At that moment Nancy heard footsteps approaching the side door. Mr. Jackson! she thought. Frantically, she looked around for a place to hide.
Suddenly, the door burst open.
There stood Peter Greenbriar, glaring at her.
10
A Very Sharp Note
Peter Greenbriar hovered in the open doorway. “Hello, Miss Drew,” he said, his blue eyes glittering icily. “I didn’t expect to find you here.”
“No,” Nancy said guardedly. “It’s a surprise for us both.” Thinking quickly, she added, “George and I are here to look at Mr. Jackson’s horses—to purchase one, maybe.” She smiled, hoping he’d buy her excuse.
“Surely there aren’t any horses inside the Land Rover,” Peter Greenbriar said with a sarcastic chuckle.
“I thought I’d left something in it,” Nancy said, bluffing. “We all rode out in it earlier to look at the horses. They’re in the far pasture.”
“Is that right?” the groom replied, raising his eyebrows.
Nancy couldn’t tell whether he believed her or not, but she decided to take the offensive. “And why are you here?” she asked.
“I stopped by to ask Mr. Jackson whether he might have seen Morning Glory. But he’s not in the house or in the office, and I need to get going. Will you ask him for me?”
“Yes, sure,” Nancy said.
“Well, then, I’ll be seeing you.” The groom pursed his lips and stared at Nancy for a moment. Then he turned around and left.
Nancy paused, taking stock of the situation. Could Peter Greenbriar have had some other reason for stopping by? Maybe to plot with Charles Jackson about ways to make the Mill River Hunt disband?
As she left the barn, Nancy saw the brake lights of a car flash as it retreated down the driveway—Peter Greenbriar’s car, she guessed. She turned and spotted George and Mr. Jackson closing the gate to a nearby pasture.
“Hi there, Miss Drew,” Mr. Jackson said as he approached her. “Where have you been all this time? I’ve already shown George my best horses.”
“I’ve been searching my car for my sunglasses,” Nancy said quickly. “We’d better be going, George,” she added. “We’re supposed to stop by the Shaws’ later.”
“That’s right. I’m glad you reminded me. Let’s go,” George said, taking her cue from Nancy. “Thanks, Mr. Jackson, for showing me your hunters.”
“You can always count on Cold Spring to have the best hunters around,” Mr. Jackson said. “But did I hear you mention the Shaws? You could walk there, through the woodland trails. Our farms are adjacent.”
“If we had more time, that would be great,” Nancy said. “But we’re kind of late.”
“Fine,” Mr. Jackson said. “The Shaws live just down White Rock Road, the same road I’m on. Theirs is the next driveway.”
Waving goodbye, Nancy and George climbed into the Mustang and set off for the Shaws’. As Nancy pulled onto the main road, she told George about finding the barbed wire in Mr. Jackson’s car and about Peter Greenbriar’s surprise visit.
“Whew!” George exclaimed. “Lucky it wasn’t Mr. Jackson who found you.”
“You’re telling me,” Nancy said. “It was a close call.”
“But surely Peter Greenbriar guessed you were investigating,” George pointed out. “What if he tells Mr. Jackson anyway?”
“I’ll deal with it then.” Nancy shuddered. “Mr. Jackson has a nice manner on the outside, but I bet he can get pretty angry. Look at how mad he is at Mill River.” She paused, then said, “But at least he told us where Alexa lives. I didn’t want to ask Mrs. Passano. I didn’t want her to know we were checking out her friend’s daughter.”
The two girls drove in silence as Nancy concentrated on finding the Shaws’ driveway. She spotted it around a bend, turned the car in, and headed up to a cream-colored stucco house with black shutters, surrounded by large boxwoods.
Nancy pulled up next to a small gray sedan. At that moment, the front door of the house opened, and Alexa’s mother stepped outside. Dressed in a madras skirt and a straw hat, she was carrying two pies.
Mrs. Shaw gave Nancy and George a friendly nod as they climbed out of their car. “Hello, girls,” she said. “I’m sorry I can’t shake hands, but I’m laden down with these pies. Alexa and I made half a dozen, from our apple trees out back. I’m taking these two over to a neighbor.” She set one on the hood of her car to get a free hand to open the car door.
“That’s okay, Mrs. Shaw,” Nancy said with a smile. “We’re just looking for Alexa.” Suddenly, she remembered something Alexa had said the day before. “Yesterday, Alexa asked to borrow a bridle from Mrs. Passano. Since we were in the area, we thought we’d pick it up if she’s finished with it.”
“I wonder why Alexa needed a bridle?” Mrs. Shaw said sharply. She halted and frowned. “We have dozens of our own. Oh, I hope she’s not going to try to ride with the hunt on Opening Day. She knows how I feel about that.” Her voice trembled, and she added fiercely, “I wish she’d give up riding altogether!”
Nancy was taken aback. She knew that Alexa was a skilled rider. Wasn’t her mother being a little overprotective?
“Well, Alexa’s inside,” Mrs. Shaw went on, her voice still shaky. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.” After carefully placing the pies in her car, Mrs. Shaw drove away.
“Wow,” George commented. “I can’t believe Mrs. Shaw is so upset about Alexa’s riding. You’d think she would have accepted it by now. Especially since Alexa’s dad was a big fox hunter, too. He was master of the hounds and everything.”
“Maybe that’s why Mrs. Shaw gets so worked up about it,” Nancy said. “Remember, Cameron Shaw was killed during a hunt. And I gather Mrs. Shaw isn’t much of a rider. She may ride now and then. But she doesn’t have any attachment to the hunt.”
“That’s true,” George admitted. “Still, what a drag for Alexa.”
“Well, let’s get on with our investigation,” Nancy said, changing the subject. “Do you want to check out—”
Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Nancy thought she saw a shadow fall across the grass to the left of the house. When she looked over that way, though, it had disappeared.
“Did you see that?” George asked, grabbing Nancy’s arm.
