The Mandie Collection (38 page)

Ludie reached for Mandie's hand. “The Lord will take care of us, won't He?” she said to Mandie. “Soon as we trusted in Him, He started taking care of us.”

“That's right, Mrs. Burns.” Mandie smiled. “I'm so glad you and Mr. Burns decided to change your way of living. We'll do all we can to help you. I'll even ask Aunt Lou to make you a new dress.”

“Oh, my! This dress I have on!” the old woman exclaimed, looking down at the blue gingham she was wearing. “It ain't rightly mine.” “Where did you get it?” Mandie asked.

“We took one little piece of the gold to buy it. I ain't never had a store-bought dress in my life. And I ain't had a new dress in twenty years. But then, I guess I don't have one now, neither, 'cause this dress ain't rightly mine, is it?” the woman rambled on.

“Whose mine did you get that gold out of?” Uncle John asked.

“The Tittles' mine. You see, they moved out of their old place when they discovered that gold, and they built a big new house. We was rentin' the old one,” Jake replied.

“When we take the gold back, I do hope they don't put us in jail,” said Ludie.

“They could,” Uncle John told her. “But I'll go with y'all to take it back, and we'll see what we can work out. I know Ed Tittle.”

“But what about the dress?” Ludie asked.

“I don't imagine they'd want to take your dress, Mrs. Burns,” Mandie assured her.

“But it was bought with their gold,” Ludie said.

“I'll pay Ed Tittle for it, and you can work to pay that off, too,” John said. “Now you can stay in this house long enough for us to get that farmhouse in livable condition.”

Ludie's eyes grew wide in disbelief. “Live here?” she asked, looking around at all the Shaws' finery.

“We'll get some livestock,” Uncle John continued, “and then we'll get the mine working. And come to think of it, Ludie, I believe we could use some extra help about the house with all the company we have right now.”

“Thank you, Mr. Shaw. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you,” Ludie said. “Jest tell me what you want done. I'll be more than glad to do anything you say.”

Uncle Ned shook his head and grunted to himself. “Sad, bad mine. Jake Burns know it.”

Mandie thought she heard the old Indian speak, and she turned to look at him. “Uncle Ned, you must have known Mr. Burns back when the mine was open,” she said.

“Ummm,” Uncle Ned grunted, giving Jake a mean look. “Father of Jake Burns close mine for father of John Shaw. No good to open.”

Uncle John frowned at the old Indian. “Uncle Ned, I do wish you'd tell me what you've got against opening that mine.”

Uncle Ned shook his head again. “Jake Burns there. He know why mine closed.”

Jake shuffled his feet and wouldn't look at the Indian.

“Do you know why it was closed, Jake?” Uncle John asked. “Was it mined dry? Is that the secret?”

“Well, no. I didn't know everythin' that was goin' on,” Jake replied. “I was only a boy at that time.”

“All right, then. We'll work it and see if it yields anything,” John said. Turning to Mandie, he asked, “Would you please ask Aunt Lou to get a room ready for these people and to let me know when she's finished. Then you and Joe can go back to your friends over there. I know they're all waiting to hear more about the day's events.”

Mandie and Joe jumped up.

“Yes, sir, Uncle John,” Mandie said as she and Joe rushed out of the room.

They found Aunt Lou in the dining room overseeing Liza as the girl cleaned off the table.

“Aunt Lou, Uncle John says to ask you to get a room opened up for Mr. and Mrs. Burns. They're going to be staying here until we get the old farmhouse by the mine fixed up for them to live in,” she explained.

Aunt Lou thought for a moment. “Well now, it'll have to be de third flo,' ” she said. “Wid all dis comp'ny and everything, de second flo' is plum filled up, and de third flo' ain't too fancy.”

“That's all right, Aunt Lou. They're going to work for Uncle John. He said Ludie could help here in the house, so I suppose he'll talk to you about that later,” Mandie replied. Then catching hold of the big black woman's hand, she asked, “Aunt Lou, could you please make a new dress for Mrs. Burns? She hasn't had a new dress in twenty years.”

“Ain't had a new dress in twenty years? My chile, whut in dis world she been wearin'?”

Mandie and Joe glanced at each other, and Joe replied, “She's wearing a borrowed dress right now. They're poor people.”

“I guess I could make a plain one, but she'll hafta help,” Aunt Lou said. Then she saw Liza leaning against the wall, listening. “Liza, git a move on!” she scolded. “We's gotta go find a room for dem Burns people and air it out.”

“Thank you, Aunt Lou,” Mandie said, squeezing the woman's dark hand.

“Git out o' here, my chile. Git back to yo' comp'ny,” Aunt Lou said. “I'se got work to do.”

As Mandie and Joe returned to the parlor, they were immediately surrounded by the other young people. Hilda was still sitting quietly, listening and watching.

Once again Joe and Mandie had to relate the day's events to their friends, covering every detail, even though by now everyone knew what had happened.

“I wish I could have been with you in that boat, Mandie,” Celia said.

“Well, I wouldn't have,” Sallie said.

“They could have been drowned,” Dimar added.

“What are you going to do about Snowball?” Celia asked, Mandie's face crumpled as she replied in a low, shaky voice, “I don't know. I guess I've lost him.”

“We will find him,” Sallie told her.

“But I haven't seen him since we got out of the water when the boat wrecked. He ran off into the bushes. We looked and looked, and we couldn't find any sign of him. I thought maybe he would come home, but . . .”

“He's got to be somewhere,” Celia said.

“We will go and look for him tomorrow, Mandie,” Dimar promised.

That night as Mandie said her prayers with Celia and Sallie, she pleaded with God. “Please send Snowball home to me, and let him be all right. Please, dear God, take care of him and send him home. Please!”

“Please!” Sallie echoed.

“Yes, please!” Celia added.

And in the darkness of the bedroom Hilda repeated, “Yes, please!”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

A MYSTERIOUS FIND

Everyone pitched in the next day to help Jake and Ludie Burns get settled. The boys helped the men hammer and repair the old farmhouse and then paint the inside. The girls donned aprons, tied scarves over their hair, and had a glorious time going through all the dusty old furniture in the attic, choosing which pieces they would take to the Burnses' house.

“We can pick whatever we want to give them,” Mandie said. “But Mother says Uncle John will have to approve anything we give away. Some of the furniture up here is old and valuable.”

“This is a great idea,” Celia exclaimed as she rummaged through the drawers of an old chest. “It's like having our own house and filling it with the furniture of our choice.”

Sallie bent over an opened trunk containing books. “How much are we allowed to give them?” she asked.

“I suppose they'll need enough to fill up the house,” Mandie said as she pulled old dresses out of a chifferobe. “Y'all saw it. There's one big room and a good-sized kitchen downstairs. Then the attic will probably need at least one bed in case they have company overnight.”

“Everything seems to have something in it,” Celia observed. “Are we supposed to unload whatever we're giving them? And where do we put the stuff?” she asked, looking around the crowded attic.

“Now, that's a good question,” Mandie said, glancing about. “Why don't we just open and shut everything as we go, and see what we can find that is empty' We can't just throw everything out onto the floor. We'll have to find some empty furniture to put it in.”

Hilda silently joined the others as they moved about looking for empty drawers, trunks, or wardrobes, but she constantly held her hand over her apron pocket, protecting the object she had dug out of the mine.

All the furniture they went through was crammed full of clothes or other things, until the girls got to the far corner of the attic. Then they opened drawer after drawer and door after door and found them all empty.

“That's funny,” Mandie remarked. “Everything is full and running over except right here, and there's not even a string or a hairpin in the furniture in this corner.”

“Maybe this is the last stuff put up here and someone emptied it all out,” Celia suggested, surveying the jumble of chairs, beds, chifferobes, tables, and trunks.

“I do not think so,” Sallie said. “This corner is the farthest from the door. I think it would be the first to be filled up.”

“You're right, Sallie,” Mandie agreed, turning around. “Look at the pile between here and the door. It would have been impossible to bring this stuff over here through all that mess.”

“Then I wonder why all this furniture is empty,” Celia said.

“Maybe Uncle John knows. We can ask him. Anyway, if all this furniture is the oldest, it is probably the most valuable, so we might as well pick out something else,” Mandie said, going over to a huge wardrobe near the window.

Celia and Sallie followed her. Hilda stayed among the empty furniture, opening and closing drawers as she hummed to herself.

When Mandie opened the wardrobe, to everyone's surprise, there were dolls, dolls, and more dolls—of all sizes, and dressed in various costumes.

“Look!” Mandie cried, reaching for one of them. It was a beautiful doll with a porcelain head, arms, hands, and feet, dressed in white silk, embroidered with blue. “How beautiful!”

The other two girls each took a doll from the wardrobe. Celia got a boy clown—all red, white, and blue. Sallie caressed a beautiful blonde doll dressed in blue organdy.

Hilda, who was watching them from a distance, came running to the wardrobe and quickly seized a doll for herself. She chose a tall, dark-haired bride with a flowing veil, and hugged the doll to herself, humming.

“Where do you suppose all these dolls came from?” Celia gasped. “I never saw so many in my life.”

“And they are all so beautiful!” Sallie added.

“We'll certainly have to ask Uncle John about these,” Mandie told the girls. “Let's keep out the ones we have and take them downstairs when we go.”

“Do you think it will be all right?” Sallie asked, still admiring the doll she held.

“I don't see what harm it could do to take them downstairs,” Mandie replied. Then, although she didn't hear anything, she suddenly sensed someone behind them. She turned to see Uncle Ned standing in the doorway of the attic. “Come in, Uncle Ned, and see all these beautiful dolls we found.”

Uncle Ned rushed to the wardrobe. “Put back! Put back!” he ordered.

The girls looked at him in astonishment and just stood there with the dolls in their arms.

The old Indian reached for the doll Mandie was holding. Reluctantly, Mandie handed it to him. “But, Uncle Ned, we aren't hurting them,” she said. “Who put them in here, anyway? Where did they come from?”

Uncle Ned silently took the dolls from Celia and Sallie and quickly replaced them in the wardrobe. Hilda turned and ran down the stairs with the one she was holding.

“Get doll!” Uncle Ned shouted as Hilda disappeared down the stairway.

Mandie raised her eyebrows and hurried after Hilda, catching her in the hall. It was all she could do to pry the doll away from her. When Mandie finally got it free and started back up the stairs with it, Hilda
stomped her feet and screamed. Mandie ignored her and hurried to give Uncle Ned the doll.

“Must not open again,” Uncle Ned told the puzzled girls as he closed the doors of the wardrobe.

“But why, Uncle Ned? Who owns all these?” Mandie asked.

“It's a shame to shut all those beautiful dolls in that old wardrobe,” Celia said.

Sallie watched her grandfather silently for a while. Finally she spoke. “My grandfather, you know something about these dolls. Please tell us why they are so special.”

“My granddaughter, that is not for you to know,” the old Indian replied.

“Uncle Ned, you have become so secretive about everything lately,” Mandie said. “I share my secrets with you. Please, won't you share yours with me?”

Uncle Ned put an arm around Mandie's shoulders. “Papoose, everything not for telling,” he said. “Some things must be secret.”

“But why, Uncle Ned? Why can't you tell us about these dolls?” Mandie insisted.

“I made promise,” Uncle Ned replied.

“Promise? You promised who?” Mandie asked.

“It happen long ago, Papoose. Sad story,” the old Indian told her. Then, making sure the doors of the wardrobe were closed tightly, he spoke to all the girls. “No lock. You promise not to open?”

They nodded.

“I will ask Uncle John about the dolls, Uncle Ned,” Mandie said.

“John Shaw say it time to look for Snowball. I come get you,” the Indian said.

“Oh, let's go,” Mandie said, quickly leading the way down the stairs, removing her scarf from her hair as she went. “Wait for us, Uncle Ned. We've got to get our bonnets.”

But as the girls ran to Mandie's room and put on their shawls and bonnets, they completely forgot about Hilda.

Outside, Jason Bond had the girls' ponies waiting alongside Uncle Ned's horse.

Mandie and Joe had told Uncle Ned where they had been washed onto the bank, and Uncle Ned led the way.

“Where are Joe and Dimar?” Mandie asked as she rode alongside the old Indian.

“Still at farmhouse. Will go to mine after meal. We hurry. Must be back to eat,” Uncle Ned told her.