Today I bring you another one of my favorite mysteries: The Secret At Shadow Ranch (Of Shadow Ranch in the revised story). The 5th in the series, this is another volume that was written by Mildred Wirth Benson and as much as I love this one, it's a little slower than normal. It's almost like Benson was just having a good old time writing Nancy, Bess, and George on a ranch and halfway through went "Oh shoot! This is supposed to be a mystery story!" And now that I've confused you a bit, to quote another mystery series I like (Ghostwriter) "Let's rewind!"
Characters: Nancy Drew, George Fayne, Bess Marvin (with a guest appearance by Bess and George's cousin, Alice Regor, and a cameo appearance by Carson Drew)
Premise: While on vacation, Nancy investigates after witnessing a child being mistreated.
In the 1931 story, Nancy is invited by Bess and George to their uncle and aunt's (Richard and Nell) new ranch which is called Shadow Ranch for a vacation---which begs the question since Bess and George are cousins from different families (which is revealed in The Sign Of The Twisted Candles), are the aunt and uncle on Bess' side of the family or George's side of the family?----along with their cousin, Alice Regor----which, again, which side of the family is she on? Someone should've made a family tree---she agrees, and the three girls are soon at the ranch and end up having a grand old time even as George vows to get one of the ranch hands, George Miller, to call her George as he took offense to her having a boy's name and insisted on calling her "Miss Fayne", which, yeah, I get why it would be a big deal for that time period.
Before the mystery gets underway, you see the girls exploring the mountains on horse, back and they get lost twice, with the second time being more alarming because George hadn't really paid attention to instructions on how to get somewhere, which, come on, guys! You already got lost once! You don't at least take or make a map the next time ya'll go out? Along with this, the girls are sometimes visited by their neighbor, Ross Regors, who Nancy notes seems rather quiet and withdrawn, even sad.
Anyhoo, Nancy finds herself intrigued by a little girl named Lucy Frank who is cowed by her "mother" Martha Frank and Nancy vows to help her even when warned away by Martha and her acquaintance, Zany Shaw (which, yikes! What a name!). At the same time, Alice as it turns out, is quiet and withdrawn because her father left her and her mother years earlier and even though Nancy senses that something's bothering her, she doesn't really say anything as it's Alice's own private business.
Except that it turns out the two things are connected as it's revealed that Martha Frank and Zany Shaw are siblings, with Zany's real name being Zeke Work (and honestly, that last name's not any better, but whatcha gonna do?) and that they had taken Lucy (whose real name is Louise Bowen) when she was three after Louise's father fired Zeke for stealing fifty dollars that had gone missing even though he didn't have any proof, which, my guy, no! Look, I get it. Being falsely accused sucks, but taking your boss' kid and holding her for ransom is not the way to go! This in turn involved Ross Rogers, who was visiting the place Zeke and Martha were laying low in, and when he heard Louise crying, he went to investigate, getting conked over the head and left for dead for his troubles.
But, he wasn't dead, just left with a raging case of amnesia as it's ultimately revealed that Ross Roger is Robert Regor and Alice's father. This is all wrapped up all neat and tidy with Martha and Zeke just going away and Louise going to live with Alice's family due to the fact that Louise's parents died before she could be found. Now, I understand that a case for kidnapping might be weak due to the fact that Louise's parents are dead and she might not remember much since she was three when she was taken, but like, at least press charges?
For the first time in this blog, the two stories are completely different, so again, let's rewind.
Characters: Nancy Drew, Bess Marvin, George Fayne (with a guest appearance by their cousin, Alice Regor)
Premise: Nancy investigates acts of sabotage and vandalism against the ranch that she's staying at.
In this story, which was revised by a woman named Grace Grote, Nancy accompanies Bess and George at Shadow Ranch which belongs to aunt and uncle, Elizabeth and Richard Rawley (and again, which side of the family are they on? Bess or George's? This really should've been clarified) and once they're there, Nancy's told about the problems that having plaguing the place: sightings of a phantom horse which is then followed by something on the ranch---a windmill, a fence, etc.---being destroyed, all which have basis from a local legend and curse on the original owner, a Sheriff Humber, who killed his daughter' Francine's boyfriend, and outlaw, named Dirk Valentine, which, why is it always the bad boys? Even if Dirk did regret his deeds at the end. Just why? But, I digress. So, because of this, the Rawley's are ready to pack it up and sell, but Nancy convinces them to stick it out and comes to suspect two of the ranch hands: Dave Gregory and Shorty Steele. But during Nancy's investigation, it's revealed that Dave is a descendant of Francine Humber's, which is why he's been looking for the treasure.
Along with that, Nancy is asked by Bess and George's cousin, Alice Regor, to help her find her father Ross who disappeared months prior to the story after the bank he's the president of was robbed, so naturally, people thought that he had something to do with it. However, Nancy soon discovers that the same men who robbed the bank---including Shorty Steele---kidnapped Ross when he interrupted them, and have been holding him captive as they searched for Valentine's treasure, using the legend to scare off the Rawley's, accomplishing this by placing a blanket doused in phosphorus on their horse to make it look like a phantom and then would wreck something so that everyone would be distracted, giving them a chance to look for the treasure.
Of course, Nancy figures this out and comes up with a plan to stop them, but she's caught by Shorty and another member of the gang. Thankfully, the sheriff is right behind her to arrest the gang and take them away while Alice and Ross are reunited.
So, I'll admit, even though I love both stories, the 1931 tale lags in places, which is probably why Mildred had to write in a lot of filler, such as the girls getting lost. I can't really say much about Martha Frank's neighbors being reluctant to confront her about her treatment of Lucy as I didn't live in that time period and I'm not sure what the norm back then was. Also, to me, it seemed really coincidental that Alice's father would just happen to come across Martha and Zeke as they were hiding Louise/Lucy, whereas having him being the president of a bank that's being robbed made a little more sense. That being said, I'm not actually sure how the gang went from robbing a bank to searching for loot on a ranch. Was this something the gang had been after for a while? Was one of the pieces in the bank haul and that got the ball rolling? Only the writers know. Just like only the writers know why/how they missed the mention of Ned on Page 111 when they changed dialogue to reference Nancy's father since Ned hadn't been introduced yet (he comes in during The Clue In The Missing Diary). And that's a wrap on this take. Be like Nancy: brave, kind, no-nonsense, and determined. Do the Drew!
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