Author's Note:

Thank you so much for the awesome reviews! I love reading them and hearing what you think about the story so far. So onward ho! Enjoy!

Chapter Three

"I asked you a question, Hardy!" Ned growled, his fists flexing at his sides. Frank snapped out of his initial shock of seeing Ned in front of him and shook his head.

"Nancy asked for help," he answered. "So Joe and I came to help her."

"And I told you to stay away from her," Ned replied, poking a finger at him. Frank wanted nothing more than to break Ned's hand but out of respect for Nancy, he kept his cool as best he could. "You and your brother have put her in danger more times than she gets into it herself!"

"Is that the real reason, Ned? She's a grown woman for crying out loud! She can handle herself!" Frank yelled back. "Like I said, she asked us for help. What were supposed to do? Say 'no' because you decided that you didn't want us around her? Nancy is our friend and it is her decision as to who she's with. Not yours!"

"We'll see about that." Ned looked around at the organized chaos of police officers, firemen, and EMTs then back to Frank, scowling. "I've come to take her home but I see that you've gotten her into yet another predicament that I'm sure I'll have to rescue her from again. I hope it won't take all that long though. We have a wedding to plan."

Frank's face went pale from Ned's "announcement" of his and Nancy's impending nuptials. Ned smirked at the reaction and laughed.

"Yes, that's right. She chose me. Not you. By the way, how's Callie doing? Oh, that's right. She's doing just fine…without you." Ned laughed again at Frank's face turning pale to red in a matter of seconds and walked away leaving him to stew. He didn't know how Ned even knew about Callie breaking up with him. Frank didn't even tell Nancy what happened.

"You are a piece of work, Nickerson. You know that?" Frank called to him once he regained his composure. "She may have said 'yes' to you but she won't end our friendship because of it!"

"You keep dreaming there, Hardy," Ned called without looking back.

Frank took a deep breath, his heart beating a mile a minute. At one point in time, the two of them got along even though they were never close friends. Frank almost felt that Ned tolerated him and his brother for Nancy's sake and he highly doubted that she would go along with Ned's insistence that they stay away. He wasn't even sure when everything changed that made Ned tell him off seven months before.

"I thought for a second there, I was going to have to break up a fight," replied Sheriff Doyle, walking up beside Frank. It knocked him out of his thoughts and he sighed. "In a moment of crisis, I would hate to have to put two block heads in jail for fighting over a girl."

"Sorry, Sheriff," Frank said softly, turning to her. "We just have…history."

"Well, see that your 'history' doesn't interfere with the rescue operations, Mr. Hardy," Doyle stated. "What's more important? The lives of your brother and friend or a petty rivalry. My suggestion to you is to stay away from one another."

Frank nodded his head then looked over to where Ned was speaking with a few deputies. He knew the sheriff was right but he was more concerned about what Ned was going to do. In that moment, Frank decided to avoid any confrontation with Ned as best he could, even if it meant he had to walk away from Nancy in the end.

"Good, now, Mr. Hardy, the excavators are about done so we'll know how we're going to get them out. Are you ready?"

"Yes, ma'am." The sheriff motioned for him to follow her, leading the way to a tent where a few men were standing by.

"Will Glandry and Jonas Baker, this is Frank Hardy," Doyle introduced two men, one young and the other older, respectively. The men shook hands with Frank just as he noticed Ned slipping in, a scowl etched on his face. "His brother, Joe and his friend, Nancy Drew, are the two whom we are rescuing from the mine."

"And I'm Ned Nickerson," he interjected rudely so as not to be left out. Frank rolled his eyes and shook his head at Ned's boldness. "Nancy is my fiancée and I want to help in any way I can."

"Right, yes, Mr. Nickerson," replied Sheriff Doyle, clearing her throat. She turned back to the others in the tent. "Can you tell us what we can do?"

"Well, Sheriff," began Jonas. He pulled out a surveyor's map of the mine and tunnel system. "Before I say anything, I need a little more information from Mr. Hardy." He turned to Frank. "Exactly what happened and where were the three of you when the tunnel eventually collapsed."

"The three of us went into the tunnel searching for stolen artifacts," Frank stated, studying the map. He pointed to a portion of the map marked "Dead End." "That's where we stopped. Joe said the two men were going to be moving the stolen goods from the mines. We just followed the tunnel until we came to the dead end."

"There's a large cavern right next to that dead end. Do you think they may have gotten in there?" asked Jonas.

"No, we didn't see a large cavern there," Frank replied, looking confused. "I left them abruptly when...we had an argument so they may have found it. I'm not sure."

"It's okay. You wouldn't necessarily have seen the cavern anyway, Mr. Hardy," Jonas replied, pointing to the map. "There's a secret door that was installed when it was still a mine. You have to be searching really closely to find the lever. The area was to be used as a storage area for the miners. If what you say is true, the thieves picked possibly the best place to hide their goods since no one comes out here anymore. Your brother and Miss Drew could have found the cavern after you left. Are you sure they wouldn't have ended up in there instead of near the entrance to the tunnel after the collapse?"

"I don't think so. They were right behind me when the tunnel came down. I saw them maybe a couple hundred feet back, I think." Frank rubbed his head trying to remember everything. He heard Ned scoff behind him but the others in the tent ignored it.

"Well, if that's the case, we're in luck," Jonas smiled. "If they're only a few hundred feet in, it shouldn't take us more than a few hours to get through. That's if there's an air pocket where they're at. Worst case scenario is that they were buried completely but as of right now, we are going in on the assumption that they are stuck in an air pocket."

"How much air do you think they have left though?" Frank asked.

"It's hard to say," replied Will, speaking for the first time. "My guess is about another 3-4 hours on top of the two hours since the collapse. It may be less though if the air pocket they're in is filled with sulfur gas. That would cut their air in half. Any digging they do, could bring that gas in. Same thing goes for us. It's a chance we are just going to have to take."

"This is all your fault, Hardy!" Ned yelled, his anger finally boiling over after listening to everything. "She had better come out of this alive or I swear to God…"

"My brother is in there too, Ned!" cried Frank. "Don't you think I don't know it's my fault! I'm already taking it hard and I don't need YOU to remind me every thirty seconds!"

"That is enough, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Nickerson!" Sheriff Doyle yelled, stepping in front of the two men. "I've already spoken to you, Mr. Hardy. Do I need to remind you of what we spoke about? The same thing goes for you, Mr. Nickerson! We are not here to measure how big your egos are! Stay focused on the task at hand and for God's sake, stay away from each other! Or I'll throw both your asses in jail! Understand?"

Ned glared at Frank who in turn stared back with less intensity. After an awkward silence, Ned threw his hands in the air and stormed out of the tent. Doyle turned her attention back to Jonas and Will, both of whom looked dumbfounded at the hostility between the younger men.

"When can we start, gentlemen?"

Nancy awoke to perfect darkness around her. She couldn't even see her hand in front of her face and at first she panicked in the dark. Nancy soon realized where she was when she felt a body shift next to her. She figured Joe turned off his flashlight to conserve the batteries over a long period of time.

"Joe?"

"Hmm?" came a voice in the dark.

"You awake?"

"If you consider me answering you as awake then yes, I am awake." Even in the darkness, Nancy jabbed him in the gut with her elbow. "Okay, okay. Bad joke. I guess the nightmare is still real, huh?"

"Yeah." Nancy shifted slightly, moving her body out from under Joe's arm. He grunted then flicked on the flashlight, illuminating the dark tunnel. They both squinted as their eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. "How's the arm, Joe?"

"Still painful," he answered, touching his arm gently. He noticed she still had a wheeze but she continued to downplay the seriousness of it. Joe scanned the area as if looking to see if an exit miraculously opened up. He felt the air had grown more stale almost as if it were dissipating which worried him even more than having an escape from the tunnel. "I think we should try to stay awake from now on. That way we can answer someone if they call for us."

"I agree," Nancy said, coughing hard. "Do you think we have enough air to last until they get here?"

"I think so but I'm no expert. We will just have to wait and see."

The two sat quietly side by side, not knowing what to say or do. After a few minutes, Joe broke the silence with a question.

"So, how have you been?"

"Good. You?"

"Ah, same old, same old," Joe shrugged.

"Is this what we are going to be doing for the next few hours because I'm already bored." Nancy looked at Joe and the two burst out laughing.

"You're right, Nan," Joe replied after their laughter died down. "What's next? Talking about the weather?"

"Hmm, I would say it's a cool 57 degrees with a slight dampness to the air. I expect rain in the future." The two went into a fit of laughter once again but stopped when Nancy started coughing hard.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Joe asked once she stopped. He gave her a stern look as an overbearing brother would before she sighed in defeat.

"My chest is hurting slightly and I'm having a hard time taking a breath," she finally said. "I didn't want to worry you because of the situation we are in. It's the last thing I want us to think about at the moment."

"Nan, you should have told me," he replied with an air of concern. "I wouldn't have let you dig the way you did. You probably did more damage than when you were covered in dirt."

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Besides, there's nothing we can do about it until we get out of here."

"Okay, but from now on, you're sitting right here next to me until we're rescued. No digging. Capiche?"

"I got it." Nancy smiled as Joe leaned over and kissed her temple tenderly. "Now what?"

"Honestly, I don't know."