The Mandie Collection (7 page)

“All right, Mandie. I can watch him for you while you hold the lantern,” Celia promised. She kept searching for the locket, but she also kept Snowball within view.

The girls searched nearly every inch of the alley near the tree that had caught Mandie's collar. There was lots of old trash of every kind but no sign of the gold locket.

Mandie finally straightened up and looked around. “I'm so sure I lost it here. Someone else must have found it,” she said, tears filling her blue eyes. “That was the only picture I had of my father, the one inside the locket. Celia, I don't know where else to look.”

“Mandie, if you
didn't
lose it when the tree limb hit you, it could have fallen off as we left here. And of course that would mean searching the whole road we walked on this afternoon,” Celia told her.

“You're right,” Mandie sighed. She looked up and down the alley. “We only came to right about here. We didn't go all the way down the alley, remember? So if we start here and work our way back toward Mr. Heyward's store, we would be following the path we took this afternoon.”

At that moment Mandie saw Snowball bristle up his fur and freeze in his tracks. Almost immediately there came the sound of a dog barking in the distance.

“Quick, Celia, take the lantern,” Mandie said, holding it out to her. She bent at the same time and scooped up Snowball. “Let's go.”

The lantern swinging in Celia's hand, the girls almost ran up the alley in the direction they had come. The barking grew more distant.

Finally reaching the corner at King Street, they slowed down to catch their breath.

“I do believe that dog would have come after Snowball,” Mandie gasped, “and we would have been in a real mess alone in that dark alley.” She clutched Snowball on her shoulder.

“It sounded to me like the dog might have been shut in one of those buildings and couldn't get out.” Celia commented between breaths as she straightened her skirt with her free hand.

“Anyhow, I think we were finished looking there,” Mandie said, still firmly grasping the white cat. “We are almost to the back door of Mr. Heyward's store, so we could go on and look that far. Then I suppose we'll have to go back to the school.”

Celia still carried the lantern, and she kept moving it to shine on the ground as they searched. They finally arrived at the back door of the store.

“Might as well put out the light, and we'll go on back to our room,” Mandie told her in a dejected tone.

Celia quickly extinguished the lantern, and they hurried up the street on their way back.

Just as they reached the driveway entrance to the school, Mandie put out a hand to stop Celia. “Since Miss Hope left Snowball in the kitchen, you open the door when we get inside the house and I'll shove him in,” she instructed.

“All right,” Celia agreed. “And we'd better be awfully quiet.”

When they got around to the backyard, Celia pushed open the back door to the schoolhouse. Both girls quietly slipped inside, and Celia closed the door behind them and turned the key in the lock. Crossing the hall, Celia opened the kitchen door. Mandie gave Snowball a big push into the room and quickly closed the door.

Mandie silently took the lantern from Celia and returned it to the pantry where she had found it. Then the girls softly made their way up the stairs to their room on the third floor. There wasn't a sound in the house.

Finally reaching their room without being seen, the girls quickly began undressing for bed.

“I'm sorry you didn't find the locket, Mandie,” Celia told her as she removed her long skirt and hung it up in the wardrobe.

“I suppose I'll never find it now,” Mandie said sadly. She also hung up the dress she had been wearing. She paused and sat on the arm of one of the chairs, holding her nightgown. “You know, Celia, I really shouldn't have been wearing that locket everywhere I go—all the time, every day, and all. I should have kept it locked up in my jewelry box.” She slowly moved her long blond braid of hair from her shoulder.

Celia sat on the opposite arm while she started to pull on her long, embroidered nightgown. “We do lots of things that we shouldn't do and don't realize it, Mandie, until something like this happens. It seems impossible to remember everything that we should do or shouldn't do.”

Mandie shivered suddenly. “I think it's cold in here, don't you? Uncle Cal must not have sent up much heat in that radiator over there tonight. I think I'll just leave on my camisole and put my nightgown over it. It'll be warmer that way.” She shook out the folds of the long nightgown.

“Me too, Mandie,” Celia agreed, quickly sliding off the chair to straighten out her own nightgown. She became tangled in the folds and tripped, causing her to bump into Mandie. “Oh, I'm sorry,” she apologized.

“That's all right,” Mandie replied, standing up to finish dressing for bed.

Suddenly Celia was bumping into Mandie again, excitedly saying, “Wait, Mandie, wait!” She was pulling at Mandie's nightgown.

“Celia, what's wrong?” Mandie quickly demanded, stepping away from Celia's grasp.

“Mandie, look!” Celia was still excited as she pointed to Mandie's camisole. “Look, there's the chain to your locket. Look there!”

Mandie quickly felt around her neck and the camisole. Her fingers touched the cold chain. She pulled it out from between the garments, looked at it, and then began searching again. “The locket! Here it is!” she cried, pulling it from the folds of the cloth.

“Oh, Mandie, I'm so glad!” Celia said, reaching forward to embrace her friend.

“Thanks, Celia,” Mandie said, tightly clasping the locket and the chain as she returned the hug. Then she straightened up to examine the jewelry. “The chain is broken, look.” She held it up to show the clasp was missing.

“So that tree limb did break the chain when you ran into it,” Celia noted.

“Oh, thank the Lord,” Mandie cried, squeezing the locket and broken chain in her hand. Then looking down at it, she immediately added, “And this gets locked up right now.” She went to her jewelry box on the dresser. Taking the key out of her scarves in the bureau drawer where she kept it hidden, she unlocked the box and put the locket and chain inside.

“That is a very wise thing to do, Mandie,” Celia said, watching her.

After Mandie had locked the jewelry box back up and returned the key to its hiding place, she quickly put on her nightgown. The two girls raced for the bed and jumped in under the covers.

Raising up on her elbow, Mandie said, “Think of all the trouble we went to—and the locket was in my clothes all the time. If I had just changed dresses before we went out, I would have found it.”

“Yes, and now I suppose we are finished with that alley,” Celia replied hopefully.

“Oh no,” Mandie said. “We haven't found that puppy we heard crying the first time we went through there. The barking we heard tonight was from a bigger dog. I'd still like to find the puppy.”

“Oh, Mandie, let's don't even talk about it right now,” Celia moaned.

“There are other things, too, that we need to look into,” Mandie reminded her. “How did Snowball get out of the kitchen? And as far as that alley is concerned, I'd still like to find out what's in all those old buildings down there.”

“Mandie, you not only look for mysteries, you look for trouble,” Celia replied with a laugh.

“Not really—it just seems like mysteries come to me sometimes,” Mandie said, laughing as she lay down.

Tomorrow she would start planning her next investigation.

CHAPTER SIX

UNEXPECTED VISITOR

Mandie and Celia were busy almost all the next day with lessons and homework. When they were finished about three-thirty, they went for a stroll in the front yard. Though the sun was shining, the wind made it chilly enough for coats. Some of the other students at the school were also out for a breath of fresh air.

“Let's walk down near the road where we can talk,” Mandie told Celia, glancing around at the other young ladies close to the front porch.

“Yes, let's do,” Celia agreed.

Gradually moving down the hill, Mandie and Celia came to the bench under a huge magnolia tree near the end of the driveway. They sat down.

“I still want to go back to the alley, Celia, to see if I can find the puppy we heard whining the first time we went through there,” Mandie said. “I'm trying to figure out when and how we can do it.”

“Mandie, don't forget, we don't know yet whether Miss Prudence told your grandmother about us and that alley,” Celia reminded her. “And if she did and if we go back in it again, that will mean we'll be in even more trouble.”

“I don't believe she did,” Mandie said. “Otherwise Grandmother would have said something.” She frowned and added, “But if she
didn't tell, I can't imagine why she didn't because she was really upset with us.”

“Maybe she didn't get the right opportunity to talk to your grandmother because Aunt Rebecca was there,” Celia suggested. “And now when Aunt Rebecca has gone home, Miss Prudence is ill with a cold or something. Just wait until she is up and out again. Then we'll know.”

“I'm positive Grandmother will say something to me if and when Miss Prudence tells her anything. Grandmother won't just let it go,” Mandie said.

“But we haven't seen your grandmother since we went to her dinner that night,” Celia argued.

“I know, but believe me, if Grandmother hears about anything I've said or done, she will make a point to send for me,” Mandie replied. “I still don't believe Miss Prudence told her anything about the alley.”

“Knowing Miss Prudence, I would say that, sooner or later, she will be sure your grandmother knows about it,” Celia said with a sigh.

“I have an idea,” Mandie said, quickly turning to look at her friend. “We could go visit Grandmother, without waiting for her to send for us, while Miss Prudence is ill. Let's go find Miss Hope and get permission to go tomorrow. We don't have many classes tomorrow, so we can leave early enough to go and get back before dark.” She stood up.

Celia rose, too. “All right, Mandie, but exactly what are you planning on doing? Going to your grandmother's and telling her about the alley before Miss Prudence can talk to her?”

Mandie started up the hill toward the front porch. “I don't know, Celia. I'll just see how I feel when I get there and how Grandmother acts.”

They found Miss Hope in her office with what looked like a lot of work on her desk. She looked up and smiled when the girls stopped in the open doorway.

“Come in, Amanda, Celia,” Miss Hope invited.

“Miss Hope,” Mandie began as she and Celia entered the office. Then she stopped in surprise. “Snowball, what are you doing in here?” she said to the cat, who was sitting on a chair near the desk.

“I brought him in here so I could keep track of him,” Miss Hope explained. “My sister is still hearing sounds like a mouse gnawing on something in the walls between her room and the hallway. So I thought perhaps Snowball might root it out for us. Now, what did you girls want?”

Snowball sat quietly in the chair, staring at his mistress.

“Miss Hope, I wanted to ask permission to go visit my grandmother tomorrow afternoon after classes are over—probably stay for supper at her house,” Mandie answered, still watching her white cat.

“Of course, dear,” Miss Hope agreed. Looking at Celia, she asked, “I suppose you want to go with her, do you, Celia?”

“Oh yes, ma'am, please,” Celia answered with a smile.

“Fine then,” Miss Hope said. “I'll ask Uncle Cal to drive you young ladies over there, and your grandmother's driver can bring you back. Now, you must let Uncle Cal know for sure whether you are staying for supper at Mrs. Taft's so I will know where you are.”

“Yes, ma'am, thank you,” Mandie said with a big smile. “As soon as we get to Grandmother's, I'll ask her if we should stay for supper and will tell Uncle Cal. Thank you, Miss Hope.”

“Yes, thank you, Miss Hope,” Celia said. “How is Miss Prudence today?”

“Still not well, I'm afraid, but she should be up and around in a few days,” Miss Hope told her. “However, she is keeping up with everything that's going on here in the school while she's confined to her room. So, girls, please don't do anything you shouldn't while you are away from school tomorrow.”

“Yes, ma'am, we won't,” Mandie replied.

“We'll behave, Miss Hope,” Celia said.

The girls went up to their room to freshen up for supper.

“Mandie, I have a feeling you are planning something that I don't know about,” Celia said as she quickly brushed her auburn curls.

“No, Celia, but if we are late coming back, I can ask Ben to take the shortcut so we won't be late for curfew,” Mandie said with a grin.

Celia looked at her. “Mandie, is that what you've been planning all along with this visit to your grandmother's? Because if it is, I'm not sure I want to go.” She tightened her lips and frowned.

“No, no, Celia,” Mandie quickly assured her. She closed the
wardrobe door and turned to look at Celia. “That is not the reason I want to go to my grandmother's. I just want to see how she seems, whether I can figure out if Miss Prudence told her anything. And I promise we won't take the shortcut back unless you agree to it. I want you to go with me. Please?”

“Well, all right—that is, if you keep your promise not to ask Ben to drive us back through that alley,” Celia said slowly.

“All right, all right, I promise,” Mandie said with a big sigh. “Now, let's go downstairs. It's almost time for supper.”

After supper the girls went back to their room and read for a while.

Mandie caught herself nodding as her book slipped out of her hands. She straightened up, yawned, and said, “I think I'll go to bed.”