by Mabel Maney
Cherry wasn't so sure how lucky she felt, but she didn't say anything as the man guided her to a salon chair and tied the strings of a plastic smock around her neck.
"Midge, you won't let him do anything really awful to me, will you?" she begged.
Midge patted Cherry on the shoulder. "Just trust me," she said. "I know what looks good on a girl."
A moment later Mr. Harold came sailing though the curtains. He glided over to Cherry, took a comb from his smock pocket, and ran it through her mop of tousled curls.
"Tsk, tsk. Who gave you this cut, dear?"
Cherry gulped. "I had it cut in Idaho last year," she said. "My mother's friend Lucille does hair in her basement..." She stopped when she realized the man wasn't listening. He was staring intently at her head and frowning. Cherry squirmed under the hot plastic smock. She was beginning to feel like a specimen under a microscope.
"This is an awfully outdated look for such a young girl," Mr. Harold proclaimed. "If I were you, I'd go with a sportier look." He pulled Cherry's thick dark hair off her face and secured it with several bobby pins. He stepped back a few feet and frowned.
"What do you think, Roberto?"
The man in the babyblue smock agreed that Cherry's hair needed a dramatic change.
"What did you have in mind, dear?" Mr. Harold asked. Cherry was about to say that she didn't have a thing in mind, when she realized the hairdresser was speaking to Midge!
Midge whispered something in Mr. Harold's ear-something Cherry couldn't hear.
He nodded. "I know what you want," he said.
Mr. Harold took a large pair of shears from the drawer of a pink plastic vanity table, and soon locks of her dark curly hair fell to the floor.
Cherry closed her eyes and screwed up her courage. "I'm doing this for the safety of everyone concerned," she told herself.
It was hard to keep from crying when she heard the buzz of the clippers on her neck. "Oh, what will Mother say?" she wondered.
A few minutes later, the buzzing stopped. "It's a new you," Mr. Harold announced grandly, as he twirled the chair around so she was facing the mirror.
"Open your eyes, dear," he chuckled. "It's over."
"I'm scared!" Cherry cried. "Why, I can feel the air on the back of my neck!" she wailed. She peeked at her reflection.
"Eek!" she cried, upon spying the cap of short curly hair. "There can't be more than three inches of hair anywhere on my head!" She tugged at her short pixie bangs.
"What is Nurse Marstad going to say?" she cried. "Regulations state I've got to have enough hair to pin my cap on," she explained. "And my mother..."
Cherry stopped. Why, she didn't even want to think about what her mother was going to say when she saw her new hair-do!
"I look like a boy!" she wailed.
Midge chuckled. "Cherry, no one could ever mistake you for a boy. Well, not yet, anyway." She evaluated Cherry's new hair-do with a critical eye.
"That's better," she said. "Now all you need are some new clothes."
"A new outfit would cheer me up," Cherry said, glumly surveying her new short hair-do. "How fast does hair grow?" she wondered.
Midge paid Mr. Harold and purchased a small can of hair pomade. She slipped a dollar into his hand.
"Stop fussing with your hair," she said to Cherry. "Let's go."
Cherry walked a few paces behind Midge, pausing now and then to get a glimpse of herself in store windows. "What did you buy back there?" she asked.
"You'll find out," Midge said mysteriously.
"You're always saying that," Cherry complained. "Why, Midge, I..." But before she could finish, Midge hurried her into a store. "See that cop car out there?" Midge asked, pointing to a patrol car cruising slowly down the street. "This is the third time I've spotted that car going up and down this block."
"Maybe it's that friend of Betty's," Cherry suggested eagerly.
"And maybe our pals in the red convertible have made another false report on us," Midge replied bitterly. "We'd better lay low until we complete your makeover."
"But if I change the way I look, how will Betty's friend recognize us?" Cherry asked. "In my note, I told her to look for a tall blond girl in jeans and a dark-haired girl wearing a pink seersucker shift."
"She'll know it's us," Midge said.
Cherry sighed. "You'll explain later, right?"
Midge grinned. "Right. Now let's get you some clothes."
Cherry exclaimed over the pretty dresses she saw as they walked through the large department store. "It's time I got a few new things," she thought.
As much as she enjoyed wearing her nurse's whites, especially the cute cap and dashing cape, she did get tired of appearing in the same outfit over and over again. And, as her mother had been quick to point out the other day, the white uniform did little to highlight her fair coloring.
Besides, she was beginning to feel a little dowdy in the sleeveless seersucker shift she had thrown on at a rest stop. It had been considered the height of fashion when she bought it last summer in Pleasantville. She noticed that there were many girls dressed like Midge in simple jeans, T-shirts and aviator jackets.
"And all the girls wearing dresses look more highfashion than I do," she noticed. She pulled a white satin cocktail dress with a beaded bodice off the rack and held it in front of herself.
"What do you think, Midge? Do I look more glamorous?" Midge made her put the dress back.
"I have something a little different in mind for you," she said. She made a bee-line for the men's department.
She rifled through a display of men's casual slacks. "What size pants do you wear?" she asked.
Cherry was speechless.
"What's the matter, Cherry? Don't girls wear pants in Happy Town, or wherever it is you're from?"
"Pleasantville. But we only wear slacks for gardening. My mother says slacks aren't very feminine."
"They're not-that's the point." Midge held a pair of brown slacks to Cherry's waist. "These look like they'll fit," she said.
A salesman sporting a pencil-thin mustache and an arrogant attitude approached the two girls.
"Are you ladies finding everything you need?" he sniffed.
Midge looked annoyed. "We're fine," she said, turning her back on the man to examine a rack of white button-down shirts.
"Are you looking for anything special today? Perhaps a gift for a special boyfriend?" he persisted.
"Yes, that's it," Midge answered, looking at thin leather belts displayed next to the cash register. Cherry could tell by the tone in her voice that Midge was annoyed.
"Those slacks you picked are some of our finest in men's casual wear," the man said. "They're wash-n-wear and never need ironing. You'll appreciate that," he chuckled.
"I couldn't be happier," Midge replied sarcastically. "Wrap 'em up," she said.
"If you don't mind me saying so, your boyfriend's a pretty small fellow," the man observed, as he rang up Midge's purchases. He stared at Cherry, who was busy examining her new hair-do in the three-way mirror. "Yes, sir, he must be an awfully small fellow for a tall gal like yourself."
"Yeah, he's about your size," Midge retorted. She quickly paid the bill and grabbed Cherry's arm. They sailed through Misses Dresses and ducked into a changing room.
Midge handed the bag of men's clothes to Cherry. "Put these on," she said. "I'll run to the shoe department and get you some shoes. I'd say you were about a size nine." She pulled the curtain tight. "Don't let anyone in," she said.
"But, Midge, if you wanted me to wear slacks, there's a darling pair of capri pants out there," Cherry wailed. But Midge had already left.
Cherry looked with trepidation at the masculine clothes. She kicked off her flats and gingerly slipped on the fly-front baggy slacks. She had just finished buttoning the shirt when Midge stuck her arm through the part in the curtain.
"Here are your shoes," she said, dropping a pair of men's size-seven black penny loafers on the floor. "Let's see how you look.
"
Cherry poked her head through the curtain and looked around shyly. "There's nobody here," Midge assured her. "Besides, you're going to have to come out sooner or later."
"You look cute," Midge exclaimed as Cherry emerged from the dressing room.
"My mother would die if she could see me," Cherry fretted, putting her hands on her hips in a girlish manner.
"If you're going to wear that outfit, you can't put your hands on your hips like that," Midge said. "Put them in your pockets like I do.
"And when you walk, don't glide or skip or mince. You have a brother, don't you?" Cherry nodded. "Then walk the way he walks," Midge said.
When Cherry imitated her brother's walk, Midge hooted with laughter. "Forget that," she said. "Watch me."
Midge strode confidently up and down the carpeted hallway outside the dressing room.
Cherry put her hands deep in her pants pockets and imitated Midge's walk.
"That's better," Midge said. "Now, roll up your shirt sleeves."
Then Midge knelt and rolled the cuff of Cherry's trousers. "That'll do for now. Maybe your mom will peg them later," she teased. "That's how butches wear theirs."
She stood back and surveyed her work. "There's just one more thing," she said, reaching in her pocket and taking out the can of pomade she had purchased from Mr. Harold.
"This," she said, "is Butch Wax." She scooped out a dollop of the thick yellow grease, rubbed it between her hands and slicked Cherry's hair off her forehead.
"I was just getting used to it," Cherry cried, as she watched her modern short haircut become a greasy, slickedback hair-do.
"It will wash out," Midge assured her. "Eventually." She rolled Cherry's old clothes into a bundle and shoved them into the shopping bag. "Put your purse in here," she said. "No self-respecting butch would ever been seen with a purse."
"But where will I keep my lipstick?" Cherry gasped. "And who is this Butch person you're always talking about?" she asked as she followed Midge out of the store.
* * *
CHAPTER 13
* * *
Startling News
It was only noon, but to Cherry and Midge, who had only had a few restless hours sleep the night before, it felt like midnight. "I need some caffeine and sugar, and fast," Midge declared as she staggered down the street.
"No you don't," Cherry said. "What you need is sleep." Nurse Cherry Aimless took charge. "If Officer Jones is not waiting for us when we get back to the car, I'll call Aunt Gert. And if she's not home, we'll check into a motel and freshen up," she declared, taking hold of Midge and directing her back to the car.
"A short nap and a shower do more to combat fatigue than an artificial stimulant," she quoted from her nurse's manual.
There was no note on their car from Officer Jones. "You wait here, Midge," Cherry said. "I'll go look for her again. I'll be right back."
"No problem," the sleepy girl replied. She crawled into the wide back seat of the Buick and fell fast asleep.
For the third time that morning, Cherry found herself inside the Castro Street police station. She got in the line at the front desk, and waited patiently. While she did, she practiced standing with her hands in her pockets, and not on her hips.
She struck up a conversation with an elderly woman in line behind her, who was dressed entirely in white and carrying a small fluffy dog. After a friendly conversation about poodles, the woman startled her by asking her if she'd like to meet her granddaughter.
"Er, no thanks," Cherry replied politely. "I'm only in town a little while and all my time will be taken up visiting my aunt," she added, not wishing to offend the nice woman.
Cherry was relieved when it was her turn to approach the desk.
"Say good-bye to the nice boy, Fluffy," the woman said, waving one of her dog's paws. "Bye, bye."
"Bye," Cherry replied, blushing to the roots of her slickedback hair.
The officer at the desk stared at Cherry in the most peculiar way. "Wasn't your sister in earlier?" he asked.
"Yes," Cherry said, taking care to lower her voice an octave.
"Officer Jones is not in. Next."
A quick stop at the phone booth revealed Aunt Gert still wasn't home. "Where is everyone?" Cherry wondered.
She raced back to the car. "I can't find anyone, Midge. What are we going to do? What if we don't find her, Midge? Can we call in Nancy Clue then? Midge, are you listening?" She realized that Midge was fast asleep. "And she is too snoring," Cherry thought, making a mental note to tease Midge about it later.
She plopped down into the passenger seat and slipped off her new penny loafers, which were giving her blisters. She had walked a lot that day, and most of it uphill. She felt very sleepy herself.
Cherry was a pro at taking short naps. As a student nurse she had often worked double shifts, grabbing a quick nap during her ten minute breaks. After months of this grueling schedule, she was so adept at nodding off that she could fall asleep standing up. Why, once she had even fallen asleep while a doctor was talking to her!
Cherry was far too professional to fall asleep during a patient conference, but this doctor was going on and on about his new motorboat, and Cherry just couldn't stay awake. The incident had earned her the nickname "Sleepy" amongst the doctors, and admiration from the nurses, many of whom had had a similar desire to fall asleep while listening to this particular doctor.
"Maybe I'll just close my eyes for a minute," she thought. Within seconds she was fast asleep.
Cherry was jarred out of a deep sleep by someone knocking at her car window. She opened her eyes and found she was eye-level with a police officer's wide leather belt. "Jeepers," Cherry thought. "I've never seen a gun up close before."
Midge stirred in the back seat. "Cherry, get rid of him," Midge whispered groggily. "Use the Girl Scout nurse story again."
Cherry rolled down her window and pasted a big smile on her face.
"We'll be out of here in just a minute, officer," she said politely.
The police officer leaned down and looked into the car. Midge sat up when she saw the face of a girl-a handsome girl with warm brown skin and dancing black eyes.
"Are you by any chance a friend of Betty's?" Cherry asked, staring straight into the girl's deep-set eyes.
A wide, warm grin broke over the officer's face. "I'm Officer Jackie Jones. Call me Jackie." She took off her hat and ran a hand over her short slickedback hair which glistened blue-black in the sunlight.
Cherry noticed that the girl's short hair-do made her strong jaw even more prominent.
"I'd feel safe with her anywhere," she sighed. Although the sun was shining, Cherry was aware of shivers running down her spine.
Officer Jones leaned one muscular arm on the car window. "You must be Midge," she said, reading from a piece of paper she had taken from her pocket. "Look for a tall blond girl in a leather coat, the note says."
She stared at Cherry.
Cherry melted under the officer's steady gaze.
"You must be Cherry, but you certainly don't fit the description you left me."
"A lot's happened since we got here this morning," Cherry squeaked.
Jackie laughed. "I've heard that story before," she said. "I'm sorry it's taken me so long to find you two. I've been out all morning chasing down a dead-end lead in the missing nuns case. We're all working overtime to find the creeps who have done this," she shuddered.
"How much has Betty told you about our situation?" Midge wanted to know.
"My communication with her was brief," Jackie said. "It's not safe for us to talk at work, and I've been pulling double shifts in this missing nuns case. She told me your girl got snatched. That's pretty rough," she said sadly.
"We saw the car my girlfriend was taken away in. I wasn't able to catch it, but we do have the license number," Midge said.
She filled Jackie in on the strange events of the last few days, beginning with the disappearance of Cherry's amnesia patient, Lana.
"There's some connection between Lana's disappearance and the kidnapping of my girlfriend," Midge added. She took Lana's book from her jacket pocket and showed it to Jackie. "This is what those thugs are after," she said. "But I haven't been able to figure out why."
"That book must be the link!" Cherry cried. She blushed when she saw the amused look on Midge's face. "You've known it all along, haven't you?" she said. "I am a terrible detective!"
"Cherry worships detectives, especially a particular one named Nancy Clue," Midge grinned. "She even wants to call her in to solve our case."
"Cherry's not the only one who'd like to get her hands on Nancy Clue," Jackie admitted. "Frankly, this missing nuns case has us all stumped. One day there are seventeen nuns going about their quiet lives at the convent of The Sisters of Mercy, and the next, they're all gone. Why, it's as if they've vanished off the face of the earth.
"Nancy's famous for her ability to solve really difficult cases. Even the guys on the force who won't give me the time of day because I'm a female would be happy to see that girl right now."
Officer Jones looked at her watch. "I'll check in with the sarge and pretend to shuffle a few papers while I run a check on the license number you gave me, Midge. I can be through within the hour."
When Cherry expressed a keen interest in a bath, Officer Jones directed them to a women's boarding house nearby. "It's inexpensive, but clean," she reported. "I'll meet you there."
"Gee, she's nice," said Cherry, as she and Midge drove in the direction of the rooming house.
"Yeah, and she thinks you're cute, too. Notice the way she looked at you?" Midge teased Cherry.
Cherry blushed, for the trillionth time in her life. Luckily, it was getting dark.
They arrived at the rooming house within minutes. A pleasant woman wearing snug gold capri slacks and a purple knit shell welcomed them to Mary Worth Hall.
"All I've got left is a room with a double bed," she said.
