Nancy Drew: Mystery of Melbourne Manor

Chapter 2

Nancy traced her finger around it.
" Its deep, I wonder what else is in here."
Suddenly, a box fell from a shelf. Ned picked it up and tried to open it.
"It's locked," he said.
Nancy examined the box closely. The painted white wood was splitting on the sides and the lock was rusted.
Just as she was about to find something to open it, Nathaniel walked in.
" Dinner is ready."
Their dinner consisted of a soup and salad. Yeast rolls were being passed around the table.
" So, have you had any leads?" asked Margaret.
" Well, we discovered something carved into her closet wall." said Nancy.
" What did it say? We never noticed anything," said Nathaniel.
" Come play," said Ned.
Nathaniel, Margaret and the Butler gave him a confused look.
"That's what the wall says." he said.
"We believe you, Annalise used to say someone was in her room begging her to come play." Margaret said.
"Who else lives here?" asked Nancy.
" The butler and maid stay here, but the gardener doesn't."
"He refuses to stay. He said someone watches him from Annalise's room that isn't her." Margaret added.
"Where's the gardener now?"
"Outside finishing his bush on the side of the house."
Nancy and Ned excused themselves from the dinner table. They walked outside to the side of the house. There, they saw a tall man with a cut on the side of his face.
"Excuse me, sir?" Nancy asked.
The man looked up and lowered his gardening shears.
"You two must be the detectives. I'm Gary."
"Ned Nickerson, and this is Nancy Drew."
" We heard you don't like to stay here overnight? "
"I would stay, but she watches me?"
"Annalise?" asked Nancy.
" No, its not Annalise. The girl who watches me has black hair. She looks at me, then walks away."
"Where were you when Annalise went missing?"
" Walking to my car. I heard her scream and when I made it upstairs, he parents were in hysteria. I saw the little girl again."
" Where did she go?" asked Ned.
"The little girl walked up to the third story of the house. Nathaniel and Margaret don't let anyone go up to the third floor. Annalise would try, but they'd scream at her."
"What's so bad about the third level?" Ned asked.
" I don't know, here's the key if you would like to check it out."
Gary handed them the key and they walked back inside.
"Who do you think was the girl?"
" I have no idea, Ned. We need to check out the third floor. "
" You two shall stay in the guest room. Do not leave the room." said Nathaniel.
He ushered them to a room down the hall from Annalise's. It had a king sized bed and velvet curtains.
Once Ned and Nancy got settled in the room, Nathaniel shut the door.
"How are we going to go see the third floor if we can't leave?"
"We'll have to go tomorrow," she whispered.
They heard the door click and heavy footsteps walking away. Ned slowly made his way over to the door and jiggled the knob.
"Looks like we have no choice, they locked us in!" Ned said.
"They really don't want us to leave the room, then." Nancy said.
The two of them sat in bed. Ned rolled over to face Nancy.
"I can take the floor," he offered.
"No, its alright. We have been dating for a while now, I trust you."
Nancy drifted off to sleep, but as Ned started to fall asleep, he heard singing.
"Who's there?" he asked.
The singing sounded like a small child. It got louder and louder.
Then, the doorknob started to jiggle. The person was unsatisfied and jiggled it harder. Then, they stopped. Just as he started to close his eyes again, he heard the scream of a small girl, making him jump out of bed.
"Hello? Are you alright? Who's there?" he asked.
He was replied with silence, but a cold chill ran down his spine. Something told him that there was more to the mystery than what was being told to them.
Ned looked over at Nancy to see if she heard it too. She remained asleep, her soft red blonde hair falling gently around the pillow. She was so beautiful to him, and he had plans to make sure he would never lose her.
"Goodnight Nancy," he whispered.