Disclaimer: I in no way, shape, or form own Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys. I do; however, own Claire and Lexi. They actually come from my own mystery series which some day I may post on fiction press. If I ever do I'll let you guys know. But getting back on track, here is chapter two of my revised chapters. I really hope you enjoy it.

Much luv,

Political Blonde

This chapter was BETA read by msnancydrew; I thank her and you should too. So please, if you review, thank her for her hard work.


Ch.2 Gramgee Manor

Nancy hated where she was sitting between Lexi and Frank. It was the absolute last place she needed to be at the moment. She could feel Frank's body heat through her baby-blue blazer and every time he shifted she could feel him brush against her skirt. But, perhaps, the worst part was that she could feel his breath tickle her cheek every time he sighed.

Nancy sighed to herself as Claire finally got into the car; she and Joe had had a hard time letting go of their cell phones and had argued with the large man collecting the phones until he had agreed to get a sealed bag, place them inside of the bags, tape the bags shut, and then have the owners sign the bags. If the signature was ripped when they returned, they would know the bag had been opened and their phones potentially used.

Joe closed the door to the limo behind him and buckled his belt as a small TV screen lowered from the ceiling and the car gave a great lurch. The five sleuths looked expectantly at the screen, eager to see their next clue.

There were a few moments of gray and black static before the billionaire from the pub appeared on the screen. He was a plump man with a deep purple suit and dark brown curls, clearly in his thirties who seemed to have a permanent smile. He gave a dramatic cough and leaned back on a desk before speaking in his sing song manner.

"Well, I must say I am positively overjoyed with the fact that you have made it so far in my little mystery. I am Charles Gramgee as I'm sure I'll tell you—excuse me—told you in the pub and I have quite the mystery for you. But first off, let's get through some necessary information. You five are group number 4 out of ten groups. You, of course, along with the other groups will be staying at my beautiful and highly expensive manor which has been in the family since it was built some 400 years ago by my great, great, great, great, well very great and very old Grandfather Henry Gramgee." He pushed off the desk and circled behind it to sit down in a chair.

"Ah, Henry Gramgee, the man at the crux of this little mystery. You see, Henry, bless his heart, was a very lucky man in his day and a fine Captain. He circumnavigated the world twice and in doing so built up a large stash of gold and other foreign trinkets which he called his treasure. This treasure was to be passed on through the family along with the Gramgee Manor but Henry never made anything easy. You see, he figured that since he had to accumulate his treasure through hard work and adventure anyone who wanted it after him needed to do the same. So he hid the treasure somewhere on the estate and created a map to the location which he hid with greatest care. Even in death he wanted his treasure protected. Despite the work of many of my ancestors, this map remained hidden until a few years ago when my Grandmother came across it. At the time I was in India on business and could not be reached and my Grandmother's health was failing. Knowing she would be unable to retrieve the treasure and with no idea when I'd return, she hid the map. Her only clues to the whereabouts of the map are contained in a letter, a copy of which may be found in an envelope under your seat along with other important papers needed to solve this case." The man leaned back in the chair, his permanent smile widening.

"With that said, I must wish you all good luck in your endeavor to solve this case and remind you that once inside the Manor you will not, and I repeat, not be able to leave the grounds or contact anyone outside the manor. It is of the greatest importance that this investigation remains secret for security reasons. Well, I thank you all and good night."

The screen went black and retracted into the ceiling slowly. Joe gave a low whistle. "Treasure, that's interesting. I wonder how much it's worth."

"I guess we'll just have to solve this case and find out," Claire answered with a laugh. "Sounds fun, don't you agree, Lexi?"

Lexi nodded. "Yes, it does sound fun. Now, how about checking out those papers?" She reached beneath the seat and felt around for the packet for a moment before sitting up, a manila envelope in her right hand. "So who wants to do the honors?"

"I'll do it," Frank answered grabbing the packet from her hand. "Let's see what we've got in here." He undid the back clasp and slid out three papers. "Well, the first is a picture of an old woman, his grandmother most likely. Second, we have a paper with our room assignments. We're on the third floor. And lastly we have the copy of the letter Grandmother Gramgee left for Charles. It reads:

'Dear Charles,

I am sorry to say I feel weaker by each day. I fear that my time is short and I may not make it to Christmas. But I will try. My nurse, Loretta, says that I will be perfectly well and capable of attending this year's Christmas reunion but I can tell. Every time she reassures me her eyes water up and her voice quavers. I will not lie as she does. I am going to die. There is no fighting it, no changing it. I must accept it but I want you to know that I am still thinking about you. Now you must read and read everything I am about to say and only tell those you trust about it. Greed is strong, very strong. As a child you may remember me telling you about Henry Gramgee, the founder of this estate and his elusive treasure. While your father may have told you this was just some legend cooked up by a family wishing to remain important, I must say it isn't fake; it is all true. On the castle grounds there is a treasure buried some four hundred years ago by your great, great, great, great, great, great, great Grandfather Henry Gramgee and never dug up again. Your ancestors searched and searched for it with no luck. The grounds were too vast and the hiding places too many. But recently in my searches I came across a map. I truly desired to use it to find the treasure but in my health I was unable to and Loretta started becoming suspicious so I was forced to hide the map where only one well versed in the history of the family could find it.

Your loving grandmother,

Annelise Beauregard Gramgee'"

Frank finished the letter and looked up at the other occupants of the limo. He ran a hand through his dark hair. "It seems we have quite the mystery on our hands."

Nancy murmured her agreement. "This is just like when we were on the Mystery Train. I just hope it goes a little better than that did." Frank and Joe nodded at that statement.

Lexi looked at the trio questioningly. "The Mystery Train? What is that?"

"What was that, you mean. It was one of our first cases we worked on together. It was also a contest where numerous sleuths were invited to find a stolen diamond. The reward was twenty-five grand so needless to say things got heated," Joe explained.

"Yeah, and we were supposed to be competing against each other then," Frank added.

"But we didn't do that so well. We can't help but help each other. We make an awesome team," Nancy finished with a laugh.

"Sounds cool. Well, if you guys do make such a great team than it's a good thing you're on the same one." Claire smiled, "We'll just have to try and keep up."

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem, sister dearest. We work with each other all the time and we never agree."

"Except for on important things which…"

"Is everything that isn't fashion or boy related," They finished in unison.

Nancy laughed. "Well you guys seem to know about me and now you know a little about the three of us but how about a bit more about you?"

Claire looked thoughtful. "There really isn't much to tell. This is a bit of a learning experience for us. We've really just gotten started and most of our cases have been very hush-hush. We got started when our friend Julia was kidnapped. We couldn't just sit around and do nothing especially having read all about your cases in the paper and having a mother who writes mystery novels. That was probably our hardest case, just getting the hang of things was difficult and picking locks…"

"That is something easier said than done. Needless to say, I got enough failed practice to be a pro now," Lexi finished.

"Our last case was our first encounter with a life threatening scenario. I got locked in a room with a mad man, embezzlement documents, and a gun." She held up her arm in a cast. "Needless to say things didn't go as well as they could have. I got a shot to the arm that shattered my elbow."

"It was a pretty close shot too. I was listening in and it scared the hell out of me when I heard the shot and then heard nothing."

"Wow, we've had a few close calls ourselves. We'll just have to hope we don't have any during this case," Nancy commented.

"Yeah, so about this case, we've got a hidden treasure and a hidden map, what else do we know so far?" Joe asked.

"Well, we know that the treasure is on the grounds and that the map is hidden somewhere an old woman would consider. Guess we have to think like her," Lexi replied.

"Shouldn't be too hard to pretend to be her. But we have to figure out what was wrong with her," Nancy commented.

"You're right—it could come in handy. Depending on her condition we will get an idea of where she could and couldn't hide the map," Frank noted running a hand through his dark hair. The five sleuths sat silent.

"Oh my gosh!" gasped Claire suddenly pressing her face to the window. The other sleuths followed her gaze out the window of the limo. "That place is huge!" They were just pulling through the large iron gates of the Gramgee Manor. Far above them they could see a castle perched carefully on a steep cliff. Claire's eyes were glued to the window taking in every tree they passed.

The rest of the group shifted to see out the limo windows. Nancy squinted into the darkness determined to become acquainted with the grounds of the estate. A light flashed in the distance and Nancy blinked in surprise. What was that? Nancy squinted in order to get a second look into the deep of the forest. She could have sworn she had seen a flashlight out there. Suddenly the car jerked to a stop and the doors were yanked open. She had been so intent on seeing that she hadn't realized she was leaning on Frank and Lexi was leaning on her.

As the door swung open the three detectives fell clumsily to the ground. Nancy was stuck on top of Frank who seemed to be caught like a deer in headlights. Nancy blushed and quickly helped Lexi untangle herself from the mess so that she too could get out. Standing up Nancy mumbled, "Sorry Frank," and looked quickly around. "What was that about?"

Claire and Joe shrugged as they pushed themselves off the ground across from the trio. It was freezing on the estate and the dark trees made Nancy feel as if she was walking through a cemetery. Claire gave an involuntary shudder.

Joe looked around at the dark trees and back at the iron gate, which was being locked by two burly guards. They both glanced at the teens tugging a thick chain to ensure it was secure before turning and walking away into a concrete building. It was so cold outside and he swore he could hear Claire's teeth chattering. A scraping noise interrupted the silence. Joe turned to see the trunk of the limo open and tip dumping their luggage all over the gravel.

Just as quickly it retracted and the limo shot away up the hill. "They ditched us!" Joe cried his mouth dropping in shock.

"Why would they do a thing like that? I mean it feels like the temperature is just shy of say thirty," Lexi remarked bending down to pick up her sports bag.

"How come no one else is out here?" Nancy asked trying to hide the fact that her teeth were chattering. "I don't think that was meant to happen."

"Oh it was meant to happen. I'm just not sure if Mr. Billionaire was the one who wanted it to happen," Frank replied grabbing his bag. He unzipped it carefully and pulled out a leather jacket. Joe did the same and they both donned them.

Lexi unzipped her own bag and removed her own blazer. "Next time I'm packing a thicker jacket. I'm still freezing." She hopped in her blue and red jacket to fight the chill.

"Yes well, next time I'll pack a jacket." Claire grumbled rubbing her bare arms. "It wasn't this cold earlier."

Joe laughed shoving his hands into his pockets. "Lesson 1, always be prepared. We were."

Claire pouted and rolled her eyes. "I'll try to remember that. So how about-" Claire was cut off by a loud crunch in the woods near them.

The group immediately stopped laughing. "What was that?" Lexi whispered.

"Don't know. It came from somewhere over there." Frank pointed in the direction Nancy had seen the light.

"I thought I saw a light in that direction when we were driving in. I think we're being spied on."

"Arrrgh!" A scream cut through the silence.

"Ok. Now that is a little freaky," Lexi muttered.

"I think someone's hurt. Spy or not we have to help," Claire said to no one in particular. She reached into her bag and pulled out two flashlights. Tossing one to Joe she motioned for Lexi to do the same.

Lexi pulled two flashlights from her bag and tossed one to Frank. Nancy pulled out her own. "Stick together as best you can. It won't do us any good to get lost in these woods," Nancy warned. Nodding, the group silently trudged through the woods in the direction of the scream.

Joe trained his beam of light back and forth across the forest floor for about ten minutes before turning to his companions. "I really think we need to form two groups. We'll cover more ground that way."

Claire nodded in agreement. "How about you and Frank go that way and the three of us will stick to this direction. Ok?"

"Ok," Frank replied and he and Joe headed off in the direction Claire had pointed. Nancy shined her flashlight in a circle. She suddenly had a very uneasy feeling. Shaking it she, Claire, and Lexi continued forward.

"Nancy, you'd consider yourself an experienced detective right?" Lexi asked out of nowhere.

Nancy was startled. "Yeah. Why?"

"Just curious." She shook her head from side to side and continued on. They finally came to a part of the woods where the trees became closer and the air grew thick with darkness. Nancy's uneasiness grew.

A crack echoed through the woods ahead of them and Nancy froze causing Lexi and Claire to bump into her lightly. "Shut off your flashlights," she hissed quietly dousing her own light. Lexi and Claire did so immediately.

"Do you think it could be Frank and Joe?" Claire whispered her voice so quiet that for a moment Nancy wasn't sure she had really spoken.

"It could be but I don't think so. They went the other way and we haven't circled around yet. No, I think our spy is somewhere in front of us." Nancy grabbed Lexi's and Claire's sports bags. "Stay close and stay silent."

Nancy couldn't see them in the darkness but she was sure the twins had nodded. Stepping cautiously forward as to not make any noise Nancy looked around through the mist and fog, the twins one step behind her. Cautiously she placed one foot in front of the other not daring to breathe.

"WHAT!" the three girls yelled as the ground beneath them suddenly ceased to exist and they toppled into a muddy hole. It would have been okay if someone else had not been their too, someone who wasn't moving.


Now how is that for a cliffie? Well I really hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it because lord knows I had fun writing this one but I had even more fun writing the next one in the first place so revising it should be interesting. On another note I am doing a little dance here as I'm writing because I just won Courting Disaster and Buried in Time off of ebay so I am hoping I get them soon. I need my dose of supermysteries. I'm really excited because Courting Disaster takes place in both places I've lived during my life so it'll be interesting to see what is fictional and what is real. Anyways, keep your fingers crossed for me and pray that I didn't buy from some shallow scammer. I'm also going to bid on 23 Nancy Drew books later so keep your fingers crossed on that too. Well, I'm going to revise and read.

Much luv,

Political Blonde