Chapter 23

Frank booked himself and Nancy into a top-notch hotel that afternoon. Nancy was more than happy to hitch a ride onto Frank's train of childish joy at the revenge he felt every time he notched more dollars up on the credit card. Not only that, he later booked them a table at the most opulent restaurant he could find, but explained that he'd done that to give Nancy a treat after their night out had been spoiled the previous night – and besides, they'd not even been on a genuine date yet!

So Nancy was feeling pretty happy with her lot as she nuzzled down under her blankets in her ridiculously big bed in their ridiculously big suite. No need for a connecting room this time, this place was a like an apartment with its own kitchenette, sitting room and two double bedrooms.

Why she was suddenly awake at 2.24 in the morning she couldn't fathom, until she realised that Frank was shouting next-door. Sitting up, she looked towards the door, alarmed as to what was happening on the other side as his shouting was sounding more and more panicked. She quickly scooted out of the bed and looked about for a suitable weapon. Eventually settling on one of the heavy metal-based lamps at the side of her bed, she followed the lead to the socket and ripped the plug from the wall. She removed the bulb quickly and pulled the lampshade off before holding it high like she was readying herself for a baseball hit.

Putting her ear against the door, she became conscious of the fact that she couldn't actually hear any voices other than her boyfriend's. Carefully turning the door handle, she cracked the door open an inch and applied her eye to the gap. Even though dark, she could clearly see that there was no one in the room other than Frank and that he was thrashing about in his bed obviously in the middle of an intense and very scary night-terror.

Setting the lamp to one side, she quickly moved across the room and climbed up onto the bed until she was kneeling next to him and turned on the nightlight. He was still shouting, but it was incomprehensible – although she caught the name 'Joe' a couple of times.

"Frank, hey, wake up…" she said, giving him a shake. "…Come on sweetheart, you're shouting, having a nightmare."

He immediately gave a loud gasp and sat bolt upright, staring mad-eyed about the room. "Dad, no!" he shouted out, obviously still horror stricken. "It's not the right time – too much to do!"

"Frank, wake up, you're having a bad dream," Nancy repeated, laying a careful hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry…!" he blurted out and then blinked. "Where am I? What's happening?"

"Look at me," Nancy coaxed and turned his face towards her. "You're at the hotel, do you remember? It's me, Nancy."

He froze and gazed at her for another few seconds, a flicker of recognition finally showing behind his eyes, and then finally seemed to grasp what Nancy was telling him. "Aw man!" he groaned and dropped his head back down onto the pillows. "Sorry Nan, did I wake you?"

"A bad one?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"What was it about?"

"It was…" Frank started, "…I dunno, can't remember now." He laid his forearm over his eyes and clumsily swiped at Nancy with his other hand, catching hold of her wrist before inhaling shakily.

Nancy put her hand over his and waited for some time before asking: "You okay?"

He nodded, but didn't come out from beneath his forearm.

"You want me to leave you alone?" she asked.

"No!" he said quickly and gripped her arm more firmly. "Don't go, stay for a while."

"Okay, move over," Nancy said. "It's getting cold out here." He scooted to one side and she slithered under the blankets next to him. Turning the light off, she snuggled down and draped her arm over his waist, surprised that she could physically hear his heart beating hard and fast. "I'll just lie here for a bit and then go back to my own room once you've calmed down," she promised.

"Thanks, Nan," he muttered and pulled her closer to him, taking comfort in her close presence.

In the morning, Nancy was perturbed to find that she'd fallen asleep and hadn't returned to her own room. "Oops!" she said.

"Huh?" Frank mumbled and rolled over, starting in surprise at the sight of her. "Why are you…?"

"Don't you remember?" Nancy asked, holding the bedclothes beneath her chin.

Frank pointed at her and knitted his eyebrows. "…oh yeah, now I do. No need for 'oops' though," he said. "It's not like we got up to anything."

"I shouldn't be here!" Nancy said. "Think of my reputation!"

Frank laughed and leaned across her to pick up his watch from the dresser. "Nice bed hair," he remarked.

"Like you can talk!" she said.

"Have you got night clothes on under there?" Frank asked, "You're gripping those bedclothes like they're protecting your modesty or something."

"Of course I've got clothes on! Jeeze!"

Frank put his hand down and delved about making Nancy squeal and jump. "So you have, just checking. I don't know about you, but I'm hitting the shower." He gave her a quick peck on the lips and slipped out from under the bedclothes. "Come and join me if you like, save on water, reduce our carbon footprints." He flashed her a wolfish grin as he entered the other room.

"Oh god!" Nancy grimaced, going crimson and pulling the blankets up over her head to hide.

Waffles were on the menu a little later in Frank and Nancy's hotel room – seated at the round table, next to the sunny window...bliss!

"The Double Ds are picking us up at 10.00," Frank began. "I propose that we split up once we get to Bayport…"

"…are you trying to get rid of me?" Nancy interrupted, lower lip jutting.

"No! I'm just thinking logistically that it would be safer if I'm out of Bayport and in New York for a few hours. You can head for Bayport Central Library to try and make sense of the 'E' clue while I search for the Hestia code – we're so close to solving this thing, Nan, I want it done, for Dad's and Joe's sakes!"

"In that case, drop me off and then take the car. Once I'm done, I'll get a cab back to Mrs Holliday's," Nancy proposed.

"Okay, we can keep in touch by cell phone."

A little over three hours later they'd touched down at the Bayport Airstrip and were bidding a final goodbye to Doug and Danny, their trusted pilots before pushing through the outer doors and being hit with a cold blast of air. "Oh well, back to reality," Frank said, pulled his cap on again and wrapped his scarf around his mouth.

Nancy passed over his gloves and pulled her own on, not bothering with her hat this time.

They walked the ten-minute journey to the long-stay car lot and Frank paid to get Nancy's car out which was steered around to the front by one of the valet drivers. Frank took Nancy's bag from her and put it into the trunk before getting behind the wheel.

"Okay, let's go," he said. As they travelled further into Bayport, he pulled his cap further down so that only his eyes were showing. "I'm going to have to sweet talk my way into Dunbarton Oaks. Apparently only the garden is open to the public."

"Just tell them you're a Harvard student. I believe the place is open to them. Or better still, just stroll in like you belong there." Nancy suggested.

"That's sneaky, but it might just work."

Frank was presently pulling up in front of the library entrance. "Make sure you keep in touch, I don't want to be worrying about you while I'm in New York."

"I will." she said and gave him a long, deep kiss before exiting the car. "Please be careful. I'll see you in a while."

He watched until she was safely through the doors and then drove on. Once he was outside of Bayport and on the main highway, he was able to pull over and remove the chains from the tires. This had the obvious advantage of him being able to pick up some decent speed and reduce his travelling time.

A little over two hours later he was driving through the quiet and high-end neighbourhood of Georgetown. He didn't have to exactly search for the mansion, as it was pretty clear as soon as he saw the building as to which one it was. Impressive in its size, it was a 19th century, red brick and stone structure in a Federal style with a garden that was remarkably intricate even though covered in a thick layer of snow.

He drove around until he found a suitable parking spot and pulled over.

Confident that he hadn't been followed from Bayport, he decided to discard his cap and loosely hang his scarf about his neck to make himself appear more preppy and student-like. He'd retained quite a bit of information that Nancy had fed him about Greek mythology, so he was confident he could talk his way into the research library and museum collection if he was asked to justify his reasons for being in the building.

With his head down, he walked briskly towards the house and managed to get in step with a group of students who were also heading in the same direction. They walked up to the brick pillared front entrance and went through the main doors and into the building. All the other students raised an identity card in the direction of the security guard sitting at the front desk; Frank just vaguely raised an empty hand. The guard barely glanced up at them and certainly didn't make any moves towards checking anyone's IDs, he was too busy completing a crossword. Frank smiled to himself – it was just too easy.

He explored the interior until he came across the largely Byzantine artefact collection where he spent a considerable time walking about the exhibits, reading about each one and visually examining them. He was so engrossed that he almost missed the tapestry entirely having been looking on the right hand side of the room and the pictorial image of the Goddess Hestia was on the left. Just as he was about to leave the room, he luckily glanced back and saw it.

Turning on his heel, he walked up to it and took a long look. It was behind glass and on a plaque next to it, it stated that the tapestry was named 'Hestia Full of Blessings' and was a 6th Century Egyptian piece. No mention of Professor Hope though.

He stepped back and sat down on a bench that was in front of the tapestry, presumably for people to sit on if they wanted to look at it for any length of time. Frank stared at it, hoping to glean inspiration. He looked at her hands and her eyes to try and see if she was pointing or directing the viewer towards anything, but nothing seemed obvious. He pushed his legs out in front of him and leaned back on his hands, his fingers suddenly coming into contact with something cold. Looking back, he saw that it was a brass plate that was screwed to the bench itself.

"Duh!" he thought. "Dumb, dude, dumb!"

He turned his head on one side and read what was written on the plate: "Kindly donated to Dunbarton Oaks by Professor Hope, for Hestia – 5336"

He laughed loudly, causing several heads to turn and retrieved his phone out of his pocket to text Nancy the good news: Got it! 5336. How r u getting on? F x

Frank stood and started heading for the exit and was just walking outside when his phone buzzed.

Lucky you. I'm still not having any luck. See you later. Nancy xx

Frank composed another message: On way back. C u soon. F x

Nancy sighed and pushed her phone back into her pocket. She picked up the pile of books she'd been leafing through and took them back to the shelves where she'd extracted them. Selecting a further six books, she carried them back to the table where she'd been entrenched since she'd arrived earlier on in the day. She looked at her watch and realised it was almost 4.30 pm. She had only an hour and a half to nail the clue. No way was she going to let Frank find his and she fail!

She went to the index to see if any gods or goddesses with names beginning with the letter 'E' were present. Any she saw that looked like possibilities; she flicked to the requisite pages. Over and over again she repeated the same exercise, yielding nothing.

Opening the screen print they'd made of Professor Hope's clues, she took another look at the picture of the downward curve and double-sided arrow. "Perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree entirely."

Nancy decided to go back to the front desk and see if a member of the staff might be of some assistance. Three staff were standing behind the desk as she approached, all of them deeply involved in what they were doing. Nancy felt almost guilty interrupting them. "Excuse me," she said, drawing the oldest woman's attention.

"Can I help you?" the librarian asked.

"I'm doing some research for a college paper on Greek mythology. I've been set a little challenge by my Professor to seek out some information on a symbol, but I'm not having much luck. Would it be something you might have come across?" Nancy handed her the piece of well-thumbed paper and pointed at the design.

The woman peered at the image for some long seconds and then finally said: "Ah, now this does look familiar, but not as a piece of Greek mythology, although there is a vague relation. Your professor has been very naughty and sent you on a wild goose chase. A lot of planets, meteors and asteroids are named after Greek characters and I've seen emblems like these to denote asteroids."

Nancy could feel her face was flushing. "Would you have any books that I could look at?" she asked.

"Oh yes, we've a whole section. Come on, I'll show you." The woman came out from behind the desk and led Nancy to a set of shelves in a cordoned off reference section.

It was a quiet area with only a couple of other people sitting reading books. No one took any notice of Nancy or her companion as they entered the area.

The librarian ran her fingers along one of the shelves and pulled a particularly large volume down. "Try this one," she said. "You'll find them all listed in alphabetical order. If you don't have any luck, come back to me and I'll pull another couple. I'm fairly confident you'll find what you want in there though," she said, tapping her index finger on it.

"Thank you!" Nancy exclaimed and fought the urge to hug her.

Nancy laid the tome out on a table and sat down. She turned the pages to the 'E' section and started running her finger down the names. About a third of the way down the fourth page she turned over, Nancy finally came across what she'd been hunting high and low for. It was the down turned curve with the double-sided arrow – used to denote an asteroid known as Epimetheus (number 1810).

She remembered that Epimetheus was the Titan god of 'afterthoughts' or 'the father of excuses' who had been given the task (along with his brother) to populate the earth with animals and men. He'd botched the job and had left man completely helpless which forced his brother, Prometheus, to steal fire from heaven to give to man. Zeus then created Pandora as a punishment to mankind and Epimetheus was fooled into taking her for his wife. But of course, as soon as she arrived, she lifted the lid on the box and released the evils upon the earth – all except 'hope'.

Nancy smiled; the whole story had come full circle. "Clever Professor Hope," she muttered and slammed the book shut with a loud thud. She looked up guiltily towards the front desk, realising she'd made quite a racket.

The librarian who'd helped her earlier said: "Did you find what you needed?"

"Yes, I did, thank you," Nancy said and fished out her cell phone to send Frank the following message: Got the last bit of the code – can you believe it was an asteroid? Off back to Oaklands now. Nancy xx

Two minutes later and he texted her back with: Outstanding. See u later when we can put an end to this. F x

Nancy prepared to leave. She buttoned up her coat, wrapped herself in her scarf and pulled her gloves on before giving the librarian who'd helped her one final wave and heading for the door.

A man was leaving just before her and she recognised him as one of the gentlemen who'd been sitting in the reference area at the same time as she. He stopped and held the door open for her. As she passed him he made a swift movement and went to get ahead of her, but really close to her shoulder. She pivoted sideways in order to give him more room, but he just stepped closer. Suddenly, he was gripping her wrist, but weirdly, his hand was icy cold – or so she assumed until she tried to yank herself free. That was when she had the dawning realisation that it wasn't a hand holding her at all, but one half of a handcuff and the other end was attached to him – this man was no gentleman!

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded loudly.

"Shut up," he hissed. "Don't say anything else, don't make a fuss, just be calm and you won't get hurt. Let's walk."

Nancy planted her feet. "No!"

He stepped up closer so his face was an inch from hers. "Yes!" he said and made it plain that he had a gun in his pocket by jabbing it into her side. "Now get moving and keep your mouth shut," he said and started walking her towards the road.

He suddenly smirked. "We knew that if we hung around the library for long enough, either Frank Hardy or one of his friends would turn up to find out about the Epimetheus asteroid. Quite the bonus that it turned out to be none other than Nancy Drew!"

As they approached the corner, a mini-van with darkened windows pulled forward from the other side of the road and crossed over to their side. Nancy remembered only too well that such a vehicle had featured strongly in Joe's story.

"Oh boy!" she thought, fear finally gripping her heart in a vise. "This is bad!"

The door slid open like a yawning chasm and she was pushed forward before more hands pulled her in.