Contents
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1 Welcome to the Everglades
2 A Mysterious Disappearance
3 A Chase through the Dark
4 A Strange Clue
5 A Visit with the Drakes
6 Danger on the Road
7 Girl Overboard
8 Mistaken Identity
9 A Warning
10 An Alligator Encounter
11 Ghost in the Night
12 Another Mysterious Disappearance
13 The Search for the Panther
14 The Truth Is Revealed
1. Welcome to the Everglades
“Are we there yet?” eighteen-year-old Bess Marvin
grumbled. “It feels like we've been driving forever.”
Nancy Drew glanced into the rearview mirror of the
rental car and smiled at her friend, who was fidgeting
in the backseat. “Almost. The sign back there said that
the entrance to Everglades National Park was coming
right up.”
George Fayne, who was sitting next to Nancy,
spread the map of southern Florida across her lap. She
smoothed the crinkles and creases with her fingertips.
“The Everglades is huge. Like millions of acres. The
place where we're staying, Flamingo, is only a tiny part
of it.”
“Flamingo is way at the bottom of the Everglades,
right on Florida Bay,” Nancy explained.
Nancy turned off the air conditioner and rolled the
window down slightly. A hot breeze blew against her
face and ruffled her reddish blond hair.
The scenery was the same as it had been for the last
half hour: dry, flat fields; orange farms; and the
occasional grocery store, house, or strip mall with
forlorn-looking For Rent signs.
The scenery didn't look anything like what Susan
Bokan had described to Nancy in her many postcards.
Susan used to be a good friend of the girls back in
River Heights.
The girls had met Susan five years earlier. Susan's
parents owned a fancy inn on the outskirts of River
Heights. The Bokans were clients of Nancy's father,
Carson Drew, who was an attorney.
The girls hadn't seen Susan since she moved to
Florida a couple of years earlier to work as a volunteer
for the Everglades National Park. Her parents were
still in River Heights, although they spent part of every
winter in Florida to visit their daughter.
In her postcards, Susan described the beautiful,
wild, and junglelike Everglades. The photographs on
the cards showed exotic-looking plants and animals
with exotic-sounding names like gumbo-limbo trees,
strangler figs, roseate spoonbills, and manatees.
In her last postcard Susan had asked Nancy to visit
her as soon as possible, and to bring George and Bess
along. Nancy had wondered about the invitation. There
was something out-of-the-blue and mysterious about it.
Still, she and her friends were eager to visit the
Everglades, so it didn't take much to convince them.
“There it is.” Bess's blond head appeared between
the two front seats. “There's the sign—Everglades
National Park. We're here, finally!”
“I can't wait to see Susan,” George said eagerly. “I
can't wait to go on hikes and canoe trips and—”
“I can't wait to have dinner,” Bess interrupted. “It's
after six o'clock. The last thing we ate were those itty-
bitty bags of peanuts on the plane, and I'm totally
starving.”
Nancy chuckled. Despite the fact that George and
Bess were cousins, they were as different as night and
day. It wasn't just that George was tall and slender with
short, dark hair, and Bess was short and curvy with
long, curly blond hair.
Nancy could already anticipate the rest of their
Florida vacation: George would be off on hikes and
canoe trips and kayaking expeditions, while Bess would
working on her tan, and sampling the local cuisine. For
weeks Bess had been talking about checking out such
Florida specialties as conch chowder, Key lime pie, and
blackened grouper.
Nancy pulled up to the ranger station. A gray-haired
man in a khaki-colored uniform put down his walkie-
talkie and smiled at her. “May I help you, miss?”
“I'm looking for the volunteers' dorm at Flamingo,”
Nancy explained.
The ranger scribbled some directions on a brochure
map and handed it to her. “Follow my red arrows. Be
there in no time.”
“Thank you,” Nancy said.
She waved goodbye to the ranger and drove through
the gate, into the park. Almost immediately, Nancy
could see that they were in a totally different world.
This is the Florida Susan described in her postcards,
she thought.
It felt as though they had gone back to prehistoric
times. Nancy was reminded of the scenery in dinosaur
movies. The landscape consisted of huge, sweeping
palm trees, brightly colored tropical flowers, and tangly
vines that wound around everything. Massive birds
swooped through the air or perched on branches,
preening their feathers with their enormous beaks.
Driving around a bend in the road, Nancy and her
friends passed a wide field of tall, greenish brown
sawgrass that billowed in the breeze. Just beyond the
field was a large, murky pond bordered by tall, skinny
cattails. Nancy could make out a family of alligators
sunning themselves on the muddy banks. There were
tiny white birds perched on their backs.
Bess pointed at the alligators. “Are . . . are those
what I think they are?” she asked in a shaky voice.
“They're alligators,” Nancy said, and then she
hesitated. “Or are they crocodiles? I don't remember
what the difference is.”
“I think crocodiles have pointier snouts,” George
said. “Plus, they're supposed to be meaner than alli-
gators.”
Bess's eyes grew wide. “Which ones eat people?”
“They both do, if you bother them,” George said.
“Just stay away from them, and they'll stay away from
you. That's Alligator and Crocodile 101.”
“I'm staying way far away from them, believe me,”
Bess said with a shudder.
Nancy grinned. “Ditto.”
They proceeded down the road, past more palm
trees and marshes and other spectacular scenery. “This
place is really beautiful,” Nancy remarked. “No wonder
Susan likes working here.”
“I can't wait to explore the park,” George said.
“I can't wait to explore the pool,” Bess said. “Our
hotel does have one, right?”
“We're staying in a cabin near Susan's dorm. I kind
of doubt it has a pool,” Nancy replied.
George began folding up the road map. “I guess we
won't be needing this anymore,” she said. “You know, I
wonder why Susan suddenly invited us down here,
after all this time?”
“I've been wondering the same thing,” Nancy said.
“I think she just missed us,” Bess said. “I mean,
wouldn't you miss us? We're so much fun to have
around!” She reached into her oversize straw bag and
pulled out a pair of pink rhinestone sunglasses. “What
do you think, girls? I got these for the trip.”
“They're . . . interesting,” George said politely.
Nancy glanced into the rearview mirror. “They're
very you, Bess,” she said with a laugh.
After a few minutes they arrived at what looked like
a small village. To the left of them was Florida Bay.
There was a marina crowded with sailboats and
motorboats. Near the marina was a cluster of buildings,
including shops and a motel and a visitors' center. A
flock of seagulls sat on the roof of the visitors' center,
shrieking and squawking and flapping their wings. The
colors of the sunset shimmered on the water.
“Why don't you park, and I'll go ask someone how to
get to Susan's dorm?” George offered.
She pulled into a parking space, and George hopped
out of the car. Nancy watched as George jogged over to
a young guy in a ranger uniform.
A minute later George jogged back and slid into the
car. “Go straight a quarter of a mile and to the left,”
she said. “He says we can't miss it.”
“Thanks, George.”
Nancy continued down the road. She was getting
really psyched about seeing Susan. It had been a few
years. Would their friend have changed much? Nancy
couldn't wait to hear all about Susan's experiences as a
park volunteer.
They soon reached the dorm building, which was
surrounded by half a dozen small cabins. Nancy parked
the car, and the girls got their bags and headed for the
front door.
Even though it was late in the day, the air was
incredibly hot and humid. Nancy was glad she was
wearing her favorite white shorts and a powder blue
tank top. Bess was wearing a yellow sundress, and
George was wearing denim cutoffs and a red T-shirt.
The climate definitely demanded a summery
wardrobe.
The girls walked on a path that was made of broken-
up seashells. A small, shiny green tree frog hopped
across the path, just ahead of them.
“Isn't it cute?” Bess cried out, pointing to the frog.
“Back home, all you ever see in the yard are squirrels.”
“We're going to see lots of stuff while we're here,”
George told her cousin with a grin. “Frogs, lizards,
snakes, panthers—plus your good friends, the alligators
and the crocodiles.”
“Stop it, you're just trying to scare me,” Bess
protested.
George wiggled her eyebrows. “Okay, whatever. I'm
just telling you what I read in my guidebooks.”
Nancy swung open the heavy wooden door to the
dorm and went inside. George and Bess followed. They
found themselves in a lobby with turquoise-colored
walls and white wicker furniture. A big ceiling fan spun
around slowly, making a creaking noise. There was a
bulletin board covered with official-looking memos and
flyers about upcoming events: “Canoe the Wilderness
Waterway,” “Back-country Camping Trip to Shark
Valley!”
“Yeah, like anyone's going to want to go to some-
place called Shark Valley,” Bess remarked.
There was no one around. “Helloooo!” Nancy called
out. There was no reply.
“Why is this place so deserted?” George said,
glancing around. She wandered over to an adjoining
room and poked her head in. “Looks like the TV
room,” she called out over her shoulder. “No one in
here, either.”
Just then Nancy heard the sound of footsteps
clattering down the stairs. A woman with a clipboard
appeared. She had short, bushy gray hair, and was
dressed in khakis and a pale green T-shirt that said
Save the Manatees. She wore a pair of tiny gold-
rimmed glasses.
“May I help you?” the woman asked with a friendly
smile. “I'm Mrs. Fitzgerald, the dorm mother. You girls
looking for someone?”
Nancy set her suitcase on the floor. “We're looking
for Susan Bokan. I'm Nancy Drew, and this is Bess
Marvin.” She turned and pointed to George, who was
still standing in the doorway of the TV room. “And
that's George Fay—”
Before Nancy had a chance to finish her sentence,
Mrs. Fitzgerald glanced over at George and let out a
piercing scream.
2. A Mysterious Disappearance
Mrs. Fitzgerald let out another scream. Her screams
sent a chill up Nancy's spine. Nancy didn't understand
what was going on. Why would George's presence
cause Mrs. Fitzgerald to react that way?
“What is it, Mrs. Fitzgerald? Did you see an alligator
or something?” Bess cried out. Bess didn't seem to
understand that Mrs. Fitzgerald was screaming at
George.
Nancy rushed up to the dorm mother and grabbed
her arm. “What's the matter, Mrs. Fitzgerald? What's
wrong?” she demanded.
Mrs. Fitzgerald stopped screaming and pointed a
trembling finger at George. “Y-you—wh-what are you
doing here?” she stammered. “We thought you were—
—”
She was interrupted by footsteps rushing down the
stairs. Nancy glanced up and saw a young woman
dressed in khakis and a white T-shirt that said
Everglades National Park. Her long, curly red hair was
loosely held up in a barrette, and her green eyes were
enormous as she stared at Mrs. Fitzgerald, then at
Nancy and Bess.
“What on earth is going on?” the woman cried out.
“Ohmigosh. Nancy, Bess! Are you all right? Who
screamed?”
Nancy stared at the red-haired woman and realized
after a second that it was their friend, Susan Bokan.
Susan was thinner, and her hair was a lot longer.
“Susan!” Nancy exclaimed. “Hi.”
“Susan, it's her,” Mrs. Fitzgerald murmured,
pointing at George.
Susan glanced at George. She, too, let out a scream.
“Ohmigosh!” she cried out. “I don't believe it!”
Bess clapped her hands over her ears. “Why is
everyone screaming?” she demanded.
George was still standing in the doorway of the TV
room. She started to walk toward the group, a puzzled
expression on her face. “I'm totally confused. Why is
everyone screaming at me? What are you guys talking
about? I've never met you before, Mrs. Fitzgerald.”
Susan's hand flew to her mouth. “Mrs. Fitzgerald,
that's no
t her. That's my friend George Fayne. She and
these other girls are visiting me from up north.” She
laughed nervously.
“Oh, my word,” Mrs. Fitzgerald said. She peered at
George over the top of her gold-rimmed glasses. “Oh,
my word, I guess you're not Jade, after all. You do look
so much like her, though.”
“Yes, she does,” Susan agreed.
Nancy glanced from Mrs. Fitzgerald to George to
Susan. “Who's Jade?”
George frowned. “Yeah, who's Jade?”
“I'll explain everything in a sec,” Susan said. “First,
let's say a proper hello.” She walked over and gave
Nancy a big bear hug. “Hi, it's so awesome to see you.”
Then she turned to Bess and George and gave them
hugs, too. “George, you've changed since the last time I
saw you. I'm sorry I didn't—um, recognize you right
away.”
“I'm sorry I screamed, girls,” Mrs. Fitzgerald piped
up. “It's just that George here looks so much like—
well, with your hair and everything and your
complexion and even your eyes . . .” Her voice trailed
off.
“Let me get you all something to drink, and we can
sit down and catch up,” Susan suggested. “I think
there's some iced tea in the kitchen. Then we can go
over to the cafeteria and grab some dinner.”
“Dinner, great,” Bess said. She plopped down on the
wicker couch and took off her pink rhinestone
sunglasses. “All this excitement has given me an ap-
petite!”
“I was just on my way over to the visitors' center,”
Mrs. Fitzgerald said, holding up her clipboard. “Excuse
me, won't you? It was nice meeting you all. I'm sorry
about the mix-up.” She turned to Susan. “You'll explain
everything, won't you?”
“Of course I will, Mrs. Fitzgerald,” Susan replied.
Nancy frowned. She was growing more and more
curious by the minute. Who was this Jade person
whom George resembled so much? What was the big
mystery about her? Why had Mrs. Fitzgerald and
Susan screamed like that?
Mrs. Fitzgerald waved goodbye and headed outside,
letting the screen door slam shut behind her. It was
starting to get dark. Mosquitoes buzzed against the