Leppard, Lois Gladys - [Mandie 02] (10 page)

All were speechless as they stared at the crude letters on the stone wall.

Joe turned to Ned. “Could it really have been Tsali who wrote this message and left the gold?”

The old Indian nodded. “His name.” He pointed to the symbol under the English “Tsali.”

“He did not forget his people,” Dimar said very solemnly. “He gave his life and left them a fortune.”

“After all these years!” Mandie exclaimed. “And to think we were the ones who discovered it!”

“Someone else must have written the message for him,” Uncle John said.

“Probably the white man, William H. Thomas, who came to ask him to surrender to save his people,” Sallie added. “He was the trusted friend of the Cherokee people.”

“Of course,” Uncle John agreed.

“Would it be possible to take the message, too, with the gold?” Mandie asked.

“You don’t mean that?” Joe laughed. “That’s a stone wall.”

“I just don’t know. I suppose we could get somebody to look at it to see if the piece of stone could be chiseled out,” Uncle John suggested.

Elizabeth asked, “Wouldn’t it be better to leave it here for history’s sake?”

“Well—” began John.

“On, no, Mother,” Mandie protested. “You see, the wall caved in on us when we climbed through the hole we dug, and sooner or later rockslides will completely cover it again and maybe even break it up. Besides, we don’t want to spread word about the gold yet, do we?”

“You’re right,” her uncle said. “We’ll see about getting it chiseled out.”

“We take message out,” Uncle Ned told them.

Wirt nodded.

“Please, could I help?” Dimar asked.

Uncle Ned nodded. “Strong brave.”

“Let’s hurry,” Uncle John said, bending to help fill the sacks. “We want to get back before sundown. Uncle Ned, you and Uncle Wirt can come back whenever you get ready and see what you can do about cutting out the message.”

Carefully sorting through the rocks to be sure they got it all, they finally finished filling the sacks and carried them to the wagon. It was time-consuming and back-breaking work, but it seemed worth the effort. With all this gold the Cherokees could accomplish a lot.

As they prepared to return to Uncle Ned’s cabin, Uncle John warned them, “It’s better that we don’t discuss this with anyone outside our little group here until we can come to some decision as to how to give this gold to the Cherokee people.”

Uncle Ned looked fiercely at the others. “No talk!”

Uncle Wirt added, “No talk.”

The others agreed. Some plan would have to be made for distributing the gold to the Indians, and until something was finalized, it would be safer not to let anyone else know about what they had found.

It was dark when they arrived at Uncle Ned’s cabin. Morning Star had the table set with food to greet them. They hurriedly unloaded the gold in the barn and covered it with hay.

“Should be safe here until we can decide something further,” Uncle John said as they shut the door. He took the nail hanging on a leather strap and dropped it into the hook, the only way there was to secure the door.

They were all happy as they walked toward the cabin, not realizing they were being watched in the darkness.

Chapter 10 - Thieves in the Night

The four young people were talkative and restless long after they had gone to bed. Snowball sensed their mood and bounced around between them. There was a small window next to Mandie’s bed, and she and Sallie kept peering out at the barn.

“Just think what’s in the barn!” Mandie exclaimed.

“Yes, and think of how much fun it will be giving it to the Cherokees,” Joe called over the dividing wall.

“It is such a dark night. If the moon were only shining, we could see the barn more clearly,” the Indian girl said.

“I do not think we need to stay up all night watching the barn,” Dimar said from the small room he occupied with Joe.

Sallie tensed up suddenly. “Mandie! Look! Is that someone out there?”

Mandie pressed her face against the windowpane. “Where, Sallie?”

“At the corner. There!” Sallie poked at the window.

“I can’t see anyone, Sallie,” Mandie was getting excited.

“Oh, I suppose it was just my imagination,” Sallie admitted. “We should go to sleep.”

“I can’t believe those girls,” Joe sighed.

“Hey, wait, I see a light! Look!” Mandie shouted.

The two girls stared hard into the darkness. Then gradually the light grew stronger.

“It’s a fire! The barn is on fire!” Mandie screamed. She ran to the ladder and screamed again. “Uncle Ned, Uncle John, the barn is on fire!”

Dimar and Joe hastily pulled on their trousers and ran to see. They took one look through the window and flew down the ladder. The girls, pulling their dresses on over their heads, followed, Snowball close behind.

Uncle Ned and Uncle John were already out the door by the time the boys’ feet hit the floor. Elizabeth and Morning Star were getting dressed.

“Bell!” shouted Uncle Ned to Dimar as he ran. The boy understood and ran to the huge iron bell hanging in the tree and pulled the rope. The clapper sent out a loud gong and in seconds neighboring Indians began appearing from all directions carrying water buckets.

“Oh, please, dear God, don’t let it burn up!” Mandie prayed as she was held back by her mother.

There were so many men fighting the fire that it was soon extinguished with little damage done, thanks to the girls who had seen it start. Uncle Wirt had gone to his son’s house for the night, and he was among the firefighters who had answered the call of the bell.

The volunteers all went home and Uncle Ned, Uncle Wirt and Uncle John stood surveying the damage.

“Thank goodness we caught it in time,” John said. “That was deliberately set. I just hope whoever it was doesn’t come back tonight.”

“I will guard the barn,” Dimar offered as he stepped forward. “I will stay out here.”

Joe, not to be outdone, spoke up, “I’ll help you. One of us can sleep inside while the other one watches and then we can switch.”

So it was agreed. The boys stood watch for the rest of the night. The girls, more restless than ever, kept watching at the window.

“Who do you suppose set that fire?” Mandie asked as they lay by the window.

“I do not know,” the Indian girl said. “But whoever it was I wish we could catch him.”

“I have a feeling whoever did it knew about the gold,” Mandie said.

“Yes, I think so, too,” Sallie agreed.

“Tomorrow Uncle John will repair the barn and Uncle Ned and Uncle Wirt will go back and start work on chiseling out the message in the cave. And when they get done, we can do something with the gold. Uncle John said they wanted the message to show the people when they present the gold to them.”

“That will be a great day for the Cherokee!” the Indian girl said.

Tired and worn out, the two girls were soon asleep in spite of their excitement. But while they slept peacefully, things were not so peaceful in Uncle Ned’s yard.

Joe was trying to sleep inside on the haystack, while Dimar was on guard outside the barn. He couldn’t get comfortable, his ears attuned for intruders. Finally he gave up trying to sleep and went outside to join Dimar.

“I might as well forget it,” he told the Indian boy. “I can’t go to sleep in there.”

“I can’t sleep either,” Dimar said.

“How about if you stay in the front here and I’ll stay at the back?” Joe asked.

“All right. Sounds good to me.” Dimar was too tired to argue.

Joe walked around to the back and stretched out in the grass. He had been lying there for what seemed like hours to him, when he heard the soft snap of a twig. He didn’t move, but his ears perked up to listen. The night was so dark it was impossible to see very far. Then he heard another pop in the underbrush behind the barn. Now he was certain someone was there. He waited, his heart pounding furiously. Whoever it was, he must be out of sight lying in the tall grass.

Quietly turning on his side with his eyes trained on the brush in front of him, Joe finally distinguished the figure of a man. He took one step forward, pausing to listen, took another, then paused again. Joe waited until he was almost within reach, then bolted upright.

He could hardly believe his eyes, “Tsa’ni! You liar! You’re supposed to be in bed!”

Tsa’ni stared in surprise at the sudden outburst. As he turned to run, Dimar, having heard the commotion, joined the chase. He was as surprised as Joe to see Tsa’ni.

“Tsa’ni! You are a disgrace to our people!” Dimar shouted at the fleeing Indian, who, knowing the area so well, was soon far from the reach of his pursuers.

The two boys finally gave up the chase. “Looks like we lost him,” Joe said, exhausted and gasping for air.

“Yes, but now we know who started the fire, don’t you think, Joe?” Dimar replied, wiping the perspiration from his forehead.

“Shall we wake up his mother and Uncle Wirt and tell them?” Joe asked. “We must be somewhere near his house. I’m sure he’s the culprit all right.”

“No, I think it best we wait until daylight. We can keep watch until morning, and then we’ll tell Uncle Ned,” the Indian boy said.

“Yeh, Uncle Ned will know what to do,” Joe agreed, as they returned to the barn.

In spite of their good intentions, they both fell fast asleep and didn’t awaken until daybreak, when they heard Morning Star open the door of the cabin.

They waited until everyone was gathered around the table, and then relayed the excitement of the night before.

“Uncle Ned, we think we know who set fire to your barn,” Joe told the old man.

Every head turned in his direction. Just then, Uncle Wirt came in through the open door, unnoticed.

“Who?” Uncle Ned asked.

“Tsa’ni,” Joe replied.

Uncle Wirt stopped in his tracks, his presence still undetected.

“
Tsa’ni?
” Uncle Ned repeated, shaking his head. There were a few seconds of shocked silence; then the questions began.

“How do you know, Joe?” Uncle John asked.

“We caught him prowling around the barn last night, only he escaped,” Joe said.

“Joe caught him by surprise. We know it was Tsa’ni. We chased him a long time,” Dimar added.

Uncle Wirt stepped forward to the table and everyone noticed him for the first time.

“Tsa’ni?” Uncle Wirt asked incredulously.

“Yes, Uncle Wirt,” Joe replied.

“Tsa’ni—gone last night,” Uncle Wirt nodded.

“I’m sorry, Uncle Wirt. I know he’s your grandson,” Uncle John sympathized.

“No. Tsa’ni bad Indian,” Uncle Wirt affirmed. “He make lies.”

“We chased him all through the woods, but he didn’t go home,” Joe said.

“But, we didn’t actually
see
him set fire to the barn,” Mandie spoke up. “We couldn’t say for sure that he was the one who did it unless we actually saw him, right?”

“You are absolutely right, my dear,” Uncle John agreed. “We are jumping to conclusions. Just because Joe and Dimar saw him near the barn last night doesn’t mean he was the one who started the fire.”

“But what other reason would he have for lying about not being able to walk and then showing up at Uncle Ned’s barn the night of the fire?” Joe argued. “If he were just curious, he wouldn’t have taken off like the wind when he saw us.”

“ ‘Judge not, lest ye be judged,’ ” Mandie quoted. “Do you remember our Sunday school lesson not long ago, Joe?”

Elizabeth gazed admiringly at her daughter and smiled.

“I don’t understand why you are always defending him, Mandie, after all the things he has done to us.” Joe shook his head.

Uncle Ned pushed a plate of food toward Uncle Wirt. “Sit. Eat. We go get message in cave.”

Uncle Wirt sat down and began eating.

“I would like to talk to Tsa’ni if anybody sees him,” Uncle John said.

“No one is going to be seeing him around for a while. I’m sure of that!” Joe was emphatic.

“You boys better get some sleep,” Uncle John told them.

“Sleep? We want to help fix the barn!” Joe said between mouthfuls.

“Sure thing,” Dimar added.

“All right, but you must both be terribly tired—or did you sleep some last night?” He looked at the boys with a knowing grin.

They both dropped their heads. Joe told him, “I guess I dozed off a little after we lost Tsa’ni.”

“So did I,” Dimar admitted.

Uncle Ned got his tools from the barn, harnessed up the horses to the wagon, and he and Uncle Wirt set out for the cave.

The boys went out to work on the barn with Uncle John.

Mandie and Sallie helped Morning Star and Elizabeth with chores around the house. Everyone was occupied for the day, though constantly on the alert. But just as Joe predicted, the day passed peacefully with no sign of Tsa’ni.

Inside the cave Uncle Ned and Uncle Wirt began hammering away at the stone wall. After hours and hours of work, they had made a continuous crack around the carved message and stood back to survey their work. Then there was a soft rumble. The two men held their breath listening. The rumble became louder and louder until the whole cave seemed to tremble.

“Rockslide!” gasped Uncle Ned, snatching his lantern and tools as he stumbled backward to the other side of the cavern.

The two men were temporarily stunned, and then suddenly the whole wall broke into pieces and a portion of the ceiling came crashing down. They ran for their lives. The noise was deafening. They had barely reached the entrance when the whole cave seemed to collapse. They ran without stopping until they were safely on the road. When they gazed back, it seemed the entire mountainside had changed in appearance. Huge boulders had slid down the side, dragging trees and brush with them into the waterfall. Everything in view was in shambles.

“Cave—gone!” Uncle Ned gasped.

“Gone!” echoed Uncle Wirt.

“Tsali message gone!” Uncle Ned wiped tears from his eyes as he thought about the great Indian hero who had remembered his people even in death.

Uncle Wirt could not speak. He simply turned toward the wagon on the road. Uncle Ned followed him and together they rode silently back to tell the others the news.