NANCY DREW AND THE SECRET OF MERMAID COVE

Chapter Twenty-Five

The first shop they went to was really tween like with its wall full of cute purses, glitter accessories, and plastic jewelry. On the isles, there were knock off perfumes, inexpensive lips gloss, rainbow-colored stuffed animals, and patterned diaries. The teens felt out of place here but window shopped a bit anyway. 

Bess picked up a ruffled black purse and posed with it in front of a large mirror. "What do you think of this, Nancy?"

Nancy gave the bag a good look, "It's simple enough to pair with almost any dress. I do feel like it is a little silly looking though."

Bess pouted a little before putting the bag back on the wall display. 

Nancy circled the isles, then something caught her eye. It was a large leather-bound locking dairy. It was blue with many intricate gold designs on top. It looked like something one would find in an antique shop and not in a children's store. She turned it over to see the price, resulting in her almost dropping it from sticker shook. It was expensive for a diary.

Nancy fought with her self mentally over whether or not to buy the book, as Bess watched amused.  Nancy repeatedly kept walking over to the shelf to put down the item only to pick it right back up to examine it once more. 

"You might as well get it or you will be thinking about it all the rest of the day," Bess advised. 

In response, Nancy weakly nodded her head in agreement. Then walked over to the counter to purchase the diary. 

The next shop they visited was a large gift shop twice the size of the first one they had visited. It was filled to the brim with beach themed items. Seashells, wind chimes, water sports gear, and tacky magnets littered the shelves. The girls discovered that towards the back of the store they had a so-called pet area that housed hermit crabs with painted shells. 

"I do not know why anyone would want one of these as a pet," Nancy commented. 

"Yeah, they literally stink!" Bess said as she dramatically pinched her nose. 

Thankfully, the other half of the store was filled with many fashionable bathing suits in various styles.

"This white bikini with black polka dots is cute. Don't you think Nancy?" Bess asked. 

"Yeah, that is cute. Why don't you try it on?" 

"That is a good idea," Bess said 

Nancy rubbed her temple. "I'm gonna head outside to get some fresh air."

Bess looked up from the bathing suits she was just looking through, "Are you ok?" 

Nancy smiled weakly, "I have got a headache from the smell of those hermit crabs. It is no big deal"

"Be careful out there by yourself. I will try not to keep you waiting for too long." 

Once outside, Nancy sat down on an iron bench and pulled out her new diary. She carefully unlocked the tome, took in the smell of the new paper, and began to jot down a few ideas in it. 

Nancy sat there lost in deep thought for a while before looking up. "Was that Bess she saw slip away down an alley behind the store?" she wondered.  She quickly packed her stuff back into the shopping bag before getting up to follow after the girl.

"Bess wait up! I am right here!" Nancy cried out. 

Nancy chased after the girl trough the back allies, only find herself at a dead end. "What the? Where is she?" Nancy asked as she took in her surroundings. It was dark, damp, and reeked of dead fish. 

Suddenly, a cloud of thick smoke appeared, then thinned to reveal the women from the strange gift shop. Nancy took a few steps back and stumbled.

"Have you uncovered anything new, my pet." asked the woman with a feeble voice. She came closer to Nancy, then in the blink of an eye, she had somehow gotten ahold of the compass. 

"Wait, how did you get that from me?" Nancy asked, feeling surprised. 

"You are far more clever than I first thought. Fate has smiled on you by gifting the spinning arrow." The women's seemed to study the item for a moment before handing it back to Nancy. 

"So the spinning arrow is the compass?"

"What did the song what did you retail to you?" asked the women. 

"Just something about fallowing the spinning arrow." 

"That is an interesting development." replied the woman. She took Nancy's hand into hers,  "Then off to the cove you must go to follow it, however, guard it with your life." Her eyes rimmed with worry, revealing a storm of emotion just beneath the surface. "I fear that if Jasper finds it, all is doomed. Her vengeance with rest at nothing until all is destroyed."

"Who is Jasper?" Nancy asked, however,  in the blink of an eye the old hag had disappeared once again. "Was she even really here?"

Authors note*

The first store they enter if meant to be an alternate version of Clarie's. I just had to change it a bit because those stores did not exist back in the 1960s.