Free Nancy Clue Mysteries 2 - The Case of the Good-for-Nothing Girlfriend by Mabel Maney Page B

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 helping unfortunate people wherever she went.
    "As soon as this whole horrible murder mess has blown over, and Nancy is back to normal, I can let her in on my secret." Cherry thought with a smile. Golly, she could hardly wait to see the look on Nancy's face when she told her the news!
    "We'll stay behind and find Lauren," Midge and Velma volunteered.
    "Thanks, Midge and Velma," Cherry said. She was touched that her friends had offered to stay behind in the hot, dusty place. "Even