The Mandie Collection (69 page)

As Mrs. Taft watched, she remarked, “Maybe she didn't know she ran into you, dear.”

“I'm sure she did, Grandmother. That was a strong bump she gave me,” Mandie said, standing up with her journal in one hand and holding Snowball with the other.

“Your papers are in a mess,” Celia told her.

“I'll straighten them out when we sit down somewhere,” Mandie replied.

Senator Morton rejoined them with the tickets, and they all moved ahead in the line to the waiting boat. He had also engaged a man to carry their luggage.

“Just think!” Mandie exclaimed. “We've already been in one country, and now we're going into another one, all in the same day.”

“Move along, girls,” Mrs. Taft urged as she preceded the young people onto the boat. “Find seats now. We'll soon be on our way.”

“Over here,” Jonathan suggested, turning toward the long bench around the railing.

“It might be pretty windy out here,” Mrs. Taft warned them. “The senator and I will sit inside.” She followed Senator Morton through the doorway.

As the young people sat down, they surveyed the other passengers. The boat was not crowded, and most of the passengers were well dressed.

“They must all be sightseers like us,” Mandie remarked.

“There's not much reason to travel from one country to the other unless you're sightseeing nowadays,” Jonathan agreed.

“Mandie, give me Snowball so you can straighten out your notebook while we're sitting,” said Celia, reaching out to take the white kitten.

“It is a mess,” Mandie agreed. She opened the cover and started to sort out the loose papers. There was one dirty crumpled piece and she paused to inspect it. “Oh, goodness, this really got beat up in the shuffle. Wait a minute. This isn't mine. How did it get in my journal? Look.” She held the paper out for her friends to see.

“Another mystery!” Celia cried.

Jonathan took the paper and began reading aloud. “It says, ‘Be careful in Paris.' ” He handed the paper back to Mandie. “Now what do you suppose that means?”

Mandie slapped her notebook shut. “Why do these things keep happening?” she asked angrily.

Jonathan eyed her curiously. “Where have you had your journal?” he asked. “Did someone else pick it up, maybe, and put that paper in it?”

“No,” Mandie replied. “Senator Morton just gave us these journals this morning, and I put all those brochures and things in it because they wouldn't fit in my bag.” She held up her small drawstring bag.

“You probably picked it up by mistake when you dropped the notebook,” Celia said, holding the squirming kitten tighter as the boat began to move.

“I suppose I must have,” Mandie agreed. “That's the only possible explanation.” She turned the paper over and over to inspect it, then finally opened the cover of her notebook and tucked it inside.

“Are you going to keep that dirty paper?” Celia asked.

Mandie paused and looked around. “What else can I do with it? I can't just throw it on the floor.”

“There will be a can for refuse nearby when we dock,” Jonathan suggested. “You can get rid of it then.”

But when the boat finally docked, the young people became excited about going ashore and forgot about the piece of paper.

Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton were already outside in line, waiting to leave the boat, and the young people hurried through the crowd to join them.

Suddenly Mandie stopped, causing her friends to collide with her. “Look!” she cried, pointing across the deck through the crowd.

“What?” Celia asked with a puzzled gaze.

“Something wrong?” Jonathan asked, looking in the direction she pointed.

“She's gone now,” Mandie moaned. “Didn't you see her? I'm sure it was that strange woman from the ship. I know it was!”

“Where?” Celia asked. “Where was she?”

“Over there, that way.” Mandie pointed again. “She probably saw me and hid behind somebody.”

“Amanda!” Mrs. Taft called from the exit. “Hurry up.”

“Yes, ma'am,” Mandie replied. She and her friends hurried to catch up.

“Are you positive that was the woman from the ship?” Jonathan asked. “The one who seemed to be following you girls around everywhere?”

“I'm sure it was,” Mandie confirmed, taking Snowball from Celia.

“Do you suppose she's still following us, or just happens to be going where we're going?” Celia asked.

“She may happen to be going where we're going—on
purpose
,” Mandie said.

“You're probably right,” Celia agreed.

As they stepped onto land, Mandie looked ahead at the dirty harbor. “Is
this
Paris?” she asked.

“Goodness, no,” Jonathan quickly replied. “This is the dock for Le Havre. Paris is inland, not on the coast. We'll have to get another carriage to go on to Paris.”

Mrs. Taft turned to explain, “We will eat something when we get into town. It's going to be late before we arrive in Paris.”

“Thank goodness! We're going to eat,” Jonathan exclaimed, patting his stomach.

Mandie kept looking back as the young people moved toward the waiting carriage. “I was hoping to see that woman. She has to get off the boat or turn around and go back to England,” Mandie explained to her friends.

“Do you suppose she'll go on to Paris?” Celia wondered aloud as they hurried along.

“Paris is a big city,” Jonathan remarked. “She'll have trouble keeping up with us if she's headed there.”

The senator and Mrs. Taft were waiting at the carriage. “Let's go,” Mrs. Taft directed, climbing inside.

While Senator Morton waited, the girls and Jonathan found their seats, and then he joined them.

Mandie looked around as the driver got the carriage rolling. “Where is our luggage?”

“We sent it ahead to the hotel in Paris, dear,” Mrs. Taft explained.

“I'm glad we are staying in a hotel in Paris,” Mandie replied.

“Yes, dear, it would be too far to go and come in one day. Besides, it may take time to find Jonathan's relatives,” Mrs. Taft reminded them. “We will go into Le Havre in this carriage, have a meal, get refreshed, and then go on to Paris.”

Mandie sighed, cuddling Snowball in her arms. “It sure is complicated to get around Europe,” she sighed. “Even Snowball is plumb tuckered out.”

“Remember, Mandie,” Jonathan said, “we are going from one country to another here. In the United States it would be the same as going from state to state because the countries here are so much smaller than our country.”

“You're right.” Mandie nodded. “Imagine if all our states were different countries.”

“I'm glad they aren't,” Celia remarked. “We'd have to learn all kinds of languages to travel at home!”

The carriage stopped, and Mandie and her friends looked outside at a gray stone building. A sign hanging on a pole read: The Monkey's Tail Inn.

Giggles overtook them when they read it. Mandie finally regained her composure enough to say, “We're in France, but the sign is in English.”

Jonathan laughed. “Probably an Englishman owns it.”

Other vehicles were drawn up around the building, and inside the place was crowded. Every seat and table was taken.

A tall, thin man in a white apron came forward to greet them. He smiled under his black mustache and bowed slightly. “We are pleased to have you partake of our food,” he said. “Please follow me. We have a quiet room this way.”

The young people almost broke into giggles again, but a stern look from Mrs. Taft put a stop to that.

The man led them through a side door, down a long hallway, and into a pleasant dining room where a few diners were seated. He showed them to a long table with dishes and silverware already placed on it.

“We have a delicious roast today,” the man said as he helped Mrs. Taft get seated. “We have sauerkraut and nice field peas.”

“We'll be glad to be served whatever you have,” Mrs. Taft told him.

“And we would be appreciative if you could hurry the food,” Senator Morton told the man. “You see, we're on our way to Paris.”

“Oui, monsieur
,” the man replied. “Yes, sir, you will have your food soon.” He left the room.

The young people watched the other people in the room. Snowball curled up contentedly in Mandie's lap.

“Mandie, aren't those the girls we saw at the hotel in London?” Celia asked, slightly nodding her head toward a table at the other end of the long room.

Mandie looked, but the girls had their backs toward her, so she couldn't be sure. “Might be,” she said, continuing to watch them.

At that moment, a heavy-set woman in a white apron brought food to the table where the three dark-haired girls sat with other people. As the woman moved to set the dishes on the table, one of the girls turned to look at her, and Mandie got a glimpse of the girl's face.

“Yes, those
are
the girls,” Mandie said in a loud whisper.

“Well, well. I wonder where they are going,” Celia remarked.

“Everybody seems to be going our way today,” Jonathan said. “Maybe we'll meet up with the girls on our way out.

“And talk French?” Mandie shook her head. “Oh no, Jonathan Lindall Guyer, the Third.”

“All right, all right,” Jonathan replied. “I just thought we might ask them where they're going.”

Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton were engrossed in their own conversation when the waiter returned with a large tray heaped with steaming dishes.

He handed Mandie a small empty bowl and said, “For the kitty-cat.” Mandie smiled and thanked him.

Mandie filled the bowl with food and gave it to Snowball under the table.

“Good. The food is here. Thank you for the quick service,” Mrs. Taft said.

Senator Morton led in prayer and everyone began to eagerly enjoy the meal.

Halfway through the meal Mandie noticed a commotion across the room. Snowball had scampered to the table where the three girls sat.

In her haste to get up, Mandie almost knocked her chair over. Rushing across the room, she snatched up her cat and stammered an apology.

The girls didn't say a word, but the woman with them said haughtily, “We accept your apologies. Now be gone.”

Mandie's face turned red with anger, and she quickly hurried back to her own table and sat down, holding on to Snowball as tightly as possible.

Everyone was waiting to hear what had happened.

Mandie took a deep breath after explaining that she had apologized. “Those are the same three girls from the hotel, and that woman with them is rude,” she said.

Her grandmother comforted her. “Don't worry, dear. You apologized. That's all you could do. We'll be on our way shortly and will probably never see the people again.”

“I don't know about that,” Mandie said under her breath.

CHAPTER THREE

PARIS AT LAST

The journey to Paris was exciting to Mandie and Celia as they watched the scenery go by. They traveled through small villages and beautiful countryside, discussing it all during rest stops at small country inns. Around five o'clock the driver stopped the carriage in front of a small but expensive-looking hotel. It was time for afternoon tea.

Mrs. Taft rose to leave the vehicle. “We only have about fifteen minutes here, so hurry and freshen up.”

Senator Morton assisted Mrs. Taft down the steps of the carriage, then said to Mandie and the others, “I've stopped here before. I believe the water closets are inside.”

Mandie and Celia looked puzzled.

Celia turned to Jonathan. “Water in a closet?”

“In Europe they call toilets water closets,” he explained matter-of-factly.

“Oh,” the girls said, dropping their gaze.

The senator and Mrs. Taft had already disappeared inside. “Come on,” Jonathan urged. “I'm sure you'll find mirrors in the water closet. They always have the latest thing here in France.”

The three hurried through the big arched doorway. Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton were seated at a small table for refreshments.

Jonathan led the girls through the huge room to a door labeled
le lavabo
. “There you are,” he announced. He turned away and went to sit with the adults.

Mandie and Celia paused to read the French words on the door, then went inside. One whole wall of the room was covered with floorlength mirrors.

Mandie gasped at her reflection. “No wonder Jonathan told us they had mirrors in here.” Setting her kitten on the floor, she straightened her skirt and tucked loose strands of her blonde hair under her bonnet.

Celia bent to wash her hands at the small, low lavatory. “We
do
look travel-worn, don't we?” She turned on the faucet, and jumped back suddenly as the water gushed out with a loud roar. Both girls were overcome again with giggles.

“They also have rumbling water here!” Mandie exclaimed. When Celia finished, Mandie washed and then found an empty tin on a shelf. She filled it with water and set it on the floor for Snowball. He eagerly lapped up the cool liquid.

“I think we'd better get something to drink too,” Celia remarked.

“Yes, and we'd better hurry,” Mandie added. “Grandmother will wonder what is keeping us.” She picked up Snowball.

When they reached the table, small glasses of a dark purple drink were already at their places.

Mandie picked up her glass to smell it. “What is it?” she asked.

“It's grape juice, dear,” Mrs. Taft answered. “I keep forgetting that you haven't been to Europe before. You see, we're in grape country.”

“They grow grapes here?” Mandie asked, sipping the juice. “It's delicious.”

Celia tasted the drink. “I've had grapes before, but not the juice. It tastes almost as good as grapes do.”