The Mandie Collection (29 page)

“I do not mind going first,” Tsa'ni offered.

“Neither do I,” Joe chimed in.

“No, you two stay with the girls and help them slide down when I call to you,” Dimar said, lying down on his stomach. Pushing himself off with his hands, he started sliding down backwards. It was too dark to see much, but the others heard the thud when Dimar landed on the ground.

“I am down!” Dimar yelled.

He walked all around the cabin. “I think the best place is where I came down. There is more grass and weeds here. Not so many thorny bushes.”

“All right, we'll send Sallie first,” Joe called to Dimar.

Sallie looked at the steep roof and took a deep breath. Twisting her heavy skirt around her, she lay on her stomach and gave herself a backward push as she had seen Dimar do. Before she could plop onto the ground, Dimar broke her fall.

“Mandie coming next,” Joe called to Dimar.

“What will I do with Snowball?” Mandie protested. “How will I get him down?”

“Here,” said Tsa'ni, pulling the rope off the chimney. “We will tie this around him and you hold onto the end of the rope as you slide down. He will have to come with you whether he likes it or not.”

“It won't hurt him?”

“No, it will not hurt him,” Tsa'ni replied. “Hold him still while I roll this rope around him.”

Snowball did not like the idea, but Tsa'ni rolled the rope around and around the kitten until he couldn't get loose. He gave the end of the rope to Mandie.

“Snowball, be still!” Mandie ordered. “We have to slide down to the ground.” She rubbed his head, and he purred. But he would not be still.

Lying down on the roof as she had seen Sallie do, she grasped the rope and slid down, pulling the protesting kitten with her. Sallie caught him as he came off the roof and Dimar broke the fall for Mandie.

Mandie took the howling kitten in her arms and untied the rope. “You shouldn't carry on so, Snowball. Remember, this was all your idea,” she told him as she stroked his ruffled fur. He was soon purring softly.

Tsa'ni came down next, with Joe following.

At last the young people, grimy with soot, were safely on the ground outside the cabin. They stood close together in the dark.

“Now what do we do?” Sallie asked.

“We have to find everybody, so we'll just start walking, I guess,” Mandie replied.

“But my grandfather is probably in one direction and your mother and the others in the opposite direction. Remember?” Sallie said, trying to brush more of the dirt from her dress.

“I think we should find our way back to the wrecked train,” Dimar suggested. “When your mother and Uncle John and Tsa'ni's
grandfather can get off the train, I think they would head back toward the wreck to find us.”

“Yes, you're right, Dimar,” Joe agreed, adjusting the suspenders on his trousers. “That sounds sensible.”

“I know my grandfather would come back to find us,” Tsa'ni said.

“And
my
grandfather may still be in that wrecked baggage car!” Sallie cried.

Poor Uncle Ned
, Mandie thought
, he may have been killed when the baggage car wrecked. Please, God, let him be all right
.

“Then it is agreed. We will try to find our way back to where the train wrecked,” Dimar said.

“Yes,” the others answered.

“I will walk in front,” Dimar declared, “and Tsa'ni, you and Joe walk behind the girls. That way they will be protected.” He turned to go.

“Protected?” Mandie asked shakily.

“Yes, from anyone or any
thing
we might meet on our way,” Dimar explained.

Mandie shivered as she remembered the panther she had encountered on her first visit to her Cherokee kinpeople. “Thank you, Dimar,” she replied and took Sallie's hand. Her other hand clutched Snowball to her shoulder.

So the group went down the vague trail with only a little moonlight to illumine their way. Worry showed on their faces as they hastened their steps to find the others. They didn't know what they would find, but they had to get back to the wrecked train car.

CHAPTER FOUR

RUNAWAY TRAIN

When the train stopped, the adults heard the noise of the wrecked car but didn't know what was happening. Then the train started up again and began picking up speed. Uncle John went back to look for the young people and found the baggage car missing and no sign of Mandie and her friends. The other passengers were frightened, too. They said they had seen the youngsters go on into the next car but they hadn't returned.

Terror gripped Elizabeth. She didn't know whether Mandie and Uncle Ned and the other youngsters had been in the wrecked car or not. Uncle Wirt and Uncle John tried to comfort her, but the engine was going so fast around the curves it was all they could do to stay on their seats. The train was so noisy they couldn't even talk.

Elizabeth practically screamed in her husband's ear. “John, we've got to get off this train and go back to see what happened to Amanda, and Uncle Ned, and the other children!” she cried.

John, with his arm tightly around her, nodded his head in agreement. He was too worried to talk.

Uncle Wirt sat opposite them with a furious expression on his old face. He, too, was worried.

The train came to a sudden, screeching halt and almost threw them to the floor. They looked out the windows. It was so dark outside they couldn't see a thing. Everything became still. Everyone
was waiting to see what was going to happen next. There was the sound of a horse galloping away into the distance.

The engineer opened the door at the end of the car and came inside. “I am very sorry, ladies and gentlemen,” he began, as he wiped the sweat from his round, red face. “A bandit left his horse and climbed on board when they stopped the train a ways back, and he forced me to open up, full-throttle. Then, a little while ago, he jumped off.”

“Why?” Elizabeth managed to ask, shakily.

“I don't rightly know, ma'am,” he replied. “You see, they uncoupled the baggage car when they stopped the train back yonder and it went down into the gorge—”

“—Amanda, Uncle Ned, the children!” Elizabeth cried, unable to stop shaking.

John held her tightly against him. “Is that the only car that went off the track?” he asked the man.

“Yes, sir, far as I could tell in the dark,” the engineer replied.

“Maybe the children got off when the train stopped,” John suggested. “You know how curious and adventuresome they are.”

Uncle Wirt clasped his hands together. “But we not sure, and Ned in baggage car, and baggage car in gorge for sure,” he reminded them.

“I'm afraid he was. But maybe he managed to get out,” John said, grasping for hope.

“What are we going to do?” Elizabeth asked the engineer.

“We're almost in Asheville, so we'll go into the station,” the man replied. “If you'll all be patient, I'll go back up front and get this train—what's left of it—into the depot.”

He turned and went back out the door.

“We must remember not to mention the gold to anyone,” Uncle John cautioned Elizabeth and Uncle Wirt.

“Of course, John,” Elizabeth replied, still in tears. “If this train can't go back, how are we going to get back to where the car went off the track?”

John still tried to comfort her. “We'll get some horses in Asheville and head toward Franklin. From there we'll go up the mountain. It's too steep and dangerous to ride back in from Asheville. Besides, I'm hoping the youngsters and Uncle Ned will head for our house in Franklin if they are able to.”

Uncle Wirt leaned forward. “We get help, find lost ones. Find bad men, too,” he told Elizabeth.

She managed a weak smile through her tears and put her hand over the old man's. “Thank you, Uncle Wirt,” she said.

The train slowed as it came into Asheville. John, Elizabeth, and Uncle Wirt picked up their belongings and prepared to leave the train.

There was no one around except the baggage boy and the stationmaster. When the stationmaster heard what had happened, he was very upset. “There won't be another train going back that direction until tomorrow,” he said.

John asked him about the local livery stables. “We need a light wagon or buggy to take up to Franklin,” he said.

Elizabeth interrupted, “No, John, get three horses. You know I can ride astride as well as anyone. It'll be much faster.”

“The trip will be awfully rough for you,” John warned.

“Don't worry about that,” she said. “All I want right now is speed. We must hurry.”

“All right, if you say so.” John disappeared with the baggage boy and soon returned with three horses from the livery stables.

Uncle Wirt led the way through shortcuts he knew in the woods. Some of the trails were so overgrown they didn't look like trails anymore, but the old Indian knew every step of the way.

Well into the morning they arrived in Franklin. Tired and dirty, they tethered the horses in front of the house. John helped Elizabeth dismount.

Jason Bond, the caretaker, came to the front door when they rode up. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. They were supposed to be in Asheville. “Mr. Shaw, what has happened?” he inquired, hurrying down the walkway.

While John explained, Elizabeth stood by the horses, trying to adjust her heavy skirts that had become twisted and wrinkled during the hard ride. She was a little shaky, but proud to have kept up with the men.

“We only need a bite to eat, Jason, and fresh horses and we'll be off,” John told him, as they all walked to the front porch.

“Let me get a horse and go with you, Mr. Shaw,” Jason begged. “No, Jason, we need you here in case they come home,” John told him. “Uncle Wirt and I will go.”

Elizabeth stopped and touched John's arm. “You aren't going anywhere without me,” she said.

“But there's nothing you can do. You're all worn out, darling. Let Uncle Wirt and me take care of things,” John replied.

“Absolutely not! I am going with you!” Elizabeth was adamant.

“Dr. Woodard, Joe's father, is in town,” Jason said. “He came by last night. Said he wouldn't go back home until tomorrow. He'll probably want to go with you.”

“If he's not here on a life-and-death case, I hope he
can
go with us. We might need a doctor,” John told him. “While we're eating, see if you can find him, or get word to him to come over at once.”

Aunt Lou, the housekeeper, heard the commotion and was waiting for them at the front door. Elizabeth told her the news, and the large black woman wiped tears from her round cheeks with her apron.

“Lawsy mercy, my chile, she done got lost!” Aunt Lou cried, “and all them other 'lil ones, and that pore old Mister Ned.” She put her arm around Elizabeth. “And Miz 'Lizbeth, you looks like you gonna drop any minute.”

“I'll be fine as soon as I eat,” Elizabeth told her. “I'll run upstairs and change into some riding clothes. You get Jenny to set out some food for us.”

Uncle Wirt stood silently at the door. He, like the others, was worried about what they might find when they got back to the wrecked train car.

A short time later, while they were hastily eating, Liza ushered Dr. Woodard into the dining room. “Well, John, what brings you back so soon? I thought you all were going on to Asheville,” he said.

John rose to pull out a chair at the table. “Sit down, sit down,” he invited. “Liza, bring Dr. Woodard a plate.”

As they informed Dr. Woodard of the situation, he assured them that he would go with them. His son, Joe, was among those who discovered the gold. Dr. Woodard was the only other person who knew about the transfer.

Within minutes the four adults left on horseback. They were well equipped with extra blankets, ropes, lanterns, and food, and Uncle Wirt guided them through the trails he knew.

Some time later they came upon an old cabin by a stream in the woods. Uncle Wirt slowed his horse to dismount. “I send word to Bird-town,” he said.

“That's a good idea, Uncle Wirt, and Deep Creek, too,” John suggested.

A young Indian man who evidently knew Uncle Wirt came from behind the house. They exchanged Cherokee greetings, and Uncle Wirt explained where they were going.

“You go Deep Creek and Bird-town. Need braves at train,” the old man ordered.

“I go like lightning,” the young man replied. Instantly he ran to the pony tied by the side of the house and was on his way.

“Braves find bad men,” Uncle Wirt told his three companions.

All four were silent as they traveled on. What would they find when they got to the wrecked train?

CHAPTER FIVE

TSA'NI IN TROUBLE

“Won't we ever get there?” Joe complained, as he stumbled over the exposed root of a huge tree in the darkness.

“The railroad track is not very far now.” Dimar spoke from the front of the group. “When we find it, we will walk down the tracks until we come to the place where the train wrecked.”

“Dimar, are you serious?” Mandie asked. “You know part of the track is high up in the air. We could fall off in the dark.”

“We will hold hands. Then if one slips, the others can keep him from falling,” Dimar explained as they continued through the woods.

“But if we hold hands we will have to walk sideways,” Sallie informed him.

Tsa'ni spoke up. “I still have the piece of rope,” he said. “We could hold onto the rope together.”

“Hey! Remember that time we got lost in the mountains and those bootleggers tied us up? We could tie all of us together the way they did,” Joe suggested.

“That sounds like a good way to do it,” Sallie agreed. She held her dark, full skirt above her ankles in an effort to avoid the briars in the underbrush.