The Mandie Collection (16 page)

A bunch of thank-you’s were sent up the table. Then there were puzzled looks among all the young people. They couldn’t discuss this invitation in the presence of Mrs. Taft because she knew they were all hoping to go to Europe on one of Mrs. Taft’s ships for the summer.

Then Jonathan caught Mandie’s glance, winked at her, and said, “That would be fun, having all of you at my house for the summer. We could do all kinds of things, never a boring moment in New York.”

To her surprise, all her other friends joined in.

“Yes, it would be a very enjoyable summer,” Celia remarked.

“And to me it would be a most wonderful experience,” Sallie said.

“I have never been to New York,” Dimar spoke at last.

“Yes, it would be very educational to spend the summer in New York,” Joe said, grinning at Mandie.

“Let’s discuss this later,” Mandie told them.

Lindall Guyer looked around the table at them and said, “Yes, please do discuss it later. And let me know whenever you decide. I sincerely hope you will all come to visit.”

As soon as everyone left the table, the adults went to the parlor and Mandie motioned for her friends to go with her to the back parlor. They needed to have a serious discussion about this invitation for a summer in New York.

As soon as they closed the door behind them in the back parlor and sat down, Mandie quickly asked, “Jonathan, was your father serious about this invitation to visit y’all, or was he trying to make Grandmother decide whether we are going to Europe with her or not?”

Jonathan grinned and said, “He was serious, but on the other hand he knows about your grandmother holding out on a decision as to whether or not we will be going with her to Europe. So I suppose he was trying to make her decide.”

“Well, it didn’t work, did it? She didn’t say a thing,” Mandie replied.

“No, but we didn’t accept or decline the invitation, either,” Celia reminded her.

“I was serious when I said it would be an educational opportunity to spend the summer in New York,” Joe said. “And for once I have caught up with my class and won’t have to take extra classes this coming summer, unless I want to.”

“Oh, Joe, I’m so glad for you,” Mandie said.

“Of course I’d rather go to Europe. However, you are all welcome at my house and we could have a great time for the summer,” Jonathan said.

Mandie looked at Jonathan and asked, “When should we let your father know whether or not we’re coming to your house?”

“Anytime would be fine. If we don’t go to Europe, of course I’ll be home anyway,” Jonathan replied.

Mandie looked at Dimar and asked, “Would you like to spend the summer in New York at Jonathan’s house if we don’t go to Europe?”

“I am not sure I would want to go to Europe and spend the whole summer over there, or spend the whole summer in New York, either,” Dimar replied.

“Dimar, you must travel some to be properly educated,” Sallie told him.

“Dimar, you wouldn’t have to stay all summer at my house if you don’t want to. You could come home any time you wish,” Jonathan told him.

“But you would have to stay with us all summer in Europe unless you wanted to return across the ocean all by yourself,” Sallie reminded him.

“I will think about it,” Dimar promised with a smile.

“We all need to think about this,” Mandie told her friends. “If Grandmother doesn’t take us to Europe, I’m ready to go to your house, Jonathan. And it would be nice if we could all spend the summer together somewhere.”

“Mandie, would your mother know what your grandmother is planning?” Celia asked.

Mandie shook her head and replied, “I don’t think so. I don’t believe Grandmother ever confides in anyone. Maybe by the time the Christmas holidays are over she will let us know whether we are going to Europe or not.”

“I hope so,” Jonathan said.

“Yes,” the others agreed.

Mandie had some thinking to do. She had to figure out some way to get Mrs. Taft to make a decision. However, she didn’t want to make her angry with questions because she sincerely wanted to go to Europe for the summer. She’d have to figure out just how to handle this.

Mandie woke early the next morning. Snowball had managed to get between her and Celia and was purring loudly. She sat up to make him move and to her amazement he had one of the kittens and was vigorously washing it with his tongue as he purred.

“Snowball!” Mandie exclaimed, and giving Celia a push, she said, “Celia, wake up. Look at Snowball. He has one of the kittens.”

Celia instantly sat up, and across the room Sallie also woke up. She was sleeping on a single bed that had been placed in Mandie’s room so the three girls could be together.

“Snowball!” Celia said. “How did you get that kitten?”

Sallie quickly joined them on the big bed to look.

“Someone must have left the door to the storage room open,” Sallie said.

“Yes, Aunt Lou said they would be shut up in there after they ate,” Mandie agreed. “I wonder where the other kitten is, and the mother cat.” She glanced around the room. The door was slightly open. “And I wonder who opened our door and let Snowball out.”

“That kitten is not protesting. He must like all that washing,” Celia said with a big smile.

“We must return the kitten to its mother,” Sallie said.

“Yes, or the mama cat will be looking all over the house for it,” Mandie agreed as she jumped out of bed.

“Do you suppose the other kitten also got out?” Sallie asked as they took down dresses to put on.

“I hope not because there’s no telling where it is if it did,” Mandie said, buttoning the buttons down the front of her red dress.

“Someone must be already up. Otherwise how did the kitten get out, and how did our door get opened?” Celia remarked as she brushed her long auburn hair.

After they were dressed they started for the door. Mandie stopped and said, “I suppose we’d better take the kitten with us.” She went back and picked it up. Snowball followed with a loud purring sound as they went out into the hall.

The house seemed quiet. There was no one around until they got to the kitchen. Aunt Lou and Liza were busy in there getting breakfast ready.

“Look what Snowball had,” Mandie said, holding up the kitten for them to see.

“Snowball! Lawsy mercy!” Aunt Lou exclaimed as she filled the percolator with water. “Where he git dat?”

“I don’t know how he got it, but he had it in our bed when we woke up this morning,” Mandie explained. “And our door was open.”

“Been meanin’ to tell ya, dat do’ hit won’t stay shut no more,” Liza told her. “Think it’s shut and soon as you walk away it comes open all by itself.”

“Then we need to get Mr. Jason to fix it,” Mandie said as she walked over and dropped the kitten in the woodbox. “I’ll leave it right here where it can’t run away.”

“Liza, go check dat storage room and see if dat cat and other kitten be in there,” Aunt Lou said.

“Yessum,” Liza said, hurrying from the kitchen.

“Since y’all done up and dressed, sit down over there and de coffee will be ready right quick,” Aunt Lou told the girls, motioning toward the table that the servants used to eat on.

Mandie, Celia, and Sallie sat down at the table and Liza hurried back into the room.

“Dat cat ain’t dere,” she said excitedly. “And de other kitten he ain’t dere, either. And dat door to de storage room it won’t stay shut, either.”

“Oh goodness, we’ll have to find the cat and the other kitten,” Mandie said with a groan. “Why won’t that door stay closed, Liza?”

“Same as yo do’, jes’ won’t stick shut. Must be de house fallin’ in after dat crack in de tunnel downstairs,” Liza said, getting cups and saucers down from the cupboard for the girls.

“Now, Liza, I don’t think the house is falling in,” Mandie told her. “Uncle John had that crack examined by experts and they said it did not affect the foundation.”

“So you suppose someone is going around opening doors?” Celia asked.

“But why would someone do that?” Mandie asked.

Uncle Ned came in the back door and came to sit with the girls.

“My grandfather,” Sallie said to him. “There are doors in this house that will not stay closed. Could you fix them?”

Uncle Ned nodded as Aunt Lou poured coffee into his cup. “I fix. What doors?” he asked.

Mandie explained what was going on. “And now we have to find the mother cat and the other kitten and there’s no telling where they might be,” she added. “But they will get out again if that door to the storage room won’t stay closed.”

Joe, Jonathan, and Dimar came into the kitchen just as everyone had their cups filled and joined them at the table.

“You girls must have risen before daylight,” Jonathan told them with a grin as he sipped his hot coffee.

“Since today is Sunday we might have slept a little longer, but we were awakened by Snowball,” Mandie replied and explained about the kitten.

“So now we have to search for the other kitten and the mama,” Joe said with a loud groan.

Abraham came in the door from the hallway. “Looks like dat cat found her another place to sleep,” he said with a big grin.

“You know where the cat is?” Mandie quickly asked.

“Sho do. She be in de parlor on de hearth by de fire I built a while ago,” he said.

“Then we won’t have to search for the cat, thank goodness,” Joe said.

Mandie explained to him about the cat and the kittens. “And the other baby kitten is in the woodbox over there, just in case you plan on throwing wood in it.”

“I fix door right now,” Uncle Ned said, rising from the table.

The young people stood around in the hall watching while Uncle Ned, with Abraham’s assistance, repaired the latch on the storage room door. He closed it several times, testing it, and then declared, “Stay closed now.”

“Let’s get the cat and the other kitten now,” Mandie said to her friends.

They hurried down the hallway to the parlor and went to the hearth looking for the cat. It was not there, nor was the kitten.

“Oh, shucks!” Mandie exclaimed. “Now we do have to search for that cat. If she’s not housebroken she may make a mess somewhere.”

So the search began. Mandie and her friends looked under all the furniture and in all the rooms on the first floor. There was no sign of the cat or the kitten.

“That cat sure knows how to hide,” Jonathan remarked as they finished searching the last room.

“You know, Mandie, this gets to be a habit. We are always looking for something,” Joe said with a big grin.

“That’s because something or someone is always getting lost,” Mandie replied, returning his grin.

They returned to the parlor where they had begun. As they passed the huge Christmas tree standing in the hall, Mandie said, “It’s good that cat didn’t bother our tree.”

“Yes, that could mean trouble for that cat,” Jonathan agreed as they went on into the parlor.

Although they had searched the parlor first, all of the young people quickly looked again behind and under all the furniture.

Dimar walked over to the window to look out. “I do not believe it has snowed much more since last night,” he said.

The others came to join him.

“There’s not much out there after all,” Mandie said.

“We won’t have any problem getting to church this morning,” Celia remarked.

“Not enough to build a snowman,” Jonathan told them.

“It would melt right down anyway because it’s not cold enough to stay,” Joe agreed.

Sallie pushed back the curtain a little to see out. She quickly jumped back. “The cat is there!” she told the others, pointing behind the curtain on the wide windowsill.

“Please help me see that it doesn’t get away,” Mandie said, slowly approaching the window. She eased back the curtain and the mama cat sat up and meowed. “Nice girl, I’m going to pick you up and take you back to your bed.” She reached for the cat but the cat jumped down and ran across the parlor to the door. “Well, at least the kitten is still here,” Mandie said, picking up the tiny cat.

They followed the cat down the hallway as it headed straight for the kitchen. Mandie pushed open the door and let it into the room. It began meowing loudly and Aunt Lou looked at it and said, “Dat cat hungry. Liza, git some food down by de woodbox for it, quick like.”

Liza fed the cat and Mandie put the kitten in the woodbox with the other kitten. She laughed and looked at her friends. “Well, we at least solved that mystery.”

“Oh, but Mandie, we have an unsolved mystery,” Joe teased her. “Where is Snowball?”

Everyone looked around the room. Mandie said, “We let him out of our room, but I don’t remember seeing where he went.”

“This cat business could take up the whole day,” Jonathan teased.

So the search began for Snowball. Every nook and cranny in the big house was searched as the young people quickly spread out through the rooms. But Snowball was nowhere to be found.

The adults came down for breakfast and sat in the parlor waiting for the call to the dining room. Mandie and her friends were already sitting together in one corner discussing what they should do next to look for the missing cat.

“Maybe some of the grown-ups have seen Snowball,” Celia suggested.

“Yes, we should ask,” Sallie agreed.

Mandie looked across the room and waited until her mother seemed to have finished a conversation with the others. Then she stood up and said, “Mother, we can’t find Snowball. He seems to have disappeared. Have any of y’all seen him this morning?”

The adults quickly looked at each other and shook their heads.

“No, I haven’t, Amanda, and I don’t think anyone here has,” Elizabeth Shaw replied. “Have you looked in all the rooms?”

“Yes, ma’am, except the adults’ rooms, of course,” Mandie replied. She told her mother about finding the cat with the kitten in her bed, and all the grown-ups laughed.

Mandie looked at her friends and frowned. She didn’t think it was funny, so she sat back down and turned her attention to Joe. “Do you think Snowball could have gone outside? Remember when we lived at Charley Gap how he always darted out the door every time it was opened?”

“Yes, why don’t we go look around outside?” Joe replied. “If he did go outside I don’t think he’ll stay long because it’s cold out there.” He stood up.

“Amanda, put on your coat and hat if you’re going outside,” Elizabeth told Mandie.

“Yes, ma’am,” Mandie said, and turning to her friends she said, “Joe and I will go look around. Y’all don’t have to come with us because we’re only going to be a minute or two.”

“I hope so,” Jonathan said. “I believe the call to breakfast is due any minute now.”

All the young people laughed.

“Jonathan, you are forever thinking about food,” Celia told him.

“We’ll be right back,” Mandie said, quickly going out into the hall to get her coat and hat from the hall tree and put them on.

Joe did the same and hurried to open the front door.

“It is cold out here,” Mandie said, shrugging her shoulders in the cold frosty air.

Joe glanced up at the sky and said, “Probably more snow is on the way.”

“That’s fine as long as we can get to church and back before it gets too bad to travel,” Mandie replied. “Let’s walk around the house. If he is out here he’s probably sitting at one of the doors and crying to get back inside.”

They circled the house to the back door with no sign of the cat. Then Mandie spotted him sitting on the outside of a window looking into the kitchen.

“There he is,” she exclaimed and went toward him.

Snowball immediately jumped down and hurried to meet her, loudly purring as he approached.

Mandie stooped down to talk to him. “I’m not picking you up because you are bound to be wet in all this snow. Therefore you will have to walk with me to the back door.”

Snowball looked up at her and loudly meowed. She and Joe went on to the back door and Snowball quickly followed and almost tripped Mandie when she opened the door in his haste to get inside.

Aunt Lou and Liza were in the kitchen, finishing the food for breakfast. Snowball ran over to the stove and sat down to wash his face.

“I thought dat cat had more sense den to go outside in de snow,” Aunt Lou said.

“I thought I saw him run out when Abraham brought de wood fo’ de cookstove,” Liza said.

“Maybe he’ll stay inside now that he’s found out how cold it is out there,” Mandie said, removing her coat and hat.

Joe also took off his coat and hat. “I suppose y’all put the mother cat and the kittens back in the storage room?” he asked.

“Yes sirree, can’t have dem strange cats cluttering up my kitchen. Dis heah kitchen belongs to Snowball,” Aunt Lou said. “Now y’all git back in de parlor ’cause we’se ready to announce breakfast.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Mandie said with a big smile.

“Den dis afternoon after we all go to church I wants you to try on dat dress so’s I kin hem it, you understand?” Aunt Lou told Mandie.

“Oh yes, ma’am, Aunt Lou. I know it’s going to be beautiful,” Mandie replied. “Remember all those pretty clothes you made for me when I first came here to live?”

“I sho’ does. Po’ child didn’t have nuthin’ fittin’ to wear,” Aunt Lou replied. “But right now git out of my kitchen. Shoo!” She fanned her big white apron at Mandie and Joe.

They both laughed and went back to the parlor to join the others, and to tell them Snowball had been found and was now in the kitchen.

Aunt Rebecca had joined the group in the parlor and was saying, “So I thought it best if we just keep Mollie in her room.”

The young people looked alarmed.

“What has Mollie done to be kept in her room?” Mandie quickly asked.

“Oh, dear, she hasn’t done anything but come down with a terrible cold,” Aunt Rebecca answered.

“A cold? Can we help in any way, Aunt Rebecca?” Mandie asked.

“Yes, what can we do?” Celia added.

“Nothing, dears, I can take care of her. She’ll be as good as new in a couple of days,” Aunt Rebecca told them.

“So you are not going to church with us then,” Elizabeth Shaw said.

“Not today, but I hope she recovers enough to attend the Christmas Eve service. Since this is Sunday and Christmas Eve is not until Thursday, I’m pretty sure she will make it,” Aunt Rebecca replied.