The Mandie Collection (46 page)

The two boys looked at it and then at each other. They answered at the same time.

“That way,” Jonathan said, pointing to the left.

“That way,” Joe said, pointing to the right.

“Oh, what am I supposed to do? Y'all don't agree,” Mandie said.

“You choose which way,” Jonathan told her.

“Yes, Mandie, you decide,” Joe said.

“No, I can't do that,” Mandie said in exasperation. “If I decide to go to the left, then you, Joe, will be put out with me because that's the direction Jonathan picked. And you, Jonathan, won't like it if I choose Joe's way.”

At that moment Snowball came running up to join them and began rubbing around Mandie's ankles.

“No, it's all right with me whichever way you want to go,” Jonathan insisted.

“And you know that I'm just going along and leaving it up to you to decide which way we're going about this,” Joe reminded her.

Snowball stood up on his hind paws and held on to the hem of Mandie's skirt. He started meowing loudly.

“Oh, Snowball, get down and hush up,” Mandie told him as she stepped away from him.

The white cat growled angrily for a moment and then turned and raced off down the road to the right.

“Snowball, come back here,” Mandie called after him.

“Come on. He just made the decision about which road to take. Let's follow him,” Joe said with a laugh.

The three hurried after the white cat. Snowball paused to look back at them, and when they almost caught up, he raced off again and turned to look back.

Finally, Mandie stopped in the middle of the road, took a deep breath, and said, “He thinks we're playing a game with him. Let's just ignore him, but I'll keep an eye on him.” She looked down at the contents of the box she was carrying. “Let's see if we can figure out where we are on this map.”

“Well, now, if you're claiming those little indentations are roads, then we must be here,” Joe said, pointing to a bunch of twigs in the dirt inside the box.

Jonathan was silent.

Mandie asked, “Well, Jonathan?”

“Oh, I agree with Joe. I don't know how to read a treasure map,” Jonathan said with a big grin. “You will have to figure it out.”

“You could at least guess,” Mandie said with a little smile.

“But I did guess. I made the same guess that Joe did,” Jonathan insisted.

“All right, then,” Mandie said, looking back down at the inside of the box. “If we're right there, then I suppose we should go down that road to the left that is coming up down yonder.” She looked ahead. She also noticed Snowball had stopped running and was sitting in the road watching them.

“Agreed,” Joe said.

“Yes,” Jonathan added.

Mandie suddenly heard her name being called behind them. She turned to look back and saw Liza running down the road toward her.

“Missy 'Manda!” Liza was calling as she held up her long skirt and ran toward the three young people. When she came up to Mandie, she had to pause to get her breath.

“What's wrong, Liza?” Mandie asked anxiously.

“Ain't nuthin' wrong. It's jes' dat I has to ax you sumthin',” Liza said, looking at the two boys.

“Well, what is it?” Mandie asked.

Liza stepped between Mandie and the boys and whispered, “I has to tell you private like. Over heah.” She moved over to the side of the road.

Mandie followed as she frowned and asked again, “What is it, Liza?”

“Well, you see, dat Miss Sweet Thing, she be at de house lookin' fo' you, and I tells huh you be out walkin' round,” Liza replied.

“Did she go back to her house?” Mandie asked.

“Nope,” Liza replied. “I tell huh to wait, and I sees if I kin find you.”

“Well, now you've found me, Liza,” Mandie said. She glanced at Joe and Jonathan. They were looking at her from across the road.

“Well, whut I wants to know is, does you want dat Miss Sweet Thing to find you, being as how you got doctuh's son and dat Yankee boy both out for a walk?” Liza asked.

“Oh, Liza, you don't have to go to so much trouble for me,” Mandie said. “It's all right if you tell her where I am. I don't want you to lie about it. I'm not really anxious for her to find out what we're doing, but I suppose sooner or later she'll know anyway.”

“Whut you doin'?” Liza asked as she looked at the box in Mandie's hands.

“Liza, this is that present I received. We're trying to figure out whether it's a treasure map or not. In other words, we're trying to trace out these little lines in it and see where they go,” Mandie explained.

“Oh, I 'member dat uttuh treasure map whut you had one time, and I he'ped you find dat treasure, 'member?” Liza said, smiling.

“I remember, and you could help us with this one, but I know Aunt Lou is too busy and you have to help her,” Mandie said. “I'll let you know if it all works out as a real treasure map.”

“Den I goes back and tells dat Miss Sweet Thing you down heah,” Liza said. She turned to go back up the road.

“Liza, please don't tell her we're looking for a treasure because I'm not sure this is even a real treasure map,” Mandie called after her.

“I won't,” Liza promised as she hurried back toward the house.

Mandie stepped over to join the two boys. Looking at Joe, she explained, “Polly is at the house asking for me, and Liza didn't know whether or not to tell her where I am, so I said go ahead and tell her. I suppose she will join us shortly.” Then turning to Jonathan, she explained, “Polly Cornwallis is my next-door neighbor. I might have mentioned her sometime or other to you.”

“I believe I've heard the name,” Jonathan replied.

Mandie looked up the road as they stood there and saw Polly hurrying toward them. “Here she comes,” Mandie said.

“Liza told me y'all were out walking,” Polly said as she gazed at Jonathan. He stared back at her.

“Polly, this is Jonathan Guyer, our friend from New York,” Mandie introduced them. “He and his father are visiting us for the Christmas holidays. Jonathan, Polly Cornwallis.”

“I heard y'all had some company from New York. I'm glad to meet you, Jonathan,” Polly said, still looking him over.

“I'm pleased to make your acquaintance,” Jonathan said solemnly.

“Well, let's walk on,” Mandie said.

They moved on down the road. Polly immediately fell in beside Joe, but she still looked at Jonathan now and then. Snowball waited for them.

When they got to the intersection of the road that they had discussed before Liza's arrival, Mandie asked, “Should we go down this road?” She glanced down at the box in her hands. They all stopped to look around.

Polly noticed then that Mandie was holding the box. “Mandie, why are you carrying that old box with the dirt in it?”

“Because I want to,” Mandie replied without looking at her.

“But why?” Polly insisted. She tossed back her long, dark hair that was hanging below her tam and looked at the box with her black eyes.

“Because I want to, Polly,” Mandie replied impatiently. “Don't you ever do anything just because you want to?”

“I suppose so,” Polly reluctantly agreed. “But I wouldn't want to go around carrying a box full of dirt and all that mess. I would think it would be a silly idea for me to do that.” She looked at Mandie on the other side of Joe.

“Oh, Polly!” Mandie exclaimed.

Jonathan looked at Polly and said, “I think it's a very good idea. Who knows? We might just find a pot of gold at the end.”

Mandie took a deep breath as Jonathan said that because she knew she would have to explain now to Polly.

“A pot of gold?” Polly questioned him. “Don't tell me you think this thing is a treasure map with a pot of gold at the end. That's impossible!”

“Nothing's impossible,” Jonathan replied as he glanced at Polly. “This thing, as you call it, could very well be a treasure map. And if it is, we won't know what treasure awaits us at the end unless we try to find it.”

“But that's just a pile of dirt and twigs in that box. It's not a real treasure map,” Polly objected.

“Whoever said what form a treasure map could be in?” Jonathan asked her. “It could probably be traced in dirt, carved in wood, or written on paper, or whatever.”

“But Mandie doesn't even know who sent her this mess in the box,” Polly told him. “It may be a trick.”

“If someone played a trick on Mandie with this thing here, I'd sure hate to be the one who did it,” Joe said with a big laugh.

“Oh, Joe, I know you had nothing to do with this box. You weren't even here when it came,” Mandie said. Then she turned to Jonathan and said, “And you weren't, either. But as for Polly, she was home when I received this so-called gift.” She glanced from Joe to Jonathan and then to Polly.

“Well, thank you, ma'am,” Joe teased.

“I'm glad you've figured that much out,” Jonathan replied with a big grin.

Polly frowned as she gazed at Mandie and said, “Amanda Elizabeth Shaw, I have better things to do than fill up boxes with dirt.”

“I didn't say you had anything to do with this box,” Mandie quickly replied. “I only said you were home when I received it.”

“Well, that's implying that I had something to do with it,” Polly replied.

“Polly—” Mandie began.

Joe loudly interrupted, “Girls, are we going ahead with this, or are we going to stand here wasting time? Because if you're not going ahead I'm going back to the house.”

“And I will, too,” Jonathan added.

“I'm sorry, everybody,” Mandie said, looking around the group. She held the box out toward Polly. “Would you like to carry the box and help us trace the little ridges and ruts in the dirt?”

Polly backed off and said, “No, thank you. I might spill that dirt all over my coat. You carry it. I'll just follow along with y'all.”

“Let's get on with it,” Joe told the girls as he began walking down the intersecting road.

Mandie realized she was on edge with everyone. The tension of worrying over the reception the Guyers would receive from her grandmother and from Joe had her all wound up. So far Joe and Jonathan had been polite to each other, but she was hoping they would become friends. And her grandmother had more or less stayed to herself since the Guyers had arrived, believing it was her daughter, Elizabeth, who had invited the people in the first place. Mandie knew sooner or later she would have to explain to her grandmother that she had been the one who extended the invitation. And there was no telling what the lady's reaction would be.

“Mandie! Are you coming?” Joe called to her.

Mandie realized the other three had walked ahead, and now she hurried to catch up. Snowball followed.

The young people, led by Mandie, wandered on into the business section of Franklin, where all the shops were closed because it was Sunday. They looked through the windows of the stores and admired the trees and decorations on the streets. Mandie completely forgot about the box she was carrying.

“I suppose we've done our treasure-map hunting for the day,” Joe said, looking at Mandie as she stood before a shop that sold crafts made by local people.

“I can't see inside too well, but I imagine these people who own this shop will have Uncle Ned's people's baskets to sell. Mother said
she and I would go buy some tomorrow,” Mandie replied, trying to see through the glass window.

“I'd like to buy some of his baskets to take back to New York,” Jonathan remarked.

“I'd like to come with you and your mother so I can buy some, too,” Polly quickly told Mandie.

Suddenly snow began falling. Large white flakes were rapidly covering everything. Mandie looked at her box and said, “Oh goodness, I need to put the lid on so this won't get all wet.”

“Here, I'll help you,” Joe said. “You hold the box, and I'll pull the lid out from under it.”

“So I suppose that's the end of this so-called treasure hunt,” Polly said as she tried to shake the snowflakes off her coat.

“I think it's the end of our walk today,” Mandie said. “Mother said we should come back if it started to snow.” She looked down at Snowball, who was rapidly blinking his blue eyes as the snowflakes fell into them. Handing the box to Joe, she said, “Here, if you'll carry the box, I'll carry Snowball so he won't get so wet from the snow.” She picked the cat up and held him against her.

The four started back, and when they arrived at the Shaw gate, Mandie said, “Polly, we're coming to your house tonight to help decorate your tree, remember?”

“But I'm not going home right now,” Polly quickly told her as she opened the gate and started up the long walkway. “Our company is old people, and I don't have anyone to talk to at home.”

Mandie sighed, followed her, and said, “All right, come on into the house with us, then. We'll find something to do.” She looked back and saw Jonathan and Joe exchange grins.

As the group stepped onto the front porch, they stopped to shake the snow off their coats and hats, then they went inside. Mandie put Snowball down, and he raced off in the direction of the kitchen. She placed her box on the shelf under a table near the front door.

They hung their wraps on the hall tree, and Mandie looked through the doorway to the parlor. The adults were gathered around the fireplace.

“Mother, we're back. It's beginning to snow,” Mandie said.

“All right, dear, just don't go back out in it,” Elizabeth told her
absent-mindedly as she continued her conversation with the others in the parlor.

“I have an idea,” Mandie said, looking at Jonathan. “Let's go to the kitchen, and I'll introduce you to everybody. You said you wanted to meet all the servants.”