“I’m so sorry!” Velma exclaimed, on the edge of tears. “I must have lost control for a moment.”
“No, babe, it’s my fault!” Midge cried. “If I hadn’t been poking around, er, never mind. I’m the reason we’re in this jam, and I’ll get us out of it, too.
“And we were almost out of this darn state,” they heard her swear in displeasure. “Who’d ever have thought I’d be eager to get to Nebraska?”
“I’ll help you, Midge,” Nancy declared as she climbed atop the car and peered inside. Cherry thrilled to the sight of the attractive girl standing on the front bumper over the open hood with her legs splayed apart. “It’s good to see Nancy back to her old self again,” Cherry thought happily.
“How’s it look?” Cherry fretted as she watched her chums fiddle with the complicated system of hoses under the hood. “Will it run?”
“That course I took in auto mechanics sure has come in handy on this trip,” Nancy joked bravely as she hopped down off the bumper. Then her face grew cloudy. “I fear this car isn’t going anywhere without a tow truck,” she sighed.
Midge frowned. “The radiator’s busted and all the vital fluids have leaked out,” she added. “I’m sorry about this, Nancy,” she added in a solemn tone. “I’ll push it to the nearest service station.”
Velma put her hands on her full, rounded hips and raised one shapely eyebrow. “I’ll help, but first let me take off my high heels,” she said, balancing herself against the car to remove her three-inch, T-strap summer sandals.
Midge assured her that she didn’t need any help. She bent down and put her strong muscles to work, but the car wouldn’t budge!
“Wait, we forgot to remove the suitcases,” Cherry said. She snapped open the trunk and took out Nancy’s three-piece powder blue monogrammed travel set and matching cosmetics case, Midge’s battered leather valise, Velma’s pink travel bag and Lauren’s knapsack.
“Try again,” Velma urged. This time, over Midge’s objections, she added her weight to the force. But still the car didn’t move.
Cherry peered into the deep trunk. “Maybe it’s Lauren’s rock collection. It’s certainly grown since this morning,” she mused. It took the girls almost ten minutes to clear the trunk of the many different boulders, rocks, and pebbles Lauren had picked up in the Rocky Mountains. “I hope she left some for the other travelers,” Cherry said in concern.
“That darn kid!” Midge cried in an exasperated tone. “She’s becoming a big pain in the neck! We’ve got enough to do without having to haul a mountain around with us. Who on earth would want this many dumb rocks?” Midge muttered. “Why can’t she collect something small, like stamps or matchbooks? Whose bright idea was this to begin with?”
“I thought it would be fun and educational and keep her occupied,” Cherry said meekly.
“Where is Lauren?” Velma jumped in. The girls looked around, but their sixteen-year-old traveling companion was nowhere to be found.
“Great. Now we have a disappearing kid on our hands,” Midge said in disgust.
“I’ll bet she’s wandered off to find another rock,” Cherry guessed. “According to my travel guide for the state of Wyoming, there are lots of interesting rocks in this area, like terra cotta and jasper.” Cherry pronounced the exotic names carefully. She secretly thought it fun to travel cross-country, seeing new and unusual landscapes, people, and rocks. And although Lauren’s collection did take up an awful lot of space, they really hadn’t lost any time because of it. Besides, Cherry was really beginning to learn something about the fascinating world of rocks and minerals!
“She sure is a funny little kid,” Velma remarked. “But sweet. Remember at the beginning of the trip when she told us her father was a rocket-ship engineer? Later she told me he was a geologist, and that’s why she knows so much about rocks.”
Cherry was astonished by this revelation. “At the Komfort Kourt this morning, when we were brushing our teeth, she told me her father was a spy,” Cherry revealed. “And that her mother had been a circus performer and they met on a secret mission under the Big Top.”
Midge burst into laughter.
Cherry looked hurt. “I’ll bet there are spies in the circus,” she said in a wounded tone. “My father says there’s spies everywhere these days. You can’t be too careful.”
“You have to admit, that Lauren is quite a character,” Midge chuckled.
Cherry frowned. “Lying is nothing to laugh at, Midge,” she said. “That could be a sign of a serious disturbance that could lead to real trouble later. Why, Lauren could even become a juvenile delinquent!”
“Well, whatever her destiny, we can’t go anywhere without her,” Midge said. She leaned back on the hood of the car, took a cigarette from the pack in her shirt pocket, and lit one. “I’ll go after her as soon as I have a cigarette.”
“Fine,” Nancy said in a brisk tone. “While you do that, I’ll walk to town and engage a tow truck to get us out of this jam.”
“Good idea, Nancy,” Velma agreed. “I don’t think Midge should push any more cars.”
“A walk to town will be invigorating after a day in the car,” Cherry pointed out. Then she blurted, before she could stop herself, “But how ever will we pay for the tow and repair? We only have twenty-four dollars left!”
“We should have taken that nice mechanic Mel up on her offer to bill us, and kept more money back in case of emergencies,” Velma said.
“Or left Cherry as collateral,” Midge joked.
“We’ll put our heads together and come up with something,” Cherry said weakly, hoping Nancy didn’t notice her red cheeks.
“I know a way to make a few dollars fast,” Nancy declared, patting her purse. “I think it’s time to take a trip to the jewelry store.”
Cherry was puzzled. This didn’t seem like a good time at all for Nancy to go shopping! Then it dawned on her what Nancy meant. “You don’t mean you’re going to sell your precious jewelry, do you?” Cherry gasped. “Oh, no!”
“I’ve tons more at home,” Nancy assured her. She sat down and dumped the contents of her travel jewelry case in her lap.
Cherry went over to get a closer look. She never tired of looking through Nancy’s lovely gems. “I like this one best of all,” Cherry said, picking up a small silver, diamond-studded brooch in the shape of a horseshoe. It fit quite nicely in the palm of her hand.
“This was Mother’s,” Nancy said sadly.
Cherry fingered the bauble, a hand-forged piece of silver cleverly bent into the shape of the luckiest of charms. Diamonds ringed the U-shaped piece. She turned it over and read the inscription aloud. “Rebecca Clue, May 1937.”
Nancy explained the origin of the unusual brooch. “Mother was a talented equestrian, and she won this for jumping through hoops. Just a few weeks later, her roadster crashed and she perished in its fiery flames. I was too little to remember much, except that she was very beautiful, and very kind, and—” Cherry, whose keen nurse’s eye missed nothing, spotted tears in Nancy’s bright sapphire blue eyes.
“Let’s see what else you’ve got,” Cherry said briskly as she examined the baubles in Nancy’s lap with keen interest. “How pretty!” she cried as she slipped her hand through two thin gold bangle bracelets dotted with diamonds and held them up so they sparkled in the bright sunlight.
“Those were my sweet-sixteen presents from Father,” Nancy said, almost in a whisper.
Cherry