134 The Secret of the Forgotten Cave by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene [Keene, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

9

The Search Is On!

When the tow truck arrived, Nancy greeted the young man who drove it and pointed out the car in the stream below.

“My name’s Fred,” he said. “I’ll go down and take a look at it.

As he scrambled down the bank and waded into the water, Nancy heard a rustling in the woods behind her. When she turned she saw a man in dark clothes, standing silently. It was Mr. Tolchinsky.

“Had an accident?” he said. He stepped onto the road and approached her.

“Yes,” Nancy said. “My car went off the bridge.”

“I heard the tow truck arrive back at the house,” he said, “and came out to see what was going on.”

“Didn’t you hear us when we crashed?” Nancy asked. “That would have made a much louder noise.”

“I’ve been listening to music,” Mr. Tolchinsky said. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Nancy said.

“Good,” Mr. Tolchinsky said.

Should she tell him she knew the bridge had been tampered with? But he might have been the one who tampered with it, Nancy figured. She didn’t have a chance to decide. In the next instant, Mr. Tolchinsky turned on his heel and disappeared into the woods.

It didn’t take Fred long to hook the car up to the winch on the back of the truck and tow it out.

When the car was out of the creek, he hopped out of the truck and went around to see if there was any damage.

“Looks okay,” he said. “I’d let it dry out before you try to start it, though,” he advised.

“I don’t think I’ll be doing any more driving tonight,” Nancy said with a laugh.

“Hop in,” Fred said. “I’ll take you home.”

Nancy gave him directions to Aunt Elizabeth’s house. It wasn’t long before he turned into her driveway.

“Here you are,” he said cheerfully.

Nancy hopped out of the truck, thanked him, and went into the house. Her friends were in the parlor drinking hot cocoa with Aunt Elizabeth.

“Nancy, you look troubled,” George said.

Nancy sank into an easy chair. “I found out someone tampered with the bridge.”

“What!” Bess exclaimed.

“Someone sawed off the railing,” Nancy replied. “We never would have gone into the stream otherwise.”

“So someone deliberately forced you off the bridge,” George said, looking alarmed. “Someone planned it.”

“Exactly,” Nancy said. “And Mr. Tolchinsky showed up while Fred, the tow truck operator, pulled the car out. He said he’d heard the truck approaching. When I told him I was fine, he walked off.”

“Do you think he was the one who did that to the railing?” Aunt Elizabeth asked.

“I don’t know,” Nancy said. “Jessie told me she saw Sarah around there this afternoon.”

“It could be either one of them,” George said.

“Except we know it was Sarah’s car that pushed us off,” Nancy reminded them. “Or someone driving Sarah’s car.”

George perked right up. “I didn’t think of that! Do you think Tolchinsky could have taken her car and used it to throw us off the track?”

Nancy shrugged. “There’s a lot more we need to know,” she said.

“What I want to know,” Aunt Elizabeth said, “is why someone ran your car off the road, Nancy.

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