The Mandie Collection (17 page)

“Want me to light the lantern, Snuff?” the woman asked.

“Course not, woman. You want them to see us?” the old man growled. He pushed the three forward. “There's a pile of hay over thar. You kin sleep thar till it gits daylight!”

“Could we have a drink of water?” Joe asked. “We haven't had any food or water since noon yesterday.”

“Water? Well, reckon you kin. Rennie Lou, git the water bucket over thar,” Snuff said.

The woman picked up something in the darkness and came toward them, Joe felt a metal bucket in her hands as she pushed it in his face. “Hyar you air. Sorry we ain't got no dipper,” she said. “But I tell you whut. There's apples in that haystack if you kin manage to eat one without usin' yer hands!” She laughed hysterically, holding the bucket to Joe's mouth.

“Rennie Lou, leave 'em be,” Snuff warned her. Turning back to the three captives, he said, “Now we'll be back as soon as the sun cracks that darkness. Meantime you'd better rest good 'cause you're gonna find that cave for us, or else.”

The man and the woman left the barn then, slamming the door behind them. The three prisoners gave a sigh of relief. Snowball moved around Mandie's feet.

“Now, we've got to think fast,” Joe whispered to the others. “How can we get loose? We've got to get loose before they come back, so we can get away.”

“Yes, they are definitely drunk,” Mandie agreed. “I'm afraid of people who drink liquor.”

“You never know what they will do when they have been drinking spirits,” Sallie said. “But what can we do?”

“Oh, I don't know offhand but I suggest we start thinking,” Joe replied. “I have no idea how you go about sitting down when you are all tied together like we are, but why don't we just take a plop all together?”

“All right, on count of three we'll all sit at once,” Mandie agreed.

“One, two, three!” Together they landed in a pile of hay in the dark. Snowball prowled around them and started playing with the end of the rope hanging from Mandie's hands.

“We'll never be able to get up again,” Sallie told them.

“We've got an awful lot of thinking to do first,” Joe said.

“Yes, we've got to get back to Uncle Ned's, so we can go back to the cave and get the gold,” Mandie reminded them.

“I do not want any of that gold, but I will go with you,” Sallie told her.

“Yeh, we've got to get back to that gold somehow. There must be a fortune there,” Joe said.

“I wonder who put it there,” Mandie mused as she twisted her hands in the rope. “Do you suppose these people here did?” Snowball's paw caught at the rope behind her.

“No, because they don't even know about the cave,” Joe said.

“Maybe some bank robbers left it there,” Mandie suggested.

“I doubt it because it is too hard to get to the cave from any road or trail,” the Indian girl replied. “Besides, they would probably guard it. And Tsa'ni seems to know his way around in there.”

“You don't mean
he
could have put it there?” asked Mandie.

“No, he would never have gold like that,” Sallie answered. “I mean someone would have seen him around if they were guarding the gold.”

“You're right. But how did it get there? And who put it there?” Joe asked.

“We could ask Uncle Ned about it,” Mandie said.

“First, we have to get away from these people, so we'd better concentrate on that,” Joe reminded the two girls.

It was going to take an awful lot of thinking to get them out of their predicament.

CHAPTER FOUR

DIMAR

Elizabeth Shaw could sit still no longer waiting for her daughter to come back or to be found. It was a long time after midnight and no word had come from anyone. She decided it was time she helped in the search.

“Morning Star,” she began, trying to talk to the old squaw. “You and me—” she pointed to the squaw and to herself—“let's go to Bird-town and get Mandie's kinpeople to help find them.”

Morning Star understood part of it. “Bird-town,” she said.

Elizabeth smiled and made motions like she was riding a horse and then pointed to the old woman and to herself again. “Bird-town,” she said again.

The Indian woman grinned as she understood what Elizabeth meant. She got up and motioned to Elizabeth to follow her. She went outside to the barn. There was a small cart inside and Morning Star hastily opened a door to a stall and led out a pony. Elizabeth helped her harness it to the cart and they started out for Bird-town.

Meanwhile the three prisoners in the barn were still talking and trying to figure out a way to escape from the old man and woman.

“If we could only see in this darkness, we might find something we could cut the rope with,” Mandie said.

“How is either one of us going to cut the rope when all our hands are tied?” Joe wanted to know.

“If one of us had something we could hold in our hands, we could back up to each other and cut each other's ropes apart,” Sallie said.

“That's right,” Mandie replied and then jumped as Snowball clawed her hand as he played with the rope. “Oh, Snowball, you stuck me with your claws!” Then she caught her breath. “Snowball! Snowball! He can do it!”

“Do what, Mandie?” Joe asked.

“Untie the rope. If I shake it for him to play with, he can claw at it.until it comes undone!”

“Oh, Mandie, how could a cat untie a rope?” Joe asked.

“Well, it does feel looser and besides, I am the last one on the rope.” She shook her hands behind her, and Snowball jumped and began playing and clawing at the rope.

“Mandie, it'll never work,” Joe told her.

“Snowball is smarter than you give him credit for. Don't forget, I am the one who educated him,” laughed Mandie, still shaking her hands as the kitten played. “It's looser! It's looser!”

“Please keep trying,” Sallie told her as she shifted from her cramped position to lean back against a post. Then she jumped forward again. A nail had scratched her back. “Mandie, there's a nail behind me. If Snowball has the rope loose enough, you might be able to hang it on the nail and pull it apart.”

“Where, Sallie, where?” Mandie was excited.

“Do not lose your sense of direction. It is directly behind me on the post. I am going to move so you can slide over here in my place,” the Indian girl said, moving slowly closer to Joe, who began edging farther away to give the girls room to move. Mandie kept sliding until she felt the post behind her. She leaned back trying to locate the nail.

“I've found it!” she cried. “Now if I can just catch the rope on it!” She maneuvered her hands until her fingers found the nail, and then she slid her wrists around until the nail caught the rope.

“Did you find it?” Joe wanted to know. “Or I should say, did the nail find the rope?”

“Yes, now I have the rope caught on it. If I can only catch the right loop so it will start untying.”

“Be careful. You might hurt yourself,” Sallie warned her.

Snowball had followed Mandie and was again pulling at the rope with his claws. One foot caught and he pulled with all his might trying to get his paw free. Mandie felt the rope give way. She rubbed her wrists together and slipped one hand out of the noose.

“It worked! I have my left hand free!” she cried. “There! I have it all off! Now, let me get you two untied.”

She slipped behind Sallie and freed her hands and then removed the rope from Joe's hands. The three sat there rubbing their bruised wrists in the dark.

“That man must not have tied the knots very tight,” Joe said.

“Probably because he was too drunk to realize what he was doing,” the Indian girl said.

“Well, let's get going!” Mandie stood up, picking up Snowball.

“I will leave a signal for our people if they come here looking for us,” Sallie said, as she removed the beads from around her neck and hung them on the nail. “My grandfather will see these and will know we were here.”

“I hope we find them before they get this far,” Joe said.

“We'd certainly better be careful going by the log cabin,” Mandie reminded them as they stepped out of the barn. The first signs of dawn were in the sky.

“We will circle the clearing and stay away from the house,” the Indian girl told them. She led the way, keeping the house at a distance as they tried to find their way back into the woods and downhill.

While the three were trying to find their way, Uncle Ned's search party had fanned out across the mountain. He and Uncle John stayed together while the other men scattered out. Sometime later the old Indian found the bright blue ribbon from Mandie's hair hanging on the bush by the creek where she had lost it in the scuffle with the old man and woman.

“Papoose ribbon!” he cried excitedly as he pulled the ribbon from the bush. “They been here!” He looked around on the ground. “Feet make marks!” He pointed to the footprints in the soft sand by the water.

Uncle John anxiously bent to look.

“Looks like quite a few different feet,” he remarked.

“Yes,” the old Indian said, as he straightened up to follow the direction of the footprints. “Go this way.” He walked on up the hill, bending low to see the prints as he continued. The old cabin came into view.

“At least we know they got out of the cave,” Uncle John said.

“I hear people coming,” Uncle Ned said, listening as he turned his ear toward the sound. “Walk like white people.”

Snuff and Rennie Lou appeared in the distance, their heavy shoes noisily clopping on the rocks here and there. Uncle Ned stepped behind a tree and motioned for Uncle John to do the same.

As the couple drew nearer, the old Indian stepped out directly in front of them. They stopped in their tracks.

“Where Papoose—wear this ribbon?” Uncle Ned held up Mandie's ribbon for them to see.

“What papoose?” Snuff asked. “We ain't seen no papoose, Injun.”

“Papoose feet make prints to your house,” Uncle Ned said, pointing to the tracks in the dirt. “Where Papoose?”

Rennie Lou held tightly onto Snuff's arm. She was frightened of the old Indian. Snuff tried to bluff his way out.

“I told you we ain't seen no papoose. Now git out of our way!” Snuff gave Uncle Ned a shove.

At that instant Uncle John, his rifle in his hand, stepped out from behind another tree and Uncle Ned gave a loud whistle to round up his braves. The man and woman stood still without saying a word. Indians came from every direction out of the woods as they heard their leader's call for help. Snuff and Rennie Lou, quaking in their boots, were soon surrounded.

“Hold man, woman,” Uncle Ned ordered. “Me and John—we go look.” The circle of Indians closed in around the frightened pair.

Following the footprints, Uncle Ned and John went on past the cabin and into the barn. The old Indian looked around and grunted as he picked up Sallie's beads from the nail on the post.

“Papooses been here,” he said to Uncle John, holding up the beads.

“But evidently they are gone now,” Uncle John replied.

“Left different way. Prints going opposite way,” Uncle Ned said, motioning to the footprints left by the three as they had detoured around the house.

Suddenly the dark, cloudy sky broke loose and the rain came pouring down. The old Indian looked up in dismay.

“Rain wash feet marks away!” he exclaimed. “Must hurry!”

“And the children are out in this,” Uncle John fretted. “Unless they found the way back, which I doubt very much.”

The old man whistled for his braves once more and they came on the run, pushing the man and woman along with them in the downpour.

“Must hurry. Rain clean trail,” Uncle Ned told them. “We follow feet marks now!” He pointed to the footprints remaining in the sand.

“What we do with palefaces?” Drumgool asked, pushing the two forward.

“Let go. Must hurry,” the old Indian instructed him.

“I think we should send the authorities back up here, Uncle Ned,” John said. “These people are kidnappers.”

Uncle Ned nodded in agreement.

Snuff and Rennie Lou heard all that was said and looked at each other anxiously. They were sober this morning and the realization of their crime began to dawn on them.

“Look, we ain't meant no harm. We didn't hurt the younguns,” Snuff pleaded. “In fact, we'll hep you hunt 'em if you want.”

“No! We don't need your help,” Uncle John told them, firmly. “You have broken the law. It will all be taken care of as I said. I
am reporting this to the authorities. You're not going to get away with it.”

“Please, mister,” the woman begged. “We won't never do it again. I 'spect we jest had too much partyin' 'fore they showed up. We didn't hardly know whut we was doin'. Can't you unnerstan' that?”

John shook his head and ran to follow Uncle Ned, with the braves bringing up the rear. The rain was quickly obliterating the tracks of the three, and they were hurrying as fast as they could go. Their clothing was heavy with the dampness, and the wet rocks had become slippery, but they knew they were on the trail of the missing children.

Far ahead of them, Mandie, Joe, and Sallie pushed their way through the dripping bushes and mostly slid downhill when they came to huge boulders now and then. Snowball registered his complaint by clinging tightly to Mandie's dress.

“Sallie, do you think we are heading in the right direction?” Mandie asked.

“I am not certain but I do know we are headed toward the foot of the mountain, and once we get down there we'll be able to find the way home,” the girl replied.

“Whew! I'm still hungry!” Joe complained as he led the way. “We sure were dumb not to load up with apples from that barn.”