Leppard, Lois Gladys - [Mandie 04] (9 page)

“Missy, she say, ‘You go back right now and git dem girls, tonight. Don’t wait ’til tomorruh. Go now.’ And dat’s whut I done.” Uncle Cal stopped the surrey in the driveway near the front door.

A Negro man in butler’s uniform appeared at the doorway and came forward, greeting them with a smile. “Evenin’, Missy Manda and Missy Celia. Y’all jes’ go right in. I bring yo’ things.”

Mandie and Celia said good-bye to Uncle Cal and walked slowly toward the ornate front door.

At the door, a black maid greeted them. “Evenin’, Missies,” she said. “Miz Taft, she say ‘bring y’all right in.’ Dis way, please.”

The maid led them down a huge center hallway and through double doors into the most elegant parlor either girl had ever seen. Mandie had thought her Uncle John’s house was a mansion, but it couldn’t compare with this one. The one time Mandie talked to her grandmother, she had learned that her grandmother was well off. But Mandie hadn’t dreamed of anything this beautiful.

Her grandmother sat reading by a window that overlooked a bright, lush flower garden. She put down her book. “Come in, come in,” she said, motioning for them to sit in the plush, high-backed chairs near hers. “Sit down. Take off your bonnets and gloves and get comfortable.”

The girls sat down, and Mrs. Taft studied Celia carefully.

“So this is Jane’s little girl, Celia,” she said.

The girls looked at her in surprise.

“You girls don’t know it, but, Amanda, your mother went to school with Celia’s mother.”

The girls turned toward each other and grinned.

“No wonder we’re such good friends.” Mandie laughed.

“It’s almost like we’re kinpeople,” Celia added.

“I’m so glad to invite you to my home, Celia. I hope you enjoy your stay here,” Mrs. Taft said kindly. “Now, they tell me you two kept insisting you heard noises in the attic, and that you kept breaking rules in order to investigate. Is that right?”

Mandie looked down and fidgeted with her gloves. “Yes, ma’am.” She lifted her chin. “But we
did
hear noises in the attic. And Miss Prudence wouldn’t believe us. So we
did
break the rules, I guess,” she admitted.

Mandie’s grandmother laughed. “Exactly what I would have done under the circumstances. I have a mischievous streak in me, myself,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

The girls stared at her in amazement.

“Oh, I’m far too old for such tomfoolery now, but when I was young, nothing could have stopped me,” she assured them. “You see, Amanda, that is something you have inherited from me.”

Mandie smiled. “Yes, Grandmother, I guess we are pretty much alike. I imagine you were a lot of fun when you were my age. And here I was bracing myself for a good scolding from you.”

The woman laughed again. “I wouldn’t scold you for having a natural curiosity. However, you must remember the old saying: ‘Curiosity killed the cat.’ ”

Mandie sat forward on her chair. “I intend to investigate again when we go back to school,” she confided. “That is, if we hear the noises again.”

“Oh, no, Mandie,” Celia protested. “Next time we’d probably be sent home for good.”

“Don’t worry about that, Celia,” Mrs. Taft said. “They wouldn’t dare expel my granddaughter and her friend. That
could ruin their reputation in certain circles. I am surprised that Miss Prudence had the audacity to go this far. Actually I rather imagine that she is already regretting her action.”

Back at the school office Miss Prudence paced up and down in front of her sister.

“I suppose I shouldn’t have been so harsh as to suspend the girls for ten days. I really should have just tried to scare them with the idea. But that Amanda is quite uncontrollable. Rules don’t seem to mean a thing to her,” Miss Prudence complained.

“But, Sister, Amanda seems to be such a sweet girl,” Miss Hope replied. “She was raised in a log cabin, remember? She probably doesn’t know any better. I don’t think Amanda would deliberately do something wrong.”

“But she did. She broke the rules twice, two nights in a row,” Miss Prudence reminded her. “I trust Mrs. Taft is not too upset about our sending the girls to her. If she wanted to, she could really make trouble for the school. You know that.”

“Yes, Mrs. Taft has a great deal of influence,” Miss Hope agreed. “I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of that lady.”

“Well I have decided that when the girls come back to school, I shall try to ignore their curiosity excursions,” Miss Prudence declared. “If they want to run around in that spooky attic at all hours, I’ll let them—as long as the other girls don’t find out.”

Miss Hope shuddered. “I can’t even imagine having the nerve to prowl around in the attic in the middle of the night,” she said. “I wonder if there really is something up there.”

That night as Mandie and Celia went to sleep in a huge guest room at Mrs. Taft’s, Mandie couldn’t get her mind off the noises in the attic. How could she wait ten days to find out what was making those strange sounds?

Chapter 9 - Visitors at Grandmother’s House

The next morning, the two girls ate breakfast with Mandie’s grandmother in the cheery sun room.

“You young ladies will have to find something to entertain yourselves this evening,” Mrs. Taft told them. “I’m sorry, but I had already planned to go to the theater with my friends tonight. I inquired about more tickets, but they are sold out.”

“That’s all right, Grandmother. We can find lots to do around here,” Mandie assured her.

“Lots to do?” her grandmother questioned.

“Yes, ma’am. Like exploring your house. It’s fascinating,” Mandie replied. Then with a mischievous look in her eye she added, “Or we could investigate the attic.”

“I don’t think you’ll find anything interesting there,” her grandmother replied. “I keep my attic clean and orderly, not unkempt like you described Miss Prudence’s.” She added, smiling, “However, you may give it a try.”

The day passed quickly for the girls. They walked around the grounds exploring every nook and cranny. In the stables they found the beautiful thoroughbred horses. They climbed up on an ornate carriage that would be a museum piece someday, and pretended they were grand ladies riding to the theater. Outside, they met Gabriel, the gardener. Gabriel
was a tall, stoop-shouldered man who delighted in having a captive audience for a tour of his magnificent gardens.

After a very proper evening meal, Mrs. Taft left for the theater and the girls went to their room. During the afternoon, they had made plans for an exciting night.

“Your grandmother is nice, Mandie,” Celia said.

“She seems to be,” Mandie replied. “And it was awfully considerate of her to go out and give us time to slip back to school and explore the attic.”

Both girls began to change into dark clothes.

“Yes. We’ll have to wait until after ten o’clock, but since she said she wouldn’t be back till about midnight we’ve got plenty of time,” Celia agreed. She hesitated. “Mandie, do you think we are doing anything wrong?”

“Yes and no,” Mandie said thoughtfully. “But I keep feeling that I have to go back. I prayed about it, and I just think I should find out what’s going on in that attic.”

“Do you really believe God answers prayer?” Celia asked.

“Of course,” Mandie replied. “Haven’t you ever had your prayers answered?”

“No,” Celia answered. “Sometimes I pray and pray, but then I don’t know if God answered my prayers or it just happened by itself.”

“Oh, Celia, nothing can happen by itself. God makes things happen,” Mandie told her. “If something happened after you prayed, God was answering your prayers.”

Celia thought about that for a minute. “I wish I had your kind of faith, Mandie,” she said.

Before they knew it, the china clock on the mantlepiece was chiming ten times.

Mandie jumped up. “It’s ten o’clock!” She grabbed a dark scarf to tie over her blonde hair. Celia did likewise.

Mandie tucked some matches in her pocket. “I just hope
there’s a lamp in our bedroom at school that we can use,” Mandie said.

“First we have to get inside,” Celia reminded her. “They lock all the windows and doors at night, remember?”

“We’ll get in somehow. Ready?” Mandie inspected her friend’s appearance.

Celia adjusted the scarf over her curls. “Ready,” she replied.

Keeping an eye out for the servants, the girls tiptoed down the huge circular staircase and hurried out the front door unnoticed. Earlier, they had unlocked one of the French doors in the downstairs library so they could get back in without alerting anyone.

As they hurried down the dark streets, they saw only an occasional passerby. They went out of their way to avoid the train depot. They knew people might notice them there. A sharp train whistle blew in the distance. It grew louder as a train came into town, and the girls were glad they had stayed away.

When Mandie and Celia reached the school, they began searching for some way to get inside. Cautiously, they pushed and shook various windows and doors, but to no avail. After what seemed like hours, the two were tired and disheartened. They sat down on the back steps to think the matter over.

After a moment Mandie stood and looked up at the second story. “Celia,” she whispered. “Look! There’s a window up there that’s open. I’m pretty sure it’s a bathroom.”

Celia joined Mandie and looked upward.

“If we could climb up on the porch roof, I think we could get in that window,” Mandie said.

“But how are we going to get up there?”

Mandie looked around the walls of the screen porch. She
inspected the posts holding up the roof and the cross boards that supported the screen wire.

“I think we could climb this corner post,” Mandie suggested. “See the cross boards there?” Mandie was just about to put her foot up on one of the boards when she heard a low bird whistle. Mandie whirled around. “Uncle Ned!” she whispered to her friend.

Celia followed as Mandie ran around the corner of the house to the magnolia tree where Uncle Ned always waited.

“Oh, Uncle Ned!” she whispered as she took the old man’s hand in hers. “I forgot. Did Uncle Cal find you and tell you that we’re staying at my grandmother’s house?” she asked.

“Cal tell me, but I see Papoose come from road. I wait to see what Papoose do,” he told her.

“We’re trying to get inside so we can go up to the attic,” Mandie said.

“But Papoose already caught for going to attic. Sent away from school. Must not go back inside,” the Indian advised.

“But I have to, Uncle Ned. I have to find out what’s making that noise in the attic. My grandmother is not home tonight so we came back.”

“No, no, no!” the old man admonished her. “Must not do this. Papoose hear train whistle?”

Mandie looked at him, not understanding. “Why, yes, we heard the train coming, but we stayed away from the depot.”

“Mother of Papoose and Uncle John on that train. They come see Grandmother,” he told her.

Mandie’s face lit up. She tugged at his hand. “Come on then. Let’s go back to my grandmother’s,” she said.

“No, cannot go. Next moon will visit Papoose. Go now. You, too, Papoose Celia.”

Mandie pulled him down to plant a kiss on his wrinkled cheek. Then grabbing Celia’s hand, and holding her skirts high with her other hand, she raced back to her grandmother’s house.

Even though they ran every step of the way, when they reached the mansion, four visitors were walking the floor of the library. The maid couldn’t find the girls anywhere, and she told them that Mrs. Taft had left Mandie and Celia alone while she went to the theater.

The girls burst into the room through the French doors. There was a big commotion. Mandie spotted Snowball sitting on top of the mahogany desk. She was so glad to see him, she ignored everyone else, grabbed her white kitten and nearly squeezed the breath out of him.

“Oh, Snowball!” she cried, rubbing his white fur. He purred and licked her face with his little rough tongue.

Suddenly embarrassed that she hadn’t spoken to her visitors, Mandie quickly went to her mother and Uncle John. Snowball clung to the shoulder of her dress.

“Oh, this is so nice!” she cried. “Mother! Uncle John!” Tears of joy slid down her cheeks. Then all of a sudden she realized she had two more visitors. She whirled around. “Dr. Woodard! And Joe!” She planted a kiss on the doctor’s chubby cheek and grabbed Joe’s hand. “It’s so wonderful to see all of you.”

Mandie then remembered her manners. “Oh, Mother, this is Celia. She’s the daughter of your friend, Jane Willis Hamilton.”

Elizabeth walked over and put an arm around Celia. “I can’t believe it!” she exclaimed. “My daughter making friends with Jane’s daughter, and neither one of us knowing it. Celia, I’m so glad to meet you, dear.”

Celia smiled. “I can’t wait to tell my mother who Mandie is,” she said.

When all the introductions were over, everyone sat down and Mandie’s mother took on a serious tone. “Now, Mandie, I want you to tell us just where you two have been,” she demanded.

Mandie looked at Celia. “We were out taking a walk.”

“A walk? At this time of night?” her mother asked.

“Grandmother was gone, and we didn’t have anything else to do,” Mandie said weakly.

“Amanda, young ladies do not go out this time of night unescorted,” her mother scolded.

Mandie stroked her kitten’s fur. “I’m sorry, Mother. We won’t do it again,” she promised.

“You had better not do it again. Something might have happened to you two. What would Celia’s mother have thought? Celia’s under
my
mother’s supervision. Amanda, stop to think once in a while before you do these wild things,” Elizabeth lectured.

That completely silenced Mandie. Celia hung her head.

Dr. Woodard tried to lighten the conversation. “We came with your mother and Uncle John to tell you how things are going with the hospital,” he said.

Mandie and Celia leaned forward with excitement. Mandie had told Celia how she and her friends had found bags and bags of gold. The gold had belonged to the Cherokees, but Mandie was their heroine, and they put her in charge of it. Now that gold was being used to build a hospital for the Cherokees.