Mandie Collection, The: 8 (27 page)

Dimar looked down at her with a smile. “To be sure no one was hiding up in the mountain,” he said. “Next we will search the river.”

“After we eat, I hope,” Joe said.

“Yes, we will eat while Uncle Ned makes plans for us to follow this afternoon,” Dimar said.

When they came within sight of the wagon, horses, and cart, Mandie said, “I don’t see anyone. The others must not be back down yet.”

“They had a longer trail to go,” Dimar explained. “We will wait for them before we eat.”

“I guess we’d better wait for them since Uncle Ned brought the food,” Mandie said with a little laugh.

“My mother also sent food,” Dimar told her. “I had given it to Uncle Ned to carry in his wagon.”

“Well, in that case we could go ahead and eat what you brought, if Uncle Ned and Sallie and Mr. O’Neal don’t hurry up and get back,” Joe said with a grin.

“Joe, that wouldn’t be nice,” Mandie rebuked him as they approached the vehicles and horses. “I think I’d rather rest a few minutes before I
eat.” She sat down on the grass in the shade. “It feels warm down here after being up on that mountain.”

“There is a spring a few paces down that pathway if you would like water,” Dimar told her, motioning into the woods.

“Water?” Mandie said, sitting up. “Yes, I would really like some water.” She stood up, holding on to Snowball’s leash.

“I have a pail and some cups in the cart,” Joe told her. “My mother insists they stay in the cart all the time for any unexpected emergencies, and I’d say this is one. I’ll get them.” He walked over to the cart and stepped into it.

“What about the horses? Shouldn’t we take them to the water?” Mandie asked Dimar.

“Yes, after we eat we will water the horses,” he told her.

Joe came back with the pail and cups. “I could go fill this up and bring it back up here,” he told them.

“I want to go with you,” Mandie said.

“I will stay here to watch for Uncle Ned,” Dimar told them.

“We won’t be gone long, and I’ll bring a bucketful back for you,” Joe promised.

Mandie picked up Snowball and followed Joe down the path. Just a few yards inside the cluster of trees they found the spring. The crystal-clear water was ice cold to the touch when Mandie stuck her finger into it. Snowball struggled to get to the water, and Mandie held his leash tight enough to keep him from walking into it. He growled as he licked the water.

Joe filled the pail and washed out the cups. Mandie took a cup from him, filled it, and drank almost all of the water in one long swallow. She coughed and shivered.

“That was colder than I thought it would be,” she sputtered as she breathed deeply to inhale warm air.

“Glad you warned me. I’ll wait and drink after we get back to the wagons,” Joe said.

They rejoined Dimar and sat in the grass, drinking the cold water as they waited for Uncle Ned, Sallie, and Riley O’Neal to return. The three talked about various things, but Mandie kept wondering when the others would return. It had been an awfully long time since they had come back, and the others should not have been far behind them.

“Dimar, don’t you think all the others should have been back by now?” Mandie finally asked.

“Yes, they should have been back,” he agreed. “They may have had some problems somewhere.”

“Problems?” Mandie asked. “You mean trouble?”

Dimar quickly looked at her and said, “No bad trouble. Uncle Ned would have signaled to us.”

“But he might not have been able to,” Mandie replied, a feeling of worry enveloping her.

“Maybe we should go look for them,” Joe suggested.

“No, we do not know which way they are coming back,” Dimar replied.

“Which way?” Mandie asked. “There is more than one way to come back down here?”

“Yes, several different paths,” Dimar replied. “But do not worry. Uncle Ned will get himself and the others back without any trouble.”

No matter how reassuring Dimar tried to be, Mandie was beginning to really worry about her friends. What if someone had managed to capture all of them? They wouldn’t be able to send a message back. She didn’t know how much longer she could wait, but what could she do? Dimar seemed so confident about the situation. Therefore, she wouldn’t be able to talk him into going to look for them. She decided she would wait awhile longer, and then she would go by herself if the boys didn’t want to accompany her. She had to find her friends because she had a feeling they were in trouble.

CHAPTER NINE

THE LONG, LONG TRAIL

After what seemed like an hour of waiting for the others to return, Dimar stood up and said, “I will get the food my mother sent and we will eat.” He started toward Uncle Ned’s wagon, which was nearby.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Joe agreed, rising to follow him.

Mandie walked Snowball on his leash and said, “Dimar, if the others haven’t come back by the time we eat, do you think we could go look somewhere for them? We could leave a note here in case they come back and we miss them.” She watched as Dimar and Joe brought a pail and a blanket from the wagon.

“Perhaps they will return before we finish eating,” Dimar replied, stooping to spread the blanket on the grass. “If they have not, then we will go search for them.” He looked up and smiled at Mandie.

“That is a good decision. We can’t just sit here all day waiting,” Joe told him as he helped smooth out the blanket.

“Thank you, Dimar,” Mandie said. “What can I do to help?”

“Help eat,” Dimar said, smiling again as he reached for the pail that Joe had set down.

Mandie watched as Dimar spread a small cloth over the center of the blanket and began taking biscuits out of the pail and laying them on it.

“My mother only sent biscuits, but you will find sausage in some and ham in others, and also some apples,” Dimar explained.

“Oh, that sounds just right,” Mandie said, sitting on the edge of the blanket.

Joe carried the pail of water that they had filled earlier over to the spread and set it down along with the cups. “Somebody might want some water,” he said.

The three sat there and ate quickly. Even Snowball gobbled down the bits of food Mandie gave him. Everyone was so wound up with the suspense that no one had much to say.

Mandie looked at the boys and said, “I guess we’re all on pins and needles, aren’t we?”

Dimar quickly returned her look. “Pins and needles?” he asked.

Mandie smiled at him, remembering he was full-blooded Cherokee and probably didn’t know all the white people’s expressions. “Well, not real pins and needles,” she tried to explain. “That means we can’t sit still for wanting to go do something and solve the problem.”

Dimar gave her a big smile and said, “I think I understand. Imaginary pins and needles are sticking you to urge you to do something.”

Joe laughed and said, “I don’t feel anything sticking me.”

“I feel lots of them,” Mandie said, laughing.

As soon as they finished eating and returned everything to Uncle Ned’s wagon, Dimar told them, “We will go up the trail they took and look for markings and follow them. Then we will be sure we are on the same path they went.”

“You mean bent twigs, pieces of broken vines, and all that, like Uncle Ned taught me to mark a path,” Mandie said, carrying Snowball, who now wanted to run off.

“Yes,” Dimar agreed. Picking up his rifle, he slung it over his shoulder and led the way toward the trail the others had gone up the mountain.

Mandie followed, holding tightly to her white cat, and Joe brought up the rear with his rifle.

As soon as they started up the trail, they found markings. Being careful not to disturb anything, they walked single file up the mountain. Coming out on a level clearing, Dimar quickly stooped to inspect the ground, motioning for Mandie and Joe to halt.

Mandie bent to watch. “You are looking for tracks to see if anyone
else besides them was there, right?” Mandie asked, preventing Snowball from jumping down.

“Yes, and also to see which direction they went,” Dimar explained carefully. “We must do this before we walk here and disturb their footprints,” he added.

Joe removed his rifle from his shoulder and asked, “Would it do any good if we fired a shot?”

Dimar quickly stood up and said, “No, no, that would not do. Anyone we are pursuing would be alerted by a shot. Uncle Ned said no shots except in trouble.”

“You are right,” Joe replied.

Dimar moved forward, still looking at the ground. “They went this way,” he said. He slowly moved to the left and continued up the trail, carefully watching for tracks and markings.

Mandie stayed close behind him and noticed markings as he discovered them. Footprints were not distinct in the hard, rocky pathway, but Dimar seemed to be able to spot them. She looked back at Joe and saw that he was also searching for clues as they went.

Halfway up the mountain they came to a split in the trail. Dimar quickly examined the trail going off to the left and found tracks. Stooping to look closely, he said, “These tracks do not belong to Uncle Ned. They must have been made by Mr. O’Neal.” Moving back to the fork, he inspected the trail to the right. “These are Uncle Ned’s tracks ... and also Sallie’s.” He stood up, looking puzzled as he glanced around.

“I wonder why Mr. O’Neal went off one way and Uncle Ned and Sallie went the other,” Mandie said, frowning as she glanced up both trails from where she stood at the fork.

“I can see bent twigs up both paths,” Joe remarked, squinting ahead.

“Yes,” Dimar agreed.

“Do you know where these trails go? Have you been up them before?” Mandie asked the Cherokee boy.

“Yes, they come back together near the top of the mountain,” Dimar replied.

“Why would they split up, especially sending Mr. O’Neal off on a trail by himself? He probably got lost or something. He’s from up north, you know, and doesn’t know about things like this,” Joe said.

Dimar turned to smile at Joe and said, “He is a fast learner. Uncle
Ned has taught him many things. Mr. O’Neal even knows how to shoot a rifle.”

“I’m glad he does. He might need to use one up here in these woods,” Mandie said. She let Snowball down to walk at the end of his leash.

“So what are we going to do? Split up, too?”

“Yes, that is necessary to cover both trails,” Dimar told him. Turning to Mandie, he said, “You know how to look for markings on a trail. Do you want to go with Joe up one path and I will take the other one? We will meet at the top.”

“All right,” Mandie agreed. “I’m not real good at finding markings, but between Joe and me I think we’ll be able to find the clues.”

“You are one-fourth Cherokee. You will see everything,” Dimar said, smiling at her as he put his rifle across his shoulder and turned to the path at the right. “I will go up this one. I remember that it is longer because it winds around in places. Wait for me at the top.”

“If you get there first, wait for us,” Mandie called to him as she and Joe started up the trail to the left. She stooped to pick up Snowball. It would be better to carry him so he wouldn’t disturb any footprints along the way.

Mandie and Joe carefully walked to one side, following Mr. O’Neal’s footprints. They kept watching for bent twigs and markings but found none until they were a long way up the trail.

“There’s a broken branch on that bush,” Mandie said, pointing ahead to a limb hanging half off a small holly tree. She hurried to look at it as Joe followed her.

“Mandie, this looks like an old break,” he said, examining the limb. “See, the leaves are beginning to turn brown.”

Mandie looked closer as she put Snowball down and held on to his leash. “But, Joe, the joint where it was broken looks fresh. It’s still green,” she told him.

“You’re right,” Joe agreed. He fanned through the sticky leaves. “The leaves must have been damaged somehow before. Do you think Mr. O’Neal broke the limb to mark his way?”

Mandie stooped to look at the ground. “He at least stopped here. See the footprints where he moved around a little bit, and then they go on up the trail,” she said. Snowball meowed in protest as she squeezed him.

“So we go on up the trail,” Joe agreed.

“Right,” Mandie said, turning to look at Joe. “You know, it has been so long since we all started up the two trails this morning that I imagine Uncle Ned, Sallie, and Mr. O’Neal are a long way from here and we’ll never be able to catch up with them.”

“But, Mandie, we don’t know where they went yet,” Joe reminded her. “They might have seen someone or something and left the trail for another one way up ahead somewhere.”

“Oh shucks!” Mandie said loudly as she stomped her foot. “This whole thing is so mixed up. I don’t think we should have separated. There are so many possible complications that we may never find them. Then we would have to go back and sit by the wagon to wait for them to show up.”

“If we don’t find them, they will return to the wagon sooner or later,” Joe told her. “Come on. Let’s go. We haven’t even made a good start yet.”

“Oh well!” Mandie said with a loud sigh.

The two continued on up the trail and found Riley O’Neal’s footprints all along the way. But there were no bent twigs or any signs of marking. Mandie silently decided Riley O’Neal didn’t know how to do such a thing, regardless of what Dimar had said about Uncle Ned teaching Riley all these things. She was bored with the whole business. This was not the way she would go about solving the mystery of the stolen wagons and the mica mound that had disappeared, and she wondered why Uncle Ned was doing his investigation this way.

Snowball was tired of being carried. He wriggled in Mandie’s arms and tried to escape.

“Snowball, be still!” Mandie commanded as she tightened her hold on the white cat, stopping to hold him up and look into his blue eyes. “You can’t get down,” she added.

Joe had walked on up the other edge of the trail and Mandie hurried to catch up with him. When she got alongside him on her side of the trail, Joe was slowly investigating the dirt, looking for footprints.

“Let’s go faster, Joe, so we can hurry and get to the top,” she told him as she, too, looked at the trail for signs. “We’re supposed to meet Dimar up there, and then I suppose we’ll have to work our way down the other side of the mountain. By that time Uncle Ned and Sallie and Mr. O’Neal may be waiting for us at the wagons.”