(#15) The Haunted Bridge by Carolyn Keene Read Free Book Online Page B

Nancy moved forward eagerly, he looked up. Seeing her, he dropped his sickle and started to run in the opposite direction.
    “Wait!” Nancy begged him. “Please wait!”
    The man paid no attention. He leaped onto a bicycle hidden in the bushes, then rode rapidly down a path and disappeared among the trees.
    “Don’t run away!” Nancy shouted as she dashed after him.
    The man glanced over his shoulder and peddled faster and faster. Breathless from running, Nancy was compelled to abandon the chase. In chagrin she watched him vanish from view.
    “Now why did he act that way?” she speculated, frowning.
    With a shrug Nancy turned and walked back to her car. At the hotel Bess and George were waiting for her on the terrace.
    “Barty won his match yesterday,” Bess announced as Nancy sat down. “George and I happened to see the scorecard.”
    “What did he have on number sixteen?” Nancy asked quickly.
    “A four. Imagine that!”
    “He should have been disqualified for cheating,” Nancy said. “Did you tell the chairman about it?”
    “We were going to, but what was the use?” George asked. “He would deny everything.”
    “Yes, that’s true,” Bess added.
    “Barty was ahead before he came to the sixteenth hole,” George revealed. “He didn’t need to cheat for the match already was his. He just couldn’t bear to take a penalty.”
    “It’s disgusting,” Nancy murmured. “I wonder how the other matches are turning out. Let’s watch some of the players.”
    They sauntered along the course, pausing at the seventeenth green to watch two players hole their putts. Then they moved on toward the woods.
    “Isn’t that Chris Sutter?” Nancy asked presently, indicating a boy just within the fringe of trees.
    “He’s peering into the woods at the identical place where your ball went in,” Bess observed.
    “I tried to convince him that the area wasn’t haunted,” Nancy said with a chuckle.
    It was obvious that he was still afraid to look for the ball. Finally, mastering his misgivings, he disappeared from view. The girls quickened their steps.
    Just as they reached the woods, Chris reappeared, apparently unsuccessful in his search for the golf ball.
    “No luck?” Nancy asked him.
    The boy shook his head. “Sorry.”
    “By the way, Chris,” Nancy said, “I’m depending on you to caddy for me today.”
    “I’ll be ready whenever you say, Miss Drew.”
    “Please be at the first tee by two-thirty. Our match will be a hard one.”
    “You’ll win,” Chris said confidently, “and I’ll be pulling for you all the way.”
    The girls chatted with Chris for a few minutes. Then, leaving him to continue the search for the autographed golf ball, they walked back to the hotel for luncheon.
    While passing through the lobby Nancy saw a letter in her room mailbox. She stopped to ask the clerk for it.
    “I’ll bet it’s a note from your new admirer,” Bess declared, giggling.
    The letter was indeed from Martin Bartescue. He wished Nancy luck in her afternoon match, and said that he had defeated his opponent by an easy margin.
    “If you win today, we must celebrate our joint victory,” he had written. “I look forward to escorting you to the dance at Hemlock Hall.”
    “Hm!” Nancy fumed. “He takes it for granted that I’d be thrilled to go.” Then, calming down, she added, “I think perhaps I’ll accept.”
    Bess and George stared at her in bewilderment.
    “How can you expect to have any fun with him?” George asked.
    “I don’t. But it’ll be a good chance to study the guests—investigative work for Dad.”
    “Oh, that’s different,” Bess answered in relief. “By the way, two boys here at the hotel have asked George and me to the same dance.”
    “We haven’t promised yet,” Bess replied, “but if you want to go with Barty we could accept and all keep together.”
    “Good idea,” Nancy agreed after a moment’s thought. “And now, let’s eat lunch. I’ll have to leave soon