Close Encounters (Nancy Drew (All New) Girl Detective Book 21) by Carolyn Keene Read Free Book Online Page A

around the corner of the house. He moved with remarkable speed for someone with a pronounced limp.
    When he spotted us, he waved his cane in our direction. “My dog’s gone missing,” he shouted. “He’s been dognapped!” He paused. “By those blasted aliens!”
    “Dognapped?” I repeated, not sure I’d heard right.
    “By aliens?” Bess’s eyes widened. The beginnings of a smile tugged at her lips.
    The distress on the man’s face was so obvious that I knew we shouldn’t laugh. I shot a warning glance at Bess. She cleared her throat and turned her face away.
    “Don’t just stand there, girl!” he snapped at us. “Do something!”
    “Like what?” Bess exclaimed.
    “Like use one of those portable phone gizmos. . . . My phone’s out, and so is half the electricity in the house. They zapped everything,” he said.
    “‘They?’” I tried to sound serious. “Aliens stole your dog? Are you sure he didn’t just run away?”
    The man waved off my comment. “I may be old, missy, but I’m no fool. Of course I’m sure. I wouldn’t stand here saying Sherlock was dognapped if I thought he’d escaped on his own.” He tucked his cane underhis arm and pulled his wool cap down over his ears. “So are you going to use your phone or not? Every young’un has one. I’m assuming that thing on your belt is a phone, right?”
    I unclipped my cell phone from the waistband of my jeans, but I was reluctant to call the police. The dog had probably just run off, and the man was probably caught up in the general local hysteria about the UFOs. “Um, who should I say needs help?”
    The man rolled his eyes. He gestured to the sign. “Nichols. Aldwin Nichols, that’s who. Just Aldwin will do. And no need to bother with directions. Everyone knows the Nichols farm. And they all know Sherlock, too. He’s the best tracker in the county. The sheriff and the mountain rescue crew use him all the time,” Aldwin added, sounding rather proud.
    Suddenly he looked past my shoulder. “Not them again!” he blurted.
    As I turned to follow the direction of his gaze, the Reel TV van pulled up in front of the vegetable stand. As the wheels crunched across the gravel, the sound of baying hounds started up from the kennel.
    “You were right,” Bess murmured.
    Without warning Aldwin barged past me. “I told you people to stay off my land.” He went right up to the van’s front door and planted himself in front of it, barring the driver from getting out.
    A guy wearing a baseball cap rolled down the window. He poked his head out, and I recognized him as one of Izzy’s crew members who was staying at the inn, but I didn’t know his name. Of course, he knew mine. “Nancy, tell him we’re here because we’re filming you.”
    Aldwin turned on me. “ You brought them?”
    I shook my head. “I didn’t bring them. They’re following us. I’m not sure why exactly, yet.”
    The guy reached beside him on the seat, then held a sheet of paper out the window of the van. “Because you signed releases, that’s why.”
    “But Mr. Nichols didn’t,” Bess said sweetly.
    Aldwin just glowered at the van. “Get out of here now. You’re trespassing, and I’m calling the police.” He reached out for my cell phone, grabbed it, and dialed 911. Once he got someone on the other end of the line, he barked the details of the emergency, then hung up.
    The driver of the van ducked his head back in, rolled up the window, and shifted the van into reverse. His partner in the passenger seat was punching numbers into his cell. I watched as they turned around and sped down the road.
    “What do you girls want?” Aldwin growled, handing me back my phone.
    “Maple syrup?” Bess answered in a small voice.
    I jumped in quickly. “And maybe while we’re here we can help you find your dog.”
    He gave me a long hard look, then grunted. “What’s your relationship to that bunch?” He gestured toward the van. It was already some distance down the