stared at Nancy’s tear-streaked face. “Is she blubbering again?”
“Lauren, go play with your rock,” Midge said gruffly. But Lauren just stood there.
“Lauren, why don’t you go to the candy shop across the street and get some sweets?” Cherry suggested.
But Lauren didn’t budge. “What’s going on?” she demanded to know.
“I sure could go for some bon-bons,” Velma purred. She reached into Midge’s shirt pocket and took out a dollar. “Lauren, would you be a dear and get me some chocolates?” she smiled prettily.
Lauren beamed from ear to ear. “Sure!” she said, snatching the dollar from Velma’s hand. “Coconut cremes or fruit centers?” she wondered excitedly.
“I’m sure whatever you choose will be just right,” Velma murmured.
Lauren flushed with pleasure. “Watch my rock,” she called over her shoulder as she raced out the door.
“Smart-aleck kid,” Midge muttered under her breath as she watched Lauren eagerly do Velma’s bidding.
Cherry smiled. She had never seen Lauren so cooperative as she was with Velma. When Cherry had first met the brash teen, she had frankly been taken aback by her obvious lack of good breeding. Since then Cherry had tried to set a good example for the young girl. It looked like her example was finally beginning to pay off!
“Now if I could only get her to take some pride in her appearance, I know I could transform her into the graceful young lady I know she really is,” Cherry thought dreamily. “An attractive, polite, nice-to-be-around girl. The kind of girl who thinks first before she blurts out unpleasant thoughts.” As an older, more experienced girl, Cherry knew it was her duty to show Lauren the way to womanhood.
“With the cops out looking, we’ve really got to keep Nancy’s identity a secret until we can get her home. What if the kid goofs and gives her away?” Midge groused.
“That’s a very real concern, Midge,” Cherry said solemnly.
“She’s smart enough to understand the gravity of the situation,” Velma declared. “Besides that, she’s hardly a child! May I remind you, Midge, that she’s only a year younger than you were when you went to prison?”
Midge threw up her hands in mock defeat. “Again, I am wrong and you are right,” she joked. “Happy?”
“Almost,” Velma said, giving Midge a sweet smile and batting her thick, dark lashes. She planted a big kiss on Midge’s cheek.
Midge grinned. “I say we go and check out that motel the mechanic recommended. I’m ready for bed!”
“Good idea, Midge,” Cherry said, checking her sturdy nurse’s watch. It was nine p.m. “It’s still early, but it would be wise for us to get a good night’s sleep. And I’ve got a full evening ahead of me yet. I simply must wash my hair and rinse out my undergarments, plus get out my maps so I can figure the quickest route through the Rocky Mountains tomorrow. Besides,” she added, lowering her voice to just above a whisper. “I feel creepy knowing the police are looking for Nancy. The sooner we get inside and away from prying eyes, the better.”
“I agree,” Midge said in a stage whisper. She made a big show of furtively looking around. “See that man over there in the gray suit? The one smoking a pipe?”
Cherry nodded. She stared at the man perched at a counter stool, reading the newspaper while eating a baked potato.
“I’ll bet he’s an undercover cop,” Midge whispered. “Notice his rubber-soled shoes? They wear them so they can follow people around and not make a squeak.”
“Pretending to be engrossed in the evening paper is a good ruse,” Cherry whispered back earnestly.
“Keep an eye out for him,” Midge warned.
“I will,” Cherry answered solemnly.
“You’re a good detective, Cherry,” Midge winked.
Cherry beamed. She tarried so as to get a good look at the man on the stool. “He’s clever to act so casual; as if he’s really here for supper,” she thought. Cherry was so intent on watching the strange man’s every move, she bumped smack into Lauren on the way out of the restaurant.
“Careful!” Lauren cried, clutching a gold and white candy box tied with a pink bow. “These are for Velma. Where did she go?”
“The others have run ahead to the motel,” Cherry explained helpfully. “I stayed behind to—” But Lauren took off, cradling the box of sweets to her chest.
Cherry took one last look at the man shadowing them; then, confident that she could identify him later, headed for the motel and a good night’s sleep.
“What a horrible mix-up!” Cherry cried as she kicked off her flats and flopped onto the double bed she would share with Nancy that night. “I can’t believe the motel manager thinks Midge is a man and won’t let her in the room with us!”
The girls had thought their luck was finally changing when they spied the Pocatello Komfort Kourt, a neat row of rustic cabins with a panoramic view of the surrounding Peaks. They were inexpensively priced and, by all appearances, clean and comfortable.
Under normal circumstances, right now Cherry would be exclaiming over the knotty-pine paneled interior of their cozy cabin, the thick moss green chenille bedspreads, and the modernized bathroom with its hot and cold running water. “You’ve got all the amenities of a big-city motel,” the manager had said, pointing out that each cabin had many modern conveniences, “including a radio.”
It was when he opened the door to cabin number thirteen and Midge marched inside that the manager had exclaimed, “Men are not allowed to stay with young ladies in my cabins!”
Cherry almost chuckled, but stopped short when she realized he was talking about Midge!
The manager had taken one look at Midge’s short hairstyle, men’s trousers, and bulging biceps and had jumped to the mistaken conclusion that he and Midge were of the same ilk. And, to Cherry’s surprise, the usually quick-tongued Midge did nothing to correct the man’s mistake!
“Unless you can prove these girls are your sisters, you’re not staying in that room, young man. There’ll be no hanky-panky going on in my Komfort Kourt,” the manager had reiterated.
Cherry was just about to blurt out, “That’s no man—that’s Midge!” when Midge had shot her a sharp, warning glance that said, “Keep quiet, Cherry.” For some reason, Midge had apparently thought it best to go along with the man’s mistaken impression.
Poor, tired Midge, who had practically pushed the car to town all by herself, was being forced to make her bed on a little cot behind the front desk, for there were no more rooms available at the Komfort Kourt, or, for that matter, anywhere in Pocatello!
“There’s a philatelist convention in town, and everyone’s full up,” the manager had explained. “You’re lucky there was just a last-minute cancellation; everything else has been booked for months.”
The girls had already handed over six precious dollars for the cute, cozy cabin, and it seemed the