The Spider Sapphire Mystery (5 page)

By this time Ned had finished the box of crackers and eaten the candy bar. He declared he felt a hundred per cent better and would like to get back to Emerson. “I hope the dean will let me take the exam I missed. I’d hate to flunk the course.”

Officer Riggi smiled. “If you have any trouble convincing him, just let me know.”

“Thanks,” said Ned.

After glasses of delicious water from a well just outside the lodge, the six young people started their trek back along the brook, past the cabin where Ned had first been taken, and on through the pear orchard to the road. By this time it was dusk. Fortunately the shots fired at the tires on Nancy’s car had not punctured them. She slid behind the wheel while the others climbed in.

“I hope I can find my way back to Emerson,” she said. “Ned, what’s the latitude and longitude of your fraternity house?”

The others laughed. They knew that Nancy had a sixth sense for direction and did not need any instruction.

Silence had fallen over the group when Nancy spoke up. “Well, one mysterious disappearance solved.”

“One?
How many are there?” Bess asked.

“Have you been keeping something from us, Miss Drew?” George put in.

Nancy’s friends had quickly discerned from the tone of her voice that there was indeed more mystery in the wind!

The girl detective revealed the curious story of the two spider sapphires and a definite connection between that mystery and Ned’s kidnapping.

“You mean, in other words, that our African holiday is going to be a really hot one!” Ned quipped.

Nancy merely smiled. It was dark by the time they reached the Longview MoteL Ned immediately telephoned his parents and told of the rescue. Nancy in turn called her father and asked him to notify the Faynes and Marvins.

When Nancy and Ned rejoined the others, Bess said, “I hope the dining room is still open. It’s been a long time since lunch.”

To their relief, dinner was still being served. “I’ll have roast turkey with all the trimmings,” Bess announced as they sat down.

When they had finished dessert, Ned remarked, “This day certainly didn’t turn out the way I planned. There’s a concert tonight at the university and a reception afterward for the soloist. She’s an African black by the name of Madame Lilia Bulawaya. I understand she has a marvelous voice.” He looked at his wrist watch. “Would you girls like to go? We’d be late but we could hear part of the concert.”

Nancy asked, “Do you feel up to it, Ned?”

“Of course. Let’s go! I guess you girls will want to change your clothes. Suppose we fellows go back to the fraternity house and make ourselves presentable. May I borrow your car, Nancy?”

“Go ahead. We’ll be ready by the time you get back.”

Nancy was dressed before the boys returned and put in a telephone call to State Police headquarters near Landsdowne. The officer who answered said he had little to report. The two prisoners had refused to talk. Jahan and Dhan had not appeared at the hunting lodge yet.

“We did get one little clue,” the officer stated. “Our men found a letter on the floor of the prisoners’ car. It was written to ‘Dear Joe,’ post-marked Mombasa, and was in Swahili. Unfortunately there was no return address and no signature.”

“So the strong man was probably from Mombasa!” Nancy thought. Aloud she said, “Thank you for the information.”

By this time the boys had arrived. Nancy quickly told them about the police report, then the young people set off for the concert. Madame Lilia Bulawaya was an outstanding performer. Not only was her voice sweet but she had a charming personality.

In her repertoire were several delightful songs in Swahili. She announced that she was singing these in honor of the Emerson student safari to Africa. When she finished, the applause was thunderous.

“Isn’t she lovely?” Nancy said. “I’m so glad we’ll have a chance to meet her later.”

When the concert was over, there was a long reception line. On it were Professor and Mrs. Stanley who were to head the safari.

While Nancy stood in line waiting, she began to hum one of the Swahili songs. When she was introduced to Madame Bulawaya, the woman’s eyes sparkled. “Didn’t I hear you humming one of the songs I sang?”

Nancy nodded. “It is lovely. What do the words mean?”

“It’s a lullaby. My mother used to sing it to us children. Would you like to learn the words?”

“Indeed I would,” Nancy answered.

“Then as soon as I have met everyone, I will teach them to you,” the singer said. “I’ll meet you at that table where the bouquet of carnations is.”

She turned to shake hands with the next person in line and Nancy moved off. She was thrilled by Madame Bulawaya’s offer and waited for the singer to come. It was not long.

“Shall we first hum the melody together?” the woman asked.

Nancy was embarrassed but followed the suggestion.

“You have a very sweet voice and well-suited to singing in Swahili,” Madame Bulawaya said. “You probably noticed that the language has a soft, musical quality.”

It did not take long to learn the strange words of the lullaby. Nancy sang it softly phrase by phrase after Madame Bulawaya. Then the artist asked her to try it all the way through alone.

Nancy did so and the woman smiled. “You are an apt pupil,” she said. “Now let us sing it together.”

Nancy looked at Madame Bulawaya in astonishment. She was to sing the song with this great artist!

As she demurred, George spoke up. “Go ahead, Nancy. You can do it.”

Madame Bulawaya smiled. “Of course you can.”

She began singing and nodded for Nancy to make a duet of it. Finally she did and this time the voices were loud enough to be heard throughout the reception room. At the end everyone clapped and Nancy’s face turned red with embarrassment.

Ned came dashing across the room. “That was great,” he said. “Thank you so much, Madame Bulawaya, for teaching the song to Nancy. Now when we go to Africa, we’ll get her to sing it once in a while.”

Nancy laughed. “You’ll do nothing of the kind,” she told him. “I might just sing it for the six of us, but don’t you ever dare ask me to do it in public!”

Ned merely grinned and made no comment. Bess spoke up and told the singer that Nancy had many talents. “She’s a marvelous detective along with other things.”

Madame Bulawaya looked amazed. “A detective? Then maybe you would do something for me while you’re in Africa.”

“I’ll do anything I can,” Nancy replied. “What is it you wish?”

Sadly the woman said that the song Nancy had learned was a favorite of a brother of hers named Tizam. “Once in a while he acted as a guide on a safari. About a year ago he took some white tourists from the United States into lion country. Tizam suddenly disappeared and the others thought he had been attacked and killed by a lioness.”

“How dreadful!” said Nancy.

“Recently,” Madame Bulawaya went on, “I had a dream that my brother is still alive. I’m making this concert tour to get enough money to send an expedition out to find him.”

She turned pleading eyes to Nancy and her friends. “Perhaps you can pick up a clue. I would be eternally grateful to you if you could find Tizam.”

“I’LL do all I can to find your brother,” Nancy assured Madame Bulawaya.

“Oh, thank you,” the singer replied.

“Where did Tizam’s safari start from?” Nancy asked.

“Nairobi.”

Nancy told the woman this would be the first stop in her safari and she would make some inquiries. Madame Bulawaya gave a description of her brother. He was tall, slender, and very dark. The singer smiled. “He has a lovely smile. I miss him very much and wish you the best of luck in finding him for me.”

In a short time the reception ended and good-bys were said to Madame Bulawaya. The boys escorted Nancy and her friends to the Longview Motel. Ned said that he had been in touch with the dean about the exam he had missed that morning. He had obtained permission to take it the following afternoon.

“In the meantime I’ll have to catch a little shut-eye and do some heavy studying.”

Nancy told him that the three girls would leave early the next morning. “We’ll meet you boys at Kennedy Airport in New York two hours before take-off time.”

“Perfect! We’ll be seeing you day after tomorrow!”

Ned, Burt, and Dave departed and the girls went to bed. They were up early the following day and were among the first diners in the restaurant. Before leaving for River Heights, Nancy telephoned State Police headquarters near Landsdowne again.

“I want to find out if there is any news of Jahan and Dhan.”

The report was discouraging. The two kidnappers had not returned to the hunting lodge and the man called Swahili Joe had not been there either.

When Nancy told this to her friends, Bess burst out, “That horrible Joe! He left Ned there to starve!”

“Maybe not,” George spoke up. “Swahili Joe may have been coming back when he discovered Ned had been rescued. In fact, he could have been the one to tell Jahan and Dhan that they’d better flee.”

A little while later the three girls were on their way to River Heights. They discussed the problem of what clothes to take to Africa so they would have enough but not be overweight in their baggage.

Later Nancy talked it over with Hannah Gruen. “I don’t want to pay a big charge for excess pounds going overseas.”

The housekeeper smiled. “I’ll help you avoid it. You put out everything you want to take and I’ll weigh them on the bathroom scale.”

Nearly all the next day was spent sorting, picking out, discarding. As the afternoon wore on, Nancy, tired of this job, began to talk about the two mysteries she was going to try solving in Africa.

“They both sound dangerous,” Mrs. Gruen remarked. “But if I had to make a choice, I’d take the spider sapphire. Going into lion country after Mr. Tizam sounds really scary to me.”

Nancy’s eyes twinkled. “It might be exciting.”

“Too exciting,” the housekeeper said. Then she shrugged and put an arm around Nancy. “All I can say for the millionth time is, ‘Please be careful.’ ”

At last the packing was finished. Late in the afternoon Mr. Drew drove Nancy, Bess, and George to the River Heights Airport where they were to board a plane for New York. He smiled fondly at them. “You know, I’m really envious. Your trip sounds like a lot more fun than staying in my law office working on briefs.”

Nancy hugged him. “If I hit a snag, I’ll cable you to come and join us.” She gave him a wink. “Shall I make the opportunity?”

“I’ll let you know,” he countered.

The plane to New York was announced over the loudspeaker and the girls climbed aboard. An hour later they reached Kennedy Airport in New York. Ned, Burt, and Dave were already there with the Stanleys. The professor was of medium height and had graying hair. He was very serious-looking in contrast to his plump, smiling wife.

“Madame Bulawaya told me, Nancy, that you’re going to try locating her brother,” Aunt Millie said. “I love mysteries.” She chuckled. “Call on me if you need any help.”

“I surely will.”

Other members of the safari group arrived in twos and fours. Nancy and her friends knew all the boys but had never met any of the girls who were going along.

One tall, slender blond stood out in the group. She was overdressed for traveling, and it was quite evident that she wore a blond wig. Gwen Taylor met the others in a rather supercilious way and almost at once nobody seemed to care for her.

“She looks like a freak!” George whispered.

Bess came to Gwen’s defense. “Maybe she’s just shy and underneath it she’s a nice person.”

Her cousin did not agree. “She’s too artificial.”

There was a long wait before plane take-off, so Nancy and Ned walked around the airport building, looking for Jahan and Dhan. It was possible that if the men had not left the country, they had followed the young people and would try to cause them harm again. The couple saw nothing of the Indians, however, and returned to their group in the main lobby.

At that moment a voice came over the loudspeaker “Message for Miss Nancy Drew. Please come to your airline ticket office.”

Nancy had jumped from her seat. She hoped that the message was not bad news from home. Ned went with her to the ticket office.

“Miss Drew?” a clerk asked.

When she nodded, he said that Nancy was to telephone her father immediately. He himself put the call through and the lawyer came on the wire.

“Nancy, don’t worry. Everything is all right here. But I’m not so sure it will be all right for you in Africa. I want you to watch your step very carefully. Our police got a tip that Jahan and Dhan took off for Africa. They haven’t been apprehended because apparently they were using passports under assumed names.”

“Where did they go?” Nancy asked.

“The police haven’t received a reply yet from the immigration authorities on this point. I thought I should warn you, though. I know it’s almost take-off time, so run along. Hannah sends her love and of course you have mine, and promise me you won’t go anywhere alone.”

“I promise, Dad, and don’t worry. I aim to solve both mysteries without being kidnapped.” She laughed gaily to reassure her father, then said good-by.

Before long, the chattering, laughing Emerson group hurried aboard the chartered plane. When they were airborne, small groups began singing songs, some of them college numbers, others from musical comedy hits. Once in a while someone would call out a wisecrack and set everyone laughing.

“This is such fun,” said Bess to Nancy.

The three girls were seated together. Ned, Burt, and Dave were across the aisle. Dinner was served and presently lights were turned low and everyone was expected to sleep. The young people were in too exuberant a mood for sleep and it was past midnight before they settled down.