Read En Garde (Nancy Drew (All New) Girl Detective Book 17) for Free Online

Could a small story on the nightly local news really destroy the reputation of Bela Kovacs?
    I studied my surroundings for a minute before getting out of my car. I’d been to Salle Budapest several times before, meeting George before or after classes, but I’d never really looked at it before. It was a stand-alone, one-story cinder-block building, faced with tan bricks. It had a blacktop parking area surrounded by weeds, a garbage bin out back, and an air-conditioning unit humming alongside it. Nothing special.
    I’d never paid attention before, so I couldn’t tell if today there were fewer cars parked there than usual. As I scanned the lot, though, I did remember seeing Raggedy Man there a few days ago. Funny thing—I kept forgetting about that guy when other things were on my mind. But for some reason, I couldn’t ignore him entirely. I didn’t know yet if he was apiece in this fencing-school puzzle, but if he was, he sure didn’t fit right.
    Leaving my car, I went through the front entrance, a swinging glass door with the name SALLE BUDAPEST painted in curly red and black letters. The small raised entry area was cluttered with metal folding chairs and bulky canvas equipment bags that students had dumped onto the floor. Beyond an iron railing, you went down one step into the main studio, a large fluorescent-lit room with a varnished blond wood floor. One side wall was lined with mirrors. Accordion-fold doors along the other side wall hid shelves loaded with equipment—swords, masks, doublets, lamés, boxes of tangled electric body cords, scoring equipment. Until the tournament yesterday, I hadn’t even known—or cared—what most of it was used for. At the back of the studio, a gray upholstered partition sectioned off a few office cubicles. It wasn’t a very complicated setup.
    I stepped over several equipment bags and perched on one of the folding chairs. I supposed they’d been put there so parents could wait for their children, but I’d never seen any parents there. It wasn’t a cozy place to hang out.
    While I waited for George, I tried to estimate whether there were fewer students here than usual.The studio didn’t look crowded, but then it never had when I’d been there before.
    Seeing me, George came leaping over to the railing. She pushed her wire-mesh mask up and grinned. Her brown eyes sparkled, and she looked totally pumped up. “I just wanted to do one more round against Edwina,” she said. “It won’t take more than five minutes. Can you wait?”
    “Sure, I’m in no hurry. Go ahead.” I smiled. It was good to see George eager to fence again. She’d seemed kind of down after she lost her match yesterday.
    “Bela gave me some really great tips for what to work on,” George said. “He says that sometimes you benefit more from a loss than from a victory. That girl I fenced yesterday? Bela deliberately matched me against her because she was so much better than me. That’s the best way to learn, Bela says. I scored more points against her than he expected! He was really proud.”
    “Good for you, George!” I said.
    George fiddled with the silver duct tape wrapped around the point of her sword. “I thought something was weird—the electric button came disconnected,” she said. “The machine didn’t register when I touched Edwina’s lamé. Now I’ll beat her for sure!” She smacked her mask back down, whirled around,and bounced off to where her partner waited on the fencing strip.
    Since it looked like I’d be staying for a while, and I was getting thirsty, I went off in search of some water. I tiptoed down the length of the main studio, carefully hugging close to the equipment closet wall—no point in getting in the way of the fencers. They would be armed and dangerous!
    I reached the far end, where I suspected there would be a bathroom. I poked my head around the partition. Damon was sitting in the first cubicle, schoolbooks spread open on a battered metal desk. He looked up,