Read the book: «The Case Of The Good-For-Nothing Girlfriend»
Praise for Mabel Maney’s Nancy Clue Mysteries!
“Maney has penned a mystery with tongue-in-cheek homo-erotic hilarity that’s simultaneously fun, nostalgic, and completely contemporary.”—Los Angeles Reader
“In a gem of a book-length parody, the author faithfully hews to the narrative and plotting style of juvenile series fiction, her remarkably straight face making the goings on all the funnier. I loved this book …”—Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
“Maney, who evidently grew up bent in a straighter-than-thou environment, has had a field day with our conventions. Wittily, subversively, she has exposed the underbelly of America: it’s softly rounded, and warm.”—Toronto Globe and Mail
“Utter kitsch, done with class and distinction. Mabel tools the pages like an expert, in the process bringing up a lot of dialogue about the role of lesbianism in the ‘gay’ 90s, albeit subtly.”—Your Flesh Magazine
“Girl-detective fiction fashioned with a gusto and much self-parody … Maney delivers a strange tale of missing nuns, lesbian romance and much hapless do-gooding detective work. Fun at its most Sapphic, this is one mystery that you should get to the bottom of!”—The Pink Paper
“Good-for-Nothing Girlfriend is definitely a hoot; you’ll laugh until your dress gets mussed … Maney knows ‘50s America like she majored in Ozzie and Harriet.”—Lambda Book Report
“The sequel to The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse is another hoot, a lampooning of girls’ fiction of the past full of hapless, do-gooding detectives with ‘keen sleuthing abilities, up-to-the-minute fashion sense, and gracious finishing-school manners.’ With a honey like Cherry, who is always careful to keep an ample supply of freshly starched, white linen handkerchiefs in her seasonally appropriate handbag, we know Nancy can’t miss.” —Booklist
Nancy swiftly and expertly roped Cherry in.
About the Author
MABEL MANEY was born at All Saint’s Hospital in Appleton, Wisconsin, to Marge Muldoon Maney, a former beauty queen whose titles include Miss Muskie Queen 1949 and Miss Cheese Log 1951, and Milton Maney, a traveling footwear salesman specializing in sensible shoes.
After her parents were lost at sea, Mabel’s spinster aunt, Miss Maude Maney, a successful women’s undergarments buyer for a local department store, enrolled Mabel at St. Agatha’s School for Girls in nearby Bear Lake, where she excelled in Conversational Skills and Table Manners. After an idyllic four years spent in the highest academic pursuits, Mabel was expelled for behavior too unpleasant to mention here.
Mabel enjoyed a short stint at the Appleton Home for Wayward Girls, after which she made her way west where she found employment in the film industry, training miniature collies to jump through hoops. Following many years devoted to canine education, Mabel retired to San Francisco, where she now resides.
Her key to success? “Never mix plaids with stripes!”
Mabel Maney is the author of The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse, The Case of the Good-For-Nothing Girlfriend, and Nancy Clue and the Hardly Boys in A Ghost in the Closet (Cleis Press). Her short stories have appeared in Best American Mystery Stories (Houghton Mifflin) and San Francisco Thrillers (Chronicle Books). Her new girl spy adventure series is forthcoming from Avon.
Maney’s installation art and handmade books, self-published under the World O’Girls Books imprint, have earned her fellowships from the San Francisco Foundation and San Francisco State University, where she received her MFA in 1991. Her art has been exhibited in galleries throughout the United States. Artspace wrote of her handmade World O’Girls edition of The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse: “In Maney’s refigured narrative, gay heroine Cherry Ames moves unhampered through a world populated by lesbian nuns and adventuresses, even engaging in a one-nighter with Nancy Drew. Entertainment aside, by appropriating and redefining the sexual orientation and cultural limits placed upon her fictional female characters, Maney provides a powerful reminder of the exclusionary nature of the ruling (in this case, straight) culture, with its power to define specific roles and acts as ‘natural’ while denying or marginalizing others.”
A Nancy Clue Mystery
The Case of the Good-for-Nothing Girlfriend
Mabel Maney
www.spice-books.co.uk
For Miss Lillian Bee of the Milwaukee Bees, and for M. P. K.
Special thanks to the nurses of Cleis Press—Deborah Barkun, Leasa Burton, Frédérique Delacoste, Maura Farrell, Lisa Frank, Pete Ivey, and Felice Newman—for their keen editing abilities, unflagging good humor, and eternal patience.
Table of Contents
Cover
Praise
About the Author
Title Page
Dedication
1 A Maddening Mishap
2 To the Rescue!
3 Oops!
4 Pocatello Bound
5 That Special Something
6 A Chance Encounter
7 Mysterious Strangers
8 An Important Assignment
9 A Horrible Mix-up!
10 What a Coincidence!
11 “Adieu, Idaho”
12 Shocking News
13 A Cheery Hello
14 A Sudden Crash
15 A Cunning Career Gal
16 “Look Out!”
17 A Startling Confession
18 Eureka!
19 Unexpected Guests
20 A Frantic Phone Call
21 “O, Nebraska!”
22 At Long Last, Iowa
23 A Surprising Encounter
24 Eager Anticipation
25 A Queer Quiz
26 Crossing the Mississippi
27 A Delightful Surprise
28 A Creepy Tale
29 “Bess? Bees?”
30 Purloined Letters
31 The Search for Nancy
32 Conflicting Reports
33 A Frightful Encounter
34 A Meddling Matron
35 Nancy’s Return
36 A Sudden Cry
37 A Rocky Romance?
38 A Scandalous Story
39 A Fabulous Fellow
40 A Sudden Awakening
41 A Warning
42 A Delightful Discovery
43 Follow That Car!
44 An Exhaustive Search
45 A Sudden Realization
46 A Shocking Rumor
47 The State of Illinois v. Hannah P. Gruel
48 Drop That Moose!
49 The Secret Revealed
50 Trouble!
51 An Agonizing Decision
Thrilling Chapters from Your Favorite Nancy Clue Mysteries!
The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse
Nancy Clue and the Hardly Boys in A Ghost in the Closet
Endpages
Copyright
CHAPTER 1
A Maddening Mishap
Pretty, titian-haired detective Nancy Clue, known to all for her keen sleuthing abilities, up-to-the-minute fashion sense, and gracious finishing-school manners, kicked the right front tire of her modern convertible in frustration and burst into tears.
“I can’t believe it! This is the second time today something has happened to this automobile! First that tire blew in Boise, and now this! Oh, it’s maddening!” Nancy sobbed.
The attractive girl, clad in a simple powder blue summer skirt and crisp white blouse with a Peter Pan collar that gave her a charmingly innocent air, flung herself over the front of the snappy automobile and gave way to a fervent fit of wailing that made her traveling companions jump back in alarm.
The four girls accompanying her on the trip looked at each other in bewilderment. Just minutes before, Nancy had been leading the group in a merry sing-along, and now she was writhing on the hood of her 1959 canary yellow Chrysler convertible, tears streaming down her pretty face.
They had just finished a rousing round of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” when the car had hit a rather large rock and made the most awful clanking noise before rolling to a dead stop at the side of the road. And just when they had almost reached Pocatello, Idaho, where they’d planned to stop for a nice supper before driving across the border to the majestic mountain state of Wyoming.
Nurse Cherry Aimless, Nancy’s close chum and a native Idahoan, had warned them to use caution while traversing the roadways of eastern Idaho, but the five girls had been so engrossed in their own amusements, they had become careless. Cherry scolded herself for not paying closer attention. She knew from her many experiences during family car trips to keep an eye out for the rocky road ahead. Now, just hours into their trip, their automobile was damaged, perhaps beyond repair!
“And Nancy’s on the verge of hysteria,” Cherry noted with her keen nurse’s eye. “Not only that, she’s in danger of becoming downright mussed,” she thought in alarm.
Under normal circumstances, Nancy Clue, who had solved enough baffling mysteries to earn a well-deserved reputation as a first-rate sleuth, was the model of feminine decorum. She was accustomed to keeping a cool head while solving cases that baffled even the professionals, and emerged from every escapade with nary a hair out of place. For Nancy was as well known for her attractive hairstyles as she was for her ability to remain unruffled during the most trying circumstances.
But now the young sleuth was facing one of the most hair-raising experiences of her life.
Nancy was headed home to River Depths, Illinois, to confess to the murder of her father, prominent attorney Carson Clue, who had been found shot to death eleven days earlier in the tidy kitchen of his comfortable, three-story suburban brick house!
“I must get home and expose the terrible truth about my father, and free Hannah!” Nancy cried through her tears. She pummeled the hood of the fancy car with her small fists. “I … simply … must … get … home!”
The Clues’ longtime housekeeper, Hannah Gruel, had insisted on selflessly shouldering the blame for the death of Mr. Clue in order that Nancy might remain free, and so had confessed to shooting the popular attorney during a domestic dispute.
“I told that man time and time again to stay out of my kitchen while I was baking,” Hannah had declared as she was led away in handcuffs to the River Depths jail. There she remained, awaiting trial for murder, due to begin in just over two days’ time.
It was only because Nancy had been in such a state of shock after the shooting that she had agreed to Hannah’s scheme. At the housekeeper’s urging, she had headed for faraway San Francisco to start a new life. Once there, Nancy had been drawn into the exciting mystery of The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse, where she had become fast friends with the four girls who were now standing back helplessly as their new chum took out her frustrations on her nifty automobile. This fascinating case, which had started in San Francisco and led the girls to a dark dungeon outside the city, had ended on a happy note. Using just their wits and a pair of handy handcuffs, the five chums had managed to escape from their captors—a group of nefarious clergymen—free a convent of kidnapped nuns, and outwit the evil priest who had masterminded the devious plot to murder the nuns and steal their land.
Luckily, the five chums had been quickly exonerated in the priest’s subsequent death, and it was then Nancy had decided to go back home and set the record straight about what had really happened in the three-story, Colonial style brick house at 36 Maple Street. The startling news that Hannah had suffered a heart attack in prison had made Nancy even more determined to get home as quickly as possible, for Nancy was terribly afraid that Hannah’s weakened heart wouldn’t survive the strain of a courtroom drama.
“If only I hadn’t agreed to this scheme, perhaps Hannah wouldn’t have become ill,” she admonished herself over and over again, until she was sick with worry. She would do anything to get Hannah out of jail, even if it meant telling her terrible secret to all of River Depths!
Nancy was positive that once people heard the truth about her father, she would immediately be cleared of any wrongdoing in his death. “Once they hear how truly dreadful he was, there will be no question but that I did the right thing; the only thing I could have possibly done!” she had assured her companions. When her chums expressed their fear that she might be charged with murder, Nancy confidently brushed aside their doubts
“Any sensible person will certainly understand that I had to shoot Father,” she assured them. “Besides, everyone in River Depths knows I never lie. Why, Police Chief Chumley, who has called on me many times to help solve particularly baffling cases, has declared that he trusts me as much as anyone under his command.”
If truth be told, Nancy was one of River Depths’ most important girl citizens. Tales of her exciting adventures were reported by newspapers everywhere, and the young sleuth was recognized wherever she went for her keen logic, upstanding behavior, and attractive outfits. Why, just the year before, Nancy had received the coveted River Depths Outstanding Girl Award. True to her modest nature, she had been surprised and flattered by the accolade, and had promptly donated the twenty-five dollars in cash that had accompanied the bronze plaque to the River Depths Home for Troubled Girls, a worthwhile institution Nancy had visited on many occasions on missions of charity.
She assured her friends that in River Depths her word was as good as gold. “Besides, I have irrefutable evidence that proves my father’s crime,” she had told her worried chums, adding, in a confident tone, “Not that I’ll need it!” Safely hidden away in the secret bottom drawer of her hope chest at home were documents that would prove her father’s guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt—letters written in Carson Clue’s own hand. Once authorities saw this evidence, Nancy was sure she would instantly be absolved of any wrongdoing in his death!
“Little good that evidence does me here, though,” Nancy groaned. “I may as well be a million miles away,” she thought glumly as she slid off the hood of the car, not even caring that her travel outfit was now wrinkled beyond repair. “At the rate we’re going, Hannah will have been tried and convicted already by the time we get there. Or worse! I’ll never forgive myself if Hannah dies a murderess!” Nancy wailed. “Never!”
She fumbled through her summer straw handbag for one of the starched, white monogrammed handkerchiefs she always kept on hand. She discovered, with dismay, that she had run out of clean hankies!
“Could things get any worse?” Nancy wailed as she threw up her hands in despair. She jumped up and ran screaming from the car.
She didn’t know where she was headed, and, frankly, she didn’t care!
CHAPTER 2
To the Rescue!
Cherry rushed after her distraught chum, a fresh hankie in one hand and her stainless steel travel thermos in the other. Cherry had thoughtfully purchased the sturdy, practical thermos earlier that day.
“A cool cup of water is just the ticket when dealing with emotional flare-ups,” she thought cheerfully.
Cherry knew that water, along with the right amount of rest and plenty of tasty, nutritious food, was an essential component to good health. So, unfortunately, was peace of mind—something Nancy hadn’t had in a very long time.
“It’s not good to overexcite yourself in this warm weather,” Cherry murmured in a soothing voice, trying to calm her near-frantic friend.
If truth be known, Nancy and Cherry were more than just friends. Despite the warmth of the humid, July day, Cherry shivered when she recalled the evening she had first set eyes on the lovely, titian-haired girl. Little had she realized that night she would find love beyond her wildest dreams!
Just one week before meeting Nancy in San Francisco, Cherry Aimless, R.N., an attractive, dark-haired girl with a bubbly nature and a burning desire to help others, had been a happily overworked ward nurse at a big-city hospital in Seattle. A vacation to the city by the bay had changed her life forever—for not only had she been caught up in an exciting mystery, she had also fallen deeply and truly in love, and with her longtime idol, Nancy Clue!
Until that trip, Cherry had been content with reading about the young detective in newspapers and magazines. It was well known throughout the nurses’ dormitory at Seattle General Hospital that Cherry spent much of her free time filling scrapbooks with carefully clipped articles and photographs of her favorite detective. Cherry took the teasing about her enthusiasm for the girl sleuth with good grace. She knew hobbies were a relaxing way to spend one’s leisure time, and no one needed to relax more than a hard-working nurse!
And no nurse worked harder than Cherry, whose cheerful presence and attention to duty made her a favorite among patients and colleagues alike. Cherry loved nursing, especially in her trim white uniform, dashing royal blue cape, and perky cap with its dark blue stripe that proclaimed she was a proud graduate of Stencer Nursing School, class of 1957!
So what if Cherry spent a tidy sum of her weekly salary on special leather-bound scrapbooks for her ever growing archive of Nancy Clue stories?
“At least it keeps me off the streets,” she joked to her nurse neighbors before shutting the door to her room for an evening of clipping and pasting. No one was a more eager hobbyist than Nurse Cherry Aimless!
The kidding had stopped the day the attractive nurse solved The Case of the Vanishing Valium and exposed the dastardly deeds of young Dr. Kildare, who was pilfering dangerous drugs from the hospital supply room. After that, the nurses were frank to admit that Cherry, with her dancing green eyes, shiny black curls, and curvy figure, was proof that beauty and brains could walk hand in hand.
But never in her wildest fantasies could Cherry have imagined that one day she’d actually come face to face with Nancy Clue!
Although Cherry sorely missed the hustle and bustle of the overcrowded, understaffed hospital, where the patients seemed to really need her, she knew her place was by Nancy’s side. For although she had taken a vow to be a big-city nurse—a soldier, really, in the fight against ignorance, filth, and disease—Cherry knew that there was one person who needed her most right now. And although she was dressed as a civilian, she was as much a nurse in her pretty pink taffeta party frock and dressy gold sandals as she was in her trim, starched white uniform, perky cap, and cunning cape.
It was Cherry Aimless, Registered Nurse, who put her own wants and needs aside in order to keep a cool head during Nancy’s outburst. Cherry knew that Nancy’s temper tantrum could send her blood pressure soaring! Why, Cherry might be called upon to perform a medical procedure right there by the side of the dusty road, where their automobile had rolled to a stop. She was somewhat reassured, knowing that her first-aid kit was securely stowed in the back seat of the car.
“If you just relax, we can put our heads together and find a way out of this spot,” Cherry said in a soothing tone. “A cool head always prevails.” She handed Nancy a clean handkerchief. Cherry always kept plenty on hand for times just like these.
“But I want to go now!” Nancy cried, crumpling Cherry’s white cotton hankie and throwing it to the ground.
Cherry picked up the now germ-laden handkerchief and put it in her pocket. She took a fresh one from her white patent-leather purse and held it ready in her hand. In a calm voice that she hoped would stop her excitable friend from working herself into an even more heightened nervous state, Cherry explained that car trouble was not unusual during a long auto trip. “Especially if one is trying very hard to get someplace in a hurry. Accidents are bound to happen,” she said in a firm yet soothing tone. “And you have to admit this wasn’t the most carefully planned trip,” she added.
“ ‘Many a trip is spoiled by poor planning,’ ” Cherry quoted her mother, Mrs. Doris Aimless of Pleasantville, Idaho, a sensible woman with lots of helpful advice. She felt a flash of guilt when she thought of her mother, who was no doubt worried sick about the whereabouts of her only daughter. Cherry had raced out the door earlier that day, and right in the middle of the mid-day meal!
Cherry vowed that she would call home as soon as she could, and assure her mother she was safe and planning on eating well-balanced meals. But until she could find a public telephone, she had another, more urgent, matter to contend with. Nancy was becoming dangerously overwrought, and it was Cherry’s job to see she didn’t make herself sick with worry.
“You told me yourself you’ve been involved in a lot of scrapes,” she said, adding, “and, eventually, you’ve found a way out of each of them.”
“But I’ve never been in such a precarious predicament before,” Nancy wailed. “I should have flown home,” she added anxiously. “What was I thinking when I suggested we drive cross-country in a little over a day’s time? At the rate we’re going, we’ll never make it to Illinois in time to stop that trial!
“If I had flown, I’d be home by now, and Hannah would be free,” she said, a gleam of steely determination in her blue eyes. She checked her slender, diamond-faced watch. “Let’s see—it’s almost six o’clock now. I could hop a bus back to Boise and catch a late flight to Chicago. I could be home first thing in the morning,” Nancy schemed.
Cherry could scarcely believe her ears. Surely Nancy didn’t mean that she wanted to go off on her own? “Airplane travel may be faster,” Cherry thought, but she also knew, as a nurse, that cabin pressure could prove medically unsettling for someone in Nancy’s unstable emotional condition. “Surely you don’t mean that!” Cherry blurted out. “We’ve got two and a half whole days before the trial begins—why, that’s plenty of time to get there!”
Cherry knew the foursome could provide valuable assistance to Nancy in her time of need and was just about to point that out when Nancy wailed, “Oh, I don’t know what I mean,” put her head in her hands, and gave way to a fit of weeping.
“I’ve got to make her calm down,” Cherry thought, grabbing her chum by the hand so she could secretly check her heart-rate. Just as she suspected—it was awfully fast!
“I’ll make her listen to reason; I’ve just got to,” Cherry thought. A determined glint came into her sparkling, emerald-green eyes. She must get through to the hysterical girl. Cherry thought fast and hard.
“Why, once I decided to visit my Aunt Beatrice in Boise at the last minute, and on the bus I realized that I had neglected to pack any toiletry items!” Cherry exclaimed dramatically. “I had to borrow hair pins and cold cream from my aunt all weekend. But it all worked out and we had a delightful time. Now, see?”
CHAPTER 3
Oops!
Nancy looked puzzled, but Cherry’s story had done the trick. She was no longer crying. This time she accepted Cherry’s handkerchief gratefully, mopped her face, and ran a hand through her tangled hair.
At Cherry’s urging, Nancy took her compact from her purse and applied a fresh dusting of powder to her pert but now shiny nose. Light pink lipstick completed her look. She then brushed her tangled titian hair until it shone.
“Feeling better?” Cherry asked.
Nancy admitted that she did feel much improved.
“A girl must always look her best and be prepared for the worst,” Cherry said cheerfully.
Nancy smiled wanly but said nothing. Cherry could tell her mind was miles away. Sixteen-hundred eighty-six miles, to be exact.
They sat for a while on a big boulder in quiet contemplation before Nancy uttered a big sigh and stood up. “I guess if we’re ever going to get out of here I should take a look at that darn automobile and see what can be done,” she said resolutely, sounding once again like the sensible girl with whom Cherry had fallen truly and deeply in love.
“How brave she is,” Cherry thought, her heart leaping with joy when she realized that Nancy must have abandoned her plans to fly home. “I’ll bet we’ll be out of here in a jiffy! We’ll be speeding through the majestic mountain state of Wyoming before you know it!” she bubbled.
Cherry felt a thrill when she imagined how exciting the sightseeing would be as they traveled through the picturesque and colorful state, with its many recreational pleasures. Nancy looked unconvinced, so, as they walked back to the car, Cherry kept up a chirpy chatter, hoping to cheer up her cynical chum. “We can have supper in nearby Pocatello while the car’s being fixed. After all, we do have to eat in order to keep our strength up,” she added.
“A nice dry martini would sure hit the spot right now,” Nancy admitted, sounding a bit calmer.
Was it Cherry’s imagination, or was Nancy sounding almost cheerful? Cherry smiled. Who else would have thought of having a cocktail but Nancy? Golly, she was so sophisticated, she always knew the right thing to do!
“I’ll bet Midge knows a lot about cars,” Cherry guessed as they walked back to the convertible. “I’ll bet she’ll get us out of here in no time at all.”
She had to smile when she thought of their tall, strong traveling companion, Midge Fontaine, the only girl among them with the upper body strength necessary to get the car moving if it wouldn’t start on its own. Cherry had met the muscular Midge during her recent adventure in San Francisco. Although Midge, a handsome girl with a take-charge attitude and a tendency to tease, and Cherry, a small-town girl with a bubbly, eager-to-please nature and a habit of blushing at the slightest provocation, were as different as two girls could be, they had become fast friends during their recent adventure.
A case of mistaken identity had brought the two unlikely chums together. Dark-haired Cherry and Midge’s longtime girlfriend, the lovely Velma Pierce, bore an uncanny resemblance to one another, resulting in a scary mix-up that had put the vivacious Velma in grave danger! Luckily, Cherry and Midge had been able to save her and had become good friends in the process.
“Only, Velma’s more stylish than I am,” thought Cherry, who frankly felt like Velma’s drab little sister in comparison with the older, more glamorous girl.
Cherry, a sweet, simple girl from a small farming town, had to admit she was more at home in a plain, starched white nurse’s uniform or the simple, cotton frocks she favored, than in the revealing get-ups Velma wore with such aplomb. “Plus Velma is always impeccably groomed, while I’m usually slightly mussed and my curls are all asunder!
“Who would have guessed that their picture-perfect romance began under the most trying of circumstances, while Midge was an inmate at a women’s prison and Velma was her teacher?” Cherry thought to herself. She shivered when she thought of how Velma had risked her own safety to smuggle Midge out of jail, and how the devoted pair had spent years hiding from the police. It was the most romantic story ever!
Lucky for Midge, they had met Officer Jackie Jones in San Francisco, who had not only helped them solve their exciting mystery but had used her influence to wipe Midge’s record clean.
“Midge is no longer an escaped convict, but a productive member of society,” Cherry gave a happy sigh. “And she and Velma make an awfully attractive couple,” Cherry thought dreamily. “Midge’s masculine outfits, slicked-back hairstyle, and rugged good looks perfectly complement Velma’s feminine frocks and movie star glamour. They’re a perfect match,” Cherry thought.
“Where is everybody?” Nancy worried aloud, pointing toward the car. Cherry got her mind off fashion fast when she realized with a start that Midge was no longer where they had seen her last, leaning against the side of the car smoking a cigarette.
For that matter, Velma, who was usually never far from Midge’s side, and the fifth member of the little group, Lauren Rooney, a spunky girl of sixteen who dogged the devoted couple “like a bad reputation,” as Midge was wont to joke, were nowhere to be seen!
“We mustn’t waste another minute out here,” Nancy fretted, looking around frantically for the missing girls. “If we’re to get to town and find someone to repair our automobile tonight, we’d better move fast.”
“They must have wandered off to enjoy this splendid scenery,” Cherry realized, noting that dusk was settling over the valley where their car had broken down. Cherry sucked in a swift breath of astonishment as she gazed at the dazzling pinks and reds of the summer sunset reflecting off the lofty mountain ranges surrounding them. Little wonder her native Idaho, with its rugged mountain ranges, rolling farmlands, and swiftly flowing rivers was often referred to as the Gem State!
She stifled an urge to break out in a resounding refrain of the state song, a melodic tune sung each morning in all Idaho schools, right after the Pledge of Allegiance. Cherry contented herself with humming the first stanza of “Here We Have Idaho” under her breath.
“Brrrr. It’s started to get chilly,” she shivered, folding her arms across her bosom and skipping ahead to the car so she could retrieve her sensible white cardigan sweater, which she had left in the back seat.
“Oops!” Cherry cried in embarrassment when she flung open the back door and got a sudden surprise. She turned a brilliant shade of crimson.
She had found Midge! And Velma, too!
CHAPTER 4
Pocatello Bound
“I’m gonna have to push this thing to town,” Midge declared as she slammed the hood of the car in disgust.
Cherry quickly consulted the map of Idaho she always carried in her purse. If her calculations were correct, downtown Pocatello was only a few miles away. “We’ll get there before it’s completely dark,” she was pleased to note.
Before Midge could start pushing, Cherry jumped into the back seat and grabbed her travel first-aid kit. She wanted it to be in easy reach in case Midge hurt herself.
Midge had to grin when she saw the attractive girl emerge holding the white metal box with the red cross emblazoned on the side. Every time Midge saw the comely, dark-haired nurse, she was amazed at the resemblance the girl had to her own Velma. In fact, the two looked so much alike that one night just eight days earlier, Midge had found herself in the embarrassing position of pinching the wrong girl! Luckily, besides being a first-rate registered nurse and crackerjack detective, Cherry had turned out to be a good sport as well.
While Cherry was girlish in every sense of the word, Midge disguised her more feminine attributes with a cool attitude. She was frankly passionate about two things and two things only: her cocker spaniel Eleanor, left at home in Warm Springs, Oregon, and “the other love of my life,” the beautiful, curvaceous Velma, who had hopped back into the car and was at this very moment using the rearview mirror to refresh her lipstick and run a comb through her shoulder-length, shiny black hair, styled in an attractive page boy.
Midge snapped back to reality just in time to hear Nancy and Cherry chorus in alarm, “Where’s Lauren? We can’t possibly go until Lauren gets here! Where could she be?”
Midge flushed a little. “A while ago she expressed an interest in the natural beauty of our surroundings, so I suggested she take a walk,” she admitted. “But I warned her not to go too far from the car,” Midge added with concern in her voice. She called for their young friend, but there was no answer. “Everyone stay here,” Midge ordered. “I’ll go get her.” She ground out her cigarette under the heel of her black penny loafers, kissed Velma good-bye, and strode off.
Cherry busied herself tidying the car, Nancy sneaked behind a bush to change into a fresh outfit, and Velma hopped up on the hood of the automobile and began applying a coat of polish to her long, tapered fingernails.
“Aren’t you at all worried?” Cherry wondered as she brushed cookie crumbs from the white leather interior of the snappy convertible. She was frankly amazed at Velma’s cool demeanor. “Lauren’s lost, we’re stuck on some back road, and, only moments ago, Nancy was on the verge of near-hysteria!” Cherry cried.
Velma grinned and patted the spot next to her. Cherry hopped up.
“Relax,” Velma said kindly, squeezing Cherry’s arm. She rummaged through her purse and tossed a bottle of Pearly Pink nail polish in Cherry’s lap. “Those girls of ours are always involved in some little adventure, aren’t they?” she added conspiratorially.
Cherry smiled. Velma was right. She hadn’t thought about the consequences of being in love with someone as busy as a famous girl detective. She hoped she was up to the task! “How did you get so wise?” Cherry blurted out. “About people, I mean?”
“I’ve lived with Midge for eleven years,” Velma laughed. “Honey, I could write a book!” The two girls laughed merrily. “You know what I think is the cutest thing?” Velma added with a chuckle. “I realized today that Lauren is turning into a miniature version of Midge!”
“It’s true,” Cherry agreed. “Earlier, when we stopped for sodas, I watched Lauren walking toward the car and thought, she’s beginning to walk like Midge.”
“That strut’s kind of cute on a kid, don’t you think?” Velma grinned. Then she got a dreamy look in her eyes. “When I see Lauren, with her scruffy clothes, tough attitude, and bossy ways, I think, that’s what Midge must have been like as a young girl. I wish I had known her then, before five years in that women’s prison made her so—”
“What do you think of this color on me?” Cherry cried loudly, cutting Velma off. “Do you think this particular shade of pink polish really complements my dress?” She flung her hands about, trying to warn Velma that Nancy was headed their way. Velma got the hint. Cherry was trying to keep unpleasant topics out of earshot of the distraught detective.
“I think that color is you, Cherry,” Velma said enthusiastically. “Oh, hi, Nancy, you’re back.”
“We were just discussing nail polish,” Cherry explained. She gave her chum a quick peck on the cheek. “What do you think of this color?” Cherry asked, holding out one hand. Nancy agreed with Velma that the pale pink polish looked especially nice with Cherry’s pink taffeta outfit. “You do look good in pink, Cherry,” Nancy said.
Cherry blushed prettily at the praise. “And you look enchanting in that full-skirted, sleeveless, paisley-print, silk chiffon summer dinner dress you’ve selected! It’s darling! And I love that beaded sweater you’ve casually tossed over your shoulders. It looks like you’re ready for a gay evening.”
“I’m afraid my summer straw bag isn’t nearly fancy enough for this outfit,” Nancy admitted ruefully. It was the only purse she had with her! “Imagine forgetting to pack a dressy purse! What must I have been thinking?”
Cherry tried to steer Nancy away from serious topics. “I love your pearls!” she enthused, taking a closer look at the luminescent beads around Nancy’s neck. “You have so many nice things,” Cherry gushed, remembering the sapphire and diamond starburst brooch and earring set Nancy had worn the night they met.
“Hannah insisted I pack my portable jewelry case,” Nancy explained, pointing to her purse, where she kept the small white leather case with its assortment of fine jewelry and some fun costume accessories, besides. Her face suddenly grew grim, and the sparkle went out of her pretty blue eyes. Cherry knew she was thinking of Hannah, whose only jewelry now was a prison identification bracelet. She quickly tried to change the subject.
“Brrr, it’s getting chilly, isn’t it?” Cherry cried. She buttoned her sweater all the way up to her chin and rubbed her hands together. But her thin cotton sweater proved to be poor protection against the evening mountain air.
“Let’s see if I’ve got something warmer,” Nancy said. She went to the trunk of the car and removed the largest of her three-piece powder blue travel set. She snapped open the suitcase. “Velma, this black cashmere topper coat will look nice with that yellow sheath you’re wearing,” she said. The hip-length coat fit Velma to a tee. “And, Cherry, this is a little dressy for your summer frock, but it will keep you warm,” Nancy said as she handed Cherry a pink wool coat with dolman sleeves and a big shawl collar. Nancy shrugged on an old red car coat, explaining ruefully, “It’s this or a brocade evening stole.”
Cherry stared in amazement at Nancy’s suitcase, which was stuffed with all sorts of fashionable frocks and gay accessories. Cherry had left home in such a hurry, she hadn’t had time to pack any spare outfits, and she was frankly nervous about having to wear her lovely taffeta frock with its dressy shirred skirt and tight-fitting bodice, all the way to Illinois. Taffeta wrinkled so!
“Help yourself to anything in there, Cherry,” Nancy offered. “While your dress is pretty as pie, it might not be the best travel get-up. Besides, the weather can be capricious, and to be really comfortable while traveling, one should be equipped with two sets of day clothes and warm evening togs.”
“You mean I can wear anything in this suitcase?” Cherry exclaimed. Why, outside of a department store, she had never seen so many lovely things! Cherry squealed in delight when Nancy shook the wrinkles out of a red and white polka dot sleeveless cotton frock and handed it to her.
“Pair this with my white broadcloth jacket, lined in red satin, and a red cinch belt, and you’ve got a summer classic,” Nancy pointed out. “Or, if you’d like something more playful, how about a rickrack-trimmed, bright cotton broomstick skirt, perfect for patio parties? Or don this black linen scoop-neck sheath with a simple strand of pearls, and you’re ready for a night at the symphony.”
Cherry grew wide-eyed with wonder as she surveyed the contents of Nancy’s suitcase. A sea green creamy crepe dress with a tulle stole; long and short soft gloves in the three most necessary colors; piles of cool, zip-up-the-back ladylike shirtwaists with matching belts and coordinating handkerchiefs; stylishly simple linen shifts with matching shortie jackets lined in satin; full-skirted sundresses just right for gay summer frolics; and shoe bags stuffed with velvety mules, satiny sandals, foldable flats, canvas espadrilles, ankle-strap high heels, and cork-soled sandals with uppers of soft calf.
Cherry fingered a deliciously soft, snow white angora sweater set with matching pearlized buttons—the exact same one she secretly longed for each time her birthday rolled around, but had never been lucky enough to receive. And there was one each in minty green, pale pink, creamy yellow, powder blue, luscious lavender, and sophisticated black, too.
“I’m afraid I was in somewhat of a tizzy when I packed,” Nancy explained in a bemused manner. “Some of these things are last year’s fashions!”
But Cherry was too busy to pay any attention. She wondered what it was like to have an angora sweater set for each day of the week. Suddenly her pink taffeta frock, which had seemed so daring and sophisticated two years ago when her mother had made it, now seemed downright dowdy!
“I may not have Nancy’s nice things, but I do have one thing that is never out of fashion,” she realized. “I have something I wouldn’t trade a suitcase full of matching angora sweater sets for—the proud uniform of a registered nurse!
“Besides, when I’m wearing my whites, I never have to worry about looking out of place,” she consoled herself as she stroked the soft angora sweaters. “My crisp uniform, cunning cape, and perky cap draw admiring glances wherever I go!”
Cherry swelled with pride as she thought of her car-trip uniform tucked securely in the bottom of her travel first-aid kit, next to a freshly polished pair of sturdy white shoes and an extra cap. Nurse Cherry Aimless was ready to swing into action the minute the call to duty came!
She almost reached for the uniform right then and there when she saw Midge and Lauren walking toward the car and realized with alarm that Midge was all bent over! To Cherry’s great relief, it soon became clear that Midge was doubled over because she was carrying a big rock and not because she had hurt herself. “Phew!” Cherry thought.
“Guess what we’ve got?” Midge groaned as she unceremoniously dropped the small boulder on the ground next to the girls.
“Midge, be careful!” Lauren hollered.
“It’s just a big dumb rock,” Midge shot back. “You can’t hurt it.”
“Can, too!” Lauren argued as she carefully placed her armload of smaller, yellow stones on the rear floor of the convertible before running to retrieve the large rock. “This is a fine specimen of a serpentine rock, and I don’t want it chipped,” she said, polishing the dark green, white-veined rock with the sleeve of her dirty red sweatshirt.
“She was mountain-climbing and wouldn’t come down until I agreed to let her bring some of the Pocatello Peaks with her,” Midge explained. She stared at Velma’s new coat with keen interest. “This is nice,” she murmured to Velma, stroking the front of her thick, luxurious wool coat. “Did you girls go shopping while we were gone?” Midge joked.
Just then, Cherry noticed the glare of oncoming headlights about a quarter mile down the road. “There’s a car coming our way,” she yelled, adding, “Maybe they’ll give us a ride to town, and Midge won’t have to push the car after all.”
They turned on their headlights and honked excitedly so the driver would see them, but, to their utter amazement, the middle-aged man wearing dark glasses and a straw hat pulled low over his face zoomed past!
“Yoo hoo! Help!” Cherry yelled as she raced after the dusty brown Impala. The woman in the passenger seat turned around, and Cherry got a good look at her frightfully over-bleached hair, garish red head scarf, and white plastic sunglasses before the car picked up speed, leaving the girls in a cloud of dust.
“How terribly rude!” Cherry cried as she took a clean hankie from her purse and wiped her face. “I know they saw us! Why, that woman looked straight at me!”
“When we get to River Depths, I’ll have Police Chief Chumley run a check on all known dusty brown Impalas,” Nancy said hotly. “I’ll bet they’ve many outstanding traffic citations. Someone needs to explain the rules of the road to them.”
The episode had lit a fire in Nancy. She traded her cork-soled wedge sandals for a pair of ballerina flats and positioned herself behind the car.
“Heave ho, girls!” she cried.
The free sample has ended.
