The Mandie Collection (25 page)

They sat on the plank bench that ran around the interior and waited. For a while no one spoke as they kept their eyes toward the old house. Finally Liza grew impatient and said, “Missy 'Manda, don't y'all be thinkin' we jes' oughta walk on down a piece so's we kin see better?”

“I suppose we could, but we'll have to be awfully quiet and careful to stay behind bushes,” Mandie warned as they stood up.

“And please watch where y'all step,” Joe added. “The pathway is steep and uneven. I don't think I could pick up two girls at one time.” He laughed.

“I can see de path all right anyhow,” Liza said.

“I'll be careful,” Mandie said, following Joe as he led the way.

They were almost at the boundary line when Mandie held up her hand and whispered, “I think this is far enough.” She moved behind a bush.

Joe and Liza joined her, and they kept peeping around the bush to look at the old house as they stood there.

Time seemed to drag with nothing happening. Mandie became tired of standing and looked around. “Is there someplace we could sit down for a while?” she asked.

“There's a rock here on the other side of me,” Joe said, pointing to his left. “It may be wet and dirty, though.”

Suddenly Liza squealed, “Lookie, lookie! Dere's a light down dere!”

Mandie looked at the old house. Sure enough, there was a faint light showing through a crack in the shutters. She held her breath in excitement.

“Yes, there's a light, but what do we do now that we've seen it?” Joe quickly asked.

Mandie thought for a moment and then said, “I suppose there's nothing we can do unless we just walk down there and knock on the door.” She looked at Joe.

“Mandie, I don't think that would be safe. Remember your uncle cautioned us about who might possibly be in that old house?” Joe replied.

“I could go knock on dat do' and y'all could jes' watch out fo' me,” Liza offered. “And if'n it be a bad man I kin run pritty good.”

“No, Liza, I'm afraid something might happen to you down there,” Mandie told her.

“Mandie, I think the best thing we can do is go to the courthouse tomorrow and find out who the owner is,” Joe suggested. “And then we could find out somehow or other whether that's the owner inside.”

Mandie sighed and said, “Yes, I suppose we do need to know who owns the old house.”

“But tomorrow de light may git away somewhere and not come back anymore,” Liza protested.

“I'm sorry, Liza, but we just can't go down there tonight,” Mandie said. “Maybe when we tell Uncle John about seeing the light, he will want to go with us and knock on the door tomorrow.”

They returned to the house and found all the adults still in the parlor. Stopping at the door, Mandie got John Shaw's attention and motioned for him to come out into the hallway.

“What is it, my little blue eyes?” Uncle John asked as he stepped out of the room.

“The light! We saw the light just now,” Mandie quickly told him. “And we didn't know what to do about it—”

John interrupted with a laugh and said, “There's nothing you can do about it, I'm afraid, because we have no idea who is holed up in there. However, you can still watch for whoever it is to come outside. Then you could find out what kind of a person is staying there.”

“Do you mean it's all right if we run down there and speak to whoever it is if we see them come out of the house?” Mandie asked.

“Oh no, don't do that,” John Shaw replied. “You just let me know if you see anyone and I'll handle it from there.”

“And if you go down there can we go with you?” Joe asked.

“I woulda went down dere jes' now but Missy 'Manda, she wouldn't let me,” Liza mumbled.

John turned to Liza and said, “No, you are also forbidden to go down there because of possible danger.” Looking back at Mandie, he asked, “Was it just a faint light showing through the shutters, or a stronger light?”

“A very faint light, Uncle John, almost so faint we couldn't see it,” Mandie told him.

“Probably candlelight,” he decided. “I just hope whoever is in there doesn't catch the place on fire. It could cross the line onto our property.”

Mandie, Joe, and Liza all gasped at the same time.

“Then, Uncle John, I think we'd better hurry up and find out what's going on in that house,” Mandie decided.

“Yes, I agree, but it's a problem not knowing who's inside.”

“Sir, Mandie and I agreed we'd go to the courthouse tomorrow and check the records to find out who owns the house, and then maybe we could just walk up, knock on the door, and say, ‘Howdy, Mr. Jones, or whoever it is, we are your neighbors.' At least we'd have the owner's name.”

John Shaw smiled at Joe and said, “Y'all go ahead and look up the property records and then we'll talk about what to do next.”

“First thing in the morning,” Mandie promised as John Shaw went back inside the parlor.

“Did y'all be a-knowin' dere's chocolate cake left from suppuh?” Liza asked with a big grin, practically dancing around the hall in her excitement.

“Where?” Joe quickly asked.

“Come on, let's find it,” Mandie decided, leading the way toward the kitchen door.

When they entered the kitchen, there was no one there except
Snowball. He was so thrilled at seeing his mistress he began loudly meowing and rushed to rub around her ankles.

Mandie bent to pet his head. “I know all about you,” she said. “You are being good thinking I'll let you out of here, aren't you?”

Liza hurried to the pie safe, took out the huge plate with part of a chocolate cake on it, and carried it to the table.

Joe went over to check the percolator on the stove. It seemed to be full of coffee.

Mandie got down cups and saucers and cake plates, while Liza brought silverware from the cupboard.

“Looks like we have everything we need,” Mandie remarked as Liza began cutting the cake and Joe began filling the coffee cups.

Just as they got everything ready and sat down at the long table, the door opened and Aunt Lou came into the room. “I knowed y'all would come back lookin' fo' dat cake. Dat's why I left de pot full of coffee.” She smiled at them.

“Aunt Lou, come join us,” Mandie urged the old woman.

Liza jumped up, got a plate and cup for Aunt Lou, and brought them to the table. Joe poured her coffee for her.

Aunt Lou just stood there watching them. Finally she grinned and said, “Now, ain't dat all temptin', jes' so temptin' I jes' can't refuse.” She sat down at the table.

Between bites of chocolate cake and sips of hot coffee, the young people told Aunt Lou about seeing the light.

“I knows dey must be somebody in dat house,” the old woman said. “Mebbe dey po' people and hungry. I could fix a basket of food and axe Abraham to take it to dem, mebbe.”

“Oh, Aunt Lou, that's a good idea,” Mandie said, smiling at her. “Maybe I could go with Abraham.”

“No, no, my chile. Mistuh John, he give orders dat nobody to go down dere,” the old woman replied. “But now Abraham being an old man, it might be safe fo' him to jes' knock on de door, don't y'all think?” She looked around the table.

“That's right, but can't I just go with him?” Mandie insisted.

“No, no, you has to git permission from Mistuh John first,” the old woman said. Then thoughtfully she added, “Tomorrow I fix de basket, whilst we have all de bakin' done and plenty to give away.”

“I'll ask Uncle John, Aunt Lou, so will you wait to send Abraham until he tells me whether I can go or not?” Mandie said. “In fact, Uncle John is in the parlor. I'll go ask him right now.” She stood up and started toward the door.

“Hurry back,” Joe called to her.

But John Shaw was not in the parlor. When she looked inside and didn't see him, she asked her mother, who was talking to Mrs. Woodard and Mrs. Taft, “Mother, where did Uncle John go?”

“He and Doctor Woodard went upstairs to John's office to do some paper work,” Elizabeth Shaw told her.

“Oh, shucks!” Mandie replied. The office was off limits at all times, and she knew she could not go up there and talk to him now. It would have to wait until tomorrow.

Mandie went back to the kitchen and told her friends, “So I won't be able to find out until tomorrow whether I can go with Abraham or not, Aunt Lou. Please don't send him until I talk to you.”

“All right, my chile, we wait whilst you finds out,” Aunt Lou agreed.

However, the next morning Mandie found out her uncle had left before daylight to go with Dr. Woodard to visit his patients. When she came into the kitchen, Aunt Lou was already there.

“Mistuh John done left,” the old woman said, going about getting things ready for breakfast.

“Did he say when they would be back?” Mandie asked anxiously.

“My chile, he say dey got lots of people to see and don't wait on the noontime dinner fo' him,” Aunt Lou replied.

Liza entered the kitchen, looking half asleep and yawning. She glanced around the room and asked, “I ain't late, is I, Aunt Lou?”

“No, not quite,” Aunt Lou replied, turning to look at the girl.

Liza was trying to straighten out her long skirt and was pushing back her braided hair.

“Now, where 'bouts you been dis mawnin', Liza?” Aunt Lou asked.

“Dis mawnin' I ain't been nowhere, Aunt Lou, nowhere atall,” she declared.

“Well, you sho' look like you slep' in dem clothes. In fact, dem's de same clothes what you had on last night,” Aunt Lou continued
looking at her, frowning. Then she suddenly asked, “Liza, didn't you git to bed last night?”

Liza immediately dropped her eyes and said, “Well, now, Aunt Lou, I git to bed—”

Aunt Lou interrupted, “You git to bed late and slep' in dem clothes or I ain't standin' heah. Liza, whut you been up to?”

Mandie was standing by listening to the conversation. She immediately figured that Liza had been back outside during the night, watching the old house. Turning to Liza with a big grin, she whispered in the girl's ear, “Liza, did you see another light in that house last night after we left?”

Liza looked shocked at the question, backed off, and didn't answer.

“Well, git a move on, now, Liza. We'se got to git breakfast ready,” Aunt Lou said as she turned back to the pots on the stove.

Joe entered the kitchen then. Mandie quickly told him, “Come on, we're in the way of preparing breakfast here. Let's go outside.” She started for the back door.

“Without even a cup of coffee?” Joe moaned as he followed.

“Y'all come back in five minutes and I'll have de coffee made,” Aunt Lou told him.

Once they were out in the backyard, Joe asked, “Now, what is this all about?”

Mandie explained that her uncle had gone with Joe's father on his rounds and that Liza looked like she had stayed up all night and slept in her clothes.

“I'm pretty sure she went back outside to watch that house,” Mandie said as they walked about the yard. “And I don't believe she saw a light or anything or she would have been anxious to tell me.”

“She sure has developed a fascination for that old house,” Joe remarked.

“And now I can't ask Uncle John about going with Abraham to take the basket of food until he comes back, and I don't know whether Aunt Lou will wait that long to send Abraham down there,” Mandie complained.

“Don't you think it would be all right if I went with you and we followed Abraham down there? Sounds safe enough to me,” he said.

“Probably,” Mandie replied. “But I suppose I could tell my mother what I was doing. But then she might forbid it. I'll have to think about this. We aren't making any progress on this mystery.”

“No, but tomorrow is Friday, and Celia will be arriving then. Maybe she can help us find some way to solve it,” Joe suggested.

“Yes, she will be getting here tomorrow, but I suppose Uncle John's restrictions will still apply, even with her here,” Mandie said.

“Why don't we just walk down the hill to the arbor and take a look at the old house in the daylight?” Joe asked.

“Great idea, let's do,” Mandie agreed.

Together they went down the hill and stopped at the rose arbor. The sun was shining on the old house, making it plainly visible. And at the moment they stopped, Mandie caught the motion of the door being quickly closed.

“Joe! Did you see that?” she asked excitedly.

“Sure did,” Joe replied.

The two continued staring at the old house. Mandie held her breath, hoping the door would open and someone would come out.

“Oh, whoever that was probably saw us,” Mandie said in a disappointed voice.

“And therefore they probably won't come out again,” Joe agreed.

“We might as well give up and go back to get that cup of coffee,” Mandie added.

“That's a good idea. I can think better with coffee,” Joe said.

As they turned back up the hill, Mandie said, “We could eat breakfast and then come back. If whoever it was saw us, they'll know we are gone. We could go back down the other pathway where they wouldn't be expecting us and maybe we could see something from there. What do you think?”

“Yes, that's a bright idea.”

“And, Joe, please help me remember to be sure Snowball is left in the kitchen and everyone knows he is not to be let out,” Mandie said.

“Yes, he could spoil everything again,” Joe agreed.

As they climbed back up the hill, Mandie thought about all kinds of possibilities as a solution to the secret of the old house. As Uncle John had suggested, there might be some kind of crook in there, or there could be someone sick, or lost.

“Don't forget you promised to go with me to the courthouse this morning,” Joe reminded her as they reached the backyard.