Carolyn Keene - Nancy Drew by The Kachina Doll Mystery

glimpse of the pinto’s splashy haunches, but no clue to why his rider didn’t slow when she called to him.
    The rain came suddenly. There was a teeth-jarring crash of thunder and the skies seemed to break apart, spilling the water in sheets rather than drops. Pepper Pot slowed immediately, snorting and tossing his head, obviously wanting to turn back and run for the dry sanctuary of the stable.
    Nancy allowed him to slow to a walk, then stood in her stirrups, peering ahead into the rush of water, seeking the pinto’s familiar shape. However, there seemed to be nothing ahead. Nervously, Nancy urged Pepper Pot forward, following the narrowing wash as it led deeper and deeper into the hills.
    “Just a little further, Pepper Pot,” she told the bay. “We have to be close and Ngyun must be afraid in this storm.”
    The horse stumbled a little, slipping and sliding as the water gushed down the sides of the wash and turned the once hard-baked earth to mud. Lightning flashed and gave Nancy a glimpse of the scene ahead.
    The wash seemed to end or at least narrow so abruptly that it was hard to imagine where a horse and rider could have gone. Yet Ngyun and Cochise were nowhere to be seen! Nancy drew her rein and waited for the next flash, berating herself for having been in too big a hurry to remember to bring her flashlight.
    When the bolt came, the stark light showed only the steep walls at the end of the wash and the wet slopes of the hills above them. Then the rain increased again, pouring so hard that she could not see ten feet ahead of her. Defeated, Nancy allowed the bay to turn, weariness and despair making her slump in the saddle.
    Where could Ngyun have taken Cochise? How could the boy and the pinto simply vanish out of the deep wash? Or had they even been here? For a moment, she doubted her own senses, then her courage returned and she shook her head.
    “They were here, Pepper Pot,” she told the gelding. “I know we were following them. I saw the pinto several times in the lightning flashes.”
    The gelding snorted, then suddenly plunged ahead, almost unseating her. Nancy struggled wildly to regain her balance, then tried to rein in the horse. Pepper Pot, however, had the bit in his teeth, and, fearing that she might make him fall in the rough terrain, Nancy was forced to loosen her hold again, giving him free rein.
    Almost at once, she heard a strange rumbling. When she realized that it was coming from behind her, she looked back.
    A wall of water cascaded through the narrow ravine, carrying with it limbs and branches torn from bushes and trees!

13
    A Stormy Night
    Nancy gasped as Pepper Pot headed for the steep wall of the wash. Wildly, he scrambled up the slope, barely managing to reach the top before he stopped, his sides heaving violently.
    Had the horse hesitated a moment longer, Nancy knew, they both would have been carried along in the flood!
    Trembling, she leaned her cheek against the horse’s hot, wet neck and hugged him. He turned back to sniff at her knee, then began picking his way slowly along the ridge above the wash. Since she had no idea which way would take them back to the resort buildings, Nancy simply left the reins loose on his neck, trusting him to take them home through the stormy night.
    She rode for what seemed an age before the rain ended as abruptly as it had begun. Once the pounding drops stopped, she straightened up and looked around. The wind, chilling since she was soaked to the skin, was already herding the clouds across the sky, leaving behind them black velvet sparkling with stars.
    Almost at once, Nancy saw car lights ahead. They were coming in her direction and proved to be those of the battered resort jeep. It slithered to a stop beside her.
    “Nancy!” George shouted, leaping out. “Thank heavens we’ve found you. We’ve been frantic. Where have you been? What happened?”
    Nancy found herself lifted down from the saddle by Chuck. Once she was steady on her feet, he