Chapter Three:

Carson sighed as he hung up his cell phone glancing at Hannah, the housekeeper was busy making some lemon bars for Nancy. He had really hoped that he could be able to get the whole day off. In fact, that was what he had scheduled. It was Nancy's first day home from the hospital. He needed to be here for her, yet.

"Is something wrong Mr. Drew? Hannah asked giving her employer a quizzical look.

"Yes, the court date's been moved up on me… I have to go," Carson sighed, "I was hoping that I could have the day off, get Nancy settled."

"Don't worry Mr. Drew," Hannah insisted, "I'll keep an eye on her."

"Thanks Hannah," Carson said, with a heavy sigh, "Nancy's napping upstairs, the drive home totally wiped her out. She probably will sleep for a couple of hours," he paused, "Her pain pills are in the bathroom mirror. Um, make sure she eats something for dinner if I'm not back yet. Try not to let her mope around too much. Try calling Bess and George and having them come over. That usually works."

Carson frowned, her friends usually could cheer his daughter up in no time at all, but… he had never seen her this upset before. Not even after Kate died. Then again, she had been so young at that point that she probably didn't understand that Kate was gone forever. He shook his head, trying to clear out the dark thoughts.

If Kate was here, she'll know how to deal with this. How to cheer Nancy up. But she wasn't, it was just him.

…

Hannah peeked into Nancy's bedroom, the eighteen-year-old detective was curled up in bed. Her teddy bear tucked underneath her, with Togo curled up next to her. She smiled. Nancy had been a young girl when she had been hired on as the Drew's housekeeper after the untimely death of Kate Drew. She had watched the girl grow into the fine young lady that she was now. She knew Nancy was a stubborn girl. There had been many a power struggle between the two of them when she first arrived.

At the moment she was upset, and down on her luck, but give her a little while and she'll be back up and doing what she did best. Making the local police department look like amateurs. She was sure that even without her eyes, Nancy Drew would do just fine, at least, she would be with a little help from her friends.

Downstairs the doorbell rung, causing Hannah to smile, she didn't need to look at the security camera to know who was there. After all, Carson Drew had insisted that she call Nancy's friends and have them come over.

The doorbell rung again, yep that was Bess alright, she was going to ring the doorbell constantly until the door was answered.

Togo sat up on the bed, jumped down and ran to the bedroom door, yipping madly. This was what caused Nancy to stir, "What's going on?" she asked groggily… "Bess is here? Why is Bess here?"

"Your father asked me to call her and George to tell them that you were home. He didn't want you moping about all day."

"Where is my dad?"

"He was called into work," Hannah said with a sigh, "I'm sorry if you wanted him to stay with you. I know that things are overwhelming right now. Being home after three months in the hospital must be hard on you."

"I'm fine!" Nancy snapped as the doorbell rung again.

"I better let your friends in before Bess breaks the doorbell."

…

Nancy grimaced as she heard two pairs of footsteps running up the stairs before her door flung open with a loud bang. Togo rushed forward, yipping wildly, and by the commands of down boy, was jumping up onto the visitors.

"Hey, Nance," George's voice said, before saying softly, "Honestly Togo, yes, I see you, go bug Bess."

"Don't you dare jump on me, Togo, this is a new outfit," Bess warned her best friend's dog, "It's great to see you… er… I didn't mean that... I'm so sorry. That was really insensitive of me. You know, because you're well, you know what," she ended in a whisper.

"I'm blind Bess, I know that, everyone knows that, I'm going to be blind for the rest of my life. So you can just say it!"

Bess and George exchanged looks, Hannah hadn't been kidding when she had told them that Nancy was struggling and a little temperamental about the loss of her eyes. They had known Nancy Drew since the three of them were in diapers, and she had never ever been this upset before. As her BFFs, it was their honored duty to cheer her up.

"So," George said, plopping down on the bed next to Nancy as Bess took the armchair, "What do you want to do? You've been cooped up in the hospital for months now, surely you don't want to be cooped up in your house as well?"

"I'm quite happy here, thank you very much," Nancy muttered.

"Come on Nancy," Bess whined, "There's a big sale at the mall today, I'm giving up shopping to be here you know."

"You don't have to be here if you don't want to be here," Nancy insisted, "I understand if you don't want to be around a has been like me anymore than you have to."

"Really?" Bess asked eagerly.

"No," George insisted, "Hannah and your dad asked us to try to cheer you up, and that is exactly what we are going to do! Right Bess."

"But the Ma…"

"Right Bess!" George said again, sternly this time, and Nancy could easily picture the stern look she was giving her cousin at the moment.

"Right," Bess muttered, "But what are we going to do!"

"I don't know," George admitted, "How about…" her voice trailed off, "No never mind, forget I said anything."

"I don't know if I really want to leave the house yet," Nancy confessed, hugging her teddy bear to her chest, "I don't want everyone's petty."

"We can do something here," Bess insisted, "We can watch a movie… oh, you won't be able to see what was going on, would you?"

"No, that pretty much is the definition of being blind," Nancy admitted with a sigh, "I"m no fun, you should just leave."

There was silence for a beat before George said, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Aunt Bet and Uncle Ed called. They had great news. Shadow Ranch is doing amazing. They've actually signed up to do this working ranch program. A group of kids come from the city and live with them for a couple of weeks and they teach them about life on a ranch and how to do chores and stuff like that. They were wondering if we wanted to participate, they have all kinds of fun things planned."

"We told them about your accident and that you were in the hospital," Bess added, "They said to tell you to get better."

"Thanks, but, there isn't anything the doctors can do about my eyes. The damage was too great."

Bess and George glanced at each other, usually if one of them didn't know what to do, or vice versa.

"So," Bess asked slowly, "You want to go shopping with us?"

"I don't want to leave the house," Nancy insisted.

"Why don't we go get ice cream, I have coupons for Scoop that are going to expire."

"I said I don't want to go anywhere today Bess."

"So," George said loudly, as Bess opened her mouth again, "Have you heard from the Hardy Boys lately, how are they doing? They got their practice up and running?"

"Yeah, they actually called earlier today," Nancy confessed, "They're working on a case, and asked me if I could follow up on a lead over here."

"That's great Nan," Bess exclaimed, "Do you need any help? George and I are at your disposal.

"I told them I couldn't do it," Nancy confessed, "I can't drive, I can't look at clues, I'm useless, I can never solve a case again."

"You don't know that for sure Nan," George insisted, "You're such a splendid detective that I'm sure that you can figure out how to do it even without your sight. Remember Summer Camp when we were eight? You were the reigning champion of Blindman Bluff. I still don't know how you did it."

"Bess laughed each time I caught her," Nancy insisted, flapping her hand in the direction she thought her friends were in, "It was easy."

"What about that time we were camping and we walked in on some poachers and they tied us up and left us in the middle of the woods? You're the one that led us back to civilization!"

"That wasn't that impressive," Nancy insisted, "I followed the tire tracks to the main road and then retraced the turns they took to go back to where they were."

"Yes, it was," Bess insisted, "You remembered like fifty different turns and when to stay straight. It was amazing."

"It was only fifteen turns," Nancy muttered.

"That happened when we were twelve, how do you still remember that!" Bess exclaimed, launching herself forward and grabbing onto Nancy's shirt.

"Let Nan go Bess, honestly," George groaned, "That's just how Nancy is. It's kind of freaky how well she can remember little details from years ago."

"Well, that might come in handy later, you know," Bess insisted, "Even if you do decide not to continue as a detective whatever it is that you do will be awesome. Just saying."

"Thanks, Bess," Nancy said with a sigh, "I know you're trying to cheer me up, but, I don't really feel like it right now."

Bess and George exchanged looks, unsure what to say now, or how to cheer her up.

Before the silence could get to the uncomfortable point, there was a soft knock on the bedroom door, "Nancy," Hannah called out softly, "Your father just called, he left some important documents in his office here, he needs me to take them to him. Will you…"

"We'll take them to him for you," Bess announced, jumping out of the armchair, "We'll be super quick about it, won't we Nancy?"

"I guess?" Nancy said slowly, unaware of the way George was shaking her head at her cousin.

"And how in the world are we going to get there?" George demanded, "My mom dropped us off."

"We can just take Nancy's car," Bess insisted, before clearing her throat nervously, "You do still have your car right, Nance?"

"I have no idea, I haven't used it since…" Nancy trailed off, shaking her head, "before the accident. I doubt that Dad left it at the Sanford place, but I have no idea on where it is. He might have just sold it. It isn't like I was able to use it anyways," Nancy finished with a sigh.

"Wait," George exclaimed, "I remember helping your dad move your car after the… well you know what happened… It should be in the car."

"Where did you put it?" Bess asked.

"In Nancy's garage," George said, "And I stuck the keys in the glove compartment, just like you ask us too if we drive your car."

"Well, if you girls don't mind taking the papers to the office for me, I'd greatly appreciate it."