Sallys in the Alley | Page 8

No other cars had passed him going in either direction. It was as though the highway had decided to run off somewhere at random on an errand of its own.
Doan saw the figure when it was almost a mile ahead of him, standing beside the road with the shadows pooling deep around its feet. It looked like a totem pole sawed off at top and bottom, and then as he rolled closer it moved and jiggled its arm, semaphore fashion, and became human.
Doan slowed up. The desert at dusk is not a one hundred percent safe place to pick up hitchhikers. Quite often they rap you on the head and throw you in a ditch where, after suitable curing, your skull makes a nice nesting place for scorpions. However, the prospect didn't bother Doan much. He knew from some spectacular experiences in that line that he was difficult to murder.
The figure, on closer inspection, turned out to be a female one complete in all its component parts and encased in a neat blue slack suit and possessing blond hair done up precisely in a blue snood. It was a young female figure and had an air of coordinated and trained determination.
Doan pulled up beside her. She opened the door opposite him before he had a chance to, and leaned in the car and looked at him. Her features were even and assembled with good taste, and she had earnest, deep blue eyes.
"Hello," said Doan mildly. "Would you like a ride?"
"What's your name?"
"Doan," said Doan.
"I'm Harriet Hathaway, and I'm on my way to Fort Des Moines to join the WAACs and serve my country."
"Happy to meet you," said Doan. "Would you like a ride?"
"Do you propose to make improper advances to me, Mr. Doan?"
"Well, I hadn't thought of it," Doan told her. "But if you really insist I can probably turn up something in that line."
"I don't insist! And if you have any such ideas I advise you to discard them."
"Plunk," said Doan. "Gurgle-gurgle. They're discarded. Would you like a ride?"
"Yes, I would. Don't bother to move, please. I can handle this." She picked up a small, dark blue bag and placed it precisely in the middle of the front seat. She got in and sat on the far side of it and closed the door efficiently. "I'm ready."
Doan started the car.
"If you'd use the clutch properly the gears wouldn't grate that way," Harriet Hathaway informed him. '
"No doubt you're right," said Doan.
"Men are very nasty beasts."
"Aren't they, though?"
"I've just gone through a singularly unpleasant experience with one."
"A fate worse than death?" Doan asked.
"What? No! I'm quite capable of protecting myself from anything like that. I'm the woman's golf champion of Talamedas County."
"Oh," said Doan.
"I was also the runner-up in the finals of the Basin City National Tennis Tourney last year."
"Oh," said Doan.
"I'm also considered the best horsewoman in the Rio Hondo Riding Club."
"Oh," said Doan.
"This experience had nothing whatsoever to do with--with sex."
"It must have been rather dull," Doan observed.
"It was not! It was beastly! This person offered me a ride in Masterville. He was wearing dark glasses and I detest people with weak vision, but I accepted. I was willing to accept any means of transportation to get to my post of duty as rapidly as possible."
"Sure," said Doan. "Through rain and snow the postman always rings twice."
"What?" said Harriet Hathaway. She watched him narrowly for a moment. "Are you intoxicated?"
"Just slightly dizzy," Doan answered.
"It's probably because the sun has been so bright today. You should pull your windshield visor down when it glares. That's what it's for. But to go back to this horrible person who gave me the ride. He was a slacker. He admitted it!"
"How interesting," said Doan.
"Interesting! It's criminal! If I only knew his name I'd report him. I asked him what he was doing to serve his country in this emergency and he said, 'Nothing.' I asked him what he intended to do in the future and he said, 'Less.' Have you ever heard of anything like that?"
"Never in my life," said Doan. "Did you tell him you were going to join the WAACs?"
"Yes."
"What did he say to that?"
"He asked me if they knew it."
"Do they?"
"Well, no. I put in an application, but they haven't replied to it. Naturally they'll accept me."
"Naturally," Doan agreed.
"I told that to this horrible person. I told him that no matter how degrading and disgusting the work they assigned me might be, I would smile and serve."
"What did he say to that?"
"He just said, "Oh, God,' in a very disgusted tone. I didn't mind the profanity, although I think it's bad taste. It was the sentiment behind it I disapproved of. I told him so, very emphatically. I explained to him the duties and responsibilities we owe our country