The Mandie Collection (13 page)

And as she watched, she saw Miss Hope, wearing a red dress, come out on the porch, holding hands with Mr. Chadwick. Her heart turned somersaults. Had Miss Hope married Mr. Chadwick?

“Oh, Celia, they must have been married,” Mandie shouted through the noise. Tears streamed down her face. “I’m so glad and so happy for Miss Hope.”

Behind her she heard Miss Prudence say, “I must go home now. If my sister was crazy enough to run off and get married, and to that man of all men, then I will have nothing to do with it.”

Mandie and her friends turned to look at Miss Prudence. She was trying to push through the crowd but was unable to move.

“Miss Prudence, this is your long-lost sister,” Mrs. Taft reminded her, “whom we’ve all been looking for.”

Mandie quickly darted through the crowd and managed to get to the porch of the house. Miss Hope saw her and stepped over to where she was standing.

“Miss Hope, I love your red dress,” Mandie said.

“No more black schoolmarm clothes for me,” Miss Hope replied.

“Could you please come out here a minute? Your sister is back there with my grandmother,” Mandie yelled in order to be heard.

Miss Hope hesitated a moment and then quickly slipped through the crowd with Mandie to where Miss Prudence was standing with Mrs. Taft, Uncle Ned, Senator Morton, Joe, Jonathan, and Celia. She stopped within two feet of Miss Prudence and waited.

Miss Prudence wouldn’t even look at her at first. Then the lady began crying, and Miss Hope rushed to her and put her arms around her.

“I’m sorry,” Miss Prudence managed to say.

“You are forgiven. You are my sister,” Miss Hope replied.

Miss Prudence allowed Miss Hope to lead her through the crowd and up to the porch of the house, where Mr. Chadwick was still standing and watching. She straightened her shoulders, held out her hand, and said, “Welcome, brother-in-law.”

Mr. Chadwick squeezed her hand and planted a kiss on her cheek.

“Everyone in town knew but me,” Miss Prudence said in a shaky voice. “And it’s my fault for being angry with you that night, over nothing really, just a chance to act superior because I am a little older.”

Mandie and her friends grinned at each other.

“So this is where Willie brought that furniture,” Mandie said.

Miss Hope heard her and said, “Yes, dear, I had furniture stored out at the farm for several years.”

“Get your husband, Hope, and let’s go to the house, where we can talk,” Miss Prudence told her.

Everyone piled into Mrs. Taft’s rig and headed to the schoolhouse.

Miss Hope looked at Mrs. Taft and said, “I’m so sorry we had to keep everything a secret from you, but we were afraid my sister might find out.”

Mrs. Taft smiled and said, “I understand. I am glad you are happy.”

“What a love story!” Jonathan exclaimed.

“Yes, it is,” Celia agreed.

Mandie looked at Joe and said, “That’s what I’d like to do if I ever get married, just run away and do it.”

Joe reached to squeeze her hand.

Mandie

and the Graduation Mystery

“Bring up a child in the way he should go and

when he is old he will not depart from it.”

—Proverbs 22:6 kjv

Mandie and the Graduation Mystery

Epigraph

Thank You . . .

1. Home for Christmas

2. Trouble

3. Waiting

4. Cat Trouble

5. Uncertain Plans

6. Time Flies By

7. Surprises

8. Errors

9. Problems Solved

10. Spring Holidays

11. What?

12. Full Circle

. . . to all those wonderful people who have “worked” for Mandie for the past twenty-one years, including Bethany House Publishers, the salesmen, the bookstore owners, the many reviewers, teachers, book clubs, librarians, and the millions of readers who purchased the books.

Dear Friends/Readers:

For the past twenty-one years you have read about Mandie in forty numbered books, two special books, and her cookbook. You have written thousands of letters to me about her, and I have saved every single one. My closets are full of mail. Over the years I have received many little gifts and photos tucked into letters from you, and birthday and Christmas cards, and I have kept and treasured all of these.

The first two books were published in 1983, and Mandie was eleven years old in Book #1. Now in Book #40 she is only sixteen. In twenty-one years she has aged just five years, whereas some of you have grown up and married and are still reading about Mandie!

Mandie and her cat, Snowball, have solved many mysteries, and you readers were right there with her, cheering along the way. Mandie has had many sorrows, and some of you have written over the years to tell me of yours. Mandie has also had much happiness, which you have shared with her. And Mandie has learned many lessons. Many of you have written to say you have also learned right along with Mandie.

Chris Wold Dyrud has illustrated all the beautiful covers for Mandie’s books, which you have written to say you liked. You can write to her and thank her in care of Bethany House Publishers. I’m sure she would love to hear from you.

Let’s stay friends and help Mandie along the way as she grows older. You are all so special.

I love you all,

Lois Gladys Leppard

“I can’t believe this will be our last Christmas holiday at this school,” Mandie said with a loud sigh. “It seems like time has really just flown by.” She slid down comfortably in the chair in their room.

“I agree,” Celia said. “I wonder what college will be like.” She sat in the other chair.

Mandie straightened up to ask, “You did ask your mother to mail in your application, didn’t you? When Grandmother sent mine in during the Thanksgiving holidays I thought you were sending yours, too.”

“Yes, Mother wrote last week that she had mailed it for me. But Mandie, you got ahead of me. When your grandmother sent yours in I thought we were still just considering the College of Charleston. I didn’t know you had definitely decided to go there,” Celia told her.

“I’m glad you finally agreed to at least try the College of Charleston for a year,” Mandie said, smiling. “Then we can decide whether to stay or transfer to another college.”

“It might be nice,” Celia said.

“There’s one good thing about going all the way to Charleston, South Carolina, to college. It’s too far from Asheville, North Carolina, for my grandmother to try to run things,” Mandie said with a little laugh.

“At least you won’t be in the same town with her, but you know, Mandie, I believe your grandmother really does love you. She just likes to be the boss when it comes to making plans,” Celia said.

“Oh, I don’t doubt that my grandmother loves me, and I love her, too, but she wants to control everything all the time and I’m old enough now to have some opinions of my own,” Mandie replied.

Celia laughed and said, “I know that very well—all the scrapes you’ve gotten us into since we came to school here, solving all those mysteries you get tangled up in. When I think about all the things we’ve done it’s a wonder we didn’t get seriously injured, or even killed, like that time you went out on the roof and almost slid off.”

Mandie grinned and said, “But I didn’t slide off.” She stood up and stretched as she added, “Let’s go down and sit in the parlor. It’s almost time for supper.”

Celia rose and the two looked around the room. Their luggage was packed and standing in a corner and all their personal items were missing from the bureau.

“I’m going to leave a lot of my things at home this time because I won’t need all of it for the rest of the school year. When we come back from the Christmas holidays it will be 1904 and less than five months to our graduation,” Mandie remarked as they walked toward the door.

Celia stopped and looked back. “You know, Mandie, I’m going to miss this place, and I hate going to a new school.”

“Oh, come on, Celia,” Mandie said, opening the door. “We can’t stay here in this school forever. I’m going to enjoy feeling really grown up in college.”

“I’ll remind you of what you just said when we get down there at that strange college where everyone is a stranger and you can’t even find a mystery to solve,” Celia said with a big grin, following Mandie out into the hallway.

As they headed for the staircase Mandie said, “The only bad thing about going to Charleston is that Grandmother has been insisting that she be the one to go and check me in, and since my mother has already been down there with us to see the place, she will probably agree that Grandmother accompany me when we go back.”

“Yes, but remember your grandmother knows how to get things done,” Celia said with a grin.

“Yes, I know that very well,” Mandie replied with a frown.

They stopped at the foot of the staircase to talk a minute before mingling with the other girls at the school.

“Have you heard yet whether your aunt Rebecca will be coming to my house and bringing Mollie for Christmas?” Mandie asked.

“As far as I know right now she will be coming with my mother and me,” Celia replied.

“Celia, please don’t take too long to get there so we can have some time with all our friends before you have to go home,” Mandie told her. “The last I heard everyone else will be coming right after I get home. And we are going to have a houseful.” She smiled.

“When I get home I’ll do my best to get Mother and Aunt Rebecca to come right on to your house,” Celia promised.

“Grandmother is coming to get me right after breakfast in the morning and we’ll be getting the train to Franklin, so I won’t be here when your aunt Rebecca comes for you, but please tell her I said to hurry,” Mandie said with a smile.

“I will, I promise,” Celia replied.

Later on the train the next day with her grandmother, Mrs. Taft, and her white cat, Snowball, Mandie eagerly anticipated the coming holidays where all her friends would gather at her house for Christmas. She wondered if they would have enough beds for all those people, but then the house had three stories plus an attic. She would have Celia and Sallie stay in her room with her. Joe and Jonathan could share a room. Then there were all those adults, Uncle Ned; his wife, Morning Star; Dr. and Mrs. Woodard; Jane Hamilton, Celia’s mother; Celia’s aunt Rebecca and Mollie, the orphan they had brought home from Ireland when Mrs. Taft took them to Europe; Jonathan’s father, Lindall Guyer; Senator Morton, her grandmother’s friend; Jacob Smith, her father’s old friend, who would be bringing Riley O’Neal, the schoolmaster at the Cherokee school. And no telling who else might show up at her house during the holidays.

The train ride with her grandmother seemed unusually long because Mandie was in a great hurry to get home to Franklin, North Carolina.

When they finally reached the depot in Franklin, they were met by Jason Bond, her uncle John’s caretaker. As he put their luggage in the rig, Mandie excitedly asked questions.

“Mr. Jason, has anyone arrived at our house yet for the holidays?” she eagerly asked.

“Why, yes, little lady, they have in fact,” Mr. Bond replied. He helped Mrs. Taft into the rig and they were on their way to the house. “Dr. and Mrs. Woodard and their son, Joe, came in last night.”

“Joe is already here!” Mandie excitedly repeated. “His college must have let out earlier than our school did for the holidays.”

Mr. Bond glanced back at her with a smile and said, “And he’s been asking about you, when you’re going to get home, and who else is coming to visit.”

“Oh, everybody is coming, Mr. Jason,” Mandie told him.

“So I’ve heard,” he replied.

Joe Woodard was sitting on the front porch waiting for them. He rushed down the long walkway to help Mr. Bond with the luggage.

“I’m glad to see you finally made it home,” Joe teased as he reached for a piece of luggage.

“You didn’t beat me by much, just one night, according to Mr. Bond,” Mandie replied as she held on to her white cat.

Mrs. Taft walked ahead up to the house. Mandie followed Joe, who had the luggage.

Elizabeth Shaw, Mandie’s mother, and Uncle John Shaw, Mandie’s uncle who had married her mother after her father died, were waiting for them in the parlor with Dr. and Mrs. Woodard.

Mandie put Snowball down and hugged her mother, then greeted everyone else. “I want to change out of this traveling suit. I’ll be back down in a few minutes,” she told them as she left the parlor and hurried up the stairs to her room.

She quickly took down a blue gingham dress from the huge wardrobe in her room, removed the traveling clothes, and put on the dress. She thought about Joe as she brushed out her long blond hair and tied it back with a blue ribbon.

Mandie and Joe had grown up together at Charley Gap when Mandie’s father was living and then she had come to her uncle’s house in Franklin to live when her father died. Joe was her dearest friend.

Instead of going directly back to the parlor, Mandie quickly stopped by the kitchen to see Aunt Lou.

“Well, there’s my chile.” Aunt Lou greeted her as she put down the spoon she was using in a pot on the iron cookstove and came hurrying to embrace Mandie.

“Oh, Aunt Lou, I’m so glad to see you,” Mandie replied as she squeezed her hand. “And I’m so glad to be back home where I can get some decent food.” She glanced at the pot on the stove.

“Decent food? Dem people at dat school don’t give my chile no decent food?” Aunt Lou asked, frowning.

“You know what I mean, Aunt Lou. The food at the school is cooked in such huge quantities for so many people it doesn’t taste like what you cook at all,” Mandie explained.

“Well, we gwine cook in big quantities for de holidays ’cause all dem people comin’, you know,” Aunt Lou replied.

“I hope you have some extra help. You and Jenny and Liza can’t cook for all those people who are coming to stay a few days,” Mandie said.

“Don’t worry ’bout dat,” Aunt Lou told her. “Miz Lizbeth done rounded up de Burnses and a couple more to help us. In fact, dey gwine be so many workers I kin jes’ stand back and be de boss.” She laughed.

Mandie laughed, too, and said, “You are the boss, Aunt Lou. You shouldn’t have to do so much work yourself.”

Liza, the young maid, came hurrying through the door and exclaimed, “Dere you be! I ben huntin’ fo’ you all over dis heah house.” She danced around the room.

“Yes, here I am, Liza, and I’m glad to be home,” Mandie told her.

“I’se jes’ wantin’ to tell you dat Miss Pritty Thang, she done come home yesterday,” Liza leaned over to say in a loud whisper.

Mandie smiled as she knew Liza was talking about their next-door neighbor’s daughter, Polly Cornwallis, who went to the same school as Mandie. “I don’t know how she does it but she is always getting special concessions for time off from the school,” Mandie said. “She probably won’t come over here after the trouble she got into back in the summer with that newspaper reporter trying to get into our tunnel.”

“Dat girl ain’t got no memory,” Liza said, shaking her head. “Betcha she be over here when she hear Joe is here.”

“There are going to be a lot of boys here this time,” Mandie told her. “Besides Joe, there will be Jonathan, Riley O’Neal from the Cherokee school, Dimar, my Cherokee friend, and possibly some others.”

“My, my! Wid all dem boys dat Miss Pritty Thang, she be comin’ over here,” Liza replied.

Mandie turned back to Aunt Lou and said, “I have to go back to the parlor now because everyone else is in there, but I’ll be back to visit as soon as I get a chance.”

“You do dat, my chile. Now git on in dere wid dem people,” Aunt Lou said, shaking her big white apron at Mandie. “ ’Sides, we’se got to git some food cooked heah now.”

Mandie blew her a kiss as she went out into the hall. When she got back to the parlor, all the adults were talking and Joe was sitting on a nearby settee waiting for her.

“Your college must give you extra days for the holidays,” Mandie remarked as she sat down beside him. “We weren’t dismissed until today.”

Joe smiled at her and said, “That’s because I go to college and you’re still in that young ladies’ school.” Then he quickly added, “I hope you have decided to come to my college next year.” He seemed to be holding his breath as he waited for her reply, Mandie noticed.

“Sorry, Joe, but Celia and I have both signed up for the College of Charleston,” Mandie said with a weak smile. “We decided to get out completely on our own, with no old friends around, and see if we can rush through college and be done with all that education.”

“Oh, Mandie,” Joe said, his face showing his disappointment.

“You know that the main reason for my going to college is to learn how to handle the family business, which I will inherit someday—if I survive all those mysteries I get in to—even though it is a business I don’t really want. It sounds overpowering just to think about it,” Mandie told him, blowing out her breath. Leaning closer to him she whispered, “And don’t dare tell Grandmother, but once I get all that money I’ll probably give it all away.”

“If you marry me, Mandie, remember I will be an attorney someday and I could handle your business for you,” Joe replied, gazing into her blue eyes.

Mandie straightened up and moved back into her seat. She finally looked him in the eye and said, “Now, Joe Woodard, we keep going through this every now and then and I keep telling you I may never get married. I have decided lately I might just hang out my own shingle and become a lady detective.” She grinned at him.

Joe smiled and quickly said, “Yes, you would make a good lady detective, but you could still be married.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Mandie said. “Being a detective would require odd hours of work, which would be hindered by being married.”

“Mandie, it’s a long time before you graduate from college and you could change your mind about a whole lot of things,” Joe reminded her, then added, “At least I hope so.” He smiled at her.

“Amanda,” Elizabeth Shaw, Mandie’s mother, spoke across the room to her. “Aunt Lou has your graduation dress all done except for the hemming. She needs to measure the length to be sure you haven’t grown a few inches, which I don’t believe you have. So when you find her with a few minutes free you need to try it on and let her measure it.”

“Oh, really, Mother?” Mandie said excitedly. “I’ll ask her about it.” Turning back to Joe, she said, “I’m going to have the prettiest dress in my class if Aunt Lou has made my dress like we talked about.”

“Now, how do you know that? All the girls are having their dresses made and I understand none of them are alike,” Joe replied with a smile.

“No, we don’t have to wear the same dress to graduate at our school, you know, like a uniform, or something. After Miss Hope ran away and got married, she managed to change some of the rules. She doesn’t wear black now, either, and in fact doesn’t even look like a schoolteacher is supposed to look anymore.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Do Miss Hope and her new husband still live in that old house they fixed up?” Joe asked.

“Oh yes, and they have made it a beautiful place,” Mandie replied.

There was a knock on the front door down the hall, and Mandie listened to see who was there as Liza came hurrying by the doorway to answer it.

“Y’all come right in now, you heah?” Liza was saying.

Then she heard Uncle Ned, her father’s old Cherokee friend, say, “I put wagon in barn. Be right back.”