chapter one. nancy drew. absolutely not.

Maybe. What do you mean, maybe? It's absolutely. No. Maybe. I've seen my share of maybe's that didn't turn out. Of absolutely's that wound up absolutely-nots. Come on. It's happening. Ab-so-lute-ly. No—it's maybe. (I'm talking to myself here. Ignore.)

I start across the gap of rocky sand, closing the space between me and that absolutely. The train engine still breathes heavily, exhaling steam. And I'm almost to that gap in the canyon walls—carved out all smooth, copper swirls. I can start to glimpse a dark shape just around the bend. The adrenaline starts to run. And then?

*BEEP BEEP*

I roll my eyes, shoving my hand into my jeans pocket. Swipe the screen of my smart phone. Unlock, please. It's just me.

Joe Hardy:

Nance you've gotta get back on the train quick. Hostess's orders.

"What?" My eyebrows pull themselves together with slight confusion. "Um." I punch back a reply.

ND: RIGHT NOW?

JH: yeah right now.

ND: Fine. I won't ask why. Tty in a sec.

Hostess's orders. Oh yay.

Feeling like a bit of a loser, I twist back around and cram my phone into my pocket, stalking away from canyon entrance, and leaving just a set of lame footprints trailing halfway across the sand.

"What is going on?" I huff once I get back on the train, stopping in the door of the dining car, where Frank and Joe are loitering by the awkwardly-large table.

"Honestly? Your guess is as good as mine." Joe perches himself on the edge of the table. "Lori just announced that somebody needed to get you back on the train."

Frank clears his throat. "Apparently we've had a change of plans."

I blink, trying to process this. "Wait, what? But Lori just let me off to go check out Brimstone Canyon. Like, two minutes ago." A short pause. "Where is she now?"

Joe shrugs one shoulder, glancing over at Frank. "Last I saw her she was in Jake's invention car with Tino."

I purse my lips, not saying another word, and spin around, shoving open the car door. Joe follows, and so does Frank.

Do you have any idea how long this train feels when you've got steam ready to blast out your ears? Finally I burst out of Jake's car and kick open the next door, stumbling inside the bright, metallic-plated machine car, and crashing the party.

Lori stands, at the far end of the car beside the padlocked door, one fingertip pressed against her lips. Tino is poring over the map of Brimstone Canyon, rolled out across the table, which is still slanted against the wall, marked with the beam of light pinpointing the location of the mine, shaking his head like he just cannot believe it.

Our hostess snaps out of her puzzled daze as Joe lets the door slam. "Oh! Jancy! Thank goodness your here." She violently waves me over. "It seems that Tino here thinks we're not exactly in the right—"

"Something went faulty somewhere, and this just doesn't match up." Tino cuts in, not even looking up from the ancient, barely-readable map. "We're drastically off-course."

"Off-course," I echo, pressing one palm into the surface of the console.

"How do you figure that?" Joe speaks up.

Tino shakes his head slowly. "We shouldn't even be in Brimstone Canyon at all, it doesn't make sense."

"Yes, actually, it does." I take a step forward. "If you had studied how this whole amazing contraption thing works, you'd see how I've gone through all the steps perfectly, and this—" I tap the area on the map where the little circle of white light is hovering "—is the outcome. Jake rigged this whole system up so that his niece, Ruth, would be able to follow the clues and discover the mine—"

Tino puts up a hand, silencing me in mid-sentence. "No need to get your feathers in a bunch Nancy, we all make mistakes at one time or another—take it from me." A cocky smirk twists itself onto his face. "And I don't need a history lesson about Ruth Whatserface."

I swallow hard, feeling the heat starting to rise to my face. "I didn't make a mistake."

"Uh, Tino?" Frank clears his throat, resting his elbows on the edge of the table. "According to.. your calculations, why do you think this isn't where we want to be?"

"Very. Good. Question." Tino points one finger matter-of-factly at Frank, like he's calling on him in science class. "But first, so we don't have any.." he searches the ceiling for the right word. "fraudulent excuses, let's hear Nancy's explanation, straight from the amateur detective's mouth, in the presence of the witnesses."

I hear Joe whisper in disbelief, "Witnesses? What is this?"

"So." Tino motions towards me to unload the talk. "Go ahead. Tell us how your math adds up, and then I'll tell you how it doesn't."

Oh gee thanks. I stifle an eye-roll.

"Okay. Fine." I slide my backpack off one shoulder, peeling back the zipper and shoving my hand inside. "Firstly, there's this letter from Jake Hurley, addressed to Ruth." Tino's eyebrows raise as I produce the tattered note. Yeah, does it look familiar, wonder cop? To jog your memory, it's the same letter that you thought was rubbish. "In it, he basically walks her through each step that will bring her closer to finding the mine—including the answer key to the puzzle box in the caboose."

"What puzzle box." Tino states blankly, like it isn't even a question.

I sigh through my nose, trying not to roll my eyes. "Anyway, the outcome of the puzzle was pretty basic—a jumble of eight letters, which I punched into this machine," I reach over the console to rap my fingers on the little parking-meter-like device, stuck to the floor. "Then, that robotic arm came to life, grabbed the correct map out of those files up there," Motioning towards the higher shelves where the array of tubes live. "and plopped it down on this table. And that's where the projector came in with the gemstones, created the correct light, and—"

"We know the rest of the story." Tino interrupts again, hands going into his pockets.

I raise both eyebrows. "Really."

"Now. My case." he totally ignores, turning to Lori, who is now sitting on the floor. "According to some in-depth investigating on my part, I'm pretty sure I can say that this projector—" he stabs a finger in the direction of the spider-looking machine pinching the gemstones in its claws. "—is working in correct order."

I hold a scoff inside my mouth. Of course it is.

"But, the problem..." he pauses, stepping up to the console and placing one palm on its surface. "is here. This isn't the right map."

"What?" The word pops out of my mouth, sounding doubtful.

Tino nods slowly, like he's trying to drill this through a vegetable's head. "Yes, you heard me. It just doesn't line up. End of story." he shrugs his shoulders.

"Wait." Joe cuts in, wanting to laugh. "That's kind of... I don't know. Ridiculous. How do you know any of this?"

Tino holds up a finger, begging our patience. "I'll show you," he clears his throat, straightening his stupid leather jacket. "Nancy, you were correct about the whole 'punching the jumble of letters into the machine' thing. Okay?" he raises his eyebrows.

I nod, crossing my arms. "Go on."

"And the jumble of letters, as you can see," he flips open the little door on the device, to show us all what we already know. "Is 'N-V-R-Z-T-B-A-A.' Which is also correct. And, the 'robotic arm' is programmed to go and find that map, which is filed under this code: N-V-R-Z-T-B-A-A. But."

I sigh. "But?"

"Take a look for yourself," Tino motions for us to come forward.

I push past him to examine the map's metal tube.

Joe leans closer to study a code embossed on the cylinder's end. "Here, Nance."

"Mmhmm. Read it aloud, kid."

I can feel Joe's eyes begging to roll. "N-V-R-Z-T-B-..." He freezes, swallowing. "..R-T."

"Right. Exactly." Tino smiles a little, possibly trying to not look too arrogant for a police detective. Ha. Too late. "According to Jake Hurley, those last two letters should be A-A, not R-T; so."

I press my lips into a thin white line, taking a step back.

Lori speaks up from the floor. "Is that true?"

Silence.

"But you said yourself that the machinery is programmed to find the map with the correct code." my eyebrows knot together with confusion. "And the map—this map—was exactly where it should be in the files, so the machine could find it."

"Right—that's what you figured." Tino shrugs one shoulder. "I guess that's what any amateur detective would figure. But," He holds up one finger. "you have to consider everything—like how the filing system is totally botched."

"What?" I raise an eyebrow. "But why would it be—"

"It's an unlikely mistake, but completely possible. And in this case, that's what exactly what happened." Tino straightens up, hands out of pockets. "Maybe Niece Ruth went nuts trying to find the stupid map, and put the tubes back in the wrong order. Who knows."

I shake my head slowly. "Ruth never got this far."

Short pause, while Tino crosses his arms cynically. "That's beside the point."

"Then what's the answer here?" Frank asks, shrugging. "I mean, do you have a solution, or are you just saying that this is the wrong map, end of story?"

Tino laughs. "Of course I have a solution." he stalks across the room, grabbing an identical metal tube leaning against the wall. "Since the filing is obviously messed up, I laboriously went through the maps myself, and found our answer—" He taps the end of the tube with his index finger. "—the one with the correct code. Look closer, if you want."

I pull a breath into my lungs, taking one end of the map's tube in my hands and reading the jumbled letters embossed into the metal.

N-V-R-Z-T-B-A-A. Darn it. Why is this happening?

"Okay," I clear my throat, straightening up. "Let's see it."

Lori gets to her feet, and we all collectively huddle closer to the console, as Tino reaches up to lift the map of Brimstone Canyon out of the way, rolling it back up and sliding it into the metal tube.

I glance to my right at Joe, who is watching as the police detective slides the new map into place, rolling it out slowly and ceremonially, trying to make us all pay attention. Joe's gaze snaps away to meet mine, and we both exchange a glance. He finds a little side-smile for me. The 'we can deal with all this later' kind.

"Okay, kiddos. The last piece of the puzzle." Tino announces, pulling our attention back to the map. The bright circle of light lands on the browned, aged paper, pinpointing a deep swoop in a canyon, labelled: 'Scratcherd Bend'.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is our destination." he crosses his arms stiffly, taking a step back to absorb our expressions. Mine is shocked and reddening. "Now, I understand how you must feel, Nancy—trust me, I've been there." Tino nods slowly, looking me square in the eyes. "For this type of deal, your mistake with the maps is just a... negligible error, kay? Forget it happened." he slaps one hand down on the console. "But next time, if you're not sure about something like this? Just ask me—helping people is what I'm all about, remember?"

I nod stiffly, swallowing a lead weight. "Yeah. Right." I can feel Joe's gaze brush across my face. Then a long, painful silence kills all conversation.

Lori takes a deep breath and claps her hands together. "Well then, I guess I'll let the conductor know that we're headed for Scratch... whatever Bend. See you later, people," she shoves a strand of blonde hair away from her face and pushes through the heavy iron door to the next car, slamming it as she leaves.

Tino glances from Joe, to me, to Frank. I take one more questioning look at the stretched out map, at Scratcherd Bend.

Maybe? Absolutely? Absolutely not? I don't know anymore. I hate not knowing.

Joe turns to me, lowering his voice a little. "Want to meet up in the dining car? Go over some stuff?" he raises one eyebrow.

I swallow, shaking my head slowly. "Later, I will definitely. Right now I just need to get my thoughts in order." Turning towards the opposite end of the train car, I head for the door, leaving Tino in my dust.

"Kay. Tonight, then." Joe nods, pulling the door open, and holding it for me.

I nod. "Totally."

He smiles a little, stepping outside and onto the platform, letting the iron door shut behind us. "God, that was obnoxious."

"Tell me about it," I roll my eyes," I manage a smile for his sake, trying to brush off the whole deal I just went through. Trying to act casual and unaffected. "Anyway, I guess we'll go over stuff later. Bring coffee. You're gonna need it."

"Coffee? Gross."

"How? It's like… nectar." I roll my eyes.

Joe coughs a laugh. "I beg to differ."

"But seriously." I swing myself over the coupler. "You bring coffee, I'll bring a mystery."

He smiles. "Game on."