Mandie Collection, The: 8 (14 page)

Mandie immediately remembered that no one at home knew where she and Joe were. And she needed to get back home to organize the going-away party for Joe.

And while they might have solved the mystery of the missing turkey, they still had other unsolved mysteries—the green silk scarf they found and lost, the quilt in the attic with the Cherokee symbols on it, and the old diary book they had found.

Yes, she needed to get home and get things moving.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CAUGHT!

As they stood in the doorway about to leave, Dr. Woodard tried to find out where the first stranger had hidden his horse and buggy, but the man would not say one word. He just gave the doctor a mean look. But Mr. Dickens immediately intervened.

“Dr. Woodard, your horse is not too far down the mountain on the left-hand side of the trail,” Mr. Dickens explained. “It’s the place where we have both been leaving our horses. You can’t see it from the trail, but when you come over the rise, look for a dead uprooted oak tree, not very large, and go left from there.”

“Thank you, Mr. Dickens, I’m sure we’ll find it,” Dr. Woodard replied.

“And I thank you, Dr. Woodard, for your medical help and for bringing me to my senses,” Mr. Dickens told him.

“I just hope it’ll give you a better outlook on the future,” the doctor replied.

“Good-bye, Mr. Dickens,” Mandie said as she stepped outside, holding on to Snowball. “Don’t forget we’re friends, and I’ll be looking for you to come visit sometime.”

“And I thank you, Mr. Dickens,” Joe said as he joined Mandie.

“See y’all one of these days,” Mr. Dickens replied as he closed the door behind them.

Mandie and Joe followed Dr. Woodard down the trail and soon located the doctor’s buggy and horse. Fortunately, another wider pathway split off from there, so Dr. Woodard harnessed up the buggy and slowly led the horse down to the main road.

“I certainly am glad we don’t have to walk home,” Mandie commented as the three of them stepped into the buggy and Dr. Woodard shook the reins.

“Me too,” Joe agreed.

“And I’m glad I don’t have to walk home. If we hadn’t found my horse and buggy, we’d have had to make it on foot,” Dr. Woodard reminded them. “Now I want an accounting of everything that has happened since I left the Shaws’ house.”

Mandie and Joe related the events while Snowball curled up in his mistress’s lap and went to sleep. As they passed the Harrisons’ and Stones’ houses, they spotted some of the children in the yard and waved to them. Then as they came near Miss Metts’s house, they told Dr. Woodard about their conversation with the woman.

“She would like to have another dog, and I told her I would give her one of Samantha’s puppies,” Joe said to his father.

“We’ll bring it to her next time we come to Franklin,” Dr. Woodard replied.

“But, Dr. Woodard, Joe won’t be coming back to Franklin anytime soon,” Mandie reminded him.

“That’s right. I just can’t get used to the idea of you going off to school, my boy,” Dr. Woodard said to Joe. “But you know one thing? I’m so proud of you, I’m just a-bustin’ at the seams.” He grinned as he looked at his son.

“Thanks, Dad,” Joe said, returning the grin.

“Well, count me in, too, much as I dislike the idea of Joe going so far off,” Mandie added.

“Sure thing,” Dr. Woodard said.

When the three got back to the Shaws’ house, Mandie’s mother and grandmother were in the parlor questioning Sallie and Jonathan for the thirteenth time about where Mandie and Joe had said they were going. So when Mandie and Joe walked in the front door with Dr. Woodard, everyone began talking at one time. Snowball ran off down the long hallway.

“Dr. Woodard, I know you are worn out,” Elizabeth told him. “Now
you go right on up to your room and get some rest. If you would like, I’ll ask Aunt Lou to bring up a little something to eat to tide you over till suppertime.”

“Thank you, that would be fine. I appreciate your hospitality,” Dr. Woodard said, picking up his medical bag and his coat and hat from the settee where he had left them. “And don’t worry, I’ll be down in time for supper.”

When he left the room, Elizabeth turned to Mandie and Joe. “I suppose both of you are hungry and tired, too,” she said. “Why don’t y’all just go out to the kitchen and ask Liza, or whoever is in there, to give y’all a snack, since y’all missed the noon meal.” She looked at Mandie, who had removed her coat. “Perhaps you should freshen up first.”

“I was going to suggest that, Elizabeth,” Mrs. Taft said. “The two of them look like they’ve been through a dirt hole.” She smiled at Mandie. “But I’m glad y’all did it, dear. Otherwise, we might have never known what happened to poor old Dr. Woodard.”

“We had to do it, but you know, we still have some mysteries we haven’t solved,” Mandie replied. “Like—”

“Amanda,” Elizabeth interrupted her. “Get upstairs and clean up. We’ll listen to this story about mysteries later.”

“Oh, but we forgot to tell you, Mrs. Shaw,” Joe spoke up. “We found your turkey. My father helped eat it.”

Elizabeth looked at him in surprise, and Mrs. Taft laughed as Joe explained what had happened.

Then Sallie and Jonathan wanted to get into the conversation, but Elizabeth firmly sent Mandie and Joe out of the room.

Mandie hurriedly washed up and changed clothes in her room and rushed back downstairs. Joe caught up with her on the steps.

“It didn’t take you long, did it?” Mandie teased. They went on down the staircase.

“Not when there’s food waiting,” Joe replied with a smile.

When they came into the front hall, Mandie saw Snowball playing around the coat-tree. He was growling and scratching at something behind it.

“Snowball, what are you doing? Do you smell a mouse or something?” Mandie asked as she stopped to watch the white cat.

“Whatever it is, he’s determined to capture it,” Joe said. “But I don’t think he can quite reach it.”

At that moment Snowball pulled his paw out from behind the hall tree with something caught in his claws.

“What have you got, Snowball?” Mandie asked, stooping to untangle his foot. Then she exclaimed, “Oh, Joe, look. It’s the green silk scarf.” She pulled it out and held it up.

“Snowball probably pulled it out of your pocket when you left your coat hanging here, so there’s another mystery solved,” Joe said with a laugh.

Mandie thought a moment and said, “You’re probably right. He either pulled it out of my pocket or it fell out and somehow got behind the hall tree.” She smoothed the long piece of silk material.

“Let’s go to the kitchen,” Joe reminded her.

“All right,” Mandie agreed. “I’ll put this scarf up high this time so Snowball can’t reach it.” She hung it on the top hook.

Aunt Lou was waiting for them in the kitchen. “I heard y’all was back and just plain starved to death,” she said, going over to open the warmer in the big iron cookstove.

“Aunt Lou, you done heard right,” Joe joked with a grin.

“If you’ll let us eat in here at your table, we’ll tell you all about our adventures today,” Mandie told her.

“I think we can arrange that, my chile. Just y’all pull out some chairs over there at de table and I’ll bring on de food,” the old woman said, taking out pieces of fried chicken from a pan in the warmer and putting them on two plates. She added biscuits and brought the plates to the table.

“Is that all we can have?” Mandie asked, smiling at her as she looked at the plates.

“It sho’nuff is,” Aunt Lou replied. “Y’all gwine eat supper not too long from now. I’ll pour y’all a cup of coffee and bring me one, and we’ll talk ’bout what y’all done went and did this mawnin’.”

When the three of them had settled down at the table, Mandie began. “First of all, we found your turkey.” She looked at the woman and smiled.

“You found dat turkey?” Aunt Lou asked.

“Oh, I just realized we forgot to bring the pan back home,” Mandie said, looking at Joe.

“Never you mind ’bout dat pan. Where de turkey be?” Aunt Lou asked.

They explained what had happened, and all Aunt Lou could say was, “Well, thank de Lawd, Doctuh Woodard he had sumthin’ to eat.”

All the time they were talking, Mandie was trying to think of some way to speak to Sallie about the decorations for the party when Joe wasn’t around. She hoped that when they went back to the parlor she could make some kind of sign to Jonathan to draw Joe’s attention while she talked to Sallie. But when they returned to the parlor, Polly Cornwallis was there, sitting next to Jonathan on one of the settees and asking questions about where Joe and Mandie had been all day. Elizabeth and Mrs. Taft had left the room.

Stopping in the doorway and looking around the room, Mandie asked, “Oh, where is Grandmother? I need to ask her something.” She thought that maybe she could get away from Joe this way. Joe went on into the room and sat down.

“She and your mother went for a walk around the yard to get some fresh air,” Jonathan told her.

“Sallie, maybe we should go out for some air,” Mandie said, going on into the parlor.

Everyone laughed. Mandie frowned as she looked at them.

“From what I hear, you’ve been out in the fresh air all day,” Jonathan said.

“Mandie, what did those two men look like?” Polly asked.

“One was a bad-looking man, but the other one, Mr. Dickens, knew my father,” Mandie told her. Turning back toward the door, she said, “I think I’ll go outside a minute and speak to Grandmother. I’ll be right back.”

At that moment she heard the front door open, and her mother and Mrs. Taft appeared in the hallway as she looked out. They were taking off their coats and hanging them on the hall tree. Elizabeth went on down the hallway.

Suddenly Mrs. Taft said, “My goodness! There’s my scarf. I wondered where it disappeared to.” She pulled the green scarf off the hook.

Mandie hurried out into the hallway. “Grandmother, is that your scarf?” she asked.

“Why, yes, Amanda, it is,” Mrs. Taft told her as she draped the scarf over her coat on another hook.

“But we found it outside in the yard,” Mandie explained.

“In the yard? I don’t know how that could be,” Mrs. Taft said. “I brought it down here Christmas Day and then decided not to wear it. I left it hanging here on the coat-tree.”

“But we did find it in the bushes in the yard the day after Christmas. It was on Thursday,” Mandie insisted. She looked back into the parlor and said, “Didn’t we?”

The other young people had overheard the conversation, and they all came out into the hall.

“Yes, ma’am, we did find it in the bushes,” Sallie confirmed.

“We certainly did,” Jonathan agreed.

Mrs. Taft looked at the young people, and when her gaze met Joe’s, he said, “Don’t count me in. I had already gone home then.”

“So had I,” Polly volunteered.

“I don’t know what to say to that, but I have not worn it outside since I came here,” Mrs. Taft insisted. She picked up the scarf and looked at it.

“The only solution I see is that those men stole the scarf when they stole the turkey,” Mandie said.

“One man,” Joe corrected her. “Remember, the other man was injured, so he wouldn’t have been here stealing a turkey and a scarf.”

Mrs. Taft was looking closely at the scarf. “Oh, dear, something has damaged it,” she said, holding it up for the young people to see. “Those little puckered places in the material weren’t there before.”

Mandie quickly inspected it, thinking Snowball’s claws might have done something to it, but the spots Mrs. Taft indicated were not caused by sharp claws. They looked as though they were melted places in the material. Then she figured it out. “Those look like something hot touched it, the hot turkey pan!” she exclaimed.

Everyone agreed that the man who stole the turkey must have taken the scarf to keep from burning his hands. But then he found it was too thin, threw it away, and stole the dishrag instead.

“That solves another mystery,” Joe said, grinning at Mandie. “You’re doing real well today.”

“Now, if Uncle John and Uncle Ned would come on back, we
might be able to find out about the diary book and the quilt,” Mandie agreed as the young people went back into the parlor and Mrs. Taft went down the hall.

“I thought you were looking for your grandmother to ask her something,” Jonathan reminded Mandie.

“Oh well, I’ll ask her later,” she replied and tried to motion to Jonathan to take Joe out of the room.

Jonathan understood and nodded. He looked at Joe and asked, “Another game of chess?”

Joe grinned and said, “Why not? I’ll learn enough to beat you eventually. Now, if it was checkers, I’d walk all over you.”

“No checkers,” Jonathan said, rising. Turning to Mandie, he asked, “I suppose it will be all right for us to use your uncle John’s chess set again?”

“Of course,” Mandie agreed. She motioned toward the set on the table in the corner. “In the meantime, Sallie and Polly and I are going up to my room to do some things.”

“Don’t hurry back, unless you want to watch. This game may take a while,” Jonathan said, grinning. He and Joe went over to sit at the table.

The girls hurried up to Mandie’s room, discussed what kind of decorations they would make, and then went to the sewing room to begin. They soon had enough little rosettes, ribbon dolls with lace dresses, and multicolored streamers made to begin decorating. They slipped down the back stairs, carrying their work, and went into the back parlor, closing the door behind them.

“We can pin some of these streamers on the draperies and hang some of the dolls on the chandelier, don’t y’all think?” Mandie asked her friends as they surveyed their handiwork on the table.

“Yes, but remember to make something pretty for the table to surround the cake,” Sallie reminded her.

“And maybe we should have a ribbon tied across the door. When Joe opens the door to come in here, it will pop,” Polly suggested.

“We don’t have much time with the party being tomorrow night and Dr. Woodard and Joe leaving Tuesday,” Mandie said as the three worked on the decorations.

“We were going to get straw from your uncle’s barn and make little animals,” Sallie told Mandie.