The Mandie Collection (60 page)

Later, in the sitting room, the three young people discussed the situation while the adults had coffee in the dining room.

“We'll just have to bring the letters with us,” Mandie said. “Maybe if we read them all over again, we can find some more clues.”

“I'd like to hunt for the diamonds the man mentions in the letters.” Joe's eyes twinkled. “Now that we think we've found the cabin in the woods, maybe we could track down those diamonds.”

“Good idea!” Celia agreed.

“We'll concentrate on that next,” Mandie decided.

Someone else was also concentrating on that.

CHAPTER NINE

TREASURES FROM LONG AGO

Friday afternoon Mandie, Celia, and Joe set off for the tumbled-down cabin in the woods. They had all reread the letters and had decided the best thing to do next was to go over the area inch by inch. If the cabin had burned down, there was the possibility that the contents of the house had been scattered nearby.

“Let's split up,” Joe said. “Mandie, you begin in that corner over there by the creek and, Celia, you start at that corner over there. I'll work back and forth between these other two corners.”

“Don't forget to watch for any stakes, or unusual rocks,” Mandie reminded her friends.

“Or there could be some old paths beneath all these weeds,” Celia said.

“I can move the logs for you when you get to them,” Joe told the girls.

They worked in silence for a long time without finding anything unusual.

Then suddenly, Celia squealed in excitement as she bent over, examining something at her feet. “Hey! Come here!” she cried. “I've found something!”

Mandie and Joe raced to her side. Celia was trying to open a wooden box that had the lid smashed shut.

“Let me find something to hit that with,” Joe said. He looked around and picked up a heavy board. “Get back. Let me take a whack at it.”

He beat and banged, turning the box at different angles. Finally the lid flew open, and the young people gathered closer to look inside.

“Looks like some old clothes,” Joe said, pulling a long piece of black cloth from the box.

“A scarf,” Celia corrected him.

“There's something else,” Mandie said. She reached inside and pulled out a shiny object. “It's a picture!” she said, holding up a small oval frame, covered with grime.

Using the end of the black scarf, Mandie vigorously wiped the frame clean enough to reveal the picture of a beautiful girl with dark curls and laughing eyes.

“Look!” Mandie handed the picture to Celia.

Celia took it and sighed. “Oh, how sad!” she said. “This must be the girl who received the letters!”

“Probably, but we don't know for sure,” Joe persisted.

Mandie kept rummaging in the box. “Here's a handkerchief,” she said, holding up a small, dirty piece of white linen and lace. “I suppose these things were her sweetheart's keepsakes.”

“That's all that's in there,” Joe said. “I wonder why the box wasn't scorched.”

“It might not have been inside the cabin,” Mandie suggested. “Anyway, we'd better hurry and finish.”

Although they inspected the entire open area around where the cabin once stood, they found nothing else.

“Looks like the only thing to do is dig,” Joe commented. He sat down on a fallen log.

“Dig? You mean dig up this whole place? Why that would take forever,” Mandie told him.

“That's the only way to find anything else. The cabin has been burned down so long the weeds have probably covered what was left,” the boy replied.

“We don't have any tools any more, remember?” Celia reminded her friends. “Whoever took them never did bring them back.”

“We can borrow Grandmother's,” Mandie said. “And speaking of Grandmother, I imagine it's about time to get back to school. We have to go to her house tonight for the weekend, you know. Celia, will you bring that picture, and the handkerchief, and scarf with you?”

Celia picked up the objects and followed Mandie along the path. Joe brought up the rear.

Ben had Mrs. Taft's rig waiting when they arrived back at the school. Leaving Joe downstairs, the girls ran to their room and grabbed their already-packed bags.

“Let's get the letters,” Mandie said. “We can put these things we've found into the pillowcase with the letters and take it all to Grandmother's house. That way we'll know where things are.”

“Good idea,” Celia said.

The girls pulled the bureau away from the wall enough to reach behind and get the pillowcase containing the letters. Celia dropped the picture, handkerchief, and scarf into the pillowcase with the letters. Then Mandie stuffed the whole thing under her books in the school bag she was taking to her grandmother's house.

“Now we know everything is safe,” Mandie said. At the last moment she grabbed a red dress from the chifferobe and tossed the dress into her bag.

“For Hilda,” she explained, as Celia looked at her questioningly.

Hurrying back downstairs with their bags, the girls found Miss Hope in her office and told her good-bye. Then they joined Joe in the rig for the ride to Mrs. Taft's house.

On Saturday, Dr. Woodard took the three young people to see the mentally retarded girl they had found hiding in the school's attic.

As they rode down the cobblestone streets on their way to the private sanitarium, Mandie questioned him. “You say Hilda has never said a word to anyone, Dr. Woodard?”

“Not one word,” the doctor replied. “We still don't know whether she is even capable of speaking, but otherwise her health has improved considerably.”

When they arrived at the sanitarium, Hilda was brought to the parlor to visit with her friends. Mandie and Celia hardly recognized her. She had gained weight and was neatly dressed. Her shiny, long brown hair was tied back with a ribbon.

Hilda stared at Mandie and the others. Then a faint smile brightened her face.

Mandie reached into her bag, pulled out the red dress that she had brought her, and cautiously approached the girl. Hilda stood still. When Mandie held out the dress to her, she smiled broadly and took it. Holding it up against herself, she turned this way and that, admiring the dress.

“Remember us?” Mandie asked her. “I'm Mandie, this is Celia, and that's Joe. And you know Dr. Woodard, I'm sure.”

Hilda looked at the dress and then at Mandie. With a sudden rush, she put her arms around Mandie and hugged her tightly.

“Thank you!” Hilda whispered, barely audibly.

Mandie whirled to look at the others.

She spoke! “Thank the Lord! She spoke! She said ‘thank you.' She can talk!” Mandie cried excitedly. She turned back to embrace the girl. “Oh, Hilda, you can talk! Praise the Lord!”

Hilda nodded her head as tears ran down her cheeks.

Dr. Woodard walked over to Hilda, took her arm, and guided her to the chair nearby.

“Here, sit down, Hilda,” he said gently. “You don't have to cry about it. We're all happy. And when you're happy, you should smile and laugh, not cry.”

Hilda wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and smiled.

Mandie leaned down in front of the girl and held her hands. “Hilda, what else can we bring you?” she asked.

Celia and Joe stood beside Mandie.

“Hilda, we'll bring you anything else you'd like,” Celia offered.

“Would you like another ribbon for your hair?” Joe asked.

The young people continued to talk to Hilda, but she would not say another word. She just sat there smiling at them and hugging the dress Mandie had given her.

“We don't want to tire her out,” Dr. Woodard said. “I think we'd better go now. I'll bring you back next time I come to Asheville.”

The young people said good-bye to Hilda but she just sat there smiling. As they drove off in the rig Mandie smiled and looked up into the blue cloudless sky. “Thank you, dear God, thank you. Hilda can speak,” she said quietly.

“That is indeed something to thank God for,” Dr. Woodard said. “Now that we know she's capable of speaking, we'll try to help her start talking.”

Mandie looked up into the doctor's kind face. “I don't know if it was a miracle that she spoke those two words or if she really knows how to talk, but I've been praying for her, Dr. Woodard. I think more prayers can still accomplish a lot more,” she said.

“Prayers can work wonders,” the doctor replied.

At the supper table that night, Mandie asked her grandmother about borrowing some tools.

“A hoe? A rake and a shovel? What on earth do you and Celia want with such things?” her grandmother asked.

“We'd like to do a little digging,” Mandie said with a secretive smile.

“Digging? Well, I suppose you will need tools to do any digging,” Mrs. Taft answered. “But, mind you, don't do anything that will cause trouble at school and bring your mother down on our heads. I can handle Miss Prudence, but your mother is a different story.”

Mandie laughed. “We won't, Grandmother. We promise.”

“When we get finished here, Amanda, go find Ben and tell him I said to put a hoe, a rake and a shovel in the rig when he takes y'all back to school tomorrow,” Mrs. Taft told the girl.

“Thank you, Grandmother,” Mandie said.

Joe and Celia smiled as they caught Mandie's glance. When they returned to school, they would have the necessary tools to continue their search in the woods for the diamonds.

As they drove up in the rig the next night, Uncle Cal was just coming down the front steps of the schoolhouse.

Mandie jumped down and called to him. “Uncle Cal! Would you please do something for us?”

The old man came over to the rig.

“Why, yes, Missy,” he said.

Mandie pointed to the tools on the floorboard of the rig. “Would you please take these tools over to your house before anyone sees them? We borrowed them from my Grandmother, and we'll be over tomorrow afternoon to get them,” Mandie explained. “Lawsy mercy, Missy. Why y'all bring dese when we got sech things right heah?” he asked, picking up the tools.

“But, Uncle Cal, the school's tools disappeared after we used them,” Mandie told him.

“Didn't y'all know dey back in de shed? 'Cause dat where dey be,” he said, looking from one to another of the young people. “No,” the three said in unison.

“When did you see them there, Uncle Cal?” Joe asked.

“Why I notices 'em yistiddy, I reckons,” the old man said. “After I sees Missy April leave de shed, I goes inside and sees de tools be back.” He looked around to see if anyone was watching. “Now lemme go fo' somebody done sees us. I leaves dese unduh de front porch fo' you.” He walked away quickly, carrying the tools.

“Well, at least we'll have plenty to dig with.” Joe squeezed Mandie's hand. “See you tomorrow afternoon,” he said. “Good night.” Jumping back into the rig, he rode off with Ben.

Mandie and Celia hurried into the schoolhouse.

“So someone brought the tools back, and April Snow was down at the shed. That really puzzles me,” Mandie said as the two girls entered their room.

Celia began unpacking her school bag. “At least we won't get in trouble for losing the school's tools,” she said, not realizing how much trouble still lay ahead.

CHAPTER TEN

HIDDEN DIAMONDS

“We'll only need the tools we brought from Grandmother's house,” Mandie told Joe and Celia the next afternoon. “There are only three of us, so we can use only three tools at a time.”

“You're right,” Joe agreed. Stooping to locate the tools under Uncle Cal's front porch, he reached under and pulled them out.

Celia picked up the rake. “May I use this?” she asked. “I rake better than I hoe.”

“Sure,” Mandie replied. “I'll take the hoe and leave you the shovel, Joe.”

“Let's get out of sight with these tools before someone stops us,” Joe urged, leading the way down the hillside toward the woods.

Arriving at the clearing where the cabin had stood, the three young people began their search. With great enthusiasm, they hoed, raked and shoveled, but they found nothing more than some old rusty nails.

Disgusted, Joe sat down on the cracked hearth to rest. “That was a lot of work for nothing,” Joe said, glancing over the clean ground. Taking off his shoes, he shook out the dirt that had filtered inside.

Celia began swinging her bonnet for a fan. “I don't know when I've worked so hard,” she admitted. “I guess I'm not very good with a rake either.” She laughed.

Mandie wiped the perspiration from her brow and took off her bonnet. “I can't believe we haven't found anything,” she said. “This has to be the place.” With a sigh, she plopped herself down next to Joe on the cracked hearth.

Celia joined her. “Where would you hide diamonds if you had some?” she asked her two friends.

Joe thought for a moment. “I'd probably pull up a floor board and put them under there,” he answered. “But you see, we've dug all around where the floor of the cabin must have been.”

“I'd probably stick them up the chimney,” Mandie said.

“The chimney? Wouldn't they ruin from the heat?” Celia asked.

“I don't think so, but I don't really know,” Joe replied.

“Then what about the hearth? Under the hearth?” Mandie asked. Suddenly she stood up. “The hearth! We haven't looked under the hearth!” she exclaimed.

Joe frowned at her. “How would you hide something under a hearth?” he asked.

He and Celia stood up to examine what they had been sitting on.

“It
is
cracked,” Celia observed.

“Maybe it was cracked on purpose so part of it could be pulled up,” Mandie cried. “Let's dig it up.”

Picking up her hoe, Mandie started banging at the hearth.