"Guys, hurry, we're going to miss the plane!" Nancy Drew called over to her friends, as they ran down the concourse. They were going to take a trip to France to visit Nancy's friends, Marie and Monique. They were sisters, and they had invited the girls to spend two weeks with them in their chateau.
Hurriedly, Nancy and her friends reached the door of the aircraft just as the stewardess was preparing to close the door. Out of breath, they quickly made their way down the aisles and found their seats. Carson Drew, Nancy's father, had booked the flight on the enormous 747 plane. Nancy's seats were on the top floor of the double-decker aircraft.
"Please stow all carry-on baggage under the seat in front of you and stay seated until we have reached cruising altitude and the captain has turned off the 'Fasten Seatbelt' sign."
"Whew!" breathed George. "We almost missed our flight to New York!" The girls' plane was going to take them to New York where they would connect to Paris from there.
The reason they had been so late was that Nancy's father had received a call from his office moments before he was to drive them to the airport. The call had concerned a mystery that had arisen.
A caravan of gypsies outside of Paris had been reported to the police for stealing several valuable relics from the city's famous "Catacombs", a tomb used long ago to put the victims of the plague. Now, all of the contents of the miles long tomb were unbelievably valuable. Nancy had volunteered to investigate the mystery when they reached their destination.
The girls were now settled, and they watched out the window as the plane began its ascent into the skies.
"My stomach!" squealed Bess, for she never quite enjoyed the lifting off of planes, especially when she was on one.
"Oh, honestly, Bess! Get used to it!" George groaned. She rather enjoyed the lift-off. It made her stomach have a tingly sensation. Nancy, on the other hand, was busy studying the files from the case she was about to solve. Carson had given her a detailed list of the places she would have to investigate. These were places where the caravan had been spotted recently. There would be several areas in which she would investigate thoroughly. Suddenly, something on one of the papers snagged her attention. It was a note that had been found at the spot in the Catacombs in which several skulls had been stolen. Nancy easily recognized the phrase: "Prendre garde du roi gitan!"
This meant "Beware the Gypsy King!" in English. Puzzled, Nancy showed her friends, who were busy arguing over where to visit when they reached France. "Girls! Look at what I found in my case file!" George grasped the paper and read it. She passed it to Bess, who also did not understand its meaning. "I think there is some connection to why the gypsies decided to take the skulls from 'Le Catacombs'!"
The girls continued to stew over the answer for the duration of the flight.
The voice that came from the airplane's intercom snapped them out of their thoughts.
"We have begun our final descent into New York. If you have any connections, please contact the agent in red at the gate. If you are continuing on to Paris, France, please keep your belongings on the plane. We will continue the flight from this plane. It leaves at approximately 12:07 p.m." The girls glanced at their watches. They would have enough time to get something to eat in the airport terminal before once again boarding the plane that would take them on to Paris.
Nancy and the girls left their carry-on bags on the plane, except for their purses. They marveled at the magnificent size of the plane. They had missed it in their rush to board several hours earlier. They walked down the stairs to the main level of the plane and smiled at a little girl staring at them from her seat. As they exited the concourse, they looked around the airport for somewhere to eat.
Bess immediately spotted a restaurant in the corner of the terminal and ran ahead to reserve a table. By the time Nancy and George reached the table, Bess was giving her long and complicated order to a handsome but bewildered waiter. "I'll also have the Cesar Salad, extra dressing, with croutons, the curly fries, and the chocolate milkshake." Nancy laughed and George rolled her eyes.
"I'm sorry." Bess apologized to the waiter, who turned to Nancy and George. "I'll just have a cheeseburger and fries." said Nancy, and the waiter, looking relieved, turned to George. "I think I'll try the baked potato and a strawberry milkshake."
The waiter nodded and walked away. George looked at Bess. "What? I didn't have breakfast!" Everyone laughed.
Later, the girls, full from the delicious meal, walked back to the gate. They decided to go inside the News Stand to get something to pass the time. Nancy chose a complicated book of Crossword Puzzles, George picked a French-English dictionary, and Bess grabbed a handful of candy-bars. "Bess!" moaned George. "You just had a feast! How can you be hungry? That meal could have lasted you 'til we get back from France!"
Bess just rolled her eyes and put the mound of candy on the counter to pay. After the girls had made their selections, they walked back into the plane. They still had about 10 minutes until people began to board the plane, and Nancy decided to take a walk around the plane. She admired the roomy seats in First Class, and spoke with the airline stewardess about the spacious 747. "Once, we had a plane that was carrying Arabian men. The top floor held the men and their belongings, the bottom floor was for their racing horses!" Nancy laughed and headed back to her seat. Minutes later, the plane began moving away from the gate. The flight lasted seven hours, and before long, Nancy had fallen asleep.
When the plane began to descend down to France, Nancy peered out the foggy window. "I can see the Eiffel Tower!" she exclaimed. Her companions eagerly looked, too, ready to see their first glimpse of the city of romance. "I wish Ned were here." said Nancy. Her boyfriend, Ned Nickerson, had to stay at college while Nancy and her friends came to Paris. She had promised to send him a postcard. She didn't know how much she would have to put on it. She was unaware of the danger and excitement that awaited her.
As the girls deplaned 15 minutes later, they spotted their friends, Marie and Monique waiting for them. "Bonjour, Nancy! Bienvenue vers la France!" Marie spoke excitedly to the girls. "Hello, Nancy! Welcome to France!" Monique translated to the bewildered Bess and George. "Bonjour! Comment gentil que vous ayez pu nous rencontrer ici!" Nancy responded. This meant, Hello! How nice that you were able to meet us here! After hugs all around, the girls walked off to retrieve their bags from Baggage Claim. George kept glancing in her dictionary for the meanings to the phrases and signs all around her. Soon, the girls arrived at the front of the airport. Marie and Monique led the visitors to a small car parked in the front. A little man they called Pierre was asleep at the wheel.
"Pierre! Se reveiller!" Monique prodded the man until he awoke with a start. She directed the man to take them to the chateau in which the girls lived. After the visitors unpacked, they would come back to the city and begin investigating. After all, it was only eight o' clock here in France.
Once they arrived at the house, they retrieved their bags from the trunk. The sisters directed the girls to three charming bedrooms in which they would stay. Bess chose a room with blue and white colors, George the purple, and Nancy received the yellow room. The girls got a tour of the grounds, and then all five girls once again piled into the car and drove off to the city.
As they drove through the beautiful countryside, Nancy discussed the mystery with her friends. She relayed the mysterious message that had been found in Le Catacombs. Marie and Monique looked worried. "Don't you think this could be dangerous?" Nancy just waved them off. She'd been in many dangerous situations before.
Once the girls arrived in the city, they parked the car on the street. Bess marveled at the many shopping areas around her, and immediately walked toward one. Everyone else followed behind her. George was into photography and had brought her camera. She was taking snapshots of the many passersby and buildings around her. Marie and her sister had not yet given up on persuading Nancy to give up the case. "Gypsy Caravans can be dangerous," warned Monique. " They have been known around here and people are frightened of them." Nancy just shrugged. "This is one of the most interesting cases I've yet to solve. Don't worry about me."
The sisters looked at each other in dismay and followed the girls into the Boutique. Bess had already made her way to the dresses and was admiring a beautiful pink silk one. But the look on her face changed when she saw the price tag. 100 euros! She quickly put it back. She had a spending limit of only 200 and she must use it wisely.
The girls followed Bess across the street to the café. They were all getting hungry again. Bess ordered a French pastry and something called escargot. "Wonder what that is?" she puzzled, and gave the waiter her order. Everyone else just ordered a croissant and tried to hide their snickers. "What is the matter with you?" demanded Bess, when she saw the looks on her friends' faces. "Oh, you will soon see." giggled Marie, and Bess soon saw so, too. "WHAT ARE THESE???" she demanded of the waiter who handed her the steaming plate. He looked startled. "Why, madam, did you not order escargot?"
Bess tried not to throw up. "But these are snails!" The distraught waiter just left.
Soon after the escapade at the café, Nancy continued on to the Catacombs. The girls paid the fee and entered the spooky tomb. As they walked down the dim stairway, Bess shuddered. Nancy examined every inch of the walls, in order to look for another clue as to where the gypsies could have gone. Farther and farther they went, down farther into the mysterious maze of skulls from the past. Suddenly, Nancy looked up in surprise. A bright flash of color made her run and look around the corner. "Who's there?" called Nancy. She spotted someone hurrying away. They had left something behind. And Nancy was astonished at what she saw. There, laying in a colorful, handwoven basket, lay a tiny gypsy baby.
Nancy quickly rushed over to the basket. There was a note. It was written in French:
"Svp soin de prise de mon bebe. Son nom est Marguerite des pres. Elle est dans le danger grave, et ainsi L'AM I. Jet e laisserai des indices quant a ou je suis.
La Reine Gitane"
Nancy gestured to the baby, who was starting to whimper. Marie hurriedly scooped up the baby and cooed to it soothingly in French. Nancy turned back to the note and translated it:
" Please take care of my baby. Her name is Marguerite. She is in grave danger, and so am I. I shall leave you clues as to where I am.
The Gypsy Queen"
This must be the Gypsy King's wife! The rest of the girls had ran to Nancy's side when they heard the baby whimper. Nancy explained what had happened. "What are we going to do now?" asked Monique. "I'm not sure. But it sounds like we need to keep it safe from someone who may try to harm her. Let's look around and try to find the mother before she gets away!" Everyone except for Marie and Bess ran ahead with Nancy. But alas, after fifteen minutes of searching, Nancy decided that she had left. She was desperate to try and find out what danger the mother was in, and if it was connected to the caravan of gypsies in the area.
The girls kept walking through the Catacombs because they could not turn back. Soon after, they stopped at a wall. Bess shrieked. For, on the wall, there was a word, spelled out in skulls. It said "Danger". And a second later, Nancy and her friends heard a loud rumbling noise, and fell into blackness.
The girls screamed as they fell. Down, down, down. Nobody heard them. Nancy and her friends, busy with the baby problem, had missed hearing the five-minute closing time warning. They were alone in the underground burial place and stuck in black nothingness. Marie, who was holding the baby, had managed to keep the child from getting hurt. Dazed, the girls stood up and looked at their surroundings. Nancy's eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she motioned the girls to follow her through a door-like form up ahead. Everyone was bruised and frightened, for it seemed like the floor had given in. George held up a pack of matches and quickly lit one. She found an old stick on the ground, and lit it on fire. The form was indeed a door. Nancy went up to it and pulled. It didn't budge. Frightened, Bess shivered in the thin sweater she wore. Nancy was surprised to see etchings on the door. They were little figures. She assumed she must press them in the right order to be able to open the door. The three images were scrambled, and a word written in French: "Une Chance". This meant that Nancy had only one chance to push the buttons in the right order or something might happen.
Stumped, Nancy looked back at her friends. George was busy holding the flame next to the door, and Marie, Monique and Bess were huddled in a corner with the baby. Nancy walked over to them and bent down next to the baby. She guessed the little infant to be about two days old. It amazed her to see a brand new baby that she was responsible for caring for. "Poor little Marguerite needs food soon." worried Marie, whose maternal instincts told her the child was hungry. Nancy walked back to the door, knowing she must get them out of there soon.
The three images showed a scene. One of them had a skull and crossbones. Nancy guessed this meant the plague. The second one had the picture of a headstone. And the third had a picture of a pile of skulls on the ground. Nancy was stumped. She was sure she knew the first two, but now she wasn't so sure. And she only had one chance. What should she do? "I know what I'll do," she mused, "I could ask Monique about the history of the plague and the catacombs."
Nancy walked over to the girl, and asked her the question. "Well…" said Monique, "The plague in France took the lives of many millions of people. The king ordered that they be buried in the local cemetery. But soon, the load of corpses grew overwhelming. The smell and the sudden flood of bodies onto river homes was the last straw. The king demanded that the grave diggers find a new place to bury them. So they built a small underground cemetery for the dead, and soon had to expand it."
All of a sudden, Nancy nodded. She walked up to the wall, pushed the button with the plague picture first. Next, she pushed the picture of the pile of bodies. And last, she chose the picture of the gravestone. As soon as the last button was pushed, the door made a creaking sound. Nancy hesitantly pushed, and the door opened. Everyone was overjoyed and ran through the door. The mysterious room was closed off as soon as George, who was last to exit, left the room. When Nancy turned around, she saw a long stairway leading up through the underground prison. They all quickly ascended the staircase and pushed open a mud door. It led them directly to the entrance of the Catacombs. And as soon as light poured through, the baby cried. A startled old woman at the ticket center looked up. She was about to lock up and go home, for the time was past four o'clock, when most French attractions closed down for the day. Bess quickly explained what had happened, and Monique had to translate it for the old woman. And after their story was relayed, she quickly nodded and trotted off down the street.
The tired girls made their way to their car and, having gathered the baby's basket on the way out, went home. Marguerite had fallen asleep as soon as they had gotten her out of the hole, and she lay on Bess's lap for the ride home. Everyone's stomachs were grumbling by the time they pulled up into the driveway of the sisters' chateau. The girls' parents were out for the night, so Marie made a place for the gypsy baby to sleep, which was the open closet in Nancy's room. She had decided to try and find the baby's mother tomorrow while Marie and Monique took Bess and George to a Paris fashion show.
The next morning, Nancy awoke to the sound of the baby's cries. She gently scooped the infant into her arms. After feeding her a bottle she had prepared, she took the baby downstairs where Marie and Monique were making breakfast. Bess and George, sleepy-eyed, looked at Nancy and nodded a good morning. Monique reached her arms out for the baby, and told Nancy she had some old doll clothes she had saved from her childhood that would fit Marguerite perfectly. Bess and Marie were discussing the day's plans. "I can't wait to see Paris's latest fashions before they come to the US!" squealed Bess. Marie just laughed. "It isn't so fun. The only part I love is the free finger sandwiches and tea!" Bess agreed, and the two of them went upstairs to choose the clothes they would wear. George and Monique just rolled their eyes. "I would much rather go sight-seeing and take pictures than go to a dumb old fashion show." George spat out with disgust. "Me, too," agreed Monique, "Would you rather go to Notre Dame instead?" she suggested. George nodded and they, too went upstairs to get ready.
Nancy sat, idly sipping her coffee. She thought of how she would be able to communicate with the "Gypsy Queen" if and when she found them. She sat up straighter when she thought of the perfect plan.
An hour later, Nancy pulled up a block away from where she was planning on visiting. She had found out from local shopkeepers that the gypsy caravans held a weekly flea market outside of the city. Nancy had taken the baby with her, dressed in the clothing they had found her in. She, too had visited several fabric stores and had found the perfect disguise. Colorful fabrics covered her body, including her arms and legs. She had purchased a black wig, also, and a veil to hide her face. After finding out the location of the flea market, she had borrowed the girls' car and drove to a hidden street a block from where the flea market was to take place.
She got out of the car and took the baby, and made the short walk to the site. After reaching the front of the flea market, she tried to blend in with the gypsy vendors with their brightly colored rugs, marionettes, and other hand-crafted fineries. Nancy walked around, as to not cause suspicion, and quickly found the back of the market.
Several trailers were parked in a row, and she could see many women milling around. She walked over to an elderly gypsy and questioned about where she might find the Gypsy Queen. The old women just pointed to the trailer in the front and walked away. Nancy quickened her step. The baby kept quiet in her arms as she reached the door. She knocked timidly and abruptly heard a voice. "Come in." it commanded, and Nancy pushed open the door. It creaked with every move it made, and Nancy almost lost her courage. But, thinking of the helpless child in her arms, she marched through.
Nancy could barely see, for the room was dim and smoky. She spotted a young woman sitting upon a bed of pillows. She looked up when Nancy approached her. Seeing the infant in her arms, she cried, "Marguerite!" Nancy bent down and handed the baby over to the young woman. She assumed that this was indeed the Gypsy Queen. "Who are you?" the scared and meek woman asked her. She seemed to be a little older than Nancy herself, who was 18. "I am Nancy Drew. You left your child in the Catacombs yesterday. I was curious as to why you did. I need you to tell me how I can help if you are indeed in danger." After hearing this, the Gypsy Queen quickly handed the baby to Nancy. "Go away. It is not safe. She must be taken care of. Please. You do not understand!" Taken aback by this comment, Nancy peered into the woman's face. "What is wrong? I must know!" The woman only whispered "My husband. He is the one they are looking for. Not me. Now go! I will send you more information when the time is right…" she stopped abruptly, for a man's voice came through the door. "Esmerelda! Are you in there?" The woman looked about the room. "That is him! You must hide!" Nancy looked around and hid behind a pile of boxes just as the door creaked open. "There you are. We must go. The police seem to have found out about the plan. We must leave." The man jerked the woman roughly to her feet and pulled her out the door. She glanced back at the spot where Nancy was hiding and obediently followed her husband. Nancy breathed a sigh of relief, and turned around. There, staring at her, were the faces of many skulls.
Trying not to scream, Nancy grabbed the baby and darted out of the trailer. Several gypsies were putting away their goods and packing them back into their trailers.
"I must tell the police!" Nancy thought, and ran down the street looking for an officer. She spotted one putting a parking ticket on a car a couple yards away. She made her final burst of speed and hurried to the oblivious officer. "Bonjour, mademoiselle." The officer smiled at Nancy, who tried to catch her breath. "Gypsies… Skulls… Can't get away…." was all she managed to get out. The officer, realizing something was wrong, looked the direction Nancy was feebly pointing. He called to three other men who were eating lunch at a café nearby, and they all took off after the now- moving caravan of criminals. Nancy looked down at the screaming baby. "Don't worry." she comforted the infant. "We'll soon return you to your mother, the Gypsy Queen."
Later, back at the chateau, Nancy was retelling the daring adventure Nancy had had earlier. Bess and Marie had returned upon hearing of the arrests, and Monique and George had returned with many postcards and photographs from Notre Dame.
"….and then the officers stopped the caravan and demanded to see the Gypsy King. The man emerged from his trailer, and tried to run, but the strong officers tackled him. They took him in for questioning and found out a few interesting things, as well as recovering the stolen skulls. It appears that the reason for the theft involved victims of the plague from hundreds of years ago. 45 of the skulls and remnants from the Catacombs belonged to the Gypsies. The caravan's leader, Abdul Jiin decided that they rightfully belonged to the Gypsy people. So, he told his wife to steal them. When she refused, she ran away and hid. She was about to give birth to her baby, so she took shelter at the local hospital and had Marguerite. But Abdul had tracked her down, and instead, he stole the skulls. The gypsies hid in the back country of Paris for several days, and were about to leave the site when I showed up and solved the crime. Now, Esmerelda and Marguerite are safe."
Nancy ended the story to four awe-struck faces. They couldn't believe their friend had solved the crime. They all congratulated their friend, and then Bess spoke up. "I have an idea. We could go out to dinner and celebrate! I'm hungry." Everyone laughed, and got up, glad that they had solved the mystery of the Gypsy King.
THE END