Mandie Collection, The: 8 (33 page)

“So would I, Mrs. Taft, thank you,” Celia said, also turning to inspect the contents of the trolley.

The man stopped in front of Mrs. Taft’s seat and said, “Madam, we have hot tea, hot cocoa, hot coffee, and sweet biscuits.” He waved his hand over the items on his cart.

“Tea, please,” Mrs. Taft told him.

“Cocoa, please,” both girls said at once.

“Thank you,” the man said. He placed a lap tray on the empty seat beside Mrs. Taft, filled two cups with cocoa and one with tea, and set them on the tray with three sweet biscuits, each on a separate little china plate. Then fanning out three folded white linen napkins, he handed one to Mrs. Taft and the other two to the girls. “Is there anything else, madam?”

“No, thank you, this is fine,” Mrs. Taft replied, reaching to pick up her cup of tea.

The girls watched the man go on down the aisle with his cart and then turned to get their cups of cocoa.

“This train is so much nicer than any I’ve ever been on,” Mandie remarked, sipping the cocoa and looking around at the plush furnishings.

“Yes, I agree,” Celia said, picking up her cup.

“I don’t suppose either of you has ever been on this line,” Mrs. Taft told them. “This is the Florida East Coast Railroad, and it was built for luxury to entice those wealthy northern people to come to Florida.”

“And did it work?” Mandie asked.

“Yes. According to Senator Morton, his hometown, St. Augustine, has become a real tourist attraction,” Mrs. Taft replied.

“Like New York?” Celia asked.

Mrs. Taft smiled and said, “Oh, nothing like that. St. Augustine is really just a small town, even though it is the oldest city in the United States.”

“Well, since it’s the oldest city in our country, I would expect everything to be old and worn out,” Mandie told her, holding her cup
with both hands as the motion of the train shook the contents. Snowball came to sit by her, hoping for food.

“Watch that cat, Amanda,” Mrs. Taft told her. “Don’t let him cause you to spill that cocoa. And no, everything in St. Augustine is not old and worn out. It’s old, of course, but the architecture is beautiful and the buildings are well preserved.”

“Does Senator Morton live alone?” Mandie asked as she settled down in her seat. “I mean, I know he doesn’t have a wife.”

“No, Senator Morton’s wife died shortly after your grandfather Taft passed away, many years ago,” Mrs. Taft explained. “Because your grandfather was also a senator, Senator Morton and I were close friends.”

“Does he have children?” Celia inquired as she, too, sat down.

“They never had any children,” Mrs. Taft replied. “Senator Morton has several servants who have been with him a long, long time. One of the servants, Pedro, was raised by Senator Morton and his wife. Pedro’s parents were employed by the Mortons, and they were both killed suddenly in an accident when Pedro was a small child. Senator Morton has a kind heart and gives a home to people who are needy and would like to work.”

“No children,” Mandie repeated. Looking at Celia, she added, “Sounds like no fun.”

“Amanda, there are probably some young people in his neighborhood and among his friends,” Mrs. Taft told her. “I’m sure you’ll find a way to have fun.” She smiled at her granddaughter.

As the train finally came into the city of St. Augustine, the girls became excited. The town was indeed beautiful, with large, ornate buildings that had many fancy architectural curlicues. There were several landscaped parks with water fountains and benches. Lots of people, richly dressed, strolled about the streets as the train passed through.

Senator Morton was waiting for them at the train station. Mandie and Celia watched as he squeezed Mrs. Taft’s hand when she stepped down onto the platform. The girls looked at each other and smiled.

Ever since they had met the senator, which was on the ship going to Europe during the previous summer, they had discussed the two grownups behind their backs. Their conclusion was that Senator Morton was in love with Mrs. Taft, but they never could decide about Mrs. Taft. Sometimes she seemed in love with the man, and other times she was
only polite and friendly. This visit could turn out to be interesting after all, Mandie decided. At least she and Celia would have something to discuss.

After greetings were exchanged, Senator Morton led them to his carriage, which was parked nearby. Mandie held tightly to her white cat while the servants took care of their luggage. The short journey to his house was exciting as they passed by old houses built of a strange-looking kind of stone and in shapes and sizes the girls had never seen before. The city was nothing like Mandie’s hometown back in Franklin, North Carolina, with its greenery and rolling hills and mountains. St Augustine’s streets were narrow, and the houses were built close together.

“Here we are,” the senator spoke from the front seat beside Mrs. Taft.

The girls quickly looked ahead and gasped as the vehicle came to a halt in the yard of what looked to them like a castle. The senator helped Mrs. Taft alight from the carriage, and the girls followed.

“You live here?” Mandie asked as she gazed at the huge house and held tightly to Snowball.

“Oh, it’s enormous,” Celia said.

Senator Morton looked back at the girls and smiled as he led Mrs. Taft to the front door. “It’s not really any larger than your grandmother’s house in Asheville, North Carolina, Miss Amanda.”

“It sure looks like it is,” Mandie declared.

“That’s because it has all the fancy trimming,” the senator replied.

Suddenly a tall, dark-skinned man in uniform stepped up to Mandie and reached for her cat. She moved back and said, “No, thank you, I’ll carry him.”

The man insisted on taking the cat.

Mandie shook her head and repeated, “I’ll take him inside. He’s afraid of strangers and might scratch you.”

Senator Morton turned back and said, “Miss Amanda, that is Juan. He can’t hear or speak.” He reached to touch the man on his shoulder and shook his head as he motioned with his hands for the man to go ahead. “No,” he mouthed to the man.

Juan smiled at Mandie and then went to help the other servants with the luggage.

Mandie walked close to Celia and said under her breath, “That poor man can’t hear or talk. How awful!”

“Yes,” Celia agreed. “He scared me, insisting on taking Snowball from you.”

Mandie bent closer to her friend and said, “I think I’ll try to avoid him while we’re here. We may have some more misunderstandings.”

“Good idea,” Celia replied.

The girls were delighted to find that Senator Morton did have a friendly and helpful woman housekeeper. She was waiting just inside the front door for them. They saw Mrs. Taft being escorted toward the staircase by another servant, a younger woman with long, shiny black hair.

“I will show you room,” the woman said. She pointed to herself and said, “Name Maria.” She was short and plump and middle-aged.

“Thank you,” Mandie told Maria as the woman turned to lead the way to the stairs. She noticed she seemed to waddle rather than take definite steps. Mandie and Celia exchanged smiles as they followed the woman up the stairs.

Maria opened the door to a bedroom and stepped aside for the girls to enter. “Put both in same room,” she explained. Looking back she added, “Trunk come.”

Mandie and Celia both turned and saw two servants bringing their trunks up the steps. They went into the room and showed the men where to set the luggage. As the men left, Maria told Mandie, “Box for cat. There.” She motioned toward the far corner.

Mandie rushed across the room and dropped Snowball into the box filled with pure white beach sand. “Thank you,” Mandie told the woman.

Maria smiled and stepped inside the room, going toward the trunks. “I unpack,” she said, bending to open Mandie’s luggage.

Mandie quickly came to her side and pulled a key out of her handbag. She unlocked the trunk while Celia opened hers.

“We can hang up our things,” Celia told the woman.

“No, no, I do,” Maria insisted as she took a dress from Mandie’s trunk, shook out the folds, and went to hang it in a huge wardrobe on the other side of the room.

“Oh well,” Mandie said, walking over to the window, which gave them a good view of the town. There were people walking about, many
houses nearby, and what looked like business buildings in the distance. She was anxious to explore and wondered when she and Celia could get away from the adults and venture out on their own. This was going to be an interesting city. She may not run across any mystery to be solved here, but she was sure there were lots of things to explore.

When Maria had finished emptying the trunks, she told the girls, “Tea ... parlor ... few minutes.”

“Tea,” Mandie repeated, smiling at Maria. “I could use a cup of tea or something after that long train ride.”

“Yes,” Celia agreed.

The girls quickly freshened up after Maria left. They combed their hair and straightened their skirts rather than changing clothes. While they were discussing the senator and his house and servants, there was a knock on their door.

“I’ll see who it is,” Mandie said, crossing the room to open the door. She was surprised to see the tall man named Juan standing outside. “Well?” she asked, moving her shoulders.

Juan smiled and motioned with his hands that they should go downstairs. Then he put one hand up to his mouth like he was drinking from a cup.

Mandie frowned as she nodded her head in the affirmative and said “Thank you,” even though she knew he could not hear her. She started to close the door, but Juan quickly held the door and motioned to go down the stairs.

Celia had come up behind Mandie. “He’s telling us he’ll show us the way, I believe, Mandie,” she said.

“All right. Let’s go,” Mandie agreed. She looked back and noticed that Snowball had already curled up on the big bed.

Juan led them to the parlor and then left. Senator Morton and Mrs. Taft were already in the room, and another maid, whom they had not seen earlier, brought in the tea tray behind them. The girls sat down near the adults.

“How many servants does one man have?” Mandie said to her friend under her breath.

“Probably a dozen,” Celia exaggerated with a short laugh.

After everyone had finished their tea, Mrs. Taft said to the senator, “We have been cramped up in that train so long, I believe I would like to walk about for a little while.”

“I was going to suggest that very thing,” Senator Morton agreed as he smiled at her.

“That is a very good suggestion, Grandmother,” Mandie spoke up.

“Yes,” Celia agreed.

“Then let’s be on our way,” Mrs. Taft said, rising from her chair.

“Just let me run back up to the room and get Snowball. I’m sure he needs some exercise,” Mandie said, starting for the door.

“Don’t take too long, dear,” Mrs. Taft called to her.

Mandie ran up the stairway to the room that she and Celia had been assigned. Just as she started to push the door open, it suddenly opened from the inside, and there stood Juan on the other side.

“What were you doing in our room?” she quickly asked, a bit startled by him.

The man completely ignored her question and seemed in a hurry to get down the hall.

Mandie was upset as she watched him leave, then she remembered that he could not hear. Rushing inside the bedroom, she picked up Snowball, fastened on his red leash, and turned to leave the room. She stopped and looked about, checking to see whether anything had been disturbed. Everything seemed to be as they had left it. She wondered what the man had been doing in their room. It was not likely that Senator Morton would send a male servant up to their room for anything when he had so many women working for him.

Holding Snowball tightly in her arms, Mandie shivered a little and pulled the door closed as she stepped into the hallway. This was a strange situation. She could think of no reason for the man to come into their room. And she hoped she could avoid him. There was something sinister about him. Never in her thirteen years had she met up with such a strange man.

CHAPTER TWO

THE MYSTERY CONTINUES

Snowball pranced ahead of Mandie, pulling tightly on his leash, as Mandie walked beside Celia down the narrow street. The girls whispered as they watched Mrs. Taft hold on to the senator’s arm. “Grandmother is acting like she’s old and decrepit, holding on there like she’s going to fall,” Mandie said, giggling behind her hand.

“She certainly is,” Celia agreed, smiling at her friend. “We’d better not get too close behind them or they’ll hear what we’re saying.”

“But we can’t get too far behind or Grandmother will look back and tell us to hurry up,” Mandie replied. Then, leaning closer to Celia as they walked on, she added, “I didn’t get a chance to tell you without them hearing me, but when I went to our room to get Snowball, that man who can’t hear or speak was coming out of our room—”

“You don’t say!” Celia interrupted, quickly moving a little closer to Mandie. “What was he doing in our room?”

“I don’t know. I was wondering the same thing myself,” Mandie replied. “When we go back, we’d better look through all our things to see if anything was disturbed.”

“Amanda! Celia!” Mrs. Taft called to them as she paused to look back. “That’s the old fort up ahead there.” She was pointing toward a huge structure down the road.

“Oh, the one the Spaniards built back in sixteen hundred and
something!” Mandie excitedly replied as the girls stopped to look ahead.

“I remember reading all about it,” Celia added.

“Are we going to see it, Grandmother?” Mandie asked.

“Not right now, but we will while we’re here,” Mrs. Taft told her. She started back in the direction from which they had come. “I think we should go back and rest a little while now.”

“Yes, I know you must all be tired,” Senator Morton agreed, also retracing his steps as he held his arm out for Mrs. Taft, which she quickly took.

Mandie and Celia smiled at each other and followed. Snowball tried to get free, but his mistress held tightly to his leash, and he had to go with them.

Mrs. Taft turned her head to glance back at the girls. “Tomorrow we can take the ferry and go over to see the lighthouse, if you girls would like.”