Mandie Collection, The: 4 (28 page)

“What time I am afraid I will put my trust in Thee,” she quoted her favorite Bible verse. She believed she would be rescued, but staring at the ground from so far up didn’t provide much comfort.

Another voice came from above her. It sounded like Jonathan, but she knew Jonathan was over at the chimney waiting for her. “Mandie, put your hands flat against the wall of the house and push up with your feet when I pull on the rope.”

It was Jonathan! She tried to do as he said and she got a glimpse of him leaning over the edge of the roof, looking down at her. She was dangling against the wall of the house, but the rope around her waist threw her off balance.

“Oh, Jonathan, please help me,” she called.

“I’m trying, but you’ve got to do what I say,” Jonathan replied. “Now swing around and put your hands flat against the wall of the house. When I pull on the rope that’s around your waist, you push up with your feet. Make like you’re walking up the side of the house when the rope tightens. Ready now?”

Mandie twisted around and pressed the palms of her bruised hands against the stone wall. “Ready,” she replied with a groan. She felt the rope tighten around her waist and almost cried out in pain, but she remembered that Jonathan had told her to push up with her feet. Finally managing to right herself against the wall, she pushed her feet with all her might in an effort to climb the wall. The rope tightened again as Jonathan pulled, but she didn’t seem to move an inch upward.

“Just keep pushing up every time I pull on the rope,” Jonathan called down to her.

She kept pushing upward with her feet and Jonathan kept pulling on the rope, but she wasn’t moving any closer to safety. Never had she been so frightened in her life. She could see herself ending up in a pile on the ground below if she didn’t get up soon.

“Mandie, hold on,” another voice called down to her. “I’m going to help Jonathan pull the rope.”

Mandie twisted around enough to look up. To her amazement, Celia was leaning over the edge of the roof looking at her. Her dear friend had overcome her fear of heights enough to come to her rescue.

“Come on, Mandie, get going,” she told herself. “You can do it. If Celia can get up the nerve to walk out on a roof, you certainly can manage to climb back up onto that roof.”

As Jonathan and Celia pulled on the rope, Mandie gave a push for all she was worth. She felt herself being pulled over the edge and up onto the roof beside her friends. Her eyes filled with tears as Celia embraced her.

“Now we have to get back to the window of the observation room,” Jonathan told them. “Mandie, your rope is still tied to the beam and so are Celia’s and mine. Would you be able to hold tightly to the rope and pull yourself back up to the window? Just lie down and crawl as you pull on the rope, like I did when I went to the chimney, remember?”

“I’m sure I can—oh, Jonathan, I’m so sorry,” Mandie said, trying to wipe the tears from her face as the three lay there on the roof. But she quickly realized that she must follow Jonathan’s instructions and forget her earlier carelessness. She turned over on her stomach and started pulling herself up by the rope.

Celia came along behind her. Jonathan waited and watched in case the girls needed help.

“You’re doing fine, Mandie,” Celia whispered. “I’m right behind you in case you slip. We’re getting close.”

Mandie was so nervous she couldn’t speak. When she finally reached the beam of the window and dropped into the observation room, she sat on the floor shaking.

Celia quickly put her arm around her. “Mandie, let’s go to our room and get in bed. Are you all right? Can you walk?”

Jonathan had come in behind them and was kneeling by the girls.

“Mandie, I’m sorry. It was all my fault. I made such big, dangerous plans,” Jonathan apologized. “I should have had more sense. I hope you’re not hurt too bad.”

Mandie looked at her friends and tried to speak, but her teeth chattered. She kept taking deep breaths and telling herself to quit being such a baby.

Jonathan and Celia untied all the ropes and coiled them up. They helped Mandie to her feet. She felt wobbly at first, but then she looked at her friends’ worried expressions and managed a faint smile.

“Don’t worry. I’m not hurt, just scared,” she managed to say, her voice shaky.

The three got up and started for the stairs. They silently crept down the stairway and to their rooms without seeing anyone. At the door of their suite, Mandie, who was more stable on her feet now, turned to Jonathan and said, “I’m sorry, Jonathan.”

“We’ll talk about it in the morning. I’m just glad you’re all right. You girls get to bed now,” Jonathan said. He waited for Celia to open their door and then he turned back toward his suite.

As soon as the girls got to Mandie’s bedroom, Mandie fell into bed with her clothes on and Celia did the same. After an adventure like she’d had, she was almost as shaky as Mandie.

“Good night, Celia, and thanks,” Mandie mumbled as she relaxed in the big bed. Snowball rearranged himself, concerned only about being rudely pushed aside.

“Good night, Mandie,” Celia replied. “I hope you sleep well.” They both drifted off to sleep.

Sometime later Mandie dreamed that someone was singing. Then she slowly came awake and realized the singing was real and not in her dream. She started to get out of bed, but she hurt everywhere and
decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Tonight she wouldn’t try to find the source of the singing. She dozed back to sleep.

The next time she woke, Celia was standing by the bed and shaking her. “Mandie, we should get up. We have to go to church this morning, remember?”

“Go to church? Oh, yes, that’s right.” Her grandmother had told them to be up early. They were all going into the village to the little church they had visited the day before. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. Every muscle seemed to be sore and aching. She looked at her hands. They were scratched and bruised.

“Celia, my grandmother is going to see all these scratches and bruises on my hands and ask what I’ve been up to,” Mandie exclaimed.

“Aren’t you going to tell her what happened?” Celia asked.

“Oh, no, Celia, never! It would scare her to death if she knew I almost fell off the roof,” Mandie replied, quickly standing up. “Look at this dress.” She looked down at the clothes she had slept in. “It’s ruined and I’m a dirty mess.”

“Why don’t you take a bath?” Celia asked. “You go first while I find something to wear to church.” She turned to go to her bedroom.

“I’ll hurry, Celia,” Mandie promised. She grabbed her robe from a hanger and went into the bathroom. Snowball followed. He liked to play in water, but this morning Mandie shut the door behind her before he could get into the bathroom.

After bathing Mandie felt much better. She also washed her long blond hair and briskly rubbed it with a heavy towel to get it dry. She looked at her hands. The water had cleansed most of the scratches and she decided no one would notice. The only thing that really bothered her was the bruise the rope had made on one side of her waist.

“I’ll have to wear something that isn’t too tight,” she told Celia as they got dressed. She took down a yellow silk dress with cream-colored lace trimming. “This dress is a little too big. It ought to be loose enough.”

Celia had also bathed and was putting on a pea green silk dress with pink and white rosettes around the high neckline.

“Mandie, I’m sorry you got hurt,” Celia told her.

Mandie fastened the buttons up the front of her dress and said, “Celia, it was all my fault for being so stupid. I shouldn’t have ever
gone out on that roof. I know better, but I just don’t know where my brain has been these last few days.”

There was a knock on the door. The girls looked anxiously at each other for a moment, wondering who it might be.

“I’ll get it,” Celia said. “It’s probably Jonathan.” She went to open the door to the hallway.

“Good morning, miss,” Helga greeted her from the hallway. “I came to wake you young ladies for breakfast, but I see you’re already up. The meal will be on the table in thirty minutes.”

“Thank you,” Celia said. Helga turned to go and she closed the door.

Mandie called out from the bedroom, “If you’re all ready for breakfast, why don’t you see if Jonathan’s up while I finish? We could go to the little parlor and talk a few minutes.”

“All right,” Celia replied and went out the door.

She was back in a couple of minutes. “He’s already up and dressed, too. He’s going down to the parlor to wait for us.”

“I’m ready. Let’s go,” Mandie said, taking a quick glance in the mirror. Her hair was still damp, but it would be dry by the time they left for church. In the meantime, she left it hanging loose. She shut Snowball up in her bedroom.

The three young people discussed the events of the night before as they sat in the parlor. Everyone tried to talk at once.

“Mandie,” Jonathan said, “I’ll never forgive myself for getting you involved in such a dangerous plan. Just think what could have happened.”

Mandie could see the sad expression on his face, and thought she could see a faint trace of tears in his eyes. It made her own blue eyes watery. She had to look away to control herself.

“It wasn’t your fault any more than it was mine, Jonathan,” she said. “I should have had better sense.” Then looking up at Jonathan from where she sat on the settee, she added, “But I am sorry I caused all that trouble—and we still weren’t able to get to the tower.”

“I think we’d better forget about that tower, Mandie,” Celia said. “I was almost scared to death when I saw you fall off the roof. I couldn’t even move for a moment. Then all I could think of was that I had to rush up there and help save you.”

“Celia, you’ll never know how much I love you for that,” Mandie
said. “You are a true friend indeed to risk your life for me.” Mandie reached out to squeeze Celia’s hand. “You were so brave.”

“Bravery had nothing to do with it, Mandie,” Celia said, returning Mandie’s squeeze. “It was a case of fright with the thought that something must be done fast or it’d be too late. After I got to bed last night, the impact of what I had done hit me. I even dreamed about it.”

Jonathan spoke up. “Now that we’ve all patted each other on the back, I think we’d better get on down to breakfast before we’re late.”

“Oh, Jonathan,” Mandie interjected, “I heard that singing again last night. It woke me sometime in the middle of the night, but I sure didn’t get up to investigate. Did you hear it?”

“No, I didn’t,” the boy said. “I wish I had, because I’d have tried to track it down.”

“I heard it, too, Mandie,” Celia said. “But I wasn’t about to get out of bed and go roaming around in the darkness.”

As they started to leave the room, Mandie said, “I think I heard Uncle Ned come in before we went upstairs last night.”

Jonathan opened the door. “I’m just glad he didn’t come back while we were getting you back to the roof.”

“He would have told my grandmother everything,” Mandie agreed. “But on the other hand, he would have saved me from falling.

“And, Jonathan, I’ve already told Celia that I am not telling my grandmother anything about last night. It would upset her something awful. I learned my lesson and there’s no reason to worry her. Please don’t say a thing about it.”

“Whatever you say,” the boy agreed as they went on down the staircase.

When they entered the small dining room where breakfast was served, Uncle Ned was sitting there at the table with Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton. Mandie sat down next to him after everyone exchanged “good mornings.”

“Did I hear you come back last night a little before ten o’clock, Uncle Ned?” Mandie said, smiling at the old Cherokee. “You promised to be back by sunset.”

“Friends of friends talk late,” the old man replied. “Horse throw shoe near village. I get blacksmithy to fix. I get here almost ten o’clock.”

“The blacksmith!” Mandie exclaimed. “We met the blacksmith
yesterday when we went into the village. He’s an Irishman with some strange beliefs.” She told him about her conversation with the man while everyone at the table listened.

“Some Cherokee think things like that,” the old man told her as they continued to eat. “Some Cherokee need eddicating.”

Mandie laughed and reached for Uncle Ned’s hand. She immediately realized she shouldn’t have done this, because he looked down at her hand and saw the cuts and bruises on the palm. He didn’t say anything, but he gave Mandie a questioning look. Mandie quickly withdrew her hand and changed the subject.

“I guess I’d better finish eating so we can get ready for church,” Mandie said, with a secret glance at Celia, who had noticed what happened.

“Yes, and don’t forget to dress warmly. Those stone benches are cold,” Mrs. Taft reminded the young people.

After the meal, Senator Morton went to the stables to get the pony cart ready. He brought it around to the front to pick everyone up.

When they arrived at the church later that morning, the building was almost full, even though they were early. The minister evidently had not arrived, and the local people stole glances at Mandie and her group as they sat down near the door on the last bench. Mandie noticed that Uncle Ned had worn his deerskin jacket, just as he usually did, and had not put on a suit and tie as he had done at the White House when they visited President McKinley earlier that year.

These people have probably never seen an Indian
, Mandie thought as she looked about.
Uncle Ned must be the one they are staring at
.

The minister entered from the small door near the altar and he immediately spotted the visitors. He gave them a pleasant smile. He led the group in song. Even though it was in French, the girls managed to hum along. But when he began his sermon in French, Mandie sighed. Jonathan was listening and she would have to ask him later what the man was talking about. Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton could also understand, but she and Celia just looked at each other and smiled.

Mandie’s attention wandered during the service and she spotted the blacksmith on a bench in front. She’d like a chance to talk to that man again, but she knew her grandmother would be in a hurry to return to the chalet for the midday meal.