Mandie Collection, The: 4 (75 page)

“Don’t pick him up, dear, or you’ll ruin your dress. When you get him into the house, try to dry him off with a towel,” Mrs. Taft told her. “The rest of us will wait for you in the parlor, as I suspect it’s about time we had our tea.”

“Yes, Grandmother,” Mandie replied as Snowball suddenly began running ahead and she had to hold on to his leash more firmly.

By the time they reached the house the kitten was almost dry. He stopped at the doorway to wash himself with his tongue. Celia went upstairs with Mandie to their room while everyone else headed for the parlor.

The girls met Gretchen in the upstairs hallway. The maid stopped in surprise.

“You are back so soon?” Gretchen asked.

“Yes, my cat jumped into the stream from one of the bridges in the garden,” Mandie explained. “He was after the fish. He is always running away or getting into some kind of mischief. In fact, the first night we were here someone left our door open while we were out, and he got out and turned up in my grandmother’s room.”

“Oh, dear, dear. It must have been Anna,” Gretchen said, clucking her tongue. “I told her, in sign language of course, not to go into your room because of the cat. She must not have understood. I am sorry.”

“Also, someone had locked all the doors after we went out, and when we came back Jonathan had to go up on the roof and go through our window to come down and let us in. Come to think of it, Anna came out the front door before he got down to it,” Mandie said.

“Yes, that was Anna, too. She cannot hear, so she locks everything up. If someone comes in unexpectedly, she will not hear them,”

Gretchen explained. “She is used to the van Courtlands always keeping the doors locked also.”

“Well, I’m glad to know who did these things,” Mandie said.

“We looked everywhere for Snowball that night, and we found a room behind the flower room. It was dark, but we saw someone in bed,” Celia put in.

“That is Anna’s room. Most likely Anna was the person you saw,” Gretchen said. “Now, if you are back from your walk, then Mrs. Taft is also back and she will be wanting tea.”

Mandie smiled and said, “You’re right. She and Senator Morton and Jonathan are in the parlor, and we’ll be down as soon as I take care of Snowball.”

“Yes, I will prepare the tea,” Gretchen said, hurrying on down the hallway.

The girls went on to their room, and Mandie hastily dried Snowball with a towel and then put him in the bathroom.

“He’s still a little wet, and I don’t want him getting on the bed and messing it up,” Mandie said, closing the bathroom door. “Well, I’m glad Gretchen could at least explain some of the mysterious happenings around here, aren’t you?”

“Yes, and I wonder what she would know about other things, like who it was we saw in the field that night, and who changed the position of the windmill blades,” Celia said as she quickly ran a brush through her long auburn curls.

“I doubt that she would know about any of that,” Mandie said as she also brushed back her blond hair. “I hope tea doesn’t take long so we can go back over to the miller’s house.”

“There still may not be anyone at home,” Celia said as the girls went into the hallway.

“We won’t know until we go see,” Mandie said as they walked on downstairs to the parlor.

Tea didn’t take long because Senator Morton said he must get up to his room and write some letters. And Mrs. Taft then decided she would retire for the night.

“I know it’s still rather early, so you young people may stay down here for a while, but I am going to my rooms to relax. Don’t stay up too late,” Mrs. Taft told them as she left the parlor.

“Yes, ma’am,” the three chorused as they looked at one another
and smiled. As soon as Mrs. Taft had gone up the stairs Mandie rose and asked, “Is anyone coming with me? I’m going back to the miller’s house.”

Jonathan and Celia also stood.

“I’m not sure what you girls are up to, but since it’s dark outside now, I’ll go along with you,” Jonathan offered.

“Suit yourself,” Mandie said as she started for the door.

“I’m coming, too,” Celia said.

Mandie led the way again through the flower fields and over the far bridge that spanned the canal to the miller’s house. It was dark, but the moon was shining and they could see the windmill blades in the distance. They were still set to show that the mill was closed.

“Mr. Van Dongen must have had the mill closed all day,” Mandie said as they walked into the yard of the miller’s house. “And I can’t see the sign of a light at all in the house.” She hurried on up to the front door and began knocking loudly.

Jonathan and Celia stood by waiting and listening for any hint of someone around. Everything was quiet except for the noise Mandie made knocking on the door.

Finally she gave up and turned to her friends. “Evidently there’s no one at home. Let’s try the windmill again.”

The three hastily ran to the windmill and examined the door. “It’s locked,” Mandie said with a big sigh. She beat on it furiously in her disappointment, and then turned to lean back against the door frame.

“I suppose we’d better go back to the house, so we won’t be so late getting in, Mandie,” Celia told her.

“They’ve probably gone away for a day or two,” Jonathan remarked.

“Since not even the maid is around, she either works days or only a few hours,” Mandie decided. She rubbed her knuckles. They were sore from pounding on the locked door.

Jonathan and Celia stood silently as a hush fell over the night air.

Suddenly Mandie caught a slight sound coming from somewhere. “Listen!” she whispered to her friends. The three froze in silence. The sound came again.

“It sounds like a moan to me,” Mandie whispered as she softly turned to try to figure out where it was coming from.

Then a louder sound came from inside the windmill. The three leaned hard on the door, but it was still locked.

“There’s someone inside!” Mandie whispered hoarsely.

“Let’s look for a window,” Jonathan suggested as he hurried around the structure to examine the walls. Mandie and Celia followed.

“You know, it could be that big cat,” Celia guessed.

Mandie stopped and looked at her. “You may be right. Albert said the cat stays in the mill to keep out the rats.” She went back to the door and called through the keyhole, “Kitty, kitty, kitty!”

“That cat probably doesn’t know what
kitty
means,” Jonathan said. But at that moment a loud meow came from inside the windmill.

“Oh, shucks!” Mandie said with a sigh. “We might as well go.”

She lifted her long skirts and raced back across the flower fields to the bridge over the canal and on to the house, with Celia and Jonathan close behind. She thought about the Van Dongens not being home and an uneasy feeling hit her in the stomach. Something was wrong, she felt sure of it. Tomorrow she would check on them again.

CHAPTER NINE

INVESTIGATION IN THE DARKNESS

After reaching the house where they were staying, the three young people sat on the stairway and made plans for an early morning visit to the miller’s house.

“Before breakfast,” Mandie told her friends. “We’ll be back in time to eat.”

“All right, I’ll go along with that,” Jonathan told her.

“And I’ll see that we get up real early so we have plenty of time,” Celia volunteered.

“I just know something is wrong over there,” Mandie said, pushing back her tousled hair. “Mr. Van Dongen and Albert both acted strange when we tried to find out about the position of the windmill blades and the person we saw in the dark. I have an idea they have gone away somewhere until we leave here on our journey, so we can’t bother them anymore with questions.”

“But, Mandie, the cat is in the mill. We heard it,” Celia insisted.

“That doesn’t mean anything. They could have put out enough food for it to last a few days,” Mandie said.

“Or they figured it could live off the rats in the flour mill until they returned,” Jonathan added with his mischievous grin.

Mandie was still suspicious of Jonathan concerning the mixing of the blue and yellow paint in the Delftware factory, and she wouldn’t let herself smile at his remark.

“What time should we get up?” Celia asked.

“Let’s go before daylight. That way no one will see us,” Mandie told her. “I’m not sure what time it gets light here in Holland, but I think if we met right here about four-thirty or five o’clock it would still be dark.”

Jonathan and Celia nodded their agreement, and the three went to their rooms to sleep until then.

When the girls got to their room, they were greeted by loud howls from Snowball shut up in the bathroom.

“It’s a wonder he doesn’t wake up everybody in the house,” Mandie said as she hurried to open the bathroom door. Snowball came out so fast, Mandie almost tripped over him.

“What’s wrong with him?” Celia asked as the cat jumped up on the bed.

“It’s past his bedtime and he thinks he has to sleep in the bed,” Mandie said with a little laugh.

She watched while the white kitten quickly washed his face as he sat in the middle of the bed and then circled round and round before he finally curled up in the center of it.

“At least he has sense enough to go to bed when it’s time to go to bed,” Celia said with a big yawn as she unbuttoned the back of her dress.

“I’ll have to shut him back up in the bathroom when we leave in the morning. I sure hope he doesn’t howl and wake up everyone,” Mandie said as she prepared for bed.

“It might be better if you just took him with us,” Celia said.

“Maybe you’re right,” Mandie replied.

The girls finally got into bed and drifted off to sleep. A few hours later Mandie was awakened by Celia gently shaking her.

“It’s four-thirty, Mandie,” Celia whispered as she stepped down from the high bed.

Mandie rubbed her eyes and jumped out of bed. Snowball tumbled out behind her and sat on the carpet in surprise.

“We have to hurry and wake Jonathan,” Mandie said softly as she
quickly pulled on a dress and stepped into her shoes. She parted the curtain to peek outside. It was still dark.

Celia was dressed by the time Mandie was ready, but when they started to leave, Snowball suddenly set up a howl.

“Oh, hush!” Mandie said, stooping to pick him up and shake him gently. “You must stay here and be quiet.” She hurried across the room, pushed him into the bathroom, and closed the door. That made him howl all the louder. Opening the door again, Mandie gave him a little pat and said, “Snowball, stop that!”

But the white kitten would not be consoled.

“Mandie, why don’t we just take him with us? I’ll help you tend to him,” Celia said.

“I suppose we’ll have to,” Mandie said, gathering his leash and carrying the kitten into the hallway. He immediately tried to lick his mistress’s face. “Let’s go. I’ll carry him until we get outside.”

The girls quietly knocked on Jonathan’s door, and he immediately opened it and slipped outside into the hallway. Not daring to speak a word for fear of being heard by someone in the house, the three quickly went down the stairs and outside.

“Let’s hurry,” Mandie spoke at last as they started across the flower field. She still carried Snowball in her arms, because it was faster that way.

Jonathan and Celia stayed right behind Mandie, and they soon arrived at the miller’s house. As soon as she could see the windmill blades in the darkness, Mandie noticed that they were still in the closed position. Mr. Van Dongen was probably not home, she decided in disappointment as she hurried up to the door of the house. It didn’t occur to her until that moment that it was an odd time to go knocking on someone’s door. If he was at home and came to answer her knock, what in this world would she say to him? She was sure he’d really be angry this time. She paused, her hand in the air.

“Well, aren’t you going to knock on the door?” Jonathan whispered behind her.

Mandie quickly turned and motioned for her friends to move away from the house. She stopped near the flower gardens.

“Well, what now?” Jonathan asked in a soft voice.

“I don’t think we ought to go knocking on Mr. Van Dongen’s door
this early in the morning. He might not like it,” Mandie began. “And if he—”

Jonathan interrupted, “You mean we went to all this trouble for nothing? You’re afraid to knock on the door?”

“Sh-h-h!” Mandie cautioned him. “We don’t have to knock. We can just walk around the house and look in all the windows.”

“But it’s dark in there, Mandie,” Celia reminded her.

“If you’re afraid to knock, I’ll go and knock,” Jonathan said, quickly rushing back to the front door of the house. Without waiting for the girls, he began knocking loudly, the sound reverberating in the silent morning air.

Mandie and Celia waited by the flower garden to see what would happen. After a few minutes, without any response, Jonathan walked back to rejoin the girls.

“No one is home,” he remarked flatly.

“I’m sure they would have heard you if there had been anyone in the house,” Mandie told him. “I’m going to the windmill and see if I can still hear the cat inside.” She hurried toward the huge structure as she held Snowball tightly in her arms. Celia and Jonathan followed.

Mandie tried the door. It was still locked. The three of them walked around the mill, but saw no one anywhere. They stopped by the door again and listened for the cat.

After a few moments Mandie said, “I can’t hear a thing.” Snowball squirmed in her arms to get down. “Snowball, stop it. I know you just want to run away.”

At that moment there was the faint sound of the cat inside, and Snowball struggled futilely to escape from Mandie’s arms.

“Snowball hears the other cat,” Celia whispered.

Then there was a thumping noise inside the mill. The three young people looked at one another in the pale darkness. At that moment, Mandie relaxed her grasp on the kitten and he managed to jump out of her arms. He raced around the mill, Mandie chasing after him.

“Snowball, come here!” Mandie called.

The white kitten didn’t respond, and when he glimpsed the lower blade of the windmill, he leaped into the air and landed on the metal network far above Mandie’s reach.