Helen glanced at Nancy, eyes wide. "Nancy," she whispered, "what should we do?"

Nancy brought her finger to her lips. "Stay very quiet. Pretend to ignore them. We're just here to pick up the Kovnas." Her eyebrows narrowed. "Though, it's odd that two men who want the royal family dead would have been on the same flight …" She paused and glanced at the rearview mirror at the backs of the two men as they walked away. She quickly unbuckled. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

"Nancy!" Helen tried to grab her, but Nancy had already ducked out of the car and closed the door. She followed at a fair distance, but now that there were more people between her and the two men, she couldn't make out what they were saying. Not only that, they were talking in low enough tones to not be heard by many passing by. Nancy glanced back at the car. Maybe she was taking too big of a risk right now, following them. What would happen to the royal family should she be caught? She turned back to the men and continued following them. But she did need to know how much they knew and, maybe, hopefully, reveal who else was working with them.

Nancy followed them until they found a taxi. She walked past, pretending to look for a taxi of her own, when she caught the words "Take us to the Riverside Inn in River Heights."

"Yes sir." As the car pulled away, Nancy felt sick. They were going to the same bed and breakfast that Francis was staying at! She needed to warn them! She raced back to Helen's car. Helen was out, helping two women and a tween load luggage into the trunk.

Helen noticed her and her eyes widened. "Nancy! What's wrong?"

"Um, uh …" Nancy glanced at the Kovnas and thought quickly. She couldn't let them know, but what could she use as an excuse to go to Riverside Inn? Then she hit on it. "Uh, one of the guys dropped their wallet. I tried to give it to him, but I was too late. I heard that they were going to Riverside Inn." Nancy put extra emphasis on the hotel's name.

Helen's eyes widened even more. "Oh! Francis Baum is staying there!"

Nancy bobbed her head. "Yes, that's right."

"Who is Francis Baum?" asked the young lady who was around their age.

"Oh, uh, an artist Nancy met the other day," said Helen with a nervous chuckle. "Speaking of, let me introduce you real quick." Helen quickly introduced Nancy to the Kovnas, Katherine, her sister Millie, and their mother Mrs. Kovna.

Nancy chuckled softly as she shook hands with Mrs. Kovna. "Your name should be easy to remember, being so similar to Helen's."

Mrs. Kovna chuckled. "I hope so. Now, let's go. I wouldn't want that man to be without his wallet for too long."

Nancy chuckled nervously. "Yeah, uh, me neither."

"Well, let's go!" said Mrs. Kovna. The three Kovnas quickly got into the back while Nancy and Helen jumped into the front seats. Helen started the car, and they were soon on their way.

Nancy turned in her seat to look at them while Helen drove. "So, Helen hasn't told us much about Centrovia. Can you tell, or is it a secret?"

Katherine laughed, but shot a look at her mother. "Well, it's not a complete secret … but there are some things I can't tell you."

Mrs. Kovna patted her daughter's shoulder. "I'm afraid not everything can be said, yes. But I can say that our country is going through some turmoil at the moment, so being able to have been able to come here is a blessing."

Nancy pouted. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"Oh, don't be, some countries will have to deal with this at one point or another. We do hope that it will end soon." Mrs. Kovna glanced at her daughters. "But, they can describe our customs and the countryside to you, if they wish."

Nancy smiled at them. "That would be nice." Though, she really wanted them to tell her everything. That answer didn't let her know that the Kovnas could be trusted. While yes, Mrs. Kovna probably didn't want the girls to sully their experience with thoughts of the turmoil, she could also have been using it as an excuse to keep the truth hidden.

"Oh yes!" chorused Katherine and Millie before laughing into a torrent of words describing everything. From picturesque valleys to majestic mountains, from graceful winding rivers to forests teeming with life. Dance, painting, woodwork, and artistry of every kind were highly valued. And then there were the mansions.

"Another reason why we were more than happy to stay at Lilac Inn, it is because the summer house of the royal family is surrounded by lilacs!" blurted Millie.

Katherine cut in. "Ah, yes, and the only place in Centrovia where lilacs are so abundant. So, this will almost be like we're living like royalty." She turned to her sister. "But there are more mansions than just the royal summer house, right, Millie?"

Millie gave her sister an odd glance before turning back to Nancy. "Oh, yes! We do have loads of big mansions! Why, I've always wanted to go to the . Uncle Henri has been inside to sell some of his art and was able to take a few pictures for us to see! It's so magnificent! Maybe he can show you when he and Papa arrives."

Nancy smiled. "I would like that. In the meantime, maybe you would be interested in seeing some of our grand houses. They probably aren't as magnificent and certainly not as big as the mansions in Centrovia, but they are ours and we like them. I hope you'll like them too."

"Oh, I'm sure I will. River Heights sounds like the cutest town ever!" She shot a glance at her sister out of the corner of her eye. "Provided Katherine didn't blow it out of proportion."

Katherine gasped. "I certainly did not! Mama read all the letters, too. You know if I blew anything out of proportion, she would correct me right away!"

"Y-you read all of my letters?" Helen asked, her eyes going slightly wide. But she never took her eyes off the road.

Mrs. Kovna nodded. "I had to. While Katherine and Millie are quite good at translating English when they speak and hear it, they are not as good at reading and writing it. Your letters helped them a lot, and I can't thank you enough for that." She gave a big smile.

"Oh, well, um, you're quite welcome." Helen returned the smile, but there was a hint of nervousness in her eyes that was hard to miss. Nancy pursed her lips. What did Helen write to Katherine that she didn't want anyone else to know about?

Nancy turned to the three Centrovians with a smile. "Well, I hope that being here will help even more. English is everywhere!"

Mrs. Kovna laughed. "That is my hope! And kind of the point of our visit."

"Well, of course. Unless there was another reason." Nancy watched the older woman's reaction to the statement.

Mrs. Kovna merely chuckled. "Yes, there is, my husband finally has time off in order to take a well-earned vacation to spend some time with his family. Also, my brother wanted an excuse to paint pictures of America, so naturally he had to join us."

"Only natural," Nancy said with a smile. But deep down, she had a feeling there was more to it. Yet, she wasn't getting any bad vibes from her. Would Mr. Kovna and Uncle Henri be any different?

Helen broke into her thoughts with an announcement. "Well ladies, we are now entering River Heights! First stop, Riverside Inn!"

Millie and Katherine turned to the Windows and glanced out eagerly. "Oh yay!"

"Oh it is so adorable!"

"Millie, we haven't seen everything yet!"

Millie turned to her sister and put on airs. "I can tell just from this street! It's adorable. I'm sure the whole town is!"

"Oh it is, and like any other town, it has its secrets." Nancy's eyes sparkled.

"Well I hope that's not part of the tour," said Mrs. Kovna.

Helen snickered as she shot Nancy a glance. "Well, only with Nancy as your tour guide. Mysteries are drawn towards her like magnets! And all the danger that comes with it!"

Mrs. Kovna gave a slow nod. "Yes, you had mentioned that in your letters." Nancy turned and locked eyes with the woman. She seemed to be saying something, but Nancy couldn't exactly tell what. Did they have a mystery they wanted her to solve too? Right now, she was trying to solve the mystery of which side they were on, the royals or the rebels.

"And here is our first stop, Riverside Inn!" Helen pulled into the driveway and parked.

Nancy quickly unbuckled. "It won't be too long, I hope."

"We'll be waiting," said Helen with a smile.

Nancy scoffed. "You'd better." She quickly got out of the car and walked in. SHe paused by the front door. Saying they had lost a wallet got her here, but she couldn't use that as an excuse to get the information she needed. But what could she say? Sure, they would believe her and tell her whatever she wanted, but if the two guys should show up, she had better have another reason since she couldn't produce said missing wallet. A message, perhaps? But again, should they show up, what would that message entail? One thing was for sure, she definitely had a message for Francis Baum. Maybe she should just start there and then maybe casually ask about the other men's room number. She let out a breath and walked towards the front desk.

The woman at the desk glanced up and her eyes grew slightly before her face brightened with a smile. "Why, hello Nancy! Whatever brings you to Riverside?"

Nancy returned the smile. "Hello Mrs. Patterson! I need to talk to Francis Baum. Is he in?"

"Oh my, he's become quite the celebrity," said Mrs. Patterson as she straightened some papers.

Nancy blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, a couple of men wanted to talk to him too. They're sitting in the lounge room."

Nancy had a sense of urgency come over her. "Well, thank you. I'll head over that way. If Francis isn't too busy, I'll talk to him. Thanks again!" She smiled and waved.

"You're welcome!" Mrs. Patterson waved as Nancy walked away.

Nancy walked briskly at first, but then slowed down as she got nearer to the lounge room. She came to a stop at the doorway and peered in. Her eyes widened and stifled a gasp. The two men she had tailed that morning were in a deep conversation with Francis Baum! Nancy bit her lip. She had to warn him, and fast! But how? She had to content herself with waiting for an opening, an opening that was quickly looking like it would never come.

(Author's Note: Hello my rosy readers! I have come back! For a little bit, at least, lol. Been working so much these past few months I was beginning to be afraid that I wouldn't be able to write much at all. But, I have been tackling a few other projects for NaNoWriMo, a five chapter serial inspired by Over the Garden Wall, Peter Pan, and a bit of Caspar that's a part of a seasonal series inspired by Peter Pan in general and that has been posted to the Fellowship and Fairydust magazine I work with, working out kinks and figuring out the rest of the cast for 1001 Nights of Red, doing the same thing for Daisy Took Mysteries: Green Dragon Caper, dealing with stress at the thrift store I work at, two of my managers at the college bookstore who I love quite dearly have moved on to different jobs, applying for one of those manager positions, have an interview in a couple of days, moving things around so the three brothers that moved out can move back in until they can find another place, and been talking to two guys on CatholicMatch. One guy and I have come to the mutual understanding that this just might not work out, considering that every time we try to meet up, something happens to him and he has to call it off. The other guy I've gone out with one time already and my parents invited him over for dinner that night. He's nice and we get along, but, I don't think he's the one. I have been recently messaged by a few other guys, so we'll see how those go. A couple I've already told that I'm not interested, the others ... look like they're heading in that direction too, but we'll see. That being said, happy belated Thanksgiving! So so thankful for every single one of you! And a special thank you to Elizabeth Joan-hbndgirl who's still posting a review for every chapter! I keep saying that I will get to another one of your stories one of these days, and I definitely plan on it, I just can't say when that will be, lol. And should I get this position at the college bookstore, it will give me back my Saturdays and I'll get holidays and long weekends, but it's going to come with its own special stress and problems. Bigger paycheck too is a plus, but, we'll see. Either way, I also have to start disciplining myself and stop spending so much time on social media. Though, I think just working on whatever I could this past month has helped a bit. This coming month I really need to focus on Green Dragon Caper so I can get that started posting by December 19, the 20th year anniversary of Lord of the Rings. I would also like to have a few more chapters of 1001 Nights of Red finished so I can start posting them on Wattpad by the end of this year too. I think the majority of the problem with 1001 Nights of Red was that I didn't exactly know how I really wanted it to go outside of it taking a few swipes at Fifty Shades and Twilight. But now I've figured out that it's going to be a kind of Peter Pan fanfic, since that was how the majority of the characters started out, I've been able to get further along than I have in the past five years since I've started writing it. So, yeah, that's coming along. Emperor of the Lamps looks like will be next, figuring out a few plot holes in that and creating more characters that I didn't realize were missing until I made them, lol. Anyways, loads more to do, so I need to go. No Hardy boys update this time, but maybe soon. Thank you all so much again for sticking around, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you next time! Have a great day and God bless!)