Author's Note: Here is the second chapter. Thank you to everyone who read the first chapter of the story. Special thanks to Drumboy 100 for leaving the first ever review and to Elizabeth Joan-hbndgirl for being the first one to favorite the story. Enjoy the story ahead!
Story so Far:- Nancy along with Bess and George go camping. A boy, called Michael, has lost his previous memory. What follows is a very interesting series of events.
Chapter 2: The Willins
"Nancy, you should better put on these," Bess said handing me a pair of her special rock-climbing shoes.
Ever since Bess discovered that my pair of rock-climbing shoes was of average quality, she has been fussing over it. She pressed her shoes on me saying, "Take these. I have another pair." Knowing that there was no use protesting, I reluctantly pulled on the shoes.
We had all woken up to George's shouts of glee as she had found relatively better network connection that morning. Currently she was very busy tapping away on her smartphone, updating her Facebook story. I tugged out my phone from my rucksack and was typing out a few replies, when Amelia returned.
She had been at her father's tent, sorting out the day's schedule. Ever since she became a girl guide, Mr. Jones had started to rely on Amelia quite a lot.
"Hey, the rock-climbing has been pushed back by two hours because the Camber Hedge campers will be arriving any second. Also, we will be having breakfast, before starting," she said, pulling on her boots, "but Dad said it will be advisable if we go out of our tents and socialise instead of tapping away on our smartphones," she finished with a grimace.
I got up and stretched. I have been sitting in the tent all morning, so I welcomed the suggestion of moving out. George grumbled a little but soon gave up.
We walked to the opening in the middle where we had sat the previous night. Most of the campers were out, sitting in small groups. We head over to one of the logs.
"Mia, come over here for a second," Mr. Jones shouts over from the mouth of his tent. Amelia walks over to her father.
Bess and I decide to sit on a log but George prefers to squat on the ground. Bess wrinkled her nose and dusted away the dirt before sitting down beside me.
"Nancy, Bess, cheese," George said all of a sudden. I am caught unawares but Bess takes only a second to flash a smile to the camera. When George shows us the picture, I immediately tell her to 'crop-me-out.' Bess poses a few more shots while I absent-mindedly stare at a flower swaying in a dreamy fashion in the wind.
"Hi Nancy," John's greeting brings me back to earth. "Hey John, hey Michael," I call out to them. John was carrying a flask and some use-and-throw glasses. "Want some coffee?" he asks all three of us. We all happily take the cups of coffee.
"So, I hear you are a sleuth," John says squatting on the ground like George.
"Well, kind of," I reply. What else can I say?
"Oh, she's great," Michael says. It's probably the first time I have heard Michael speak without being expressly spoken to. He has joined John on the ground. "I was reading some old newspapers. You are in there pretty often."
I manage a small smile.
"Have you ever climbed rocks before?" Bess asks.
"I have done it a few times, very few times," John replied.
"As for me..." Michael trailed off, smirking.
I felt very uncomfortable and cast around my mind for a suitable topic, "You like reading, right?" I ask Michael.
"Yeah, love it, especially the libraries in River Heights. Nice stock," he replies enthusiastically.
John rolled his eyes, "Love it? Why, that's something of an understatement Mike. Reading is basically the only thing you do in the whole day," he teases.
Michael smiles, and I realise it's the first time I have seen him do so.
We go on discussing about books and the conversation gradually becomes easier.
After about an hour, we see a group of campers from Camber Hedge making their way here. Some of them just sit around while others start with their tents.
"Hey, it's Michael right?" a voice calls out to my right.
"Hi Sara," Michael replies.
"Hey, hi John," the girl called Sara greets.
"Oh, hey, Sara meet Nancy, Bess and George," he says pointing to each one of us in turn, "and this is Sara Millent," he finishes pointing at her.
We exchange greetings. "Nancy, as in Nancy Drew?" Sara asks.
"Yeah, that's me," I say. Sara looks amazed.
"Well I need to go and get started with the tent," she says.
"I will help you," John says jumping up, "See you at breakfast," he called back to us.
We continue our easy-going small talk with Michael but he seemed oddly distracted without John next to him.
"It's quite a spread," I can't help saying as I look over the breakfast arrangement.
"Don't want to starve, right," George says sitting down o my right.
The two rows of chairs on either side of an equally long row of tables, facing each other was quickly starting to fill.
"If Bess doesn't hurry, it will be difficult to save her a seat," I say.
"Even difficult to save her the food," George said piling her plate with sausages.
"Oh, Bess isn't interested in the food." Recently Bess had started following a low-carb, high-vitamin diet, "She will only have a salad."
George taps her lips with her finger to indicate to not talk about diets in front of such a tasty breakfast.
I smirked and placed my mobile on my left seat to indicate that it is taken and pick up a ham sandwich from the nearest plate.
I am starting on my second sandwich while George starts on bacon and eggs and there is still no sign of Bess. John and Michael sit across us. We are nearly done with our breakfast when Bess finally makes her appearance.
She looks gorgeous as usual. Her t-shirt and jeans remain the same, but she has matching ear studs, sunglasses, and hair accessories. As always she looks like she's just stepped out of a fashion magazine.
"Sorry for being late guys, I just had to do my hair once more," she said, picking up my mobile from the seat and sitting down, "Thanks for saving me a seat, Nance."
"Anytime," I reply.
"Bess I think you would like to hurry up," Amelia called out from the other side of George, "We have to report to the climbing spot within twenty minutes."
Predictably, Bess pulled a plate of salad towards herself. George rolled her eyes.
"Well, I am done," George said finishing the last of her orange juice.
"So am I," I said.
The table had started clearing as people started heading towards the climbing spot.
"Hurry up Mike. Eat your sausages or we will be the last ones left," John said.
Michael took a huge mouthful of sausages and mumbled a reply with his standard troubled look which made John snort with laughter. Suddenly, Michael's expression changed. His eyes widened, his face paled. He nudged John in the ribs and his eyes fixed at some vague point behind us.
I turned around and saw two women and one man, all in their mid-thirties heading towards us. They had proper climbing equipment with them.
One of the women was tall with chestnut hair and sharp features. Her blue eyes looked like two shining gemstones.
The other woman was quite plump but nearly as tall with the same chestnut hair as her sister and black eyes. They looked so alike one didn't need to tell us that the two of them were sisters.
The man had an athletic figure and a stern look on his features at all times.
We noticed Mr. Jones walking up to them, with Amelia at his heels and welcoming them to the camp. Mr. Jones offered them breakfast but they politely declined it. Mr. Jones led them to the climbing spot.
"They are from Lincer Villa," Amelia informs us, "The one with the black eyes is Jenny Willin and the one with the blue eyes is Ariana Willin. The man, Mr. Nicholas Malcolm, is a paying guest here," she finishes. "Hey, I think we should get going," Amelia said consulting her watch.
"Yeah, I am done as well," Bess said wiping her mouth on a napkin.
"Do you reckon we should wait for Michael or John?" I said, "Their seats are empty."
"They said something about needing the washroom. They told me that they would go to the spot directly," Bess stated.
We started walking towards the climbing spot which is only a couple of minutes away. Most of the campers have arrived and by the time everyone has arrived, we still have a few minutes to spare.
Mr. Jones introduces the three guests to us. Mr. Malcolm looks more pleasant without his stern expression. "Mr. Malcolm is a national-level athlete. He took six months off to recover from an injury and came here on a holiday," Amelia informs as we prepare for the climb.
"Hey Nancy, help me with this safety breech," George called for me and I went over.
Author's Note: The first two chapters were the lull before a storm. I took time to introduce the characters, but don't worry the next chapter will set things rolling. Review!