Free Carolyn Keene - Nancy Drew by The Kachina Doll Mystery

left but charred wood. ”
    “And you think Ngyun had something to do with it?”
    Chuck’s attractive features softened a little. “I don’t want to think that,” he admitted, “but why would anyone want to burn an old shed and corral that no one is using?”
    “Why would Ngyun burn it?” Nancy countered.
    “He could have been angry because Mr. Henry was the one who came over and told us about the missing filly, and Ngyun thought he was accusing him of stealing her,” Chuck reminded her. “Or maybe he was just playing Indians and settlers and thought no one would notice. It is in a remote area of the Circle H.”
    Nancy considered for a moment, then shook her head. “I’m sure he didn’t burn your cottage, and I don’t think we have two firebugs in the area, do you, Chuck?”
    Chuck sighed. “I have a feeling it isn’t going to matter what I think,” he replied bitterly. “Mr. Henry’s been a good friend to us and he’s been very patient about open gates and straying cattle. This time he sounded really angry. I don’t know how much longer we can keep Ngyun here.”
    “But where would he go?”
    “His mother is now staying with relatives in the Los Angeles area. Living in the city would be rough on him, but if these fires keep up....” He shook his head, not bothering to finish the sentence.
    Nancy started to protest, then closed her lips firmly over the words. If Ngyun was to stay, it was obvious that she must clear his name and there was no time to waste.
    She and George spent the next hour walking around the desert beyond the walls of the old house, but found nothing significant.
    “The ground’s been so marked up by the fire truck that it’s impossible to see anything,” George complained.
    Nancy nodded. “And we have all the hoof marks from the horses yesterday going to the barbecue site. They obscure any other tracks that might have been made.”
    “Let’s look under your bedroom window,” George finally suggested. “Perhaps we can determine whether the thief came in that way.”
    This idea proved more productive. Though the ground was too hard to show footprints, Nancy soon discovered something when she examined the window itself.
    “Look, George!” she called out. “See all those smudges on the frame of the screen? That proves someone lifted it down, then replaced it.”
    “Did you leave the window open last night?” George inquired.
    Nancy nodded. “The thief had no trouble getting in this way.” She stepped back, then shivered, though the late-afternoon sun was warm beyond the shadow of the house. She had the eerie feeling that they were being watched. She turned slowly, scanning the ridges and washes that formed the landscape between the ranch and the nearby mountains.
    George had wandered away from the window, still trying to find a telltale set of footprints. Nancy looked after her, then shifted her attention to a clump of cactus. A roadrunner darted from it to some bushes. Quail chirped sleepily from a closer stand of grass. And a shadowy figure was moving on the crest of one ridge.
    There was something so threatening about the vague movement that Nancy dodged behind a sheltering palo verde without seeing clearly what had caused the motion.
    The next moment there was a whistling sound, then a “thunk” made the tree’s green trunk shiver. Startled, Nancy looked up to see an arrow quivering in the wood!

12
    Trapped!
    “Nancy, where are you?” George called suddenly from just around the corner of the house.
    Nancy looked toward the ridge. “Stay where you are,” she ordered, aware that the arrow had struck the tree and not her only because she’d no longer been standing in front of the green trunk. Never looking away from the ridge, and ready to dodge into the bushes at any sign of movement, Nancy made her way around the corner to where a thoroughly unhappy-looking George waited for her.
    “What in the world is going on?” George demanded.
    “Someone just shot