Free Carolyn Keene - Nancy Drew by The Kachina Doll Mystery Page B

truth, and once I do, I’ll be safe. ”
    “You just be careful,” Maria warned. “Very, very careful. ”
    The next two days passed rather quietly. The girls made trips into the town of Apache Junction, shopping in quaint, little stores for the lovely Indian jewelry that seemed to be everywhere. With Heather’s expert advice, they bought beautiful, silver and turquoise belt buckles to take back to the boys, and selected more jewelry as gifts for the members of their families.
    Nancy found an exquisite Kachina doll in one of the shops and was unable to resist it. “It looks just like the one painted at the far end of the hall,” she told George. “Won’t it make a great souvenir to show everyone when we get home?”
    “When is that going to be, Nancy?” Bess asked softly, not wanting Heather to overhear them. “How much longer are we going to stay?”
    Nancy frowned. “I can’t leave without solving the mysteries,” she protested.
    “But nothing is happening,” Bess reminded her. “And you did find out what the Kachina in the hall wanted, didn’t you?”
    Nancy nodded. “But I still hear the chanting every night,” she confessed. “I look out in the hall whenever it wakes me, but the Kachina isn’t there. I have a feeling it wants me to do something else, but I don’t know what.”
    Bess appeared unconvinced, when Heather came over with a handsome, fetish necklace to show them. There was no chance to go on with the conversation while they admired the tiny, hand-carved birds that were strung on the silver wire.
    Still, memories of the words haunted Nancy through the afternoon, and after dinner she found it hard to concentrate on the card games that Chuck and Heather had suggested to fill the evening hours. A spring rainstorm seemed to be brewing, which added to the feeling of tension in the air.
    After several games, Nancy excused herself and wandered into the hall to stare once more at the Kachina paintings. They were so lovely, yet eerie and, in the shadows of evening, almost frightening.
    Did they conceal further secrets? she asked herself. Were there other little differences like the writing instrument that had guided her to the loose brick?
    Thinking that it might give her a clue, Nancy went to her room to get her Kachina to compare it with the larger painting. However, when she reached her room, she hesitated, then went to the window to stare out at the distant flickerings of lightning that seemed to be licking into the Superstitions.
    The scent of rain was in the air and on the breeze that stirred the white curtains. When she listened closely, she could hear the far-off rumbling of thunder. Then, suddenly, she heard something else—the sound of hoofbeats. In the dim light, she saw a black and white pinto headed toward one of the washes.
    Nancy hesitated only a moment before racing through the house and down the path to the stable. If Ngyun was riding out in the night, she had to follow him! There wasn’t even time to tell the others where she was going. If she waited, she would surely lose him in the stormy night.
    Fumbling in the dark stable, Nancy saddled the bay gelding Pepper Pot and rode out as fast as she dared in the poor light. As they entered the wash, she slowed the horse a little and looked around, suddenly not sure where to go. Almost at once, she saw movement ahead, and once again there was a flash of black and white as the rider moved along the wash.
    “Ngyun?” she called. “Ngyun, wait, please!”
    Hoofbeats were her only answer, but since they seemed to be coming from directly ahead, Nancy urged the gelding to follow them. The wind was rising, spinning dust and small bits of sand off the top of the wash and driving them down on Nancy as she rode through the rough, ditchlike formation.
    The thunder grew louder and the lightning flared more often, illuminating the scene like midday and making it easier for Nancy to guide Pepper Pot along the wash. It also gave her an occasional