Part I
Ned drummed his fingers against the steering wheel impatiently as the car in front of him moved just a few more feet.
It was a Saturday in late April and although neither of them had school, they hadn't planned to hang out as Nancy had plans with George and Bess.
But while he was just finishing up with some errands, she had texted him that she might have figured out the case and was on her way to his house.
The case in question was the string of break-ins in Ned's neighborhood of Mapleton. The first one had happened last Monday and since then there had been one every night. Ned's house had been the third one attempted, on Wednesday night. It hadn't been successful as they'd woken but all they had seen of the burglar were the tail lights of his car disappearing around the corner of the street.
Although, it might have been a little wrong to call the person a burglar. Nothing had ever been stolen from the four houses affected so far. It was as mysterious as it could be and that is why Ned had asked Nancy to help figure it out. There had been some mess and two of the break-ins had occured during broad daylight but other than that they had found out nothing more incriminating when he and Nancy had interviewed his neighbours over the past two days.
It had had them both stumped so it had been quite a surprise when she had suddenly texted him. By the time he had seen it it already been half an hour and he had called her to let her know that his parents were out and that he was on his way. She hadn't picked up so assuming she was driving, he had sent her a message.
By the time he reached home, it had already been over an hour so he wasn't surprised to see Nancy's new blue convertible parked in his driveway. It was a quite a sweet ride, gifted by her father on her sixteenth birthday a couple of weeks ago. It was empty.
Expecting to see her sitting on the swing in the porch, he got out of his car. As he got closer he realised that his front door was slightly ajar.
Strange, he thought. He distinctly remembered locking it before he had left. His parents couldn't be back home so soon either, in fact they weren't supposed to be back before late evening.
Was it the intruder? And more importantly, where was Nancy? Feeling fear build up in the pit of his stomach, Ned walked swiftly into the house, calling out her name.
Nobody responded and nothing seemed to be out of place either. But when he reached the kitchen, he saw that the back door was wide open. Walking swiftly into his backyard, he called out her name again.
He started walking towards the shed at the corner of his backyard, when something on the ground caught his eye.
Bending down to pick it up, he realised it was the flashlight keychain he had gifted Nancy the previous year. Her car keys were attached to it.
Panic gripped him. Where was Nancy? He rushed over to the shed. They never locked it as all it held were a few old tools. The important stuff, they stored in the garage but his dad sometimes used it as a workshop to do his woodworking.
Throwing open the door, he stopped dead in his tracks.
The bright light shone onto a figure lying prone on the floor at the corner. The light glinted off strawberry blonde hair.
His blood ran cold. Nancy.
He dropped down on his knees next to her and called her name but she didn't move.
What or who had done this to her? She hadn't just fallen, there was absolutely no doubt that there had been a struggle. The shelf next to door had tipped over, it's contents scattered on the floor. There were scratches on her arms.
God, she was not moving. Should he call an ambulance? Where was his phone? Dang, in his hurry he had left in his car.
He had to move her out of here. But if she was badly injured, moving her might take things worse. Hell, he was panicking now.
Why wasn't she waking up? How long had she been here?
Ned put one of his hands on her cheek and held her hand tightly with the other, willing her to wake. A few times after he had repeated her name, she began to stir.
"Nancy..Nan. It's me, Ned. Can you hear me?"
Her eyes fluttered open and he felt himself releasing a sigh.
He wasn't still sure how badly she was hurt but seeing her conscious made him relax just a tiny bit.
"Hmmm ouch" She groaned as she touched the back of her head, rising up slowly.
She winced when his fingers lightly brushed over an obvious bump at the back of her scalp.
"What happened?" He asked gently, as he helped her into a sitting position.
"I found the intruder." She smiled wryly. "Or more like the intruder found me. I'll explain once I get some ice on this nice bump he gave me."
Without a word, Ned scooped her in his arm and carried her inside the house. She didn't protest.
Settling her on the couch, he went into the kitchen to prepare an ice pack for her. When he came back, she was sitting up.
"Thanks." She said as he handed her the ice. She pulled him down beside her and gave him a soft kiss.
"Are you sure you're okay, Nan? You've never been injured on a case before. Do want me to drive you to the hospital? Or call your dad or Hannah?"
"I'm okay, Ned. Don't worry. I wasn't even out for too long. Maybe about half an hour." Nancy said, lacing her fingers with his.
He looked at her for a moment and spoke only when he was sure she was okay.
"Okay then. Now spill."
