“If she confesses, then we can just forget about it,” Aunt Elizabeth said. “If she doesn’t, then we’ll talk to them.”
“I’m going to stay with Aunt E.,” George said as the girls went into the vestibule to get their jackets. “I don’t want to leave her alone.”
“That’s a good idea,” Nancy said. “Besides, Bess and I aren’t related to your aunt. Sarah might be more willing to confide in us.”
As she and Bess headed out on Old Fairport Road, Nancy wondered what they would find when they got to Sarah’s house. Would Sarah be willing to talk? Or would she still be angry and confrontational?
As she took a turn slowly, Nancy glanced in the rearview mirror. Was she imagining it, or did she see the dark outline of a car behind them, just as she had last night?
“Bess, look back,” she said. “Do you see anything?”
Bess turned and looked. “No,” she said.
The road straightened and Nancy continued to drive slowly. As she went around a curve, she thought she heard a car engine.
“Look again,” she told Bess. “I hear someone behind us. I think we’re being followed again.”
“But we were in Aunt Elizabeth’s car last night when we were being followed,” Bess reminded her. “They were after her. Why would anyone be after us?”
“I don’t know,” Nancy said. “But keep looking back.”
As she took another sharp turn, Nancy looked in the rearview mirror. Now she could see it clearly. “Look!” she cried.
“You’re right!” Bess exclaimed.
Nancy slowed down even further. The car caught up and tailgated them, the front end not more than a couple of inches away from her rear bumper. Why would the driver follow so closely? And how could someone drive so expertly without headlights?
“Nancy, watch out!” Bess cried.
The dark car hit the rear bumper and pushed Nancy’s car far to the right. Nancy tried to keep on the road, but it was impossible. Her car hit the wooden rail of the bridge and plowed over the edge, heading straight for the water.
8
A Cry of Innocence
Bess screamed as the car pitched headfirst into the water. The car hit bottom with a sickening thud.
“Bess, are you all right?” Nancy cried.
Bess’s voice quavered in the darkness. “Yes, I think so.”
Their seat belts held Nancy and Bess in place even though the car was pitched forward at a steep angle. Water came up to the bottom half of the windshield.
“I think we’re going to have to climb into the back to get out,” Nancy said to Bess.
The engine was still running. Nancy turned it off, undid her seat belt, and began to clamber back. Bess followed.
Nancy threw open the back door and saw that the only way to get out was to jump.
“Here goes,” she cried, and jumped.
When her feet hit the bottom of the stream, the water came up to her knees. Bess followed quickly, squealing as she hit the cold water.
In pitch-blackness, Nancy and Bess slogged to the side of the stream, then scrambled up the bank to the side of the road.
“Were you able to see the make of the car?” Bess asked Nancy as they stood dripping and hoping to see the comforting headlights of a car that could bring help.
“I think so,” Nancy said. “From the shape of its rear end I could see it was a Saab. I wish I could have seen the license plate.”
“Well, at least we have the model,” Bess said. “We’re going to the police, aren’t we?”
“We have to,” Nancy said. “This is beyond childish pranks. We could have been killed.”
“Don’t remind me,” Bess said with a shiver.
They trembled in the breeze of the dark spring night. An owl hooted somewhere in the nearby woods. How long would they have to wait? Nancy wondered.
Finally, she saw a pair of headlights round the curve. Nancy waved and the car stopped.
A middle-aged woman with frosted blond hair rolled down her window. “Are you in trouble?” she asked.
She looked familiar, Nancy thought, guessing that she’d probably seen her at the town meeting. Nancy quickly explained their situation, making it sound like an accident.
“Hop in. I’ll take you back to my house and call a tow truck.” The woman opened the back door for Nancy and Bess.
“Could you take us to Elizabeth Porter’s house instead?” Nancy asked, and gave her the address. “That’s where we’re staying.”
“I thought you looked familiar,” the woman said as she turned her car around. “You’re friends of Elizabeth’s niece, aren’t you?”
