The Mandie Collection (30 page)

“Yes, that's the best idea yet,” Mandie said, holding tightly to her kitten.

“Well, we must begin using the rope then, because there is the railroad track. Up the hill there,” Dimar told them, motioning in the darkness.

“I can't see a thing,” Mandie said.

“Neither can I,” Joe added.

“Dimar, how do you see that far?” Sallie asked.

“Now I see the tracks,” Mandie said, excitedly.

“Yes, they were there all the time,” Tsa'ni said sarcastically.

When the young people reached the tracks, as Joe had suggested, they began working with the rope. Dimar fastened one end around his waist and gave the free end to Sallie. She, in turn, wrapped it around her waist and passed it on to Mandie, who did likewise, then Joe, and then Tsa'ni.

“It is just barely long enough,” Tsa'ni said, securing the rope around his waist. “Now if one falls, we all fall.”

“Oh, no, Tsa'ni,” Mandie disagreed. “You see, there would be four of us left standing to pull the other one back up.”

“Then we had better be quick if one of us falls,” Tsa'ni replied.

Dimar carefully stepped onto the tracks and the others lined up behind him. But before Dimar could give the word to start, Mandie spoke up.

“I think we should ask God to protect us,” she said. “I'm scared.”

“The rope will protect us,” Tsa'ni retorted.

“Tsa'ni!” Sallie rebuked. “Of course the rope will help us, but we need God to watch over us.”

“I do not believe in the white people's God,” Tsa'ni said vehemently.

Dimar was shocked. “But you go to church with your father and your grandfather,” he said.

“Yes, but that is only because they make me go. When I am grown I will not go to church anymore. They will not be able to force me,” Tsa'ni answered.

Mandie's heart cried out in pain.
Tsa'ni did not believe in God!
What could she say to him to convince him he was wrong? She
knew he was quite stubborn and sometimes quite mean, so she would have to be very careful with whatever she said.

“Tsa'ni, just say our little verse with us. We always say it to God when we're afraid, and then we just leave everything in His hands. He takes care of us, no matter what happens,” Mandie tried to convince him.

“But I am not afraid,” Tsa'ni rebelled.

“I'm not afraid either, really,” Joe spoke up. “But I always say the verse with Mandie and the others, just to tell God I'm depending on Him.”

Mandie tried to turn around and look directly at Tsa'ni at the end of the line, but the rope was too tight.

“Please, my Cherokee cousin, believe that God will protect us from harm if we ask,” Mandie begged.

“No, I will not say it!” Tsa'ni snapped.

“Then we will say it without you,” Dimar told him, reaching behind to take Sallie's hand. Sallie took Mandie's, and Mandie put Snowball on her shoulder to reach for Joe's hand.

The four spoke together. “What time we are afraid, we will put our trust in thee, dear God.”

In a whisper Mandie added, “And dear God, please help Tsa'ni.”

“Are we ready to go now?” Tsa'ni asked angrily.

“Yes, we are ready to go,” Dimar answered. “Please, be careful and go very slowly. If we come to one of those places where the tracks go over a gorge, we will have to walk on the crossties.”

After what seemed like hours of little progress, Dimar spotted a dangerous place ahead. “Here is one of those places,” Dimar called over his shoulder. “We will have to go very slowly.”

They all stopped. The tracks spanned the deep gorge in midair. And as he had said, there were only the crossties to walk on. The track was open. There was no dirt beneath it and nothing alongside it—just the width of the track supported by a bridge framework.

As they started across, Mandie made the mistake of looking down. The ground beneath dropped clear out of sight in the darkness. Her stomach turned over, and she shivered in the chilly night
air.
Suppose someone's foot slipped, could the others save him—or her? It would be horrible to fall through the tracks
. She could almost feel the pain. Then she silently rebuked herself.
I told God I would trust Him and here I am worrying about what might happen. Please, dear God, forgive me. I do put my trust in you
.

“This is nerve-racking work,” Mandie said, trying to fit her steps to the distance between the crossties without pulling or pushing the others. Everyone seemed to be holding his breath and concentrating on his feet. Snowball clung to Mandie's shoulder.

“I have done this before, lots of times,” Tsa'ni bragged.

“Well, I don't think I ever want to do it again,” Joe said.

“It is exhilarating up here in the air,” Tsa'ni replied, throwing his hands over his head.

Mandie glanced quickly over her shoulder. “Tsa'ni!” she cried. “Please be careful!”

At that moment the Indian boy lost his footing and slipped between the crossties. Thrown off balance, he dangled in the air, trying to grasp the framework beneath the tracks.

The sudden fall jerked the others. Joe, being next to Tsa'ni, had to sit down on the crossties to keep from being pulled down with him. Mandie frantically clutched Snowball and swayed as she tried to keep from falling. Sallie and Dimar, ahead of her, did not feel the jolt quite as badly.

Dimar immediately took over. “Please sit down!” he told Sallie and Mandie. He unfastened the rope from his waist. “Hold on, Tsa'ni, hold on. I will help you.”

The girls carefully sat down on the crossties next to Joe. “Why does Tsa'ni always have to make trouble?” Joe muttered. “Because he is a bad Cherokee,” Sallie replied.

“Pray for him,” Mandie urged, “so that he doesn't fall.” Dimar gingerly stepped past the other three to get to Tsa'ni.

Sallie hung her head in shame, then raised her face toward the sky. “Please, God, do not let him fall.”

Mandie was looking heavenward, too. “Please take care of him, dear God,” she prayed.

As Dimar knelt on the tracks and tried to reach Tsa'ni's hand below, Joe knew he had to help, too, even though he didn't like Tsa'ni.

“Untie the rope from around y'all,” Joe told the girls.

“But we might fall, too,” Sallie protested.

“You won't if you sit perfectly still,” Joe answered. “I need the rope for Tsa'ni.”

“Of course,” Mandie answered, as Sallie quickly untied the rope from her waist and passed the end to Mandie, who immediately pulled it loose from herself and passed it on back to Joe.

Dimar changed positions. “I still cannot reach you, Tsa'ni,” he said.

“Wait. I'm getting the rope free,” Joe told Dimar. “Then we can pull him up.” He rolled up the rope and crawled back to where Dimar was stooping, trying to reach Tsa'ni.

The other end of the rope was still around Tsa'ni's waist, but it wasn't doing any good because he was hanging onto the bottom of the track with his hands, and his feet were kicking at the huge wooden post supporting the track. He kept trying to catch his toes on the post to take some of the pressure off his hands. So far he had not said a word.

Dimar helped Joe tie the rope around a crosstie and then called down to Tsa'ni.

“We have the rope secured up here and we are going to throw the end down to you. Watch for it,” Dimar called to him.

Tsa'ni did not answer except to call out, “Hurry up!”

The first streaks of light began to brighten the sky. The two boys could see Tsa'ni hanging below and they threw the rope down over the side of the tracks, but it didn't go anywhere near Tsa'ni. They tried again and again but it wouldn't fall near enough for him to grab it.

“I cannot hold much longer,” Tsa'ni finally said in a hoarse voice.

Mandie and Sallie sat holding hands, helplessly watching as the boys kept throwing the rope toward Tsa'ni. They silently prayed that he would be able to reach the rope.

Suddenly, Tsa'ni's hands gave way and he fell. The rope, too, broke, and the others watched in terror as he disappeared into the gorge below.

“Tsa'ni!” the boys yelled in terror.

Mandie and Sallie burst into tears, holding onto one another for comfort. Dimar and Joe looked at the dangling piece of rope. Dimar silently pulled it up and unfastened it from the crosstie.

Joe took command. “We've got to get across this thing,” he said. “Then when the track is back on the ground again, we can get off and climb down there and see if we can find Tsa'ni.”

“That is exactly what I was thinking,” Dimar replied.

Mandie wiped her tears on her apron with one hand and held tightly to Snowball with the other. “Are Sallie and I going down after Tsa'ni, too?” Mandie asked.

Dimar looked at Joe. “Joe and I will search for him as soon as the track gets back on the ground,” he answered.

“If you and Joe are going, then so am I,” Mandie insisted. “Me, too,” Sallie added. “I do not wish to be left alone.”

Joe looked at Dimar. “I suppose it wouldn't be safe to leave them alone, would it?”

“I guess not. They will have to go with us,” Dimar agreed. “However, it will probably be very steep and rough down there.” “I'll be all right,” Mandie assured them.

The sky had begun to lighten and in the growing daylight they could see that they were about halfway across the gorge. The cross-ties were more visible now, but the young people could also see how far below the land was.

The remaining piece of rope was not long enough to tie around them again, so they held onto it between them as they carefully walked single file down the tracks. It was a slow, scary process, but they were even more afraid of what they would find in the ravine.

CHAPTER SIX

SEARCHING

As the young people neared the end of the railroad bridge, the ground gradually came up to meet them, and they breathed a little easier. The awesome trek in open space was over.

Dimar stepped from the tracks onto the ground and led the others to safety.

“Whew!” Mandie blew out her breath. “Dimar, is there any more of that kind of tracks between here and where the baggage car wrecked?”

“I do not think so,” Dimar assured her with a smile. “It will get steep down the side instead.” Now that it was daylight he looked at her with admiration.
She is beautiful, in spite of her grimy, tear-streaked face
, he thought.

Dimar had often looked at Mandie that way, and Joe was jealous. He spoke up quickly. “Well, suppose we try to find Tsa'ni now,” he suggested.

Suddenly there was a noise on the gravel. They all turned to see Tsa'ni climbing up the hill through the thick brush.

“That will not be necessary,” he said, coming toward them. He was swinging the piece of rope that had been tied around his waist when he fell.

Everyone stared at him, unable to speak. Was that really Tsa'ni?

“I told you the rope would protect me,” he laughed.

“Oh, Tsa'ni, what do you mean?” Mandie asked.

“When my hands slipped, the rope broke and I fell a great distance. But luckily, I landed in the top branches of a tree. All I had to do was get untangled and climb down,” he explained, still swinging the piece of rope. “I escaped with hardly a scratch.”

“And here we've been mourning for you all the time,” Joe complained. “What a waste of tears!”

“You see, God did protect you,” Sallie told him.

“I didn't need God. The tree broke my fall,” Tsa'ni tossed back at her.

“No, Tsa'ni. God protected you. He used the tree to save you,” Mandie explained.

“The
tree
saved me,” the Indian boy insisted.

Joe began to walk ahead on the tracks. “There's no use in arguing with the ignorant dumbhead,” he said. “We've got more important things to do, like finding Uncle Ned and the gold. Besides, I'm hungry. Let's go.”

Dimar agreed. “Yes, we must hurry.”

The girls followed Joe and Dimar, trying to keep up with their rapid pace. Tsa'ni lagged slightly behind the others.

“I wonder if my mother and Uncle John and Uncle Wirt got to Asheville all right,” Mandie said.

“I don't imagine they stayed in Asheville if they got there,” Joe told her. “They'll be out looking for us and Uncle Ned.”

“I pray that my grandfather is all right,” Sallie said, her voice shaking.

“Do you think he was still in the baggage car when it went off the tracks, or do you think the bandits captured him?” Dimar asked.

“I do not know what to think. It was all so sudden,” Sallie answered. “But either way is bad. If my grandfather was still in the baggage car when it derailed, he may have been badly injured.” She swallowed hard. “But if the bandits captured him, they may have harmed him.”

“Especially since he is an Indian,” Tsa'ni said bitterly.

“I can't understand why people are so prejudiced against certain other people. God made us all, and in His sight we are all equal,” Mandie reasoned as they hurried along the railroad tracks.

“There are lots of people who think they are living as Christians, but they commit that sin,” Dimar joined in.

“I do not claim to be a Christian, so I can say that I think the Indians are much
better
than the white people,” Tsa'ni declared.

The other four were shocked.

“How can you say such a thing, Tsa'ni?” Dimar questioned.

“I am ashamed of you, Tsa'ni—as one Indian to another,” Sallie told him.

“Why did you come with us in the first place?” Joe asked.

Tsa'ni did not answer.

After several moments of awkward silence, Mandie spoke. “I think the best thing we can do is to quit talking until we get to where we're going. That way, there won't be any hard feelings,” she suggested.