Mandie Collection, The: 8 (36 page)

“How beautiful!” Mandie exclaimed as she took a deep breath of the fresh, salty air. Looking at Celia, she said, “I wonder why Juan didn’t stay up here to look at the scenery after he made the long climb up.”

“Yes, he was already going up when Snowball escaped, so he didn’t come up for just that,” Celia commented as she continued to turn and survey the view from the lighthouse. “But he sure left in a hurry when you took Snowball from him.”

“Let’s walk around to the other side and see what we can see from there,” Mandie said, grasping Snowball firmly in her arms as she slowly moved around the huge tower.

Celia followed, holding tightly to her hat and skirts as the wind continued to blow. “Don’t go too fast, Mandie,” she said. “It’s hard to move around in this wind.”

“Now we can see back the way we came,” Mandie remarked as she stopped to gaze at the people who were walking in the direction of the ferry they had come on.

Celia came to her side and looked down. “I can’t see your grandmother and the senator down there. But they sat so close to the lighthouse, we probably can’t see that part of the grounds from up here.”

“Yes,” Mandie agreed as she peered off into the departing crowd. Suddenly she reached to touch Celia’s arm. “Celia! Look! That woman down there in the black dress and hat!” she exclaimed. “That looks like the strange woman who followed us around when we went to Europe! Remember?” She bent forward to stare below.

“Where?” Celia asked and looked in the direction Mandie was pointing. “I can’t tell from up here. She’s so far away, but I see the woman you’re talking about.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s her! Come on, let’s see if we can catch up with her!” Mandie exclaimed, quickly turning to rush toward the steps.

Celia followed as Mandie practically flew down to the ground level. “She was too far away. She’ll be gone,” she said as she gasped for breath and raced outside after Mandie.

“Come on!” Mandie called back as she squeezed Snowball tightly and continued running in the direction the crowd had gone. They were completely out of sight now.

Finally Mandie gave up and dropped onto a bench along the way. She was so out of breath that she couldn’t speak for a few minutes. Celia sat by her, also trying to catch her breath. Snowball meowed loudly.

“Oh, shucks!” Mandie finally managed to say. “She’s gone!”

“Right,” Celia agreed, straightening her long skirts and her hat.

“I’m almost certain it was that woman,” Mandie said, pushing her straw hat back in place. “I wonder what she was doing here.”

“Mandie, if it was that woman, she was probably just visiting like we are,” Celia replied, still breathing hard.

“Well, it sure is odd that we should run into her all the way down here in Florida,” Mandie remarked.

“And, Mandie, we don’t know for certain that it was that woman,” Celia reminded her. “It could have been someone who just looked like her.”

Mandie smiled and said, “There is no one who could even resemble her. Remember how she used to turn up everywhere we went in Europe, and how she used to meddle in our business about Jonathan? She is one of a kind, I can assure you.”

“Oh, I remember that, all right,” Celia agreed. “She thought we weren’t very ladylike sometimes.” She smiled.

“Well, I suppose we should go back to the lighthouse,” Mandie said, rising and shaking out her skirts.

“Yes, before your grandmother misses us,” Celia agreed. She got up and once more straightened her hat.

As the girls walked back the way they had come, Mandie was
surprised to see Juan coming toward them. She whispered to Celia, “Look, there’s Juan. I wonder where he’s going this time?”

“I don’t know,” Celia whispered back as the man, seeing them, suddenly stepped to one side of the pathway.

Mandie led the way, knowing she would have to pass Juan and feeling a little afraid of him. Why was he following them around, and what was he doing standing right in the middle of the way?

“Ignore him,” Mandie whispered to Celia as they walked on.

Both girls looked the other way when they passed Juan. They hurried on down the lane toward the lighthouse and rushed around to the side where they had left Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton. The adults were still sitting on the bench.

“Amanda, where were you and Celia going in such a big hurry?” Mrs. Taft asked as the two young people came up.

“I sent Juan after y’all to see if something was wrong,” the senator added.

“You did?” Mandie asked with a sigh of relief. “Grandmother, do you remember that strange woman on the ship who followed us all over Europe last summer? Well, I believe she was here. We were trying to catch up with her, but she was too far ahead with the crowd going back to the ferry.”

“Amanda, are you sure?” Mrs. Taft asked.

“I’m pretty sure, Grandmother,” Mandie replied.

“It did look like her,” Celia added.

“You young ladies are speaking of Miss Lucretia Wham, I take it?” Senator Morton asked.

“Yes, sir, that’s the strange woman’s name,” Mandie agreed.

“This could be very interesting, having her show up here in St. Augustine,” the senator said thoughtfully.

“But the girls are not positive it was Miss Wham,” Mrs. Taft reminded him.

Mandie smiled at her grandmother’s precise way of deciding matters. “But I am half positive, I’d say,” Mandie told her.

“If that was Miss Wham, we will find out sooner or later,” Senator Morton remarked.

Mandie wondered what he meant by that remark. How would he find out whether it was the strange woman from the ship? And what was the woman doing in St. Augustine?

Mandie and Celia discussed the woman the rest of the day. And then at one point of recalling the events of the day, Mandie suddenly wondered how the senator had communicated with Juan, who couldn’t hear, and asked him to follow her and Celia. There were too many unanswered questions, and she meant to find the answers.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE OLD FORT

The next day, which was Wednesday, May 28, was another day full of mystery and unanswered questions. Mandie and Celia went with Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton to visit the old fort that the Spanish had begun building in 1672 and finished in 1695, while Spain owned Florida. Juan accompanied them this time, too, with another picnic basket full of food.

“What a huge building!” Mandie exclaimed as she held on to Snowball and stopped to look ahead.

“Yes, and it’s the oldest masonry fort in the United States,” Senator Morton added as the others paused in front of it.

“Is it still a fort? I see men in uniforms walking around over there.” Mandie pointed toward one side.

“Yes, it’s still a fort, but we will be allowed to go inside,” the senator replied. He stepped ahead and spoke with one of the men, then motioned for the others to follow him.

“Amanda, please hold on to that cat while we’re inside. It gets rather dark in places, and he could get lost forever,” Mrs. Taft told Mandie as they joined the senator.

“Yes, ma’am,” Mandie replied, looping the end of Snowball’s red leash around her wrist and checking the hook to the collar. “He’ll be all right, Grandmother.”

“I’ll help you carry him,” Celia offered as they followed the adults into the fort.

The light was dim, but Mandie could see men here and there, going about their business, whatever it was. Senator Morton spoke to several people as they continued through the building, and he turned to recite historical facts about the fort now and then. Everything looked old and dark with lots of nooks and crannies, and eventually they ended up in the cellar.

“This is really scary down here,” Celia remarked, moving closer to Mandie as everyone stopped in the center of a large room.

Mandie grinned at her friend and said, “Yes, awfully mysterious.” She glanced back the way they had come and realized Juan was no longer with them. “Where’s Juan?” she added in a whisper to her friend.

Celia looked around and shrugged.

“When the British owned Florida during the Revolutionary War, they used it for prisoners after they captured Charleston, South Carolina,” Senator Morton was saying as the girls turned back to listen. “In fact, three signers of the Declaration of Independence were imprisoned here.”

Mandie was only half listening as she kept glancing around. Where did Juan go? And what was he doing? She was anxious to keep moving on through the place so she could eventually find the man.

Senator Morton stepped into one of the cells as he talked, and Mrs. Taft followed him.

Mandie instantly pulled Celia’s hand and raced around the corner of a wall to look for Juan. Celia hurried behind her.

“Mandie, where are you going? We’ll get lost in this spooky place,” Celia complained.

“No, we won’t. I’m looking for Juan,” Mandie whispered, holding tightly to Snowball, who was protesting the fast movement.

Mandie quickly looked around every corner in the darkness and was about to return to the adults when she suddenly spotted Juan and another man standing in one of the small rooms. The man was talking rapidly in a low voice, and she could not hear what he was saying. But Juan was looking directly at the man as though he could hear every word.

“Sh-h-h!” Mandie whispered as she put out a hand to stop her friend and pointed ahead. “Look!”

Celia gasped and moved closer to Mandie as she, too, saw the men.

Suddenly, Juan looked into the corridor and saw the girls standing there. He quickly motioned to the other man, who immediately walked off in another direction.

Mandie, a little frightened at being caught, began talking to Snowball as she walked back the way they had come. “Now, Snowball, don’t you run off again, you hear?” She squeezed him in her arms. The cat purred loudly.

Celia hurried alongside Mandie and kept glancing back.

“Are we being followed?” Mandie asked as she snuggled Snowball on her shoulder.

“No, he’s gone,” Celia replied.

As usual, Mandie was more interested in a mystery than in sightseeing. She spent the rest of the day watching Juan, who joined them as Senator Morton continued leading them through the fort. When they eventually went up on the gun deck, her attention returned.

Rushing over to one side, she exclaimed, “Look, Celia, there’s the lighthouse!”

“I can see people down there by the water,” Celia added, leaning forward.

Mandie turned to look back at the adults and realized Juan had disappeared again. She sighed as she wondered where he had gone this time.

Senator Morton looked at the girls and said, “In case you young ladies are hungry, I’ve sent Juan to get the food from the carriage. We will go down by the water and find a place to spread our meal.”

Mandie smiled at him and was glad he had solved the disappearance of Juan. “Yes, sir, I’m starving, and so is Snowball,” she replied, holding tightly to the white cat and following the adults as they descended the steps.

“So am I,” Celia added, hurrying alongside Mandie.

“That other man who was with Juan, I wonder where he went? Keep a watch out for him,” Mandie whispered to her friend.

“Mandie, it was so dark in there, I don’t think I could recognize him if I saw him,” Celia replied.

“Well, anyway, we can observe whether Juan meets up with anyone else around here,” Mandie told her.

By the time everyone had walked down to the water, Juan had selected a spot and was spreading out quilts to sit on and a tablecloth for the food. Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton sat on a low wall nearby while the girls got comfortable on the quilts. Mandie looped Snowball’s leash around an old rock post near her and breathed a sigh of relief.

“At least we got through that place without Snowball running off,” she told Celia.

“Yes, but we aren’t finished here yet,” Celia agreed.

Juan kept watching the girls as he served the food. Mandie felt uncomfortable with his gaze and ignored it as she talked to Celia of other things.

“I forgot to watch for that strange woman today,” Mandie said, suddenly sitting up straight and looking around. “You didn’t see her anywhere, did you?”

Celia laughed and said, “Of course not, Mandie. I would have let you know if I had. You know, we aren’t even positive that was Miss Wham we saw out at the lighthouse.”

“I believe it was,” Mandie replied, pushing back a stray strand of hair as the breeze from the water drifted past them. “You know, I wish Jonathan were here. He was involved in that mystery with the woman.”

“Mandie!” Celia exclaimed as she accepted a plate of food from Juan and thanked him. “You’ve been wishing away the time until you can see Joe, and now here you are wishing you could see Jonathan. You are one fickle young lady.” She laughed teasingly.

Mandie grinned and replied, “Maybe I am, but I have lots of friends and I like them all.” Juan handed her a plate of food. She looked up at him, smiled, and said, “Thank you.”

To her amazement, Juan smiled back. Did he hear what she said? Well, no, he was deaf, but he could see her smile. That was it. He saw her smile and returned it. She quickly looked down at her food and began eating.

Senator Morton and Mrs. Taft carried on their own conversation. From where Mandie was sitting, she could not hear anything they
were saying. But from the expressions on their faces, it seemed to be a serious discussion. Juan sat alone with his food.

“I’ll be glad when I can go back home,” Mandie remarked. “If Joe has not come home by then, maybe he will have written me a letter.”

“But Joe is so busy studying to catch up, he may not have time to write,” Celia told her as she ate a bite of the potato on her plate.

“I know,” Mandie agreed. Then lowering her voice, she leaned closer to her friend and said, “At least while we’re here with Juan, we know he isn’t in our room.”

Celia gasped and looked at the man, who was staring straight at Mandie. “Let’s talk about school, Mandie,” she said. “I’ll be glad to go back in the fall so I can see Robert.”

“Robert,” Mandie repeated with a big grin. “I have an idea you like that fellow. And I know he likes you a whole lot.”

Celia blushed as she replied, “Mandie! How do you know that?” She stopped eating to look at Mandie.