I would like to appologize for the long wait! I had some problems and worries with this chapter that have now been mostly resolved thanks to sassy k! Please forgive me for taking so long to post it! I hope you enjoy!

THE CATCH

"But…but…" Bess sputtered, "I thought this was going to be a vacation!"

"Why don't you explain to us what has been going on here?" Nancy ignored Bess and turned to Erin.

Erin looked from Bess to Nancy with a puzzled expression, "Do you mean that George didn't tell you?"

"No, she didn't mention a mystery," Nancy shrugged it off, "but won't you tell me all about it?"

"Nancy!" Bess exclaimed.

Nancy held up a hand, and Bess quieted her protests. "Go ahead," she motioned for Erin to explain.

"Well," Erin started hesitantly, "There've been some…strange things that have gone on in the night here. Animals turn up missing or dead, we've lost power and water in the night, and there have been…well, some of the farmhands say they've seen…things."

"Seen what?" asked Bess, her attention suddenly riveted.

"I'm sure it's nothing, but it's a disturbance that I'd rather get rid of as soon as I can," Erin stalled. She paused and then sighed, knowing that it was no use to try to hide, "Some of them claim to have seen a glowing man in the dead of night."

Bess turned pale. "Glowing?" she whispered.

Nancy's eyes sparked with new interest. She spoke slowly, her mind still processing the information, and with a newfound curiosity, "Glowing? The dead of night?" Suddenly, a new rush of questions filled her mind and she voiced them aloud, "Is it the same time each night or is it different times? What time or times does he appear? Are they sure it's a man? Could it be a woman? Is it the same rider each time? How many times has he—or she—come? Have you yourself seen the rider? Who has seen him?"

"Well," Erin was taken aback by the unexpected multitude of questions, "I don't know. I haven't really made too many inquiries myself, and I've never actually seen him. Mostly I've ignored the gossip among the men. I have discouraged the talk, but it still seems to press on."

"Still? What do you mean 'still'?" asked Bess, her voice straining to contain her rising hysteria.

Nancy was thoroughly intrigued by now, "How long have these…appearances been occurring?"

"For nearly two weeks," Erin admitted, "I had thought that it would blow over by now, but…" The helpless girl shrugged her shoulders. She looked up into Nancy's eyes. In a pleading whisper, she asked, "Can you do anything? Please, Nancy…I need your help. I've started receiving threats and some of the men have talked about quitting. I can't run this establishment by myself. And I can't give it up. It's been in my family for over a hundred years. I…I have to figure out what's going on."

"Don't worry," Nancy smiled reassuringly, "I'll get to the bottom of this."

"Or die trying," Bess mumbled. Nancy just rolled her eyes and blushed at the thought of how many occasions her friend's statement could have been true.

"Thank you, Nancy," Erin smiled weakly. She straightened, reigning in the previously threatening tears, "If you need anything, just let me know. I'll give you the run of the place. I'll tell all the men that they are to cooperate with you in all ways and I can do anything else that you'd like."

"Actually," Nancy raised a hand, "Could you not mention anything about this to the men…if it's not too late. It might prove to be very useful if no one knows the truth about why we're here. We already have a cover story: Bess and I came to join George."

Erin looked quizzically at the thought of the request. Bess explained, "People tend to act differently when Nancy's on the job and they know it. They open up more around a normal person. They trust her more."

Erin nodded, "Anything else?"

"It might help out also if you give us a chore list," Nancy continued, "you know, so that we aren't any different. We can earn our stay here."

"Chores?" Bess exclaimed in bewilderment, "This was supposed to be a vacation! First a mystery and now you want us to do chores?"

"I don't need any resentment from the farmhands because we're being pampered, Bess. We can't receive any special treatment."

"Done," Erin nodded in absolute agreement. She quickly turned to Bess with a sympathetic look, "I can give you an easy list or a short one but you have to complete it because if you don't and someone notices I can't let it slide, no matter what."

Bess groaned. Nancy only smiled, "She'll manage."

That night George walked into her room. She found her cousin sitting on one of the two beds in the small room and not at all in a good mood. Her arms were folded over her chest and she glared at no one in particular, staring off into the distance. The door to the bathroom was open, and Nancy was getting ready for bed.

"George!" Nancy smiled as her friends reflection appeared in the mirror. She turned around to greet her friend, "There you are! Where have you been all day? We've been waiting for you to show up."

"Yeah, well," the brown-headed girl answered Nancy, "It's been quite a day for me. You wouldn't believe the lines at the stores. I went out to run some errands for Erin, but it shouldn't have taken as long as it did so I'm sorry."

Nancy shrugged it off, "That's okay, we understand how that is. But it's a little late now to do anything. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to catch up and spend time together." A muffled grunt came from Bess.

"What's with her?" George smiled, "Country air already getting to her?" Bess didn't respond. She just turned her head in the opposite direction, glaring at the door now.

"Not exactly," Nancy sighed, "She's actually pretty mad at me at the moment. She hasn't said a word to me since Erin showed us to the room."

"Why?" George looked puzzled.

"Well," Nancy looked down, "She's sort of mad at you too."

George's eyes lit up, "Oh…" She turned to look at Bess, "I bet I can just guess why. I was sort of hoping to tell you myself, but uh…I guess it's too late for that."

Nancy nodded, "I tried to cheer her up. I pointed out that we were all sharing a room so we can be together. I told her that we had the only room on the ranch that has a bathroom in it. And I told her that you and I will help her with her chores. I even pulled the cute guy card. She won't budge."

"She must be really mad," George smiled. She knew that her cousin could only take so much before she would blow up, and that's how she planned to get her to talk again. Nancy had started and George would finish, "I don't guess Erin told her what chores she was going to assign her?"

"Nope," Nancy shook her head, "What chores need done on a daily basis?"

"Well, someone will have to do dishes after each meal," George started, "But we'll all probably rotate for that. Someone will have to let the cattle in and out each morning and night—but that will probably be left to the experts. I'd say we'll get stuck with the easy stuff like taking out the garbage, feeding the animals, and cleaning out the stalls."

No sooner had the last statement been formed in George's mouth than Bess was jumping up. She whirled on them, her face red and her glare intense, "I am NOT cleaning up any manure whatsoever! I refuse to take out any dripping garbage and I will not wash any dish that has been spit in! And for your information, I am not allergic to country air! There is no difference in the air here or back at home or anywhere else. I can hold up my end anywhere. Just because I don't care for stinky animals and muddy clothes doesn't mean I won't endure it just finely! I was told that I was coming to be on vacation! No one mentioned a catch!" She turned to Nancy, "And just so you know, that bathroom is tiny and it doesn't even have a bathtub or good-smelling soaps in it! And I don't exactly relish staying in the same room with you two snakes at the moment! I'll bet you two planned this!"

Nancy and George just burst into laughter. They couldn't help it. George was the first to speak, "Dishes that were spit in? Dripping garbage? Where do you come up with these ideas?"

Nancy laughed the hardest at Bess's last idea. "You…you think we planned this?" she sputtered between spurts of giggles, motioning from herself to George. She laughed even harder as an idea came to her, "We should call it 'Torture Bess Day'!"

George got tickled out of that, "Or we could call it "Bess's Worst Nightmares Come to Life Day' or—"

"It's not funny!" Bess yelled. Nancy and George bent over laughing. Finally Bess started to giggle too. She didn't want to, but she couldn't help it. They wouldn't quit! All three girls ended up in a pile on one of the beds, laughing like never before.

"We're sorry, Bess," Nancy finally said, "We really are."

"Yeah," George added, "We didn't mean anything by it."

"I know," Bess wiped a tear from her cheek, "You were just trying to get me to talk to you again. And I know that you guys didn't ruin my vacation hopes on purpose."

"It won't be that bad, Bess, you'll see. Nancy will have this mystery solved in no time at all. Then, we can all relax a little," George said.

"Yeah, Bess," Nancy smiled, "Look on the bright side, it's what you're good at."

"Well," Bess blushed a little, "that John guy was pretty cute."