Cheryl and Madeline had planned their cross-country hike quite carefully. They'd estimated how far they'd probably travel each day. They'd budgeted carefully and arranged check-in times on a daily basis, letting their parents know exactly where they were and how they were going.
Cheryl was nearly twenty, a vibrant outgoing blonde who made friends readily. Socially adept and universally popular. Some people considered it odd that she had Madeline for a best friend.
Madeline was nineteen and a brunette. An introvert where Cheryl was an extrovert. Quiet and restrained, she had few friends, but those friends she did have were extremely loyal to her.
Their hitch-hiking had been going well. They were always careful about which lifts they accepted and the fact that they were a pair gave them that little extra edge of safety.
Everything went well until they found themselves suffering a minor setback in a small town in the middle of nowhere. They'd just been dropped off by a friendly old man who'd then continued on his way.
They were heading towards the café for a meal when Cheryl gave a little squeal and jerked to a halt.
"Madeline," she wailed, "my purse."
"What about your purse?" asked Madeline.
"I've lost it."
"You can't have. You had it ten minutes ago," protested Madeline.
"I must have left it in the car," said Cheryl.
The two girls looked at each other in horror.
"You had all out money," whispered Madeline.
"I know," said Cheryl. "I'll have to cancel my cards and arrange to make a withdrawal as soon as possible."
Madeline looked around the little town.
"Well, I don't think we'll be doing it here," she said. "We'll have to wait until we reach a proper town in the morning. What are we going to do about a meal tonight? I've only got a few dollars on me."
Cheryl looked around.
"Well, we can't buy much with that in the café," she observed. "Why don't we just wander over to the general store. You can buy us a couple of bottles of drink and while you're doing that I'll liberate a few items to feed us."
"What, you mean shoplift some stuff?" said Madeline.
"It'll be easy," said Cheryl. "The storekeeper will be too busy looking at your boobs to notice me take a couple of minor items. Let's go."
Madeline was a little dubious about it but went along. Entering the store Cheryl was pleased to observe that the shopkeeper was a handsome young man. His eyes swivelled to look at Madeline and didn't seem to deviate from her endowments the entire time she was in the shop.
The little ploy went off without a hitch. Madeline bought the drinks and they headed to the outskirts of town to set up their camp. They were sitting outside their little tent eating peaches when the police car pulled up near to them.
A large cop descended from the car and approached the girls.
"Evening, ladies," he said. "And you are?"
"I'm Cheryl and this is Madeline," said Cheryl airily. "We're hitch-hiking across the country. Say, I'm glad I ran into you. I left my purse with all my money in the car of our last ride. Would you know if it's been handed in?"
"Wouldn't know, miss, but I'll check when I get back to the station and let you know. As a matter of interest, if you didn't have any money, how did you buy the peaches?"
Cheryl dismissed the question with a wave of her hand.
"Oh, Madeline wasn't completely broke. She still had a few dollars."
"I know," said the cop. "She used them to buy some drinks. According to Mike, he saw you stuffing the peaches into your bag when he thought you couldn't see. He didn't feel it would be right for him to jump a couple of young ladies so he referred it to me.
Why don't the pair of you come along with me and we'll discuss the matter with him. He wants to prefer charges."
The girls looked at each other in shock. This was a little contretemps that hadn't occurred to them. They looked back at the officer.
"Ah, can we talk about this?" asked Cheryl.
"Well, yes. That's why I suggested you come back to the shop and discuss it with Mike and me. I could just arrest you if you like?"
Cursing under her breath, Cheryl got to her feet, Madeline close behind. They had just reached the police car when another car pulled up behind it and an old man got out.
"Ha! Glad I found you," he called, waving to the girls. "I thought you might need this."
Cheryl's eyes lit up, seeing her purse held high. Saved.
"Oh, god, thank you," she said. "I was worried sick about that."
"Not a problem, little lass," said the old man. "I see you were just reporting the loss," he added, nodding towards the officer. "No need now."
The old man waved, returned to his car and departed.
"I can pay now," Cheryl said triumphantly. "You can take Mike his money with my apologies."
