The Witch Tree Symbol

Hey all, welcome back to Do The Drew. Today's story The Witch Tree Symbol was penned by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams (Edward Stratemeyer's daughter) who took over for her father after his death in the 30s, touching up manuscripts and revising/updating plots to take out more "problematic" characters/storylines in the 50s.  Harriet died in 1982.  She wrote and revised many stories in the 50s including this 33rd story.

TRIGGER WARNING: ONE INSTANCE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST AN ANIMAL

Characters: Nancy Drew, George Fayne, Bess Marvin (cameos by Chief McGinnis, Hannah Gruen, Ned Nickerson Burt Eddleston, and Dave Evans)

Premise: A search for stolen antique furniture leads to Amish Country and the search for a runaway teen.

Nancy accompanies a new acquaintance, Mrs. Tenney, to look at some furniture left to Mrs. Tenney by a great aunt, and is surprised when the two women discover that the furniture----including a pair of antique tables---is gone and Mrs. Tenney immediately accuses a cousin of hers, Alpha Zim, of the theft simply because they don't get along, which, woman, you not getting along with someone doesn't automatically make them a thief.  Regardless, Nancy agrees to look for the furniture with the help of Bess and George, and the search leads them to the Amish Community and a runaway teen.

 

As it turns out, there are two types of Amish: Home Amish in which families live without modern conveniences such as cars and electricity, and Church Amish who don't mind these conveniences and even use them, which if I had a choice, I'm not sure which one I'd go with as there's pros as well as cons to our modern day conveniences. A member of the Home Amish, the Kreutz family asks Nancy to locate their daughter Manda who has run away, and Nancy agrees.  While searching for Manda, Nancy, Bess, and George---with some brief help from their boyfriends Ned, Dave, and Burt----have to deal with superstition, "hexes", and rumors of Nancy being a witch, which affects her relationship with the Kreutz family even though they had previously declared not to believe in such things as hexes, so Sir, which is it?  And why are you so quick to flip-flop?

At one point of the investigation, Nancy's terrier, Togo, is deliberately hit and they just take him inside and deem him fine even though he has a gash on his hip, so I guess Nancy's a veterinarian now too and can just magically tell that he doesn't need to see a doctor of any sort?  I feel like she should've called an actual vet here, but hey, what do I know?🤷‍♀️

During the course of the investigation, Nancy discovers that the true thief was a man named Roger Hoelt, a known jewelry thief who hides in the Amish community, having had prior exposure to the culture as a child and used their beliefs to try to turn them against Nancy, which seems to work for a time, but they ultimately came to their senses and as for the Kreutz' daughter, Manda, it turns out that she ran away because she didn't agree with her father's rules and ended up working for the Hoeltz' and wasn't so eager to believe that they were crooks, but soon realized that Nancy was telling the truth.

Nancy, Bess, and George also hear about the strange disappearance of members of Hoelt's family, which is discovered to be a hole on their property which seems to be a type of cave that has a lot of minerals which would reportedly make him extremely wealthy, something the girls discover  in a hidden compartment of one of the antique tables after Roger Hoelt locks them in a room in his house and sets fire to the house.  The girls are rescued and the Hoeltz' are taken away.

Honestly, on a reread, I wasn't a fan of this one as it seemed to be making a lot of suppositions about Amish life, making them appear uneducated (believing in hexes, having grammar that wasn't great), and making it appear as if they're disconnected with the world.  Then again, I've never visited or studied Amish culture, so I don't know what's accurate.  Adams also seemed to forget about Alpha Zims and Mrs. Tenney after Nancy visits the Amish as there's no mention of whether or not the furniture is saved or who would get the furniture.  It's like the book started out one way and then went another direction.  Regardless, it's worth reading at least once.

Be brave and bold, do the Drew.