Sky and the Starlets

Fiction by Frank Knebel

Chapter 4

Joan O’Connor re-knotted the belt of her roomy blue terrycloth bathrobe and smiled at her visitors.

     “I certainly appreciate you coming over to see us like this, Sheriff,” she said. “I haven’t had much experience dealing with the police, but I’m sure they’re not so accommodating and polite in most places.”

     “I can say for sure they’re not in L. A.,” said Diana Malloy.

     Sheriff Winchell laid his broad-brimmed Western hat on the floor beside his chair and drew a small notebook from his breast pocket.

     “Well, we know that you two have been through quite an ordeal today, Miss O’Connor,” he said gently. “We need all the facts from you to help us figure out what happened, but the law doesn’t say that we have to get them at the office.”

     Joan and Diana, both clad in bathrobes, sat on one of the motel beds faced by their agent, Virginia Gregory, on the other bed. Sheriff Winchell had the room’s only armchair. Julie Ryder had pulled the wooden chair from the kneehole of the vanity/dresser and turned it to face the two starlets. Sky and Copper sat lightly on the dresser on either side of Julie. Deputies Amy Cole, Harry Tyler and Bob Falk stood between Julie and the Sheriff, Tyler resting his back against the door. Without being aware of what he was doing, Tyler slipped his hand behind Amy and patted her derriere. Amy looked up quickly and shook her head slightly. Falk tried to hide his smile and pretended that he had not seen.

     “Did the doctor stop and see you two?” asked Sky.

     The two blondes both nodded.

     “Doctor Barton was very nice,” said Joan. “He said that after a few glasses of water and a good night’s sleep we’d be fine.”

     “He gave us some medicated cream to put on our rope burns,” said Diana. She pulled the sleeve of her red robe back to display a faint red mark on her right wrist. “But you can see that the marks aren’t too bad anyway. We should be able to have our pictures taken day after tomorrow with the five finalists from the Miss Kermit contest.”

     “There’ll probably be only four now,” said Copper. “Cindy Shipley had to go to St. Louis to take care of her sick mother for a few days, so she won’t be there.”

     “Summer and I have a replacement in mind,” said Julie with an enigmatic smile.

     Sky and the Sheriff both rose and stepped over to examine Joan and Diana’s bruised wrists. The Sheriff asked to see their ankles as well. The two men exchanged a glance when they had finished.

     “They used a lot of turns in tying them up, didn’t they?” asked Winchell.

     Sky nodded.

     “A wide band of rope like that makes the bonds very secure without having to be so tight. Ties like those reduce the chance that the girls could free themselves without cutting off the circulation to their hands and feet.”

     Julie gasped in surprise. The others all looked at her.

     “It’s odd that you should mention our circulation, Sky,” she said. “That man Dugan saw Arlene over-tighten the ropes around my ankles and made her loosen them. He said something about not wanting anyone to lose a foot.”

     Sheriff Winchell looked keenly at the actresses and their agent.

     “Mighty thoughtful for a bunch of kidnappers,” he said slowly.

     “You never know though, Winch,” said Sky with a slight but significant raise of his eyebrows. “They may have just wanted to keep the girls in good shape for a ransom demand.”

     Winchell’s eyes met Sky’s for a moment. He understood Sky’s message.

     “Yeah, that could be the answer.”

     Virginia Gregory was on her feet.

     “Look here, Sheriff. I don’t think I like your tone! I believe that you think that this was some sort of publicity stunt that we were all in on!”

     Joan and Diana, their eyes wide with inquiry and hurt, looked up at Winchell and Sky.

     “Is that what you really think, Sheriff?” asked Joan with a throb in her voice.

     The Sheriff hitched his thumbs in his gunbelt and gently rocked his weight from his heels to the balls of his feet a couple times.

     “I’m not saying that,” he said non-committally. “Of course it’s one of the possibilities I have to consider in a case like this. And you girls wouldn’t have to be in on it: it could be some kind of stunt that’s being done without your knowledge or consent.”

     Julie and Copper crossed to the two starlets and sat on the bed, Julie between Joan and Diana. She put her arms around both girls.

     “Do either of you know anyone who would go this far for publicity?” she asked gently. “It could be someone you know and trust, someone you considered a friend.”

     The two blondes exchanged a tearful look and both shook their heads. Julie looked up at Sky. It was obvious that she believed them.

     “Sheriff, there are a few things that you obviously don’t know here,” Virginia Gregory said sharply.” She leaned over and rummaged for a moment in her large handbag. When she stood up again, she held a sheaf of papers in her right hand. She gave several each to Winchell, Sky, Julie and Amy Cole. “Maybe you should read them out loud. That way everyone will have a better understanding of the situation.”

     The Sheriff put on his reading glasses and cleared his throat.

     “ ‘Enjoy your success while you can, Miss O’Connor. You won’t be around here very long’.”

     “ ‘Little girls from small towns ought to stay where they belong’,” read Sky.

     “ ‘We’ll see how much motivation you need to play dead’,” read Julie.

     Amy looked uneasily at the two women before reading:

     “ ‘Nobody will want to look at either of you when we’re finished with you’.”

     They read perhaps a dozen threats, some vague some less so.

     “Not much on literary style are they?” Sky asked dryly.

     “No, not much,” said Winchell. “But they get their message across well enough.”

     Julie craned her neck to look at the papers held by Sky and Amy.

     “Mine are all typed,” she noted. “How about yours?”

     They compared the notes. They were all typewritten. Sky scanned them closely.

     “What do you think, Winch? It looks like they all came from the same typewriter, doesn’t it?”

     The Sheriff nodded.

     “It’s hard to tell without a magnifying lens, but I’d say they’re the same.” He looked closely at Miss Gregory. “Did you show these to the film studio security people or the Los Angeles police?”

     “I certainly did, Sheriff,” she replied. Her face showed disdain at the memory. “And they did virtually nothing to protect the girls. The studio put a couple of security extra men on the set for a couple weeks, and the police arranged for a patrol car to go past their apartment twice a day for a week or so, but they made no effort to find out who was writing the letters.”

     “Really, Virginia,” Joan protested. “What could they do? Actors and actresses get crank letters like these all the time and there’s usually no real danger in any threats in them.”

     Sky and Julie continued to examine the letters.

     “And there’s really not much to go on here,” said Sky. “This paper is very common and without some idea of where to start looking, you’d have to test every typewriter in California to find out who’s behind them.”

     “There must be something that can be done!” Miss Gregory insisted grudgingly.

     Sky nodded.

     “There certainly is. The attack on the girls and Julie and Copper changes the case entirely. It’s not a matter of alleged threats any more: even if the kidnapping was foiled, they were victims of assault and battery, and everyone in town’s going to do all they can to protect them.”

     Joan and Diana exchanged an incredulous look.

     “Everyone in town?” asked Diana.

     Copper smiled at the two actresses.

     “Even though Joan’s from Kermit, you two are guests of the town, and you’re honorary hostesses of our Wild West Days. Any threat to you is a threat to the town.”

     “And they don’t take kindly to threats here in the West,” said Julie.

     Joan and Diana giggled. Even Virginia Gregory’s expression softened a bit.

     “There’s a special meeting of the town council tomorrow morning,” said Sheriff Winchell. “There you’ll see how everybody here feels about the safety of our guests. For tonight, we’ve arranged some extra protection for the young ladies. My deputies will explain.”

     Amy and Harry looked at Bob Falk. The tall, sad-faced deputy stepped forward awkwardly.

     “If it’s approved, every night you’re here, we’ll have two deputies in the room next to you,” he said. He waved the hat in his hand in Amy’s direction. “The next couple nights it’ll be Amy either with her partner Sue or Bonnie, our dispatcher.”

     Amy smiled and nodded. She added:

     “And if the Council won’t agree to pay for the room, Amzie’s insisted on providing it for free.”

     “We’ll also have two more officers in a car in the lot or patrolling within a six block area,” continued Falk. “In addition, there’ll be two men from one of the other shifts bunked down at the office ready to help in minutes, as well as several special deputies on call. So you two can sleep easy.”

     The Sheriff motioned to Harry Tyler. In turn, he nodded to Amy.

     “Sue and I will be with you two everywhere you go tomorrow. And I mean everywhere.” She smiled wider. “Including the ladies room.”

     They all laughed. Tyler put his hand on Amy’s arm.

     “And Harry and his partner will be close by as well,” Amy added.

     Joan and Diana, both able to read the meaning of Harry’s touch, smiled at Amy.

     “I hope Harry can keep some of his attention on us,” said Joan with a giggle.

     Harry’s face reddened. He continued.

     “And there’ll be extra men on duty at all the Wild West Days events. You should be in real good hands, girls. I mean, ladies.”

     Julie gave Joan’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

     “And, of course, Sky and Copper and I will be around as much as we can be.”

     “And the Hummingbird too!” finished Copper.

     Joan and Diana smiled appreciatively, looking from face to face.

     “I feel a lot better now,” said Joan. “I guess we’ll be as safe as we were at a school dance.”

     “And a lot safer than we are at a Hollywood party,” said Diana.

     Everyone laughed.

Mayor Holmes tapped on the conference table with the capped end of his pen. He was a short, stocky man with thick dark hair just turning gray, and wearing an off the rack dark suit. He called for order in a calm and efficient baritone voice.

     “All right, all right, everybody, let’s come to order. We have a full agenda this morning.”

     The other members of the Kermit City Council were slow to come to order. The conference tables for the meeting had been arranged in the form of a square version of the letter ‘C’ with the open side toward the door of the council chambers. Mayor Holmes was in the center of the table that formed the shank, facing the open area. To his right were two heavyset, middle-aged men wearing suits. On his left was a dark-haired, thoughtful-looking man in a clerical collar and Summer Merrill, her youthful female attractiveness looking rather out of place in such a gathering. The two men seated at the table that formed the top of the C were engaged in eager conversation with Joan and Diana who were seated in chairs facing the council. Sky and Julie Ryder and Deputy Cole stood on either side of the starlets. The two men at the bottom of the C were engaged in a quiet and sober exchange with Sheriff Winchell and Fred Merrill. The meeting showed no sign of coming to order. Mr. Holmes tapped with his pen again.

     “Gentlemen, please come to order,” Mayor Holmes repeated, his voice just slightly louder than before. One of the men who had been talking to Joan and Diana, a tall dark-haired, lean New England Yankee, threw up his hands and exclaimed:

     “By golly! What a story!”

     The others stopped talking. All eyes were on the Yankee, who turned slightly red for a moment. He recovered quickly and looked earnestly at Holmes.

     “Well, have you heard their story, Warren? By golly, what a yarn these girls have to tell! And it all happened right here in Kermit! My readers have got to hear about this!”

     The mayor remained calm and business-like.

     “Yes, I’ve heard their story, Norm. Don’t worry. You’ll get to tell it to your readers in a few days.”

     Norman Barrett’s eyebrows went up in alarm.

     “In a few days! What do you mean? I’ve got to get this story out today! Right away!”

     The mayor made an economical gesture toward Sheriff Winchell.

     “I’m the one who’s asked for the delay, Norm,” said Winchell. “Sky and I talked it over, and we think that it’ll be better to avoid any publicity for a while, at least until we’ve figured out what this is all about.”

     Barrett folded his arms across his chest and frowned. The man sitting next him, a balding man with a puzzled expression and wearing a seersucker jacket, spoke up:

     “You think this might be some kind of stunt, Winch?”

     “We’re not sure exactly what is, Herb,” replied Winchell. “We just thought that it might be better to keep any mention of it out of the press for a few days.”

     “And what about the safety of the women in town?” said the man to Mayor Holmes’ immediate right. He was in his mid-forties, a fairly tall, beefy fellow with dark, curly thinning hair, wire-rimmed glasses and a displeased expression. He took off the glasses and wagged them for emphasis as he continued. “Suppose that some kind of madman, some deviant, has been drawn here because he knows that these two young women will be appearing. What girls in bikinis have to do with Wild West Days is more than I can figure out.”

     Sky stiffened at the words. He noted the alarmed expressions of both Joan and Diana.

     Holmes turned to the new speaker.

     “Come now, Harland,” Holmes said calmly. He gestured to the two blondes. “You speak of them as though we’ve invited some kind of travelling burlesque show. Joan O’Connor is a native of Kermit, one of our own, and a serious young actress, as is her friend, Miss Malloy. They are doing us quite a favor by giving us their time to publicize Wild West Days.”

     “And you, of all people should know me, Mr. Bayer,” said Joan. “I went to high school here and did a lot of theater in this area before going to Hollywood. I even dated your son a few times. It hurts to now be looked on as some kind of undesirable by people I know.”

     Harland Bayer flushed.

     “I meant no insult to you personally, Miss O’Connor... uh, I mean, Joan,” he said slowly. He put his glasses on again, perhaps using the time to choose his words. “It’s just that we, as the town council, must look out for the safety and well-being of all the citizens of Kermit. And we have to determine if having glamorous young actresses in town is a possible source of danger.”

     The man next to Bayer was another somewhat portly, distinguished businessman-type, gray-haired and mustachioed. He wore a suit more expensive and better tailored than the others.

     “Well I have no objection at all to pretty girls, especially when they’re doing something for a good cause,” he said in a deep and pleasant voice while smiling affably at Joan and Diane. “And while Joan and her friend are two of the prettiest girls around, I hardly think that they could lure a convention of monsters to our town. I’d say that the women of Kermit are probably as safe as ever.”

     He kept his eyes on the two actresses. His expression became more serious.

     “But what about them? Will whoever tried to make off with them try it again?”

     “That’s a good point, Roberts,” said the man closest to the Sheriff, a tall, husky, craggy-faced man in his fifties. “I’d put a hundred girls in bikinis if it’d help publicize Wild West Days. But they’ve got to be safe. For their good and the good name of the town.”

     “We’ve already compromised the good name of the town, McClain!” broke in the man next him. The speaker was a balding, rotund man in his fifties. He continued in a firm but not hysterical gravelly tenor voice: “I tell you that no good can come from parading a lot of barely dressed young women around our city. I say that we give these two”--- he nodded toward Joan and Diana--- “our thanks and send them back to Los Angeles before anything more serious happens.”

     Summer Merrill stood up. She took a moment to calm herself then spoke.

     “I’m surprised at you, Mr. Eckhart,” she said. She gazed at the rotund tenor for a few seconds then scanned the faces of the other councilmen. “And some of the rest of you, too. As chairwoman of the Wild West Days committee, I wanted some special attraction to promote interest in our celebration, especially since the proceeds will be donated to the building and renovation fund of Kermit General Hospital. I thought that you’d all be proud and grateful to have a successful actress donate her time to her hometown. Instead, you treat her and her friend, who has absolutely no reason to help us, as though they’re some kind of Typhoid Marys or social pariahs. I think you should be ashamed of yourselves.”

     Mayor Holmes nodded.

     “And Miss O’Connor and Miss Malloy are also our invited guests,” he added, “and as such, are entitled to more than our usual courtesy.”

     Bayer looked narrowly at Holmes and Summer.

     “Don’t forget, Warren,” he said, “that, before that invitation was extended, some of us on this council voiced opposition to any over emphasis on sexual allure in our Wild West Days publicity or programs. We felt that such emphasis might be construed as... as...”

     “Pandering,” Eckhart finished flatly. “Morally objectionable in every way.”

     The other councilmen stirred uneasily. There were some audible murmurings.

     “You’re betting a bit carried away there,” muttered Norm Barrett.

     “I wouldn’t put it quite that way,” said Roberts quietly.

     “Don’t be such a prude, Eckhart,” snapped McClain. He waved at the clergyman seated next to Summer. “Why don’t you let Reverend Andrews have a say on the morality of things?”

     “Which is exactly why I asked him here,” said Mayor Holmes. He nodded to Andrews.

     The minister was perhaps thirty-five, with a blandly handsome face and a thoughtful manner. As he cleared his throat, Summer sat down. Andrews remained seated though he clearly had the floor.

     “Well, meaning no offense to Mr. McClain,” he said, “I hardly think that a ten years as a minister makes me an authority on morality.”

     There was some laughter at his self-effacing remark. Even Bayer smiled slightly. Only Eckhart maintained his frown of disapproval. Andrews continued.

     “But I have to say that Miss O’Connor and Miss Malloy are doing a very valuable service for our community by appearing here at Wild West Days. The expansion and modernization of the facilities at the hospital are vital for the health and safety of the people of Kermit. I might not go quite so far as Mr. McClain in getting a hundred young women to wear bikinis to promote the event, but I have to agree with Mr. Roberts that I can’t see anything inherently sinful about having beautiful women in town. Mrs. Merrill assures me that their appearances here will be in good taste, so I, for one, have no objection to continuing with the events as planned.’

     “Hear, hear, Reverend!” McClain said loudly.

     There were nods and murmurs of assent among the others except for Bayer, who maintained a poker face, and Eckhart, who glowered. Eckhart leaned forward and raised a pudgy index finger of objection.

     “Now what about this ‘Miss Kermit Contest’?” he said. “As I understand it, some of the girls from town are going to the Armory tomorrow to have their picture taken with our two visitors here, and they’re all going to be in bathing suits! And you, Norm,” --- he pointed at Barrett --- “are going to put that picture on the front page of the paper! Just what is it that we’re selling here?”

     “Just to be sure that no one’s corrupted by those pictures,” Summer said with heavy irony, “I’m going to take the pictures myself. It’ll be Joan and Diana plus the five Miss Kermit finalists posing next to the stagecoach we’ll be using in the reenactment of the Great Robbery of 1889. I’ve invited Reverend Andrews to watch me shoot the pictures to be sure everything is quite proper. There’ll be no men in the Armory as we shoot except for him.”

     Eckhart’s eyebrows raised.

     “You agreed to this, Reverend Andrews?”

     Andrews shrugged.

     “While I feel, as many do, that a lot of advertising is in bad taste, I don’t see anything wrong with Mrs. Merrill’s plan. If using attractive young women to advertise was prohibited, hardly anyone would be able to advertise at all.”

     Norman Barrett pointed a long finger at Eckhart.

     “And that includes you, Bob Eckhart,” he said. “Didn’t you hire Patty Brennan from the bank and Maura McCarthy from the beauty shop and a couple other pretty gals to ride in those new cars with your signs on ‘em that were in the Fourth of July parade?”

     There were nods and murmurs of agreement on this point. Reverend Andrews looked down to hide his smile. Summer grinned openly. Eckhart said nothing. His expression remained the same, but he leaned back in his chair.

     Though there was momentary quiet, Mayor Holmes tapped his pen on the table again.

     “Well, ladies and gentlemen, we’ve had some very enlightening and fruitful discussion on these recent events. I think it’s time that someone moved to either go ahead with Wild West Days as originally planned or to adopt an alternate program.”

     McClain raised his hand.

     “Mr. Mayor, I move that we proceed with all the activities of Wild West Days as planned.”

     “I second the motion,” said Herb Vidor.

     “All in favor say ‘aye’.”

     Everyone spoke except Bayer and Eckhart.

     “All opposed,” continued the mayor.

     “Nay,” Eckhart said emphatically.

     Holmes looked at Bayer. “Harland?”

     Bayer glanced at the mayor and shook his head.

     “No vote,” he said.

     “The motion is carried,” announced Holmes. He turned to Joan and Diana and their supporters. “We thank you very much for attending this part of our meeting, ladies and gentlemen. We now have other business to do, but feel free to wait in the corridor.”

     “Thank you, Mr. Mayor,” said Sky.

     Joan and Diana thanked the council as well, and they all trooped into the hall. The Sheriff remained in the meeting, closing the door behind them. Copper Ryder and Deputy Kendall were waiting.

     “How did it go?” Copper asked eagerly.

     “What was it somebody said about not being able to go home again?” asked Joan.

     Diana shook her head wonderingly.

     “When did we catch leprosy is what I want to know.”

     “Some of those men didn’t seem to care that we were nearly kidnapped while trying to do a good deed for them!” Joan said angrily. Her lower lip jutted out. “They seemed more concerned about the good name of the town.”

     “That’s terrible!” exclaimed Copper. “How could they? You’ve got to run for City Council again, Sky!”

     Sky put a comforting arm around both girls.

     “Don’t be too hasty, girls,” he said. “I think that some of them were more concerned for you than you realize. And, if I’m not mistaken, right now Sheriff Winchell is using all his powers of persuasion requesting for the funds to provide you two with round the clock protection.”

     Amy Cole put a hand on Joan’s shoulder and smiled.

     “Deputies like us cost a lot of money, you know.”

     Joan and Diana laughed in spite of themselves. The women, now in better spirits, talked among themselves. Sky stared thoughtfully at the meeting room doors. Julie stepped away from the others to his side.

     “What is it, Sky?” she asked. “Do you think that they won’t vote to protect the girls?”

     “It’s not that,” he replied. “But something in there bothered me. I’m not even sure just what, but something’s not right.”

     After a few minutes, the doors swung open and Sheriff Winchell and Fred Merrill led the council members out. Winchell nodded to Sky and winked at the girls. Sky leaned over to Joan.

     “It’s all right,” he said in her ear. “The Council voted the funds for twenty-four hour protection.”

     Joan and Diana thanked the members of the council as they came out. Most were cordial. McClain was hearty and avuncular. Roberts shook hands warmly with both girls, holding their hands in both of his longer than simple courtesy required. Reverend Andrews looked sheepish. Bayer tried to mumble some sort of apology but failed, then shook hands hurriedly. Herb Vidor was enthusiastic.

     “I seconded the motion,” he said eagerly as he shook their hands.

     Sky leaned over between Joan and Diana.

     “Herb does a lot of seconding on the Council,” he whispered.

     They both laughed.

     “As soon as I can, I’ll send a man over to your motel to get your story,” said Norm Barrett. He glanced from the girls to Sky and back. “Of course, I won’t print a word until you give the okay.”

     Robert Eckhart clasped his thin attaché case against his midsection and did not shake hands, merely nodding coolly to both girls. Mayor Holmes was genial and reassuring.

     “We’re going to do our very best to make sure that nothing else happens while you’re our guests in Kermit, ladies,” he told them. “You’re in good hands with the Sheriff on the job.”

     A beaming Summer Merrill hugged both actresses.

     “It was pretty terrible in there for a while,” she said, “but everything came out all right in the end. Now, what can we do for you girls for lunch today?”

     “Joan’s been telling me about what great hamburgers they have at Jeb’s Café,” said Diana. “Do you think we could try one of those?”

     “Sure thing,” said Summer. “And for dinner tonight, Fred and I want you and” --- she nodded at Amy and Sue --- “your friends to come to our place for a real old fashioned Western cookout. Just us and the Ryders and fifty or so of our closest friends.”

     Joan was looking from Summer to Fred in a puzzled way.

     “Hold on a minute.” She pointed at Fred. “Weren’t you Sky’s foreman at one time?” She glanced back to Summer. “And you were Mrs. Smithers when I left town.”

     “Honey, we’ve had some adventures here since you’ve been gone. We’ll tell you over lunch.”

     “I just hope our adventures are over for a while,” said Joan as they all started down the hall.

Dugan picked up the phone on the third ring.

     “Hello... Yeah... They are?...Just as planned, huh?... The Armory at nine. How many guards?... Uh-huh. Anybody else?... Okay. We’ll be ready.”

     Dugan hung up the phone. Jackson looked around the newspaper he had been reading.

     “Was that the boss?” asked Jackson.

     Dugan turned to Jackson, but seemed to be looking past him.

     “Yeah,” he said vaguely. “The Boss.”

     Jackson lowered the paper.

     “Then it’s on for tomorrow?”

     Dugan’s gaze suddenly became focused.

     “Yeah. Come on. We’ve got work to do. Where’s Ahlene?”

Maura McCarthy carefully studied her reflection in the mirror. Her blonde hair was a little shorter than she usually wore it, in a studied effort to look a bit more like a college girl, and she found no fault with the styling. Her make-up had been painstakingly applied. She looked up at Shirley Maxwell.

     “What do you think, Shirley?”

     Shirley paused in her work brushing Marianna Dale’s long brown hair and considered.

     “A little more eyeliner, especially on the left, and touch up your lipstick,” she said with the conciseness of an expert.

     Marianna Dale glanced up from the magazine she had been reading and smiled at Maura.

     “You look wonderful, Maura,” she said. “That blue suit is a great color on you. It matches your eyes.”

     Maura picked up the eyeliner. She smiled at Marianna.

     “Thanks,” she said mechanically.

     Shirley and Marianna returned their attention to Marianna’s hair. Maura gave the petite brown-haired beauty a look from head to toe. The yellow one-piece bathing suit Marianna wore displayed her graceful, perfectly shaped legs, firm backside, tiny waist, and the inviting cleavage between her beautifully rounded breasts. Shirley whispered something to the girl as she continued to brush. Marianna laughed attractively, her large dark eyes sparkling over perfect teeth in her slightly olive-toned face.

     Maura sighed. Though she was a very pretty girl, she obviously did not think highly of her chances against Marianna, but she gamely picked up the eyeliner. The right strap of her light blue swimsuit slid off her shoulder. She replaced it and went to work.

     “I just think this is so exciting!” said buxom, fresh-faced blond Carol Hanes. “Don’t you, Estrelita?”

     Estrelita Verdugo was just finishing a polish job on her nails. She had tucked a white, institutional-type towel into the top of her low-cut white swimsuit to protect it from any drips of bright red polish. She held her hands up and let her fingers droop, waggling them a bit to speed drying. She smiled a pleasant but inquisitive smile at Carol.

     “What’s so exciting about getting your picture taken on an old stagecoach?”

     “Oh, there’s just something so romantic about the old West,” gushed Carol, looking at the coach on the other side of the Armory. “I mean, that’s the coach that the first four women to teach school in Kermit were riding in during the great 1889 robbery.”

     “Being robbed is romantic?” Estrelita raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been robbed before and, believe me, there’s nothing romantic about it.”

     “Oh, it’s not the robbery itself that was romantic,” said Carol. “It was the fact that they were rescued from the runaway stage by the sheriff and his posse. Why one of the women, Nelly Simms, fell in love with John Wesley Kermit himself, who was one of the men in the posse, and she became one of the most important women in town!”

     Estrelita pursed her lips and blew on her nails.

     “I’d still rather have my picture taken in a new convertible,” she said.

     They all laughed. When the merriment was over, Carol goggled at Estrelita.

     “You were really robbed?”

     The lovely Latina nodded.

     “Yeah, but not for money.” She leaned toward the others and lowered her voice. “They wanted my clothes!”

     Marianna put down her magazine. She and Carol looked at Estrelita with open mouths. Shirley continued with her brushing.

     Shirley exchanged a glance with Maura

     “We’ve got a story to tell, too,” said Shirley. She nodded to Estrelita. “Go ahead with yours first, Sweetie.”

     The main part of the Kermit Armory was merely a gymnasium suitable for basketball with built in raised seating along the two sidelines. Except for the teamless stagecoach at one end and two long folding tables at the other the room was empty. The four Miss Kermit finalists were seated in folding chairs on one side the tables checking their makeup and hair in the lighted mirrors that had been placed on the tables for them.

     Marianna and Carol listened breathlessly as Estrelita related her thrilling tale of being overpowered and bound by enemy agents. Then, by turns, Shirley and Maura told their hair-raising tale of adventures in a recent hijacking case.

     “Oh, my gosh!” gasped Carol. “I had heard rumors about something like that going on, but I never saw anything like that in the papers!”

     The attractive blonde’s blue eyes were wide with wonder and excitement. She put a hand to her chest just below her throat and above her prominent breasts. Her nipples were clearly visible under the material of her black swimsuit.

     “Well, I’d hope not!” said Maura. “How’d you like to have every man in town thinking about you like that as they’re ogling you?”

     Marianna and Carol said nothing. Carol remained wide-eyed. Marianna cocked her head to one side. The corners of her mouth rose slightly.

     Whatever their reveries might have been, they were interrupted by the opening of the front door. Summer Merrill, wearing a fancy stylized Western dress and with camera in hand, and Deputy Amy Cole led in a party of women that included Joan and Diana, their agent Virginia Gregory, and Copper. Uniformed dispatcher Bonnie Johnson, looking self conscious with her gunbelt and pistol, brought up the rear. Joan, Diana and Copper all wore long robes.

     “Is everybody ready?” Summer asked brightly. “Sorry we’re late, but Norm Barrett and some reporters had a lot of questions for the girls, and it put us behind schedule.”

     Copper was pouting.

     “Not long enough for me to adjust to the idea of getting my picture taken like this. I think that I’m going to kill Cindy Shipley next time I see her. I’m not even in this contest!”

     “Relax, Copper,” Summer said breezily. “Cindy had to go to St. Louis and take care of her mother, so we needed someone to fill in for her. And you look fine. Just remember that you can’t win the title of Miss Kermit.”

     Copper opened her robe to reveal a red one-piece swimsuit that matched the high-heeled shoes she wore. The suit was low-cut and quite flattering to Copper’s very feminine form.

     Diana smiled and patted Copper’s hand.

     “It’s a bit tough at first, I know, Copper,” she said. “But at least you get a little more to wear than we do.”

     The starlet untied her robe and slipped it off. The shapely blonde was wearing a yellow bikini with black polka dots. The other girls gaped at her magnificent figure. Even Marianna seemed taken back. Joan smiled to herself at their reaction and removed her own robe. She wore a navy-blue two piece suit, technically not a bikini since it had shoulder straps. Joan’s figure, like her face, seemed somehow softer, more natural and more feminine than her friend’s: she was less muscular, less an obvious product of gym workouts and strenuous exercise. Again she was the grown up girl next door, now in the flower of lovely womanhood.

     The Kermit girls busied themselves with their make up routines, trying to hide their varying expressions of jealousy. Maura lined her eyes; Marianna started a whispered conference with Shirley about her hair; even Carol busied herself with en eyebrow pencil.

     “Here are your shoes, girls,” said Virginia Gregory drawing two pairs of high-heeled pumps, one pair yellow and the other navy-blue, from a canvas shoulder bag. “I’ll take your flats, then I can help Mrs. Merrill get the lights ready for the shoot.”

     As Joan and Diana changed their shoes, Virginia looked at Amy.

     “Would you mind helping us, Deputy?” she asked. “Just grab that light there. We’re going to need it over by the coach.”

     Amy gathered up the power cord for a stand with two lights on it. She picked it up and started for the coach, turning to ask.

     “Where do you want it?”

     “Just hold on to it right now, Deputy” ordered a new female voice from near the coach. “I like your hands where we can see them.”

     The astonished women turned to the direction of the voice. A hooded woman in a dark suit with a tight-fitting skirt, a neat white blouse and high heels was walking toward the coach. Three masked figures, two men and a woman, were advancing to her left and an identical set of three more was approaching from the other side. All four men had drawn pistols.

     Amy let go of the light stand with her right hand.

     “Don’t even think about it, Deputy,” the woman warned. “Your hand wouldn’t even touch it before you were dead.”

     Amy grabbed the light stand again.

     “What do you want?” she asked.

     “Just a little time with all of you,” the woman replied. She pointed to Joan and Diana. “Especially with you two. And there’s no need to freshen your lipstick, girls. We like you just as you are.”

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