The Mandie Collection (24 page)

“Please, mister, don't do that,” Snuff begged.

Uncle John ignored him as he called to the girls, “Mandie, can you bring us some rope? We need to secure these two for the trip to town.”

Sallie and Mandie came out with several coils of rope. The boys helped Uncle John tie the couple up and get them into the wagon.

“Could we go along, Uncle John?” Joe asked.

“Oh, yes, please!” Dimar joined in.

Uncle John hesitated but then added, “Well, I suppose we do need you two as witnesses of the kidnapping and the arson.”

“Right!” the boys exclaimed together.

“What about us?” Mandie protested.

“This is man's work, child,” Uncle John told her. And they were off.

“Mmm, so it wasn't Tsa'ni after all,” Mandie said as they walked back to the house.

“No, I do not think he was the one, Mandie, and I am glad it was not a Cherokee,” Sallie said.

“But he was prowling around here for some reason—probably knew we had the gold.” Mandie continued. “Tsa'ni really is strange, pretending to be hurt when he isn't. I wonder if he ever went back home.”

Tsa'ni had never reached home. He was at that moment caught in an abandoned hunter's trap in the woods. This time he was really hurt.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SPREADING THE WORD

“Well, we might as well all go back to bed,” Elizabeth told the girls. “It'll take them a long time to get through in town and get back here.”

The girls reluctantly went back upstairs, but soon were fast asleep. Snowball curled up close to Mandie. It seemed no time before the rooster was crowing and they could hear Morning Star in the kitchen. The girls quickly got dressed and went downstairs. Elizabeth was setting the table.

“I hope they got to town all right.” Mandie stretched and yawned. “Those people are awfully mean and rough.”

“I'm sure they got there all right. They tied those two with enough rope to wrap around the house,” Elizabeth said.

“Eat.” Morning Star smiled, pointing to the table.

The girls laughed and at that moment Uncle Wirt came through the door. He glanced around for the men.

“Where are Ned and John?” He looked puzzled.

“Joe and Dimar captured the people who set fire to the barn last night,” Mandie said matter-of-factly, “and they've all gone to Bryson City to turn them over to the authorities.”

Uncle Wirt stood there listening in amazement while they explained what had happened the night before. He breathed a loud sigh of relief and sat down at the table.

“Not Tsa'ni!” He could hardly believe it.

“Did he ever come home, Uncle Wirt?” Mandie asked.

“No,” the old man replied. “Never come home.”

Everyone looked at one another, wondering where the boy could have gone. Mandie thought,
He must be ashamed for what he has done and is staying away long enough to get the nerve to face his family
.

Uncle John, Uncle Ned, and the boys arrived back from town before they had finished eating and sat down at the table to join them. Joe and Dimar began eating as though they were starving.

“I'm glad you are all back safely,” Elizabeth said. “Aren't you going to tell us about your trip?”

“Yes, yes, the law was mighty glad to get our hoodlums. Seems they were wanted in quite a few counties for several different offenses,” John related. “Now we can all breathe a sigh of relief.”

“We take gold to bank,” Uncle Wirt reminded them.

“As soon as we can eat and get it loaded, Uncle Wirt,” Uncle John replied.

“Hurry, take away gold,” Uncle Ned said.

“Once it's safe in the bank, we'll inform the Cherokees of its existence,” Uncle John stated.

“How do you plan to do that?” Mandie asked.

“Council pow-wow,” Uncle Ned told her. “They tell people.”

“How will all the people decide what they want to do with the gold?” she asked.

“They will take a vote. A place will be set up in the council house on the Cherokee reservation,” Uncle John explained.

Joe finally laid down his fork. “Boy! That sure was good! Now I have the strength to help load that gold.”

Uncle Ned rose and took a rifle from the wall. Uncle Wirt examined his own gun, and John picked up his from the other end of the room.

“Guns?” Elizabeth looked alarmed.

“We need all the protection we can get to get this load in to town. You never know what kind of trouble we might run into,” John assured her.

“I know how to use one of those rifles,” Joe spoke up. “Can I carry one, too?”

“I do have one more. You and Dimar can decide between you which one will carry it,” John said as he reached for the other gun standing by the bed.

Joe took it and then looked at Dimar. “Here, you carry it the first half of the way to town and I'll carry it the second half.”

“Fair enough,” the Indian boy said, taking the gun.

“Careful, now. The guns are already loaded,” John cautioned them.

The girls wanted to help, of course, but were waved aside as the men and boys loaded the gold into the wagon. It didn't take long. Morning Star brought out several quilts to cover the sacks scattered on the floor of the wagon. Joe and Dimar perched on top of them, while the three men climbed onto the driver's seat.

“Please don't be too long. We'll be worried,” Elizabeth called to them.

“We'll hurry back,” John promised, waving to her. Then he instructed everyone to keep his gun out of sight. “We don't want to appear too well-armed. It could look mighty suspicious.”

Mandie stood watching them pull into the road. Then she lifted her face to the sky. “Please, God, get them there and back safely.”

“I trust God to take care of them, too,” Sallie said, touching Mandie's shoulder. “I have asked Him into my heart.”

“Oh, how wonderful, Sallie!” Mandie hugged her. “Isn't it good to be able to pray and trust God for everything?”

“It sure is, Mandie,” she answered, smiling happily.

The men arrived at the bank in Bryson City just as Mr. Frady, the banker, was opening up for the day. He was a short, fat, nervous little man and he jerked around to look at the wagon pulling up at the door.
Three men and two bogs—that could mean trouble
, he thought, but then he spotted a familiar face under a wide-brimmed hat.

“John Shaw!” Me hurried down the steps to greet him. “It's been a long time!”

“Wilbur, it's good to see you, old man,” John returned his greeting. “We are in desperate need of your bank right now.” He lowered his voice. “We have about a bushel of gold under these quilts, and we need a safe place to keep it.”

Wilbur's gray eyes grew round behind his spectacles. “
A bushel of gold?
Are you joshin' me, John?”

“No, sir, it's real gold,” John replied, chuckling at the banker's reaction.

“If I didn't know you, John Shaw, I'd say you had just pulled off a big robbery,” Wilbur told him. “Come on in.” He opened the door and the two of them stepped inside.

“Let me open the safe before you bring it in,” the banker said, stepping to a large heavy door at the back.

“How about if we drive around to the back door? It won't be so public that way,” John suggested.

“Of course. That's the safest way,” Wilbur agreed.

They swung the wagon around to the back door and hastily unloaded the gold into the bank's safe. No one was about and Wilbur kept the front door locked until they were finished.

“Now that we have it all in here, tell me, where in the world did it come from and what are you planning to do with it?” Wilbur asked John, as the others returned to the wagon.

“It's very confidential right now, Wilbur, but we'll have it off your hands in a few days. We want to keep it quiet so there won't be a robbery.”

Wilbur wiped the sweat from his furrowed brow. “Well, I should hope not! How many people know about it?”

“Just Uncle Ned and Uncle Wirt and the rest of my family—and Dimar, the Indian boy with us,” John told him. “I have promised not to discuss our plans right now, but if you do hear anything about a mysterious pile of gold, pretend you never saw it. Is it a deal'?”

“You bet!” Wilbur agreed. “But please don't leave it here too long. I would like to sleep at night.”

“We'll see you in a few days then,” John waved as he left by the back door and joined the others in the wagon.

“Glad job done,” Uncle Ned said, with a sigh of relief, as he picked up the reins and they moved through the alley and into the main street.

“Well, it's up to you and Uncle Wirt now to get the word out,” John reminded them. “But don't tell anyone where it's being kept.”

The two Indians left John and the boys back at Uncle Ned's cabin and went directly on their mission to tell the Cherokees about the gold.

“Shucks, we didn't even get to use the rifle,” Joe complained as he handed the gun back to John inside the cabin.

John hesitated and then said, “Go ahead and try it out. You and Dimar can go back into the woods. You'll find more ammunition in the box over there. Just be careful.”

The boys were overjoyed. “Thank you, Uncle John,” Joe beamed, taking the rifle back.

“Thank you,” Dimar added as the two headed for the door.

Mandie called after them. “You be careful, Joe Woodard, and don't go shooting somebody, you hear?” Joe stopped and turned, laughing at her outburst. “Mandie, you know I have my own rifle at home. This won't be the first time I've used one.”

“Yes, but this is a strange place and that's Uncle John's rifle—I know you have never used that one before,” the girl answered seriously.

Joe's face turned red as everyone smiled.

“If I didn't like you so much, Amanda Shaw, I'd say something mean!” With that he and Dimar hurried out the door.

Little did Mandie know how close the two boys would come to shooting someone. They walked on through the woods for a while, looking for an appropriate place for target practice. The trees were dense and it was hard to see very far ahead. Then they came to a small clearing.

“How about here?” asked Joe.

“Good,” the Indian boy agreed.

Joe shot at a broken limb, and suddenly there was a loud clanging noise. The boys froze in silence, listening. Then it came again.

“What's
that?
” Joe whispered.

“Sounds like an animal caught in a trap.” Dimar returned the whisper. “Careful, it could be dangerous.” He slowly crept forward, Joe following. The clanging sound became louder, as if to beckon them on. “I think it's behind that bush over there,” Dimar said softly, pointing ahead.

They cautiously moved toward the bush. Then suddenly they caught a glimpse through the leaves of what lay on the other side of the bush and they stopped in shock. There, completely helpless in an abandoned trap, was Tsa'ni, his foot tightly secured by the metal spring. He looked at them with a guilty stare as they came into view. The clanging had stopped.

“Not
you
again!” Joe slapped his hand to his forehead in exasperation.

“It seems all we do is get this boy out of trouble!” Dimar remarked.

“Would you please get this thing off my foot?” Tsa'ni sounded demanding. “That's all I want you to do.”

The boys looked at each other and then at Tsa'ni's foot. It had been bleeding and was very swollen. Evidently the boy was in a lot of pain.

Joe stepped aside with Dimar so they could talk.

“I don't see how we can get that thing off his foot,” Joe whispered. “We don't have tools, and besides, his foot is all swollen. Let's go for help. He'll think we are just leaving him alone.”

Dimar nodded.

They walked back to Tsa'ni and shook their heads.

“I don't think we can help you. If we turn you loose, you'll just get into more trouble,” Joe said to him. “This way we know where you are.”

“You do not deserve any help,” Dimar added.

Tsa'ni looked at them in shock. “Please! Just release my foot. I'll get home somehow by myself.”

“No, we cannot help you, Tsa'ni,” Joe insisted. “We don't have any tools to release that spring.”

Joe and Dimar turned and walked away. When Tsa'ni realized they were not going to help him, he called and called after them, “Please! Please!”

Once out of sight, Joe and Dimar started running toward Uncle Ned's cabin. They were almost breathless when they finally got there. Uncle John was chopping wood by the barn and saw the boys coming. He dropped the axe and hurried to meet them.

“Uncle John, we've found Tsa'ni,” Joe told him, handing him the rifle. “He's caught in a trap in the woods.”

“We told him we would not help him,” Dimar said.

“We didn't want him to know we had gone for help. Let him worry a little after all his meanness,” Joe added.

“Let me get some tools and we'll go see what we can do,” Uncle John said, shaking his head. “He certainly gets into more trouble than anyone I've ever known.”

“We'll need a blanket or something to carry him back. His foot is in pretty bad shape, and I don't think he can walk this time,” Joe told him, as John went toward the barn for tools.

“Ask Morning Star for one while I get the tools,” John replied.

Morning Star got a blanket, some bottles and a cloth from the shelf, and rolled it all up together inside the blanket.

“I go too,” she declared. “Special medicine.”

Elizabeth understood. “She wants to go with you to doctor him with her medicine. That's what's in the bottles.”

Mandie was thinking aloud. “You see, you should never tell a lie. He said he couldn't walk before and it was a lie. Now he really can't walk. I think it happened to him because he lied.”