by Mabel Maney
"That's funny," Cherry said. "Tonight was the night we set aside to talk. She wanted to know exactly when I was arriving so she could be home."
"You know your Aunt Gert sometimes forgets where she's supposed to be. She always has her head in the clouds, just like someone else I know." Mrs. Aimless grinned and shook her head. "You always were like two peas in a pod," she said. "The older you get, the more you become like Gert. Why, I was just telling her last week that when I look at you, sometimes I swear I see her."
Cherry was amazed. "You and Aunt Gert keep in touch?"
Mrs. Aimless smiled. "What your father doesn't know..."
"...won't hurt him!" Cherry grinned, sweeping her mother up in her arms for a quick waltz around the kitchen table. She deposited a dizzy Mrs. Aimless on the yellow Formica countertop.
Cherry hugged her mother, who was turning out to be more of an ally than she had imagined. She tried to put her thanks into words. "I know it's hard for you, with Charley and me so far away..."
Her mother hugged her back, and wiped a little tear from her eye. "I guess we've all got to follow our rainbows, dear. Now, off to bed with you!" she said, playfully pushing Cherry toward the stairs. "Oh, and Cherry, I put that lavender handkerchief back in the pocket of your uniform. Who on earth is M.M.?"
But Cherry wasn't listening. She was too excited to hear anything but the plans buzzing in her head. She didn't know how she was ever going to sleep! "I'm really, truly going to San Francisco," she whispered as she raced up the stairs to her attic room. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling something very special was awaiting her in the city by the bay!
* * *
CHAPTER 6
* * *
A Quick Escape
Cherry had set her alarm for six a.m. in order to get an early start on her trip, but when she awoke, she found she was more tired than she had anticipated. "Just ten more minutes' sleep," she groaned, pulling the covers firmly over her head and settling into the soft feather mattress. When she awoke again, her little attic room was flooded with sunlight. The clock read seven-fifteen.
"Goodness!" she cried, bolting out of bed. "I'd better hurry." Cherry quickly bathed and ran a comb through her tousled curls. From her suitcase she selected a bright yellow poplin dress with a flared skirt that she knew would be comfortable to sit in as well as pleasing to the eye. She slipped Lana's book into one of the wide front pockets, grabbed her luggage and ran downstairs, as always taking the steps two at a time.
"Good morning, early bird," her mother teased her sleepyeyed daughter. Mrs. Aimless had tied a white apron over a flowered housecoat and was cutting thick slices of homemade white bread. Cherry's purse was sitting on the kitchen table, its interior clean and dry.
"I'm sending a hamper of food with you," Mrs. Aimless said, making cream cheese and jelly sandwiches to add to the bag of fruit and generous slices of strawberry cake already in the wicker hamper. Cherry assured her that there would be food along the way, but her mother just shook her head.
"You never know what's in restaurant food these days," she said, "especially in those roadside places. One or two eggs?" she asked, holding up a bowl of hard-boiled eggs.
"Two," Cherry said, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"Be careful about drinking the water in California. I hear it's full of chemicals. And drive carefully. If you get sleepy, pull off the road. Don't speak to strangers. I've put a couple of clean towels over there on the chair. It's best if you use towels from home."
"Yes, Mother," Cherry said, quickly draining her cup of coffee and snatching a piece of dry toast. Before her mother could talk her into sitting down for a big breakfast, Cherry picked up the hamper of food and her luggage, hugged her mother, and sailed out the door.
"Call me as soon as you get there!" her mother cried after her.
"I will," Cherry said, her mouth full of toast.
"Don't forget what I told you!" Mrs. Aimless cried.
"I won't."
"And have a good time," she waved. But her good wishes came too late, for her daughter was already backing out of the driveway. Sometimes Mrs. Aimless thought her daughter was entirely too independent for her own good, gallivanting around the Northwest the way she did. It pleased her to know that Cherry's twin, Charley, was settled in a good job in the interior design business in New York, even if it was so far away. She did wonder, however, if he was ever going to settle down and get married, or if he was planning on living with that roommate for the rest of his life.
Why, he and Johnny had even bought a house together! She had warned them that someday one of them would marry, and then where would the other one be? But Charley had just laughed and told her not to worry. And she didn't worry as much about Charley as she did about Cherry. After all, twenty-four wasn't old for a boy to be unmarried, considering that they matured later than girls.
Mrs. Aimless poured herself another cup of coffee and opened the morning paper. "Same news as yesterday," she sighed, scanning the front page of the Idaho Daily Gazette.
"Oh, dear!" she cried, "What's this?"
"`The nuns of the Sisters of Mercy convent, located eighty miles north of San Francisco, have been missing for two days and are now feared to be the victims of a mass kidnapping,"' Mrs. Aimless read aloud. A photo of the Mother Superior accompanied the article. "Why, she's very attractive, for a nun," Mrs. Aimless mused. "She could be a movie star!"
"Good thing Cherry didn't see this story," Mrs. Aimless thought. "If she knew there was a mystery brewing near San Francisco, she'd drive twice as fast so she could get in on it," she chuckled. She put the paper aside. "I'll worry about Cherry later," she told herself, getting out her mixing bowls and cake tins. "Right now I've got work to do."
As her mother was stirring angel food cake batter, Cherry was turning onto the main road that would take her out of Pleasantville and towards Oregon. If all went well, she would be in San Francisco late the following night.
"I still haven't called Aunt Gertrude!" she yelped, making a mental note to do so at her first rest stop. She remembered the last time she had seen her aunt, an attractive, lively woman with short wavy black hair and those famous Aimless eyesbig and green and sparkling with life. Gert, the youngest of seven, was only seventeen years older than her look-alike niece.
"We're so much alike, you could be my own daughter," her aunt had murmered when they said good-bye twelve years ago. Cherry hadn't replied, but in her heart she was pleased at being compared with such an intelligent, lively person. "I'd give anything to be even a little like Aunt Gert," Cherry thought with a smile. She flicked on the radio for company and concentrated on the road ahead.
After an uneventful day, Cherry found herself on the outskirts of Warm Springs, where she was to deliver Nurse Marstad's package. During the drive, she had devised a plan to find the recipient of the parcel.
"When I get to the town, I'll go through the telephone directory. If I'm lucky, this Midge person will have her full name and address listed." She pulled off the highway and headed towards the center of town. She was anxious to test her idea and a little afraid that it wouldn't work. "After all, not every person has a telephone," she reminded herself. She crossed her fingers. With Nurse Marstad on vacation, this was the only possible way she could find this Midge person. "It's just got to work!" she exclaimed.
She soon reached the center of town, which was alive with afternoon shoppers strolling under old oak trees. "What a darling little town!" Cherry exclaimed, parking her Buick in a shady spot in front of Mr. Stanley's Sweet Shoppe. She hopped out of her car, smoothed the wrinkles in her dress, and peered in the window. She didn't see a telephone, but she could smell the most delicious aromas coming from inside.
"Perhaps a nutritious snack will calm my nerves," she thought, realizing that many hours had passed since her skimpy breakfast of coffee and dry toast. Once inside the sweet-smelling shop, painted cotton-candy pink, Cherry was greeted by Mr. Stanley himself, dressed in a neat pink and wh
ite striped smock.
Cherry took her time selecting an assortment of chocolates. "Coconut cremes or caramels?" she wondered, furrowing her pretty brow. She laughed when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror behind the counter. "I look so serious," she thought. "Just a few days ago, I was making life-or-death decisions, and today I'm selecting candy with the same earnestness!
"Although, when a girl's ready to get her visitor, sometimes chocolate can be pretty serious," Cherry had to admit.
She finally selected a well-rounded assortment of chocolates and paid for them with the money from Nurse Marstad. She leaned on the cool white marble counter, and while she waited for her change, surveyed the neat little store, decorated in many shades of pink. A roll of pink striped paper next to the register gave her an idea. Cherry fished Lana's book from her pocket. "What would be the fee to wrap this?" she asked.
"No charge. Gift wrap is free with any purchase," Mr. Stanley replied in a genial manner. He swiftly wrapped the book, topping off the package with a thin gold ribbon. He used a small scissors that he kept on a chain around his neck to transform the flat ribbon into a cascade of curls.
"It's lovely! " Cherry exclaimed. Nurse Marstad's package no longer resembled the plain, brown-paper parcel Cherry had begun her journey with, but at least she wouldn't have to hand over an unwrapped book.
"Now all I have to do is find a quiet telephone booth where I can begin my search for Midge," she thought. As she left the shop, she heard a cry for help. An elderly woman lay injured on the sidewalk!
Cherry raced to her side and found that the woman was alert but badly frightened. After determining that she had no broken bones, Cherry gingerly helped her to her feet. "What happened?" Cherry cried. "I'm a nurse!"
"A rude man knocked me down!" the woman declared. Cherry looked around, but saw no one. She led the woman, who was attired in a smart gray worsted wool suit with pearl accessories, into the sweet shop and seated her in a comfortable chair. While Cherry talked to the woman in soothing tones, she efficiently took her pulse, using her sturdy nurse's watch. "She's upset, but not dangerously so," Cherry decided.
Mr. Stanley brought a tray of tea and ladyfingers. "Now what happened, dear?" he asked.
The elderly woman took a lace handkerchief from her modern black handbag and wiped her brow. "I had just had my hair set by Mr. Francis across the street, and I was headed here to get some vanilla wafers, when I had the unfortunate luck to collide with a terrible man wearing a long black coat! Mr. Stanley, I think he was headed toward your shop. When I called for help, he ran the other way. Goodness, he was in a hurry!
"I'm not hurt, but I fear he's ruined my hair!"
"Your hair looks fabulous," Mr. Stanley enthused. Cherry took her compact from her purse and showed the woman that her upswept hair-do was indeed in perfect order.
The woman shook her head. "The police ought to round up all the rude men and put them behind bars!" she declared. Mr. Stanley nodded in agreement. "Why, I had an encounter with a rude man just the other day," Cherry remembered.
The woman sipped her tea, and in a few minutes, her cheeks were rosy again. "I'm Miss Masie Miller, and thanks to you two, I'm feeling much better. I'd like both of you to be my guests at dinner tonight."
Much as Cherry wanted to join the fun, she had a mission to complete. Mr. Stanley admitted that he didn't keep an upto-date telephone directory in his shop but directed Cherry to a nearby establishment that was sure to have what she needed.
After bidding her new friends good-bye, she walked briskly two blocks east. She found the Miraloma Club and was surprised to find that Mr. Stanley had directed her to a tavern-and a dimly-lit one at that!
Cherry stood at the curb and ate a coconut creme candy. She realized it would be dusk soon. "If I'm going to find this Midge person, I should start soon, while it's still daylight." Still, she hesitated. She hadn't the courage to enter the dark place all by herself.
She frowned. "Cherry, you're being a big baby," she scolded herself. "Nancy Clue wouldn't be afraid to go anywhere if she were hot on the trail of a clue!"
She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and went inside.
* * *
CHAPTER 7
* * *
An Amazing Coincidence
Cherry paused in the narrow entryway of the bar while her eyes adjusted to the dim light. She was looking around the room for a friendly face when a handsome girl playing billiards smiled at her.
Cherry smiled back and walked over to the girl. "I'm looking fora telephone," she said.
The girl took a cigarette from the pack rolled in the sleeve of her white T-shirt. She lit it, leaned against the wall and took a good long look at Cherry. "Why not stay awhile and have a drink?" she suggested, patting the seat of the bar stool next to her.
"Thank you, but I'm not thirsty," Cherry said. "What I need is a telephone."
"I've got a telephone back at my place," the girl replied, between puffs on her cigarette. "You're welcome to it."
"What a nice girl," Cherry thought, realizing that it might take several phone calls before she located Nurse Marstad's friend. A private telephone would certainly be more convenient.
"That would be great!" Cherry cried. "I don't mean to be pushy, but can we go right now?"
The girl whistled low under her breath. "I like pushy," she said, throwing her cue on the pool table and slipping on her leather jacket.
"Brenda is going to kill you!" one of her chums warned her.
"Brenda is visiting her mother in Ohio, remember?" the girl retorted. "So how's she going to know?"
Her friend laughed. "Mickey, you're a fool if you think you can do anything without Brenda knowing about it. Last time you thought you got away with something, you weren't allowed out for a month, remember?"
Mickey scowled and took off her jacket. She looked at Cherry and sighed. "Maybe another time," she said sadly.
Cherry wasn't sure what had just happened, but she had a feeling she was no longer welcome to use the girl's telephone. She returned to the entryway to puzzle over her next move when someone came charging through the door and knocked her right off her feet!
The girl made a gallant attempt to stop Cherry's fall, but she only succeeded in grabbing onto her dress. Cherry blushed when she heard the unmistakable sound of tearing fabric. "Mother's right. Always wear a slip," she thought glumly as she lay on the floor.
"I'm so sorry!" the girl cried, holding out a hand to help the hapless Cherry. "And I've torn your pretty dress!"
When their eyes met, both girls gasped.
"Why, it's like looking into a mirror!" Cherry cried. With her curvaceous figure, dark curly hair and bright green eyes, this girl could be her twin!
"You do look just like me!" the girl agreed, helping Cherry up and inspecting her closely.
"Why, we could be sisters!"
Cherry studied the girl's stunning scarlet shift.
"I've never thought of wearing that color!" she exclaimed. "But it looks so good on you!"
"I was just admiring the color of your dress," the girl laughed. "It's buttercup-yellow, isn't it? Gee, I hope I didn't ruin it."
Just then a handsome blond-haired girl, nattily attired in men's slacks and a white cotton button-down shirt, gave Cherry a teasing pinch.
"Hi, baby," she whispered, in a familiar manner. "Did you miss me?"
When Cherry jumped and squeaked "Who are you?" the girl realized her mistake.
"Golly, there's two of you? I can't believe what I'm seeing!" she exclaimed, quickly taking her hand off Cherry's hip. "Velma, you didn't tell me you had a sister!" she cried, looking rather flustered.
Cherry and her look-a-like burst into peals of laughter.
"Neither did my parents," Velma joked. "What a funny thing! I come in to meet you and end up meeting my long-lost twin!"
"It was the queerest thing," Cherry added, explaining the circumstances of their meeting.
Velma suggested they step o
utside so she could assess the damage to Cherry's dress. On the way out, the tall blonde bumped into the girl with the pool cue, and soon a heated discussion ensued. Velma pulled at her friend's shirt sleeve. "Let's get out of here," she said. But the girl didn't budge. Cherry hoped there wasn't going to be a fight!
Velma put her hands on her hips and stomped her daintilyclad feet.
"You promised you wouldn't fight any more!" she cried. "I'm leaving!" She grabbed Cherry's hand and marched out the door. The tall blonde raced after them, trying to explain.
"That pool shark made a filthy remark about you being twins!" she cried. "I was just defending your honor."
Velma pouted prettily when she heard this. Cherry could see all was forgiven.
"Okay, Miss Midge Fontaine, but in the future..."
"Your name is Midge?" Cherry cried. "Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm supposed to deliver a package to someone named Midge, only I don't know her last name. Are there a lot of Midges in this town?" she wondered aloud, adding, "My boss, Head Nurse Miss Marstad, asked me to deliver a package on my way to San Francisco."
"I have a friend named Nurse Marstad!" Midge cried. "Why, that package must be for me!"
"This is almost too good to be true!" Cherry said, relieved to be finally delivering the package. She took the giftwrapped book from her purse and presented it to Midge.
"How odd," Midge said. "My birthday's not for another month." She looked quizzically at the fancy package. "Peg's gone all frou-frou on me," she joked, tearing at the pinkstriped paper. When she saw the book, she exclaimed, "How queer! This is the same book she sent me last year! She must be losing her memory."
Cherry waited anxiously for Midge to open the book and find the note, but Midge just slipped it into her jacket pocket.
"Should I tell her about the note?" Cherry wondered. She shifted uncomfortably in her shoes. "That note was private," she thought guiltily. "Maybe I'd better not. Maybe Midge will find it," she hoped. "But what if she doesn't! Golly, that note seemed important!"
