Nancy Drew Files #63. Mixed Signals. Carolyn Keene

“Ran-dy! Ran-dy!” The students chanted as the band began to play again. The drill team formed a line in front of the platform, behind the bonfire.

“Those outfits are great!” Nancy commented, noticing the purple suede boots and sequined uniforms the drill team wore. They split their line in two, marching off symmetrically. The crowd yelled loudly as Kristin Seidel appeared in between the two lines, twirling a flaming baton.

“That’s amazing!” said Bess.

Yellow flames danced around both ends of the stick as she twirled it and lightly tossed it into the air. The crowd gasped, then applauded as she caught it and flung it back up between her legs.

A wide smile covered Kristin’s face as she caught the baton, marched backward, stopped just two feet in front of the platform, and threw her baton thirty feet into the night sky. Whistles and cheers filled the air.

As the baton descended a moment later, however, fire leaped from one end of the stick and fell onto the stage. Nancy’s mouth dropped open in horror as the flames swept across the tissue paper decorating the front of the platform.

Terror froze on Randy’s face as the flames danced at his feet. Before anyone could move, the entire front of the wooden stage was being consumed by fire.

Randy was caught behind a blazing inferno!

Chapter Three

“Randy’s in trouble!” Nancy cried, grabbing Ned’s arm. “Come on!” Her pulse was racing as she cut through the crowd to reach the cordoned-off area.

Some people in the audience were still cheering—apparently they couldn’t see exactly what was happening. But then more and more screams rang out. Nancy and Ned were just ducking under the rope when everyone started shouting and shrieking in panic.

They raced as close to the burning platform as they dared. At first Nancy couldn’t see Randy through the cloud of black smoke that enveloped him, but at last she did spot him.

Coughing and choking from the smoke, Randy had stumbled back a few steps until he was in the center of the platform. His fists were raised, and he was flailing wildly at the smoke, as if he could beat it back. Flames licked up, almost singeing his jeans. From his erratic movements, Nancy guessed that he had to be in shock.

She gasped as a creaking noise rose from the wooden platform. “It’s going to collapse!” she shouted to Ned.

She raced around to the rear of the stage, where the fire hadn’t yet spread. “Randy!” she shouted, waving her arms to get his attention. “You have to jump off the back! Now!”

The platform was about ten feet high, but Nancy knew the jump wouldn’t be a problem for an athlete like Randy—if she could only get him to move. She felt desperate as Randy continued to thrash about like a zombie. “Randy!” she shouted again. “You have to jump!”

All at once Randy seemed to snap out of his daze. Nancy saw his eyes focus on her. A second later he scrambled to the back of the platform and plunged off the edge. As he fell to the ground Nancy reached out to grab his shoulders and ease the impact of the fall. She felt herself being pulled to the pavement beside him.

“He’s on fire!” Ned yelled from a few yards away.

Scrambling to her feet, Nancy saw that a small flame rose from Randy’s pants. He was crawling along the pavement, still coughing. Without pausing, she whipped off her leather jacket and threw it over his legs. Then she pushed him so that he rolled over and smothered the flame.

“Help me grab him,” Nancy called to Ned as soon as she was sure Randy’s clothes were no longer burning. “We need to drag him clear of the stage.” Working together, they tugged Randy a safe distance away from the roaring flames.

“Look out!” someone shouted. At the same time, a loud crack sounded from the flaming platform.

Nancy raised her head just in time to see the wooden stage shift. The front of it collapsed, sending sparks and flames high into the nighttime sky. Nancy shuddered, imagining what would have happened if Randy had waited a minute longer to jump.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *