The Mandie Collection (57 page)

Celia tried to keep her head covered. “We should have worn bonnets,” she hollered.

They stayed near the wall of the ship to shield themselves from the full force of the wind and rain, and slowly made their way down the deck. Finally Mandie paused to get her breath. Celia stopped by her side. The girls looked out over the lifeboats at the crashing waves below and shuddered.

Suddenly Mandie saw something move. She gasped. There was something or someone under the tarpaulin of one of the lifeboats.

“Celia, look at that lifeboat!” She pointed. “I think I saw something move in it.”

Celia frowned. “I don't see anything, Mandie,” she said. “It was probably the wind.”

“The wind may have moved the tarpaulin, but I'm pretty sure I saw something under it,” Mandie replied. “Come on. Let's go see.” She led the way across the deck.

As the girls moved away from the protection of the cabin walls, the rain poured down on them. Without bonnets and with little protection from their capes, the girls were quickly drenched, but Mandie was determined to investigate.

Finally making it over to the lifeboat, Mandie grabbed the rail. “Celia!” she exclaimed. “There's somebody in that boat!”

Celia shrank back. “Mandie, let's go back inside.”

But Mandie stepped over to the lifeboat and hung on. “Hey, you, inside that lifeboat,” she yelled. “Come on out. We saw you.”

At that moment the wind blew the tarpaulin back, uncovering a boy huddled in the bottom of the lifeboat. The girls stared at him in surprise. He was probably a little older than they were, dark, with black eyes and olive skin. As he stood up, they could tell he was stocky and a little taller than they were. For a moment he just stood there in the pouring rain, staring at them.

“What are you doing in that boat?” Mandie yelled above the roar of the wind.

The boy smiled but didn't reply. He just stood there, holding on to the ropes that were used to lower the lifeboat in case of emergency.

“Who are you?” Mandie hollered. “It's dangerous to be in a lifeboat in all this wind and rain. Don't you know that?”

Suddenly the boy yelled a torrent of foreign words, then just stood there smiling again.

Mandie and Celia looked at each other in confusion.

“What language is that, Mandie?” Celia asked.

“I don't know, but it isn't English,” Mandie replied. She turned back to the boy. “Can you speak English?”

The boy shook his head and shrugged.

“I don't think he understood you,” Celia remarked.

Again he spoke rapidly in a string of foreign words. Then he put his finger against his lips and crouched down in the boat.

“He wants us to understand that he's hiding!” Mandie exclaimed.

The boy stood up again and held his hand up to his opened mouth. Then he rubbed his belly.

“And he's hungry,” Celia added.

“I wonder why he's—” Mandie stopped. Her eyes grew wide. “Oh no. He's a stowaway!”

Celia grabbed Mandie's arm. “Let's go,” she urged.

Mandie shook her head. “He must be hiding from everyone because he isn't supposed to be on this ship.” She yelled to the boy. “If you'll tell us why you're hiding, we'll get you something to eat.”

The boy shook his head as though he didn't understand a word she said. Then he spoke again.

“Mandie!” Celia exclaimed. “I believe he's speaking French. They talk through their noses like that.”

“I think you're right,” Mandie said. “It does sound like that. I just wish I understood it.” She paused. “Grandmother speaks French.”

“Mandie, we can't let your grandmother know we've been out here,” Celia reminded her.

“You're right,” Mandie agreed. “What should we do? Should we bring him some food, or should we tell the captain about him?”

Celia shook her head. “Don't ask me for advice. Either way we'll get into trouble,” she said. “We'd have to steal food from the dining room for him. And if we tell the captain everyone will know we were out here.”

“But Celia, he must be hungry,” Mandie protested. “I couldn't eat, knowing he's out here in that lifeboat starving to death.” Mandie turned back to the boy and hollered, “We'll get you something to eat as soon as we can. It may be awhile, but we'll be back.”

The boy smiled and disappeared again under the tarpaulin.

Suddenly aware of how drenched they were, Mandie picked up Snowball and started to run. “Let's hurry!” she called to Celia.

When they finally reached their cabin, they quickly pulled off their wet clothes and put on dry ones. Then they tried to dry their hair with towels.

“I'll never get all this hair put back up,” Mandie complained. “I'm just going to braid it and leave it down.” She began brushing out the tangles in her long damp hair.

“I guess I'll leave mine down, too, and tie it back with a ribbon,” Celia decided. She rummaged in her trunk for a ribbon to match the dress she had put on.

Mandie looked down at her kitten, who was washing himself on the rug. She laughed. “At least Snowball is almost dry,” she said.

Celia combed through her curly auburn hair. “Where are you going to get food to take to that boy, Mandie?” she asked.

Mandie began braiding her hair. “I'll have to figure out a way,” she replied. “You know, Celia, I wonder why he's hiding on this ship, anyway. And if he's a foreigner, why is he sailing
away
from the United States? I wonder where he got on the ship?”

Celia tied the ribbon in her hair. “Well, I'd like to know who he is,” she said. “He's got to have a name.”

“Do you suppose he's going to London like we are?” Mandie asked.

“I'm not sure this ship is going anyplace else,” Celia replied.

At that moment, Mrs. Taft came through the connecting door. “Good morning, girls,” she said cheerily.

“Good morning,” the girls replied.

“I hope y'all were able to go back to sleep after that storm last night,” Mrs. Taft said.

“We slept in Celia's bunk,” Mandie told her.

“I don't believe we'll be able to go out on the deck today with all this rain and wind. Maybe we can find something to do after breakfast anyway,” Mrs. Taft said. “I believe they are going to have a storyteller
in the main salon after lunch, and there's music in the music room this

morning.”

The girls exchanged glances but said nothing.

“Shall we go to the dining room?” Mrs. Taft asked. She led the way out of the room.

As Mandie had hoped, Senator Morton was waiting for them in the corridor. With him around to entertain her grandmother it would be easier for Mandie and Celia to try to get some food to the stowaway somehow.

But Mrs. Taft and the senator stayed right with them the whole morning. After breakfast they walked down to the music room. A well-known opera singer gave a lengthy concert for the passengers, and then a group of actors put on an operetta.

Just when Mandie thought they might be able to get away from the adults, a tall woman stopped to talk to Mrs. Taft. “You all simply must come to the morning room,” the woman said excitedly. “There's a magician performing there, and I understand he is really good.”

“Thank you for telling us, Geneva,” Mrs. Taft replied. “I am sure that will be a treat for the girls. We'll see you there.”

Mandie and Celia looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

By the time the magician had finished his show, it was noon. The girls hadn't had much of a chance to talk all morning, and they couldn't discuss the boy in the lifeboat for fear the adults would hear them.

As they were finishing their noon meal, Mrs. Taft reminded them that the storyteller would be in the salon soon.

“Grandmother, would you mind if we went back to our room and rested awhile instead of going to hear the storyteller?” Mandie asked.

“I suppose this has been a busy day for y'all after that awful storm last night,” Mrs. Taft said with a smile. “You're probably both tired.”

Senator Morton suggested, “If the girls don't want to listen to the storyteller, then you and I could go to the lecture they're giving on France.”

“Yes, we could,” Mrs. Taft agreed. “You know, girls, that we will be visiting France on this trip, too. But since the lecture will be in French, I imagine it would be useless for you, since you don't know the language yet.” She raised her eyebrows. “Which reminds me, Amanda, that's one thing we need to see about. You will need some French lessons.”

Mandie's blue eyes twinkled as she thought of the boy outside. “I'd love to learn the language, Grandmother.”

“So would I,” Celia added.

Mrs. Taft excused the girls from the table. “We will see y'all at dinner tonight then,” she said.

Mandie and Celia hurried back to their cabin as they discussed the boy in the lifeboat.

“Have you figured out how we're going to get some food for him?” Celia asked.

As they turned a corner in the corridor they spotted Charles walking ahead of them.

“Yes, I do know how!” Mandie said. “Let's catch up with Charles.”

Celia looked puzzled but followed her friend.

“Charles!” Mandie called as they neared the door of their cabin.

The handsome steward turned around. “Yes, miss? What may I do for you?”

“Uh . . . as a matter of fact, I'm hungry,” Mandie replied quickly. “Could you get some food brought to our room?”

Charles looked surprised. “Did you miss the noon meal in the dining room?”

“Oh no,” Mandie said, frantically trying to think of an excuse. “But somehow I just didn't get enough to eat. We were awake last night during the storm, and I guess it made us extra hungry. I could eat some more of that roast beef and those delicious salad greens,” she said, “ . . . and oh, another piece of that scrumptious coconut cake. And maybe a glass of milk to wash it down, if you don't mind.”

Charles just stood there staring for a moment, then finally found his voice. “Yes, miss, of course,” he said, “I'll get it for you right away.” He started down the corridor, then turned back to Celia. “And did you want some food, too, miss?”

Celia smiled. “Oh no, thank you. I'm full.”

Inside their cabin, Celia closed the door and looked at her friend. “Mandie, he's going to think there's something wrong with you, eating all that food when we've just come from the dining room!”

“So what? I had to think of something fast,” Mandie said, flopping onto the settee. “And I needed to ask for a lot of food, because I don't know when I'll have a chance to get any more for that boy.”

Charles soon returned with everything she had ordered and more—all neatly arranged in a straw picnic basket.

Mandie took the basket from him at the door, and smiled sweetly. “I really appreciate this, Charles.”

Celia picked up Snowball so he wouldn't escape and stood behind Mandie at the door. “Did you find those people down in the steerage section and give them the note?” she asked the steward.

“Oh yes, miss,” he replied. “The young woman seemed very grateful. But she did not send a reply.”

“Thanks for everything, Charles,” Mandie said, closing the door.

Even though the rain had almost stopped, the sky was still cloudy and the air was cool, so the girls bundled up for their jaunt on the deck. They tied scarves on their heads and put on their long, heavy cloaks. Mandie carried the basket under her cloak, but there was no one around when they reached the deck.

The boy must have been watching for them, because as they approached the lifeboat, he pushed back the tarpaulin and climbed down.

“Food,” Mandie whispered loudly, pointing at the basket.

He smiled, accepted the food with a slight bow, then said something they couldn't understand. Before the girls could say anything more he had climbed into the lifeboat, waved, and disappeared under the tarpaulin.

Celia pulled her cloak tighter as the wind whipped around them. “That was quick,” she said.

“Too quick,” Mandie agreed. “I wanted to listen to him speak a little more to see if I could understand anything he was saying.”

The girls turned to go back inside.

“No matter how long he talked Mandie, we couldn't have understood a word in that foreign language,” Celia reminded her.

“The more I think about it, I'm certain he's speaking French,” Mandie said. “I heard Grandmother speaking it to the French maids at the White House.”

Mandie quickly opened the door to the corridor, and the girls almost collided with the strange woman. They stood gaping as the woman rushed past them and disappeared outside on the deck.

“Let's follow her!” Mandie suggested.

“No, Mandie,” Celia protested. “We aren't supposed to be outside, remember? We told your grandmother we would be in our room resting.”

“I guess you're right,” Mandie said, in disappointment. “We'd better get back to our cabin. But sooner or later I'm going to find out who that woman is and why she always seems to be spying on us.”

“What makes you think she was spying on us just now?” Celia asked, as they hurred down the corridor.

“Well, she must have been standing right inside the door looking out when we came in,” Mandie replied. “We almost knocked her over! Just give me time. I'll get to the bottom of it.”

CHAPTER SIX

THE NEWSPAPER STORY

During the next several days the girls had Charles bring food to their cabin once a day. He occasionally remarked about how surprised he was that two young girls could eat so much. But as soon as he left each time, Mandie began planning how to get the food to the boy in the lifeboat without being seen.

Then one day they were almost caught. It was in the middle of the afternoon. Mrs. Taft and the senator had gone to a lecture. Clouds covered the sky and strong winds rocked the ship.