Nancy darted through the door. She was fast enough to catch up to Mr. Stryker. She grabbed him by the waist and butted her knees against the backs of his legs to bring him to his knees.
“Nice work,” Officer Spinetti said, running up to them. “What do you say we go over to the police station?” she said to Mr. Stryker, who lay on the floor in a crumpled heap. “I’m a pretty good listener, and you’ve got a lot of talking to do.”
• • •
Several days later, Nancy, George, and Bess, having packed their bags, were sitting in Aunt Elizabeth’s kitchen. She was going to drive them to the train station. The rental car had been returned the day before, and it was time to go back to River Heights.
Aunt Elizabeth was in the vestibule, about to put on her jacket, when the doorbell rang. “Why, hello!” Nancy heard Aunt Elizabeth say. “How nice of you to come.”
Aunt Elizabeth came into the kitchen with a sheepish-looking Sarah behind her. Sarah was carrying a gift box, which she handed to Nancy.
“This is for you,” she said, looking down. “With thanks.”
“Oh, Sarah,” Nancy said, touched by her kind gesture. “You didn’t have to buy me a present.”
“Open it,” Sarah said with a shy smile. “When you see what it is, you’ll know why.”
Nancy opened the package. Nestled within some crisp tissue paper was a stuffed bat exactly like the one they had found hanging from the rafters of Aunt Elizabeth’s porch.
Nancy laughed and held it up for all to see.
“Now that Mr. Stryker’s locked up,” Sarah said, “you don’t have to worry about him stealing yours the way he stole mine.”
Nancy laughed. “It’s amazing what he did to cast suspicion on you. Stealing the bat, stealing your car . . .” She shook her head. “And those phone calls. I guess you have to give him credit for having a fiendish mind.”
“Well, the town owes you its congratulations,” Sarah said. “After that article in the Fairport News yesterday about the real story behind the road widening, everyone’s been talking. Now we know it was Mr. Stryker that was causing the problem. Imagine, embezzling all that money!”
“It was quite a shock,” Aunt Elizabeth said.
“The way he turned us against one another,” Sarah said to Aunt Elizabeth, “when he knew that if he hadn’t embezzled, the town would have had enough money to solve the problem.”
“Oh?” Aunt Elizabeth said, surprised. “Do you have a solution to the road widening versus the bats controversy?”
“Yes,” Sarah said. “I think I do.” She smiled broadly. It was the first time Nancy had seen Sarah smile in that way.
“Then tell us,” Bess encouraged her. “I like happy endings.”
“Well, we were so caught up in our separate points of view that we never got to the point where we could think of compromises,” Sarah said. “And there’s a simple way to make everybody happy—both the people who want the road widened, like me, and the people who want to save the bats, like Mrs. Porter.”
“I knew there had to be a compromise somewhere,” Aunt Elizabeth proclaimed.
“And there is. I’m going to propose at next week’s town meeting that we widen the road.”
“That takes care of your part,” Aunt Elizabeth said. “What about mine?”
“Right,” Sarah said brightly. “We won’t widen where the grove of oaks is. I know that part of the road well, and we can solve the whole problem by building a bike path through the grove. It would cost a little more”—she took a deep breath—“but it would save the bats.”
“Sarah, that’s wonderful!” Aunt Elizabeth cried and threw her arms around her.
“It is wonderful,” Nancy said. “Good for you, Sarah. I’m sure everyone will think it’s a great idea.”
“If they’re still willing to listen to me,” Sarah said apologetically. “I was a little strident, you know.”
“But all for a good cause, wouldn’t you say?” Aunt Elizabeth asked.
Talking and laughing, they agreed.
“And now, it’s time to go, or we’ll miss your train,” Aunt Elizabeth reminded George, Nancy, and Bess. “Sarah, would you like to come along?”
“I’d love to,” she said. “Is there room in the car?”
“Of course,” Aunt Elizabeth replied. “Always.”
As Mrs. Porter was closing the door, a car pulled up, and Professor Noble and Jessie hopped out.
“I’m glad we made it in time,” Professor Noble said. “We couldn’t let you leave without a proper Fairport send-off.” He reached back into the car and handed Nancy, Bess, and George each bouquets of yellow daffodils.
“They’re lovely,” Nancy said. “Thank you.”
The group stood outside in the warm spring sun, sharing their memories of the past week. When Sarah told Jessie and Professor Noble her plan, they cheered with relief.
“We couldn’t have reached this compromise without you,” Professor Noble said to Nancy. “We all appreciate what you’ve done.”
“Thanks,” Nancy said. “But all of us deserve credit. I couldn’t have done it alone.”
“And now it’s back to River Heights,” Bess said. “But before I go, will you all sign my cast? What a story I have to go along with it!”
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.
