The Wrong Chemistry (2 page)

“Hey, Peter, cut the kidding,” a female voice called. A girl with long blond hair jogged easily toward them.

Sheepishly, the boy lowered his gun, giving Nancy an embarrassed smile. “It's not real,” he muttered. He walked over to the body on the ground and nudged it gently with his foot. “You better get up, Bob. Here comes Karen.”

The blond girl, Karen, reached them just then, glaring at both boys. She was tiny, Nancy realized—she barely came up to Nancy's chin.

“Hi,” she said in a breathless voice. She gave Nancy a warm smile. “Sorry—these guys are idiots. Bob, get up!” she ordered furiously, as the “body” jumped to his feet. She turned back
to Nancy and offered her the young man's gun. “See, it's a toy, really. A fancy water pistol.”

“Water pistol or not,” Nancy said in measured tones, “I don't like any gun pointed at my head. And Bob should be more careful,” she added. “I could have run into him for real.”

Karen flushed and pushed her hair back nervously. Nancy noticed a large, bronze-colored earring shaped like a snake on her right ear.

“Everybody, take a break,” she yelled to the small group who had gathered a few yards away, watching them. She turned to Nancy, concern in her clear blue eyes.

“I'm Karen Lewis,” she said, “and we're just, um, rehearsing for an event we're staging this week. I think Pete and Bob were trying to see if someone would take them seriously. I'm really sorry. They just got carried away.”

Relief and anger coursed through Nancy. “Well,” she said, drawing in a long breath, “I guess I've had worse scares.”

“Are you a student here?”

“Yes. That is, a new student. I just transferred. My name is Nancy Drew.”

Karen groaned. “Oh, no, someone new. Listen, you won't report us, will you?”

“Why would I do that?” Nancy asked. “What exactly is going on here?”

Without replying, Karen turned and searched
the group around her. “Philip!” she called anxiously.

A swarthy man got up from the rock he was sitting on and sauntered toward them. Unlike the others, he wasn't wearing camouflage clothes. Instead, he had on jeans, a black leather jacket, black sneakers, and a white scarf wrapped a little too casually around his neck. A shock of white hair stood out in the wavy black hair that tumbled over his head. He was too old to be a student, but he looked more like a model than a college professor, Nancy thought.

“A problem, Karen?” he asked in a low voice. He wasn't particularly large or stocky, but in the group of students, his presence seemed overwhelming.

“I hope not,” she said, eyeing Nancy. “This is Nancy Drew, she's a transfer student.”

“Nice to meet you, Nancy. I'm Philip Bangs.” Turning his black eyes toward Nancy, he held out his hand, grasping hers with confidence. “Is there some trouble?”

“Suppose you tell me,” Nancy said, trying to hide the curiosity in her voice. This was more than a group of overgrown kids playing with water pistols, or Karen wouldn't be so nervous.

Karen turned to Bangs and lowered her voice. “Well . . .” She hesitated. “I never got a permit to use the arboretum. If complaint charges are filed, the dean might kick us off campus.”

Nancy cut in, a little irritated with the way Karen acted as if she weren't there. “I'm sure Dean Jarvis has more important things to worry about than permits. Who are you, anyway, some kind of officers-in-training group?”

Philip Bangs gave her a wide, startling smile. “Officers in training!” he exclaimed, as if it were an extremely clever joke. He clapped Karen on the shoulder, and the girl seemed to relax.

“No, we're not part of any army,” Bangs said, chuckling lightly. “But we are part of a group. Members of POE—Protect Our Environment. Maybe you've heard of us? You might be interested in joining our group. I have some flyers here. We were merely preparing for Senator Claiborne's visit.” Bangs began to dig through his jacket pockets.

“Maybe later, thanks,” Nancy said firmly. “I'm late for an appointment. And you don't have to worry about me—I'm not going to file any charges against anyone. It's not my style.” Flashing what she hoped was a convincing smile, Nancy climbed back into her car.

The last thing she needed was to get involved with an organized group, no matter how noble their cause. Not when she had a mystery to solve.

As Nancy pulled up in front of Omega Chi Epsilon she spotted Ned instantly. He was
sitting on the wide porch, his long, jean-clad legs stretched out in front of him. She was really late, she realized, looking at her watch. Ned jumped lightly to his feet and headed toward her.

“Hey, gorgeous!” he said, waiting for her to climb out so he could enfold her in his arms. “Welcome back to Emerson!”

“Ned!” Nancy hugged him tightly with her eyes closed, breathing in his warm, familiar smell. “I missed you.”

“Mmm,” he murmured, “I missed you, too.” He tilted her head up, his dark eyes dancing. “Give me a kiss.”

Nancy leaned back against the car, letting her body relax next to Ned's. This was the kind of welcome she liked!

After a moment Nancy broke away, laughing. “Ned, don't you think we should go inside?”

“And get more comfortable?” he teased, keeping an arm around her waist. Nancy slipped her arm around him, her head fitting perfectly in the hollow of his shoulder, as they strolled toward the frat house.

A crackling fire greeted Nancy as she entered the living room, which was comfortably furnished with overstuffed chairs and sofas. Ned guided her to a sofa in front of the fire.

“Nan, you remember Jan and Mike.”

Jan Teller, a small brunette, bounced up and embraced Nancy quickly. “It's great to see you again,” she said warmly.

“Ditto for me,” Mike O'Shea said. “Don't mind if I don't get up.” Mike gestured to the cane lying next to him on the floor. “Jan and I just had a walk. I made it all the way to the gym and back. I'm going to claim invalid's privileges and make
you
come to
me.”

Grinning, Nancy leaned over and gave Mike a peck on the cheek. He grabbed her hand. “Thanks again for everything you did last time you were here. I know it was pretty rough on you, but you brought me to my senses.”

Nancy had met Mike and Jan when she came to Emerson to try to find a practical joker who was ruining Emerson's chance at a basketball championship. Mike had been Nancy's number-one suspect.

Nancy shuddered, remembering the case. Mike
had
been involved, but when Nancy had confronted him, he'd realized his mistakes and tried to put an end to his part in it. Eventually, Nancy did find the real criminal, but not before he'd pushed Mike off a six-story building.

Ned squeezed Nancy's shoulder, drawing her closer to him. She could tell he was thinking about that case, too. Ned had been so upset by what happened to Mike that he and Nancy had broken up for a while. But they solved their
problems, Nancy thought thankfully, and they were together again, stronger than ever.

“How are you doing?” Nancy asked Mike.

“Okay.” He shrugged. “My back injuries weren't as bad as the doctors first thought, and my leg is healing. I can even walk short distances now without the cane.”

“I'm going to rummage around for some chips or something. Anyone want anything?” Jan headed for the kitchen.

“Yeah, bring everything you can carry,” Ned called. “I'm starving!”

“Ned, I'm sorry,” Nancy said in dismay. “You should have gone to lunch without me.”

“And missed my number-one girl? No way! But we will have dinner tonight—at a very romantic little place I know,” Ned said. “But what did happen? Did Dean Jarvis keep you talking? I know he loves to talk.”

“Partly, but then I ran into some people,” Nancy said wryly. “Literally. Do you know about POE?”

Ned groaned. “Not them. Did they try to recruit you?”

“Sort of.” Nancy explained what happened in the arboretum.

“Water guns? They're nuts!” Ned exclaimed. “They might mean well, but their methods—” He shuddered.

“Ned's right,” Mike agreed. “I'm all for protecting
the environment, but I think there are better ways to do it. POE's tactics are weird.”

“What exactly do they do?” Nancy asked.

“They go out in the woods where they live off the land and go rock climbing and stuff. And they're always talking about stopping any technology that threatens the environment,” Ned said in a steely voice.

Nancy frowned. “Well, those all sound like good causes.”

“They
are
good causes,” Jan said lightly, coming back in the room. “Ned's exaggerating. Right now they're all fired up about a visit from Senator Claiborne.”

“I read about that,” Nancy exclaimed. “He's the one who thinks we should sell our national parklands to developers. Most people think he's a genuine nut. If POE is against him, I'll have to be for them.”

Jan and Mike exchanged uneasy looks. Nancy noticed Ned's jaw clench and anger wash over his face.

“Did I say something wrong?” she asked warily. She started to put her hand on Ned's shoulder, but he backed away. Nancy felt her heart sink.

“Maybe we should stop all this talking and eat,” Nancy said, trying to change the subject. “It's not too late for this snack, is it?”

Ned glanced at his watch. “I'm afraid it is,”
he said curtly. “Anyway, I don't have much appetite now, and we're going to be late for class. Come on, Mike, Jan. We've got to hurry.”

Jan helped Mike to his feet. Giving Nancy apologetic looks, they headed for the front door.

“Ned, what's wrong?” Nancy grabbed Ned's arm as he started to follow Jan and Mike out of the room. “A minute ago you were so happy to see me. What happened? What did I do?”

Ned pulled away. At the front door he stopped, his face set in a hard mask. Nancy stared, completely baffled by the change in him.

“If you think POE is such a great group, fine. But just do me a favor, okay? Don't ever mention them in front of me again!”

N
ANCY WAS STUNNED
. She'd been so thrilled to see Ned, and now this. It was so unlike him to overreact. Whatever she did, Nancy vowed, she wouldn't mention POE.

She watched as Ned walked off with Jan and Mike. As soon as he had calmed down, she'd find out why her sticking up for the group had upset him so much. But there wasn't anything she could do about it now, so she decided to find her dorm and unpack.

Nancy didn't have to share her room, and it had a private bath. With a sigh, she dumped her bags, plopped onto the bed, and kicked off her
shoes. Then she remembered she had promised to let her father, Carson Drew, know when she had arrived.

Rolling onto her stomach, Nancy grabbed the phone and dialed. Her father's voice came over the wire.

“Carson Drew,” he answered pleasantly.

“Hi, Dad. Just called to let you know I'm safe and sound.”

“I knew you would be, but it's always nice to hear your voice. Have you learned anything more about the case yet?”

Carson Drew was a celebrated lawyer, and he was always interested in Nancy's cases. The famous father had passed his curiosity on to his daughter, and it was one of the things that made her such a good detective.

“It's pretty fascinating,” Nancy began. She stopped, having heard a noise in the hall. “Hold on, Dad. Someone's at the door. The dean promised to send over some information, and this is probably it.”

Nancy tucked the telephone under her chin and went to the door, dragging the long cord behind her. Before she could open the door, an envelope was slid under it.

Stooping, Nancy quickly grabbed the envelope and opened the door just in time to see the back of the person who had obviously delivered it.

“Hey, thanks,” she called.

Whoever it was gave a casual wave but didn't turn around or slow down to look back.

“Oh, well,” Nancy said to her father, explaining what had just happened. “So much for the natives being friendly.” The envelope was much smaller than Nancy had expected. Puzzled, she weighed it in her hand. Judging from the envelope's lightness, there wasn't much information on Professor Maszak at all.

Shrugging, she slit open the flap and gave her father a brief account of her conversation with the dean. She described how secretive Professor Maszak's experiment was, and how difficult it would make her investigation.

“That
is
a problem,” Carson said sympathetically. “But maybe this new information will help you out.”

“Maybe,” Nancy agreed. She pulled a piece of paper out of the envelope and scanned it quickly.

“Nan?” her father asked after a long silence. “Are you still there?”