New Horizons (12 page)

Joe picked up a match and lit a lantern. He passed the glowing lantern to Mandie and said, “I think we'd better light more than one. Remember the time our lantern went out and we were in complete darkness way up the tunnel?”

“Of course I do. That wasn't any fun,” Mandie said as Jonathan picked up another lantern and lit it. Then he held the lantern just inside the tunnel so they could all see. The walls were mainly dirt and rocks.

Snowball scooted into the tunnel between everyone's legs and quickly dashed ahead. Suddenly he stopped, and his fur stood straight up and he growled.

Everyone stopped to look. Joe flashed his lantern ahead. He laughed with relief and told the others, “It's a possum. How did he get in here?”

“How are we going to get him out?” Mandie wondered.

The possum sat there frozen, its eyes glittering in the light of the lantern while everyone looked at it.

“Well, we have to do something,” Joe said, looking around. “Here, if everyone will step up on this ledge here, I'll see if I can chase him outside.”

Everyone quickly stepped up to the ledge. Joe picked up a long stick and began waving it at the possum.

Mandie suddenly remembered something she learned once. “The light blinds him! And Snowball is probably scaring him. Come here, Snowball. Get out of the way!” she called to her cat.

Snowball didn't move and continued growling at the possum.

Suddenly John Shaw came up into the tunnel. “I was sent after y'all to come to dinner,” he said. “What are you doing?” Just then he saw the possum and the cat. He reached down and quickly picked up Snowball, securely holding his paws so he couldn't scratch. “Now poke him with that stick, Joe. Give him a shove. He'll run.”

Joe gave the possum a good poke, and the animal went running on out of the tunnel, with everyone following and laughing. They extinguished their lanterns and set them at the doorway.

As Mandie locked the door, her uncle said, “I wonder how that animal got inside the tunnel? I found the door unlocked the other day but figured I must have forgotten to lock it when I was in there a while ago.”

“Uncle John, you never leave doors unlocked,” Mandie said as they walked up the hill.

“I'm sure I do sometimes,” John Shaw said. “Like if I'm interrupted or something. But I'll come back after we eat and make sure that possum is gone—and there aren't others.”

Mandie handed him the key and said, “Now, don't forget I gave the key to you.” She paused, then added, “You know, Uncle John, even if you did leave the door unlocked, it was closed, and
the possum couldn't possibly have opened the door to get in.”

John Shaw laughed and said, “No, the possum could not have opened the door. But the door was not closed all the way when I found it unlocked the other day. Several days ago I was out here working, but I had to leave quickly to meet someone at the house, and I'm sure I just didn't close the door all the way in my hurry.” He smiled down at her and added, “No mystery about it, blue eyes.”

Mandie grasped his hand as she said, “If you say so.”

The day finally came when Mandie and Celia had to go back to school. Joe escorted them back to Charleston, and Jonathan and his father left in their special train car for New York. Uncle Ned, Morningstar, and Sallie went back to their home, but Mrs. Taft and Mrs. Hamilton stayed on awhile with Elizabeth and John Shaw.

Mr. Ryland met Mandie, Celia, and Joe at the depot with the carriage. Mary Lou was with him. She told them her mother would like for them all to come to their house for supper.

“Joe would like to see the college,” Mandie told her as they boarded the carriage. “We have plenty of time for that, don't we?”

“Yes, we won't eat until six. Let's go on to the college first, then,” Mary Lou decided.

Mr. Ryland waited with the carriage while Joe, Mandie, Celia, and Mary Lou walked around the college.

“The buildings are very impressive,” Joe remarked as he looked around.

When they entered the front door of the main building, Mandie saw a lot of the girls sitting around the reception area. They all paused in their conversations to stare at Joe.

Mandie said under her breath to Celia, “I knew they would do that.” They walked around the lobby and went into the sitting room, where more girls were talking. They, too, paused to look at Joe.

“You'd think these girls had never seen a man before,” Mary Lou remarked under her breath.

“They haven't seen this one before, and they're just wondering who he is,” Mandie whispered back.

“You have a beautiful college.” Joe complimented the girls on their choice of school.

As they walked back up the driveway to return to the carriage, Mandie saw George Stuart and his friend arrive in another carriage. George looked at Mandie and Joe and said to his friend, “Now,
they
must have been properly introduced.”

Mandie hurried to board the carriage with her friends.

“He always has to turn up,” Mandie mumbled to Celia.

“Like he's watching for you,” Celia whispered back.

Mr. and Mrs. Dunnigan made Joe welcome, and everyone enjoyed the visit. Then Mr. Dunnigan insisted that Joe spend the night with them instead of in that lonely hotel. Joe finally agreed, and they went to get his things from the depot.

Then Mandie insisted that Joe should come and see their
boardinghouse and meet Mrs. Thomason.

Mrs. Thomason was very friendly with Joe, and he smiled when he asked, “Now, what about that ghost you have living here?”

Mrs. Thomason laughed and said, “Oh, it's not really a ghost. It's some devilish boys.”

Joe looked at Mandie and Celia and said, “You see, you don't really have a ghost living here.”

“I didn't believe it anyway,” Mandie told him.

Classes wouldn't be starting for another day, so Mandie, Celia, and Mary Lou saw Joe off on the train the next day.

“I'll see you at Christmastime,” Joe called to Mandie and Celia as he waved from the open window of the train.

“Yes, see you then!” Mandie replied as the train pulled out of the station, huffing and puffing and ringing its bell.

The minute the noise was low enough that they could talk, Mary Lou said, “I've been wanting to tell you, but didn't want to say so in front of your friend Joe, but Grace Wilson went somewhere during the holidays after all. The day after y'all left she disappeared. Someone said she had been invited to someone's house for the holidays. I'm so glad for her.”

“Oh yes, I am, too,” Mandie agreed as they boarded their carriage. “But I wonder where she went. Whose house?”

“I'll probably hear about it in my music class tomorrow,” Celia said.

And she did hear about it. Grace had stayed with the woman
who ran the sewing group that made clothes for poor children in the orphanage.

“And I was hoping she had friends to visit,” Mandie said after Celia relayed the information she had learned.

“Those people are her friends, I believe,” Celia replied. “And I'm sure she really enjoys doing such things for people who can't afford anything nice. I would also help out with the sewing, but I don't know how I would go about getting acquainted with them.”

“I would, too,” Mandie said. “We'll have to find a way to get information about this place.”

The next day Mary Lou reported that, after mentioning the sewing to her mother, Mrs. Dunnigan knew immediately who the group was. There was an orphanage across town, and several local women had organized a sewing group to help make clothes for the children. And they would gladly take any volunteers.

Mandie, Celia, and Mary Lou planned to go down there the next weekend and investigate.

When Saturday came, Mandie, Mary Lou, and Celia had Mr. Ryland drive them to the orphanage. It was a very old stone building, long and two stories high. Mrs. Perry, who was in charge, was a tall, slender woman with gray hair and spectacles. She was very friendly and was happy that the girls wanted to help with sewing clothes for the children in the orphanage.

“But I'm sorry to tell you, it is not done here. It is at Mrs.
Wilkes's house across town. I can give you the address and you can call on her if you like,” she told them. She wrote down the name and address and gave it to Mandie.

“Thank you, Mrs. Perry. We'll go there and see Mrs. Wilkes.” The girls thanked her and waved good-bye before climbing back into the carriage.

Mr. Ryland knew all the streets in Charleston, so it was no problem for him to find the address. When he pulled the carriage to a stop in front of a huge brick house, Mandie, Celia, and Mary Lou all looked at one another.

“Are you sure this is the right address?” Mandie asked Mary Lou.

Mary Lou glanced at the paper the woman had given them and said, “Yes, this is the right address.”

“I suppose we can go knock on the door,” Mandie said doubtfully.

A uniformed maid opened the door just moments after the girls knocked.

“We are looking for Mrs. Wilkes, who is in charge of the sewing group for the orphanage.” Mandie was hesitant in her request.

“Yes, misses, come right in,” the maid replied, opening the door wide. “I'll get her. Just have seats over there.” She motioned to an open archway, through which could be seen chairs and sofas.

Mandie, Celia, and Mary Lou sat down on a settee near the door and waited.

In a few minutes the maid came back to say, “Mrs. Wilkes will be right with you.”

“Thank you,” the girls chorused.

Mrs. Wilkes was a young woman, not much older than the girls. She seemed to be very stylish in the way she presented herself, and she was smiling and friendly.

“Welcome, young ladies,” she said as she entered the room and took a seat across from them. “I am Mary Wilkes, and I understand you were inquiring about the sewing group we have for the orphanage.”

“Yes, ma'am, we would like to help,” Mandie replied. “I am Mandie Shaw, and these are my friends, Celia Hamilton and Mary Lou Dunnigan. We go to the Charleston Ladies' College, and we have some free time we could devote to your sewing project.”

“We can always use more hands. It's so nice of you all to volunteer,” Mrs. Wilkes said. “The orphanage doesn't have much money, and the little girls' clothes are shabby. I put together this sewing group for ladies who wanted to help. You see, the Charleston Cloth Company donates the material, and we make garments for the children to wear.” She paused slightly, then added, “I assume you all do know how to sew.”

“Yes, ma'am,” the three chorused.

“I also know how to knit and embroider,” Mandie added.

“So do I,” Mary Lou said.

“That is wonderful,” Mrs. Wilkes said. “I know that since you girls are in college, you won't have a whole lot of time to do such
work, but anything at all that y'all can do would be most appreciated.”

“How often do you meet?” Mandie asked.

“We have get-togethers once a month, but the volunteers are welcome here whenever they have time to sew.”

By the time the girls left, they had agreed to come back to Mrs. Wilkes's house the next Saturday and spend the afternoon sewing with whomever else was there.

“I think I'm going to enjoy doing this sewing,” Mandie said as they rode back to Mary Lou's house. “Especially since it is for orphans,” she added.

“I am, too,” Celia said.

“It will be something worthwhile to do with our time,” Mary Lou said.

“Maybe we will see Grace Wilson here next Saturday. I wonder what she will think when she sees us,” Mandie said. “I hope she doesn't think we are following her.”

“I'm sure she will appreciate our wanting to help,” Celia said.

Mandie thought about Grace and wondered if she was an orphan herself. Was that why she volunteered for the sewing group? Mandie promised herself that she would get acquainted with Grace Wilson.

chapter 9

The next Saturday Mandie, Celia, and Mary Lou returned to Mrs. Wilkes's house to participate in the sewing for the children. There were four other people helping: an older woman, a middle-aged woman, and two teenage girls, all of whom were friendly. The girls were daughters of the women and were still in school.

Mrs. Wilkes introduced them and said, “There seems to be a lot going on at the college today, so many girls won't be here.”

Mandie, Celia, and Mary Lou looked at each other curiously.

“Oh, that's right.” Celia suddenly remembered. “The chorus is practicing today, but I'm not in the chorus.”

“I know that some of the art students are making posters for the music program, too,” Mary Lou added.

“Maybe we can come back next Saturday, too, when there are more ladies here,” Mandie said, looking at the stack of little dresses awaiting finishing touches. She picked up a dress
with a scalloped collar and said, “I think I'll work on this one today.”

Celia and Mary Lou also selected dresses to finish. Some needed buttonholes, some needed hemming, some needed the stitching to be finished. They each took a dress and went to sit at a long table.

Mandie looked at the dress she was working on and thought about how much prettier it would be if it were embroidered. Looking at one of the ladies, she asked, “Is there any embroidery thread that I could use?”

“Oh yes, dear, look on that table over by the window. It has lots of embroidery thread, buttons, and lace on it. Just take whatever you need,” she told Mandie.

Mandie saw that the table held lots of different colors of thread, but she chose a pink color to embroider French knots on the collar of the little dress she was working on.

The three girls became so absorbed in their work that by the time they noticed the clock, they saw it was already suppertime. They all reluctantly laid down their work, said good-bye to Mrs. Wilkes, and headed toward the front door.