The Mandie Collection (53 page)

Mandie perched Snowball on her shoulder and held up the copy of the map. “You see, according to this, we have to count 936 feet to a rock pile. It looks like it goes back that way at an angle.” She pointed.

Dr. Plumbley looked at the map and then at the direction Mandie was pointing. “That could be an awfully wide area,” he said.

“We went that way and found an old house built on top of a rock pile,” Joe said.

“And a terrible man camping out in it with a rifle,” Sallie added.

“A man with a rifle?” the doctor asked, alarmed.

“We can stay far enough away from it so the man won't see us,” Joe said.

“Well, let's hope he doesn't see us,” Dr. Plumbley said. “Are you using that rope to measure off the distances?”

“Yes,” Mandie replied.

“Then let's get started,” Dr. Plumbley urged. “Here, let me take one end.”

Soon they came within sight of the old house. Pointing through a small opening in the trees, Joe said, “That's the house over there on the rock pile.”

Dr. Plumbley looked where Joe was pointing. “I don't remember that place being there. It might have been, but I don't remember it.”

“Then maybe it is sitting on the rock pile that Ruby put on the map,” Mandie said.

“It could be,” the doctor agreed.

“If you think it is, then we should measure 572 feet and find a persimmon tree,” Mandie reasoned.

“Only we looked for a persimmon tree and could not find a single one,” Sallie said.

“Trees do die sometimes, and people do cut them down, you know,” Dr. Plumbley reminded them.

“Well, anyway, let's measure it again and see if we can find one,” Joe suggested.

At the end of the 572 feet the young people looked around.

“This isn't the same place we came to when we measured the distance this afternoon!” Mandie exclaimed.

“No, it is not,” Sallie said.

Joe shook his head. “I still don't see any persimmon trees.”

“Nor do I,” Dr. Plumbley said.

“Do you recognize anything around here?” Mandie asked him. Taking Snowball in her arms again, she stroked his soft white fur absentmindedly.

“Nothing looks familiar,” the doctor answered.

“We must keep searching,” Sallie said, looking around.

“Yes, we may be off the line of the map a little, but we can look close by for a persimmon tree,” Joe agreed.

“We should mark the spot we measured to, so we will not lose it,” Sallie said. She picked up a fallen limb. “I will put this right here.”

After circling the area and still not finding one, they returned to the spot Sallie had marked.

“There could have been a persimmon tree around here back then,” Dr. Plumbley told the disappointed young people. “I remember there were many of them between our house and Ruby's. But I haven't seen a single one today.”

“Why don't we pretend this spot is a persimmon tree and measure 333 feet to find the rhododendron bush on the map?” Mandie asked.

“It may not come out right, but we can try it,” Sallie agreed.

“Well, whatever we're going to do, let's hurry. I'm getting hungry,” Joe said. “Which way do we measure?”

“That way,” Mandie pointed at an angle to their left.

They came out into the same mass of rhododendron bushes they had found that afternoon.

“We've been here before,” Joe said.

“I remember,” Mandie agreed. “The map we just found in Ruby's Bible says the rhododendron bush is the one growing near the big rock.”

“I don't see any rock. All I see is rhododendron bushes,” Joe said.

Dr. Plumbley looked around. “Well, suppose we look in between all these bushes and see if we can find a rock. How about that?”

“Good idea,” Mandie said.

“That's gonna take forever,” Joe moaned.

“Not quite that long, Joe,” Sallie teased.

They thoroughly searched beneath and around all the bushes but found nothing. Snowball struggled to get down, but Mandie held him tightly.

As they came out on the far side of the bushes, Dr. Plumbley straightened up and looked around. “Wait a minute,” he said, hurrying ahead. “I believe I recognize something!”

The young people quickly followed, and they soon came out of the bushes into a clearing. There, just ahead of them, was a huge boulder.

“The rock!” Mandie cried.

They all ran to look.

“I remember this rock very well now,” the doctor said. “Ruby used to bring food for my grandparents, and she would meet me at this rock. How could I have forgotten?”

“Why did she bring it here?” Mandie asked. “Why didn't she take it to your house?”

“The Shaws' cook always came with her, but they were not allowed to go to our house because my grandma had tuberculosis, and they were afraid of catching it,” he explained. “We had a schedule worked out between us. I would meet Ruby and the cook here at certain times.”

“Did her parents know about this?” Joe asked.

“Oh, yes. They knew. They were very kind to us and were always doing things for us. They were good people,” the doctor said.

“If this is the special rock on the map, all we have to do is find the rhododendron bush that is the nearest to it,” Mandie said.

They looked around and moaned. There were dozens of rhododendron bushes around the rock, any one of which could have been considered the nearest to the rock.

Joe sighed. “What are we going to do now?”

“That's a good question,” Dr. Plumbley said, scratching his head.

CHAPTER TEN

THE MAP'S TREASURE

“We could dig all these bushes up and look under them,” Joe suggested as they surveyed the mass of rhododendron bushes.

“My goodness, Joe, there're too many. We'd never get done,” Mandie said, slowing petting her white kitten.

“We could narrow it down some,” Dr. Plumbley remarked. “The small bushes must have grown up since Ruby buried her treasure.”

“Would a rhododendron bush grow for fifty years?” Sallie asked. “If it was not cared for like these out here, would it not eventually die?”

Mandie and Joe shrugged.

“Sorry, I have no idea how long a rhododendron bush can live unattended,” Dr. Plumbley said.

“If one did grow that long, wouldn't it be a good-sized tree by now?” Mandie asked.

“I never heard of rhododendron trees,” Joe said.

Mandie looked at the map they found in Ruby's Bible. She pointed to the writing on it. “I think there is a mistake somewhere,” she said. “The other map definitely said dig three feet under a rhododendron bush, and this map says dig one foot.”

The others gathered around to look.

“In that case it won't take long to dig up the dirt around a few of these bushes and see if we hit something,” Joe said. “One foot is not all that deep.”

“But the soil washes,” Sallie reminded them. “It has either washed more dirt over the place or washed dirt away from it. The land is sloped here, so I would say it washed the dirt away from it.”

“You have great powers of deduction, Sallie,” Dr. Plumbley said.

“She sure does,” Joe agreed.

“I learn things from my grandfather,” Sallie said.

“And her grandfather is the smartest man I ever knew,” Mandie added.

“Since we only have one hoe, I'll start digging first,” Joe volunteered. Taking the tool from Dr. Plumbley, he began walking around. “Let me find a place to begin.”

Snowball again tried to wriggle free, and Mandie finally set him down.

“How about digging right here?” She indicated a place near the rock.

“All right. Here goes,” Joe said, stomping the hoe into the ground.

The others stood around and watched as Joe loosened the soil among the bushes.

“Maybe we should go behind you and replant the bushes,” Dr. Plumbley suggested.

“Yes, we should,” Mandie agreed. “It would be a shame to dig up all these things and leave them to die.”

“That's fine,” Joe said, “but for goodness sakes, keep that cat away from me or he could get hurt.”

Mandie bent down to call to her kitten. “Here, Snowball. Come here.”

The white kitten stood there, looking at her. Then he took a flying leap into the rhododendron bushes and disappeared. Mandie and Sallie chased after him.

“Here, kitty, kitty!” Sallie called.

“Snowball! Come here!” Mandie searched underneath the bushes.

“Here he is,” Joe yelled at them. Reaching down, he grabbed Snowball from under the bush he was digging up.

Mandie took her kitten and sat down on the grass nearby to hold him out of the way. Sallie joined her, and Dr. Plumbley stood, watching Joe dig.

Since Joe wasn't having any success, Dr. Plumbley finally spoke up. “How about letting me have that hoe a while, so you can rest?” he offered.

“Thanks,” Joe said, handing him the tool. “All this may be for nothing. I'll start replanting the bushes.”

Mandie turned to Sallie. “Would you hold Snowball for me so I can help Joe?” she asked.

“You just hold Snowball, and I will help Joe,” Sallie said, getting up.

“I want to help, too, so you do a little and then hold Snowball while I do some,” Mandie told her friend.

“All right,” Sallie agreed.

Together she and Joe put the bushes back into the holes they had come out of and pushed the dirt up around them. Since Dr. Plumbley was using the hoe, they had to do the grimy work by hand.

Dr. Plumbley kept right on digging up bushes while they followed behind and replanted them. The doctor was bigger and stronger than Joe, so he was able to go faster.

“Let me help now, Sallie,” Mandie said, getting up.

“I'm sorry my hands are so dirty for holding Snowball,” Sallie said, brushing the dirt off her red skirt. She took the white kitten and sat down.

“That's all right. He'll wash himself if you hold him loose enough,” Mandie said.

Sallie allowed the kitten to move about in her lap and wash his fur.

Suddenly Mandie stopped working and looked up. “Joe! I just thought of something! Whose land are we digging up? They might not like what we're doing,” she exclaimed.

Joe continued with his work. “I don't know whose land this is,” he answered.

Dr. Plumbley stopped digging and looked at her. “When I lived here, all this land belonged to your grandpa, Missy,” he said.

“This far from the house?” Mandie asked.

“This is not really that far from your house. Your grandpa owned hundreds and hundreds of acres of land around here,” the doctor said. “And he farmed most of it. There was some pastureland, but he had tenant farmers tending the land.”

“Surely Ruby would bury her treasure only on their own property,” Sallie reasoned.

“But I wonder if it still belongs to our family,” Mandie said.

“If it does, why doesn't Mr. Shaw farm it?” Joe asked.

“Franklin has become quite a little city since I left here forty-eight years ago,” Dr. Plumbley observed. “There's not as much farming being done. There are a lot of businesses here now.”

“Your uncle is so rich that he probably does not need to grow crops,” Sallie said to Mandie.

“He could grow crops and give them away if he doesn't need anything,” Mandie said with a sigh. “I suppose there are a lot of decisions to make and problems to solve when you get rich.”

Dr. Plumbley continued to dig. “I wouldn't know about that,” he said, laughing. “I've never been rich. I have enough income from my practice now to live on, but I'll never be rich.”

“Yes, Mandie,” Joe teased, “you're the only rich one here.”

“I'm not rich, Joe Woodard,” Mandie objected. “My uncle might be, but I'm not. I don't want to be rich,” she said emphatically.

“I would like to be rich so I could help other people,” Sallie said.

“I would like to be rich so I wouldn't have to work anymore,” Joe said.

“You don't work, Joe. You go to school,” Mandie argued.

“When I grow up I'll have to work,” Joe told her. He stood a bush in its original hole and helped her push the dirt around it.

As Mandie knelt there helping Joe, she felt someone behind her. She quickly turned around to look, but there was no one in sight.

Sallie saw her reaction, and she, too, looked around.

She didn't see anyone, either.

They looked at each other in silent understanding. Then there was the noise of a twig snapping in the nearby bushes. Joe and Dr. Plumbley heard it, too.

“Must be an animal or something,” Mandie said, breaking the silence.

“I do not think so,” Sallie said, still watching the bushes behind them. She stood up and Snowball escaped from her arms, bounding off into the bushes.

Mandie turned to chase him. “Snowball, come back here!” she called as she and Sallie followed the kitten into the bushes.

Joe and Dr. Plumbley went on with their work. Mandie bent down to look beneath the bushes. Suddenly she came upon a pair of worn boots in front of her. She raised up and came face to face with the man who was camping out at the old farmhouse. He looked wild, and his rifle was pointed straight at her.

“I done told y'all to stay away from here. I'm staking a claim,” he told her in a slurred voice.

“We didn't go near your house on the rock pile,” Mandie told him. Slowly backing up toward the area where Joe and Dr. Plumbley were working, she bumped into Sallie, who had been close behind her.

They grabbed each other's hands and tried to move backward, but the bushes were too thick. They got tangled in weeds and briars.

“I done told y'all to stay away from here,” the man repeated. “I'm staking a claim.”

Sallie whispered in Mandie's ear. “He has been drinking spirits.”