J.M.J.

Thank you so much for continuing to read! Hopefully, this website will get the notification problem straightened out soon so it will be easier to follow updates, but it's been going on long enough that I'm not holding my breath. Enjoy the chapter! God bless!

Chapter 3

"The only reason I can think of for why Frank would be carrying your phone number around in his shoe is because he expected to get searched and didn't want the number or the message about the white horse thing to be found," George said, sitting with her legs crossed on the loveseat in Nancy and Ned's living room. "It was your number because he wanted you to be the one to be called if anything happened. He probably knows your number without having to write it down, so I doubt it was for his own benefit."

Nancy nodded absently. She had already thought of that soon after her conversation with Sergeant Griffon. It was a concerning idea. After all, if Frank would have wanted anyone to be called in if something happened to him, he would have wanted it to be his parents or Joe or even Sam Radley, the detective who had worked for Fenton for years. It didn't make any sense for him to want Nancy to be called. They hadn't worked on a case together since that one that had gone so badly. In fact, from that time on, some coolness had entered their friendship. Frank would never talk to Nancy about any of his cases. The only updates Nancy had ever gotten on those had all come from Joe. None of this was comforting in the least.

When an hour had passed and still none of the Hardys could be reached, Ned had called Bess and George so they could start making plans for going to Vancouver. They and their respective husbands had opted to just come over in person, and Bess had volunteered to watch the kids outside so that the other adults could plan more easily. The five of them were in the living room, and the conversation had turned to theorizing on what had happened with Frank.

"Isn't White Horse the capital of the Northwest Territories?" asked Dave, Bess's husband.

"Yeah, but it's all one word," Ned replied.

Dave shrugged. "Maybe it was in the message. That officer in Vancouver just read it out loud to Nancy, so we don't know exactly how it was written out. Either way, maybe that's what the message means. The case obviously concerns Canada."

"Why would it say 'the Whitehorse' then?" George asked. "You wouldn't write 'the River Heights.'"

"If Frank wrote it out in a hurry, he probably wasn't too worried about grammar," Dave insisted.

"That's another point," Nancy spoke up. "If you're writing a message in a hurry, you might leave out articles to save time, but I doubt you'd add one that's not necessary. But it's still a good thought, and it could explain the part of the message about the 'sign.' Maybe some road sign for Whitehorse is a hiding place or a meeting place or something."

"There would be a lot of road signs like that," George pointed out, "and they're all probably a long way from Vancouver. It doesn't sound very likely to me."

"There's the White Horse in the U.K.," her husband, Burt, said. "You know, the one cut into the side of the hill?"

"That's even farther from Vancouver," Dave objected.

Burt shrugged. "Just a thought."

Nancy shook her head. "We don't know anything about the case. There's no way we can guess what that message meant. It could be anything."

Ned glanced at the clock on the wall. "I wonder if Griffon has gotten in touch with any of the Hardys yet. I don't like this that we can't contact any of them."

"Me, neither," Nancy agreed. She took out her phone to check for any missed calls or messages, although she was already sure there weren't any.

"Well, then, would George and I be more helpful in Vancouver or heading to Bayport to investigate?" Burt asked.

Nancy smiled slightly as she raised an eyebrow at him. "I didn't ask you to do either."

"We're volunteering," George spoke up. "We've both got vacation time coming to us, and you're probably going to need help."

"Dave and Bess can watch all the kids," Burt added. "The only question is whether we should go straight to Vancouver with you, or head to Bayport first."

"Thanks. I don't know what I'd do without all of you." Nancy bit her lip. "There's bound to be someone in Bayport who could tell us something about the Hardys, but I doubt it's necessary to actually go there. For that matter, I should have thought of it before."

She took out her phone again and looked up the number for the Bayport police. Then she placed the call, and when it was answered, she asked to speak to Chief Collig.

"This is Nancy Ni…Drew," she said when Bayport's chief of police answered. "You probably remember me?"

Collig chuckled. "I'm not too likely to forget. How have you been?"

"Just fine. Until this morning, anyway. Something's come up and I've been trying to get in touch the Hardys. Any of them, at this point, but all their phones go straight to voicemail. Do you know what's going on?"

"They're not working on any cases for me, if that's what you're wondering," Collig said. "Fenton mentioned something about him and Laura going on vacation, somewhere up in Canada. He said the cell reception wasn't very good up there, so if I needed to contact him about anything, I should go through Sam Radley. Did you try him?"

"Yeah, but he won't answer, either." Nancy paused. "You did say 'Canada'?"

"That's right. As for the boys, I really don't have any idea. Neither of them live in Bayport anymore, you know. Which is too bad. Maybe they went with Fenton and Laura."

"I'm afraid so," Nancy said softly.

"What's that? Here, Nancy, what's going on? Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"I'm not, but afraid they are. A police officer in Vancouver called me this morning. Frank's there. He had been in an accident and he's still unconscious. He didn't have any ID on him, but he did have my phone number. At first, they were just trying to find out who he is, but the longer this goes on, the more it sounds like he's not the only Hardy in trouble."

"Yeah." Nancy could hear Collig tapping his fingers on his desk even over the phone. "Look, Nancy, there's no need to panic just yet. They've still got a lot of friends in Bayport. I'll ask around and see if I can find out when anyone's heard from them last. I'll let you know what I find out. I assume you're going to Vancouver?"

"I think we'd better."

"Okay. Keep me posted."

"Thanks, Chief." Nancy let out a sigh and looked around at her friends as she ended the call. "That takes care of Bayport. We'd better see how soon we can get to Vancouver."

NDNDNDNDND

It was Monday before they were able to get a flight. That left enough time to put a few things in order before being gone indefinitely, but Nancy chafed at the delay. She stayed in touch with both Collig and Griffon, and no one was able to make contact with Joe, Fenton, Laura, or Sam. The only news that came close to being good news during that time was that Frank's condition was stabilized, although he was still comatose.

They had all met at Bess and Dave's house. Dave had offered to drive the travelers to the airport so that they wouldn't have to leave a car there the entire time they were gone.

"We're going to have lots of fun!" Audrey declared as Ned carried her and Katie's overnight bags into the house. "Are you going to be gone very long, Daddy?"

"We're not sure yet," Ned told her. "We'll call you every day, though. Be good and do everything your Aunt Bess and Uncle Dave tell you to." He set the bags down and then crouched down so that he could hug her.

"Okay. Love you, Daddy!" Audrey gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek and then she darted over to Nancy and wrapped her arms around her. "Love you, too, Mommy!"

Katie was more hesitant. "You are going to come back, aren't you?" she asked as Nancy hugged her.

"Of course, we are," Nancy promised her. "Like your dad said, we'll call every day so you won't have to worry about us. I love you, Katie."

"I love you, too." Katie hugged her mom back, and then she turned to her dad.

"I need you to be brave and look out for your sister, Katie," Ned told her.

"I will."

Nancy looked at her girls one more time. She felt she missed them already, but she was sure they would be all right with Bess and Dave. At least she wouldn't have to worry about them while she was gone. Then she turned to Bess.

"Thanks for this. If you need anything from the house, you can just go and get it. And of course you can call any time.," she said. "You're sure you don't mind this?"

Bess grinned. "As if. We're going to have a great time. You just solve this mystery as fast as you can."

"I'll do my best."

NDNDNDNDND

During the flight to Vancouver, Nancy focused on outlining a plan to do just that. Until they had more information, they couldn't make any plans too rigidly. The first thing they would do would be to check in with Griffon and see if he had any updates. Nancy didn't expect he would. He hadn't for several days. Even if he didn't have anything new to tell them, he could at least give them an introduction to Frank's doctors. Going to see him would be the second thing they did, unless, by a slim chance, Griffon had some urgent lead that couldn't wait for them to follow it up. There were four of them, and so it would have been nice if one of them could have stayed with Frank at all times, but Nancy didn't think they hospital would allow that. Even if it did, she might need all three of her companions working outside the hospital, since after visiting Frank, Nancy intended to find out where he had been found and who had found him and try to find some clue as to why he was out there or how he had gotten hit by a car.

Ned rented a car, and then they went straight to the hospital, where they were to meet with Griffon just outside the main entrance. Nancy could see that the officer was critically observing them, a fact which made her more inclined to trust him than not. After all, she also took careful note of his appearance and everything he said in case there was some trick being perpetrated.

"I still haven't been able to contact any of Hardy's family," Griffon explained. "So I don't have anything new to report to you."

"I was afraid you wouldn't," Nancy admitted. "We are going to be able to see Frank, right?"

"Yes, just not all at once. The doctor said no more than two at a time," Griffon explained. "I suppose you'll also want to be going out to where he was found?"

"That's right. You said it was in some kind of park?" Nancy asked.

Griffon nodded. "Mount Seymour. It takes up a lot of the area to the northeast of the city. I can take you out to the exact spot. Of course, I already looked out there, but maybe you can find something I missed. I've also got that message for you to look at, if you like. Chief Collig helped me with some samples of Hardy's handwriting, and I had a handwriting analyst examine them. She concluded that Hardy wrote that message himself, but quickly and he probably broke the pencil at the end, so it might not be the complete message."

"That's interesting," George commented. "I wonder if he did mean to write more."

"Unfortunately, it's looking like we won't know until and unless Hardy wakes up," Griffon replied. "Well, let's go and talk to the doctor."

Frank's doctor was a grim-face man in his sixties named Kevin Rogate. He acknowledged Griffon's introduction of the Americans with a curt nod to each of them and then he immediately explained, "I can't tell you any specifics of the patient's condition, since none of you are actually family, but it's my opinion that he would benefit from having someone visit him. You're certain that you don't know of any other relatives we could contact?"

"I'm afraid so," Nancy said. "He had an aunt, but she passed away a few years ago, and he doesn't have any first cousins. I think there are a few more distant ones, but I don't know any of their names or how to contact them."

Dr. Rogate shook his head dismally. "I hope his parents or brother show up soon. This could get very ugly with him being a U.S. citizen but no one with power of attorney, especially if he doesn't wake up soon. Anyway, I suggest you go in and see him in pairs. Please do talk to him or at least to each other, if that's more comfortable. I believe it's hearing more than anything that helps coma patients know there are people around them. So which of you want to come first?"

Nancy glanced at George, who shook her head quickly. That made sense. Nancy knew Frank better than George did.

"Ned and I will go," she said.

"The rest of you can wait here in the waiting area." Dr. Rogate gestured to Nancy and Ned. "Come with me."

They followed him down a hallway. Several doctors, nurses, and other personnel were also walking up and down the hallway or going in and out of rooms. Nancy paid no attention to any of them until she noticed Dr. Rogate fasten his attention on a nurse who was just opening a door a short distance ahead of them.

"Serene!" he said sharply.

The nurse jumped and looked back at him, her face a bit pale after her fright. "Is something wrong, Dr. Rogate?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just checking on the man from the cycling accident."

"He's in 203," Dr. Rogate told her. "This is 205. I suggest you learn to keep room numbers."

"Oh!" The nurse glanced at the number posted plainly on the door. Blushing with embarrassment, she shuffled away to the next room over. Nancy couldn't help feeling a little sorry for her. She was young and probably hadn't graduated very long ago, and Dr. Rogate's face and tone had been harsh.

No one commented on the incident, and Dr. Rogate opened the door to 205 himself before ushering Nancy and Ned inside. It wasn't the first ICU room Nancy had been in, and the equipment and the general layout looked just like what she would expect, but she paid no attention to it. Her gaze was immediately drawn to the bed in the center of all the equipment and the figure lying on it, unmoving.

"If you need anything, press this button," Dr. Rogate said. "I'll be back soon."

He left the room. Instinctively, Nancy reached for Ned's hand, and then the two of them approached the bed without speaking for a few moments. Frank's face was pale and still swollen from the bruises, though the swelling had receded somewhat since Griffon had taken that picture of him. He was thinner than Nancy had ever seen him and he was so still and lifeless that the sight made Nancy's stomach twist in knots.

She swallowed hard. "Hi, Frank," she said softly. "It's Nancy. I'm here. Ned is, too. We're going to find out what happened, but it would really help if you could talk to us."

She had half-hoped that some flicker of movement might show that Frank had heard and understood, but there was nothing.