The Mandie Collection (60 page)

“Oh, you're right,” Mandie moaned. She thought for a moment. “To get back to your problem, Jonathan, we can't keep bringing food to you. If we got caught, well . . . You just don't know my grandmother. She said if we got into trouble again, we'd get the next ship home as soon as we arrive in London!”

“Look,” Jonathan said. “I know if you're Mrs. Norman Taft's granddaughter, you really don't need the reward money, but isn't there something special you could do with that much money all your own?” He watched closely for Mandie's reaction.

Mandie thought about it. “No,” she said slowly. “I couldn't deceive my grandmother again.”

“I'm not asking you to deceive her,” he said again. “Just forget about me. I can take care of myself.”

Celia nudged Mandie. “Say, what about the Cherokee school? We could use the money for that. Of course, that is if we don't have to do anything dishonest to get it.”

“Cherokee school?” Jonathan perked up. “You mean Indians? A school for Indians?”

“Yes,” Celia said proudly. “Mandie is one-fourth Cherokee, and we're going to help build a school for them. She has already built a hospital for them.”

Jonathan smiled at Mandie. “What a great thing to do with the money! In fact, if you'll agree not to turn me in, I'll add a few thousand dollars of my own money to it for the Indians.”

“Two against one,” Mandie grumbled. “All right. I won't tell anyone about you, but you'll have to fend for yourself from now on.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Jonathan said, smiling at Mandie. “I'll take care of myself. Don't worry. And I'll make arrangements for the money when we get off the ship. Where will you be staying?”

“The Majestic Hotel in London, but I don't know where else,” Mandie replied. “We're also going to Paris.”

“Now that everything is settled, we'd better get back to our cabin before we get in trouble,” Celia reminded her.

“Right. Goodbye, Jonathan,” Mandie said, and quickly walked with Celia toward the door to the corridor.

The next day, when they'd returned from breakfast, Mandie noticed that the bonbons the senator had given them were missing.

Mandie looked at the table where they had been. “Did you eat all the candy?” she asked Celia.

Celia looked around. “No, I haven't even touched it since we put it there.”

“I wonder what happened to it then?”

“Maybe Charles ate it,” Celia said with a giggle.

“Oh, no, not proper Charles,” Mandie reasoned. “He's not the kind to go around eating girl's candy.”

“Maybe that strange woman came in here and took it,” Celia suggested.

“I doubt it,” Mandie said. “It's just a puzzle.” She sighed. “Oh, well, it doesn't really matter to me.”

“Or me,” Celia added.

But when the girls returned to their room after the noon meal, they found all the fruit missing.

“Hey!” Mandie cried. “Now all the fruit is gone.”

Celia let out a big sigh. “I just don't understand what's going on, Mandie,” she said.

Mandie shook her head slowly. “I did tell Charles to take our fruit to those people in the steerage section, but he said he'd get some from
storage for them, not take it from our room. Remember? You don't

think he decided to take ours today, do you?”

“We could ask him,” Celia replied.

But when they asked Charles about it later that day, he said he didn't have any idea what had happened to the fruit in their room. He was taking fruit from storage each day for Lily and Violet. Apologizing for the incident, he offered to get Mandie and Celia more fruit for their room.

“Thanks, Charles,” Mandie said. “And if you ever happen to see anyone going into our room, would you please let us know right away?”

“Of course, miss,” he promised. “But I'm not always around here because I take care of other passengers around the corner.”

When the girls returned to their cabin to dress for the evening meal, they found their fruit bowl was full again. Just as Mandie was about to close the door, she spotted the strange woman hurrying down the corridor. “There's that woman!” she cried. “Let's see where she goes.”

Before Celia could protest, Mandie was out the door and racing down the passageway. The woman turned the corner and disappeared, and Celia soon caught up with Mandie.

She was examining a piece of paper she had just picked up from the floor. “What is this?” she wondered aloud. “It says, ‘Majestic Hotel,' that's all.”

“Did that woman drop it?” Celia asked.

“I'm not sure, but I think she did,” Mandie said. “She must have seen me following her because she turned around the next corner down there, and I think she went into a cabin.”

“We'd better get dressed, Mandie,” Celia reminded her, “or we'll be late for dinner.”

“You're right.” Mandie followed Celia back to their room. “You know, this paper looks dirty,” she said as they stopped outside their cabin.

“Yeah. Like it's been walked on a few times,” Celia guessed.

“Well, I didn't step on it, and I didn't see anyone else in the hallway,” Mandie said.

Inside their room, Snowball came up to meet them. Mandie picked him up and dropped the piece of paper in their dressing table drawer. “All right, Snowball,” she said. “I'll pet you now, but after I get into that fancy gown I won't be able to hold you.”

Celia glanced through the dresses hanging in her closet. “It's the same old story,” she said. “What shall I wear to dinner?”

“I'm getting tired of all this dressing up, too,” Mandie agreed. “And all the food—I think we eat too much, especially when I think that Jonathan is probably not getting anything since we stopped taking food to him.”

“I don't think he'll starve to death,” Celia said with a twinkle in her big brown eyes. “He's too smart for that. He'll find something to eat somewhere.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

UNWANTED VISITOR

After breakfast the next morning, Mandie and Celia went for a stroll on the deck to talk.

“You know, Celia,” Mandie said, “this has been a mysterious voyage—finding a stowaway on board, a strange woman following us around, discovering the steerage section, not to mention the disappearing candy and fruit.”

They paused a moment near the opened porthole of their cabin. “And don't forget that piece of paper with the words ‘Majestic Hotel' written on it,” Celia reminded her. “I sure hope everything gets solved so we can enjoy our stay in Europe.”

“I wonder what London will be like,” Mandie said, straightening her bonnet. Mrs. Taft had insisted that the girls wear their bonnets on deck. “And Paris. Do you think we might eventually meet Jonathan's aunt and uncle? Wouldn't that be fun?”

Celia frowned. “I don't know how, without your grandmother knowing everything.”

“Still, I wonder what will happen to Jonathan when he gets off the boat in London,” Mandie said. “Do you think he'll be able to contact his relatives in Paris before his father finds out where he is?”

“Maybe,” Celia replied. “But his father will probably make him come home even if he does get to Paris. He said his father would never
have allowed him to go there in the first place. I really don't know why he's so determined to go.”

“Celia, I think—” Suddenly Mandie screamed, “Look out! There's Snowball.”

Celia whirled around just in time to see the white kitten sailing out of the opened porthole. He landed hard on the deck and took off running.

Mandie chased him down the deck and finally caught him near the lifeboat where they had found Jonathan. Cuddling her kitten close, she shook her finger at him. “Oh, you naughty kitten,” she scolded.

Snowball meowed pitifully.

“Mandie,” Celia said with a worried tone in her voice, “this is the lifeboat that Jonathan stays in. And look! That man coming toward us is inspecting all the lifeboats.”

Mandie looked up. The crewman was working only a few lifeboats away, straightening tarpaulins and tying them down.

“Let's wait here a minute,” Mandie whispered. “The man is sure to find Jonathan, and even if he's not there, his valise is in the boat.”

Celia nodded.

The girls moved back against the wall of the ship and watched. When the crewman approached the lifeboat Jonathan had been using, he lifted the tarpaulin and shook it out. The girls held their breath. But in a few seconds the crewman had finished tying down the tarpaulin and moved on to the next lifeboat.

“Whew!” Mandie exclaimed. “I was sure he was going to find Jonathan, but evidently he didn't even find his valise. I wonder where that boy has moved to?”

“You got me!” Celia replied.

“Well, let's get this runaway kitten back in our room,” Mandie said, leading the way.

When they returned to their cabin and opened the door, they both stood there in disbelief. Jonathan was sitting at the small table, hastily devouring a pile of food on a large plate. He hopped to his feet as soon as he saw them.

Mandie's temper flared. “Jonathan Guyer, what are you doing in our room?” she demanded.

Celia closed the door and Mandie let Snowball down.

Jonathan shrugged. “Since you couldn't bring me any more food, I just asked the steward to take some to your room, and this is what he brought,” he said matter-of-factly.

“How did you know which room was ours?” Mandie asked with a sharp tone in her voice.

“I didn't, but I remembered you had a cat; and fortunately, when I was sneaking around the corridors, I heard it meow,” Jonathan answered.

Mandie placed her hands firmly on her hips. “You know
better
than to go around doing things like that,” she reprimanded. “You're going to get us in more hot water than we're already in.”

“I'm sorry,” Jonathan said flippantly. “I didn't think it would cause any trouble.”

Mandie could feel her face getting redder. “Cause any trouble? Do you know what would happen if my grandmother found out about it?” she demanded.

“Besides, Jonathan, boys don't go into girls' rooms,” Celia reminded him.

“That's right!” Mandie agreed. “You get out of our cabin right now, and don't ever come in here again!”

“All right. But I was so hungry. . . .” Jonathan said sadly.

Mandie could feel her heart go out to him, but she knew she had to be firm. “I'm sorry you were hungry, but you agreed that you wouldn't ask us to do anything else to help you.”

“Yes, I know. But do you know what it feels like to go a whole day without any food, especially when you can smell the delicious aroma coming from the galley and the dining room?” He shrugged again. “I guess you get it anyway you can.” He thought for a minute then said, “I've never had to worry about food in my whole life, but now I understand how the poor feel when they don't have enough to eat.”

“Don't confuse things, Jonathan,” Mandie said. “It's one thing to be poor and unable to buy enough food, it's another to deliberately get yourself into the mess you've created.”

“All right,” the boy conceded. “I am sorry. I apologize, and I won't do it again.”

Celia looked at Jonathan suspiciously. “Are you the one who took our bonbons and fruit yesterday?”

“I'm the one. I apologize for that too,” he admitted. “Let me finish what's here and I'll leave.”

He started to sit down again, but Mandie stopped him. “Don't sit again! You are not making yourself at home in our room. Hurry and finish, please.”

Jonathan laughed. “
Yes, ma'am
!” he said. Picking up the plate, he pushed the rest of the food into his mouth.

Mandie noticed for the first time how bad the boy's clothes looked. “You look like you haven't changed clothes in a week!”

“And how do you think I would do that?” he replied. “I have no room or bath. But I promise you, as soon as we dock in London, I'll make haste to the nearest hotel to take a bath and change my clothes.” He smiled smugly.

Mandie walked over to the door and opened it, gesturing for him to leave. “We'll see you in London,” she said.

Jonathan walked past them and out into the corridor without another word.

Mandie was startled to see the strange woman in black standing in front of a door across the hall. She scurried away before Mandie could say anything.

“Oh no!” Mandie sighed. “If she saw Jonathan leave our room she will send another note to my grandmother!”

Celia closed the door. “I wish there was some way we could find out why she's so nosy.”

Mandie dropped onto the little settee. “I do too, but she always disappears so quickly.” She moved her feet and kicked something sticking out from under the settee.

Bending over to investigate, Mandie pulled out Jonathan's valise. “That ungrateful pest!” she cried, examining the expensive leather bag. “He's left his valise in our room! Why on earth would he do that?”

Celia leaned over Mandie's shoulder and looked at the bag. “That boy is unbelievable,” she said. “I suppose he knew the man inspecting the lifeboats would have found it if he left it out there.”

“No doubt,” Mandie replied. “But that doesn't give him the right to stash it in our room!” She set the bag on the floor and kicked it with her shoe. “I've a good mind to just take it and throw it in some other lifeboat.”

“That would be awfully mean,” Celia said. “Jonathan might never find it again. I'd hate for him to lose all his things.”

“All right.” Mandie gave in. “But where can we hide it?” She looked around the tiny room. “There's not much room in here for anything as it is.”

“How about just leaving it under the settee?” Celia suggested.