New Horizons (16 page)

“So we don't have to go through the parlor where all those ladies are,” Mary Lou explained.

Mandie could hear a slight murmur of talking and low laughter as the girls passed through the hallway and went to the back room where the piano was kept.

As they sat down Mary Lou said, “I'm sure we can get some of the tea and sweetcakes my mother is serving if we slip back to the kitchen. Would y'all like some?”

“Yes,” Celia quickly responded. “I'm absolutely tired out from all this excitement.” She laughed.

“Come on. Let's see what we can round up.” Mary Lou led the way back to the kitchen.

The girls drank tea and ate sweetcakes while chatting about their visit with Mrs. Thomason and what they believed the next day held in store for them.

After the noon meal the next day, Mr. Ryland drove the girls and Mrs. Thomason to the street address Mrs. Thomason had provided.

As he pulled the horse to a stop, Mrs. Thomason looked around and said, “This is a flower shop. We're looking for a locksmith, Mr. Ryland.” She glanced at the address she had brought with her.

“But, madam, that locksmith closed up sometime before Christmas. This flower shop was here all during the Christmas holidays,” Mr. Ryland told her.

Mrs. Thomason showed him the piece of paper and said, “Do you have any idea as to where this locksmith, Sol Jacks, might have moved?”

“As far as I can remember, I believe there was a sign in the window stating he was going out of business, and a notice was
left for people to pick up any orders they had with him at that time,” the driver replied.

“Oh dear, we are in a quandary now,” Mrs. Thomason said with a loud sigh.

“Would it be possible to find where he lives?” Mandie asked.

“I believe he lived in the apartment above this shop,” Mr. Ryland said. “I could ask among other drivers if they have any information concerning this man, if you please.”

“Oh yes, please do. That would be most helpful,” Mrs. Thomason said. “Perhaps another driver knew him.”

“I will check and let you know, madam,” Mr. Ryland promised.

Mrs. Thomason had to hurry back to her work at the boardinghouse, and after Mr. Ryland dropped her off, he brought the girls to the Dunnigans' house.

At the supper table that night the girls told Mr. and Mrs. Dunnigan about their attempted visit to the locksmith.

“Mr. Ryland promised to try to locate him for us,” Mandie said.

“I believe that will be impossible,” Mr. Dunnigan said, clearing his throat as he drank his coffee. “I had Sol Jacks put new locks on my office right before Christmas, and he told me he was retiring and going to sail the seas awhile before settling down again. There's no telling where the man is now.”

“Oh no!” Mandie said.

“I don't know if there will be any way to find him,” Mr. Dunnigan said. “He said he was leaving on a ship as a crew member for parts unknown, as he put it.”

“Do you suppose he took everything with him? Maybe he just
left the paper work in the shop when he closed his business, since he wouldn't be needing it any longer,” Celia said.

“That is a good point,” Mandie said firmly.

“But if he left any papers, what would the flower shop have done with them when they moved in?” Mary Lou wondered aloud.

“You could always go back and ask the owner of the flower shop about this,” Mrs. Dunnigan said.

“Let's do,” Mandie agreed. “How about tomorrow afternoon?”

“Tomorrow afternoon would be fine,” Celia replied as Mary Lou nodded her head.

The next day turned out to be a cloudy, chilly day, but the girls decided to go to the flower shop anyhow after their noon meal with the Dunnigans. Mr. Ryland put the top up on the carriage, and the three were too excited to feel the weather anyhow.

Mr. Ryland parked the carriage in an empty space directly in front of the flower shop.

As the girls stepped down from the vehicle, Mandie stopped in front of the shop window and said in surprise, “Look, Grace is inside.”

“You're right.” Mary Lou sounded confused.

“It looks like she's moving some flowerpots around,” Celia said.

As the three hurried toward the door, Mandie paused to say, “Do you suppose Grace is working here?”

Mary Lou and Celia looked at her, and then the three looked at Grace through the window again.

“Well, she's definitely not acting like a customer,” Celia said.

“Hm. Grace must be working here,” Mandie decided as she pushed the door open.

“Hello, Grace,” Mandie said, as the girl came to the front of the shop.

“Welcome!” Grace seemed surprised to see the girls there. “Are you interested in buying some flowers?”

“You work here?” Mary Lou asked.

“Yes, I work here after classes every day,” Grace replied, going to move some more flowerpots.

“Do you enjoy working here?” Mandie asked, trying to think of something to say.

“Oh yes, the owner is a wonderful lady and gives me full authority when I am here alone, which is most of the time. You see, Mrs. Poinsett is elderly and unable to do everything required to own this shop,” Grace explained.

“So this is why we don't see you at the sewing group anymore,” Mandie said.

Grace shook her head. “I don't have time to go to Mrs. Wilkes's anymore, but I take little garments home with me and in my spare time I work on them then. I try to help whenever I can.”

“It's so great that you have such worthwhile things to do while most of the other girls at school just loaf during their free time,” Celia said.

The girls nodded their agreement. Then Mandie cleared her throat and asked, “Grace, do you know anything about the man who had the key shop here before it became this flower shop?”

Grace looked puzzled. “I don't know anything about the man. When Mrs. Poinsett opened this shop, I helped her clean out the mess he had left—papers everywhere, and it seemed like he hadn't cleaned in a year—but I never saw him. He left before I met Mrs. Poinsett.”

“What papers?” Mandie asked. “Did they look like records? And what did y'all do with all the papers?”

Grace frowned as she replied, “The papers seemed to be a mix of orders and scrap paper. There were a lot of numbers and drawings. But we were in a hurry to get this place cleaned out, so we didn't look too closely. Oh, and there were a lot of old keys stuck here and there.”

Mandie glanced at her friends, then asked hopefully, “What did y'all do with all that mess?” She held her breath, hoping Grace would say they had saved it.

“I'm not sure about all of it, but Mrs. Poinsett thought we should box up the papers in case the man came back for them someday.”

“You saved all the papers?” Mary Lou asked excitedly. “Are they stored here in the shop?”

Grace looked curiously at the girls and said, “In the attic and in the basement. I must say, you girls certainly are interested in this man. Did y'all know him or something?”

The three looked at each other and then Mandie said, “This is very confidential information, Grace, and we ask that you not repeat it to anyone, but we need to see Mr. Jacks's records because we believe someone might have had a duplicate key made
to Mrs. Thomason's boardinghouse. We need to find out exactly who had that duplicate made.” She paused. “You see, we think someone used it to go inside and frighten a girl who works there.”

“Oh yes, I heard about that so-called ghost appearing in the boardinghouse, but of course I thought it was just some story someone was making up,” Grace said. “Do you mean to tell me that someone got inside the boardinghouse without permission and scared people? Why would anyone do that?”

“We don't really have any facts, but that's what we think,” Mandie replied. “And we've discussed all this with Mrs. Thomason. I told her I believe someone copied a key and used it without her permission to get inside, maybe an ex-boarder, and she said she had all her keys made here when this was a key shop. So we are trying to track down a record of anyone who lived there, moved out and turned in their key, but had a copy of the key made so they could use it to get inside.”

“Oh my!” Grace exclaimed. “Whoever would do such a thing? I can't imagine anyone bothering to sneak back inside to scare people. You know, they say there have always been rumors about that house being haunted.”

“Yes, we know all about it,” Mary Lou said. “I live around the corner from the boardinghouse, so we have always heard tales about a ghost, but we believed it was some devilish boys playing pranks.”

“And the school boys seem to be the ones who are always telling the tales,” Celia added.

“Do you think Mrs. Poinsett would give us permission to look
through all those old papers that belonged to the locksmith?” Mandie asked.

“I think so, but I'd have to ask her to be sure before I could allow anyone to do that,” Grace replied. “Should I tell her the reason for your desire to see the papers?”

Mandie looked at her two friends and Celia and Mary Lou nodded. She turned back to Grace and nodded. “If you would please ask her to keep all this very confidential. If word got out about what we're doing, I'm sure someone would find a way to stop us.”

“All right then,” Grace said. “I'll talk to Mrs. Poinsett tonight when she comes to lock up, and if y'all will drop by tomorrow I'll tell you what she has to say.”

“Thank you, Grace,” Mandie said. “Are you still living in the dormitory? We never see you except now and then in different classes.”

“Oh yes, I'm still living in the dormitory. My scholarship covers that,” Grace replied

“You know, I am on a scholarship myself,” Mary Lou told Grace. “It doesn't cover living in the dormitory, but I don't need it, since my parents live here in Charleston.”

Grace smiled. “I am so grateful for mine. I couldn't have come here without it. I'm looking forward to someday thanking the person who set it up.” She glanced at Mandie and, with a hint of sadness in her voice, added, “I grew up the hard way and have to work for my education.”

Mandie frowned and wondered what she meant. Why would Grace say such a thing? As the girls turned to leave the shop, Mandie's mind was preoccupied with what a very mysterious person Grace Wilson was.

chapter 12

The next afternoon Mandie and her friends were not able to return to the flower shop as they had promised Grace, because Senator Morton unexpectedly arrived in Charleston to “check on the girls” for Mrs. Taft. She was concerned about the ghost story and the fact that Mandie and Celia were staying with the Dunnigans and not in their room at the boardinghouse.

Senator Morton was already at the Dunnigans' when the girls came home from classes.

“I had to come through here on my way back to Washington and promised your grandmother I would look in on you to be sure everything was all right,” he told Mandie as everyone sat in the Dunnigans' parlor. He smiled at Mandie and added, “You know how she worries about you.”

“And she doesn't have a thing to worry about concerning me. In fact, Celia and Mary Lou and I are in the middle of an investigation into this tale about the ghost,” Mandie replied.

“Well, well, young lady, you are still finding mysteries to solve,
aren't you?” Senator Morton said, returning her smile.

“We think we are about to solve this one,” Mandie replied matter-of-factly. She related the events to date, then added, “And as soon as we can get into the locksmith's old records, I believe we will find the answer to the puzzle.”

“Now, I'm not being nosy myself, but are you and Miss Celia planning to move back into your room at the boardinghouse after you solve this mystery?” the senator asked.

“Eventually we'll move back into our room, but I really like it here,” Mandie replied with a big grin as she looked at Mr. and Mrs. Dunnigan.

“And you both are most welcome here, and we expect you to stay the rest of the school year at least with us,” Mrs. Dunnigan quickly said, as much for the girls' benefit as for the senator's.

“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Dunnigan,” Celia told her. “We're so grateful for your kind hospitality. I wish we could stay until we graduate.”

“Then stay you must,” Mrs. Dunnigan told her and Mandie. Looking at the senator, she added, “I told the girls it is wonderful having them here, since Mary Lou is an only child.”

“That's so very kind of you, Mrs. Dunnigan,” the senator said.

“Oh, Senator Morton, would you please deliver a message from me to my grandmother?” Mandie asked.

“Of course.”

“Please let her know that everyone is coming to my house for the spring holidays, so I'm sure she will want to be there, too.”

“I'm afraid your grandmother may be one step ahead of you,”
Senator Morton said, clearing his throat. “She is already making plans to come to your house, because she figured everyone will be there to see the new babies.”

“One of these days I hope to get a little ahead of her,” Mandie said. Smiling, she added, “You know what I mean, Senator.”

The senator laughed as he said, “Yes, your grandmother is a wonderful lady. She knows right where to be, and she always manages to get there early.”

Mandie suddenly remembered the remark the bookstore owner had made to her grandmother back in the fall. She drew a deep breath and asked, “You were a friend of my grandfather, weren't you?”

“He and I grew up together and we were indeed great friends,” he answered.

“Well, can you tell me what happened to him?” Mandie asked, closely watching the senator. “You see, he died so many years ago and I never knew him.”

“Your grandfather died from an accident, dear,” Senator Morton answered. “However, please don't ask me for details, because that is something your grandmother refuses to discuss.”