“That’s not a good idea,” Velma cautioned as she kicked off her leather-bottomed flats and lay down on the bed next to Cherry.
Cherry was frankly puzzled. Why, it seemed like a sound idea to her!
“In some towns, girls dressed as boys aren’t exactly welcome with open arms,” Velma explained.
Surely Velma was teasing, Cherry thought. But when she looked at Velma, she could see by the frown on her face that the older girl was serious!
“Midge could get into big trouble if she’s found out,” Velma said, “The manager would probably call the police in to run us out of town.”
“You mean, there are places where it’s against the law for a girl to wear slacks?” Cherry exclaimed.
Velma nodded.
“But you’re wearing slacks,” Cherry pointed out.
“They’re girl’s slacks,” Velma explained. “Don’t you see?”
Cherry didn’t see, but she nodded anyway. She didn’t want Velma to think she wasn’t sophisticated. Besides, the long day was catching up with her, and she was beginning to feel dizzy with fatigue. “Maybe I’m too tired and wrinkled to understand anything right now,” she thought. Cherry felt lucky, and a little guilty for it, knowing her sweetheart was close by. Nancy was just in the next room, taking a warm bath.
“Midge and Velma belong together always!” Cherry thought, her head aching from thinking of the silly thing that was keeping them apart. Cherry let the relaxing vibrating motion of the motorized bed calm her throbbing head.
“Poor Midge,” Cherry sighed. “She’s going to miss out on a swell evening. I thought later we could all wash and set each other’s hair. Then we can play some games.” She had noticed a deck of playing cards in the top drawer of the bedside table, along with some postcards and a complimentary pen with the name of the motel on it. “It will be just like a Friday night at the nurses’ dorm,” she told Velma, smiling as she recalled the many swell times she had had while lying in her narrow single bed, just inches away from an identical one occupied by her roommate, Nurse Cassie Case, a perky brunette with a warm smile and an infectious laugh. The two nurses had spent many pleasant hours laughing and chatting well into the night, giving each other relaxing back rubs and engaging in fun pillow fights.
Cherry suddenly had a grand thought. What if they put vibrating motors on the nurses’ beds? “It would be soothing after a long day at work.” She made a mental note to suggest just that, once she got back to the hospital.
“I guess Midge is lucky the manager offered her that little cot behind the desk,” Cherry remarked. “Although, I’m sure she would prefer a hot bath and a nice comfy bed. Plus, she’s going to miss out on all the fun.”
“We won’t tell her the beds vibrate,” Velma whispered conspiratorially.
“Okay,” Cherry agreed. There was no use rubbing salt into Midge’s wounds!
Velma got up off the bed and hopped into her shoes. “I’m going to go and see my sweetie,” she said.
“See if you can find Lauren while you’re out there,” Cherry suggested. “It’s taking her an awfully long time to get one bucket of ice.”
“She’s probably hanging out with Midge, learning how to spit or something,” Velma said in a teasing tone. She powdered her nose, refreshed her lipstick, and threw her coat over her shoulders. A chiffon scarf tied around her pretty dark hair completed her evening ensemble.
“You look beautiful!” Cherry enthused. “Have a swell time. Say good night to Midge for me.”
“Thanks, I will,” Velma smiled. “Now, you know, I won’t be back for a while,” she warned. “Are you two going to be okay all alone?”
Cherry blushed.
Velma grinned. “Say good night to Nancy for me,” she said. “On second thought, give her a great, big kiss good night!”
Cherry turned beet red. She was having that very same thought!
“I’ll knock three times before coming back in, okay?” Velma promised. “Remember. Three knocks,” she repeated as she went out the door.
Now Cherry was really red! Her heart began racing wildly. Alone with Nancy! All day she had been dreaming of being near Nancy, of putting her arms around the attractive, titian-haired sleuth, of …
Her time ran out, and the bed came to an abrupt halt. Cherry was so lost in her dreaming she practically slid off! She was just debating whether to spend another quarter when the washroom door flew open and Nancy emerged, wrapped in a bath towel that left her lovely legs and shapely shoulders bare for all to see.
Cherry thought she had never seen anything so fetching as Nancy standing there in the doorway with the mist from the steamy room swirling about her, her cheeks all rosy, and her damp, trademark titian hair curling softly around her flushed face.
“Golly, she’s the most beautiful girl ever,” Cherry thought breathlessly. She felt a sudden pulsating sensation somewhere deep inside. It was her heart beating a mile a minute! Cherry slipped a quarter into the metal box, and, ever so slowly, the bed started to move.
Nancy said nothing, but just walked toward her with a friendly look in her eyes. She gave Cherry a sweet smile. “Wouldn’t you be more comfortable if you got out of that tight outfit?” Nancy murmured.
Cherry felt faint. She quickly unzipped the back of her dress and lay back on the bed, closing her eyes. She awaited Nancy’s soft kiss.
After a moment had passed with no kiss, Cherry opened her eyes and found, to her dismay, that Nancy had slipped into a white flannel nightgown, matching terrycloth robe, and plush slippers, and was busy tidying the room.
“Thanks for letting me bathe first,” Nancy said cheerfully as she neatly hung her dress and slip on a hanger, wiped the dust from her shoes, and put her pearls in her white leather travel jewelry case.
“Help yourself to any of my pajamas,” Nancy said, when she realized Cherry had unzipped her dress. She threw Cherry a quick kiss and slipped under the covers next to her. “How odd. The bed’s moving,” Nancy mused aloud before proclaiming, “I’m so sleepy I can’t possibly stay awake one more minute! Goodnight.”
Cherry blushed all the way to her taffeta neckline. “But you’ll catch cold if you sleep with wet hair!” she wanted to protest. But she was too late, for Nancy was already fast asleep.
“A red nine goes on a black ten,” Cherry said under her breath as she scrutinized the cards lying in a neat progression in front of her on the bed. “One, two, three,” she counted out the cards from the stack in her hand. She flipped the third card over. It was the jack of clubs.
Cherry shivered a little. She got up to get her sweater, taking care not to wake her sleeping chum. It had been almost an hour since Velma had gone to see Midge, and in that time, Cherry had rinsed out her lingerie, scrubbed Nancy’s handkerchiefs until they were squeaky clean, and selected an attractive yet comfortable travel outfit for the next day: a generous full skirt of the prettiest violet with practical