The Mandie Collection (10 page)

Ella came to the door to announce that breakfast was ready, and everyone moved on into the breakfast room.

“We'll eat first, Uncle Ned,” Mrs. Taft told him as she led the way.

No one wasted any time over breakfast, and they were soon finished. Mrs. Taft insisted the girls stay with her in the parlor while Uncle Ned and his two men searched the house from the basement up to the attic. After a long while the old man came back to report.

“No one anywhere,” he said. “No sign of anyone anywhere.” He came to sit by the fire while he explained.

“No sign of anyone? Then I wonder how someone managed to get inside this house and steal that silver set, Uncle Ned,” Mrs. Taft said.

“Must have come through door somewhere,” he said. “Some door must have been unlocked.”

“I never go off anywhere and leave doors unlocked, Uncle Ned,” Mrs. Taft told him. Then she added thoughtfully, “If a door was left unlocked, then one of the maids must have gone out and left it unlocked. I'd better speak to Ella and Annie.”

“Maybe thief have key,” the old man suggested.

“I don't know of anyone who has a key to my house,” Mrs. Taft said.

“Maybe someone stole a key sometime or other,” Mandie suggested.

“This is a puzzle to me,” Mrs. Taft decided. “But we need to figure out how it happened so it won't happen again.”

“Is the silver set the only thing that is missing, Grandmother?” Mandie asked.

“Why, yes, it's the only thing I have actually missed,” Mrs. Taft replied. “But I probably need to take an inventory of everything.”

“I'll help,” Mandie quickly volunteered again.

“All right. I have a list of all the valuables in this house and it's
in the wall safe. We can use that to check everything out,” Mrs. Taft told her. “Then I will need to talk to the sheriff.”

Mandie was anxious to get started. This would probably take a long time to do, and she wanted to do her own investigation. She had her own ideas about solving this mystery.

CHAPTER EIGHT

UNCLE NED INVESTIGATES

Mandie and Celia followed Mrs. Taft around the house as she looked for a writing tablet they could use to record the inventory.

Having no luck with the library desk drawer, the last place left where there might be a tablet, Mrs. Taft straightened up. “I never can remember to buy tablets, so I must be completely out,” she said. “Would you girls want to go down to Heyward's Store and get some for me? Ben can drive you.”

“Heyward's Store?” Mandie repeated. That was the store with the back door opening into the street leading to the alley. “Yes, ma'am, Grandmother. Celia and I can go get the tablets.”

“Then I'll have Ben harness up the buggy,” Mrs. Taft said, starting toward the hallway. “And you know to just tell Mr. Heyward to put these on my account, don't you?”

“Oh yes, ma'am,” Mandie replied. “We've made purchases for Miss Hope before, so we know how to do it.”

“Get your cloaks. It's a little cold out there this morning,” Mrs. Taft said.

“Yes, ma'am,” both girls answered.

Mandie and Celia hurried up to their room for their wraps and were downstairs at the back door by the time Ben got the buggy ready.

“Ben, no side trips, now,” Mrs. Taft was instructing him as he
stood waiting by the vehicle in the driveway. “Straight to Heyward's Store and back. And wait for the girls. No wandering off while they shop, understand?”

“Yessum, Miz Taft, I understands,” Ben replied. “We ain't goin' down no extry streets no mo'. Be back before you can shake a stick at a chicken.”

Mandie listened to the conversation and wondered again whether her grandmother was aware of their shortcut through the alley that night.

“And, Ben, whoever the thieves are that are stealing in this town, they may be connected to that alley, so stay completely away from it,” Mrs. Taft continued.

Mandie caught her breath and quickly looked at Celia, who was also listening. Her grandmother must know about the rig breaking down that night in the alley. But why had she not mentioned it to the girls?

“Dat Injun man left with his two men, Miz Taft, and he say tell you he go searchin' for thieves, but he be back later,” Ben said.

“Yes, he told me he would. He wants to help find the thieves because some of the white people are always so ready to blame things on the Cherokee people,” Mrs. Taft said. Turning to the girls, she said, “Now, hurry back. We need to get this inventory done, and it will take quite a while to do.”

“Yes, ma'am,” both girls answered again.

The two jumped up into the buggy, and as soon as they were on the road, Mandie began asking questions.

“Ben, did you tell Grandmother about our going through that dark alley?” Mandie asked.

Ben looked at Mandie, who was sitting in the middle, cleared his throat, and replied, “Dat I did, missy. Figured best to tell dat lady befo' she find out from somebody else.”

Mandie blew out a breath of relief. “Thank goodness you did, Ben. My grandmother was not upset about it after all, was she?”

“Yo' grandma, she want to be de boss. She don't want dat school lady tellin' her things she don't know, so I figured I tell her befo' dat Miz Prudy git to it,” Ben explained.

“I'm glad you did, Ben,” Celia said.

“So you had already told her before we came over that night and Miss Prudence was there, too,” Mandie said.

“Dat I did,” Ben said. “Like dat Injun man always say, better to tell than wait fo' somebody else to tell it.”

“What did my grandmother say, Ben?” Mandie pressed further as Ben drove around a corner of the downtown business section.

“She say, ‘You do right, Ben, tellin' me,' ” the driver replied. “And she say I must promise not to go back down dat alley agin, so I promised, so now we cain't ever go down it agin.” He looked at Mandie, nodding and smiling.

“You promised, Ben,” Mandie said. “Grandmother hasn't mentioned it to us, but she knows you drive us everywhere we want to go and that you will abide by her wishes. Why didn't you tell us that you had told her?”

Ben focused his attention back on the road and said, “I figures you won't be likin' dat 'cause now I cain't ever drive you through dat alley agin.”

Mandie thought quickly for a response. “That's fine, Ben,” she said. “You keep your promise to my grandmother.” She glanced at Celia by her side.

Celia raised her eyebrows as she met Mandie's glance. Mandie knew what Celia was thinking because they had discussed it. Mrs. Taft had probably given Ben strict orders as to where exactly he could drive the girls from now on. They would not be allowed to persuade Ben off on side trips like they had been doing.

“Here we be, young ladies,” Ben announced as he pulled the buggy up to a hitching post in front of Heyward's Store. “Now, Miz Taft, she say fo' me to wait right heah fo' y'all.”

Mandie and Celia stepped down from the vehicle. “Yes, Ben, you wait right here,” Mandie said. “We won't be but a few minutes.”

As soon as the two girls entered the store, they began a mumbled conversation under their breath.

“What a relief to know that Grandmother is not going to give us any strict orders about where we can and can't go,” Mandie said. “She's instructed Ben about it. So if we make a suggestion now and then, Ben might agree to take us other places, provided those places are in respectable neighborhoods.”

“Yes,” Celia whispered back. “I was surprised that your grandmother did not talk to us about that alley.”

“But remember, it wasn't our fault. And it wasn't really Ben's, either, because the rig broke down. If that had not happened, we would have driven straight through there without any problem,” Mandie replied.

Mr. Heyward was back at the desk, thanking a customer who was leaving. The girls paused in the aisle to wait. They were shocked when the customer turned to come down the aisle to the front door.

“April Snow!” Mandie exclaimed at the same moment she saw them.

Grasping her purchase, April rushed past them without a word and on out the front door. Mandie and Celia turned to look after her.

“She must be alone, which is strictly forbidden,” Mandie whispered to Celia. She hurried to look out the front door and saw April rush down the street.

Celia came up behind Mandie and said, “I wonder what she bought.”

Mr. Heyward had seen the two girls, and he came down the aisle to greet them. “And how are you young ladies today? Back for another purchase for Miss Hope?” he said.

“Oh, hello, Mr. Heyward. No, sir, we came for my grandmother today,” Mandie said, quickly turning to look at the man.

“And how is Mrs. Taft today?” Mr. Heyward asked.

Mandie mentally debated whether to mention the burglaries to this man and then decided it would be all right to discuss it.

“Mr. Heyward, you have probably heard about the burglaries that are happening here in Asheville,” Mandie began. “Well, my grandmother has a silver set missing, and she can't figure out where it got to.”

“Oh dear!” Mr. Heyward replied. “Yes, I have heard about the burglaries and have been taking extra precautions to safeguard my store.”

“Grandmother wants to take an inventory of all her possessions, and she doesn't have any writing tablets. So that's what we are here for,” Mandie explained.

“I know exactly what type your grandmother buys,” Mr. Heyward
said, going over to shelves stacked with merchandise. He pulled out a stack of tablets and turned to ask, “How many of these would Mrs. Taft like?”

“She said I might as well get a dozen. That way she won't run out anytime soon,” Mandie replied.

“I don't have that many right here in this shelf, but I do in the stockroom. I just sold a dozen to Miss Snow, who just left. I believe she is from your school. Anyhow, if you young ladies will wait for me, I'll be right back,” Mr. Heyward said, disappearing through a doorway.

Mandie quickly looked at Celia and said, “Let's go look out the back door while we wait.” She rushed to the windowed door at the rear and gazed out at the streets beyond.

Celia peered over Mandie's shoulder. “Mandie, you are not thinking of going out into that alley again, are you?” Celia asked in a hoarse whisper.

Mandie hummed under her breath and then said, “No, not right now. I just wanted to see if any of those bums Tommy and Robert told us about happened to be wandering around in the streets back here. But I don't see anyone.”

“Neither do I,” Celia said.

“I would still like to find that puppy we heard in the alley that night,” Mandie told her.

“Mandie, that puppy is probably long gone by now, and we shouldn't roam around down there again,” Celia said nervously. “Besides, it could be dangerous. Those people stealing from everyone may be hiding out in that alley.”

Mandie looked at her friend. “You are right, Celia. I wonder if Uncle Ned has looked in that alley, or the sheriff, or somebody—whoever is hunting the burglars.”

“I don't think Uncle Ned said,” Celia replied.

“You know, Celia, I just had an idea,” Mandie said slowly. “That dark alley would be the perfect place for those burglars to hide their loot.”

“Mandie!” Celia exclaimed. “We are not going in there to look for it.”

“It would be awfully nice if we could recover Grandmother's
silver set, because I'm sure it's very old and worth lots of money,” Mandie said.

“We will let the lawmen recover it, Mandie,” Celia insisted. “We are not going to get involved in dangerous things like that. I refuse.”

“We've been in there before and nothing happened to us,” Mandie argued.

“Oh no, not much! Remember that bum who spit at us and we had to run?” Celia reminded her.

“We wouldn't have to speak to him if we saw him again. Remember, he didn't bother us until we tried to talk to him,” Mandie said.

“There may be dozens of men like him in that terrible place,” Celia said.

“Maybe I could persuade Tommy Patton to go with me to investigate that place,” Mandie said.

Mr. Heyward called to them down the aisle, “I have the order ready, young ladies. I'll take it out to Ben for you.”

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Heyward,” Mandie replied. Then, as the three of them walked toward the front door, Mandie asked, “Do bums really live in that old dark alley back there?”

Mr. Heyward looked at her and said, “It's definitely no place for young ladies like you two. That whole section back there needs to be torn down. It's a festering sore and a place for bums. Although that alley is a few blocks away, I even keep my back door locked now since hearing of the burglaries. I'm afraid some of those decrepit people may come into my store.”

“I hope they find all the thieves,” Mandie said.

Mr. Heyward opened the front door for them and followed them outside. As he gave the package to Ben, he said to Mandie, “Thank your grandmother for me for the order, young lady, and y'all do come back to see me again.” Turning to Ben, he said, “Good day, Ben. I imagine you'd better hurry home. Mrs. Taft is probably waiting.”

“Yes, sir,” Ben agreed as the girls stepped up into the buggy.

As Ben drove away from the store, Mandie said, “Ben, Mr. Heyward was telling you in his own words not to take us anywhere else, wasn't he? Just straight back to Grandmother's?”

Ben cleared his throat and said, “Mistuh Heyward, he jes' be
lookin' out fo' you young ladies' safety now dat thieves roam around town.”

“I know,” Mandie muttered. She wondered how they could ever get back to that alley again with everyone looking out for their safety.

When the girls got back to Mrs. Taft's house, Mrs. Manning was just driving up in her buggy. She stepped down and waited for the girls as Ben brought the vehicle to a stop at the front door.