Leppard, Lois Gladys - [Mandie 02] (11 page)

It was late afternoon when Mandie and Sallie saw them coming and ran to meet them. The girls could tell immediately that something was wrong.

“Uncle Ned, what happened?” Mandie asked as he stopped the wagon in front of the barn and stepped down. John and the boys came out at once.

“Cave gone. Tsali message gone,” Uncle Ned shook his head in sorrow.

“Gone? How could it be gone?” Mandie asked.

“Rockslide. Cave gone. Message buried,” Uncle Ned replied.

“A rockslide? Are you all right?” Uncle John asked, checking them over. “How did you manage to get out?”

“Run. God with us,” Uncle Ned explained.

“Cave gone,” Uncle Wirt repeated, shaking his head in bewilderment.

“That message Tsali left would have meant so much to our people,” Sallie stated sadly.

“Now no one will ever believe us when we tell them about it,” Joe said dejectedly.

“Part of our history has been lost,” Dimar added.

“But we still have the gold,” Mandie reminded them.

“Yes, and we still must decide what to do with it,” Uncle John said.

As they sat around the table for the evening meal, they discussed the matter at length.

“I’ll watch the barn again tonight,” Joe offered after a lull in the discussion.

“So will I,” Dimar said.

“You boys need a good night’s rest,” Uncle John told them.

“We can take our blankets and roll up in them on the grass outside. If anyone comes around, we will surely wake up,” Joe insisted. Dimar nodded in agreement.

“Well, I certainly hope so,” Elizabeth said. “It could be dangerous.”

“Gold bad luck,” Uncle Ned muttered.

“Not the gold, Uncle Ned. It’s the greedy people,” Mandie said.

Elizabeth spoke up. “What
are
we going to do about the gold? We can’t keep it here forever.”

“I know,” Uncle John replied. “We’ll have to decide what to do very soon.”

“Why can’t we put the gold in the bank?” Mandie asked.

“Good idea! Have you ever heard of bank robbers, Mandie?” Joe protested sarcastically.

“Bank robbers don’t ever come to Bryson City.” Mandie was sure of herself.

“I suppose the bank
is
a possible solution,” John
said. Turning to Wirt and Ned, he asked, “Do you think we could get it to the bank early tomorrow morning before the town is stirring?”

Both the old men nodded affirmatively.

“Well, if the people decide to storm the bank and take it, it belongs to them anyway,” Joe conceded.

“No. Gold bad luck to Cherokee,” Uncle Ned insisted. “Cherokee not steal gold.”

“But what about Tsa’ni?” Dimar asked. “He wanted the gold.”

“Tsa’ni!” Uncle Wirt spat out. “Bad Cherokee!” He rose to leave.

“Don’t be too hard on him, Uncle Wirt,” Elizabeth told him. “We don’t know for sure who set fire to the barn.”

But Uncle Wirt was angry, it was plain to see.

“He lied about not being able to walk and he should be punished for that,” John said. “Will you be back tomorrow to help us move the gold to the bank?”

“Early tomorrow,” the old man nodded as he waved good-bye.

As darkness began to fall, the two boys took their blankets to spread on the grass by the barn. The girls went up the ladder to their room and watched from the window until they were too sleepy to stay awake any longer. Snowball curled up contentedly at Mandie’s feet.

It was long after midnight and both boys were sleeping soundly. The figure of a man appeared out of the brush and came stealthily toward the barn. He stopped at the corner of the building and lowered the flame of his lantern to the grass against the wall.

Joe stirred uneasily in his sleep, unseen by the intruder. Then his subconscious registered the distinct odor of
burning grass mixed with the stench of liquor. He was awake in a flash, taxing his brain to orient himself to the situation. Then he saw the blaze not ten feet away, and he lunged to his feet. The figure, still not aware of Joe, darted around the corner. Joe headed the other way to alert Dimar who was already awake.

“He’s on that side of the barn,” Joe whispered softly, pointing to the north side.

They crept around the building in opposite directions and were both surprised to find themselves face to face with Snuff and Rennie Lou. With one fell swoop Joe had Snuff on the ground. Dimar kept his eyes on Rennie Lou, who stood there in a daze.

“We got you this time!” Joe shouted as he held him to the ground.

“Hey, wait a minute. I ain’t done nothin’,” the man protested, his speech slurred.

Dimar took a deep breath and gave his loud Indian call for help. Within seconds Uncle John and Uncle Ned came rushing out of the cabin.

Noise of the scuffling woke the girls and they slid down the ladder and watched at the door.

“Why, it’s the man and woman who captured us on the mountain,” Mandie said, as she watched Uncle John “handcuff” Snuff with his belt.

Morning Star slipped past the girls without a word and joined the others outside. Rennie Lou had come out of her stupor and saw a chance for escape while Dimar and Joe went to stomp out the fire. But she was no match for the strong Indian woman, who subdued her after a short struggle.

“I ain’t done nothin’!” the woman was yelling. “Leave me alone, squaw!”

Morning Star ignored her threats and kept a firm grip on her arm.

“Hey, you’re a white man,” she directed to Uncle John. “You gonna let this Injun woman bully me?”

“Anything she wants to do to you will be all right with me,” Uncle John replied. “Don’t you realize these young people are the ones you kidnapped on the mountain? You two are going to jail as soon as we can get the law to take over.”

“Take palefaces to Bryson City,” Uncle Ned said as he went to hitch the wagon.

“This time of night, Uncle Ned?” Elizabeth asked as she joined John.

“Yes,” the old man nodded.

“He’s right, Elizabeth. We can’t keep them here, and they should have been behind bars before now,” John told her.

“Please, mister, don’t do that,” Snuff begged.

Uncle John ignored him as he called to the girls, “Mandie, can you bring us some rope? We need to secure these two for the trip to town.”

Sallie and Mandie came out with several coils of rope. The boys helped Uncle John tie the couple up and get them into the wagon.

“Could we go along, Uncle John?” Joe asked.

“Oh, yes, please!” Dimar joined in.

Uncle John hesitated but then added, “Well, I suppose we do need you two as witnesses of the kidnapping and the arson.”

“Right!” the boys exclaimed together.

“What about us?” Mandie protested.

“This is man’s work, child,” Uncle John told her. And they were off.

“Mmm, so it wasn’t Tsa’ni after all,” Mandie said as they walked back to the house.

“No, I do not think he was the one, Mandie, and I am glad it was not a Cherokee,” Sallie said.

“But he was prowling around here for some reason—probably knew we had the gold.” Mandie continued. “Tsa’ni really is strange, pretending to be hurt when he isn’t. I wonder if he ever went back home.”

Tsa’ni had never reached home. He was at that moment caught in an abandoned hunter’s trap in the woods. This time he was really hurt.

Chapter 11 - Spreading the Word

“Well, we might as well all go back to bed,” Elizabeth told the girls. “It’ll take them a long time to get through in town and get back here.”

The girls reluctantly went back upstairs, but soon were fast asleep. Snowball curled up close to Mandie. It seemed no time before the rooster was crowing and they could hear Morning Star in the kitchen. The girls quickly got dressed and went downstairs. Elizabeth was setting the table.

“I hope they got to town all right.” Mandie stretched and yawned. “Those people are awfully mean and rough.”

“I’m sure they got there all right. They tied those two with enough rope to wrap around the house,” Elizabeth said.

“Eat.” Morning Star smiled, pointing to the table.

The girls laughed and at that moment Uncle Wirt came through the door. He glanced around for the men.

“Where are Ned and John?” He looked puzzled.

“Joe and Dimar captured the people who set fire to the barn last night,” Mandie said matter-of-factly, “and
they’ve all gone to Bryson City to turn them over to the authorities.”

Uncle Wirt stood there listening in amazement while they explained what had happened the night before. He breathed a loud sigh of relief and sat down at the table.

“Not Tsa’ni!” He could hardly believe it.

“Did he ever come home, Uncle Wirt?” Mandie asked.

“No,” the old man replied. “Never come home.”

Everyone looked at one another, wondering where the boy could have gone. Mandie thought,
He must be ashamed for what he has done and is staying away long enough to get the nerve to face his family
.

Uncle John, Uncle Ned and the boys arrived back from town before they had finished eating and sat down at the table to join them. Joe and Dimar began eating as though they were starving.

“I’m glad you are all back safely,” Elizabeth said. “Aren’t you going to tell us about your trip?”

“Yes, yes, the law was mighty glad to get our hoodlums. Seems they were wanted in quite a few counties for several different offenses,” John related. “Now we can all breathe a sigh of relief.”

“We take gold to bank,” Uncle Wirt reminded them.

“As soon as we can eat and get it loaded, Uncle Wirt,” Uncle John replied.

“Hurry, take away gold,” Uncle Ned said.

“Once it’s safe in the bank, we’ll inform the Cherokees of its existence,” Uncle John stated.

“How do you plan to do that?” Mandie asked.

“Council pow-wow,” Uncle Ned told her. “They tell people.”

“How will all the people decide what they want to do
with the gold?” she asked.

“They will take a vote. A place will be set up in the council house on the Cherokee reservation,” Uncle John explained

Joe finally laid down his fork. “Boy! That sure was good! Now I have the strength to help load that gold.”

Uncle Ned rose and took a rifle from the wall. Uncle Wirt examined his own gun, and John picked up his from the other end of the room.

“Guns?” Elizabeth looked alarmed.

“We need all the protection we can get to get this load in to town. You never know what kind of trouble we might run into,” John assured her.

“I know how to use one of those rifles,” Joe spoke up. “Can I carry one, too?”

“I do have one more. You and Dimar can decide between you which one will carry it,” John said as he reached for the other gun standing by the bed.

Joe took it and then looked at Dimar. “Here, you carry it the first half of the way to town and I’ll carry it the second half.”

“Fair enough,” the Indian boy said, taking the gun.

“Careful, now. The guns are already loaded,” John cautioned them.

The girls wanted to help, of course, but were waved aside as the men and boys loaded the gold into the wagon. It didn’t take long. Morning Star brought out several quilts to cover the sacks scattered on the floor of the wagon. Joe and Dimar perched on top of them, while the three men climbed onto the driver’s seat.

“Please don’t be too long. We’ll be worried,” Elizabeth called to them.

“We’ll hurry back,” John promised, waving to her.
Then he instructed everyone to keep his gun out of sight. “We don’t want to appear too well-armed. It could look mighty suspicious.”

Mandie stood watching them pull into the road. Then she lifted her face to the sky. “Please, God, get them there and back safely.”

“I trust God to take care of them, too,” Sallie said, touching Mandie’s shoulder. “I have asked Him into my heart.”

“Oh, how wonderful, Sallie!” Mandie hugged her. “Isn’t it good to be able to pray and trust God for everything?”

“It sure is, Mandie,” she answered, smiling happily.

The men arrived at the bank in Bryson City just as Mr. Frady, the banker, was opening up for the day. He was a short, fat, nervous little man and he jerked around to look at the wagon pulling up at the door.
Three men and two boys—that could mean trouble
, he thought, but then he spotted a familiar face under a wide-brimmed hat.

“John Shaw!” He hurried down the steps to greet him. “It’s been a long time!”

“Wilbur, it’s good to see you, old man,” John returned his greeting. “We are in desperate need of your bank right now.” He lowered his voice. “We have about a bushel of gold under these quilts, and we need a safe place to keep it.”

Wilbur’s gray eyes grew round behind his spectacles. “
A bushel of gold?
Are you joshin’ me, John?”

“No, sir, it’s real gold,” John replied, chuckling at the banker’s reaction.

“If I didn’t know you, John Shaw, I’d say you had just pulled off a big robbery,” Wilbur told him. “Come on in.” He opened the door and the two of them stepped inside.

“Let me open the safe before you bring it in,” the
banker said, stepping to a large heavy door at the back.

“How about if we drive around to the back door? It won’t be so public that way,” John suggested.

“Of course. That’s the safest way,” Wilbur agreed.

They swung the wagon around to the back door and hastily unloaded the gold into the bank’s safe. No one was about and Wilbur kept the front door locked until they were finished.

“Now that we have it all in here, tell me, where in the world did it come from and what are you planning to do with it?” Wilbur asked John, as the others returned to the wagon.

“It’s very confidential right now, Wilbur, but we’ll have it off your hands in a few days. We want to keep it quiet so there won’t be a robbery.”

Wilbur wiped the sweat from his furrowed brow. “Well, I should hope not! How many people know about it?”

“Just Uncle Ned and Uncle Wirt and the rest of my family—and Dimar, the Indian boy with us,” John told him. “I have promised not to discuss our plans right now, but if you do hear anything about a mysterious pile of gold, pretend you never saw it. Is it a deal?”

“You bet!” Wilbur agreed. “But please don’t leave it here too long. I would like to sleep at night.”