Mandie Collection, The: 4 (53 page)

“Let’s ride the carousel first!” Mandie said excitedly, hurrying toward the man who was assisting riders.

Jonathan and Celia agreed. They all got on and then scrambled onto the wooden horses as the machine started turning and the music began playing.

Mandie felt light-headed as they were swung around on the carousel. She had seen these things but had never ridden on one.

“This is so wonderful,” Mandie called to Celia next to her.

“Yes, almost like riding my real horse back home,” Celia agreed.

“I would prefer a real horse,” Jonathan said from behind them. “If I had a real horse I could ride all over this park.”

“And then gallop down to the wharf to the old boat,” Mandie added with a smile as the breeze blew the curly wisps of blond hair around her face. She tightened her bonnet with one hand as she looked back at Jonathan.

“That’s right,” the boy agreed with a grin.

As Mandie turned to look forward again she glimpsed a short dark man standing by a fish pond nearby as the carousel spun around.

“Look!” she cried to her friends. “That man over there! He looks like the man we saw with the painting in the hotel.”

As Jonathan and Celia quickly looked in the direction Mandie pointed as they swung past the pond again, the man looked directly at them and started hurrying down a nearby pathway.

“Oh, this thing has got to stop so we can go after him!” Mandie said excitedly, twisting to watch the man.

Just then it was time for the carousel to slow down and discharge its passengers. The three young people didn’t wait for it to completely stop but jumped off on the last round. They stumbled and held on to each other to keep from falling as they straightened up and looked for the man.

“He’s way down that path,” Mandie said, rushing forward.

Her friends followed but the man was too quick for them. He glanced back and then darted into a side path and disappeared. The three searched every lane but could not find him.

“That man sure does know how to get away fast,” Mandie said disappointedly as the three gave up their search.

“Mandie, he might not have been the same man from the hotel,” Celia said.

“I think he was,” Mandie replied. “He looked guilty, like he was trying to avoid us.”

“He could have just been in a hurry. I’m not sure he was the same man either,” Jonathan agreed with Celia as they started back up the pathway toward the carousel.

“Well, I think he was and sooner or later I’m going to catch up with him and prove it,” Mandie said.

“Right now I’d be more interested in going back to the old boat,” Jonathan said as they walked along.

Celia spoke up. “If y’all insist on going back to that boat tonight, you know all you have to do is lose interest in this park so Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton will decide to go back to the hotel.”

Mandie stopped to look at her friend. “Celia, you’re right. We’ll just go over there and sit down with them.” She smiled.

Jonathan grinned. “It’s better to do that and get back early enough so we don’t have to go to the boat in the dark.”

“I don’t think it would be safe to go down there on the wharf after dark,” Celia warned her friends.

“All right, let’s hurry up,” Mandie replied as she walked ahead toward her grandmother and Senator Morton. “Maybe we can get to the boat soon after we go back to the hotel. Let’s hurry.”

CHAPTER FIVE

CHASED AWAY FROM THE BOAT

“Well, are y’all bored already with this beautiful park?” Mrs. Taft asked as the three young people sat down on a bench opposite her and Senator Morton.

“Not really. It’s so big and you had asked us to stay within your sight so we have been through everything near here,” Mandie replied as she realized she really was telling the truth. She and her friends had covered every inch within the vicinity of the adults.

“I’m just too worn out to walk around farther into the park, so why don’t we just head back to the hotel for the night? I could use a cup of tea when we get there,” Mrs. Taft said to Senator Morton.

“Why, yes, that would be fine,” the man replied, standing up to give Mrs. Taft a hand as she also rose.

Mandie and her friends looked at one another. Tea! There goes our chance to get back to the boat tonight.
Grandmother will probably linger an hour over a cup of tea
, Mandie was thinking.

The three young people followed the adults out of the park and back up the avenue to the hotel. They didn’t have a chance to talk, but they mouthed words at one another and made gestures while watching to see if Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton looked back at them.

Mandie sighed as she rolled her eyes at Jonathan and Celia and mouthed the word
tea
.

“Later,” mouthed Jonathan. He made gestures, and silently added, “We go later.”

Celia, watching the two, added her own silent comment. She shook her head and mouthed the words, “Too late. Dark.”

Mandie shook her head and mouthed, “Maybe not. We’ll be in a hurry to go up to our rooms.”

Celia raised her eyebrows and Jonathan shrugged. Mrs. Taft looked back just then to be sure they were following.

Mandie pretended not to notice her grandmother’s glance as she turned her attention to shop windows along the way. She wasn’t really seeing the merchandise displayed. She was trying to figure out in her mind just how they could reach the rope she was sure she had seen on the boat. There had to be a way to get aboard the vessel and she was going to find it.

When they reached the hotel, Mrs. Taft led everyone into the tea parlor where there were groupings of settees and chairs and where one could be served tea.

“I’m not much for tea,” Mandie told her grandmother. “I’d rather have coffee if they have any.” A waiter stood by.

“Yes, well, I miss my coffee back home, too. I doubt that they have American coffee like we’re used to but I’ll take a chance. How about you, Celia, and Jonathan?” Mrs. Taft asked.

“I’d love to have coffee,” Celia said.

“Coffee is just what I need,” Jonathan told her.

“Then I will make it unanimous,” Senator Morton joined in. He gave the waiter the order.

Jonathan laughed and said, “That sort of sounds like politics, Senator. Is that the way they do things in Washington?”

“I’ll have to admit sometimes the last voters go along with the majority on an issue,” Senator Morton said with a silent laugh. “However, most of the time the senators are very set in their opinions. Senator Taft, Mrs. Taft’s late husband here, was usually the leader in initiating decisions. He was a powerful man and he was well liked.”

“Thank you, Senator,” Mrs. Taft murmured.

“I wish I could have known my grandfather,” Mandie said sadly.

“He probably died before you were born, Miss Amanda,” the senator said, then turned to Mrs. Taft. “Isn’t that right?”

“Not long after Amanda was born,” Mrs. Taft said, and glancing at Mandie, added, “So you wouldn’t have remembered him anyway if you had lived with us.”

Mandie instantly cringed within herself. She was afraid Mrs. Taft would make some remark about her father again.

Celia spoke up with a statement that shocked everyone. “I think I’d like to be a senator someday.”

Mandie and Jonathan laughed. Mrs. Taft smiled and Senator Morton said, “By the time you are old enough, who knows, we might have lady senators, but right now you’d better be concentrating on any studies that would help you later just in case.”

Mandie couldn’t imagine Celia as a senator. She was too meek and quiet. “You’d also better learn how to talk ninety miles an hour because you’d have to campaign and talk and talk and talk,” Mandie teased.

Celia blushed as she protested, “Mandie, I know how to talk. I may not talk a whole lot like you do, but people usually listen to what I do say. There!” She tossed her head in the air.

“Celia, I was only teasing,” Mandie said. “I’m sorry if I said the wrong thing. But you can laugh at me because I just might decide to become a writer.”

“A writer? Oh, Mandie, you’d be a great writer!” Celia exclaimed.

“Yes, especially a writer of mysteries,” Jonathan added with his mischievous grin.

“You’re never too young to begin, Miss Amanda, and if that’s what you want to do, I’d suggest you begin immediately keeping up with the journal I gave you to record this journey to Europe,” Senator Morton told her seriously.

Mandie smiled at him and said, “I write in it now and then, but I promise to try harder to find the time to keep it current.”

Mrs. Taft had listened to the conversation and now she spoke to Jonathan. “Since we’re all deciding on our future careers, what are you interested in, Jonathan?”

Jonathan shrugged his shoulders, smiled at her, and said, “I have no idea.” He paused and then added, “Maybe I’d be good at being a detective.”

The girls laughed then and he grinned at them. Mrs. Taft smiled and turned to talk to Senator Morton.

“Oh no!” Mandie exclaimed.

“Oh yes,” Jonathan insisted. “I’ll do the detective work and you can write stories about me.” He grinned mischievously.

“All right, that’s a bargain,” Mandie agreed, and as Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton carried on their own conversation, she bent close to his ear and added, “Like falling in the water at the pier!”

“Just don’t forget to write about how you fell in the water, too, at the lake in Germany. Time-about is fair enough,” Jonathan replied.

The waiter returned then with their coffee and some tiny rolls to go with it. As he placed everything on the table before them, Mrs. Taft sighed and said, “Oh, dear, I don’t believe I could eat a bite, even though the rolls do look awfully delectable.”

“I think I might be able to eat one or two after all that walking,” Jonathan said with a grin.

“And I’ll have a couple,” Mandie said, helping herself.

Then as the adults continued their own conversation, Mandie quickly wrapped her rolls in her napkin and stuffed them in her purse. As Jonathan and Celia watched questioningly, she whispered, “For later. We may need some extra energy later.”

At that moment Mrs. Taft turned to look at the young people and almost saw Mandie putting the rolls away. She looked at Mandie’s empty plate and frowned and continued her conversation with the senator.

“Whew!” Jonathan whispered softly. “Almost caught.” Then he helped himself to two more rolls and said loudly, “I’ll just take these to give to Snowball, Mandie.”

Mrs. Taft heard what he said and turned to look at him, but she went right on talking to the senator.

“Snowball? He’s eaten so much since we’ve been in Europe I’m probably going to have to change his name to Butterball when we get home,” Mandie said, laughing. She noticed her grandmother and the senator had both finished their coffee. “Grandmother, could Celia and I go on up to our rooms so I can give these rolls to Snowball?” she asked as Jonathan handed her his two rolls.

“I suppose so. You young people should get plenty of rest tonight,”

Mrs. Taft replied. “We’ve had a busy day today and tomorrow may be even busier.”

“Thank you, Grandmother,” Mandie said as she and friends stood up from the table.

“I feel like having more coffee. What about you, Senator?” Mrs. Taft asked.

“I was going to suggest that very thing,” Senator Morton replied, turning to look about for the waiter.

“Good-night then, Grandmother, Senator Morton,” Mandie said as she left the table. Celia and Jonathan joined her and after good-nights were exchanged, the young people hurried for the stairs to go to their rooms.

When they reached the first landing they stopped to talk.

“I wonder how long your grandmother and the senator will stay downstairs,” Jonathan said.

“I don’t know, but the tea parlor where they are is not near the front door so we can very easily slip out without them seeing us,” Mandie said.

“What if your grandmother decides to stop by our rooms when she does come upstairs and we aren’t there?” Celia asked.

“I don’t think she will. Besides, if we hurry we may be able to get down to the old boat and back again before they even go to their rooms,” Mandie replied.

“Thank goodness I closed the door to my bedroom when I left tonight since I share the suite with Senator Morton,” Jonathan remarked.

“Then let’s go. No use to go to our rooms and then come back,” Mandie told her friends as she turned back down the stairs. “I’m sure when my grandmother does go upstairs she’ll ride the elevator, which happens to be clear down at the other end of the hall. Come on.”

Mandie led the way and they were able to slip out the front door without the manager seeing them. The gaslights on the street had already been lit. Lots of people were out for a stroll.

The three hurried down to the wharf and toward the old boat. Mandie was disappointed to find there were no streetlights near it. They carefully made their way in the dusky darkness out to the end of the pier.

“Oh, shucks, I can’t see a thing!” Mandie exclaimed as she gazed
at the outline of the old boat. “I can’t tell whether there’s a rope on it or not, can y’all?”

“No, I couldn’t say either way,” Jonathan said.

“Well, I have cat eyes. I can see something hanging on the side of the boat I think,” Celia said, staring with her green eyes.

“But it’s so dark we’d never be able to accomplish anything,” Mandie complained. “All this trouble for nothing.”

At that moment the moaning sound came from the old boat. It was louder than what they had heard before. In the darkness Mandie felt shivers run up and down her spine. Celia grasped Mandie’s hand.

“W...we might as w-well go,” Mandie decided and quickly walked back down the pier. Celia held tightly to her hand and Jonathan lost no time in following.

The three silently hurried away from the wharf until they reached the street with lights. Then they paused to get their breath. People were still walking around.

“We have to go back to the hotel now, but at the first crack of dawn we’ll come back,” Mandie told her friends. “All right with y’all?” She looked at Jonathan and Celia.

“I’ll be ready,” Jonathan promised.

“I suppose so,” Celia hesitantly agreed.