Nancy Clue Mysteries 1 - The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse by Mabel Maney Page B

wolf her food as they pulled out of the parking lot and back onto the highway. "You should chew every mouthful thirty times to aid digestion."
    "Yes, Nurse Bossy," Midge said, gulping down the last bite of her food.
    "I bet you were a real handful as a kid," Cherry teased.
    Midge snorted. "Yeah, and I bet you were the real quiet type who always did as you were told," she shot back.
    Cherry nodded. "I tried always to obey my elders," she admitted. "I was the kind your type liked to pick on."
    "I was a real wiseacre, as my grandmother liked to say, but I was never mean," Midge assured her. "I don't pick on people. Unless it's an ex-girlfriend. Then it's okay."
    Cherry laughed. She was really beginning to like Midge, although sometimes she couldn't tell when she was teasing.
    "I shouldn't be enjoying myself," Cherry frowned. "Especially not now."
    "Everything will be fine," Midge said.
    Cherry shook her head. "How can you be so steady at a time like this?" she asked.
    Midge just shrugged. "Years of practice," she said vaguely. Cherry waited, but Midge said nothing more. She seemed lost in thought. Cherry wished she knew Midge better. She was dying to know why Midge seemed so upset when Betty told them about the missing nuns. "Is Midge Catholic?" she wondered. Cherry searched for something to say that would bring Midge back to the present.
    "You never finished your story," Cherry prompted. "About how you and Velma finally got together."
    Midge leaned back in the seat and lit a cigarette. "Where was I? Oh, yeah. One night we made a late date to meet at the library," she said.
    Cherry screwed up her nose. "The library doesn't sound very romantic!" she cried.
    "Where I'm from it is."
    "Where's that?" Cherry asked.
    "South," Midge said. "But that's not important."
    Cherry was becoming very curious about Midge. Was it her imagination, or was Midge a little vague about her background? She put her questions aside as Midge continued her story.
    "So one night Velma and I ended up getting locked in the library. I guess the guard, er, the custodian, didn't see us when she locked up for the night. We, ah, talked all night and by dawn we knew we belonged together."
    Cherry raised an eyebrow. "You, ah, talked?" Now it was Midge's turn to blush.
    "That's all the detail and description I get from Miss Smart Mouth Midge?" Cherry teased.
    "C-h-e-r-r-y! Some things are private!"
    Cherry laughed. "You're as big a prude as I am!"
    "Wel-l-l... " Midge said.
    "I have an idea, Midge. Why don't you write about you and Velma?"
    "Maybe someday I will, kid," was all Midge would say, but Cherry could tell she was pleased by the suggestion.
    Cherry noticed that, despite the stimulants she had consumed, Midge was looking pretty tired. Midge didn't want to stop driving, but Cherry was firm. As a nurse she knew the importance of being fully alert while operating a motor vehicle.
    Midge grudgingly pulled off the road and gave up the wheel to Cherry. As soon as she had settled in the passenger seat, she fell fast asleep. Cherry rolled down the window a bit to clear the smoky car and dumped the ashtray full of butts into a little paper bag from the glove box. She was no litter bug!
    She covered Midge with the plaid stadium blanket she always kept in the back seat and got ready for the next few lonely hours. For company she turned on the radio, keeping it low so as not to wake Midge.
    Cherry pulled out of the parking lot and expertly steered the blue Buick onto the highway.
    She fixed her eyes on the road ahead. Little did she know of the adventure in store for her at the end of this long journey!

----
CHAPTER 11
----
Follow That Car!

    The Golden Gate Bridge glowed magnificently in the pink early-morning light. Cherry nudged Midge awake. "We're here!" she squealed.
    Midge sighed and covered her face with her hands. "It's too early to get up, Mom," she groaned sleepily. "Are you always so cheerful first thing in the morning?" she grumbled, squinting at Cherry.