Read Online Carolyn Keene - Nancy Drew by The Kachina Doll Mystery - Free Book Online

smoke-stained and weary. They were all glad to stand back and watch as the firemen tamed and finally put out the roaring blaze. Only then did they have a chance to relax and sit down on the damp chairs near the pool.
    “How did it get started, Chuck?” one of the firemen asked, and for the first time, Nancy recognized him as Floyd, the young man she’d ridden to the barbecue with earlier that evening.
    Chuck shook his head. “Your guess is as good as mine,” he answered. “I was sound asleep when it started. Heather woke me up.”
    All eyes turned toward the redhead. “I guess it was the smell of smoke that woke me,” she said. “My room faces this way and when I opened my eyes, I could see the flames. It scared me half to death. I thought the whole resort was on fire.”
    Floyd looked around. In the pearly beginning of daylight, the charred places on the lawn and bushes were very clear. “You’re just lucky that it wasn’t,” he said. “If you hadn’t come out in time, the place could have gone.”
    “Anybody out here ready for sandwiches and coffee?” Maria called from the doorway. When there was a chorus of assent, she and Ngyun emerged with two big trays.
    “When in the world did you do this?” Heather asked in amazement.
    “As soon as the firemen arrived,” Maria answered. “I knew you wouldn’t need me any more and I already had Ngyun at work making sandwiches in the kitchen.”
    Everyone began to eat with enthusiasm, and Ngyun’s shy smile soon appeared as everyone commented on his handiwork. The ham, cheese, and beef sandwiches did taste delicious and helped to lift their spirits in the cold aftermath of the battle with the fire.
    Ngyun’s smile faded, however, when one of the firemen frowned at the charred and smouldering building and commented, “I just don’t see how it could have started accidentally, Chuck. There wasn’t anyone staying in that cottage, and you weren’t working on it yesterday, were you?”
    Chuck shook his head. “We finished the rough work before Grandfather’s accident, and I haven’t had the time to do anything else since. I’ve been waiting for Grandfather. He makes all the final decisions about the wiring and finishing, you know.”
    “Are you saying that the cottage could have been deliberately set on fire?” Nancy asked, her attention caught by the idea.
    “I not do it!” Ngyun protested, getting to his feet so quickly that he spilled the remainder of his milk in the grass. “I not set any fires!”
    For a moment, no one spoke. Maria cleared her throat, but before she could say anything, the boy was gone, fleeing not toward the house, but toward the stable. In a moment, the black and white pinto appeared, Ngyun clinging to his bare back as they raced away from the house into the desert.
    “I didn’t mean to make him think I was accusing him,” Nancy protested quickly, getting up. “Should I ride after him?”
    “You’d never catch him,” Maria told her sorrowfully.
    “Why should he think you were accusing him?” George asked. “You were just asking a logical question.”
    “Perhaps he should be questioned,” Ward observed, looking uncomfortable. “There have been so many fires since that first signal fire on the ridge. I don’t think that Ngyun could have anything to do with them, but...” He let his voice trail off, shaking his head, then continued, “Burned saguaro cactus and fenceposts are one thing, but the cottage is something else.”
    “No!” Maria was on her feet, her face full of pain. “It can’t be Ngyun,” she cried. “Honestly, Chuck, he was in his bed when you pounded on our door. There’s no way he could have done it. He wouldn’t, I just know that he wouldn’t.”
    “I think we’re all jumping to conclusions,” Floyd said. “The fire is too hot to check now, but I’ll come back late this afternoon and look around. I’ll see if I can find any clues to how it happened. Maybe that will give us some