Cherry Ames 09 Cruise Nurse Read Online Free PDF

Cherry felt as though the calen-dar had been moved ahead. This must be Christmas Eve; not the eve of her sailing.
    It was Charlie who fi nally explained. “Dad suddenly had to come on business with one of the insurance 28 CHERRY
    AMES,
    CRUISE
    NURSE
    people. We all felt so depressed after you left us in the lurch, ruining our Christmas plans, we decided to come too.”
    “We’re going to have sort of a Christmas preview here,” Josie put in. “This very evening.”
    “I—I don’t understand,” Cherry said weakly.
    Then Bertha came stolidly down the hall bearing a small but perfectly decorated tree. She plunked it in the middle of the living-room table. Miraculously, before Cherry could blink, presents were heaped up around it—presents of all sizes and shapes in colorful wrappings. And on every tag were the words: “To Cherry.”
    “We couldn’t bear the thought of you spending Christmas on the high seas without any of us,” Mrs.
    Ames was saying.
    “You’d get all your presents two weeks late,” Mr. Ames added, his eyes twinkling merrily.
    Vivian took the fl oor. “We thought fi rst of mailing them so you’d get them the day after Christmas at Curaçao. But the post offi ce advised us not to. Said anything but air-mail letters would be sure to arrive after your ship had gone on to another port. Then they would have to be forwarded back here again.”
    “Open ’em, honey,” Charlie commanded. “And act pleased with mine if it kills you. It can’t be exchanged.”
    Cherry fi nally came out of her daze. “Give me fi ve minutes, please,” she gasped. Scooping up her bundle of “stocking” gifts, she scurried down the hall to her bedroom. She just couldn’t open all those presents

    “BON
    VOYAGE!”
    29
    under the tree without everyone else opening something too.
    It took but a few minutes to wrap Christmasy paper around the little last-minute gifts she had bought for her family and Midge, add them to the Spencer Club jokes, and emerge laden with small packages which she dumped helter-skelter around the tree.
    “Now,” she breathed, “everyone has something.
    Pitch in. I can’t wait.”
    Cherry opened her mother’s present fi rst: a luxurious, white terry-cloth beach robe. Cherry stumbled through the wrappings to hug her mother tightly. “You darling.”
    Dad’s was a cool, sharkskin spectator sports en-semble—slacks, jacket, and blouse—for going ashore.
    Cherry kissed and scolded him. “You shouldn’t have done it. I’ll never change back into uniform.” Charlie urged her to open his gift next. “I bought it all by myself,” he said. “I’m a nervous wreck for fear it won’t fi t or you won’t like it.”
    Nestling in folds of white tissue paper was a two-piece American-beauty bathing suit of ruffl ed taffeta.
    Just the right size and Cherry’s most becoming color.
    “Charlie,” she gasped. “You angel! I’d completely forgotten I’d have to have something glamorous to swim in . ” There were ridiculously frivolous but attractive beach clogs from Midge and an enormous, rubber-lined beach bag to match from Dr. Joe. And the Spencer Club had chipped in to buy her the loveliest fl owered cotton dancing frock Cherry had ever seen.

    30 CHERRY
    AMES,
    CRUISE
    NURSE
    It was indeed, as Charlie said, “A very Cherry Christmas!”
    They had a festive dinner at one huge table in the exotic Hawaiian Room of the Lexington Hotel. Midge was fascinated when the Honolulu dancers did the hula-hula.
    Over dessert of fresh pineapple chunks served in their shells, Cherry outlined the cruise. Charlie lightly marked with his fork an accompanying map of the Caribbean and South America on the tablecloth.
    “First stop Curaçao,” Cherry told them. “Tuesday morning. And there had better be a big batch of airmail letters waiting for me.”
    “There will be.” Midge grinned mysteriously. “You’ll need a truck.”
    “Fine.” Cherry hurried on. “Next stopover La Guaira, Venezuela. The