The girls had not gone far when they realized that the ground beyond the garden was marshy. The mud ruined their shoes and spattered their dresses, but the three friends hurried on until they were out of range of the house.
Bess stopped and put down her bag, "My arm is killing me," she said. "Can't we rest a minute?"
Nancy looked back. The house behind them seemed deserted. "I guess we're safe enough," she decided, so she and George dropped their heavy suitcases.
"Boy, what an experience!" George said. "Our kidnappers must have overheard Mr. Gonzales's call to your father, Nancy, when he asked for help."
Nancy nodded. "And the second call, when Mr. Gonzales canceled our reservations must have been made from another phone," she said thoughtfully, "otherwise they wouldn't have sent Steven to the airport to get us."
"Who do you think our kidnappers are?" Bess asked.
"They must be connected with the Crocodile Ecology Company," Nancy replied.
"I wonder if they own that house." George said.
"I doubt it. They wouldn't be foolish enough to imprison us in their own home. If we got away, it would be too easy to trace them."
Bess giggled. "They were foolish to leave us alone."
"I think we should hurry on," George said. "If they come back and find we're gone, they're bound to look for us."
The girls picked up their bags and trudged through the swamp until they reached the house they had seen ahead of them. As they went up to the front porch, Bess looked down at her dress and shoes. "We're absolute sights," she said. "What will the people think when they see us?"
"That we're swamp ducks," George quipped.
The girls rang the bell. There was no answer. Nancy knocked, but no one seemed to be home.
"What are we going to do?" Bess asked, worried. "We can't go on like this! And there's not another house in sight!"
They left their suitcases on the porch and walked around to the back. Luckily, there was a wall telephone on a rear patio. Nancy called the operator and asked to speak to the police department. When a sergeant answered, she explained the girls' predicament and asked if someone could come and help them.
"Right away, miss," he replied, and within ten minutes a squad car pulled up with two officers in it
One jumped out and walked up to them. "You say you were kidnapped and escaped?" he said.
"That's right," Nancy told him and explained exactly what had happened. "We're on our way to visit Mr. and Mrs. Henry Cosgrove, but we don't know how to find the place."
"I'll order a cab for you," the officer said, and asked his companion to make the call. "I know the Cosgroves," he continued. "It's a long ride from here."
He took a notebook from his pocket and wrote down the circumstances of the kidnapping. First he requested the names and addresses of the girls. This time Nancy gave him the correct ones. She described Steven, the young man who had met them at the airport, as well as the couple who had locked them into the bedrooms.
"We'll get to work on the case at once," the officer promised.
He walked to the squad car and picked up his radio phone. First he asked that a taxi be sent out, then gave a full report on the case. When he returned to the girls, he said, "A cab will be here in a few minutes. Is this your first visit to Key Biscayne?"
When the three nodded yes, he shook his head. "I'm sorry your introduction to our town was so disastrous. Believe me, you'll find that Key Biscayne is a mighty nice area. Well, I hope you'll have an enjoyable time while you're here."
In a few minutes a taxi pulled up in front of the house. The driver looked at the girls curiously.
Bess explained they had walked through the swamp after coming from the wrong direction to the Cosgroves' home. She gave the correct address and they set off.
Unlike the couple who tried to kidnap them, Helen and Henry Cosgrove were delightful. Nancy quickly explained why they were so unkempt.
"What a dreadful experience!" Mrs. Cosgrove exclaimed. "We must report it to the police at once!"
"I've already done that," Nancy said, and told the whole story.
Mr. Cosgrove said, "I got to the airport late because our car wouldn't start. When I arrived, you had already gone. I thought you might have taken a taxi and come back home. We started to worry when you didn't arrive. I even called your home in River Heights, but no one was there."
"Good," Nancy said with a chuckle. "Dad and Hannah didn't have a chance to become alarmed."
At this point a sixteen-year-old boy with red hair and twinkling eyes walked in and was introduced to the girls as Danny Cosgrove. He looked at their dirty shoes and clothes and said, "I guess you got here the hard way. What happened?"
Nancy told him and he responded, "Your dad said you would be here to solve a mystery and there might be some danger connected with it. You sure made a good start!"
The girls laughed, then asked to be excused to change their clothes. Mrs. Cosgrove led them to two bedrooms. "Who wants to share the big one?" she asked.
Bess and George said they would, so Nancy took the smaller room.
During dinner Nancy explained more about the mystery, but asked the Cosgroves to keep it a secret. "We decided to use fake names to avoid detection by any suspects," Nancy said. "But now I'm not so sure it's worth it."
Mrs. Cosgrove spoke. "I'd try it if I were you. Even if part of this group you're about to investigate knows who you are, not everyone connected with the Crocodile Ecology Company has seen you. By using fictitious names, you can probably fool them."
"What are your new names?" Danny asked.
"I'm Anne," said Nancy.
"And I'm Elizabeth," Bess replied.
George grinned. "I'm Jackie."
Nancy's first bit of detective work was to call the police early next morning. She inquired about the house where they had been imprisoned and was told that the owners were away on vacation.
The girls' kidnappers had broken in and "borrowed" the premises for their scheme. The police managed to track down Steven, who told them the couple had approached him in a supermarket and asked him if he would like to earn some money. They needed someone to pick up three visitors from the airport and bring them to their house.
"Steven agreed and assured as he knew nothing about a kidnapping," the officer concluded. "We're inclined to believe his story, but we'll keep an eye on him."
After Nancy had put down the phone, Mr. Cosgrove asked the girls if they would like Danny to take them to Crocodile Island in the family's motorized skiff.
"It's high tide now and a good time to go," he said. "I wish you luck in your sleuthing," he added, smiling.
"Thank you very much," Nancy said. "Do you think we'll have a chance to go on the island?"
"Sometimes they do allow visitors," Mr. Cosgrove explained. "On certain days of the week, but I don't know about today. You'll have to see."
The four walked to the marina where the boat was kept.
"How do you like the name I gave it?" Danny asked.
The girls laughed when they saw what was painted on the side of the skiff.
"Pirate!" George exclaimed. "Even if you hadn't told me, I'd have known a boy picked it."
"Do you go after all the treasure that's supposed to be buried on these islands?" Bess asked him.
"I sure do," Danny replied. "The trouble is, some of the small keys floated away in hurricanes and any treasure on them is lost forever."
"What a shame!" George teased. "And here we came all the way to Florida, thinking we could dig up a million doubloons!"
The young people laughed, then stepped aboard the skiff. Four swivel chairs were bolted to the deck, and Danny explained that this made it easy for fishermen to turn in all directions. Then he pointed to the large outboard motor in the rear of the craft. "It weighs two hundred and fifty pounds and is raised and lowered hydraulically."
"Why do you have to raise it?" Bess asked.