Mandie Collection, The: 4 (44 page)

Mrs. Taft smiled at her. So did Senator Morton.

“Good horses!” Uncle Ned enthusiastically agreed, with a smile at Mandie.

Frau Jahn returned to the parlor then, and after speaking to the baroness she announced that they were ready to go into the dining hall.

As they walked along the corridor behind the adults, Mandie suddenly remembered Elsa Wagner and her aunt, Wilhelmina Schiller. She whispered to her friends, “Where are the other guests?”

Celia and Jonathan both looked at her and shook their heads.

Mandie’s question was answered when they met the other guests at the dining hall door. Elsa was still wearing a dark dress and her aunt had on the same black dress. As Mandie listened to the conversation among the adults, she learned that Elsa and her aunt had been shopping in the village that morning for items they had forgotten to bring. Rupert was not present.

The dinner party scheduled for that night was the topic of conversation at the table. Elsa and her aunt seemed to limit their remarks to the adults, ignoring the young people.

“You young people must get some rest this afternoon,” Mrs. Taft insisted. “The dinner tonight may be late breaking up, and the baroness would like you three to attend, including a late-night snack.”

“Thanks, Grandmother,” Mandie replied from across the table. “I was afraid we’d have to just eat the meal and then go to bed, and we’d miss out on all the doings after dinner.”

“The doings, as you call it, will include a well-known soprano who will sing for us, and a small elite symphony will play after dinner,” her grandmother explained.

“And I believe the baroness plans to have a magician perform later,” Senator Morton added.

“A magician?” Mandie questioned. “Could it be the one we met in Rome?”

“Of course not, dear,” Mrs. Taft said. “This man is German. Now, rest time this afternoon will be for one full hour, but I will allow you three to work out what time you take it.”

“Yes, Grandmother,” Mandie replied, and turned to her friends who
were seated on either side of her. “We could stay in our rooms from three to four o’clock this afternoon. What do you think?”

“Fine,” Celia agreed, between sips of coffee.

“That’s all right with me,” Jonathan said, his mouth full of potatoes.

Mandie looked across the table at Uncle Ned and said, “If you are not busy after four o’clock, could I please talk to you, Uncle Ned?”

The old Indian smiled and said, “Papoose talk any time.”

“Then I’ll meet you at the bench by the fountain in the front yard shortly after four,” Mandie confirmed.

Jonathan and Celia looked sharply at her.

Mandie could tell they knew what she wanted to talk to Uncle Ned about, and they didn’t think she should. Well, so be it! She was going to discuss Rupert’s behavior with her Cherokee friend, and maybe he could figure out some way to help the young man. He was always able to solve a problem for her. And she didn’t care if her two friends didn’t approve.

CHAPTER TEN

MANDIE WANTS TO TATTLE

After the noon meal the three young people went for a walk, and Rupert’s name was not mentioned. At three o’clock they went to their rooms to rest, as Mrs. Taft had requested. But once in their suite, Mandie and Celia couldn’t rest they were so excited about the dinner party that night.

Mandie had already decided to wear her beautiful blue silk dress and it was hanging ready. And Celia would be putting on her white silk dress, with dainty blue and pink flowers embroidered around the hem.

The girls flopped on the big bed because they had promised Mrs. Taft to rest. Snowball roamed about the rooms.

They kept hearing carriages arriving below, but their rooms were on an end of the castle and their windows only offered a view of the driveway as it wound around out of sight.

“I’ve counted ten carriages already!” Mandie exclaimed as they watched still another vehicle wind around the castle. “Do you think all these people are going to spend the night here?”

“Probably,” Celia said. “But then when you think about it, this castle must have an awful lot of bedrooms.”

“Yes, and I suppose rich people over here in Europe have overnight guests by the dozens,” Mandie decided. “Since this castle is so far out in the country they have a long way to travel, too.”

“And the dinner party must be going to last way into the night,
according to what your grandmother said. That will be fun. I’ve never been allowed to stay up late for such things at home,” Celia remarked as they turned back to lie on the bed.

“My mother doesn’t do much entertaining because of just having had my baby brother, I suppose,” Mandie said. “My grandmother certainly is a social mixer, isn’t she?”

“Well, yes, from what I have seen from being in her house in Asheville, when we attend school at Miss Prudence’s,” Celia replied. “And she also knows everyone. But, Mandie, your grandfather was a senator, and politicians always have a wide range of acquaintances.”

“I wish I could have known my grandfather Taft, but he died many years ago,” Mandie said. “I wonder what everyone back home is doing? My mother is probably still having to rock that crying baby. And Joe is probably visiting around with his father when Dr. Woodard makes his calls. And Uncle John is sure to be home tending to business. My life has certainly changed since April of last year when my father passed on.”

“Mine has, too, Mandie,” Celia replied. “I lost my father, too. But just think of all the friends we’ve made. If you and I hadn’t gone to the same school, we might never have met. And if we hadn’t gone to that particular school, we never would have met up with Hilda.”

“Or April Snow,” Mandie added with a frown. “I wonder what she’s doing this summer. Probably concocting some trick to play on us when we get back to school.”

The girls talked on and on, and the first thing Mandie knew, the small clock on the mantelpiece struck four. She jumped up from the bed and smoothed her skirts.

“It’s time to go meet Uncle Ned,” she said, looking in the mirror to brush back some loose blond tendrils. “Celia, I won’t be gone long. When I come back we could go watch the juniper tree, if you and Jonathan want to.”

“All right,” Celia agreed as she sat up and began straightening her long skirts. “I’ll just stay here and play with Snowball. I’ll also ask Jonathan if he wants to go.”

“Thanks,” Mandie said.

She hurried down into the yard and found her old Cherokee friend waiting on the bench by the fountain as they had planned. He motioned for her to sit by his side.

“Uncle Ned, this is a strange place, more so than any other place
we’ve stayed at on our journey to Europe,” Mandie began, looking solemnly up into his wrinkled face.

“Strange?” Uncle Ned questioned.

“Yes, you see, Rupert—the baroness’s grandson—acts awfully strange,” Mandie said, and she related the events concerning Rupert.

Uncle Ned listened intently as Mandie went into every detail.

“I wanted to ask you if you can figure out some way we can help him,” Mandie said. “I think the baroness ought to know about his capers, especially about what he’s doing with the property his mother gave him.”

Uncle Ned shook his head and said, “Not Papoose’s business. Must not meddle in others’ business.”

“But he needs help, help to show him how wrong he is, and help to get over his hatred of Americans,” Mandie insisted. “If we could talk to the baroness, with Fran Jahn’s help, of course, I believe she would see to it that he gets straightened out, because obviously she dearly loves him.”

“No, no, Papoose must not be tale-tattler,” he insisted as he reached to hold her small white hand in his dark one. “The only thing Papoose can do is ask Big God to help Rupert. Big God helps when no one on this earth can. And Papoose must stay away from Rupert, not watch him all the time.”

Mandie felt let down.

She had thought Uncle Ned would help her solve Rupert’s problem. And now he was saying pray and stay away from Rupert. Well, she would do that, but she would not give up trying to find other ways to get to Rupert.

She went back to her suite, and rather than let Celia know Uncle Ned had agreed with Celia and Jonathan about staying out of Rupert’s business, she didn’t say a word about her conversation with Uncle Ned.

“Ready?” she asked Celia as she entered the room where Celia was throwing a ball for Snowball to chase.

Celia straightened up and said, “Sure. Jonathan wants to go. I’ll just knock on his door and let him know we’re ready.”

Jonathan joined the girls in the hallway. Mandie led Snowball on his red leash and the three went outside to sit and watch the juniper tree.

“That tree is never going to move,” Mandie insisted as they sat on the low wall nearby. Snowball’s leash was tied to a bush.

“Then why do you keep coming back to watch it?” Jonathan said.

“I could think of lots of other things better to do than watching a forty-foot tree,” Jonathan said.

“Like what?” Mandie asked.

“Like trying to find out where all these people are who have arrived for the dinner party tonight,” Jonathan said. “I counted twenty-three carriages, but I haven’t seen a single soul.”

“Well, then where did they go?” Mandie asked. “They have to be inside the castle somewhere.”

“But the castle is enormous, and the baroness has probably put them all the way to another end from where we’re staying,” Celia remarked.

“What do you want to do? Go roam around inside the castle?” Mandie asked, looking at the giant juniper tree. She had about given up on seeing it move.

“Why don’t we roam around the grounds first and look for all the carriages that have come? They’ve got to be parked somewhere,” Jonathan said as he rose.

“But the people are not in the carriages now,” Mandie protested.

“I know, but some of the carriages may have names or family crests on them,” Jonathan explained, and with his mischievous smile he added, “We might find out if anyone really important is here.”

“Oh, my, Jonathan, but you sound like my grandmother,” Mandie said with a laugh as she took Snowball’s leash from the bush. “She always wants to know important people.”

“The baroness has invited some Americans, remember? And there just might be someone here that we know or have heard of,” Jonathan said with a laugh.

“Well, come on, let’s go,” Mandie said.

“We could ask Frau Jahn if she’d let us see the guest list,” Celia suggested as they walked around the castle to the pathway that led to the outbuildings.

“And she might ask what business that is of ours, Celia,” Mandie said. Snowball bounced along at the end of his leash.

“You’re right,” Celia agreed.

As the three came alongside a huge barn with several doors and windows, Mandie paused to look inside through the windowpane.

“Looks like tools in that part,” Mandie murmured as she squinted to see inside. Then she quickly stepped back and motioned to her friends. “Rupert just came in and he’s with that dark-haired woman,” she whispered.

The three stayed behind the bushes growing by the window and eavesdropped as they tried to see inside.

“I do not care what you say, I am going to that dinner party tonight. You owe me that much,” the woman was saying loudly.

“You are not doing any such thing,” Rupert said angrily. “You know very well that Elsa is here. Besides, there are lots of people invited who might know who you are.”

“I do not care,” the woman insisted. “There is nothing you can do to stop me. I am going to the party.”

Rupert took her by the shoulders and shook her. “No, you are not. Your presence would create havoc.”

The woman withdrew from his grip and said, “Unless you agree, I will tell those Americans what you did.”

The three young people’s ears perked up.

“You do, and it will be the last thing you ever do,” Rupert said firmly.

“I may not have to tell them myself,” the woman said. “Unless you pay Herman for wrecking their carriage, he may tell on you himself.”

Mandie gasped and the others looked at each other.
So Rupert was the cause of the accident!

“He’s not going to tell anyone,” Rupert said. “It’s worth too much money to him to keep silent.”

“But you haven’t paid him all the money you promised, and he is getting impatient,” the woman reminded him.

“That’s because I haven’t been able to catch Herr Zieger to close out the deal on my property. You know that, and Herman knows that. Now get back home where you belong and do not show up here tonight, because if you do you may regret it,” Rupert repeated indignantly.

“You will see,” the woman said, rushing from the room. Rupert followed. The three young people had to sit on the ground behind the bushes to prevent Rupert and the woman from seeing them as they rushed out of the barn. As they peeked through the shrubbery they saw the woman mount a horse tethered nearby and take off like a streak of lightning. Rupert watched and then walked toward the castle.

“Rupert is a mean man!” Mandie said with a big sigh. “I think we should at least tell Grandmother that he paid that driver to wreck our carriage. We could have all been killed.”

“You’re right, we could have all been killed, but what good will
it do to tell your grandmother? I’m sure she’s not going to relay the message to the baroness that her grandson had our carriage wrecked,” Jonathan said.

“She might,” Mandie insisted. “Anyway, I think we ought to just pack up and leave this place. I believe that’s what Grandmother would do if we told her about Rupert.”

“We can’t pack up and leave, Mandie,” Celia said. “The baroness is having that dinner party tonight, and we are her guests, remember?”

“Yes, and we do want to be present to see if that woman has the nerve to show up after Rupert threatened her,” Jonathan said.

“Oh, well, y’all are two against one so I guess you win,” Mandie said with a sigh. “I won’t go straight to tell Grandmother, but I won’t promise that I won’t tell her sometime or other, if the occasion comes up that seems to require it.”

The three stood and continued their walk down the pathway. Eventually they came to a large lake in the middle of a dense stand of trees.