“We’ll be able to have ten to fifteen guests in the house itself,” Chuck explained, “and when we get through, we should have room for as many as twenty in the cottages.”
“What exactly will you do here?” George asked as they rode along the drive between lacy, pale green trees that were full of tiny, yellow flowers. “I mean, this isn’t a dude ranch, is it?”
Chuck shook his head. “We’re calling it a health resort. What we plan to do is offer a place for people to come who want healthy outdoor exercise and a proper diet.”
“Diet?” Bess’s voice wasn’t exactly filled with joy. Everyone laughed and she quickly joined in.
“It’s not going to be just for losing weight,” Heather explained, “although Maria is a dietician and will set up menus for people who do want to shed some pounds. I’ve studied at a studio in Mesa so I can teach aerobic dancing and rhythm fitness classes, and, if things go well, someday we may be able to put in a golf course. To start, we’ll have hiking in the Superstitions, horseback riding, of course, and swimming. We hope to have a sauna ready by fall, and there will be racquetball and tennis. When people come, we’ll treat them individually, setting up whatever kind of diet and exercise program they want.”
“It sounds wonderful,” Nancy said. “Just different enough from the ordinary resort to attract attention, but offering what more and more people are interested in—a healthy vacation.”
Heather smiled at the compliment, then her happiness faded. “Healthy if we can get rid of the curse,” she amended. “We can’t take in a single guest if there really is some ancient apparition stalking our halls.”
Chuck snorted derisively as he followed the rough driveway along the side of the old building, which was shadowed now by the thick growth of mesquite bushes and cactus. As they rounded the end of the dun-colored building, Nancy gasped in surprise. The scene ahead was totally unexpected.
A low hedge marked the line between the arid grandeur of the cactus and the dusty desert and a lush, green lawn, flowering bushes, and citrus trees, which scented the warm air. A large pool gleamed aqua in the center of the spreading gardens. A lovely, white building rose behind it, which Nancy assumed was the pool house and home of the future sauna.
“It’s lovely!” she exclaimed.
“Water in the desert,” Chuck explained. “We thought the contrast would be interesting for our guests.”
“Shocking is more like it,” George told him.
“It’s like a sudden oasis,” Bess agreed.
Chuck stopped the station wagon and everyone climbed out.
“Oh, I’m so glad we brought our bathing suits,” Bess said. “We can lie by the pool and go home with lovely tans.”
“You give them the tour, Sis,” Chuck said. “I’ll take the luggage in and tell Maria we’re home.”
“We hope to build three more cottages over there,” Heather began. “They can accommodate as many as six people each, so we’ll have families. It’s tentative now. I mean, we can adapt our plans as we go along. Find out what our guests like best and try to supply it.”
“Nothing could be lovelier than this,” Nancy told her honestly. “I mean, driving up and seeing everything so completely desert and cactus, then coming around the corner to this garden. I love both aspects and I’m sure your guests will, too.”
“We’ll have pool parties and cookouts and maybe overnight rides into the desert or mountains, too,” Heather went on. “Grandfather knows the area very well and he’s been showing Chuck and me all the old trails into the mountains.”
Bess sighed. “I’d love to come back when you have a lot of handsome guests to ride with.”
Heather’s green eyes gleamed as she winked at Nancy. “Won’t you enjoy riding with Chuck?” she asked innocently. “I thought you liked him.”
Bess blushed, then dimpled as she realized that she was being teased. “You’re all terrible,” she told them. “None of you has an ounce of romance.”
“Well, right at the moment ...” Heather began, then stopped as a door opened in the rear of the massive, stone building.
“Heather, oh, Heather, I’m so glad you’re home.” An Indian woman of about thirty came out into the dying sunlight. She was neatly clad in a bright, cotton print dress, and her black hair was fastened back on her neck. She would have been pretty had her expression been less troubled.
“Maria, what is it?” Heather asked, then quickly made introductions as they met on the white stone path that led from the concrete apron of the pool to the rear door of the main building.
“It’s Ngyun,” Maria began. “Mr. Henry just came by to ask if by any chance Ngyun had come home with an Appaloosa filly. ”
“What?” Heather asked.
Maria looked uncomfortable. “It seems that one is missing from the J Bar T Ranch, and someone called Mr. Henry and told him they’d seen a boy leading the horse in this direction.” She paused, then added, “A boy on a black and white pinto. ”
“Well, has he come home with the filly?” Heather asked.
Maria sighed. “He hasn’t come home at all. You know how upset he was about your grandfather’s fall last night. Well, this morning he made himself a lunch and rode out. I haven’t seen him since.”
“Did Mr. Henry say where he was seen?” Heather asked.
Maria shook her head.
“It’s not quite dinner time yet, so suppose I show my guests to their rooms. Then maybe Chuck and I can drive around and see if we can locate him,” Heather said soothingly. “But don’t worry so, Maria, Cochise isn’t the only pinto horse around and Ngyun isn’t the only boy in the area, either.”
Maria smiled, but there was no happiness in her face.
“We could help you search,” Nancy offered quickly. “We don’t know the area, but the more pairs of eyes looking ...” She stopped as the sound of hoofbeats came from the front of the looming building.
In a moment, a boy on a black and white pinto trotted into view. Trailing behind, held firmly by a lead rope, was a dark bay filly, whose haunches displayed the distinctive white blanket with brown spots of an Appaloosa. The boy guided the pinto right up to the hedge before stopping him.
“Hi,” he called. “Look what I find running in desert. She pretty.”
“Oh, Ngyun,” Maria wailed. “Why ...”
Nancy stopped the woman with a light hand on her arm. “You found the filly in the desert?” she asked, stepping forward, then introducing herself.
Ngyun smiled at her shyly, then nodded. “I know she belong someone, but I afraid she get in road if I not catch her. Bring her here safe.”
Heather looked at Nancy, then nodded slightly. “Why don’t you take the filly and Cochise down to the stable,” she suggested to the boy. “I’ll go inside and call the J Bar T and tell them you found their missing horse.”
The boy, who was small for twelve, nodded and turned the pinto around easily. As he rode away, Maria shook her head. “They’ll call him a horse thief, won’t they?” she asked no one in particular.
Heather offered no argument as Nancy and her friends followed her and Maria toward the imposing, old house. As they stepped into the shadow of the building, Nancy shivered though the day was still warm. There was, she sensed, trouble ahead!
4
Dangerous Warning
The inside of the huge building was surprising. One door led from the rear entry to a large yet cozy-looking room filled with sofas and chairs grouped for conversation or, in one corner, around a television set. A second door, the one they entered through, led into a very modern kitchen, which was filled with delicious scents.
Bess stopped and sniffed appreciatively. “This is even better than the orange blossoms,” she observed.
“Dinner will be ready in about an hour,” Maria said with a grateful smile. “I was working on it when Mr. Henry arrived.”
“You just go ahead with what you were doing, Maria,” Heather told her. “I’ll talk to Mr. Henry after I call the people at the J Bar T ”
Maria nodded. “Thank you, Heather,” she murmured.
Nancy, Bess, and George followed Heather out of the kitchen into an airy dining room. There were several tables scattered around the big room that would accommodate four or six people each, but Nancy could see that there was space for twice as many. The walls were decorated with small, Indian rugs and blankets plus a number of paintings of western and desert scenes. Indian baskets holding dried flower arrangements decorated the side tables, giving the entire room a friendly, western atmosphere.
“I’ll show you to your rooms before I take care of things for Maria,” Heather began. “I’m just sorry that all this has come up right now. I was hoping we could have a nice, quiet evening, but ... ”
“You don’t really think the boy took the filly, do you?” George asked.
Heather sighed. “I don’t want to,” she replied, “but there have been so many incidents. Everything seemed fine at first, but after he started riding so much ...”
“He’s a cute boy,” Bess said. “And he certainly speaks English well for having been here such a short time.”
“His mother speaks some English and she insisted that he learn it, too. Also, he’s trying hard to be like his father, though he can’t remember him too well. He was barely three when Kyle was killed. ” Heather led them into a large hall and Nancy gasped with delight.
“Are these the Kachinas?” Bess asked breathlessly.
“Our private gallery,” Heather confirmed, her tone a mixture of pride and resignation as she pointed to the beautifully decorated walls of the hall. “And home of our resident ghost, I guess.”
“Now, Heather, you don’t really believe all those stories, do you?” The man who stepped into the long hall of Kachinas from the other side was tall, well-muscled, and weathered.
“Mr. Henry!” Heather said. “I was just coming to talk to you.” She told quickly about Ngyun’s appearance with the filly and his explanation of how it had come into his care.
“I’ll take the filly to the J Bar T Ranch,” Mr. Henry said, “and I’ll report everything to them.”
Only when that was settled did Heather remember her guests. She quickly introduced Nancy, George, and Bess to the rancher.
“So you’re the sleuth that Chuck and Heather are counting on to capture their ghost,” Mr. Henry said, shaking Nancy’s hand firmly. “I had no idea you’d be so young, Miss Drew, or so pretty.”
Nancy blushed, unsure what to say.
“She’ll do it, too,” George said firmly. “No ghost is safe around Nancy.”
“I’m certainly going to do my best to solve the mystery here,” Nancy agreed. “I want to help Heather and Chuck make this resort a success. ”
“We all do,” Mr. Henry assured her. “That’s why I’m concerned about the boy. He’s causing a lot of trouble in the area, and Heather, you’re going to need the good will of your neighbors if you want this resort to work.”
“I don’t see how a few childish pranks could cause so much trouble,” Nancy said, her mind on the shy smile and almond eyes of the boy who’d ridden in on the pinto. He’d seemed younger than twelve and quite defenseless.
“That filly is worth a great deal of money,” Mr. Henry told her. “And there have been a number of other things. We’ve been lucky with the fires so far, but he could light up a barn or a house next, and that wouldn’t be so easy for us to ignore.”
Heather gasped and Nancy could see her paling at the man’s accusing tone, but before she could say anything, Chuck came into the hall. A moment later, the rancher excused himself to talk to Chuck about some ranch business.
Heather turned back to the wall paintings with a sigh. “They really are beautiful, aren’t they?” she said. “Someone suggested that we might be able to get rid of the ghost by painting over them, but I couldn’t do that.”
“Of course not,” Bess agreed. “They are real art treasures.”
“Which Kachinas are they?” Nancy asked. “I mean, what do they represent?”
Heather smiled and pointed out the feather-headdressed, red, white, and yellow Cloud Kachina; the feather-winged Eagle Kachina; the white-furred Bear Kachina; and finally a blue-masked, white-bodied creature known as the Prickly Pear Cactus Kachina. “The other three we haven’t identified yet,” she finished. “Maria says she thinks the one on the end is a Mud-head, but the other two even she doesn’t recognize.”
“They certainly are exotic,” Nancy observed, standing in front of one of the unidentified figures, which sported a feathery topknot and a very carefully patterned body. “Your guests are going to love them.”
“I hope so,” Heather said with a smile. “Especially you three, since your rooms are right along this hall.” She paused, then added, “I hope you and George don’t mind sharing a room, Bess. We don’t have all our furniture yet.”
“Just being here is wonderful,” Bess and George assured Heather as she pointed to the two doors that opened just beyond the bend in the hall.
“The front of the house is devoted to the lobby area and the resort office,” Heather explained, “so all the bedrooms open off this hall. Grandfather, Chuck, and I have rooms at the other end at the moment, though we hope eventually to move upstairs and convert all the rooms down here for our guests. ”
“What about the Tomiches?” Nancy asked. “Do they live at the resort?
“Yes, on the second floor, as a matter of fact. Ward and Chuck have been working on the modernization up there in the evenings. They have one end fixed, but that’s all.”
“Where did your grandfather see the Kachina spirit?” Nancy inquired, her mind returning to the reason for her visit.
Heather frowned. “Well, he said he came out of his room and started along the hall, but he’d only taken a few steps when he saw this thing in the moonlight. He thought it was an intruder, so he went down the hall in a hurry, then he caught his foot and ... well, he said that the figure just seemed to fade into the wall about there.” She indicated the Kachina that had attracted Nancy’s eye.
Nancy stared at the painting for a moment, wishing that the masked face could give her some kind of clue. But the old paint was uninformative, and, after another moment, she shrugged and allowed herself to be directed to her room.