The Mandie Collection (43 page)

“Aren't you going to take a light?” Celia asked.

“Here, we can take this one,” Mandie said, lighting the lamp by the bed. She picked it up, and Celia joined her near the door.

All of a sudden, the noise stopped. The girls stood still.

“It went away,” Celia whispered.

Mandie set the lamp back down and blew out the light. “We should still look out in the hall,” she said, opening the door. Celia was right behind her.

As they stepped into the hallway, someone laughed softly and asked, “And where are you young ladies going?”

Mandie instantly recognized April's voice.

“None of your business, April Snow. And what are you doing out in the hall after ten o'clock?” Mandie asked.

“I'd say that's none of
your
business.” April sauntered down the hall toward her room and disappeared around the corner.

The two girls looked at each other.

“April must have been making that noise,” Celia said in disgust.

“Maybe and maybe not,” Mandie replied, “but we'd better wait for another night to investigate the attic. April may be on her way to tell Miss Prudence that she caught us out of our room. Let's go back to bed.”

The girls were really puzzled now. Was April making the noises in the attic? Had April taken Mandie's shawl and then her nightgown? April was always making threats but there still wasn't any proof of wrong-doing. They would have to investigate the attic at their first opportunity and see what was really there.

CHAPTER FIVE

LOCKED OUT IN THE NIGHT

The next morning, when Mandie started to get dressed, she reached for her blue dress which she had hung on the chifferobe door.

“My dress!” She gasped. “It's gone, hanger and all.”

Celia turned to look. “Oh, Mandie, you've got to tell Miss Prudence now. Do you want someone to take all your clothes?”

“I don't understand how anyone could come in here while we're asleep and not wake us,” Mandie replied. “I'll talk to Uncle Ned about it. He's coming to see me tonight.”

“May I go down there with you to meet him?”

“I'll have to ask first,” Mandie replied. “You can stay at the window, and I'll signal if he says it's all right.” She pulled out a bright red dress from the chifferobe and took a strand of multicolored beads from a little box on the bureau.

“Those beads are beautiful. Where did you get them?” Celia asked.

“Sallie Sweetwater gave them to me before I left. She's my Indian friend. She's also Uncle Ned's granddaughter.” Mandie fingered the necklace tenderly. “These beads are very old,” she explained. “Sallie's great-grandmother made them. They're one of my most treasured possessions.” Mandie reached for her robe. “Well, if I don't get to that bathroom on time, I won't get a bath,” she said.

Later, on their way down to breakfast, the girls met April coming up the steps. They all looked at each other, but no one spoke.

As soon as April was out of hearing range, Celia turned to her friend. “There she goes!” Celia accused. “She should be going the same direction we are for breakfast. I think she is the culprit. And I also think you ought to talk to Miss Prudence, or maybe to Miss Hope.”

“I suppose I will, as soon as I get a chance.”

At the table, Miss Prudence had already returned thanks and was about to ask the girls to be seated when April rushed in and took her place.

Miss Prudence frowned. “April, I will see you in my office as soon as we finish breakfast,” she said sternly.

April nodded without saying a word.

After breakfast, as the two girls walked down the hallway, Celia said, “So April is in trouble with Miss Prudence for being late to the table.”

“I'd hate to be in her shoes,” Mandie replied. She couldn't wait to tell the whole story to Uncle Ned. He would help her know what to do.

That night when the old Indian came, he and Mandie sat on the bench under the magnolia tree. Mandie kept an eye on Celia at the bedroom window.

“Uncle Ned, I have a problem,” Mandie began. “You see, there's a girl here, named April Snow. She and I shared a bed in the other bedroom. She got furious with me because I moved into the room with Celia. You know that Celia and I are good friends. But April said I was moving because her mother was a Yankee.” Mandie threw her hands up in the air. “I didn't even know about her mother. Yet April has been nasty to me ever since.”

“What she do, Papoose?” the old man asked.

“She watches me all the time. When I was going to my room after your last visit, April met me on the steps. She asked me where I'd been. I didn't tell her, of course. Then yesterday the
boys from Mr. Chadwick's School came for tea and April decided she liked the boy I was with. Tommy asked me to go to the dinner party Saturday night, but April says she wants him for her partner. She keeps saying things like, ‘I'm warning you' and ‘You'll be sorry.' ”

“All talk? Not do anything to Papoose?”

“I don't know,” Mandie said. She told him about the missing clothes. “I'm not sure whether or not she was the one who took them.”

“Papoose tell Miss Head Lady?” he asked.

Mandie smiled at his name for Miss Prudence. “I wanted to ask you if I should mention this to Miss Prudence. The Bible tells us to do good for evil, and if someone smites you on one cheek, turn the other. Uncle Ned, do you think that means I shouldn't do anything to cause April trouble?”

“Papoose not make trouble for girl. Good for girl if Papoose go when sun rises and tell Miss Head Lady,” said the Indian. “Must not lose fine clothes. Mother of Papoose not like that.”

“I guess my mother would be upset to know I had lost those things.”

The old man stood up. “Must go now,” he said.

Mandie jumped up and looked at the window above. “Uncle Ned, I promised Celia I'd signal to her if she could come down and meet you. Can she, Uncle Ned, please?”

“Make sign quick. Must hurry,” he said, looking up.

Mandie waved to Celia and the girl quickly disappeared. In a few minutes she was running toward them across the yard.

“Celia, this is Uncle Ned,” Mandie said. “And, Uncle Ned, this is my friend Celia Hamilton.”

Celia curtsied briefly. Uncle Ned smiled and put his hand on her auburn curls.

“No, no, Papoose Celia. Not bow down to me. I only old Indian, not Big God. He only one to bow down to.”

Both girls smiled.

“They teach us these things here at school,” Celia explained. “A lady never shakes hands. She either nods her head or curtsies, and I thought I should curtsy, from all that Mandie has told me about you. I think you are a great man.”

“I only old Indian watching over Papoose,” Uncle Ned replied. “Must go now. Come next moon.” He turned to Mandie. “Papoose not forget. Go see Miss Head Lady when sun rises.”

“I will, if you say so,” Mandie promised. She pulled him down for a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Go,” he told them.

The girls ran across the backyard and stopped to wave as they entered the screened-in back porch. The old man disappeared into the trees.

Mandie grasped the doorknob and pushed, but the door wouldn't open.

“Celia! The door's locked!” she whispered in the darkness.

“Somebody locked us out?” Celia asked.

“They must have. It couldn't have locked by itself. There's a bolt on the door, remember?”

“April was probably watching us!” Celia accused.

“We'll have to find some other way to get inside the house. There's no way to move the bolt from out here.”

“Mandie, please do something about April,” Celia complained.

“I intend to, first thing in the morning. But right now, let's look around. Maybe we can find a window open or something. We've got to get back in before someone misses us. I'll bet whoever locked us out is waiting to see what we'll do. Let's go.”

Celia followed her friend. They walked all the way around the house without finding any way to get in. Finally, they sat down on the back steps.

“It looks like we'll be caught this time. There's no way in,” Celia sighed.

“There's a solution to every problem if you think about it long enough,” Mandie told her. She propped her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her hands.
Uncle Ned has already
gone
, she thought.
Of course there probably isn't anything he could do to help us anyway
. Mandie didn't have a friend at the school besides Celia.
Oh, yes, I do
, she thought.
Aunt Phoebe! Maybe she is still up. Aunt Phoebe must have a key to the house
, Mandie reasoned.
She's the first one up. She comes to wake us every morning
.

Mandie jumped up. “Celia, what about Aunt Phoebe? She must have some way to get inside the house every morning. Let's see if she'll help us.”

“Won't she tell on us?” Celia asked.

“No. Aunt Phoebe is my friend. Come on.”

As the girls walked toward the little cottage, they noticed a faint light behind the drawn curtains. Evidently someone was still awake.

When they stepped onto the small front porch in the darkness, they were suddenly startled to find Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Cal sitting in the rockers on the porch.

“My chillun cain't git in de house?” the old woman asked. Mandie's eyes widened. “How did you know, Aunt Phoebe?” she asked.

“We sits heah. See lots o' things,” Aunt Phoebe replied. She rose from the chair and stood in front of her husband. “Cal, gimme de key.”

The old man pulled a door key from his pocket and handed it to her. “Jes' be sho' you don't wake dem two wimmen,” he warned his wife. “If you does, we git no sleep tonight.”

“We knows how to be quiet. My chillun heah too skeerd not to be quiet. Mistuh Injun Man done gone. Dey got no hep 'cept us.”

“You saw Uncle Ned?” Mandie gasped.

“We sees, but we not tell. We knows who Mistuh Injun Man be. C'mon,” she beckoned. “We'se gotta go to de front do' wid dis key.” Aunt Phoebe led the way around the house.

She quietly slipped the key into the front door lock, turned the tumbler, and slowly pushed the door open. Putting her finger over
her lips, she motioned for them to be quiet. Aunt Phoebe pushed them inside, closed the door, and locked it behind them.

The girls stealthily made their way up the main stairway in the darkness. They didn't see or hear anyone along the way. And when they finally closed their bedroom door, they both sighed with relief.

“Whew! That was a close call!” Mandie exclaimed.

“Too close, Mandie.”

Just then, the clanging, squeaking noise began again in the attic. They looked at each other in silence. Hadn't they had enough adventure for one night?

With sudden decision, Mandie whirled and opened their door. “Quick! Let's see what it is!”

She started up the attic steps in the darkness. Celia followed, too afraid to speak. The noise grew louder. Slowly and carefully, they tiptoed up the steps until they reached the door at the top of the stairs. A small window by the door gave a dim light. They held their breath.

Mandie rested her hand on the doorknob, trying to decide whether or not to open the door. After a few moments, she gently turned the knob and swung the creaking door open. The room was pitch black. Suddenly there was a sound like a hundred rats scampering across the floor.

The girls panicked and flew back down the stairs, not stopping until they were safe in their room.

“Mandie, I'm afraid!” Celia whispered. “Let's put something in front of our door, so if somebody tries to come in, we'll hear them.”

“Yes!” Mandie agreed. She looked around.

The room was small. There was a fireplace on one wall. The bed stood against another. A bureau, chifferobe, and two overstuffed chairs occupied most of the remaining space. A floor-length mirror on a gilt stand stood in a corner.

Mandie made her decision quickly. With Celia's help she succeeded in moving both of the heavy chairs in front of the door.

She stood back and surveyed their work. “That ought to discourage anyone from pushing their way in here.”

Feeling a little safer, the girls quickly undressed and hopped into bed.

They soon fell asleep, secure in the knowledge that the chairs were guarding their door. But would the chairs keep out someone who really wanted to get in?

CHAPTER SIX

APRIL'S TROUBLE

Next morning, Mandie swung her feet out of bed, plopped them on the floor and quickly withdrew them. What had she stepped on? Leaning over the edge of the bed for a look, she let out a sharp cry. The precious beads Sallie had given her were all over the floor.

Awakened by the cry, Celia crawled over to see what Mandie was looking at. “Oh, Mandie! What happened?”

Mandie climbed out of bed and stooped to recover the beads that were scattered everywhere. “Somebody broke my beads, the beads that Sallie gave me.” Her voice quivered.

Celia bent to help. “Don't cry, Mandie. I'll help you restring the beads. Let's just be sure we find all of them.”

“How could anyone get in here?” Mandie asked, looking toward the door. “The chairs are moved!” she exclaimed. “I see how they did it. We put the chairs on that throw rug. It would slide easily on the hardwood floor. We went to all that trouble for nothing.”

When Miss Prudence arrived at the dining room door for breakfast, the two girls were waiting for her.

Mandie spoke quickly. “Miss Prudence, may I see you a minute as soon as we're finished eating?”

The woman looked at her in surprise. “Why, yes, of course, Amanda. In fact, I was going to ask you and Celia to come to my office anyway.”

The girls glanced at each other, sure that the schoolmistress knew they had been out of the house the night before. They ate very little. After breakfast, they followed Miss Prudence to her office.