Post by iluvjoshpeck on Jun 16, 2007 22:17:35 GMT -5
This is a story in the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew fandom, by ILuvJoshPeck.
The Train of Doom
Chapter One
Eighteen-year-old Nancy Drew took the offered hand and allowed herself to be guided up the steep stairs into the waiting train. She looked up at her escort, her blue eyes shining in adoration and anticipation. Her boyfriend, Ned Nickerson, smiled down at her, his brown eyes twinkling wondrously.
“Will you two lovebirds hurry it up?” came a mocking voice from behind Nancy. “These shoes are killing my feet!”
Nancy glanced back at one of her best friends, Bess Marvin, grinning. “Right,” she said. “Come on, Bess, George!”
Georgia Fayne (or as she preferred to be called, George) was Bess’s cousin, and the exact opposite of the plump, blonde girl. She was dark-haired, slender, athletic, and a huge tomboy.
After the four friends were safely on the train, and seated in the sitting compartment, they began to animatedly discuss the trip. There was only one other person in the compartment, a thin girl with jet-black hair, orange eyes (Nancy figured she was wearing contacts to make her eyes such an outrageous color), and wore all black. She didn’t so much as glance in the friends’ direction as they conversed, and vise versa.
“Thanks so much for inviting us to spend a week on your uncle’s train,” Nancy said, smiling at Ned.
Her boyfriend grinned and answered, “No problem. I’m glad you guys were able to join me.”
Ned’s uncle, Carlson Nickerson, was a wealthy man in River Heights, and owned a train, which he had invited Nancy, Ned, Bess, and George to ride on cross-country during their week of spring break, for free. They had readily accepted.
“Who all else is going on this trip?” Nancy asked, for she knew that this wasn’t a private train; it was the way Ned’s uncle made his living. Therefore, during their vacation, there would still be other passengers aboard as usual.
Ned frowned. “I’m not sure. I know that girl is,” he whispered gesturing to the “gothic” teen glowering at them from the other side of the compartment. “Uncle Carlson said something about a VIP, a couple of other guys around our age, some reporter, and a few other families.”
“Are they all coming for pleasure, or…?” Nancy began, her curiosity taking control.
Ned chuckled. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll see when they all board.”
At that moment, a tall, stiff-looking woman stepped primly into the car, the expression on her face suggesting that she had just had a rotten egg shoved under her nose. She sniffed disapprovingly when she saw the group of teens conversing quietly in the rear, and as she took her seat as far away from them as possible, she muttered something about “snotty nosed, no good, spoiled rotten ruffians”.
Several people came in after her, a mother and father with two tiny girls, about three years old; an older man accompanied by a teenage boy who must have weighed 300 pounds—all muscle; a pudgy man with a coat and tie, carrying a briefcase and a tape recorder; and a young couple, lost in each other’s eyes.
“That’s probably about everyone,” Nancy observed. “I wonder why they’re all here.”
Bess laughed. “Nancy, I think you’re trying to find a mystery to solve right here.”
Nancy shrugged. “I don’t find mystery, mystery finds me.”
Ned glanced at the group darkly and said in a hushed voice, so he could barely be heard over the chatter of the other passengers, “Actually, Nan, there may be more of a mystery than you planned on.”
While his girlfriend looked at him quizzically, there was a crash near the front of the train. A few strangled shouts and muffled bangs could be heard, followed by the slap of something hitting the ground below.
A tall, balding man of forty came stomping into the room, looking livid, dragging two teenage boys with sheepish grins on their handsome faces along with him.
“I’ve had enough of you trouble makers!” he snapped, glaring at them. “You may have tickets for this train, but if you want to stay on it, you’ll keep your noses where they belong!”
Nancy and Ned both jumped up. “Uncle!” Ned gasped, eyes wide as he eyed the newcomers. “What’re you doing?”
Nancy stared at the two guys in front of her. Frank and Joe Hardy.
The Train of Doom
Chapter One
Eighteen-year-old Nancy Drew took the offered hand and allowed herself to be guided up the steep stairs into the waiting train. She looked up at her escort, her blue eyes shining in adoration and anticipation. Her boyfriend, Ned Nickerson, smiled down at her, his brown eyes twinkling wondrously.
“Will you two lovebirds hurry it up?” came a mocking voice from behind Nancy. “These shoes are killing my feet!”
Nancy glanced back at one of her best friends, Bess Marvin, grinning. “Right,” she said. “Come on, Bess, George!”
Georgia Fayne (or as she preferred to be called, George) was Bess’s cousin, and the exact opposite of the plump, blonde girl. She was dark-haired, slender, athletic, and a huge tomboy.
After the four friends were safely on the train, and seated in the sitting compartment, they began to animatedly discuss the trip. There was only one other person in the compartment, a thin girl with jet-black hair, orange eyes (Nancy figured she was wearing contacts to make her eyes such an outrageous color), and wore all black. She didn’t so much as glance in the friends’ direction as they conversed, and vise versa.
“Thanks so much for inviting us to spend a week on your uncle’s train,” Nancy said, smiling at Ned.
Her boyfriend grinned and answered, “No problem. I’m glad you guys were able to join me.”
Ned’s uncle, Carlson Nickerson, was a wealthy man in River Heights, and owned a train, which he had invited Nancy, Ned, Bess, and George to ride on cross-country during their week of spring break, for free. They had readily accepted.
“Who all else is going on this trip?” Nancy asked, for she knew that this wasn’t a private train; it was the way Ned’s uncle made his living. Therefore, during their vacation, there would still be other passengers aboard as usual.
Ned frowned. “I’m not sure. I know that girl is,” he whispered gesturing to the “gothic” teen glowering at them from the other side of the compartment. “Uncle Carlson said something about a VIP, a couple of other guys around our age, some reporter, and a few other families.”
“Are they all coming for pleasure, or…?” Nancy began, her curiosity taking control.
Ned chuckled. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll see when they all board.”
At that moment, a tall, stiff-looking woman stepped primly into the car, the expression on her face suggesting that she had just had a rotten egg shoved under her nose. She sniffed disapprovingly when she saw the group of teens conversing quietly in the rear, and as she took her seat as far away from them as possible, she muttered something about “snotty nosed, no good, spoiled rotten ruffians”.
Several people came in after her, a mother and father with two tiny girls, about three years old; an older man accompanied by a teenage boy who must have weighed 300 pounds—all muscle; a pudgy man with a coat and tie, carrying a briefcase and a tape recorder; and a young couple, lost in each other’s eyes.
“That’s probably about everyone,” Nancy observed. “I wonder why they’re all here.”
Bess laughed. “Nancy, I think you’re trying to find a mystery to solve right here.”
Nancy shrugged. “I don’t find mystery, mystery finds me.”
Ned glanced at the group darkly and said in a hushed voice, so he could barely be heard over the chatter of the other passengers, “Actually, Nan, there may be more of a mystery than you planned on.”
While his girlfriend looked at him quizzically, there was a crash near the front of the train. A few strangled shouts and muffled bangs could be heard, followed by the slap of something hitting the ground below.
A tall, balding man of forty came stomping into the room, looking livid, dragging two teenage boys with sheepish grins on their handsome faces along with him.
“I’ve had enough of you trouble makers!” he snapped, glaring at them. “You may have tickets for this train, but if you want to stay on it, you’ll keep your noses where they belong!”
Nancy and Ned both jumped up. “Uncle!” Ned gasped, eyes wide as he eyed the newcomers. “What’re you doing?”
Nancy stared at the two guys in front of her. Frank and Joe Hardy.