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 gulped hard and quickly took off the bracelets. Golly, she was a lucky girl! She had a mother and a father, and even if Father was so busy with his real-estate business he sometimes didn’t come home for days at a time, well, at least she had parents. And a twin brother, too, and a courageous Collie named Lady. Why, Nancy had nobody! Cherry quickly corrected herself. “Nancy’s got me,” she thought happily. Cherry just knew that, in time, she could make up for all the things Nancy had lost.
She looked sadly at her chum, who was holding up a simple pair of emerald drop earrings that exactly matched the color of Cherry’s eyes.
“These should bring a pretty penny,” Nancy said. “Enough for this repair, the rest of our expenses to River Depths, a whole bunch of fashionable frocks for you and Velma, overalls for Lauren, and a fresh pair of trousers for Midge.”
While the other girls had plenty of outfits, thanks to Nancy, and Lauren had packed two pairs of dungarees, Midge had come unprepared and been stuck in the same pair of trousers for days.
“How like you to think of others first!” Cherry cried. “And while it’s true that at this point Midge’s pants should be burned, I don’t need a new frock. I’d go naked first before letting you sell those earrings! Didn’t you tell me those earrings were a family heirloom? Why, I’d walk the last one thousand one hundred fifty-seven miles to Illinois before I’d let you sell them,” she declared stubbornly.
“You won’t get nearly what those gems are worth,” Midge remarked. “Besides, you’d better save them for later. There’s no telling when you’ll need to cash them in.”
“I have plenty of money at home,” Nancy assured them. “Besides, as the last living Clue, I’m sure to inherit everything.”
“Not if you’re convicted of murder,” Midge thought darkly. She kept her mouth shut, though. Nancy had made up her mind, and Midge could see nothing she said would change that. “Maybe things will turn out for the best,” Midge thought. But she didn’t really believe it. Not for one minute.
“I’m going to walk to town,” Nancy declared as she tossed her things back in her jewelry box. “I’m dying of thirst.”
“I think a nice, cool drink would be refreshing,” Cherry agreed.
“Let’s go, then,” Nancy urged. “My treat.”
Cherry felt badly when she realized that from now on, everything was going to have to be Nancy’s treat. Cherry had spent all her spare change on postcards to send to her parents, clever trinkets fashioned from native rock for her brother Charley, and packages of rock candy for her nurse friends. “Even if Nancy is the reason we’re taking this trip, it still isn’t right that she has to pay for everything,” Cherry thought, vowing that once she got back to her job on the Women’s Psychiatric Ward at Seattle General Hospital, she would save every extra penny until Nancy was paid back in full.
“Or maybe I’ll find a nursing job in Illinois,” she thought dreamily, “and I can pay Nancy back in person!” The last eight days had been the happiest time of Cherry’s life, and Nancy’s, too, she was sure! Cherry decided to wait a little longer before springing her dream on Nancy—the dream of becoming an Illinois nurse! Luckily, she knew there were always plenty of jobs
