Scent of Danger by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Chapter

Nine

HER HEART JUMPING, Nancy slammed the car door shut, trapping the civet inside. As it howled its frustration, George dashed to Nancy’s side.

“What was that?” George’s voice was high and reedy.

“A civet, I think,” Nancy replied, speaking with a calm she didn’t feel. They heard a thump as the civet threw itself against the car door, desperately trying to get out.

Nancy leaned against the door, feeling slightly faint. “I think it scratched me, but I’m all right.”

“All right! Nancy, that’s the second time you’ve almost been killed!” George was pale.

“When I saw that thing coming at you, I nearly died!”

Owen and Bess ran up to them. “I thought I heard a civet, but—” Owen stopped when he saw the gash on Nancy’s hand. “Nancy, what happened?”

Bess let out a little scream. “You’re bleeding! We’ve got to get you to the hospital right away!”

Nancy shook her head. “It’s not that bad,” she told them, taking a deep breath of the cold night air. The scratches on her hand throbbed a bit but weren’t too painful.

Nancy turned to Owen. “There’s a civet in your car—it looks pretty frightened.”

Owen nodded. “I have some animal tranquilizers. But I think we should take care of that scratch first. I have a first-aid kit in my trunk,” he told George, throwing her the keys.

While George unlocked the trunk and got out the kit, Owen examined Nancy’s hand. “It’s not too deep,” he commented. George gave him the first-aid kit, and he swabbed the scratch with disinfectant. Then he applied a soothing ointment.

“That feels much better, thank you,” Nancy said as Owen wrapped the scratch in a professional-looking bandage. “You should have been a doctor,” she added.

“That’s what my parents say, too,” he said, smiling. Then his face grew serious. “Now I’d better take care of the civet.”

“What is it doing here?” Bess wondered.

“Obviously, whoever was driving the van planted it,” George said grimly.

The civet in the car gave a mournful howl. “I think we ought to deal with the poor animal before we talk about this,” Nancy said. “The poor thing looks and sounds terrified.”

Bess said, “Nancy, you sound like you feel sorry for it! After what it did to you . . .”

“But, Bess, it wasn’t planning to hurt Nancy,” Owen told her. “It acted out of instinct.” He looked at the civet through the window. “Nancy’s right, the civet is scared to death. That’s why it’s giving off that musky smell.”

“Is that what civet oil smells like? It’s awful,” Bess said. “I can’t believe it’s used in perfumes!”

“They must neutralize it first,” Nancy told her.

Owen gave Nancy and Bess a curious look. “How did you know about civet oil?” he asked.

Nancy explained what Felicity Willert had told her and Bess earlier that day. George let out a long, low whistle. “So that’s what this is all about,” she said.

“Maybe,” Nancy said. “Except that it doesn’t seem that civet oil is too hard to find. It’s just expensive.”

“And hard to cultivate,” Owen added, taking a large canvas bag stamped River Heights Zoo from the trunk of the car.

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