Mandie Collection, The: 8 (41 page)

“There’s nothing you can do, Mandie. It’s all done,” Celia replied. “Don’t you think we’d better move along in the crowd?”

“Yes, I suppose,” Mandie agreed as the two walked slowly on.

“I’m sorry, Mandie, if you thought that was the signal,” Celia explained, “but that man came right by me, just puffing and puffing on his stinky old cigar, and it made me cough.”

“It’s not your fault I made a fool of myself. I should have talked to the girl and the boy to see what they had to say before I tried anything,” Mandie said, nervously glancing around the crowd to see where her grandmother was. She hoped to avoid Mrs. Taft for the rest of the evening just in case the report of her unladylike behavior circulated to her grandmother.

They kept moving around and finally got in line to get food from the long dining table. They took their well-filled plates and found a small nook in the corner of the library that was unoccupied and sat down on stools to eat. Tall plants in huge pots shielded them from view as other people moved in and out of the room.

Mandie was afraid to talk for fear someone would hear her and come join them. She didn’t want any company while she silently ate her food, and she was so upset she couldn’t have told you what the food was. Celia also refrained from conversation. Finally they had finished their food and saved the scraps for Snowball.

Mandie said in a low voice, “I suppose I should go take some food to Snowball, don’t you think?”

“Yes, I’ll go with you,” Celia replied.

As the girls started to rise, they heard voices come into the room,
just out of view because of the plants. “Did you see her absolutely cut down Bonnie and Ted? Bonnie said she has the most vile temper,” the girl was saying.

Mandie immediately recognized the voice as that of the girl in the park the night before. She froze and did not move. She was not going to get into more trouble than she had already created. Maybe the girl and boy would leave the room, and she and Celia could get out. She looked at her friend and saw that she had also recognized the voice.

“Bonnie can have a so-called vile temper herself sometimes, if I remember correctly,” the boy said.

“Oh, George, all girls have a little temper sometimes,” she said.

“I know you do, Thelma Coty,” the boy said. “All Cotys do.”

“Don’t forget that includes you. You are my cousin, you know. Even if it is about the thirteenth, you have some of the same blood, George Tollison,” the girl replied.

“I know, I know,” George said. “Which is a lucky thing for me. I can only escort you around when you run out of friends because I’m your cousin. But that means I can also look at other girls, and I think I would like to meet those two girls.”

“Come on, let’s see if we can spot them,” Thelma said.

Mandie and Celia listened quietly as the other two left the room. Both girls held on to their plates with the food left for Snowball. Then Mandie whispered, “Let’s get out of here, fast.” She hurried through the room and out the door into the connecting hallway at the side of the house.

“Mandie, where are you going?” Celia asked, following her.

“I think we can get up to our room from an outside staircase this way. Let’s go see,” Mandie told her. “Please don’t spill the rest of your food.”

As the two rushed up the outside staircase, Celia remarked, “Mandie, we never did get a look at those two, so we won’t know them if we see them again.”

“All we have to do is listen. I’ll recognize them,” Mandie said, stopping to turn back to her friend as she added, “but, Celia, I’m not going to say anything to them. I’ll just ignore them. I don’t want to cause more trouble than I have already.”

“That’s a good decision,” Celia agreed.

When they finally found the way to their room through the outside
balconies, Mandie opened the door and called to Snowball, “Come on, Snowball. We’ve brought you some food.” She quickly looked around. There was no sign of the white cat.

“Mandie, I believe he’s gone,” Celia told her as she searched for him.

Mandie finally stood up and said, “Yes, someone has let him out. Oh, this is going to be a job finding him with all those people downstairs.”

“I wonder who let him out?” Celia remarked, placing her plate on the bureau.

Mandie looked at her, rushed over to the wardrobe, opened the doors, and inspected their clothes. Everything seemed to be the way they had left it.

“Well, at least someone didn’t come in here and turn our clothes all around again,” Mandie said, closing the doors to the huge piece of furniture.

“No, but someone had to have let Snowball out because we were sure we closed the door, remember?” Celia said.

“I know,” Mandie agreed. With a big sigh, she asked, “Where do you think we should start looking?”

“Oh, Mandie, I have no idea,” Celia replied.

“At home he heads for the kitchen when he gets out of my room. Maybe that’s where he is now,” Mandie suggested. “Maybe he smelled food and was hungry. Let’s see if we can find the way to the kitchen without going back downstairs through the guests. We ought to be able to go down the outside stairs and find an entrance in the back somewhere.”

“Yes, lead the way. I’m right with you,” Celia agreed.

The girls went back down the outside stairs. They practically ran into Juan at the bottom of the steps. Evidently he was in a hurry and was going up. Mandie sighed and quickly moved to one side out of his way. He smiled at the girls and rushed up the stone steps.

“I wonder where he was going in such a hurry,” Mandie remarked as she led the way around the house, looking for an entrance to the kitchen.

“Our room, maybe?” Celia asked.

Mandie stopped to look back at her friend and said as she stomped her foot, “Well, I just can’t go two directions at one time. I’ll have to
find Snowball first, and then I’ll see if we can find out where Juan was going.”

This party was causing a lot of hassle for Mandie. She would be glad when the guests said good-bye and things settled back down for the night, at least. In the meantime, her beloved white cat could be just about anywhere. She had to find him.

CHAPTER EIGHT

WHO IS WHO?

Mandie and Celia finally located an outside door in the back of the mansion that they thought would lead to the kitchen. Mandie opened it, and they found themselves staring down a long, dark hallway. The girls stood still to look around. There were several closed doors.

“I believe I smell food that way,” Mandie said, pointing down the corridor to the last door on the left.

“Yes,” Celia agreed.

They walked down the hallway to the door they had decided upon, and just before they reached it, the door suddenly opened and someone rushed out into the hallway in their direction. The girls stopped in their tracks.

“It’s Lolly,” Mandie said, and quickly turning to Celia, she asked, “Do you think she’ll recognize us?”

“Probably,” Celia instantly responded.

Lolly did recognize them immediately. She came to stand in front of them and said, “You must be lost. Party is in front of house.”

“We know that, but my cat has disappeared out of our room, and we thought maybe he had headed for the kitchen for food,” Mandie explained.

“Sí, cat is in kitchen eating,” Lolly explained, turning to go on her way.

“Wait,” Mandie said. “Do you know how he got out of our room and into the kitchen?”

“Do not know. Only came to door and Cook let him in. Now I have errand to get to,” Lolly said, continuing down the hallway toward the outside door.

“Well, maybe Cook will know how he got down here. Come on,” Mandie said to her friend.

Walking up to the door through which Lolly had come, Mandie slowly pushed it open and was greeted with strong food odors and loud, fast talking between the servants inside the kitchen. No one noticed the two girls standing there.

“Snowball!” Mandie called loudly over the hustle and bustle in the room.

The noise and conversation were immediately turned off, and everyone stopped to stare at Mandie and Celia.

Mandie, feeling uncomfortable with all the attention pointed at them, quickly said, “My cat, Snowball, is not in our room. Is he down here?”

“Oh, sí, sí” was repeated around the room.

An older woman in a more sophisticated uniform, which Mandie thought must make her the boss, spoke to Mandie. “Cat hungry. We feed. He eat good,” she said, pointing to Snowball, whom Mandie now saw gobbling down the food on a plate under the table. The woman shook her head and added, “Not good when cat get hungry. Must feed or cat get too thin.”

“Yes, I know. Thank you all,” Mandie said, going to stoop down by her cat. “Hurry, Snowball, so we can take you back up to our room.”

Snowball looked up at his mistress with his blue eyes, meowed loudly, and quickly returned to his food.

The woman watched and then spoke again. “Cat stay here. You party. Back later,” she said. “Bella watch. You go.”

“Thank you, Miss Bella,” Mandie said. “We’ll be back soon.”

As the girls turned to leave the kitchen, Bella suddenly clapped her hands and called out to the other help. “Work! Get work done! Now!”

The noise and conversation began again as the girls left the room. Outside in the hallway, Mandie blew out her breath and said, “I don’t think I would like working for Bella.”

“Neither would I,” Celia agreed. “Now what do we do?”

“I suppose we have to go back to the party,” Mandie said with a long groan, and then quickly added, “Let’s go check our room before we do. Hurry.”

She rushed to the outside door and ran up the outside staircase. Celia followed right behind her. Slowing down in the upstairs hallway, Mandie put her finger to her lips to motion for Celia to be quiet. They slipped along the corridor to the door of their room. Then Mandie quietly, slowly turned the doorknob and eased the door open.

“No one is here right now,” Mandie said, entering the room and looking around. Everything seemed to be exactly the way they had left it. “Let’s check the wardrobe,” she added and ran to open its doors.

Celia came right behind her and watched as Mandie examined their clothes hanging inside. “Nothing bothered this time,” she said.

“No, everything seems to be the way we hung it,” Mandie agreed, closing the doors to the wardrobe. “Now we have to get back downstairs before Grandmother misses us. And I hope that girl I spoke to and her friend Ted have not spread any talk about that. We’ll soon know.”

When the girls slipped back among the crowd in the parlor, no one seemed to notice. Mandie glanced around for the turtle-costumed couple but could not see them. As she and Celia walked on through the parlor, Mandie suddenly spotted her grandmother across the room and gasped when she realized who was talking to the lady. The girl and boy she had had words with seemed to be in a deep conversation with Mrs. Taft.

“Oh no,” Mandie murmured to Celia. “Look who’s talking to Grandmother.” She darted between a group of tall people nearby in an effort to keep from being seen. “Let’s go in the other room,” she whispered to Celia.

The crowd she was hiding behind suddenly moved on in separate ways, and when she glanced at her grandmother again, Mrs. Taft had seen her and Celia. She was motioning for them to come over to her.

“Here we go,” Mandie muttered to Celia as she slowly began making her way through the crowd toward her grandmother. Celia followed.

The girls were halfway across the room when Senator Morton suddenly appeared before them with a big smile. “I was trying to intercept
your path, Miss Amanda and Miss Celia. I have some friends I’d like y’all to meet,” he said.

“Yes, sir,” Mandie replied. “I’d like to meet your friends.”

“So would I, sir,” Celia added.

“Let’s see if we can work our way through here,” the senator told them as he moved toward the other side of the room.

Mandie was too short to see where Senator Morton was leading them, but when she finally got a view through the crowd, she gasped to herself. Senator Morton seemed to be leading them directly toward her grandmother, who was still talking with the young girl and boy. And she suddenly knew the senator’s friends would be that young couple. What was going to happen? She glanced at Celia, who nodded to show she understood, too.

Finally reaching Mrs. Taft, the senator made the introductions. “Miss Amanda, Miss Celia, I would like for you to meet Miss Bonnie Sammons and young Mr. Ted Tilden.”

Mandie was amazed to hear the girl say, “How do you do? It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

And the young man added, “Yes, it is a great pleasure to meet both you young ladies.”

“How do you do?” Mandie was finally able to say.

“Pleasure to meet you both,” Celia chimed in with ladylike dignity.

“Amanda, Bonnie’s grandmother and I were old school chums long ago,” Mrs. Taft said. “I had lost touch, but Bonnie tells me her grandmother passed away about ten years ago.”

Mandie was puzzled by the whole situation and could think of nothing to say. What was going on here? She quickly decided she must have been right when she thought the couple were the same ones who had been in the park doing all that talking. She remembered the girl had said she would have to be nice to Mandie because of Mrs. Taft’s wealth. Well, if Bonnie Sammons wanted to play a game, she would play right along with her until she got a chance to show the girl up for what she was like underneath all this courtesy.

Celia stood by listening. Looking at Mandie, she said under her breath, “I don’t believe you made a mistake after all.”

Mandie grinned at her and nodded.

“Bonnie’s grandmother was also an old friend of mine, and I just
wanted you girls to become acquainted,” Senator Morton said, glancing around the group. “And Ted’s grandparents were slightly connected to my wife’s family by marriage. Even though many people have moved here from up north in the last few years, we still have our old friends, although they are getting fewer every year.”

“So who are you related to, Mandie?” Ted asked, surprising Mandie. He smiled at her.

“I’m related to everyone that my grandmother is related to,” Mandie replied, not quite sure how to handle this conversation.