New Horizons (2 page)

“Safer?” Mandie looked questioningly at Celia as they climbed the marble steps behind the older ladies. “What is there to be afraid of? We don't believe in ghosts, and I don't think young men like the ones we saw in the yard would dare come into a ladies' building.”

“You never know,” Celia replied in a singsong voice.

“Well, at least we'll be on the second floor, so even if they did come here, they can't walk around outside and look in the window,” Mandie said.

The ladies reached the top of the stairway and entered a long hallway with no windows. Mrs. Taft walked ahead and found
room 200 at the end of the corridor. She reached for the knob, turned it, and pushed the door open.

The girls eagerly looked past her to see what kind of room they had been assigned.

“What a large room!” Mandie exclaimed as they all stepped inside to look around. “Two huge beds with canopies!”

“Yes, this is the largest they had available,” Mrs. Taft said. “Now, I see your trunks over there in the corner. Let's get them unpacked and we'll go back to the hotel for something to eat.”

Mandie and Celia eagerly opened their trunks and began pulling out dresses and hanging them in the huge wardrobe in the room. Mrs. Taft and Mrs. Hamilton put the girls' personal things in the two bureaus.

“You have your own bureaus, your own beds, several chairs, and a table,” Mrs. Hamilton remarked as she surveyed the furniture. “It seems you certainly have much more space than you did in your room back at the Misses Heathwood's School.”

“And we even have two radiators,” Mandie said, pointing to each end of the room.

“I hope they don't bang and hiss like the ones in our old school did,” Celia said.

“I think you girls should change out of those travel suits before we go to the hotel. I will be changing mine as soon as I get to my room there,” Mrs. Taft told them.

“Oh yes!” both girls agreed as they rushed to the wardrobe to find dresses.

“It's much too hot for these traveling suits, anyway,” Mandie
said as she quickly flipped through her dresses, looking for the one that would leave her feeling the coolest. “I don't know why women have to wear traveling suits, but I suppose the dirt from the train would ruin a nice dress.”

“Maybe someday someone will build a train without all that smoke and soot,” Celia said with a sigh.

“Remember, girls,” Mrs. Taft interrupted their conversation, “you both have a change of clothes at the hotel to wear back to school in the morning, since you will be spending the night there with Mrs. Hamilton and me.”

As Mandie quickly slipped out of her travel suit and pulled on a blue flowered summer dress, she said, “Grandmother, we are supposed to be back here in the morning at nine o'clock for our instructions, remember?”

“Yes, I remember, dear. I'll see that you get here on time.” Mrs. Taft sat down in one of the huge overstuffed chairs while the girls changed. “We will have our noontime meal at the hotel now, and then we should drive around the town so you girls can see exactly where y'all will be living in relation to shops and parks and such.”

“But we have seen the town before, when we were here visiting Tommy Patton and his family,” Celia reminded her as she quickly buttoned up her waist.

“I'm sure you did not get overacquainted with the town, and Tommy and his sister will both be away at other schools while you two are here, so it's probably best if we go around town with you once,” Mrs. Hamilton said to them.

Mandie was just tucking in the loose strands of hair that had
escaped from the hairpins, and then she put on her hat and secured it with a large hatpin. “This lighter dress sure feels a lot better than that heavy traveling suit!” she exclaimed.

“Yes, and we will need to shop for some of those lighter-weight traveling suits that are so popular now,” Mrs. Taft said. “Perhaps we could go shopping in New York on your Christmas holidays.”

Mandie glanced at her grandmother and said, “But I'd rather spend all my vacation time at Christmas with my mother!”

“We could make a rushed trip up and back. With the baby due in late December or early January, your mother wouldn't be able to go with us,” Mrs. Taft told her.

“I'll decide about that later,” Mandie replied, hoping to put off this conversation until closer to the holidays. “Right now I'm ready to go to the hotel.”

“You girls shouldn't go out in this hot sunshine without your parasols,” Mrs. Hamilton said, rising from her chair. “Celia, you have the kind of complexion that will freckle very easily.”

“Yes, Mother,” Celia replied, getting her parasol from the table where she had put it. Turning to Mandie, she whispered, “A freckle or two might be interesting.”

“But you might get dozens!” Mandie warned as she grabbed her own parasol and followed the ladies out the door.

At the desk downstairs, Mrs. Taft signed them out till the next morning. Mandie hurried outside, cautiously looked around, and said to Celia, “At least those fellows are gone. I didn't want to have to walk past them again.”

“Neither did I,” Celia admitted.

The fellows were gone, but as the ladies walked around to the front of the building they saw several conveyances with young men standing by. Mandie tried not to look at them as they walked past, but she could feel them staring at her and Celia. The young men paused in their conversation and became quiet as the girls followed Mrs. Taft and Mrs. Hamilton down the short driveway to the road in search of a carriage for hire.

Suddenly there was a quick whirl of wind, and the Spanish moss on the trees under which the ladies were walking swooped down and touched Mandie's hat.

“Oh!” Mandie exclaimed as she reached for her hat to keep it from flying off.

“I was just thinking they need to trim back some of that moss, don't they?” a tall blond fellow said in a British accent as he bowed slightly to Mandie and Celia.

Mrs. Taft looked back and said, “Hurry along, Amanda. We have lots to do today.”

“Ah, so it's Amanda, is it,” the fellow whispered loudly. “And I am George Stuart.” He continued smiling as they passed on down the walkway.

Mandie looked straight ahead and muttered grumpily, “I'll be glad when those fellows are gone.”

“But if they have relatives here, they'll probably be visiting quite often,” Celia reminded her. “It makes me feel nice when they look at me, like I was . . . just something worth looking at. We're grown up now, and the boys are aware of that.” She grinned at Mandie.

“Well, I'm not interested in the boys here. I only have one thing to do at this college, and that is to learn everything I can so I can graduate and go back home,” Mandie replied.

“Your grandmother probably has something to say about that,” Celia said as they continued down the driveway. “Remember, she asked the registrar about social doings?”

“I know.” Mandie sighed. “She wants me to become a nice young lady and get married to someone high in society.” Leaning closer to her friend, she added sternly, “And I refuse to let her handle my life anymore!”

“Mandie!” Celia exclaimed, shocked at Mandie's seriousness about her grandmother. “How are you going to stop her?”

“I'll figure out ways,” Mandie promised.

They came up behind the two older ladies, who were stopped at the end of the driveway. There was a fancy public carriage parked there. The driver was a short, plump fellow in a uniform, with gray curly hair and twinkling black eyes.

Mrs. Taft immediately spoke to him. “Is this your carriage, sir?”

“Yes, madam, it is,” the man replied, removing his top hat. “Do you wish to engage it?”

“I would be more interested in buying it.” Mrs. Taft got directly to the point. “Are you interested in selling it but continuing to work as the driver? You see, we have two young ladies here in need of transportation while they attend this school, and it would be less complicated if you would just sell me the carriage and continue as the driver. That way they would be assured of transportation any time they wished to leave the college.”

Mandie and Celia watched and listened. Mrs. Hamilton frowned and said, “But, Mrs. Taft, the girls wouldn't need a carriage very often.”

Mrs. Taft turned to look at her. “I would feel better knowing that Amanda had transportation available at all times. And the girls do need to get out, learn their way around town, and see all the historical locations.” Turning back to the driver, she asked, “Have you made a decision about this?”

The man took off his hat, scratched his head, and looked at her. “I don't rightly know what to say, ma'am. What would I do when the college closes for the summer and the girls are not hereabouts?” the man asked.

“Mr.—I'm sorry, what is your name, sir?” Mrs. Taft asked.

“Sam Donovan, ma'am,” the man replied.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Donovan. I am Mrs. Taft, this is Mrs. Hamilton, and this is my granddaughter, Amanda Shaw, and Mrs. Hamilton's daughter, Celia,” Mrs. Taft explained. The driver nodded his head at each of the ladies. “Mr. Donovan, you may have the carriage back during the summers. The girls will be home for vacation. It's just during the school year that we need to have it, and when they graduate and are all finished with school here, I will give the carriage back to you.”

Mandie, listening to every word, was secretly hoping the man would refuse to sell his carriage. After all, what did they need with a carriage? She looked at the man and shook her head when Mrs. Taft wasn't looking. This puzzled the man, who then
glanced at Celia and asked, “Do you young ladies not want my carriage?”

“What?” Mrs. Taft asked and quickly looked at Mandie.

“I don't think we need to buy a carriage, Mr. Donovan,” Mandie replied, cringing as she knew her grandmother would come back with some retort.

“You girls are new here, and I say you need a carriage with a driver, so let me handle this, please,” Mrs. Taft told her. Turning back to the man, she said, “We need to get to the hotel right now. Could you take us there?”

“At your service, madam,” Mr. Donovan replied, moving to stand by the carriage step to help the ladies board.

Mandie and Celia followed, whispering together.

“I'm hoping he won't let Grandmother buy his carriage,” Mandie said to Celia. “We don't need a carriage.”

“No, we don't,” Celia agreed. “But your grandmother will offer him a lot of money.”

“I know,” Mandie said. “But he may not be the kind who wants lots of money for things of value, like the carriage. I'm sure he worked hard to pay for it.”

The girls stepped into the seats behind the older ladies, Mr. Donovan shook the reins, and they were on their way.

In a few minutes Mr. Donovan stopped the carriage in front of the huge, antique Charlestonian Hotel.

“We could have walked here in the time it took for the conversation with Mr. Donovan,” Mandie whispered to Celia as they stepped out of the carriage behind the ladies.

“But not your grandmother. I don't believe she's interested in walking anywhere,” Celia replied.

Mrs. Taft stood by the vehicle, talking to Mr. Donovan.

“We will be having our noonday meal in the dining room here shortly,” Mrs. Taft said. “Would you please return in an hour to pick us up? You can give me your answer about the carriage then.”

Mr. Donovan cleared his throat and said, “I believe I can give you the answer right now. I do not wish to sell my carriage. However—”

Mrs. Taft quickly interrupted. “It would be well worth your while. Just think about how much money you would be making: I would buy your carriage, pay you a monthly fee, and give the carriage back to you when the girls finish college.”

“I do beg your pardon, madam, but I did not finish my statement,” Mr. Donovan told her. Then he quickly said, “I do not wish to sell my carriage, but I will rent it to you for the time your young ladies need it.”

“Oh, I see,” Mrs. Taft said, and looking at the girls and Mrs. Hamilton, she added, “I suppose we could go down to the factory and buy our own carriage.”

“But then we would have to find a dependable driver for it,” Mrs. Hamilton reminded her.

Mrs. Taft turned to Mr. Donovan and asked, “Would you consider driving a carriage for us if we bought one?”

“Ah, now, madam, what would I do with my own carriage if I
had to drive one for you?” Mr. Donovan asked. “ 'Twould not be possible, I say.”

Mandie gave Celia a hopeless look, and as she did another carriage pulled up behind Mr. Donovan's. She watched as some of the girls she had seen at the college stepped down with two elderly ladies. They glanced at Mandie, but when Mandie smiled at them they immediately frowned and turned their gaze toward the front door of the hotel and disappeared inside.

“Not very friendly, are they?” Celia whispered as she moved away from her mother.

“Grandmother would call that ill-mannered,” Mandie whispered back. She turned to continue listening to her grandmother's conversation with the carriage driver.

“Would you please come back in about an hour, Mr. Donovan? Right now it seems we must go inside or we'll be late for our meal,” Mrs. Taft said, looking around as other people began arriving and entering the hotel.

“Yes, madam, I shall return then,” Mr. Donovan replied as he stepped up into his driver's seat. He tipped his tall hat as he drove off.

chapter 2

In the hotel, Mandie and Celia shared a room adjoining Mrs. Taft and Mrs. Hamilton's room. As soon as the ladies closed the door between the rooms, Mandie asked, “Did you notice all those girls in the dining room? They must be from the college.”

“Yes, their parents are probably staying over the first night to get them settled, like my mother and your grandmother are doing,” Celia replied.