Nancy Screw and the Coming of Age (18+) Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Under Cover of Night

Nancy couldn’t sleep that night. It was in part due to her confrontation with Billy, the settling of the fact inside her that they were really over and her earlier interaction with the woman that lived at 417 Monte View Way. The woman they thought was named Margaret.

In the next ten minutes, Nancy found herself dressed and walking up the street towards Beth’s house. Within another five or so minutes, Nancy was outside Beth’s 2nd floor bedroom window throwing pebbles at it. Inside, Beth awoke to the strange tapping noises and walked cautiously over to the window. She opened it.

“Nancy,” Beth whispered. “What are you doing down there? We’ve got school tomorrow.”

“No we don’t, remember? Teachers conference or something. They let us know mid Friday. One extra day to solve this mystery.” Nancy’s voice grew excited.

“What?”

“Just come on down and we’ll talk some more.” Beth shrugged and reluctantly shook her head.

“Fine.”

The two met up and they sat on her porch steps.

“Billy and I broke up tonight. He was waiting for me when I came home earlier.” Nancy’s voice suddenly grew morose. “He even tried lying about what you and Janet saw that night.”

Beth shook her head.

“I’m sorry, Nanc.”

“Don’t be,” Nancy responded. “When I told him to leave, he wouldn’t. So I screamed at him and my dad came out and scared him off.”

Beth couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.

“You’re Dad?” She cut herself off and rectified her statement.

“I don’t mean to…” Nancy laughed quietly and replied.

“I know what you mean. My dad is such a quiet, kind man. He doesn’t look like he has it in him.”

“Yea.”

“But you’d be surprised what a man can do for his daughter.” Nancy spoke proud of her insight just then. Nancy looked Beth in the eyes.

“I have a really big favor to ask you.”

“Sure, what is it, Nancy?”

Nancy reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the locket she had so carefully held on to.

“Take me up to that woman’s house.”

Beth began to protest, but before she could get a single word out, Nancy interrupted.

“I know how you feel about it. That’s why you can just drop me off and check back with me in a half hour. If you want.”

“Isn’t that illegal, Nancy? You’re talking about trespassing, right?”

“I’m talking about some poor man who’s Lord knows where. I mean, we could go to the police, but they’d do nothing. We don’t really have anything that they could use to investigate. They’d think it would be some sort of scavenger hunt or something.”

Nancy looked Beth in the eye.

“I know you worry about me and I am asking you just to drop me off. I won’t mention you were there or anything if the worst happens. But I just need to know. For me.”

Beth thought for a moment and then answered.

“Look, you’ve had a hard night. What kind of friend would I be if I left you to going up there alone? Or even if I didn’t wait in one spot while we were up there.”

Nancy smiled big and hugged Beth.

“Did Janet want to come along,” Nancy inquired. “She’s helped us so much so far.

“Nah, let her sleep. She’ll be good company, but she has something she needs to do early in the morning. Needs her rest.”

Beth stood up to walk back into her house.

“Let me get dressed. I’ll be down in five minutes.”

Within the stated time, Beth came out and the two quietly snuck into her car and drove towards Monte View Way.

In about the same time as before, the two arrived at the spot where they had parked the car earlier.

“Let’s park the car back a ways,” Nancy suggested. “Don’t want to give the wrong impression.” Beth obediently put it in reverse and backed along the gravel stretch of the road. She stopped just in the line of sight of the house.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Nanc?”

Nancy reflected for a second.

“I’m sure. Don’t worry about me, Beth. Just know that I do appreciate everything you’ve done for me.” She kissed Beth’s cheek and opened the car door.

“I shouldn’t be too long.”

Beth turned off the car and its headlights, letting the engine cool down in the dark under an awning of fir branches. He saw Nancy briefly as she disappeared into the shadows and towards the faint glow of the house ahead. Her nerves wouldn’t sit still.

“What if she gets caught,” Beth mumbled under her breath. “Oh what will I do?”

Nancy quickly arrived at where the house’s driveway merged with the road. She turned around to see the very faintest silhouette of Beth’s car. Beth was invisible, completely concealed beyond the wall of black. But Nancy knew she was there. She looked ahead, keeping her focus on the house ahead of her. She looked up at the porch where that brief and intimidating woman stood earlier. Nancy’s feet almost stammered like her words had, but she took the time to breathe and approach this right. She examined the windows, but could see no light beyond them. Maybe no one was home, she hoped. Still, to be safe, Nancy crept along the jagged wall of rocks lining the right side of the residence. At the end of the house, it opened up to a backyard with another vegetable garden lining either side of the deck. There was a rear-entry door. Nancy checked it and found that it, too, was locked. To either side were windows. She checked inside and saw that one of them opened up to the living room and the other to an expansive hallway with two doors on either side. Beyond the living room she could see stairs leading to a landing and then disappearing beyond. She checked both windows and, to her surprise, one of their latches was loose. Upon a light jiggling of its faulty construction, the door was able to slide open with relative ease. Nancy slipped in and promptly concealed her tracks. Inside, she found that a part of the hallway forked off to open up to the kitchen. She took the path that led to the four doors. She opened the first one that she came to. It was a linen closet. All she found inside were towels folded and stacked neatly upon each other. She closed the door quietly and proceeded to the next door to the left. The door opened slowly under her guidance, revealing a small bathroom. She closed that door, too, knowing the probability of anything helping her there would be slim. Then came the two doors to the right. The one nearest her and furthest from the hallway’s entrance was next on the list. Nancy opened the door a crack and saw what appeared to be a guest bedroom. She entered.

It was simple in its design, yet was very appealing in the eyes of comfort. The bed was made and the nightstand had flowers in a vase that had long since lost their luster and drooped in scornful neglect to the right side. On the floor below them was a small pile of wilted petals that one appeared to adorn a stem in a brilliant crown of red. There was also a small desk with a simple schoolhouse chair. A big oval mirror sat atop the desk. One the wall where the entrance to the room was, there was a painting of a mountainous landscape. It was painted in brilliant colors, but looked rather bleak from the thin layer of dust and the few ribbons of cobwebs that strung across it. Nancy was interested in the desk. Under the accompanying moonlight, as was what she allowed herself to work with, she rummaged through its top shelf. There she found only papers with very little relevance; old bills, worn out books and loose change. And the lower shelf hosted more of the same. The only piece of evidence that was usable was the name sprawled across the envelopes of the mail stored inside: Margaret Turner.

Nancy closed the guest bedroom door and proceeded to the last door on the block she needed to check. Inside she found only a laundry room. Disappointed, she closed the door and headed upstairs. There’s got to be something inside this house. And my guess is that it would be upstairs. With this determined thought in her head, Nancy, once at the top of the stairs, sought the master bedroom. It was located at the end of the hallway that stretched to the left. Once inside, Nancy went straight for the extravagant oak desk located opposite side of the Queen size bed. But again, she found only disappointment; beauty supplies, random papers, books and other such articles. Then she looked over to the side of the bed closest to the window. Sitting in the shadows was one more drawer to search; one that was nestled in an elusive end table.

Outside, Beth was counting down the seconds in her car. It’s been long. It’s been too long. Something’s happened. These conclusions caused a traffic jam in her mind, which caused her to sweat and focus on keeping herself together. It’s been long. It’s been too long. A car drove by and Beth threw herself in the passenger’s seat. She quickly popped her head up, sure that she hadn’t been seen. The car passed by the house. She had done that three times, counting this one. Almost immediately after, her car gradually flooded with light and she ducked down again to hear a car roar past. Then red light replaced white. Beth poked her head up to see a car slow down and enter Margaret Turner’s driveway.

Inside, Nancy had found what she may have been looking for. It was the most potentially substantial piece of evidence she had come across so far. Nancy held up Margaret’s diary to the moonlight shining through the window. She opened it and flipped to the latest entry.

Outside the house, Beth witnessed the cab flood with light as Margaret Turner stepped out of the passenger’s side. Beth heard the car door close.

“Please, Nancy, tell me you heard that. Tell me you’re out of the house already.”

Beth’s mind raced. She looked at the car closer. There was someone else. Someone else had driven Margaret home but, from her spot by the road, couldn’t make them out. Then the driver’s side door opened.

Nancy began to read the latest entry in the diary, unaware of what was happening outside. She hadn’t heard a sound:

WE TOOK CARE OF HIM, PAUL AND I. OUR PLAN WILL BE

TO CONSULT THE THIRD, WHO KNOWS WHERE TO TAKE

IT FROM THERE. MY HUSBA—

Nancy’s reading was interrupted by the sound of keys scratching against the lock of the front door. In a moment, a rush of adrenaline hit her so that she almost neglected to cover her tracks. She closed the end table’s drawer and, with diary in hand, shot out of the bedroom. She screeched to a stop in the hallway and closed the bedroom door behind her then ran down the stairs at breakneck speed, turned on the landing and then again towards the hallway where she had begun her search. As the front door opened, the guest bedroom’s door closed. But as Nancy went to open the window, she could hear the indistinct chatting of Margaret with, from what the voice dictated, another man. Nancy, as quietly and quickly as she could, struggled with a window that she came to find was stuck shut. She heard footsteps get louder. Somebody was coming. She looked behind her as her heart began to race and found small closet. She prayed it was big enough to fit her. She eyed the bed as she ran to it. But it appeared to be too tight a fit. It would be considered as plan B, also. Nancy opened the door and squeezed in, blending in the best she could with garments that hung all around her. Just as she closed the closet door, the advancing footsteps came to a halt.

“This the bathroom,” a man’s voice questioned.

Margaret’s voice replied, indistinct to Nancy’s ears. About a minute or so later, Nancy heard the flushing of water and the rinsing of hands. Nancy remembered the diary in her hand just then and, for the sake of losing it in the closet, stuffed it down the front of her jeans. Footsteps started again and indistinct conversing followed. Then there was a period of frightening silence. Perhaps they had retired. Above her, Nancy could hear the sound of floorboards creaking and footsteps coming and going along the stairwell. All Nancy could see between the crack of the closet door was the slit of a bedroom and that damned window that seemed to be taunting her. She would have to wait it out, she couldn’t risks an escape. At least, not yet.

What seemed to be an eternity crawled by while Nancy stood in that closet. There was but random bouts of conversing beyond the bedroom and hallway. A few minutes or so later the sound of the front door opening and closing reached Nancy’s ears. Then silence. Then something else. Nancy heard the very slight tapping of shoes advancing in her direction. Then they grew silent once more. And as suddenly as they had ceased, the moonlight came flooding into the closet as it was thrown open. Nancy shrieked in surprise, her eyes stung briefly and momentarily blurred. When they refocused, she saw two police officers with flashlights and handguns pointed right at her. Just then, someone turned on the bedroom light.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” All Nancy could do was repeat this. She looked to the right side of the officer nearest to the door and saw Margaret looming over her, her face looked ever more fierce than before.

“What are you doing here,” Margaret interrogated. Her face was searing with anger. The two officers lowered their weapons, seeing that the threat of Nancy was little more than that of a lost teenage girl. Nancy couldn’t answer. She resembled a deer caught in the headlights. And, at that moment, that’s exactly what she was.

“Answer me. Why are you here? To steal from me?” Margaret fumed.

“N-no.” Nancy’s stammer was back. But at least she could answer the question with shorter words this time.

“I don’t believe you,” Margaret snapped.

She turned to the nearest officer. “Search her.”

The two complied and led Nancy to a nearby wall. They gently leaned her against it and briefly patted her down. Nancy was relieved and rather surprised that the two hadn’t come across the diary she had tucked down the front of her jeans. Through the movement from the closet to the adjacent wall, it must have slid its way down her right thigh just after one of the officers had patted it.

“Nothing seems to be amiss here,” one of the officers commented to the other.

“Better get her pockets just to be thorough,” the other replied.

The two checked her pockets. One of them stopped briefly and pulled out an item that shined in the bedroom’s light.

“My locket,” Margaret exclaimed. Her voice, for the briefest moments, carried a joyous tune, but quickly returned to its original tone.

“Where did you get that from?”

“V-Venture Park.” Nancy stammered a little less that time. “It was hanging from a branch on a tree. I wanted to return it to you.”

“And you thought you could just break in and do it that way? Why not earlier, why not when you came to ask for directions? Hmm? Did you think you could come in whenever you wanted to return it and maybe pick yourself out a nice reward?”

Nancy fell speechless. She didn’t know how to react. “N-n-no.”

“Why then?”

“I-I I don’t know. I guess I was just curious.”

“Too curious,” Margaret Turner mocked.

“Would you like to press charges, Miss,” one of the officers asked.

“Yes. Please.”

“Alright, we’ll need to take you down to the station then,” the other officer said facing Nancy. From behind she could hear the sound of cuffs being freed and then, the feel of cold, hard steel pressed against one wrist and then the other as her arms were brought to her backside and secured together.

“I’m sorry,” one of the two officers commented in a warm tone. “It’s for your own good.”

“You might want to do a sweep outside as well, officers,” Margaret barked. “Saw one of them in a car across the street earlier looking at me through a pair of binoculars.”

One of the two officers shined his light into the closet.

“You alone,” the other asked Nancy.

“Just me here,” Nancy lied. “I swear it.”

Nancy’s mind raced in hopes that her fib would be covered up by Beth’s cue to drive away, or slip someplace further from the scene. Either way, Nancy would find out soon enough.

Outside, Beth saw the officers emerge with Nancy. There was added light from the illuminated porch and the gentle glow of the patrol car’s mounted red light. Beth could see that Nancy had been restrained. After the officers emerged from the house, Margaret followed them, pointing to the spot where they had parked Beth’s car before. Her mouth was moving, but Beth couldn’t make out what she was saying. Then she swept her arm towards where Beth was parked and back to where they had been before. One of the officers shined his flashlight into the darkness where Beth sat.

“Oh no!” Beth ducked down. The light flooded the inside of her car. She perked up just enough to see one of the officers walking towards it.

Beth’s mind raced, her palms became slippery with sweat, and her heart threatened to jump out of her chest and run down the road. Then, in the moment that counted, Beth pulled through. She crawled as fast and low as she could to the passenger’s side door. She opened it and closed it as silently as possible and threw herself down the embankment on the other side. About ten feet down Beth landed hard against a fallen tree, wrapping herself in fir branches and pain. She clenched her teeth and made fists, trying to keep any cry from the impact safe within her throat. Above her flashlights passed along her car and down the embankment. She could hear conversing between the two officers above and, eventually, footsteps growing faint as they walked away. A few minutes more the patrol car passed briefly by with her friend secured in the back seat. Beth let out a tear for Nancy and another for the pain.