The Clue at Black Creek Farm (Nancy Drew Diaries #9)(29)

“Let’s go.”

We walked down the trail for maybe half a mile. Then Julie stopped us. “Into the woods,” she commanded. I felt my stomach clench. This is bad. This is really bad. But for once my mind was blank. I didn’t know what else to do.

George and I followed Julie’s commands and left the trail, walking farther until we reached a small clearing.

“What are you going to do to us?” George demanded.

Julie smiled, pulling a long, sharp-looking knife from her purse. There was still red on the blade. Julie looked at it and laughed.

“Sorry, girls—there may still be some chicken blood on there,” she said.

I felt like I was going to be sick. I reached into my pocket, trying to dial my dad on the phone without being detected. Do I even have service? I couldn’t tell if my fingers were hitting the right buttons.

Julie moved closer to me and held up the knife, her hands shaking. “You’re first,” she said, “since you’re the sneaky one.”

I felt like I was in a nightmare; I wanted to scream or run, but my feet were rooted to the spot.

Julie held the knife high. It gleamed in the sun.

“No!” Holly’s voice suddenly split the air. “Julie, don’t!”

Julie turned and glared at her accomplice. “What’s your problem now?”

“It’s not worth this,” Holly said, and as she moved closer, I could see that her face was ghostly white. “Listen, I’m passionate about this CSA and the principles it stands for. So when I agreed to contaminate those vegetables at the buffet, I only did it because you’re my best friend and you were desperate. But you swore no one would get hurt. And I’m not okay with hurting people, Julie, especially not kids.” She gestured helplessly at George and me.

Julie stepped closer to Holly and held out the knife. “Holly,” she said in a cool voice, “if I’m willing to get rid of two teenagers over this, why would you assume I’m not willing to get rid of you?”

I gasped. Had our last hope of making Julie see reason been defeated?

But then I heard the slightest bit of movement.

I turned toward the trees we’d walked through to enter the clearing and spotted Officer Bailey, creeping forward with a gun trained on Julie. I took in a breath, but he held his finger to his lips and I forced myself to look away.

“FREEZE! Drop your weapon!”

Julie turned around, startled, to face Officer Bailey and three of his finest colleagues, all with guns trained on her.

Relief washed over me like a hot bath on a cold day. He did see me, I realized with satisfaction. The ruckus I’d made just before Julie raced out of her parking space had worked.

Julie struggled, but eventually the police forced her to drop her weapon. I was beginning to realize that Julie was seriously out of her mind; clearly, the woman had no idea when to give up. When the knife was down, I nearly collapsed with relief. I ran to George and hugged her as hard as I could.

“Please forgive me,” I cried. “Please, please, please, please, please, George . . .”

“Forgive you for what?” she asked, pulling back with an expression of genuine confusion.

“For looking back at you in the café,” I said, thinking it was obvious. “If I hadn’t done that, they might not have made you get into the car with me.”

George shook her head. “Nancy, they saw me earlier. I waited on them.”

“But—”

“Shhhh,” she said, hugging me hard again. “I would have done the same thing. And honestly? I’m just glad we’re alive to tell the tale.”

Once Julie and Holly had been handcuffed and led out to the police cruiser, Officer Bailey came back to lead George and me back to the parking lot. Just as we got there, a familiar car squealed into the parking lot, stopping short. The door flung open, and my dad came running out toward us.

He grabbed me in a big hug, then pulled back and looked us both over. “Are you girls okay?” he asked. “Nancy, what on earth are you doing working a case this dangerous without my help?”

I shrugged, not sure what to say. “It didn’t seem that dangerous at the beginning,” I said honestly. “I mean . . . who knew people could get this worked up about organic farming?”





CHAPTER FOURTEEN





Harvest Time


“OOH, IT’S REALLY GETTING CHILLY,” said Bess, pulling her wool cardigan tighter around her as we moved through the buffet line in the outdoor tent. “The growing season’s almost over.”

“And thanks to Nancy,” Abby said with a smile as she spooned some eggplant curry onto our plates, “Black Creek Farm has had a very successful year after all.”

We were back at Black Creek a few months after all the excitement. Sam had invited George, Bess, Ned, and me for an end-of-harvest dinner and celebration. The farm looked incredibly beautiful, covered in all its fall foliage. Pumpkins were growing in half the fields now, and Abby said they were having great luck selling them at the farm stand and at local farmers’ markets.

“How is Jack doing?” I asked Abby.

“He’s right behind you,” she said with a wink. “You can ask him yourself.”

I turned around and found—sure enough—a tired-looking but cheerful Jack, holding a baby boy in a carrier.