in Idaho yesterday?” Midge cried out.
“Oh, it couldn’t be,” Cherry countered. “Midge, you’re so paranoid!” she teased.
Velma gave a little laugh and Midge tried to hush her by biting her neck, which only made her giggle harder. Soon everyone except Lauren was laughing joyously as they headed east into the system of canyons and peaks that made up one of the most noteworthy landscapes in the world. Cherry felt in her purse for the offending newspaper. She would throw it away at the first opportunity. Nancy must never see it!
Cherry put her hand in Nancy’s and gave it a little squeeze. “Rocky Mountains, here we come!” she cried happily.
Dear Mother and Father,
Am having a splendid time. The Rocky Mountains are even more magnificent than I imagined! I’ll call you when we get to River Depths (That’s in Illinois, the “Land of Lincoln.”) Today we drove by the famous Abraham Lincoln statue hear Laramie, Wy. Imagine! It’s twelve and a half feet tall and made completely of bronze! Mr. Lincoln certainly was tall! Ha! Ha!
On to Nebraska!
Much love, your daughter,
Cherry Aimless, R.N.
P.S. Is your telephone out of order?
“Oh, no!” Midge groaned as she and Velma climbed out of the car to survey the damage to their snappy automobile. Velma had taken her mind off the road ahead for only a split second, but it had been long enough for the car to veer off course and crash into a boulder.
Midge flipped up the hood, and then jumped back in alarm as clouds of steam came pouring out. She vowed that next time she would keep her hands to herself when Velma was driving. “But everyone was asleep in the back seat and I was all alone with Velma and I didn’t know I’d cause an accident!” Midge moaned to herself.
The others, awakened by the crash, quickly scrambled out of the car. “Oh, no!” Cherry cried. “What’s that leaking out from under the car?”
“What happened?” the girls cried in unison.
Midge turned bright red. “We had a little accident,” she explained. “Is anyone hurt?” she asked anxiously.
Cherry grabbed her first-aid kit, pinned on her spare nurse’s cap, and gave each of her chums a quick physical exam. She was relieved to find no one had been injured in the sudden shake-up. But their car was in a sorry state!
“Now we’re never going to make it to River Depths!” Cherry blurted out without thinking. When she saw the expression on Velma’s face, she immediately regretted her hasty words.
“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
