Nancy turned the doorknob. “It’s open,” she whispered to Bess and George.
“Don’t go in there,” Bess said.
“I’m just going to take a quick peek,” Nancy said. She tiptoed inside.
Nancy reached for the overalls. “I feel something,” she said. She reached into a pocket. Then she pulled out a small plastic bag. “It’s banana taffy!”
“Are our passes there, too?” George asked. She crossed her fingers as she and Bess entered the trailer.
Nancy checked both pockets. “Nope. No passes,” she said sadly.
Bess sat down on the couch. “Yuck. This couch smells like bananas. And it’s lumpy, too.”
“Lumpy?” Nancy asked. She walked over to the couch. She lifted a cushion. Then she gasped.
“Pieces of taffy—banana taffy!” she cried. “Tony was right. Coconut is the taffy thief.”
“Eek, eek, eek!” came a sound from outside the trailer.
“I think someone’s coming,” Nancy whispered. “We’re trapped.”
Just then Barbara Woodhall marched into the trailer. Coconut was close behind her. “What are you girls doing in Coconut’s trailer?” Ms. Woodhall asked angrily.
Nancy told Ms. Woodhall all about the missing passes.
“Did you find them in here?” Ms. Woodhall asked. She looked worried.
“All we found was taffy,” Nancy said.
“Stolen taffy,” George added.
Ms. Woodhall’s mouth dropped open. Then Tony marched into the trailer.
“Ms. Woodhall,” Tony said. “I want to speak to you about your chimp.”
“Coconut?” Ms. Woodhall turned to the chimp. “Did you take Tony’s taffy?”
Coconut covered his face with his hands.
“But he went to chimp school,” Ms. Woodhall told Tony.
“I guess he didn’t do his homework,” Tony said angrily.
“I left Coconut alone only once. It was early last night,” Ms. Woodhall said.
Nancy turned to Tony. “Didn’t you say your taffy was stolen early last night?”
“My truck was parked right outside this trailer,” Tony said. “The chimp must have sneaked in when I wasn’t looking.”
“I’m sorry, Tony,” Ms. Woodhall said. “If Coconut could talk, he would apologize to you.”
“Yeah, sure,” Tony mumbled.
Nancy watched Tony gather his taffy. Then he left to go back to the taffy stand.
Ms. Woodhall invited the girls to search the trailer for the missing passes. The girls looked everywhere, but they didn’t find the passes.
“It looks as if Coconut took just my taffy,” Nancy said, “not the passes.”
Coconut walked over to Bess. He reached out and gently shook her hand. Bess giggled. “Oh, he’s sweet. Maybe Coconut isn’t so bad, after all.”
Nancy took out her notebook. She crossed Coconut’s name off the suspect list. Then she and her friends left the trailer and walked back to the fair.
“Now the only suspect left is Rebecca,” Nancy said.
“Speaking of Rebecca,” George said, “look who’s at the Squirting Gallery.”
“Rebecca Ramirez,” Nancy said. “With Amara Shane and Emily Reeves.”
Rebecca, Amara, and Emily were getting ready to knock over plastic bottles with water pistols.
Suddenly Nancy saw something that made her heart jump.
Sticking out of Rebecca’s jeans pocket was something pink and orange!
“Bess, George, look!” Nancy said. “Those could be our passes!”
7
Ladybug, Ladybug
Nancy walked up to Rebecca. She reached out and tapped her on the shoulder.
Rebecca spun around with the water pistol in her hand. She squirted Nancy right in the face!
“Yuck!” Nancy sputtered as the water gushed into her mouth.
“Why were you sneaking up on me, Nancy Drew?” Rebecca demanded.
Nancy spit out the water. Amara stared with surprise. Emily giggled.
“You ruined my chance of winning the ladybug pajama bag!” Rebecca cried. She pointed to a stuffed ladybug hanging with the other prizes.
“I’m sorry,” Nancy said. “But—”
Rebecca put the water pistol down with a clunk. Then she turned to Amara and Emily. “I want to go home right now!”
Amara and Emily waved goodbye as they hurried after Rebecca.
Just then Nancy heard someone call her name. It was Jessie.
“The fair is closing in about an hour, Nancy,” Jessie said. “Have you found the passes yet?”
Nancy froze. She shook her head.
“Then it’s Rambling Rosie time,” Jessie cried. “Yee-haw!”
“Wait, Jessie,” Nancy said.
“For what?” Jessie asked.
“I just found a clue in Rebecca’s back pocket. It might be the passes,” Nancy said.
“I saw them, too,” George said.
“They were pink and orange,” Bess said.
“So what?” Jessie said. “They could have been orange lollipops. Or pink sunglasses.”
“You just want me to ride the Rambling Rosie,” Nancy said with a frown.
“Come on.” Jessie groaned. “We made a deal, remember?”
Nancy made a face. “How can I forget?”
“This is all my fault,” Bess said. “I’m sorry I told Jessie you’d ride the Rambling Rosie, Nancy.”
“That’s okay.” Nancy told Bess. “You can hold my notebook while I go on the ride.”
“Don’t worry, Nancy,” George said, patting her back. “It’ll be a blast.”
That’s what you say, Nancy thought.
On their way to the roller coaster, Nancy saw Madame Valenska sitting outside her tent. She smiled and waved to the girls.
“What did she say?” Nancy whispered to herself.” ‘Be aware. The clues are there. Be wise. And use your eyes.’ “
At the gate outside the Rambling Rosie, Nancy handed her notebook to Bess.
“Do you have anything else in your pockets?” Bess asked while Jessie and George ran to the line.
“Let me see,” Nancy said. She dug inside both pockets. Suddenly she felt something stuck inside her right pocket.
Nancy wiggled her fingers and pulled out a shiny red object. It was a ring—a ladybug ring.
“This isn’t mine,” Nancy said, holding up the ring. “Whose could it be?”
“Be aware. The clues are there. Be wise. And use your eyes.” The words swirled around in Nancy’s mind.
“Rebecca!” Nancy cried. “She said she loves ladybugs.”
Then Nancy waved her arms in the air. “Jessie, George! Look what I found!”
“Did you find the passes?” Jessie asked as she and George hurried over.
“No,” Nancy said. She held up the ring. “But I did find this.”
“Nancy thinks it might belong to Rebecca Ramirez,” Bess said.
“If it is Rebecca’s, she might have dropped it in my pocket when she reached for the passes,” Nancy said.
“When do you think she did that?” George asked.
Nancy thought for a second. “Rebecca helped me climb up on the carousel horse. She put her hands around my waist to help me up.”
Nancy’s eyes lit up. “I want to talk to Rebecca right away.”
“Forget it,” George said. “They’re probably almost home by now.”
“Then I’ll speak to her tomorrow,” Nancy said.
“Tomorrow?” Jessie said. “But what about the Rambling Rosie?”
“All I need is just one more day, Jessie,” Nancy said. “One more day.”
• • •
That evening Nancy ate dinner with her father.
“How is your case coming along, Pudding Pie,” Carson Drew asked.
“So far so good, Daddy,” Nancy said. She took a sip of milk. Then she told her father all about the ladybug ring.
“I’m still not sure it belongs to Rebecca,” Na
ncy said. “But it’s still a great clue.”
“And if it helps you solve the mystery,” Carson said, “then it’s one lucky ladybug.”
Nancy sighed. “Maybe for me, Daddy. But not for Rebecca.”
• • •
On Monday afternoon Nancy met Bess and George on Rebecca’s block.
“Why didn’t Jessie come, too?” George asked.
“When I spoke to her on the phone, she said she still didn’t want to talk to Rebecca,” Nancy explained.
“Jessie is being so stubborn,” Bess said.
The girls were almost at the Ramirezes’ house.
“Remember,” George said in a low voice, “Rebecca is a good actress, so she might act innocent.”
Nancy rang the doorbell. After a minute Rebecca opened the door. She was wearing dangling ladybug earrings.
“H-hi,” Rebecca said.
Nancy thought Rebecca looked surprised to see them. And a little nervous.
“Hi, Rebecca,” Nancy said. “Your earrings are so cool. What other ladybug things do you have?”
Rebecca smiled proudly. “I have a ladybug umbrella, a ladybug nightshirt, a ladybug ring—”
Nancy took the ring out of her pocket. She held it in front of Rebecca’s face.
“You mean like this one?” Nancy asked.
8
Nancy Goes for It
My ladybug ring,” Rebecca whispered. Then she looked up. “I mean—what a neat ladybug ring!”
“I found it inside my pocket,” Nancy told Rebecca.
Rebecca smiled and shook her head. “My ladybug ring was different. It was blue.”
“Who ever heard of a blue ladybug?” George said.
“Besides,” Rebecca went on, “that ring could belong to anybody. Ladybugs are very popular this year.”
“But, Rebecca,” Nancy said, “your hands were around my waist when you helped me climb on to the carousel horse. Remember?”
Rebecca began to close the door. “I’ve got to clean my room. I hope you find your missing passes.”
“Wait a minute!” Nancy called. She reached out and kept the door from closing. “Rebecca, I never told you the passes were missing. How did you know?”
Rebecca stared at Nancy. “Jessie told me last night,” she said quickly.
“Jessie hasn’t spoken to you for a week,” Nancy said.
Rebecca looked down and didn’t say anything.
“Did you take our free passes, Rebecca?” Nancy asked softly.
Rebecca took a deep breath. Then she nodded. “I was mad that Jessie gave you free passes and not me.”
“But that didn’t mean you had to steal them,” Nancy said.
“I know and I felt really bad,” Rebecca said. “I wanted to give them back to you on Saturday night.”
“Why didn’t you?” Nancy asked.
“Because I had already promised Amara and Emily free passes for Sunday,” Rebecca explained. “They had no idea they were . . . taken.”
“You mean stolen,” George said.
“I was going to give them back to you today,” Rebecca said. “Honest!”
“Today is here,” Nancy said. She held out her hand. “Can we please have our passes back, Rebecca?”
“Sure,” Rebecca said. “They’re upstairs in my jeans pocket—”
Nancy saw Rebecca gasp and put her hands to her mouth.
“What’s up, Rebecca?” Bess asked.
“My jeans are in the wash right now!” Rebecca wailed.
“The wash?” Nancy said.
The girls ran downstairs to the Ramirezes’ laundry room.
Mrs. Ramirez stopped the dryer. “I told you to empty your pockets before putting your clothes in the hamper, Rebecca,” Mrs. Ramirez said. She handed Rebecca her jeans.
Nancy could see that the jeans were still damp when Rebecca stuck her hand inside the pocket.
“Uh-oh,” Rebecca said.
“What?” Nancy cried.
Rebecca pulled out three soggy pink and orange passes.
“The ink is all blurry,” Nancy said.
“I’m sorry,” Rebecca said.
“You should be,” George said. “The passes are totally ruined.”
“Maybe they’re not,” Nancy said. “Let’s show them to Mrs. Shapiro.”
George turned to Rebecca. “You should come, too. You have to tell her what happened.”
Rebecca rolled her eyes. “Oh, great. Now Jessie really won’t talk to me.”
The girls walked the few blocks to Jessie’s house.
Nancy rang the bell. After a minute, Mrs. Shapiro opened the door.
“Hi, girls,” Mrs. Shapiro said. “Did you come to see Jessie?”
“We really came to see you,” Nancy said. She held up the soggy passes. “You see, the passes had a little accident.”
“I’ll say!” Mrs. Shapiro said. “Come inside and tell me what happened.”
Mrs. Shapiro led the girls into the living room. After everyone sat down, Rebecca explained everything.
Mrs. Shapiro put her hand on Rebecca’s shoulder. “Thanks for telling the truth, Rebecca,” she said.
“Are the passes still good, Mrs. Shapiro?” Nancy asked.
Mrs. Shapiro flipped the passes around in her hand. “Let me make a quick phone call to find out,” she said.
Rebecca fell back on the sofa next to Jessie. “She’s calling the police! I know it! I’m going to jail for a million years!”
Nancy giggled. “She’s probably just calling her office.”
“And this isn’t the school play, Rebecca,” George groaned.
Jessie gave Rebecca an angry look. “How could you do something like that?”
“I told you, Jessie,” Rebecca said. “I was mad at you.”
“Oh, yeah?” Jessie said. “Well, I was mad that you took Amara Shane on your family picnic last week instead of me.”
“We took Amara because her parents asked us to,” Rebecca said. “They had some grown-up party to go to that day.”
Jessie stared at Rebecca. “Really?”
Rebecca nodded. “I like Amara. But I really wanted to take you. There just wasn’t any more room in the car.”
“You should have told me,” Jessie said.
“How could I?” Rebecca cried. “You wouldn’t talk to me all week!”
“Oh . . . right,” Jessie said slowly.
Mrs. Shapiro walked back into the living room. “Great news, girls,” she said. “The passes are fine.”
“Yay!” Nancy cheered.
“And guess what?” Mrs. Shapiro asked. “A woman at work offered me another free ticket.”
“Double-yay!” Nancy cried.
“Who are you going to give the extra pass to, Jessie?” Bess asked.
Jessie turned to Rebecca and smiled. “Would you like it, Rebecca?”
Rebecca’s face lit up. “Do ladybugs fly? You bet I would!”
George turned to Nancy. “You did it again, Nancy. You solved the mystery.”
“Now you won’t have to ride the Rambling Rosie,” Bess said. “Right?”
Nancy didn’t answer. She just smiled.
• • •
Later that afternoon Mrs. Shapiro took all five girls to Big Thrills.
“What ride should we go on first?” Rebecca asked when they were inside.
“How about the Rambling Rosie?” Nancy asked.
“Are you sure, Nancy?” George asked.
“Do ladybugs fly?” Nancy laughed.
In just a few minutes, Nancy was riding the fastest, biggest ride at Big Thrills.
“Here comes the scariest part!” Jessie shouted as the Rambling Rosie rumbled to the top of the highest peak.
The Rambling Rosie stopped at the top for a few seconds. Then it roared down the tracks at top speed.
“Way-to-gooooo!” Nancy screamed. She waved her arms in the air. She felt as if she were flying.
When the ride stopped, Bess ran over. “How do you feel, Nancy
?” she asked.
Nancy gave her friends the thumbs-up sign. “I feel . . . awesome!”
• • •
That evening before dinner, Nancy curled up on a chair in the den. She took out her notebook and opened it to a blank page. Then she began to write:
Guess what? Today I rode the Rambling Rosie, and not because I didn’t solve the case. I did that, too!
Madame Valenska was right. The clues were there—if you just looked hard enough.
Madame is a great fortune-teller. I wonder if she was ever a detective, too.
Case closed.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Aladdin
An Imprint of Simon & Schuster Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
Copyright © 1998 by Simon & Schuster Inc.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
First Minstrel Books printing July 1998
NANCY DREW, THE NANCY DREW NOTEBOOKS, and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-0-671-00820-8 (pbk)
ISBN-13: 978-14424-7190-0 (ebook)
Dare at the Fair Page 3
