Mandie Collection, The: 8 (47 page)

“Why do you scream?” Juan asked, putting out a hand to stop Mandie.

“Fire! Fire! Out there!” Mandie gasped for breath as she pointed.

Juan immediately raced outside with Mandie following. When he saw the fire, he called to her, “Wake everyone! Call Lolly, call Pedro, all the servants. Quick!” He ran out toward the fire.

Mandie reentered the house, screaming as she rushed toward the kitchen, not knowing where to find the servants at this hour of the night. When she pushed the door open, she found Lolly drinking a cup of coffee by the stove. Lolly looked up at her in alarm.

“Fire in the front yard! Juan said call everyone to help!” Mandie cried with her last breath as she collapsed into a chair.

Lolly handed Mandie her cup of coffee and turned to leave the room. “Drink this!” she exclaimed as she ran to the door.

Mandie took a swallow of the hot liquid, set it down, and ran for the stairs. Her grandmother was asleep upstairs, and the fire could spread to the house. Reaching her grandmother’s room, Mandie didn’t bother to knock. She opened the door and went to wake Mrs. Taft, who was already sitting up.

“Grandmother, get dressed. The front yard is on fire,” Mandie told her. “I have to get Snowball and Celia.” She quickly left the room and ran on to her room.

Celia had heard the screaming and was fastening on Snowball’s leash when Mandie got there. “Is it bad?” Celia asked as she handed the white cat to Mandie.

“It will probably spread if they don’t get it out real fast,” Mandie told her, cuddling Snowball in her arms.

As the girls rushed back down to the yard, Mandie told Celia what had happened. “I saw two men, and they disappeared. I believe they were the men Juan met at the boat,” she said between breaths.

When they came down into the yard, all the servants were fighting the fire as Senator Morton shouted orders. When he saw the two girls, he called to them, “Stay back. We can handle this, and y’all might get hurt.”

“Yes, sir,” Mandie replied, and turning to Celia, she said, “Snowball is afraid. Would you mind holding him and walking back toward the house away from the fire? I have to help, no matter what the senator says.” She held out her cat.

Celia took Snowball and tried to calm him. “Mandie, he told us to stay away,” she reminded Mandie as she slowly backtracked toward the house.

“I know. I’ll catch up with you in a little bit,” Mandie replied. She rushed toward the fire on the side away from the senator. The servants had large pieces of carpetlike material that they were beating at the fire with. She grabbed up an extra piece from the pile nearby and began helping.

It was a tough job, but after a while the people were able to smother out the last remnants of the fire. They had kept it from progressing toward the house. Everyone paused for a breath, and Mandie looked around the group. She saw her grandmother standing in the background with Celia. Senator Morton, tired and dirty, started toward Mrs. Taft. Mandie quickly put out a sooty hand to detain him.

“Senator Morton, I think I know who set the fire,” Mandie told him. “Juan met two men in a boat one night, and I believe that’s who did this. I saw two men in the dark, and it looked like them.”

“Yes, that is what we figured,” Senator Morton said. “I thank you for sounding the alarm before it got completely out of control.”

“If you really want to thank me, would you please explain what is going on?” Mandie replied, looking up at the senator with her blue eyes in a sooty face. “Celia and I have been watching and listening, and we think we have it all figured out. Would you please tell me what has been happening since we came?”

“I suppose it is no longer secret information,” the senator replied
after a long pause. “There has been smuggling going on down on our coast—boats from Cuba, which makes it a federal case. Juan works for me in my Washington office, and when I was asked to investigate, I brought Juan down here. Then Miss Lucretia Wham, whom you previously knew, appeared, apparently sent down by the president himself. Juan had set up the wireless in your wardrobe to keep in touch with other government people, and your room was not supposed to be occupied. But when the maid put y’all in there, I figured it would be all right.” He stopped to smile at her.

“What about the Margalosas?” Mandie asked. “I heard some conversation regarding them.”

“Yes, they are involved. They were trying to intercept Juan’s messages,” the senator explained. “They were picked up by federal agents last night.”

“And Lolly? She is not really a maid, is she?” Mandie asked.

Senator Morton smiled and said, “I do believe you would make a good agent for the government when you grow up, Miss Amanda. No, Lolly actually works for Miss Wham.”

“Oh, I see,” Mandie replied. “And when Celia and I found the wireless in our wardrobe, that started things moving faster.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed. “Now that you know, do you mind if I join your grandmother over there to see if she is all right?”

“Oh, thank you, Senator Morton,” Mandie replied. “I thank you for helping me solve the mystery.” She smiled at him and started toward Celia.

Mandie raced over to Celia to share the information. They discussed it as they started toward the outside stairs. It was still nighttime, so the girls cleaned up and got in bed and continued their conversation into the wee hours of the morning.

The next morning at the breakfast table, Mrs. Taft told Mandie, “You and Celia should get dressed when we finish our food. We are going to visit the Saylors family again.”

Mandie looked at her in surprise, and then down at the perfectly good dress she was wearing. “But, Grandmother, I am dressed,” she said. “This is a nice dress.”

“Let’s just put on something more dressy,” Mrs. Taft insisted.

Mandie looked at Celia, who was smiling, and said, “I suppose that includes you, too.”

“Yes,” Celia agreed.

Mandie wondered why they were visiting the Saylorses in the morning. Visits were usually made in the afternoon or at night. Oh well, her grandmother came up with her own ideas sometimes. And Mandie looked forward to relating the events of the night before to Patricia and Edward. Senator Morton had said she could talk about the mystery now that it was solved.

Patricia and Edward were expecting the girls, and Mandie was surprised to see that they were also dressed in what she liked to call their “Sunday-go-to-meeting” clothes.

“So you saved the house from the fire,” Edward said with a big grin for Mandie.

“Well, I don’t know about that, but I saw those two men down there, and, of course, I figured they were up to no good,” Mandie replied.

“But I heard that you actually got out with the servants and helped extinguish the fire. That was very brave of you, Mandie,” Patricia told her.

“Not really. I didn’t stop to think about danger or anything. I just knew I didn’t want Senator Morton’s house to catch on fire,” Mandie said with a shrug. She was always uncomfortable with compliments.

The conversation centered around the fire for the next hour, and then Senator Morton spoke from across the room. “Those are two brave young ladies. They even helped track down lawbreakers for the federal government.” Looking at Mandie, he added, “It’s all right if you would like to tell your friends about it. The case is wound up and closed.”

“Oh, thank you, Senator,” Mandie replied. She immediately went into a fast account of finding the wireless and seeing the two men in a boat.

“How exciting!” Patricia exclaimed.

“And also dangerous,” Celia added.

“It certainly is dangerous to snoop into things like that. I’m so glad you two girls came out unscathed,” Edward told them.

Mandie noticed for the first time that Edward was evidently trying to flirt with her. He was good-looking and seemed to have a friendly personality, but he couldn’t compare with Joe Woodard. And she wished she could see Joe to relate all these adventures she and Celia had been having since they came to St. Augustine. She thought about home.

Mandie was suddenly aware that her grandmother had risen and
was speaking to her. “Amanda, I think we will be returning to Senator Morton’s now.”

Mandie stood up quickly. “Oh yes, ma’am.” She turned to Patricia and Edward and said, “I’m so glad I got to know y’all, and I hope y’all will come visit me sometime.”

“Oh yes, we will,” Patricia promised.

“Soon,” Edward added with a smile.

Since Juan had left for Washington that morning, Pedro was now driving the senator’s carriage. He pulled up in front of Senator Morton’s house, and everyone stepped down.

“Amanda, let’s just go in the parlor for a minute before you girls go upstairs to your room, or wherever you are headed,” Mrs. Taft told her.

Mandie looked at her grandmother, wondering why, and said, “Yes, Grandmother.”

When the girls and Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton stepped into the front hallway, Mandie noticed the door to the parlor was closed. The senator reached forward to open it, remarking, “Now I just wonder who closed this door.” He flung the double doors wide.

Mandie stood there frozen with surprise, while shouts of “Happy Birthday!” came from within the parlor. There were her friends, every one of them, she decided as she looked around. Tears of joy began streaming from her blue eyes. She had forgotten today was her birthday, but her friends had not.

Uncle Ned, her father’s old Cherokee friend, stepped forward, put his arm around her, and led her into the room. “Happy birthday, Papoose,” he said.

Mandie turned, buried her face on his shoulder, and cried uncontrollably.

Then Joe was tugging at her hand, “Come on, crybaby,” he said, “We’ve got chocolate cake.”

Sallie, Dimar, Jonathan, and Morning Star crowded around her. Mandie turned to look at them and spied her mother and Uncle John in the far corner, smiling and watching the greetings. Mandie broke loose and ran to her mother.

Elizabeth squeezed her daughter in her arms. “This is such a special day. Fourteen years ago you were born, my dearest darling,” she said.

“Oh, Mother, I love you so much,” Mandie said in a shaky voice, and reaching to hold Uncle John’s hand, she added, “You, too, Uncle John.”

The party began. Mandie and her friends talked nonstop the rest of the day. Then Mandie learned they would all be staying that night with the senator, and the next day everyone, including her and Celia, would be going home.

“Yes, we need to get back and see what’s going on at home,” Mrs. Taft said.

“And if there’s not a mystery there, Mandie will find one,” Joe said, squeezing her hand. He bent to whisper in her ear, “I love you, Mandie Shaw.”

Mandie felt her face turn red, and she looked around. Evidently no one else had heard that remark. Then looking up at the tall boy, she said, “I’ve missed you, Joe Woodard.”

The two looked at each other and smiled. Mandie felt her heartbeat quicken and her hand shake a little as it was held by Joe Woodard. There were lots of things ahead for the summer, and Joe had actually made it home from school.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LOIS GLADYS LEPPARD worked in Federal Intelligence for thirteen years in various countries around the world before she settled in South Carolina.

The stories of her own mother’s childhood as an orphan in western North Carolina are the basis for many of the incidents incorporated in this series.

Visit her Web site:
www.Mandie.com

MANDIE MYSTERIES

The Mandie Collection: Volume One
(Books 1–5)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Two
(Books 6–10)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Three
(Books 11–15)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Four
(Books 16–20)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Five
(Books 21–23)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Six
(Books 24–26)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Seven
(Books 27–29)

The Mandie Collection: Volume eight
(Books 30–32)

Mandie: Her College Days
New Horizons