Kidnapped!

Nancy and her father just looked at each other for several seconds. Then he sighed. “Well, I suppose it was someone from the Polka Dot, ” he said.

Nancy nodded. “Someone who didn’t want us to know what they’d done to my boat.”

Her father took her arm. “Let’s get back and tell the others, ” he suggested.

There was little else to be done, though Nancy gave the half-hidden footprint another long look before she walked up the hill to the waiting golf cart. " Why would anyone take the Polka Dot to Florida and abandon it, then bring it back here? ” she asked once they were underway.

Her father shrugged. “I’ve got a whole list of questions to ask whoever is doing this, ” he admitted. “Starting with why they endangered you that way.”

“And where they’ve taken Bess… and maybe the DeFoes, ” Nancy added.

“And why.”

They both considered that for several minutes as they drove to the shed at the resort. “That’s the most interesting question, ” Nancy observed. “I keep thinking that if we could just figure out why all these things have happened, we’d have a better idea of who is behind it.” “I just hope that Sheriff Boyd is getting very impatient to hear from us, ” Mr. Drew said, “so that he’ll send someone to look for us.”

“He’s the type who just might send the Coast Guard.” Nancy laughed.

“Well, what happened to the boat? ” George asked, coming around the side of the shed. “Couldn’t you carry it up to the road? ”

“It’s gone, ” Nancy answered. “Someone took it off the rocks where I left it.”

“Probably the people on the Polka Dot” Carson Drew supplied.

“Then you think they were the ones who tampered with it in the first place? ” George asked.

“If they were set on keeping us here on this island, sabotaging the boats would be a good way to do it, ” Nancy admitted.

“But Penny’s boat was all right, ” George reminded them both.

“I think we should make sure of that before anyone takes it out again, ” Mr. Drew stated.

“After dinner, ” George told them. “It’s almost ready.”

In spite of the difficulty of the day, dinner was a lively meal, and they were all in a good mood as they made their way down to the dock to inspect the single remaining boat. To everyone’s surprise, it proved sound.

“Maybe they didn’t have time to do both boats, ” George suggested.

“Or maybe they figured one sinking would be warning enough, ” Penny said.

“At least we’re all safe, ” Mr. Drew reminded them. “And we’re learning things about our adversaries, so that helps.”

" 1 just wish we’d learn faster, ” Nancy murmured. “Fast enough to get Bess back.”

“And my grandparents, ” Penny added, her usually bright face bleak for a moment. “I’m really afraid for them. They’d never let anyone take the Polka Dot! ’

“Isn’t there any other way we could signal someone? ” Carson Drew asked after they reached the resort.

“I suppose we could try a signal fire, ” Penny suggested. “My grandfather told me that they used them a lot in the old days, before they had radios for communication.

“We’d have to build it on the other end of the island, because that’s closest to Swallow

Cay—the people there are the only ones likely to see a signal fire from this island, ” Penny explained. “Plus there are some people from the resort staff that live over there, so they’d be likely to want to investigate.”

“Sounds good to me, ” Nancy said. “What do you say, Dad? ”

“It’s the best chance we’ve got at the moment, so I vote we give it a try.”

“The same ridge can be seen from the dry islands, ” Penny warned.

“I rather hope someone there sees us and comes over to try to stop us, ” Carson Drew observed. “I’d like a chance to talk to them face- to-face for a change.”

“Maybe we could find out what they want, ” George suggested.

“So what do we do? ” Nancy asked Penny. “Gather wood and clear a space on the highest point of the ridge, ” Penny answered. “At least that’s what Grandpa says they did. I don’t think he ever saw a signal fire here, but he told me so many stories.” Her face softened and her eyes grew sad again, and Nancy knew that she was wondering if she’d ever see him again.

“I’m sure he’ll be telling us some rare good stories once we find him and your grandmother, ” Carson Drew told her kindly. “Now where should we go to get the wood? ”

“There’s usually dead wood on the outer fringes of the island, ” Penny answered. “And there’s a dead palm near the village, I saw it this morning.”

“Well, if you’ve got an axe, I’ll see what I can do with the palm, ” Mr. Drew offered. “The rest of you comb the beaches and clear the ridge. By dark we’ll be ready.”

This time Nancy welcomed the setting of the sun and the rush of tropical darkness that followed so swiftly. The pile of wood was large, and they had a second pile in reserve to keep the flames blazing as long as possible.

It was hot on the ridge, even with the evening breeze stirring the palms behind them. Nancy’s shoulders ached both from the rowing and from the wood she’d carried to this spot.

“How long do you think we should wait to light it? ” she asked.

“Till it’s very dark, ” Penny replied.

George sighed. “I just hope the people who see it don’t think we’re having a gigantic wiener roast.”

Penny giggled. “I think most of them would realize that a wiener roast would be held on the beach, not the high point of the island.”

“I just hope there’s someone watching, ” Mr. Drew murmured.

Nancy nodded, staring out over the dark sea, wondering where Swallow Cay and the other islands were, since she’d never been able to see any of them from here. It seemed an endless time till her father lit the huge pile of dry grass and leaves they’d gathered and placed at the heart of their woodpile.

The fire leaped to life with almost startling speed and the heat was more intense than any of them expected. They retreated at once, watching as the night breeze picked up a few sparks and spun them into the darkness.

“I hope we don’t need these, ” Nancy said, tapping her foot against one of the pails of water they’d carried up from the village.

“It rained last night, ” Penny told her, “so everything is pretty wet in the brush. I don’t think there’s much danger as long as we don’t have a lot of wind.”

“Still, we’d better stay with this till it burns out, ” Carson Drew told them. “I’d hate to think we’d burned down the village or destroyed some of the brush with our signal fire.”

George sighed, dropping to the ground and leaning against a palm. “I think I could sleep right here, ” she murmured.

“It’s too warm for me, ” Nancy said. “I think I’ll walk back along the road a little way. Perhaps I can see an answering fire or something else of importance.”

“I expect they’d be more likely to set off a rocket gun, ” Penny told her. “That’s what we’d do if we had the gun from the Polka Dot.” Nancy nodded and moved along the road, not hurrying. She wasn’t really expecting to see a signal from another island. Mostly, she just wanted a few quiet moments to think. There was something nagging at the corner of her mind, if she could just remember what it was.

The pulsing sound of the motor didn’t penetrate her concentration for several minutes, and by the time her ears picked it up, she was well away from the fire. Rescue? she asked herself, her heart leaping with hope. Or was it their enemies coming back to make more mischief?

Caution led her to the shadows on the edge of the road as she hurried toward the resort, aware that friends would land at the village dock, while their enemies would be much more likely to anchor in the cove and sneak up that way. Nancy smiled. If she could slip down to their boat while they were creeping up to the resort, she just might be able to get aboard and radio for help before they knew what was going on.

Suiting actions to her thoughts, she began running along the road, not paying any attention to anything but the area ahead, the break in the line of trees and bushes where the path from the dock came into view. She was concentrating so hard she didn’t notice the shadow moving behind her—not until a hard hand closed over her mouth and a strong arm wrapped around her waist, bringing her to a sudden, frightening stop!