Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who is reading, following, and reviewing this story. Thank you especially to max2013, Evergreen Dreamweaver, and BMSH for your reviews on the last chapter.

Chapter XVI

"George! Nancy!" Bess practically screamed in excitement when she saw the two girls get out of Ned's car in the motel parking lot. She rushed forward and grabbed them both in a huge hug.

Burt and Dave were right behind her, and they both gave the girls an enthusiastic greeting as well, particularly Burt in greeting George.

"You're all right!" Bess babbled on, hugging George again as soon as she got her away from Burt. "What happened? We were so worried. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," George told her, perhaps a little gruffly. "I'm just super tired. I don't suppose we could answer questions after a nap?"

"Oh, of course!" Bess led the whole group up to the rooms that they had rented in the motel.

As George went inside one of them, Nancy caught Dave by the arm. "Where are Dad and Ned?"

"Oh!" Dave slapped a hand to his head. "Right. They're out looking for you. We'd better call them."

"I'll do it," Nancy told him. "We also need to call the police. We just might be able to catch the people who kidnapped George, provided they haven't left yet."

NDNDNDNDND

If Nancy had had any hopes of accompanying the police to the castle and witnessing the arrests, her hopes were dashed when her dad returned to the motel. After giving her and Ned a chance to greet one another, Carson took Nancy to one of the rooms where they could talk privately.

"Nancy, what were you thinking?" Carson asked her. "Why would you go off like that without telling anyone?"

"I – Dad, it's a little hard to explain." Nancy uncharacteristically fumbled about with her words. "I mean, I knew you wouldn't want me to go, because I sort of broke into that restaurant. I wanted to get a closer look at that suit of armor."

"Why didn't you tell Ned or Bess, then?" Carson demanded.

"I don't know." Nancy shrugged helplessly and her voice had almost a desperate tone in it. "There's something wrong with this case. There's still something wrong. I guess I knew that Ned or Bess would insist on going with me, and somehow I knew I had to go alone. I can't really explain it."

Carson sighed. "Nancy, I know I don't usually do things like this, but I'm going to have to make you promise not to do anything on this case without talking to me about it first. This time it turned out all right, but next time –"

"I know, Dad. I get it," Nancy admitted. "And it wasn't any of my doing that this time turned out all right. We wouldn't have gotten away if Dan Moriare hadn't helped us."

"What?" Carson stared at her in confused disbelief.

"He was there," Nancy insisted, "and he helped us escape. I don't understand why."

"Leave it to this case." Carson shook his head. "I don't know who's behind this. I thought the first time that it was Cliff Moriare. He seemed clever but bold enough. But he's dead, and whoever is behind it has to be the same person this time. I don't know how, but somehow – this is going to sound crazy, but they can manipulate people, at least enough to throw them off their game."

"Right," Nancy agreed, everything suddenly becoming much clearer, "and I know who's behind it. Well, except that I don't know who it is."

"What are you talking about?" Carson asked.

"It's Lynn Morgan, AKA Helena Markovich," Nancy replied. "I don't know her real name, but it's got to be the same person. She must have used make-up to make herself look different in each role, but don't you see? As Helena Markovich, she steered Frank and Joe right where she wanted them. Fortunately, they were too smart for her, or rather Terry Shanth was too dumb to go along with the plan completely and ruined it all. But why else would have Frank let her escape? Then, as Lynn Morgan, she almost caught me in her trap by convincing me I had to get another look at that armor. Fortunately, this time, she had a traitor in her ranks."

"That makes sense," Carson agreed. "There's just one other question – who is she and what's her connection?"

"That's two questions." Nancy grinned. "We're just going to have to figure that out. Maybe the Hardys will help us there. They've got a stake in this, too, after all."

NDNDNDNDND

Several hours later, the police reported to them the results of their raid on the castle. The place had been deserted, but hastily and not without signs of habitation. These had mainly consisted of tire tracks in the snow, some food left in a refrigerator, and some trash that hadn't been cleaned up. The clues were slim, but they were going to do their best to identify the culprits from them.

Additionally, the police informed them that the castle belonged to Jeremy Kale of Chicago, who had inherited it from his father, Henry Kale. He seldom went there himself and had been trying to sell it for some time now. He insisted that he knew nothing about any criminals staying there.

With so few clues to go on, Nancy and her friends returned to River Heights that afternoon. It wasn't easy for Nancy to make the decision to return without continuing to work on the case, but she had to admit that she was stumped.

One of the first things she did when she got home was to call Frank and explain the most recent turn of events. Frank listened in confused surprise and interest as Nancy told him about her adventure and her deductions about Helena Markovich and Lynn Morgan.

"It could be," Frank agreed when she had finished. "But why is all of this happening? I have a feeling you know more about it than you're saying, Nance."

"I can say completely honestly that I don't know what she has against us," Nancy replied. "I'm starting to think we're not going to find out any time soon. She might disappear for a little while and then turn up again to bother us."

Frank sighed. "I hope not. I don't think I can take too much more of this. I know Joe can't."

"What's up with Joe anyway?" Nancy asked. "He hasn't seemed like himself since – well, since September."

"No, he hasn't," Frank agreed. "I mean, considering everything that happened, it makes sense. And it hasn't even been quite three months yet, so it could be that he just needs time. In the meanwhile, things aren't so easy to deal with around here." He paused for a few moments, and Nancy waited for him to continue rather than trying to fill in the silence herself. "Joe hasn't so much as looked at a sudoku puzzle since then, let alone being willing or interested in working on a case. It's just – kind of rough, I've got to admit. Then on top of all of that, he jumps at every loud noise. Doesn't sleep much. But most of all, he doesn't talk about it."

"Maybe he ought to see a therapist," Nancy suggested.

"You know Joe," Frank replied. "You have to fight him to get him to go to a medical doctor even when it's obvious that he needs one."

"So what about his school and sports and all of that?" Nancy asked. "Is he doing all right there?"

"Yeah. Better than usual, in fact, since he doesn't have any mysteries distract him – or anything else for that matter," Frank told her. "He basically just goes to school, goes to practice, and comes home. He barely even talks to any of his friends. Not even Iola."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Nancy offered.

"I don't know," Frank admitted. "I'm at a loss myself. Mom and Dad have been all weird since then, too. They're constantly looking over their shoulders and always checking up on where Joe and I are. It was starting to get a little better, and then you had to go and start on your case."

"It wasn't exactly my choice," Nancy replied good-naturedly.

NDNDNDNDND

A week passed and then two and nothing more was heard of Lynn Morgan or Dan Moriare or the teenagers whom George had talked to, Dwayne Sventer and Summer Merle. It seemed that Nancy was right and they had once again disappeared. She wished they hadn't. It was unnerving not knowing when or where they would show up again.

True to Robin's word, Nancy didn't hear anything from or about him in those two weeks either. To all appearances, he had given up his thefts, although Nancy wasn't completely sure why. Perhaps he was afraid that she would tell the police everything she knew about him if he attempted another robbery.

The whole thing was strange and Nancy didn't like to consider the case closed. She didn't want to give it up without knowing what was really going on, but what else could she do?

Then, one morning, a little over a week before Christmas, River Heights was buzzing with some exciting but troubling news – Robin Hood had struck in River Heights. He had stolen a chalice from the Catholic church and left only an arrow behind him to show who had done it.

"What do you make of this, Dad?" Nancy asked Carson, pointing out the story in the newspaper. "This isn't his MO. He insisted that he only stole from charities because they don't give every penny they collect to whatever their cause is. Besides this, he's more theatrical than just sneaking in a burglarizing a place."

"Who else could have done it?" Carson asked. "And why?"

"Ugh," Nancy groaned. "Who knows? Two weeks without a word, and then it all starts cropping up again. Like I asked, what do you think it means?"

"You said Robin wasn't in with the Moriare gang," Carson replied. "Maybe it doesn't mean anything, except that he's gone back to stealing."

"I guess that could be," Nancy conceded, but she didn't feel convinced.

NDNDNDNDND

That afternoon, Nancy and Ned went out for a cup of coffee. Throughout their conversation, Nancy was distracted, lost in her own thoughts.

"Is something bothering you?" Ned finally asked.

"Hmm?" Nancy looked up, the question taking just a second longer than normal to sink in. "Oh. Yeah, sort of, I guess. It's just this whole past case and –"

She was interrupted by a text coming in on her phone. She glanced at it and instantly a frown crossed her face.

"What is it?" Ned asked.

In reply, she simply showed him the text. It was from a number that only showed up as "unknown," but it wasn't hard for either Nancy or Ned to figure out who it was from. The message read: "After two weeks, he's right here again. A Robin Hood, his trouble is deep this time. A slippery quest. 'Nd I make it easier this time. You should rea,d chapters of bo,oks 16 and 17 and come at once on this noble quest but you must come alone."

"It sounds like a code," Ned commented.

"It's supposed to," Nancy replied. "It's like the other text when they kidnapped George. I'm sure that one was a code, too, but I never figured it out. Either way, this can only mean one thing – they're back."