The Mandie Collection (32 page)

“I do not think she would be there,” Dimar offered.

“Dimar's right,” Mandie agreed. “I don't think she liked that place. She wouldn't go back with us yesterday.”

“Perhaps not,” Elizabeth said, “but we must look everywhere. Why don't you young people search the house and grounds again. Maybe she's hiding somewhere.”

“Hilda's good at hiding, isn't she, Mandie?” Celia laughed.

“Yes, she sure is,” Mandie nodded. “She was hiding in that attic at school a long time before we found her. Come on, everybody,” she said to her friends, “let's stay together this time and search real good. We've got to find her before Uncle John gets back.”

But after another long, careful search, they still couldn't find Hilda or any clue to where she might be. About mid-morning they joined Elizabeth and Mrs. Taft and Mrs. Woodard in the parlor.

“No success?” asked Grandmother Taft.

The young people shook their heads silently.

Just then Liza rushed into the parlor, out of breath. “ 'Scuse me, Miz Shaw,” she said, panting. “We done found her, but she won't come. I'se sorry, ma'am. I don't know what's wrong wid her.”

“Found her where?” Elizabeth asked.

“Over t' the Hadleys, Miz Shaw,” Liza replied.

“Way over there?” Elizabeth exclaimed.

“I'll go get her, Mother,” Mandie offered. “She'll come back for me.”

“But you don't know where the Hadleys live, dear,” Elizabeth said.

“I do, Mrs. Shaw,” Joe spoke up. “I've been there on calls with my father. I'll go after her.”

“She doesn't know you very well, Joe, but she would come for me. Mrs. Woodard, couldn't Joe go with me to get her?” Mandie asked.

“Of course, dear,” Mrs. Woodard replied. “You mustn't go by yourself.”

Elizabeth looked relieved. “You may go if you promise to go straight there and back,” she agreed. “And if she won't come back with you, you are to return immediately. We'll figure out some other way to get her.”

“Yes, Mother,” said Mandie. “I promise.”

Elizabeth turned to Joe. “Now, Joe, please be careful. Hilda is so unpredictable, and I'm counting on you to keep Amanda out of trouble.”

“I will,” Joe agreed.

Instantly the other young people clamored to go along.

“No, no,” Elizabeth told them. “It will be easier for them to handle Hilda if you all stay here.”

The others reluctantly agreed.

Elizabeth gave her daughter a hug. “Now you two get on out to the stable. Jason Bond took the rig out looking for Hilda, and he isn't back yet, so you can ride your ponies,” Elizabeth explained. “And remember, straight there and back, no loitering along the way. Now, make haste.”

“Yes, ma'am,” Mandie replied, picking up Snowball.

“Yes, ma'am,” Joe echoed.

Within minutes Mandie and Joe were headed in the direction of the Hadleys' house with Snowball clinging to Mandie's shoulder.

“I don't know why you had to bring that cat,” Joe grumbled.

“Snowball needs some outdoor air,” Mandie defended herself. “Besides, Hilda is fascinated by him. I may be able to entice her to leave by letting her hold him.”

“I hope we can get her to come back,” said Joe.

“Where do the Hadleys live?” Mandie asked.

“Not too far,” he answered, “but we have to go near the mine.”

Mandie perked up. “We do?”

“The road goes pretty close,” Joe said as they trotted on.

“Do you think we could just go down the road that runs by the mine on our way to the Hadleys?” Mandie asked.

“What for?”

“Just to look at it as we go by,” she said. “If we're going to be that close to it, I don't see why we can't just ride by and look.”

Joe thought for a moment. “Well, all right,” he agreed. “But remember, we will not stop, no matter what excuse you think up,” he stated.

Mandie smiled. “Thanks, Joe,” she said as the wind blew her bonnet back from her long blonde hair.

At a fork in the road Joe turned left and Mandie followed. She soon recognized the road as the one they had traveled to the mine from a different direction.

As they came within sight of the mine, Mandie suddenly pulled up the reins on her pony. “Look, Joe! There are two horses tied over there in the trees,” she called to him.

Joe slowed his pony to a leisurely walk. “I wonder who they belong to,” he said.

They both stopped in the road near the mine, and Mandie stayed at Joe's side. “We could just go down there long enough to see who's there,” she suggested.

“You promised your mother you wouldn't go anywhere except straight to the Hadleys and back, remember?” Joe reminded her.

“Well, it wouldn't hurt anything if we just looked to see who it is,” Mandie argued.

“But there's no one in sight. Someone must have just left the horses there for some reason,” Joe objected.

Suddenly they heard the sound of hammering coming from the mine, and then the noise of planks being moved around. The two looked at each other in alarm.

“Joe?” Mandie gripped Snowball with one hand and slid down from her pony.

“Just remember, you started this,” he said, dismounting. “All right, I'm guilty,” Mandie admitted.

They quickly tied their ponies out of sight and then softly made their way toward the mine. Stopping behind two huge tree trunks, they watched the entrance to the mine as Snowball clung silently to the shoulder of Mandie's dress.

Then the noise stopped.

The two were so intent upon watching the entrance of the mine that they didn't see or hear anyone behind them.

Suddenly two pairs of strong hands grabbed them.

Mandie gasped and looked up into the face of an old woman. Joe swung around just as a big, burly man threw a rope around him, tying his arms and hands.

Mandie trembled with fear. “Who are you? What do you want?” she managed to ask as she held Snowball tightly.

Then all of a sudden she realized that the woman was wearing the blue gingham dress. And there on the ground by the strangers' feet lay two big, heavy canvas bags.

“I know where you got that dress,” Mandie told the old woman. “I saw it in the farmhouse over there on the other side of the trees. What was it doing there? Did you steal it?”

The old woman grabbed Mandie's hand and gave it a hard jerk. Mandie winced with pain.

“Ain't none of your business,” the old woman said.

Joe tried to free himself but the huge man was too strong for him. “Let me go!” Joe demanded.

“Why? So you can go spread the word that we've been here? Never!” the man replied, holding tightly to the rope.

“What are we goin' to do with 'em?” the woman asked.

“That depends,” the man replied. “Could be a right serious situation, you know.”

“Long as they don't know what we's got in them bags we'll be all right,” the woman argued.

“What do you have in those bags?” Mandie asked.

“You shore ain't gonna find out,” the man said. “Else you could suffer some bad consequences.”

“Let me loose,” Joe demanded. “Are you going to stand there all day doing nothing? We've got somewhere we've got to go.”

“You ain't goin' nowhere, so don't git your dander up,” the old man told him. “That is, nowhere without us.”

“You mean you're going to take us with you?” Mandie asked.

The old woman looked sharply at her companion. “That ain't necessary, is it?”

“I think so. Jest long enough for us to be on our way,” the man said.

Joe tried to free his hands as the man tightened the rope around him. “Where are we going?” he asked.

The man ignored him.

“I suppose you stole whatever is in the bags, and now you're running away,” Mandie said.

“Now, you listen here, you young squirt,” the old man said angrily. “What's in them bags ain't none of your business, and you'd better shet up about it, or you'll wish you had.”

“Let's git on our way. I don't care whether we take these two or not, but I want to git goin,' ” the woman said.

“All right, we'll go. I'll hold on to the girl while you untie the horses and shoo them off. We'll take the boat.” The man reached for Mandie's hand and gripped it in his big fist.

“What'll we do when we git back. The horses'll be gone,” the woman protested.

“Don't worry 'bout them horses. We'll find a way,” the man said. “Now hurry up and do what I told you to.”

The old woman hurried over to the two horses, untied them, and slapped them with the reins. The horses neighed and took off running through the woods.

Mandie held her breath, hoping the ponies, which were tethered out of sight, wouldn't make a sound to call attention to themselves.

The woman came back and grabbed Mandie's hand again, and the man pushed Joe forward.

“Into the mine,” the old man ordered.

The woman pushed and pulled Mandie along with her, and Snowball dug his claws into Mandie's shoulder.

“Are you leavin' the bags?” the woman asked her partner.

“Nope. I'll git 'em soon as I tie these two up,” he said.

The strangers marched the young people through the mine and the tunnel, and on to Rose Creek where there was a boat tied up.

“You'll get in trouble for doing this,” Mandie told them.

“And it'll be big trouble. Don't you know who she is?” Joe asked, nodding to Mandie.

“Don't make no difference,” the man said,

“It does, too. She is John Shaw's niece, and he owns this mine!” Joe yelled as the old man shoved him toward a tree.

The woman brought Mandie near, and the man quickly wrapped the rope around the two, pinning them to the tree.

“I said it don't make no difference who she is,” the old man repeated. He turned to the woman. “You watch 'em so they can't git loose,” he commanded. “I'll git the bags.”

The woman did as she was told, and the man hurried back through the tunnel.

“Don't you see you're making unnecessary trouble for yourself?” Mandie asked the woman. “We were on the way to the Hadleys, and if you'll just let us loose, we'll go on our way.”

“That's easier said than done,” the old woman said.

“And we won't even tell anyone that we saw you,” Joe added.

“He's the boss,” the old woman said.

“But if you do what he says, you'll be in trouble, too,” Mandie told her.

“That's right. They call that a conspiracy, I think. They can arrest you for being an accessory to the fact,” Joe told her.

The woman just looked at him, not understanding what he was talking about.

“Who are you, anyway?” Mandie asked. “And where are you going with those bags?”

“I ain't tellin' you no more. Them bags ain't none of your business,” the woman replied. “Now shet up about it.” She slapped Mandie on the cheek, leaving a red handprint.

Tears filled Mandie's eyes at the pain, but she tried to keep calm.

“Stop that.” Joe scolded the woman. “Don't do that anymore, or I'll see that you pay for it.”

“You ain't the boss,” the woman said. “He is.” She nodded at the man emerging from the tunnel, carrying the two heavy bags. He threw the bags into the boat.

“That woman slapped Mandie for no reason at all, and I don't like it,” Joe protested.

The man glanced at Mandie and then at his companion. “Behave yourself, woman.” he snapped. “I'm in charge of this.”

The woman looked away.

“Now hold on to that girl,” he ordered. “I'm goin' to untie them so we can git them into the boat.” He turned to untie the knots.

As the rope came loose, the woman grabbed Mandie's hand.

The man shoved Joe, still partly tied up, toward the boat. “Git in!” he shouted.

“Where are we going?” Joe demanded.

“I said git in that boat,” the man repeated, giving the boy a shove. Joe stumbled and almost fell head over heels into the boat.

Mandie's heart raced as she realized they were being taken away somewhere down the river. She had to leave some kind of a clue. Quickly putting Snowball on her shoulder, she reached surreptitiously into her apron pocket, pulled out the light blue sash she had found, and dropped it behind her as the woman shoved her forward.

The man rowed the boat out into deeper water. “You can untie the rest of the ropes now. I don't think they'll try to jump overboard and swim from here.”

“I can't swim anyway,” Mandie informed him.

“That's good. If your friend can swim, he wouldn't try to git away without you, I'm sure.” He laughed.

The man rowed farther and farther down Rose Creek toward the wide open Little Tennessee River. The sky was still cloudy and a light fog started forming over the water.

Mandie looked at her captors, feeling a mixture of fear and anger. “I'm sure you have stolen something out of our mine, haven't you?”

“Ain't nothin' in these here bags out of your mine,” the man argued.

“But you're stealing something,” Mandie said angrily. “You're still breaking one of the Ten Commandments—‘Thou shalt not steal'—and that is a terrible thing to do.”

“Listen, miss, mind your own business,” the man replied.

Then the woman spoke up. “We ain't the only ones that's been stealin,' ” she said.

“I knew you had stolen something,” Mandie declared.

“Woman, shet your mouth!” the man yelled.

“You've made one good step. You've admitted your sin, that you have stolen something,” Mandie said shakily. “But you must ask forgiveness from God and try to make amends for what you've done.”

The woman stared at her in silence, but the man just ignored Mandie.