The Buried Treasure on Route 66: A Nancy Keene Mystery

The Buried Treasure on Route
66: A Nancy Keene Mystery

Louise Hathaway

Copyright Louise Hathaway
2014

Smashwords
Edition

Part One

Nancy Keene, a blonde-haired
and blue-eyed teenager, is busy putting the finishing touches on a
casserole of Boeuf Bourguignon. She arranges the stew on a serving
platter, surrounds it with potatoes, and decorates it with parsley.
Dressed as a French maid, she can’t wait to see the costumes that
her friends will be wearing for her French-themed birthday party
this afternoon.

She hears the doorbell
chime, and greets her boyfriend, Ned, who is dressed in a
horizontally-striped black and white long-sleeved T-shirt. He looks
very French in his beret. Nancy teases him saying, “Pierre, entre
vous.”

“Nice outfit, Nancy! You
look really hot in it.”

“You better not let my Dad
hear you say that.”

Nancy’s father, Drew, a
noted legal scholar, walks into the room and says, “Don’t let me
hear what?”

“Oh, nothing,
Dad.”

Her father says, “How do you
two like my outfit? I’m dressed up like Hercule Poirot for your
French party.”

Ned says, “Wow! Mr. Keene.
Cool costume!”

Nancy says, “Dad, you seem
to have forgotten that Poirot is Belgian, not French.”

“Well, excuse me,” her
father says, doing his best Steve Martin impression.

Ned, realizing that it’s
always a good strategy to get on the good side of his girlfriend’s
father, comes to Mr. Keene’s rescue by telling Nancy that Poirot is
from the French part of Belgium.

Using his best Hercule
Poirot impression, her father says, “Mademoiselle, you are not
using your little grey cells.”

“Okay, you two. I stand
corrected. Dad, I’m sorry. You look great! Thanks for getting into
the spirit of things.”

Her father walks over to the
cd player and puts on an Edith Piaf cd. “This will be nice
background music for the party,” he says.

The doorbell rings and her
friend, Beth, is the next to arrive. She is dressed liked Marie
Antoinette.

“Wow!” Nancy says, “You look
amazing. We know who’s going to be winning the best-dressed
contest. Love your costume.”

“Cute outfit you’re wearing,
Nancy.”

“Thanks. I made it
myself.”

Why am I not
surprised?”

Beth hands Nancy an apple
tart that she’s made.

Nancy shows off her ability
to speak French by saying, “Tarte Aux Pommes. Merci,
beaucoup!”

Beth says that she’s not a
gourmet cook like Nancy, but she tried her best to make a decent
French dessert. “I’m sure it’s delicious, Beth. I can’t wait to
taste it.”

As they are eating their
hors’ d’oeuvres, Nancy’s friend, Hannah, arrives at the party. She
is wearing a poodle skirt, cashmere sweater, and ballerina flats.
She’s carrying a stuffed poodle.

Beth says, “You look like
you’re ready for the sock hop, not a French party.”

Hannah says, “It’s a French
poodle skirt.
French
. Get it?!”

Everyone groans.

Nancy says, “You are too
funny, Hannah. Come right in. Hannah has brought some baguettes for
the party. Nancy says, “These will be great with the
bourguignon.”

All of the food at the party
is delicious. Julia Child would be impressed.

Ned ends up winning the
French trivia contest by correctly answering that “Giverny” is the
garden and home of Claude Monet.

Nancy gets some great
birthday presents. Ned gives her a charm bracelet with
French-themed charms of the Eiffel Tower, a passport, an airplane,
and a cruise ship. Nancy loves it and immediately puts it on her
wrist. Beth gives her a crossword dictionary and a book on how to
make sand castles. Nancy says, “Oh, Beth; this is just what I
wanted.”

Beth says, “Only you, Nancy,
would want a ‘how-to’ book about making sand castles.”

“And that’s why you love me,
isn’t it?”

Hannah says, “Open mine. I
want to see the look on your face.”

Nancy unwraps her present
and finds a DVD of the movie “Cars”. Hannah has also given her a
map and travel guide for Route 66.

“This is great, Hannah! Look
at all of the pictures of the landmarks along the way.” Thumbing
through the book she finds a building she recognizes and says,
“Look at this picture of the U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas. It
looks just like ‘Ramone’s Body Art Shop’ in the movie ‘Cars’. Love
it!”

She walks over to Hannah and
gives her a big hug.

Nancy’s father has the
biggest surprise of all for his daughter. He puts a blindfold on
her and walks her out the front door as her chums follow. Her
father whispers to her friends, “Don’t make a sound,” as he walks
Nancy a few feet more, and takes off her blindfold.

“Oh, my God! Dad, thank you
ever so much! This is the best birthday present I’ve ever had!” She
is now the proud owner of a brand new Toyota Prius.

“My first
hybrid!”

“Do you like it?”

Oh, Dad. It’s fantastic and
it’s blue, like my old car. You think of everything. I love it,”
she says, as she hugs her father.

He tells her, “Something new
to replace the vintage blue roadster that you’ve been driving
around since your 16th birthday.”

****

Nancy is dying to try out
her new roadster, but is too polite to hurry the birthday party
along; she patiently waits until her last guest is ready to leave.
Besides, she doesn’t want to miss the “Name that French Tune”
contest that she’s dreamed up. She asks her friends to all be quiet
and listen to the music. She plays selections from 10 famous French
songs but nobody guesses the right answers. Nancy thinks, “Note to
self: next party, ask for Ned’s help in choosing songs.” Nobody
wins the prize, but Nancy gives it to Beth. “What is it,
Nancy?”

“Open it and find
out.”

Beth unwraps her present and
loves finding a Barnes and Noble gift card. “This is perfect,
Nancy. You know how much I like to read.”

After Nancy’s last guest
departs, she asks her Dad, “So, where are the car keys?”

He fishes them out of his
desk drawer, and asks her if she wants him to come with her in case
there are any problems.

“Oh, Dad. I’ll be
fine.”

Her father says, “You
haven’t even looked at the manual yet.”

“I promise I will when I get
back.”

“See that you do. You’re the
only person I know who’s not bored reading instruction manuals. I’m
sure you’ll have it all memorized by tomorrow.”

Her father continues,
“Honey, you might want to change out of that French maid costume. I
don’t want any old geezers getting themselves or you in a car
accident while they’re ogling at you.”

“Oh, Dad. That’ll never
happen.”

“There’s always a first
time.”

“Well, it’s my birthday and
I want to wear this outfit until I wake up tomorrow.”

“Be careful out
there.”

“I love you, Dad. Don’t
worry. I’m an 18-year-old now. I’m officially an adult.”

****

Nancy is cruising out of the
city of Scottsdale, Arizona and going on the back roads, enjoying
the beautiful summer day. She says to herself, ‘This is my favorite
time of the year. My friends and I are going to have a great summer
going on road trips in this car.’ She’s been reading about Route 66
ever since she went to Disney’s California Adventure and saw the
Radiator Springs racers. She’s found a book that shows the
real-life locations for some of the buildings in the movie, “Cars”.
As she’s dreaming about some of Route 66’s landmarks, she sees a
black Mercedes speeding up ahead into oncoming traffic. She’s
afraid that it’s going to hit her head-on.

As it’s zooming down the
highway, she sees an elderly lady waving her hands at the people in
the vehicle, and they swerve to avoid hitting her. As the car nears
Nancy’s, she has to drive onto the shoulder of the road to avoid an
accident. After she recovers from the shock, she starts wondering
what happened to the little old lady who almost got hit. There is
no sign of her anywhere.

Nancy gets out of her car
and starts searching for her. The lady couldn’t have just vanished
into thin air, she thinks. She discovers the lady sitting in a
meadow, crying. “You poor little thing,” Nancy tells her. “They
almost hit you. Are you alright?”

The lady looks at Nancy and
does a double-take. “Why are you dressed like a French
maid?”

Nancy says, “Let’s talk
about you first. Are you hurt? Do you have any cuts? I am a
certified Red Cross volunteer and I know first aid. Can you get
up?”

“I think so,” the lady
says.

Nancy helps her rise and
steadies her as they take a few steps. “Let’s get you to my car and
then I’ll drive you home.”

“Okay, honey. You’re an
angel.”

Nancy says, “Why were you
waving at that car?”

“Long story.”

Nancy says, “I like long
stories.”

“Let’s get me to your car
first, and then I’ll tell you.”

****

Nancy drives to the lady’s
house and helps her get out of the car. She tells her, “My name is
Nancy. What’s yours?”

“I’m Mrs. Wood.”

They enter her house and
Nancy helps her to the sofa. “I like your house. Very cozy. Would
you like something to drink?”

“You’ve been so helpful
already. Let me catch my breath and I’ll go in and make us some tea
to calm my nerves.”

“I can make it, if you’d
like. That way, you can rest.”

“You’re a dear. The teapot
and loose tea are on the kitchen countertop. The kettle is on the
stove. Let me know if you can’t find anything.”

“It’ll be up in a jiffy,”
Nancy says.

After about 15 minutes,
Nancy comes out of the kitchen carrying a large tray that holds a
teapot, two china cups, a creamer, a sugar bowl, and two spoons.
She’s also managed to find some shortbread cookies. On the upper
corner of the tray, she’s put a small doily underneath a silver
vase with a fresh red rose in it.

“Mercy me,” Mrs. Wood says.
“How did you ever manage to find room on the tray for all of those
items?”

Nancy just laughs as she
sets the tray down on the coffee table. “I hope you don’t mind that
I did some digging around in your cupboards to find all
these?”

“Of course not. This is
great! I feel like the Queen of Sheba. Especially with you waiting
on me in your French maid’s costume.”

Nancy tells her that she’s
had a French-themed birthday party and is keeping her outfit on all
day.

“What fun!” Mrs. Wood
answers. “That sounds like my kind of party.”

“Would you like to tell me
about why you were waving at that Mercedes?”

“Those two young men are my
ex-husband’s stepsons. My former husband passed away about a month
ago, and his stepsons have been coming over and taking things from
my house that they think belong to them. They are being
insufferable. Today, they came and told me that they wanted my car
because my ex-husband’s name is on the pink slip. I helped my
husband pay for the car with money I’d made as a receptionist. It’s
so unfair! Today, they had a friend drop them off at my house and
stole my car. Those kids have a lot of money. There’s no reason for
them to take away my car. They’re just being mean.”

Nancy says, “I’ve heard that
things can get ugly when wills are contested and families feel
entitled to get what they think is their ‘fair share’.”

“My ex-husband married a
very wealthy woman. Rumor had it that her father was part of a
Mafia gang in Chicago during Prohibition. Her father left her a lot
of money. Those sons of hers have managed to squander their
inheritance from their grandfather by spending it all on drugs and
gambling. That’s why they’re coming here and picking on
me.”