Nancy Drew and The Mystery Of The Ghost Maiden

Chapter Thirty

The teens were trapped in Heather's old bedroom. Nancy ever the detective, insisted on thoroughly investigating the room, however, after an hour's search nothing new came to light. "There has to be a way to escape. I have gotten myself out of far worse situations than this before." Nancy said as she paced the floor. "The balcony is far too high up to try to jump from and we don't have anything we could use to claim down."

Ned lay across the floor, feeling tired and too hungry to think clearly. His eyes were fixed directly in front of him, staring at the fireplace. "Nancy, what is wrong with the clock on the mantel?" Ned asked as he gestured in its direction.

Nancy stopped pacing and turned to look at her boyfriend, "What do you mean it is just an old clock? Nothing special about it that I noticed, why?"

"I think we need to take a better look at it," Ned said as he got up from the floor and walked over to it. "Come take a look at this. It has three hands with the smallest one painted gold." He tried to pick it only to find that it was anchored to the mantel.

Nancy took a good look at the clock, she noticed that every time a hand was moved it caused another to move in the opposite direction. After playing with it for quite a while she finally got all hands to line up on the number twelve. Then a strange rumbling sound could a heard from the fireplace. The teens bent down to look at the fireplace, to their surprise the back wall had slid back revealing a secret passage.

Ned looked to his girl before saying, "I don't like the looks of this. Anything could be in there and there is no guarantee that this leads to a way out. Perhaps we should just stay here until someone comes to help us."

Nancy rolled her eyes in response, "Come on where is your sense of adventure?"

"My sense of adventure is overruled by my worry for you." He said with a smug look on his handsome face.

"Do what you want but I am taking a look inside this passageway, with or without you," Nancy said as she started to go in.

"How come trouble follows you were ever you go?"

"Just blessed I guess." She as she disappeared into the darkness.

Ned stood there for a moment in thought before grabbing a candlestick from a nearby table and following after her. The other side was dark and Nancy was glad when Ned appeared beside her to hold her hand. "I brought a candle that should be useful," Ned said as he pulled a book of matches from his pocket and lite the wick. The space filled with the warm glow from the candle illumining the hidden space room.

"You ought to know by now that I always have your back." the young man said as he pulled Nancy close and kissed her on the forehead. The teens looked behind them when the same rattling sound from before could be heard, signaling that the doorway in the fireplace had closed.

"We have no choice but to move forward now," Nancy added somberly.

Ned gulped hard before adding, "We need to get a move on and not waste any time." in response, Nancy flashed him amused smile before turning to lead the way.

"I have been meaning to ask you, why so many old buildings have hidden passages? Was it all that common back then or just something for the elite?" Ned asked.

"For many reasons, I have heard tales of them being used by spies, some were used as an alternative way to escape in times of war, other households stored alcohol and tobacco within them to keep it safe from theft, and others used them as a hideout in times of trouble," Nancy said as they came across a stage block of wood on the wall. "Why was that put there?" she said before touching it. The block of wood was locked with a small metal latch. Once unlocked it swung open revealing a pair of painted eyeballs on it.

Nancy peeked through the holes in the wall to see a young woman dressed in a long white ball gown in the music room. The style of her gown and hair suggested a bygone romantic era. She sat at the window peering out, as if in a trance.

"There must be a painting on the other side of this wall and this is a peek hole. I wonder if anyone has been using this to spy on us or Aunt Betty." Nancy whispered. Just then the girl in the music room turned and stared right at Nancy. Nancy tried to hold her eyes still to not be discovered. The girl in the ball gown walked to the center of the room all the while staring at Nancy. There she stood for a minute before letting out an impish giggle and smiling ear to ear. Then all of a sudden, the girl came running at Nancy as if to attack.

Bonus Files:

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