Carolyn Keene - Nancy Drew by The Kachina Doll Mystery Page B

in the shade of the cabin wall. “Mr. Henry isn’t going to like it, if the kid talks to anybody about us,” Sam observed.
    Nancy gasped. Was the McGuires’ friendly neighbor her unknown enemy?
    “So what do you want me to do?” Joe demanded. “Do you want to ride to the ranch and tell him the kid was out here again?”
    Sam shook his head. “He’s coming out tonight, anyway. Said he wanted to look over what we’ve dug out so far. He doesn’t think we’re in the right place yet.”
    “He’ll change his mind when he sees the nugget you found this afternoon,” Joe said. “This has to be where the gold washed out of the mountains in the flood last spring, ’cause this is the end of the ravine. We’ve prospected every other inch of it on his ranch and on this one.”
    “Don’t tell me,” the little man said. “Let’s just see what else we can uncover before dark.”
    “Whatever you say, Sam,” Joe replied with a sigh, “but I’m getting mighty hungry.”
    The men moved away from the cabin, still talking in low voices, but Nancy could no longer make out the words. She watched them till they reached the cliff face and took up their picks and shovels, then she leaned against the wall and looked around.
    There was no way out. The door and window were both on the side of the cabin, facing the spot where the men were working. Nancy nibbled at her lip. The land all the way around was totally open, so the men couldn’t miss seeing her the moment she stepped through the rough, squeaky door. She was trapped, and it was only a matter of time before someone came inside and found her!

16
    A Great Shock
    Nancy looked around the small room once again, then crossed to the trunk and carefully returned it to its original condition. That done, she assessed the situation, seeking some solution. But none came.
    The only hiding place appeared to be beneath one of the cots. The area was tiny, but the blankets, carelessly thrown off, hung to the floor and would give her some protection.
    Having decided where she could hide, Nancy returned to the window to watch the men as they dug lazily in the crumbling cliff face. Gold! That had to be the answer.
    The mention of Mr. Henry had been a terrible shock. He’d been so friendly to the McGuires, so helpful, according to Heather and Chuck. Yet she did remember that Heather had said he’d once offered to buy the ranch.
    An hour dragged by, then another. The men worked without enthusiasm, taking frequent breaks in the shade of an old mesquite tree that grew beside a small spring. Nancy watched longingly as they dipped up the water. She was both hot and thirsty in the dusty cabin.
    When the shadows moved across the floor of the canyon, the men stopped working, throwing down their picks and shovels and heading for the cabin. Terrified, Nancy slid into her small hiding place.
    Heart pounding, she crouched in the dark space and waited as the two men argued about which cans to open for dinner and what they should tell Mr. Henry about Ngyun. Sam wanted to keep it a secret, while Joe muttered dark predictions of what their boss would do to them if he found out that they hadn’t told him. She was glad when they went back outside to put the grill over their small campfire.
    The smell of the heating food soon penetrated the cabin, and Nancy became aware of her own hunger. She couldn’t stay hidden here forever, she realized. But what to do? She couldn’t slip away, even after dark, for the men were cooking only a few feet from the door.
    Uncomfortable in the stuffy darkness under the cot, Nancy shifted her weight and tried to stretch her cramped legs. But her riding boot caught in the blanket, which in turn caught around the leg of the unsteady cot. To her horror, the whole frame shifted, tipped a little, then rocked back against the wall with a loud bang.
    At once, there were shouts from outside, and the next minute the men burst into the cabin.
    Nancy did not dare breathe, but with one