Like a shadow of the night the feline made her way up the stairs. She passed the room she normally stayed in; her pet wasn’t there. The carpet muffled padded paws as she came to another door. Using her front paw, the feline scratched at the door until it slightly opened. Squeezing her body inside the room she walked over to the bed and jumped. She walked along the bed; no this was the other one. Jumping off the bed, the shadow made its way to a connecting door.

Finding this door easy to pry open, she walked towards another door; this too was easy to open. Her eyes made out the shape of the bed easily in the dimness. Jumping on the bed, the feline was quite satisfied; this was the one she was looking for. Plopping down on top of his chest, she waited.

Sleeping soundly in his bed, Frank Hardy never knew that he was being hunted. It wasn’t until he felt the tickle in his throat and nose – the heaviness in his chest – that he became aware that something was not right.

Frank sneezed once – twice – three times, before he opened his eyes to find himself staring at his Aunt Gertrude’s pet cat. The cat was black with a white throat and chest and four white ‘socks’. It stared at Frank, its green eyes seeming to mock him as it began to preen itself.

“Precious,” sighed Frank before he sneezed again, “why do you always have to bother me when Aunt Gertrude is away?!”

The cat stopped licking its front paw to stare at Frank as if contemplating his question. It then resumed cleaning itself. With another sigh, Frank gently picked the cat up and moved it aside.

“Joe is the one you should be going to – after all, he’s the one who gave you all his peas when we were younger!”

Throwing back the covers, Frank got out of bed. He stretched his six-foot-one frame before heading to the shower.

Joe snuggled deeper inside his comforter; he heard the shower start and knew that his brother was awake. He was drifting back to sleep when he felt something pounce on top of his bed. A few seconds later there was a loud purring above his head. He rolled onto his stomach and poked his head out of the comforter. Reaching out, Joe petted the black cat.

“”You know, I do have an alarm clock to wake me up, Precious.”

Precious purred louder.

“You miss your ‘mommy’? She’ll be back tonight – then you can stop pestering Frank! But I bet you like pestering him, huh?”

Joe laughed when the cat purred even louder.

*****

Showered and dressed, Joe found Frank downstairs having breakfast with their mother.

“Morning, Mom!” Joe gave her a kiss on the cheek as he sat down at the table. Helping himself to some scrambled eggs, bacon and toast the young teen settled down to a hearty meal.

“Aunt Gertrude is coming home tonight, right?” asked Frank looking anxiously at his mother.

Laura hid a smile with her coffee cup. “Precious wake you up again?”

Frank glared over at his brother who was sputtering with laughter. Seeing his older brother’s expression, Joe immediately became contrite.

“Hey, she woke me up too!” he exclaimed indignantly.

“Yeah but you’re not allergic to her and she always goes to my room first!”

“Maybe it’s because she likes you better?” Joe teased.

Placing her hand over Frank’s to placate him, Laura gave Joe a stern glance. “Don’t worry, I’ll be picking her up at the airport around four – so you may want to have a snack after school; dinner will be late.”

“When is Dad supposed to get back?” asked Joe.

Fenton Hardy, a well-known private investigator, had been gone for several days working on a case.

“You will be happy to know that your father will be home late tonight. Now finish your breakfast or you’ll be late for school!”

Noticing the time, the brothers finished their meal and hurried to clean up the breakfast dishes. Frank let Joe snag the keys to the van as they ran out the door. The older boy knew if you wanted to get somewhere in a hurry – Joe was the perfect driver to get you where you were going!

When they arrived at school, Joe was afraid that he would have to park the van out on the street. He was about to ask Frank if he wanted to be let off when he spotted an open space. Increasing his speed, Joe was about to turn into the empty space...

“Joe watch out!”

Joe hit the brakes, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Frank brace himself as they came to a sudden stop. He was about to ask his brother what was wrong when a car horn blew.

“You idiot – watch where you’re going!”

Frank rolled down his window and leaned out. He saw an unfamiliar teenage boy driving a red VW convertible.

“My brother had the right of way – maybe you should watch where you’re going?!”

The teen raised his sunglasses on top of his head, pushing back his long dark, almost black hair. His eyes looked like the color of coal as he glared up at Frank. The two teens stared at each other before the new boy smiled at Frank. For some reason when the boy smiled, it caused the older Hardy to think of a shark. Placing his hand on the clutch, the teen shifted gears and backed out, then sped away.

“What a jerk,” mumbled Joe. “Who was that guy?!”

“I don’t know, never saw him before. Never mind about him – we better hurry or we are going to be late!”

The brothers jogged to the entrance of the school, where they found their friends waiting for them. Frank smiled at one of the pretty blondes.

Callie Shaw’s heart always pounded faster whenever she saw Frank Hardy. With his wavy dark brown hair, chocolate brown eyes and lean muscular physique, he could make any girl swoon.

“Hey, handsome!” she greeted with a twinkle in her eye.

Frank blushed and ignored the groans coming from his friends. He bent down, greeting Callie with a soft kiss on the cheek.

“Aww – come on, Frank. you can do better than that!” Joe teased; putting his arm around Vanessa’s waist he pulled her close. With a mischievous grin he dipped his girlfriend low. Vanessa let out a squeal of laughter when Joe tickled her neck by blowing raspberries.

“Oh yeah, that’s real smooth, Joe!” Tony rolled his eyes heavenward.

“They’re just jealous,” Joe whispered in Vanessa’s ear before he gave her a normal kiss.

Biff and Chet let out a few wolf whistles as they climbed up the school steps. Tony followed behind them, then Frank and Callie. Turning to make sure his brother was behind him, Frank let out sigh when he saw Joe still kissing Vanessa.

“Hold on a sec,” he told Callie as he walked back to Joe. When he reached his brother, Frank pulled on his arm. “Come on, lover boy!”

Vanessa giggled as Frank pulled Joe away, almost dragging him up the stairs.

Chet headed for the cafeteria for a morning snack. Biff and Tony made a mad dash for the school library – both needing to use the copy machine.

Joe walked Vanessa to her locker while Frank and Callie went to theirs. Callie’s was two lockers down from Frank’s. Callie was still chuckling over Joe’s antics. She glanced over at her boyfriend just as he was opening his locker.

Suddenly there was a loud bang – and colored confetti filled the air.

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.