Carolyn Keene - Nancy Drew by The Kachina Doll Mystery Page A

will tell us where the treasure is hidden,” Bess said hopefully.
    “If there really is a treasure,” Heather reminded her. “No one has ever been sure about that, you know.”
    “Look and see if there’s a map,” George urged.
    Nancy leafed through the pages carefully. There were not a great many entries, and once the spidery script ended, there was nothing else. “No map,” she told them. “Guess I’ll have to read it and see if he’s put a clue in his entries.”
    Bess, George and Heather peered over her shoulders at the open book. “I hope you can read it,” Heather said. “His writing is so shaky and faded.”
    “I’ll do my best,” Nancy assured them. “Now, let’s repair the painting and see if we can all get some sleep.”
    Heather shook her head. “To think that’s been hidden there all these years. I wonder why no one else has ever found it.”
    “No one else is as good a detective,” George stated firmly.
    “I just followed the Kachina’s guidance,” Nancy told them. “It gave me the clue.”
    “And you investigated it and found the journal,” Heather finished.
    Chuck, awakened by their voices in the hall, came out to join them. He inspected the journal and listened as Nancy recounted how it had been found, then helped by replacing the brick she had pried out of the wall. That done, they all returned to their rooms. Nancy took the journal with her.
    Though she was tired, she opened it at once. Even with the good light from her bedside lamp, she had difficulty reading the script. Yet she was immediately intrigued.
    Deer Slayer was here today. He brought me a haunch of venison to trade for some canned goods, and we talked long about Winslow and his offer for the Kachinas. Deer Slayer doesn’t want to sell them, but the year has been a bad one and a few of his tribe are beginning to talk of all the food Winslow’s money would buy.
    Deer Slayer and some of the other tribe elders have asked me to speak for them in the bargaining with Winslow and I’ve agreed, though I don’t think they should sell the figures. The ones they’ve let me use to copy for my wall paintings are so beautiful, it would be a tragedy to let them go.
    Nancy turned the page as that entry ended. The next day’s writing dealt with ranch matters, a missing heifer, the possibility of sending a few calves to the reservation for Deer Slayer’s people. Later, there was another entry about Jake’s meeting with Mr. Winslow and their discussions about the Kachinas.
    The man is offering far too little for the Indians’ treasure. He would cheat them of the very food for their children. I’ve advised the chiefs and elders not to even consider selling the Kachinas to him. If they must part with them, I’m sure I can contact a reputable trader who will at least make it worth their while.
    Nancy yawned. Her eyes were burning from the strain of deciphering the writing. The next entry was more about his painting and the fact that Winslow had seen the pictures on the wall of the hall and acted very strangely.
    It seems that Mr. Winslow believes that the Kachinas are here. He has taken to riding out here at odd times and even asked to be allowed to spend the night. I think he hopes to become my friend to use me against the Hopi chiefs in his trading schemes.
    Nancy stopped for a moment and stared out at the shadows of the palo verde tree. Had something moved there? she asked herself. The hair on the back of her neck prickled as though someone was watching her, yet she could see nothing.
    Fully awakened by the feeling, she continued her reading. Jake seemed to be growing more and more concerned about his Indian friends and about his own safety. He described the way he’d pried the brick loose and cleared the box-sized space behind it.
    I’ll paint a Kachina to guard my hiding place, and to guide my friends to this book, should something happen to me. Perhaps it is just the fancy of an old man too long alone, but I see things in