He pulled into a driveway that was well hidden from the road by a stand of trees. When they got out of the car, Professor Noble reminded the girls to walk quietly and disturb the woods as little as possible. They made their way along the side of the road until they reached the grove of oaks.
“I’ve searched this area thoroughly,” Professor Noble said as they stood beneath the oaks, “and I haven’t been able to find anything. But I know if these bats are here, a cave has to be nearby.”
“Wouldn’t a cave be part of a rock formation above the ground?” Nancy asked.
Professor Noble shook his head. “Not necessarily. It could be underground. That’s what makes finding it so difficult.”
“I have one question,” Bess said. “Will there be bats in the cave? I hate to admit it, but I’m a little scared of bats.”
Professor Noble laughed softly. “I understand your fear, Bess. Not to worry. Most of them will have left the cave because it’s spring. There may still be a few there, but not enough to cause you any trouble.”
“Well, shall we break up and search in different directions?” Nancy asked, eager to begin the hunt.
“I think you girls should go in teams,” Professor Noble said. “With what’s been going on around here, I think it’s best you don’t wander alone. I know the woods pretty well, so I’ll be okay by myself.”
The girls agreed and teamed up: Nancy with Jessie, and Bess with George.
“If you find anything, come back here. Don’t yell out,” Professor Noble said. “We want to keep our whereabouts a secret for now.”
Nancy and Jessie headed out together. “If you were a cave, where would you be?” Jessie asked with a laugh.
“I think I would be underground, since Professor Noble hasn’t found one aboveground,” Nancy said.
“That makes a lot of sense,” Jessie said.
The two girls walked through the woods and soon came to a creek.
“This must be the stream my car went into,” Nancy remarked. A stray sunbeam broke through the foliage and sparkled on the water. The sight brought to mind a phrase she’d recently heard. “The shining stream,” she whispered.
“The shining stream. What’s that?” Jessie asked.
“Something I overheard Mr. Stryker talking about with Mr. Bremer. It was somehow connected with Mr. Tolchinsky as well,” Nancy told her.
They walked along the banks of the stream, their eyes roaming the ground for anything unusual.
“Look at that!” Nancy pointed to a fallen tree. Just behind it, almost obscured by a branch, was a depression in the earth.
Nancy ran to it with Jessie right behind her. Leaves filled the depression. Scooping them out by the handful, Nancy revealed an opening into the ground. Could this be the cave?
“I think you’ve found it,” Jessie said, keeping her excited voice a whisper.
Together they hastily scooped out more of the leaves to clear the opening further. When they finally uncovered it, they saw it was as wide as a man’s shoulders.
“There’s cold air coming out,” Jessie said, excited. “This has to be it!”
“Should we go back?” Nancy asked.
Jessie reached for her belt and removed a small flashlight. “Not until we know for sure,” she said. “I’m going in.”
“Not alone, you’re not,” Nancy said. “Who knows what’s inside?”
“All right,” Jessie said. “But I’ll go in first and lead the way.”
She went in feetfirst. Nancy waited at the opening until she heard Jessie’s feet drop onto solid ground.
“It’s a bit of jump, but you can make it,” Jessie called up.
Then Nancy heard her scream.
Nancy immediately dropped down into the hole. She slid a bit and staggered when she landed on what felt like wet rock beneath her feet.
The cave was black, except for the beam of Jessie’s flashlight, roaming skittishly across the walls of the cave.
“What is it?” Nancy asked anxiously.
“Look!” Jessie said. She focused the beam on the bottom of the cave.
The floor of the cave was littered with what at first looked like dried leaves. But on closer examination, Nancy saw that they weren’t leaves at all. They were bats. Hundreds of them. And they were all dead.
10
A Veil of Secrecy Lifts
The flashlight shook in Jessie’s hand, causing the beam to flit across the floor. Nancy took the flashlight from Jessie and shined it around the cave.
It was small, with a low ceiling. An opening in the wall to her right, big enough for a body to squeeze through, indicated that the cave went on farther. Nancy shined the beam on something leaning against the wall. “What’s that?” she exclaimed.
Jessie walked over to it. “It’s a shovel. Ugh!” she cried out, and dropped it. Making a face, she pulled off her gloves.
