Hardy Boys Fan Fiction at the HDA - A Dark and Stormy Night

When Frank and Joe finally reached Driscol Manor House, they found the parlor crowded. Joe blinked when he saw his father. “Dad, what are you doing here?”

Fenton motioned the boys to a quiet corner and told them about his conversation with John MacNair. Frank stared at the man standing over with Darcy and James. “You mean he was a descendant of Erin Gallagher?”

“It’s possible. Galloway’s a common enough surname as well. If it’s a case of bad penmanship and it is actually Gallagher, well, I don’t think John knew that when he met and married Colleen.”

Joe shook his head. “Wow. How weird is that?”

Frank looked thoughtful. “Maybe not so weird as that.” Before either his father or brother could ask him what he meant, Frank switched subjects. “The stool leg snapped like someone had broken it?”

Fenton took a deep breath. “Yes. Just like someone had given it a powerful kick. Your mother told me what happened in the room after you found the lockbox.”

A moment later, Laura walked over to them. “Miss Mitchell is excited about the MacBannons’ change of heart and the new information. It should be an interesting show.”

Joe didn’t want to disagree with his mother. He’d seen enough episodes to know it wasn’t that interesting a show on its best episodes. Suddenly it hit him what his mother had said. “Kelly Mitchell’s here?”

Laura nodded. “She told me she’d run into you two on St. Stephen’s Green the other day.”

As if she’d heard her name, the woman veered toward them. “So...we meet again.” She took a deep breath. “I’d like to ask you two again to join the cast. Maybe even re-enact finding the lockbox.”

Joe glanced at Frank and shrugged. Both boys turned to their parents. Fenton extended his hand. “You’re Miss Mitchell. I’m Fenton Hardy.”

The woman’s eyes widened. “I’ve heard about you. I didn’t realize...” Her voice trailed off and she cleared her throat.

“If the boys want to, I don’t see why they can’t help you with this episode, reveal the truth about what really happened nearly 150 years ago.”

Kelly nodded and glanced back at Frank and Joe. “Well?”

Joe grinned. “You bet.” He got a crafty look on his face. “So what does all this re-enactment entail?"

Frank shook his head. “Joe.”

“What? I just want to be well informed here.”

Kelly nodded. “Good. We’ll meet here first thing in the morning and we’ll go over all the cues and lead-ins then. Welcome to Hauntings,” she added and went back to her camera crew.

Frank hoped he wasn’t going to regret this. Joe took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m starved. Let’s go eat.”

Fenton nodded. “Sounds good.”

“I noticed there’s a cafe at the back of the Dublin Writers Museum,” Laura said. “Why don’t we check out the museum too? Or do you have to get back to the convention?”

“I think I can spare an hour or two with my family,” Fenton said with a smile. “Let’s head over there.”

***

After lunch, Fenton headed back to the convention and Laura decided she wanted to visit a bit longer with Darcy MacBannon. Frank and Joe decided to some more sightseeing, visiting Phoenix Park, the Guinness Storehouse and Kilmainham Gaol.

“That was kind of creepy,” Joe said as they made their way past St. Stephen’s Green. “I mean all those letters those rebel leaders wrote to family before they were killed.”

“Yeah.”

Joe noticed his brother scanning the park. “What? Comparing it to the other one?”

“No. I was looking for that old guy. Trinity said his name was Seamus?”

“Why are you looking for him?”

Frank shrugged. “I was thinking about what Trevor said about old lady Flaherty.”

Joe grinned. “That was Trey.”

“Whatever. Anyway, he compared her to Biddy Early. I was going to ask Seamus about her.”

“Old lady Flaherty or Biddy Early?”

Frank rolled his eyes. “Both.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I feel like we might be missing something.”

“We found the journal pages, we found those letters. What else is there?”

“Maybe more journals?” Frank led the way down Grafton Street to where it connected with College Street. They passed Trinity College and turned down Pearse Street toward their hotel.

Joe gestured to the front desk as they walked inside. “Why not ask?”

“Okay. Ask.”

Joe was halfway to the front desk when he stopped and turned around. “Why me? You’re the one who wants to know.”

“You’re closer,” Frank said, trying not to grin. “Anyway, I think I’ve walked enough for awhile. I need to lie down.”

Joe watched his brother take the stairs two at a time and growled low under his breath. With a sigh, he turned to the front desk. “Hi.”

The older man nodded to him. “Hello.”

“I was wondering...do you know who Biddy Early was?”

The man looked intrigued. “Most of Ireland knows who she was. Do you?”

“Um, is there someone claiming to be her, reincarnated?”

The man frowned at her. “You must mean Mary Flaherty. She lives off Liffey Street Upper not far from the Ha’penny Bridge.”

Joe nodded. “Thanks.” He turned to go up the stairs.

“Wait.”

Joe took a deep breath and turned back to the front desk. “Yes?”

“Here. I just finished it.”

Joe took the small book carefully. There was a sketch of an older woman on the cover holding a small blue bottle; written in script at the top was: The Search for Biddy Early.

“The author signed that copy for me, so I’d like it back.”

Joe smiled. “Um, thanks, I’ll get it back to you tomorrow.” He took off for his hotel room and didn’t slow down until the door was closed.

Frank came out of the bathroom. “What’s with you?”

“Mary Flaherty lives off of Liffey Street Upper not far from the Ha’penny Bridge and here: the front desk clerk wants that back by tomorrow.”

Frank looked down at the book and read the title. “So she was famous.”

“Apparently.” Joe shook his head. “That was a dirty trick. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you’re taking pointers from the MacBannon twins.”

“Who says I’m not?” Frank laughed and flipped through the pages of the thin volume. He saw the author’s signature and read the back of the book. “ ‘It seems certain that as long as Biddy Early is remembered mystery and argument will surround her name. She was a remarkable woman who possessed extraordinary powers and natural gifts of knowing the unknown. The very mention of Biddy Early’s name in any part of Ireland, especially in County Clare, releases an astonishing amount of stories about her cures, her magic bottle, her gift of prophecy and her many other curious talents’.”*

Joe arched an eyebrow. “Magic bottle? Did it have a genie inside?”

Frank sat down on his bed. “Shh.”

“Frank, the woman isn’t here.” Joe said in a patient tone.

Frank shot him a glare and opened the book to the contents’ page. Joe grinned and stretched out on his bed. He closed his eyes, waiting for Frank to share some little tidbit. Sure enough a few minutes later, Frank said, “Listen. The little bottle was supposedly given to her from her late husband and it gave her powers. When the police were coming to oust her out of her house, she stuck them to the road.”

Joe sat up. “Stuck them to the road. With what?”

“She just said stay where you are and they did.”

Joe shook his head. “Weird.”

A tap on the door had Frank setting the book down and getting up to open the door.

Laura smiled at her sons. “Look who I found loitering in the lobby.”

Fenton laughed. “John was telling me that they have pub crawls in Dublin. You follow a group of people from pub to pub.”

Joe scooted to the foot of his bed. “Like the rats followed the Pied Piper?”

“There are two types of pub crawls,” Laura said, laughing. “There’s the literary pub crawl where we follow two hosts who tell stories about some of the writers here. The other one is a music pub crawl. You follow some local musicians around for about two hours.”

Joe shared a look with his brother. “The music one sounds interesting.”

“We’re going on the literary one,” Fenton said. “But first, we’re going out to supper.”

“Where tonight?” Frank asked.

“Tea Room at the Clarence,” Laura said.

Joe narrowed his eyes and got to his feet. “Wait. The Clarence Hotel? The one owned by U2?"

Frank looked over at his brother. “U2 owns a hotel?”

Joe gave his brother a withering look and turned to Laura and Fenton. “When are we leaving?”

Fenton laughed. “In about an hour. You’ll have plenty of time to get ready.”

Laura grinned. “It’s said you can spot celebrities any time you’re there, either staying at the hotel or eating at The Tea Room.”

“As in really famous people?” Frank was still surprised the renowned rock band U2 owned a hotel.

“What other kind of celebrities are there?” Joe asked, sarcastically.

“Oh you be quiet.”

*Back cover, The Search for Biddy Early

by Edmund Lenihan

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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.