Mandie Collection, The: 4 (77 page)

“Of course,” Celia agreed, tying a green ribbon in her hair to match her dress.

“Mr. Van Dongen must have some enemies who tied him up like that. Why, he could have died in there, starved to death or something, if we hadn’t found him,” Mandie said, shaking out her long skirt.

“I’m about to starve to death, Mandie. Let’s go,” Celia urged her friend.

Mandie looked down at Snowball curled up on the rug asleep. “I’ll have to take him or he won’t get anything to eat.” She reached down and scooped him up in her arms.

Gretchen met the girls at the door to the parlor and took the kitten to the kitchen.

Mrs. Taft, Senator Morton, Uncle Ned, and Jonathan were already sitting at the table. The girls exchanged greetings with the adults, and Mandie sat down next to Uncle Ned, with Celia on her other side next to Jonathan.

“We had to wait breakfast for you,” Mrs. Taft said, looking sternly at Mandie and Celia.

“I’m sorry, Grandmother,” Mandie said with a faint smile.

“I apologize, Mrs. Taft,” Celia told her.

Mandie looked at Jonathan and whispered, “How did you get here so fast?”

“It doesn’t take boys as long to dress as girls, with all their frills and long hair,” Jonathan said with his mischievous grin.

“Oh, I know how fast you move,” Mandie replied briskly. “It didn’t take you long to mix that paint at the factory!”

Uncle Ned heard the exchange and frowned. “Think, Papoose, think before you speak, before you act.”

“Yes, Uncle Ned,” Mandie replied in a whisper. “But you don’t know what happened at the factory. I’ll tell you as soon as I get a chance.”

Uncle Ned looked at Mandie with a puzzled expression.

Mrs. Taft spoke across the table to Uncle Ned. “I’m so glad you have arrived, sir. I know how much you enjoy being with the young people. Senator Morton and I would like to go into town to a music presentation today. Maybe you wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on these three.”

The old Indian smiled and said, “Be glad, madam.”

The three young people exchanged glances and grinned. Mandie knew her Indian friend was not nearly as strict as her grandmother,
and she was anxious to carry on with the solution to the mystery surrounding the windmill.

“When are y’all going?” Mandie asked too quickly, sipping her hot coffee.

“As soon as we finish breakfast,” Mrs. Taft told her. “Now, Amanda, I expect you to inform Uncle Ned of your whereabouts at all times. Don’t be causing him any trouble.”

“Of course not, ma’am. We will be with Uncle Ned, or tell him where we are going,” Mandie answered as respectfully as possible.

When everyone had finished with breakfast, Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton left the room to prepare for their trip into town. The young people and Uncle Ned gathered in the parlor, and Gretchen brought Mandie her cat. She tethered him to a chair on his leash.

“Uncle Ned, I’d like to talk to you for a few minutes,” Mandie began. She looked at Celia, and the girl caught her wish immediately.

“Come on, Jonathan,” she said, “let’s go outside and walk around to where we can see the windmill. She undid Snowball’s leash from the chair and said, “I’ll take him out for some air, Mandie.”

“Thank you,” Mandie told her with a smile.

Jonathan, walking toward the door, asked, “Are you two coming outside later?”

“Of course. We’ll be out in a few minutes,” Mandie assured him. “Don’t go off to the miller’s without us.”

Jonathan stopped and looked at her. “Mr. Van Dongen is probably still asleep. Remember? He said he was going to sleep.”

“That’s right. But we’ll be out in a few minutes anyway,” Mandie said.

Jonathan and Celia left the parlor, and Mandie turned on the settee to face her Cherokee friend.

“Uncle Ned, Jonathan has done an awful thing and I’m really worried about him,” Mandie blurted.

“Jonathan?” the old man questioned.

“You see, we went to the Delftware factory yesterday, and they have this blue paint that they paint all the dishes with. But they also had a huge barrel of yellow paint for the walls,” Mandie began. “Jonathan joked about what would happen if we mixed the blue and the yellow together, making it green, of course. Then he disappeared for a few
minutes, and when he came back the worker in front of us was painting a piece of porcelain and the paint he was using from the funnel suddenly turned green!”

Uncle Ned frowned and asked, “Did Jonathan boy say he put blue and yellow paint together?”

“Oh, no, he denied it,” Mandie quickly replied.

“Then Papoose think Jonathan boy lie?” Uncle Ned asked.

“He did lie, I’m sure, Uncle Ned,” Mandie said.

Uncle Ned reached to take her small white hand in his old, dark, wrinkled one. “Papoose, think. Must not accuse. Even with proof. Must tell grown people. They straighten it out,” he tried to explain to her.

“But I can’t tell anyone, Uncle Ned. Senator Morton said the Royal family might be angry enough to hang whoever did it,” Mandie said.

“Papoose ask Jonathan’s forgiveness. Then forget it,” Uncle Ned advised. “Papoose not know anything for sure.”

“But, Uncle Ned, I feel like he did it. In fact, I don’t have any proof, but I’m sure he did it,” Mandie insisted as she withdrew her hand from his.

“Think, Papoose, think,” he reminded her. He stood up. “Papoose go ask forgiveness now.”

“But I can’t, Uncle Ned. I feel so sure he did it,” Mandie repeated. She looked up at him and said, “I want to tell you about the miller, too.”

Uncle Ned sat down again, and Mandie related the events concerning the miller and his son. She told him about meeting the son at the inn, and then about all of them going to visit at his house. She mentioned the miller’s abrupt remark that he had to go back to work, and they had to leave. She explained about the windmill blades, and also told him of the man and the girl they had seen leave the parade.

“It may not sound connected, but I believe it is,” Mandie said.

“Maybe,” the old Indian said. “Maybe connected to paint at factory, too.”

Mandie thought about that for a minute, then decided it couldn’t be. The Delftware factory was a long way from here. “I don’t see how it could be related,” she said. “Anyway, we ought to go back to see the miller. Maybe he will be ready to answer some questions for us.” She stood up.

“We go, but Papoose must not cause miller anger,” the old man warned her.

They stepped outside and found Celia and Jonathan on a bench in the flower garden. Snowball was anchored to the leg of the bench, but still had room to play around at the end of the long leash.

“Where are the windmill blades set?” Mandie asked as she approached them.

“They’re set in the position to show that the mill is closed, just like they’ve been so far,” Jonathan answered.

“Well, I suppose we can’t go over there until the miller gets his nap,” Mandie said. “Why don’t we show Uncle Ned around the house?”

“That’s a good idea,” Celia said, rising from the bench.

“Wait, I know a better idea,” Mandie said. “We’ve been wanting to go see the widow’s house. Let’s all walk over that way.”

“Why not? We may even meet up with her son,” Jonathan teased.

Mandie looked straight at him and said, “Maybe we will.” She saw Uncle Ned looking at her. She turned to Celia and said, “Let’s go. I’ll take Snowball.” Celia untied the leash from the bench, and Mandie secured it firmly, although Snowball attempted to make a dash for it.

Mandie led the way to the road. As they neared the house, Mandie realized it was larger than she had first thought. It was surrounded by flower gardens, and weeping willows lined the walk from the road.

They all paused at the walkway.

“Should we go up and knock on the door?” Celia asked.

“I’ll knock on the door,” Mandie said, going ahead down the lane.

“What are you going to say when someone comes to the door?” Jonathan asked as he quickened his steps.

Mandie stopped and looked at him. “I’ll just tell whoever it is that we’ve come to visit,” she said.

“That might not go over too well,” Jonathan whispered as he looked back at Uncle Ned who followed at a brief distance. “I mean, with a real live Indian with us.”

Mandie stopped, put her hands on her hips, and said, “Jonathan Guyer! Do you forget I’m one-fourth Cherokee?”

“Of course not, Mandie, but these people in Europe don’t have people like him living around them. They’ve probably never seen an American Indian,” Jonathan quickly whispered back.

“Well, they’re going to see one now,” Mandie said, holding on to Snowball’s leash and marching up to the front door. Lifting the knocker she banged it several times.

The others stood by waiting and listening. There was no response.

“Must not be anyone home,” Celia said.

“Let’s go to the back,” Mandie suggested, leading the way to the back door. She quickly knocked again. No one came. The house was silent.

“Papoose, people not home,” Uncle Ned finally spoke up.

“Well, I guess you’re right,” Mandie admitted reluctantly. “Seems like we can never find anyone at home. Let’s go back, and we’ll show you the house, Uncle Ned. It has lots of nooks and crannies.”

Back at the house, Mandie began upstairs and showed Uncle Ned each room, having familiarized herself with them on their search for Snowball their first night there. However, since it was daytime, the young people had a chance to see everything better than they had that night. The furniture seemed to be mostly antiques, and everything was clean and in order.

After looking in all the rooms upstairs Mandie remarked, “None of these rooms look occupied. Where do you suppose Gretchen sleeps?”

“She may be a day maid, Mandie,” Celia told her.

“But she is here so much I believe she must live here.” Changing the subject, Mandie said, “Remember the locked door we found in that small bedroom that seemed to lead to the attic?”

“Yes,” Jonathan said. “Did you want to check it again?”

“Lets,” Mandie answered.

When they found the room and tried the inside door, they discovered that it was still locked.

“Why would they keep a door to the attic locked? Not only that, this door looks like all the other doors to the rooms up here,” Mandie said.

“One door, Papoose miss,” Uncle Ned said with a twinkle in his eye.

“Where, Uncle Ned, where?” Mandie asked.

“Room with books,” he replied, pointing.

“Show us, Uncle Ned,” Mandie said.

The old Indian led them down the hallway and around the turn to a small room that was evidently a sitting room for the huge bedroom next to it. He walked across the carpet and motioned toward a panel in the wall. “There,” he said. The wall was in the shadow of bookshelves and freestanding screens.

Celia and Jonathan crowded close, and Mandie examined the panel. Uncle Ned was right. There was a small handle ring almost concealed in the wood. She turned the handle and pulled. It didn’t budge. Then she tried pushing, and it opened up onto a narrow staircase.

“Uncle Ned, you are a detective!” Mandie exclaimed as she began to climb the stairs. She handed the end of Snowball’s leash to Celia. “I’m going up. Anybody want to join me?” Without waiting for an answer, she started up.

“Papoose, be careful,” Uncle Ned warned.

“I’ll be careful, Uncle Ned,” she promised as she slowly ascended the steps.

Jonathan followed, but Celia stayed back with Uncle Ned.

Arriving at the top of the stairs, Mandie could see a little more clearly, and she found a door. She tried it, but it was locked.

“It’s locked, of course,” she called down.

Jonathan tried it, too, but it wouldn’t budge. He and Mandie went down the way they’d come without exchanging a word.

“Let’s show Uncle Ned the downstairs and that flower room,” Mandie suggested, leading the way to the first floor. She took Snowball’s leash from Celia.

Finally locating the room full of flowers, Mandie turned to Uncle Ned. “Do you see anything here that grows back home, or is it all Dutch?”

Uncle Ned examined the plants and flowers. Every inch of table, chairs, and shelves was covered with something growing in pots of every size.

Mandie watched as Uncle Ned finally shook his head and said, “None of these in America.” He surveyed the room and came to the door the young people had found that night.

“That’s Anna’s room, I think,” Mandie said. She rapped lightly on the door, and then remembered that Anna was deaf. “You know, we haven’t seen a single servant since breakfast. I wonder where they all went? Maybe it’s time for dinner.”

“My stomach feels like it’s time,” Jonathan remarked.

“Mine too,” Celia added.

“Then we eat,” Uncle Ned said.

“This way to the dining room,” Mandie said, entering the hallway. She hurried ahead and pushed open the door. The table was elegantly set with china and silver, and the food was already on the table. “It’s ready,” Mandie said to the others.

They began to take their places, but something was wrong. Usually Gretchen called them in, and then brought the hot food. Now the food was laid out and getting cold.

“Where is everybody?” Mandie asked. She tied Snowball’s leash to a chair leg.

“Let me look in the kitchen to see if Gretchen or Anna is there,” Mandie said as she hurried out of the dining room.

She found no one, but the fire was going in the cookstove and there was a steaming pot of coffee ready to serve. She couldn’t understand what was going on.

Hurrying back to the dining room she said, “Wait just one more minute. I’m going to run to the barn.”

She hurried out the back door and down the pathway to the barn. After checking each room and stall, she couldn’t find anyone there, either. Even the van Courtland’s cart and horse were gone, and of course William had taken their rented carriage to drive Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton into town. Something strange was happening.

When she got back to the dining room, her friends had taken seats and were waiting for her. She pulled out a chair by Uncle Ned and sat down.

“There is nobody anywhere. It seems strange to me,” Mandie said, catching her breath after the fast trip to the barn.