Read Online The Sky Phantom by Carolyn G. Keene - Free Book Online Page B

back on. “Can’t talk any longer. Our three minutes are over. He hung up, and so did Nancy. She and George turned to look at Bess. Why had she stuttered on the phone?
    “What’s the matter with you?” her cousin asked.
    Bess was very pale. “What am I going to do about Chuck?” she murmured.
    George said abruptly, “You shouldn’t have been so super nice to him. He thinks now that you’re in love with him!”
    “Maybe I am!” Bess said and burst into tears.

CHAPTER XI
    Masked Intruder
    BESS flopped on her cot and buried her face in the pillow. She sobbed convulsively.
    Nancy sat down on the edge of the cot and patted Bess’s back. “Be honest with George and me,” she said. “Are you more fond of Chuck than you are of Dave?”
    “I don’t know! I don’t know!” Bess mumbled in reply.
    George, who tended to be less gentle with Bess than Nancy was, said tartly, “Get hold of yourself! You’re old enough to make up your mind.”
    Bess turned over and looked at the other two girls with sad eyes. “You simply don’t understand, George.”
    “I admit that,” her cousin agreed. “You’re acting like a big cry baby.”
    Bess tried to defend herself. “How would you act if Range should ask you to marry him and stay out here to live, as Chuck asked me?”
    The question and disclosure were so surprising that George was taken off guard. She stopped chastising her cousin but refused to answer the question.
    “I’m going outdoors,” she said abruptly and left the room.
    Nancy began to stroke Bess’s hair. “Why don’t you wait,” she said, “until Dave and the others get here? Then you can compare them. Offhand, I’d say both are fine boys. Dave has eastern ways, and Chuck has a western outlook. You have to make up your mind which appeals to you more.”
    Bess looked at Nancy gratefully. “You always seem to know the right way to decide everything,” she said. “You’ve helped a lot. I feel much better.”
    Nancy stood up and smiled. “I hope your remark about my decisions will apply to this mystery we’re trying to solve. We’ve had so many false leads it seems to me we’re not making much headway.”
    “But you’ll do it,” Bess said reassuringly. “I wish I had your will power.”
    Nancy was embarrassed and said she was going outside too for a little while.
    “I’m so sorry you have this problem, Bess. Probably you should be alone to think. Why don’t you take a shower and a shampoo? I’m sure it’ll make you feel better,” Nancy suggested. “When George and I come back, we’ll all go to dinner.”
    As Nancy reached the ranch-house lobby, she was hailed by the desk clerk. “If you and your friends don’t have your masks for tonight, you’re to go to Pop’s office and get them as soon as possible.” he said. “The pretty ones are being chosen fast.”
    Nancy thanked him and went to the rancher’s private office. Several guests were there, trying on various types of masks. Most of them covered just the eyes and nose, but there were a few that hid the whole face.
    Nancy chose a half mask, thinking it would go well with her filmy white costume. Then she picked out a dark tan mask, which she felt would be appropriate for Bess’s gypsy outfit. Perhaps she would tell fortunes.
    “George has already been here,” Pop said, “and chosen hers.”
    When Nancy returned to the room a little while later, Bess was asleep. George had not returned but she came in soon. She had picked up a red mask to go with her clown costume. She put it on.
    Bess awoke with a start. “Oh!” she exclaimed.
    “Feeling better?” George asked.
    Her cousin looked around the room wildly. “Oh, I had the most horrible dream!” she said. “Dave and Chuck were having a duel!”
    George laughed. “They probably will do just that after Dave gets here.”
    “Don’t say that!” Bess cried out. “In my dream they killed each other!”
    “Hypers! You sure are letting your imagination run away with