Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys SuperMystery #5: The Last Resort, by Carolyn Keene (wink)
And now you may be asking yourself, who is this Tree of Knowledge person and why is she such a freak? I admit it; I’m a goofball. But here’s the deal, I hate Ned Nickerson—really, he is such a dweeb. So a few years ago, my friend and I were talking about Nancy Drew and Frank Hardy and how stinky ole Ned Nickerson is horrible and Nancy should really be with Frank—cause really, what else are adult women with Master’s degrees in literature going to do? And I told her there was this book where Nancy and Frank almost have sex.
She totally thought that was cool, not sure she believed me though, so I have been on a lifelong (uh, yeah, lifelong) quest to find that book. I actually found out which one it was a while ago, but the book is out of print. So I just kept looking for it at used bookstores and libraries to no avail. This Christmas I finally gave up and ordered it. The book cost $0.70, the shipping $3.40. So I read it and while the scene is as close as one gets to sex in a Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys book, it doesn’t really meet the grownup criteria, but it is still delicious and wonderful—yay! Here it is for your reading pleasure:
Setting the scene: Nancy and Frank are in a cabin on a snowy mountain. There’s an avalanche; they’re trapped and alone. There is no way out that they can see, the fire is dying, and there is no burnable material in the cabin.
Then the scene changes and you don’t hear from them again until six pages later where they’re lying on the floor.
“So here we are.” Frank managed to smile at her, then sighed heavily. He stared into the fireplace, the orange light bathing his handsome features with an eerie glow.
“For better or worse.” Nancy went over and stood next to him, watching the fire die.
Frank turned and looked deeply into her eyes. “If this is it, Nancy,” he said softly, “I just want you to know that—well—”
“Oh, Frank, don’t talk like that. We’ll get through this somehow.” He was looking right through her, and in spite of the danger, Nancy felt that feeling again—that awful-wonderful rush she often felt when she was alone with Frank.
The two of them stood staring at each other for what seemed to Nancy like ages. With a cough, she tried to break the spell. “Come on, now. We’re not through yet. I don’t know how, but we’re going to make it. We’ve just got to concentrate on surviving.”
She walked over to the bed, quickly stripping off the threadbare blankets. “Here. Maybe it’ll help if we wrap ourselves in these,” she suggested, shivering slightly.
“You’re shaking,” Frank said, opening his arms. He wrapped her in the blankets and pulled her against his chest.
Nancy huddled against him, pressing closer. Frank was so warm, so full of life. She couldn’t bear the thought that this might be the end.
“Any better?” Frank asked, his breath warm on her face.
“A little,” she replied through chattering teeth.
He held her close and stroked her hair. A warm rush went through Nancy. For one brief moment, the cold was behind them. They stood pressed against each other, nestling in the other’s warmth.
The fire faded into blackness, and the room grew even colder. Frank took his arm from around Nancy’s back and reached down to touch her face. She lifted her head. She saw the intense longing in his eyes. She closed her eyes and felt the power of her feelings overwhelm her. Her head was spinning with cold, fear, and longing.
In a desperate, wonderful moment, their lips met.
I remember there being buttons—unbuttoned, buttoned, I couldn’t tell you. But they’re not in this scene! So either my 11 year old self made the scene juicier, or there’s another scene out there somewhere.
There must be a support group for people like me who believe Nancy and Frank belong together. Or maybe one for adults who maintain their childhood crushes fictional boy detectives? Have I ever mentioned that I often refer to Husband as Encyclopedia Brown?
1 comment:
Fabulous fabulous fabulous!!! =)
Post a Comment