The Witch Tree Symbol by Carolyn Keene (1955, 1975) Part 1

Nancy is driving to an old mansion with a woman named Mrs. Tenney. She moved to River Heights a few weeks prior and learned of Nancy's success in solving mysteries and decided to gain her insight on a family matter. The mansion belonged to Mrs. Tenney's great-aunt, whom left her half of everything in her home.

When they arrived, there is not much to be left because all of the antiques in the place are gone. Mrs. Tenney believed that it was her cousin, Alpha Zinn whom was to inherit the other half has decided to take everything for himself. All of a sudden they hear a noise upstairs. Nancy goes to investigate, but only catches the glimpse of a man fleeing the property. After looking around in the library, Nancy finds a piece of paper with a red circle and a black star with printed letters underneath that read: WITCH TREE SYMBOL. Mrs. Tenney has no idea what it was or where it came from. She tells Nancy of an antique dealer that came to the home the week before seeking to purchase any items the family did not wish to keep. He fit the description of the man that Nancy saw running away. With this as her lead, Nancy heads into town to try and locate this man.

Nancy goes to a motel and finds out the man made calls to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She decided to go the police station to speak with Chief McGinnis. The Chief tells her that this man, Roger Hoelt was a known jewel thief and had made a getaway in River Heights a few years ago. Upon returning home she tells her father Carson and housekeeper Hannah of the case. Hannah is very superstitious about the symbol and feels that it might not be a good thing. Nancy looks around for her little terrier, Togo. She sees him across the street. While he is making it back home, a car deliberately sped up and hit him. Thankfully he only had a small cut and was okay. Nancy had made the decision the next day she was going to Lancaster to try and locate Mrs. Tenney's cousin and perhaps this Hoelt man. The next morning she receives an envelope. Inside is another piece of paper with the same symbol with printed words below: STAY HOME!

Bess and George decide to come along with her on her trip to Pennsylvania. The area they were traveling through was German Dutch and had a fairly large Amish community. On the way they start seeing star symbols painted on the barns. They pull over and speak to a farmer. He tells them that most people use it for decoration, but others use it to chase witches.

Going farther down the road, Nancy's car comes to a dead stop. Bess is convinced the hex from the pieces of paper are giving them bad luck. Nancy does not acknowledge this, and she does not believe in hex's. There is not a house anywhere in sight. Then they see an Amish girl walking up the road. She tells them she is having some family issues but is happy to help the girl's get to a mechanic that is just a mile up the road. Nancy walks with Manda to the young man's farm. Manda leaves and starts heading on her way back home. The young man drives them in his car back to Nancy's. He is very interested that George has a boy's name.

After he gets Nancy's car started, they are one their way to Manda's home. They talk with her mother and she tells the girls that she is not there, she ran away. Her father had made some very harsh rules for her if she wished to come back, but it made her run off again. They went to go speak with her father, he is tending to their bulls. When he turns to greet the girls, one of the bulls charges him and gets knocked out. Nancy, Bess and George do their best to distract the bull so they can pull Manda's father out of the pen. After he comes to, they go to the house for dinner. As a thank you for saving his life the couple has the girls spend the night.

It was not too late so Manda's parents show them around the homestead and look for Manda as well. When they went to the barn, Nancy asked to look in the hay loft, as it may hold a good hiding place. Manda's father agreed. Nancy came down and showed everyone what she had found. A piece of paper that read: WITCH TREE. After a restful sleep and a breakfast, the girls say their goodbye's and plan to return with any news of Manda.

They drove into Lancaster and found Alpha Zinn's farm. They decided to pose as people interested in the antiques that he was selling to stay there long enough to try and get some clues. After talking with Mr. Zinn they find out that he does not known that the antiques were stolen. Nancy shows him the symbol that she found in the library. He also believed that he went to school with a Hoelt but doesn't know if it is indeed the same person. They meet Mrs. Zinn and the couple invites them to stay for dinner. After they leave they are followed pretty close by a car. Nancy pulls off at a gas station to re fuel. After getting back on the road, Nancy takes a very sharp turn and ends up driving into a cinder block pile and crashes the car.

There is a lot of history on Pennsylvania Dutch in this book. Some of which that I have had to do some extensive research on. These stars, are also called the barnstar or Pennsylvania star, their use started in the 18th century. They are still used in the area for decorations and can have multiple colors and have animals as well in the design to display Dutch beauty and traditions.

The Pennsylvania Dutch were immigrants from Germany, Switzerland and Austria during the 17th and 18th century. In the book there are several words that are in German. So a translator would be helpful while reading this. Hex is from the German word Hexe meaning witch, and Baum is tree. Hexenbaum would be Witch Tree. This mystery certainly has me puzzled though, I do not know what meaning the hex symbol on a piece of paper has. I am unsure if it is to be seen as a warning, threat or possible red herring. The placing of the paper's as well are not making any sense either. Perhaps they are the key to the entire thing but we will have to see if they will lead Nancy will be able to find the antiques and Manda.