about it while they were working in the kitchen. She pulled the half-locket from her pocket.
    “This matches yours, doesn’t it?” she asked.
    Cecily stared unbelievingly. “I’m sure it does, but I’ll get mine and we’ll compare.”
    There was excitement all over again when Cecily put the two halves together. A perfect fit! “Where in the world did you get this?” she asked.
    Nancy told the whole story, adding that during her previous visit to the area the old battered boat had not been there. “Either someone just tried to hide it, or it drifted there. I’m sure the locket wasn’t in it very long. I do have an idea as to the person who lost the locket.”
    “Who?” Cecily asked eagerly.
    Nancy reminded her of the hunch that the red-haired girl who resembled Cecily was a relative. “And if this part of your great-grandmother’s locket does belong to her, I’m convinced.”
    “Oh, I must meet my double!” Cecily cried excitedly. “It’s exasperating that we can’t find her or the iron bird. What do you think we should do next?” she asked Nancy.
    The young sleuth said she had no solution except hard work, meaning that they would have to keep on searching around Pudding Stone Lodge.
    Cecily was silent for a full minute before she remarked, “That other red-haired girl’s actions have been so strange I’m sure she’s very worried about something. I wish I could help her!”
    Nancy confided the theory that she had expressed to Bess and George.
    “Oh, dear!” Cecily exclaimed. “If that girl is a prisoner, and you didn’t hear or see anything of her when you were in the lodge, she must be well hidden.”
    “I agree,” Nancy replied. “Of course she might have been taken out of the house and been kept somewhere else until after I’d gone.”
    During the delicious steak supper, which Cecily and Nancy served, the girls continued to talk about the locket, the missing red-haired girl, and Pudding Stone Lodge.
    When they finished eating, George declared she felt fine and again longed for action. Bess looked at her cousin sternly. “No physical exercise tonight. But I’ll make a bargain with you. I’ll drive you to the movies over at Ridgeton.”
    “Neat idea,” said George. “I accept.”
    Bess turned to Nancy meaningfully. “I hope you girls don’t mind not being invited. Somebody probably should be here to guard this cottage.”
    The significance of Bess’s remark was not lost on Nancy. They must keep Cecily at the cottage so that she would surely be there when Niko camel
    “How about a little walk?” Nancy asked Cecily.
    “Oh, I don’t believe so,” the other girl answered. “I’d like to write some letters. My friends will wonder what has happened to me.”
    Nancy asked if Cecily minded if she went out by herself for a short time.
    Cecily said, “Oh, go right ahead. I think I’ll lock myself in, though, in case there are any prowlers around. When you return, knock three times.”
    Bess and George went off in the car, while Nancy strode along the lake front. Before she knew it, she had reached the path leading to Pudding Stone Lodge. On a sudden hunch Nancy decided to climb quietly up along the slope and pick up any dues she could. As she walked toward the house and looked upward, the young sleuth stopped short.
    There was a steady glow of light from the bull’s-eye window!

CHAPTER XII
    Precarious Hiding Place
    THE light from the bull’s-eye window began to flash on and off. Surely this must be a signal, Nancy thought.
    She ducked