Free The Witch Tree Symbol by Carolyn G. Keene

haven’t arrived yet. But maybe their horse is extra slow.”
    The words were scarcely out of her mouth when an Amish couple rushed excitedly into the barn. They began to speak rapidly in dialect, flinging their arms about as if describing something they had seen.
    Curious, George approached an Amish girl standing near her. “What are they saying?” she asked.

    Nancy and Ned were thrown out of the buggy.
    “There was a bad accident,” the girl replied. “The witch girl was in it!”
    Bess and George glanced at each other and hurried toward the couple who had just arrived. They were afraid that the accident referred to involved Nancy and Ned.
    “Please tell us in English what happened!” Bess begged the young woman.
    “The witch girl—she flew into the air!”
    The Amish girl went on to say that her younger brother had been racing with the carriage in which she was riding when they saw a couple in a buggy ahead of them. There was no time to slow down, and as they passed, their vehicle had scraped the wheels of the other carriage. It had overturned, and the couple had seemed to fly out of it!
    George was impatient. “What made you call her a witch girl?”
    “Because she disappeared,” the Amish girl replied in an awed tone. “After the accident, we stopped and went back and looked in the field where the couple were thrown. They were not there!”
    “Oh, it must have been Nancy and Ned. They would surely have been here by now if something hadn’t happened!” Bess wailed.
    George, Bess, Burt, and Dave decided that they must go to the scene of the accident at once. After asking directions, the four hurried off in their car to the field where Nancy and Ned were reported to have disappeared. The open buggy was there, still overturned, but nothing else was in sight.
    “My guess is that Nancy and Ned weren’t badly hurt,” Burt said. “Perhaps the horse ran off and they went to look for him.”
    Dave agreed and added, “Maybe they returned to Glicks’ to report the accident.”
    The group drove to their host’s home, but when they arrived they were told that Nancy and Ned had not come back. Alarmed, Mr. Glick contacted the hospital, but the admitting clerk reported that neither Nancy Drew nor Ned Nickerson had come in for treatment.
    “Maybe the police came by and picked them up in a patrol car,” Mrs. Glick suggested. They all waited anxiously as her husband got in touch with the police. They knew nothing about the accident but said they would investigate immediately.
    “What could have happened to them?” Bess asked.
    “Perhaps Nancy and Ned stopped somewhere to freshen up.” Burt spoke up. “Right now I bet they’re having a good time at the square dance!”
    “Good thinking!” George exclaimed. “Let’s go back and find out.”
    After telling the Glicks that they would let them know the outcome, the four young people drove to the Fischer farm. They rushed into the building.
    Inside, Bess stepped onto a bench along the wall so that she could look over the dancers’ heads. Every couple on the floor was Amish and Nancy and Ned were nowhere in sight!
    “Oh, Dave!” she cried, looking down at her date. “What will we do?”

CHAPTER XI
    The Vanished Driver
     
     
     
    AT this very moment about three miles away the missing couple were on a sleuthing mission. Nancy and Ned were astride the horse he had hired for the evening. They were riding along a lonely road in complete darkness. The animal still wore its blinders. Nancy, seated in front of Ned, held the reins firmly.
    A short distance ahead of the unsaddled horse and its two riders was an Amish carriage being pulled by a black horse. The couple were trailing it, hoping their horse’s hoofbeats were not being heard.
    Ned leaned forward and whispered into Nancy’s ear, “You’re sure that’s the stolen carriage with some of Mrs. Follett’s missing furniture in it?”
    “I’m almost positive,” Nancy said softly.
    “And you feel well