Nightmare Come True?

" Oh, please let's not wake Bess up! '' George objected, struggling with her life vest.

" If we have to swim for it, you don't want her to drown, do you? " Nancy challenged, as she kept the nose of the plane down slightly to insure they could continue to glide and not stall out.

" No, " George said, and turned toward the back seat. " Bess, Bess, wake up! "

" Ummmm. Are we there yet? "

" Well, we're not exactly there but you'll have to put on your jacket because we're landing."

" Oh, " Bess said. " Where? "

" By that island down there."

" Okay." Then, suddenly, Bess sat bolt upright. " Wait a minute. What happened to the engine? "

" It stalled out. But it's going to be all right. Now put that life jacket on, hurry! ''

Bess quickly slipped into the vest. " I'm ready, " she said weakly.

''Good girl, " George said.

Nancy only half heard them, for she was concentrating very hard on the controls in front of her. Keeping the stick slightly forward, she saw the ocean coming nearer. She flicked her eyes back and forth to the altimeter that indicated how high they were. She had been watching the needle move slowly from five thousand feet to forty-five hundred to four thousand and on downward.

George had her hands braced against the instrument panel in front of her. As she saw the waves and whitecaps becoming larger and larger, she had to bite her lip to keep from calling out, " Pull up, Nancy! " But she knew the girl had to move the stick back at precisely the right moment, or all would be lost.

If she did it too soon, the plane would stall and spin out or, at best, pancake flat and heavily into the ocean. If she pulled it back too late, the nose and pontoon tips would go in and they would probably cartwheel over the waves. Either way, it would be dangerous and frightening.

The ideal way was to bring the plane in level with the waves, riding just a few feet above them, then gradually let the pontoons settle in.

With the altimeter reading 100 feet, Nancy began easing back. Not fast enough! Hastily, she yanked on the stick and the nose came up barely in time to miss the waves. The plane leveled off and then began dropping toward the three foot swells.

Baroom! The first wave slapped the pontoons like a cannon shot, causing a cry from Bess. The plane reeled, bounced into the air, glided a bit further, and came down again with another Barooom! But with no bounce. This time they were bobbing on the ocean's surface like a pretty, white cork.

" Oh, no, '' Bess called from the rear, struggling out from under a suitcase that had broken open and dumped clothes all over the seat. " Are we dead? "

" No, " Nancy said cheerily, " we're in South Carolina." Suddenly, she started as a face appeared outside her window. Then her surprise turned to a squeal of delight. " Mr. Blaine! "

" Who? " said George.

" Mr. Blaine. Fred Blaine. You know, the newsman from television? He's here in a little boat! ''

She opened the door and Fred Blaine peered in. He was gray-haired and distinguished-looking, with piercing but kindly blue eyes. " Nancy Drew! We never know when you'll be dropping in, do we? "

" Mr. Blaine! What on earth are you doing here? "

" Me? I live here. You've just landed in my front yard. I own this land right along the beach. That's my house over there. Didn't you know? "

" Oh... I didn't when I was coming down to land but now I remember Dad telling me you had built a new home here. Oh, what luck this is! "

Fred Blaine had retired a year before from his job as a network newscaster. But as a veteran navy pilot and a lifelong lover of boats and the ocean, it was natural that he should make his home on an island close to the sea, where he kept a forty-foot sailboat and a motorboat. The Charleston Tower had contacted him when Nancy was going to land in the area, and he had been ready the moment she made her approach.

As Fred Blaine helped the girls into his boat so they could go ashore, one of his two teenage sons, Robert, took charge of the plane. He towed it into the protected area of the Blaine dock.

" I want to congratulate you, Nancy, " Mr. Blaine said. ''That was one of the finest dead-stick landings I’ve ever seen."

''It was? " Nancy was pleased but unbelieving. " It didn't feel like it from where I was sitting. I thought I almost tore the poor plane apart."

" No, no." Mr. Blaine laughed. " One bump and you were in. Anyway, you know what they used to tell aviation cadets when they were training. Any landing is a good landing if you can walk away from it."

" Or, in our case, " said George, " if you can float away from it."

" Right."

Mr. Blaine chuckled. " Your pilot was cool all the way. But speaking of cool, it's terribly hot today. Let's go up to the house where Mrs. Blaine is waiting for us."

Linda Blaine was an attractive, motherly woman with her long, gray hair done in an elaborately plaited bun. She took the three visitors in hand, hurrying them through the house and onto the patio on the other side. There she served them cold drinks and cookies.

" I hope you'll stay overnight" she said. " We'd love to have you."

Gladly, the trio accepted the invitation. After they had refreshed themselves and notified Señ or Segovia of their delay, they reclined by the pool and talked with the Blaines' two sons, Robert and Edward. They were both handsome boys with dark hair and eyes who made it obvious that they wished their pretty young guests would stay for a week.

Fred Blaine joined the group and sat down. " When you get to where you're going, Nancy, " he said, ''I hope you report the people who were responsible for maintaining the plane. Your gas tank was flat empty and could not have been full when you started."

" I know, " Nancy said. " But I also have a hunch it was not the attendant's fault. Somebody followed us to the airport, you see." She told the story about the two cars and Susan McAfee. " Now I know why the second car was tailing us, " she concluded. " And I even saw the guy who I think was responsible for draining our gas. He wore a mechanic's overall and had his cap pulled so low over his face that I couldn't recognize his features. He looked suspicious, but since I didn't see him near the plane, I didn't give it much thought"

" Do you have any idea who he could be? " Mr. Blaine asked.

Nancy explained that the culprit might be tied in with her father's work for Ricardo Segovia in Fort Lauderdale.

Mr. Blaine stared at her in surprise. " You mean the business with the smuggled stamps? "

" Yes."

" Hm, that could be. You know, I had my collection stolen about two months ago. It wasn't all that valuable, but I had a few rather rare stamps. The insurance paid the loss, of course. But it can't make up for something that's been important to me."

Nancy expressed her sympathy and suggested that maybe her father and Ricardo Segovia might recover the Blaine collection.

" Perhaps, " Mr. Blaine said. " But, Nancy, tell me, what is the significance of that frightening drawing on the side of your plane? "

" What do you mean? "

" Well, in the military, the pilots often have artists draw cartoon characters of movie stars or something like that on their airplanes. On your plane, there is this picture of a brooding, black vulture! "

" What? '' Nancy gasped, instantly remembering the creature of her nightmare.

" Yes, a vulture with its wings half spread, crouching. It's very low, almost underneath the plane, that's why you probably didn't notice it. But it's really spine chilling! "