The Witch Tree Symbol (14 page)

Nancy led the way. She pushed open a creaky door and the group entered the lower floor of the two-story building. Through the cracks between the wide boards enough sunlight filtered in so that they could plainly see the interior. There was one large room—completely empty!

Cautiously, Nancy and her friends climbed to the second floor. The situation here was the same. To convince herself that there were no secret closets or other hiding places, the young detective made a thorough search but she found nothing,

“There must be a house and barns on the property,” she said. “Let’s find them.”

Outside, the group separated. Bess and George cautiously made their way along the edge of the woods, planning to skirt it completely. Nancy, Mrs. Glick, and Henner decided to drive the carriage across the clearing and along a lane that ran through the woods.

At the far end of the woods they came to the dooryard of the farmhouse. As the three alighted from the carriage, Henner suddenly cried out with fright and pointed.

Ahead of them was a witch tree! And painted on it was half of the now-familiar hex sign!

“Look!” Henner shrieked.

A hand holding a paintbrush was just reaching around the tree. No other part of a human body was visible. The watchers stared in astonishment at the weird sight.

Henner dung to his mother’s skirts. Mrs. Glick looked grim, and Nancy’s spine tingled. For a brief second she felt as if she were seeing a ghostly apparition. Then she brushed this thought aside and dashed forward to see who was behind the tree.

Fully expecting the person to be Roger Hoelt, she was amazed to find a stout, dull-looking boy, about sixteen years old. He stared at the girl stupidly.

“What are you doing?” she cried. “And who lives here?”

The youth continued to gawk at her and did not answer. Mrs. Glick, who had run up, began to question him in Pennsylvania Dutch. But he did not utter a word and looked as if he failed to comprehend what she was saying.

Suddenly Nancy had an idea. Perhaps the boy was a deaf mute! She decided to test him.

While Mrs. Glick was trying to get the boy to talk, Nancy quickly kicked a large stone toward the tree. It made a loud noise when it hit the trunk, but the boy paid no attention. Now she was sure he could not hear and apparently could not speak.

“I wonder if he works for Roger Hoelt,” Nancy mused aloud.

“He probably does,” Mrs. Glick said. “Do you think we ought to tie him up in the carriage until our search is over? If we don’t, I’m afraid he may run off and warn the man.”

Nancy wondered about this. She said that her chief concern now was to find Manda Kreutz and induce her to leave the Hoelts’ before Nancy notified the police.

“Then we won’t worry about this boy,” said Mrs. Glick. “Where do we go next?”

Before Nancy could make up her mind, she heard Bess calling her. “Come quickly!” the girl urged.

“Where are you?” Nancy called back.

“In the woods near the house,” Bess replied.

Nancy dashed in the direction of Bess’s voice, requesting that the Glicks watch the strange boy. When Nancy reached her friends she could hardly believe her eyes. Talking to George and Bess was a sweet-faced Amish girl—Manda Kreutz!

 

 

 

“MANDA!” Nancy cried excitedly, running up to the Amish girl. “I’m so glad we’ve found you at last! Are you all right?”

“Yes,” replied Manda, looking a little surprised. She went on to say that she was living with Mr. and Mrs. Roger Hoelt. “They are very nice people and are restoring this old house.”

“Nice people!” George cried. “They’re anything but that!”

Manda frowned, then asked George what she meant by this.

“You explain, Nancy,” George said. “Bess and I haven’t told Manda anything about the mystery.”

After hearing the story, Manda was amazed. She could not believe it. The Hoelts had been very kind to her and were paying her good wages. Manda added that they were Church Amish from Ohio and spoke Pennsylvania Dutch very well.

“I do not see how Mr. Hoelt could be a thief,” she said stubbornly.

“Well, he is,” George told her bluntly. “And the sooner you get out of here the better.”

Sadly Manda hung her head, saying she had no place else to go. Her papa would not let her return home, and she did not want to work in Lancaster.

Nancy smiled. “I’ve talked with your mother and father, Manda. They want you to come home. Your father regrets being so harsh and will be glad to have you back.”

The Amish girl looked at Nancy as if this were not possible. Finally she said, “You speak the truth?”

Bess looked indignant. “Of course Nancy’s telling the truth.”

But Nancy did not blame Manda for not being completely persuaded, either that her family wanted her back or that Roger Hoelt was a thief. “I must convince her,” Nancy thought. Aloud she said, “Manda, have the Hoelts moved any furniture into the house?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Beautiful antique furniture?” Nancy asked. “Are there one or more tables from George Washington’s home?”

Manda looked startled. “You know this?”

Nancy gave her additional details of the mystery, and finally the Amish girl said she believed now that Mr. Hoelt was indeed a thief. She would leave the Hoelts’ employ immediately. But she did not want to report them to the police.

“You will have to do that,” she said to the young sleuth.

Suddenly Nancy recalled the boy who had been painting the hex sign on the witch tree and asked Manda who he was.

“He is a harmless boy who cannot hear or speak,” the Amish girl answered. “Todd lives here too. Mr. Hoelt writes out everything for him to do. Todd is not very smart, but he is a good worker.”

“Did Mr. Hoelt ask him to paint the symbol on the tree?” Nancy queried, telling of the strange way in which it was being done.

Manda nodded. Mr. Hoelt had claimed it was a hex sign used by his family years before. He was very proud of it, and planned to have the hex sign painted on the barn and various other places when he restored the farm.

“He told Todd to paint the symbol on a tree but not to let anyone see him.” Manda laughed. “The poor boy probably hid when he saw you coming but tried to go on with the painting.”

The girls smiled, then Nancy asked Manda how she had located the farm. The Amish girl revealed that Mr. Hoelt had not given her very clear directions when he had suggested she come to work for them.

“All he said was that the house was near the old
schnitz.
I could find it by looking for two witch trees.”

“Is there really such a thing as a witch tree?” Bess asked. “We thought it was just a nickname for a tree with witches’ broom growing on it.”

“That is right,” Manda replied. “I figured Mr. Hoelt meant an old tree with
hex bayse
near the
schnitz.
I asked lots of people where the
schnitz
was, but nobody seemed to know. Then I met an old man on the road and he told me to come here. When I saw the witch trees, I knew this was the right place.”

Suddenly Manda looked around her, a frightened expression coming over her face. She said all of them should leave at once.

“You mean before Mr. and Mrs. Hoelt catch us?” George put in.

“Not exactly,” Manda replied. “But they will be back this evening. I want to be far away when they drive in.”

The fact that the Hoelts were not at home pleased Nancy. This would give her a chance to make a positive identification of the furniture before reporting the Hoelts to the police.

“Please show us first where the antiques are,” Nancy requested.

“All right. But we must hurry,” Manda said, starting for the house.

Nancy walked beside her and asked the girl if she had ever heard of an old secret connected with the farm. Manda shook her head.

Nancy pursued the subject. “Manda, did you overhear the Hoelts say anything about a mystery connected with the place?”

Again Manda said no. Then Nancy asked her if she had screamed while running in the woods near one of the smaller houses on the property.

Manda smiled. “Oh, that was Mrs. Hoelt,” she replied. “She saw a stray dog.”

Manda was amazed to learn that the three girls had been so close to the farm such a short time before. When Nancy told her about the attic episode, Manda said this would account for Mr. Hoelt’s coming into the house with his hair and clothes very dirty. He had said that he had been in the attic of a relative’s house, looking for an old family Bible he had heard about the day before.

The Amish girl opened the rear door of the farmhouse. In the kitchen were just a few pots, pans, and dishes. Manda explained that the Hoelts, had brought in only four cots and the antique furniture, since they planned to redecorate the house completely. The antiques had been stored in two attic storage rooms, because the painters would soon start work.

“Mr. Hoelt told me never to mention the furniture because someone might try to steal it,” Manda explained.

George said in disgust, “A clever cover-up.”

“Shall we go upstairs now?” Manda asked.

“Yes,” said Nancy. “I have a list with me of the furniture stolen from the Follett mansion in River Heights. I’ll see if the pieces here appear to be the same ones.”

The four girls climbed two flights of stairs to the attic. Here there was a center hall with a window in the rear. A storage room opened off each side of the hall. Nancy noted the heavy Dutch doors, which had unusual locks. They were made of iron and were fully six inches square. An enormous key protruded from each lock, each key with a loop on the end that was as big around as any of Nancy’s bracelets.

Manda unlocked one of the doors. In the light from the hallway and from a small ventilator at the far end of the room, the girls could see several pieces of old furniture.

Nancy went from one to another, eying them carefully. After looking them all over, she said, “I’m sure these pieces came from Mrs. Follett’s home. But, Manda, none of the George Washington tables is here.”

“They are across the hall,” the girl replied. “Mr. Hoelt said they were the most valuable and put the tables by themselves.”

She unlocked the other storage room and the girls went inside. There were four George Washington tables! Nancy surmised that two were genuine, while the other two were the copies Mr. Zinn had made. So Roger Hoelt had found the valuable matching cherry table!

Nancy asked Manda if she knew where it had come from. “Mr. Hoelt said he bought it in a New York antique shop.”

“Well,” she said, smiling, “our search is ended.”

“I’m glad,” Bess sighed. “You deserve a lot of credit, Nance, but it will be a relief to wind up this case.”

“And I vote for that too,” said George, “although it has been a lot of fun. Congratulations, Nancy.”

“I never could have done it alone,” the young detective spoke up quickly.

Manda thought it was marvelous that Nancy had traced the stolen pieces. “And to think also that you fixed everything for me with Papa and Mama so I can go home. It would be wonderful to go now, ain’t?”

“We’ll start right away,” said Nancy. “And we’ll stop at the nearest farm with a telephone and call the police. They should be here to greet Mr. and Mrs. Hoelt when they arrive.”

The girls were so absorbed in their discussion that no one but Nancy, out of the corner of her eye, saw the shadow that suddenly fell across the doorway. Whirling around, she caught a fleeting glimpse of a man who thundered, “You will never do that! You will die first!”

With this, he slammed the door and locked it!

“Mr. Hoelt!” Manda cried. “Let us out!” The reply was a mocking laugh from the other side of the barrier.

The girls leaped toward the door, pounding on it and trying to batter it down. At the top of her voice Manda yelled that Mr. Hoelt had no right to lock her in. He must release all of them at once!

Her plea went unheeded. Then the girls heard Roger Hoelt hurrying down the stairway.

“We must get out and capture that thief!” Nancy cried with determination.

Together, the girls threw their weight against the door time after time, trying to break it down. Their efforts were futile.

“We’re prisoners!” Bess wailed. “He’s going to leave us here to die!”

 

 

 

FRANTIC that they would suffocate in the hot, stuffy attic, the four girls continued their efforts to break down the locked door. But finally, their shoulders bruised and sore, they were forced to give up.

Bess was on the verge of tears. In the darkness the others could hear her moan softly. “Nobody will ever find us here.”