Disclaimer: I don't own Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys.
This my first Nancy Drew/Hardy Boy fan fiction, so yeah:)
Nancy stepped into the room with an uncanny expression. She had an uneasy feeling about this place as if she had just stepped into a pit of ghosts or rattlesnakes and she unconsciously gave a little shiver. Even though she had solved tons of mysteries in eerie places, dank places, spooky places, this one took the cake.
Just a few days ago her dad, Carson Drew, had called her to help him solve a mystery for one of his cases. Nancy just couldn't shake herself of the conversation. It went sort of like this:
"Hello?" Nancy said.
"Hi, Nancy. Sorry to bother you, but there is a case that I think you might be interested in." Carson Drew explained.
"Is it about ghosts, because I swore off of them last summer…" Nancy teased.
"No, dear. My colleague that I'm visiting, David Brown, remember him? He said that there are some odd things going on." Carson Drew could hear Nancy sit up straight and supposedly put the phone closer to her ear. He inadvertently smiled at his daughter's curiosity.
"Well, you know that David is my lawyer friend from school." Carson Drew teased Nancy, making her anxious to hear the case.
"Dad!" Nancy stressed.
"Okay, okay. You got me," Carson Drew said with a half smile, "Well, David lives in Montana, where I am visiting, but he also has a summer home in France. A couple of days ago, he got a call from one of his housekeepers there. She said that there were sightings of a phantom around the property."
"A phantom?" Nancy said with wonder.
"Yeah. Supposedly she was walking down one of the numerous corridors in the south end of the building when she was dusting some paintings when she heard a screeching noise from one of the rooms nearby. She went over to look to see what it was and supposedly saw a phantom. When it saw her, apparently, it ran towards her and tossed a vase at her, which was lying on a nearby table. She blacked out, and when she came to, it was gone. She ran immediately to the phone where she called David, here. He told her not to tell anybody about it to cause no fear. But, she didn't want to stay in the mansion anymore, so she quit then." Carson Drew finished.
Nancy sat there for a bit pondering.
"I thought phantoms couldn't hold solid objects. Or throw them, for the very least." Nancy said with a little chuckle.
"I told David that, but he wouldn't listen and was very distraught." Carson Drew said with a frown that Nancy could easily decipher from the phone.
"Hmm… More about the mystery. What is the house like? Its surrounding areas? The staff? Any potential suspects?" Nancy's voice spilled out of her as she rambled, her mind thinking with full power.
"Hold your horses. Why don't you see for yourself?" Carson Drew said with smile in his voice.
"It's all the way in France…" Nancy said uneasily.
"Look in the envelope by the side of the table." Carson Drew said with a characteristic Drew grin.
Nancy started and looked around her cell-phone to the kitchen table and there, on the right-hand side was an envelope. She wondered why she hadn't seen it before and blamed it on her usual excitement.
She reached towards it and grabbed it, as she tore it open, waiting to see what would be inside. Her hand grasped a sheet of what seemed like paper and she dragged it out of the, now mangled, envelope.
As Nancy read the little print on the paper, her lips spread to a wide grin.
"Dad! You didn't have to…" Nancy broke off into another wide smile.
Carson Drew relished in Nancy's surprise. "Start packing, Nancy. The flight is in only a few hours. Don't miss the plane!"
"Virtual hug, Dad. Thank you!" Nancy held the plane tickets to France close to her as she pretend hugged the phone.
"Well, get started!" Carson Drew said with a little shake of his head.
"See you in a few weeks, Dad." Nancy said, picking up the crumpled envelope that, in her joy, had fallen to the floor.
"You may see me earlier then you expect, Nancy. Have a good time and stay safe." Carson Drew said before hanging up. His little girl was growing up so fast. Too fast, maybe. Carson Drew put down his cellphone with a smile.
Nancy relished in the moment for a bit before putting the envelope in the trash and starting upstairs to get packed.
Too bad Hannah wasn't there. She had gone away to visit her parents for a few weeks in California. Nancy was old enough to be at home by herself, being 20, but she still missed Hannah and her Dad a lot.
She sighed as she got out her beat up black and red plaid suitcase, and fondly brushed off all of the dust bunnies from it. It had served her well earlier on several cases and she had many good memories with it.
Nancy opened it and laid it out on her bed, rumpling her covers. She examined it's pockets carefully, and an old picture tumbled out. She just stared at it for a bit and closely scrutinized the features of Ned as if committing them to memory. A single tear slipped out of her eye and she closed them, blinking quickly.
She broke up with Ned a few years ago, but the pain was fresh just as if he had broke up with her yesterday. He cheated on her. Worst of it all, with Deirdre Shannon. Nancy had caught them making out when she was making a surprise visit to Ned after one of her cases. She had shed several tears that day, but Ned gave no explanation and just turned his back on her with an annoyed smirk. Then, he went on kissing Deidre.
Nancy quickly diverted her gaze from the photo and crumpled it up with one palm, as if removing his face could remove her fresh emotions. She chucked it on the ground and kicked it under the bed with a sad expression and picked up a white cardigan from her closet and put it in her suitcase.
"Deal with it." Nancy thought to herself. "Crying can't help you get over him."
Nancy started putting clothes and necessities in her suitcase faster. As she packed, she thought about all of her great moments with Ned. Ned helping with cases. Ned finding her unexpectedly. Ned, Ned, Ned. Then, her emotions hit her and she closed her suitcase with a heavy thud.
"No more thinking about Ned. In fact, maybe I'll swear off of Ned for this entire trip. It should be fun… I mean, in France!" Nancy thought as she zipped up her suitcase and swung it off of the bed and onto the floor.
"Actually, that's what I'll do. No more Ned until this is all over." Said Nancy out loud as she wheeled her suitcase out of her bedroom and down the stairs, grinning with every thud.
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Joe Hardy looked to his brother with a little smile.
"This should be fun." Joe said with a grin to his brother.
"Seriously, Joe. This is supposed to be for a case. This trip to France is not to play. It is a case. Get that into your head!" Frank said with a mock frown, glancing at Joe with a stern look that sent Joe into gales of laughter.
"Haha, Frank. You look so funny mad." Said Joe as he held up a hand to call a taxi.
"Geez. Why are taxis so hard to call at the airport?" Joe said with an annoyed expression.
"Wait for it." Frank said, pushing Joe's outstretched arm down and, instead, holding out his own. As if magic, a bright yellow taxi pulled up.
"See. Big brothers are always right." Frank said with a smug expression to his voice as he pulled open the door gesturing for Joe to get in. After Joe had situated himself, Frank pulled himself in and tugged their baggage after them.
"Where to?" The taxi driver said, his heavily accented voice coming from an odd box.
"Um… In a second." Frank fumbled with a paper that he had received from his father. There was no address. Why wasn't there any? What were they going to do? Frank had a momentary freak out as he wondered in fact, where were they going.
"Do you know where David Brown's mansion is?" Frank said with a frightened tone to his voice. If the driver didn't know the address, they would be in trouble. Frank clenched his fingers together and swore mentally at himself for disregarding the address.
"The Brown Mansion? Sure do. Hang tight." The driver said in difficult English as he adjusted the rearview mirror and started driving towards the freeway.
"Do you think there are any hot French girls around the 'Brown Mansion'?" Joe said with a kind of grin as he watched some girls giggling in French who were walking out of the terminal.
"Seriously, Joe? The first thing you think when we get to France is the girls? You should be thinking about the case. We have time for girls later!" Frank said easily with a nudge towards Joe's ribs. Joe rubbed his side in mock shock.
"Frank! That's what you said the last time!" Joe said with a dramatic expression on his face as Frank rubbed his temples.
"Joe. Just concentrate!" Frank said as he pulled out a wrinkled paper covered in little print. "According to this statement from…"
"Callie?" Joe said as he interrupted Frank with a wince.
"Joe! You know that the breakup was mutual on both sides. And besides, that was some time ago, too." Frank exclaimed in a voice tinged with sadness.
"Okay, okay. Fine. Just read that paper." Joe said. Just as Frank was opening his mouth to speak, Joe's phone rang. Joe leapt up instantly from his bored Frank stance to grab his phone out from his pocket.
"Just a second, big brother." Joe exclaimed as he clicked 'Answer'. Frank looked annoyed, but he made a 'go on' motion with his hands as Joe put the phone to his ear.
"Hello?" Joe said loudly.
"Joe? Is that you?" A girlish voice said softly.
"Yeah. Hey Van." Joe said gleefully.
"Hey yourself. What's up in France?" Vanessa said with a teasing tone.
"Nothing much. Life sucks without you. Frank is so annoying here. No fun at all. Hey, so when are you coming here?" Joe wondered.
"Oh, yeah…. About that." Vanessa spoke, lengthening her words more than she would have usually. That usually meant that something bad was coming around.
"What's wrong, Van?" Joe said with a concerned tone.
"My Dad is in the hospital. He fell down the stairs apparently, so I have to take care of him. I can't go to France, now." Vanessa said sadly.
"I'm so sorry…" Joe murmured as his voice trailed off.
"It's fine, Joe. Just bring me a souvenir, okay. Maybe a dress, jewelry, shoes, or…" Vanessa's voice trailed off.
"We're not going to Paris, Van. Maybe a sheep or a leaf or something along those lines." Joe said nonchalantly.
"Joe Hardy, just get me something pretty." Vanessa demanded. Her boyfriend sometimes needed reining in.
"Alright." Joe Hardy said in surrender. He was about to say something when the taxi made a sharp stop in front of a huge, dark-toned mansion.
"Hey, Van. I have to go." Joe Hardy said as he got out of the car and dragged suitcases after him. Joe reached for his wallet, but put it back as Frank tugged out his own and waved it around in the air.
"Okay. Love you, Hardy. Oh, don't find any French girls." Vanessa said as she hung up on Joe and his big mouth.
Joe clicked the phone off and put it in his pocket and wheeled his luggage to the front door of the house, not waiting for Frank who was struggling to get his suitcase to actually roll.
Finally, Frank got to the door and he rung the doorbell.
"Hey, I wanted to do that!" Joe said petulantly with a scowl.
"Haha, big brother advantages." Frank teased.
Suddenly, Frank's eyes saw movement in one of the windows in the 2nd story windows. A pair of baby blue eyes peered down at him for a moment, then they disappeared into the blackness. Several thoughts tumbled through his mind and he was pondering until the opening of the door interrupted his thinking.
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"OMG, is that Frank Hardy?" Nancy said out loud to herself. She ran a soft hand through her hair as she pondered. When she was younger, she actually had a little crush on him. They were so close, but every time they crossed the line, they immediately drew back, because she had Ned and he had Callie. She still had feelings for him, but they had been buried… until she had just seen him a few minutes ago. Everything was unearthed and she felt her heart contract.
Suddenly, Frank's face turned up towards her and she knew he saw her. His eyes were still as luscious brown as ever and his hair as gorgeous as she remembered. Strands of chocolate that flowed… She shook her head chucking her feelings. She was here on a mystery, but what were they here for.
It wasn't just a coincidence that they were here and she was, too. She turned away from the window and shut the curtains. She walked towards the mirror as she examined herself. She wasn't usually self-conscious of her outfit, but now she was. She looked at her old lucky-blue sweater and her knee-length floral skirt.
Suddenly she started walking towards the door. Why was she acting like this? Frank probably had Callie. She was acting ridiculous and she knew that. Nancy walked out the door and down the hallway towards the gilded staircase that led downstairs. She heard voices from downstairs.
One of the housekeepers probably flirting with the two boys. Nancy rolled her eyes as she stepped downstairs. The moment she stepped onto the first-floor landing, she felt three pairs of eyes on her.
"Hi, Joe!" Nancy exclaimed as she rushed over to Joe and hugged him.
"Hi, Nance. What are you doing in France?" Joe questioned as he hugged Nancy back.
"Up and about the area. Maybe some sightseeing." Nancy teased.
"Seriously, Nance. Knowing you, you are probably on a case. Maybe the same as us." Joe said with a similar teasing tone to his voice.
"Yeah, probably." Nancy said as she turned to Frank. "Hey!"
"Hello, Nancy." Frank said and Nancy's heart jumped. She missed that voice with the lilting upturn and the deep undertones.
"So, let's sit down and eat something while we discuss what has happened in three years." Nancy said as she swept out of the room and towards the kitchen.
Frank and Joe shared a small smile as they followed her. That was Nancy all over.