The Mandie Collection (53 page)

Suddenly a huge white flag rose out of the crowd. Mandie caught her breath. “Look, Celia!” she exclaimed. “That flag says, ‘Hurry Back, Mandie.' ” She shaded her eyes for a better view. “And that's Joe holding it.” She waved her handkerchief and quickly threw a kiss.

Celia looked at her and grinned.

“I wonder where he had that flag,” Mandie said. “Maybe he hid it in the other buggy.” She pondered the question as the huge ship slowly pulled farther and farther away from shore.

The girls waved until the people on shore were mere specks, then they started back to their cabin to get settled. Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton were standing right behind them.

“Grandmother, I wondered where you were,” Mandie mumbled, realizing that her grandmother had seen the flag. For some reason she wished others hadn't seen it.

“I've been right here all along,” Mrs. Taft said, smiling. “And so has the senator. But now we're going to stroll around the deck. Don't get lost now, you two. And remember, we will be at the first seating for dinner tonight. So be ready at precisely seven o'clock.” She started to leave, then turned back. “And girls, do dress formally. We're sitting with the captain!”

“Yes, Grandmother,” Mandie answered, smiling at her friend. This was going to be such an exciting trip. “Come on, Celia. Let's get out of some of these hot clothes and shed our bonnets. I think we should do some exploring.”

“Are you remembering Snowball? He must be suffocating by now, shut up in that closet,” Celia commented.

“Oh, my, yes! Celia, thanks,” Mandie said as they hurried toward their cabin. “I clear forgot.”

When Mandie opened the closet door to free her kitten, she was surprised to find him curled up, sound asleep.

“Come on, Snowball, you can come out now,” Mandie whispered. “You can stay in our room while we walk around outside. I'll take you out for some fresh air later.”

“We'd better latch the door to your grandmother's room, so she won't open it and let him out,” Celia cautioned.

“You're right,” Mandie agreed. She quickly closed the connecting door and latched it.

Snowball stretched and then explored the room, sniffing at everything. The girls shed the jackets to their traveling suits and removed their bonnets.

“Whew!” Mandie exclaimed, smoothing back her blonde hair, which was pinned up on top of her head. “What a relief to get those things off.”

Celia stood in front of the long mirror on the door and adjusted the bow on her lacy blouse. “I agree,” she replied. She straightened her ankle-length skirt.

Suddenly the ship gave a lurch again, throwing the girls off their feet. A knock sounded at their door.

Mandie gasped. “What's going on?” Regaining her balance, she went to answer the door.

A good-looking young man in a red-and-white uniform smiled at her through the doorway. “Hello, miss, I am just checking to be sure everything is all right.” He had curly black hair, blue eyes, and perfect white teeth.

His British accent was so thick Mandie could hardly understand him. “My name is Charles,” he said. “I will be your steward for this journey.”

Mandie tried to close the door a little as she reached with her foot and pushed Snowball behind her. “Oh, everything is fine,” Mandie told him. Celia looked out over her shoulder.

“If there is anything you need, I'll be glad to get it for you,” Charles told her.

“Nothing right now, thank you,” Mandie replied.

“At any rate, I shall be stationed at the end of this corridor.” He gestured down the hall. He gave a nod and turned crisply to continue down the hallway.

Mandie closed the door quickly and turned to Celia. “Did you see him? Wasn't he good looking?”

“Yes! I noticed too,” Celia agreed. “Do you think we'll be needing anything soon we could ask him for?”

Mandie smiled. “I don't understand exactly what his job is, or what he can get for us, but I think we ought to find out.”

“Me too.” Celia grinned.

“Come on, let's look this ship over,” Mandie said. She pushed her kitten away from the door before opening it. “Sorry, Snowball, but you'll have plenty of room to roam around in here while we're out.”

The girls slipped out onto the windy deck and headed in the opposite direction from which they'd come on board. As the ship rocked with the big waves, they made a game of catching hold of the railing to regain their balance.

“I didn't realize a ship as big as this one would rock like this,” Mandie said, clutching the rail.

“I've heard about it,” Celia commented as they walked on. “In fact, a lot of people get seasick.”

“Seasick?”

“Yes, you know, you get dizzy and can't keep your food. . . .”

Mandie moaned. “Oh, how awful! I hope that doesn't happen to us.”

“They say that if you don't get sick within the first day or two, you'll be all right for the rest of the journey,” Celia explained.

As they continued on around the deck, they passed several gentlemen in red-and-white uniforms. Rows of deck chairs lined the open spaces. They even noticed a drinking fountain in a small recess of the ship. The lifeboats lining the railing of the deck made Mandie feel safe.

The ship lurched again, and the girls headed for the rail. But the wind was strong, and the girls had to hold on to each other to make it to the railing. As Celia peered out over the ocean, she quickly backed off.

“Oh, dear. I can't look down there,” she protested. Turning back, she headed for a chair. “Let's sit down a minute. It's too windy to walk anyway.”

Mandie agreed, and indicated two vacant deck chairs away from the railing.

As the wind whipped around them, Mandie reached up and felt for the tortoise-shell combs she had used to pin up her long, blonde hair. “Oh, I think my hair is falling down,” she cried. She tried to anchor the combs again.

“Mine, too,” Celia said, shielding the auburn curls on top of her head from the wind.

“Celia, look around,” Mandie whispered. “Everyone else is wearing a bonnet. I guess we'll have to wear ours if we want to keep our hair from blowing around.”

They watched as other young girls and older ladies walked past them. Not a single one was without a bonnet, and most of them were wearing jackets too.

“Oh, well,” Celia sighed. “We're out here now. We can put ours on next time.”

Mandie gazed out at the endless ocean and the distant horizon. “Look, Celia,” she said. “There's nothing but water. Not a speck of land in sight. Makes you feel weird, doesn't it?”

Celia nodded solemnly. “Like being in another world.”

Mandie glanced around, then quickly looked back at Celia. “Don't look to our right, but we're being stared at.”

Celia turned her head only slightly. “By whom?” she asked.

“A little old lady. I've never seen her before,” Mandie replied under her breath.

Celia stood. “Let's stroll again so I can see her. We should get our bonnets too, don't you think?”

“Fine, but go to your right, and we'll pass directly in front of her,” Mandie instructed. “She's sitting in a chair up against the wall about fifteen feet away.” As the girls walked past, Mandie tried to avoid the woman's gaze.

Although she was dressed in expensive clothes, nothing seemed to fit the woman quite right. She wore a fashionable bonnet, but wisps of untidy gray hair stuck out in various places. The sunlight reflected off the many diamonds adorning her skinny fingers, and an enormous brooch decorated the neck of her black dress.

Her black eyes riveted on the girls as they walked by, and even when Celia glanced her way, she didn't move her head.

“Did you see her?” Mandie whispered after they'd passed the woman.

“Uh-huh,” Celia replied. She glanced backward a second. “And she's still staring at us.”

“Well, she ought to know us the next time she sees us,” Mandie said with a grin.

“It's kinda scary,” Celia replied.

CHAPTER THREE

THE STRANGE WOMAN

When the girls finally got back to their cabin, they opened the door to find a large cut-glass bowl full of fruit on the little table in the corner.

“Look! Somebody's brought us some fruit,” Celia said.

Mandie looked around the room suspiciously. “And hung up our clothes in the closet,” she added.

Snowball rubbed around his mistress's legs and purred.

“I wonder who it was,” Mandie puzzled. “It was probably the senator who brought the fruit, don't you think? And Grandmother must have found a maid to unpack.”

“Maybe, but the fruit sure looks tempting.” Celia picked up a bright red apple, then put it back. “It must be getting near suppertime.”

“My stomach would agree with that,” Mandie sighed. “Let's just stay here and rest until it's time for supper, all right?”

Celia lay down on the lower bunk. “Remember your grandmother said we have to get dressed up,” she reminded her. “By the way, I really appreciate your taking the upper berth, Mandie.”

Mandie climbed the ladder and asked Celia to hand Snowball up to her. While Mandie stretched out on the bed, the kitten meowed and pranced around, uneasy with the height.

“Snowball,” Mandie fussed, “don't tell me you're afraid of sleeping up here.” She caught him and cuddled him close. “I won't let you fall off.”

All the excitement and fresh air had tired the girls, and they'd almost dozed off when they heard someone at their door.

Mandie raised up on one elbow to see the door open slowly. A face peeked through the opening, and Mandie quickly climbed down the ladder. “What is it?” she demanded, crossing quickly to the door as someone closed it. Then with a jerk it came open again. She almost fell back, but Celia was right behind her and caught her. Both girls stared.

There in the doorway was the strange woman who had been watching them on the deck. Obviously flustered at being caught, she stammered, “I . . . I must have the wrong cabin.” Turning quickly, she hurried down the corridor and the girls saw her disappear around the corner as they looked after her.

Mandie and Celia stood watching a moment, but she didn't come back, so they closed the door and sat down on the small settee in their cabin.

Mandie frowned. “I really wonder who that woman is,” she said thoughtfully.

“Why would she be snooping on us?” Celia asked. “Maybe we should tell your grandmother about her.”

“Oh no, Celia. We can't do that,” Mandie objected. “Why, Grandmother wouldn't let us out of her sight if she knew someone was following us around. Let's just start watching her.”

“How are we going to do that?” Celia wondered aloud. “We don't even know what cabin is hers.”

“Hey!” Mandie jumped up. “Maybe that Charles fellow would know who she is. He'd at least know which is her cabin. Let's go find him. He said he's stationed at the end of this corridor. Come on.”

Celia followed her friend out the door and down the hallway. At the end of the corridor they found a small recessed area with a tiny counter and a stool, but no one was there. A bell with a sign:

RING FOR SERVICE

sat on the counter, but there was no one in sight.

“Well!” Mandie sighed in disappointment.

Celia looked around. “He told us he'd be here if we needed anything.”

“Maybe he had to go on an errand,” Mandie replied. “I'm sure he must be busy serving other guests. Let's go down this other hallway and look for him.” She started toward the cross hall.

Celia caught her sleeve. “Mandie, isn't it about time to get dressed for dinner? It's going to take me forever to get ready because I'm not used to wearing my hair up like this.”

“I guess you're right,” Mandie agreed. “We sure don't want to be late for dinner. There's no telling what Grandmother would do if we were late at the captain's table.” They turned and headed back to their cabin.

They looked through the expensive dresses hanging in their closet. Celia's mother had bought her daughter a whole new wardrobe for the journey, and Mandie's grandmother had almost done the same, even though she had bought Mandie a number of new dresses for their trip to Washington, D.C. earlier in the year.

Mandie shook her head. “I'm going to feel awfully silly in one of these fancy long gowns,” she complained. “I don't understand why we have to get so dressed up and be so uncomfortable when all we're going to do is eat supper.”

“But Mandie, that's the custom,” Celia explained. “I know that much from my mother. She says when you're traveling a long distance onboard ship you are expected to wear formal clothing for dinner every night. And it
is
dinner in the evening, not supper, as we call it.”

She finally selected a yellow satin dress and carefully removed it from the hanger. “I don't like these fancy things any more than you do, but we have to follow custom if we're going to take this journey.”

“Maybe you and I should just start another custom while we're on this ship,” Mandie said with a grin.

Celia looked shocked. “No, Mandie, no!” she protested. “We can't upset your grandmother. She'd tell our mothers for sure, and that would be the end of our adventures.”

Mandie sighed heavily and took down the first dress her hand touched. “Well, maybe they'll make it all worthwhile and have something good to eat.” She unbuttoned the bodice of her traveling suit and let it drop to the floor.

Celia smiled at the thought. “Maybe we'll see that good-looking Charles at dinner.”

“There's a good possibility,” Mandie smiled. “And you know that strange woman has to eat sometime—maybe she'll be at the first seating tonight, too,” she said. “Then we can ask around to see if anyone knows who she is.” Standing before the long mirror on the door, Mandie straightened the long skirt of her baby blue dress.