Leppard, Lois Gladys - [Mandie 02] (9 page)

“Gold make people crazy. Bad for Cherokee. Bad for Tsa’ni.” He was very firm about it.

“I know, but we’ll see what good we can do with it,” John continued.

“You mean we can’t
keep
the gold?” Joe asked, surprised at the conversation between the two men.

“Of course not, Joe,” Uncle John told him. “This is Cherokee territory, so it rightfully belongs to them.”

“But the cave is not on the Cherokee reservation,” Joe argued.

“I know that, but it’s almost one hundred percent Cherokee territory around here. Besides, that cave belongs to their history. Remember, Tsali hid in there,” John added.

“Couldn’t we just keep a little sample for a souvenir?” Mandie ventured.

“Depends on how big the sample is,” Uncle John laughed. “Anyhow, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Morning Star had been sitting at the table listening to the conversation. No one had any idea how much she had understood until she spoke up with great conviction, “Jim Shaw’s papoose have gold!”

Everyone turned to look at her, startled.

She tried to explain. She pointed to herself and then
to Mandie. “My gold Papoose’s gold.”

Mandie jumped up to hug her. “Oh, Morning Star, you are learning to speak English! I wouldn’t take your gold. Like Uncle John says, it belongs to the Cherokees living around here.”

Morning Star shook her head furiously and rattled off something in Cherokee. Uncle Ned listened and turned to explain.

“Morning Star say gold bad for Cherokee. Morning Star remember Cherokee move. I remember, too.”

“Times have changed, Uncle Ned,” John insisted. “I can guarantee you no harm will come to the Cherokees when the gold is found. It won’t be like it was before.”

The old man grunted and got up to go outside. John followed him.

“Early to bed early to rise,” Elizabeth told the children.

The four went to bed early, but there was a great deal of talking going on over the wall. Dimar and Joe were on the one side and the girls on the other. Joe, knowing the Indian boy was interested in Mandie, tried to monopolize the conversation.

“Mandie, this is even more exciting than looking for your uncle’s will, don’t you think?” Joe began.

“Well, I don’t know about that,” she said. “I suppose it is just
as
exciting. Of course, I’ve never seen so much gold before.”

“Neither have I,” Sallie put in.

“I sure hope we find it,” Dimar said. “There must be a pile of it if it can buy a hospital and all that other stuff your Uncle John was talking about, Mandie.”

“A
huge
pile of it. I have no idea how much it’s worth, though,” said Mandie.

“Your uncle will know,” Dimar assured her.

“I’m sure glad he’s around to handle everything because Uncle Ned is certainly not interested,” she said.

“He can remember the removal,” Dimar reminded her.

Joe, becoming jealous of the boy, faked a yawn and said loudly, “Well, time to go to sleep. Have to get up early.”

“Yes, we have to get up early,” Sallie agreed.

“I almost forgot something. If we are leaving early in the morning for the cave, how are we going to see Tsa’ni?” Mandie asked.

“Well, I have no intention of going to see Tsa’ni. You will just have to wait until we come back if you insist on visiting him,” Joe replied.

The question was settled at early dawn when the four, wide awake with excitement, went downstairs for breakfast. Uncle Ned and Uncle John were just coming in the door from outside. They looked disturbed.

Seeing the four youngsters at the table, Uncle John explained, “Well, it looks like we won’t be going back to the cave today. The wagon has a broken wheel and we have to get the part from Bryson City, which is going to take some time.”

The four spoke as one, “Oh, no!”

“It wasn’t broken when you came home last night, was it, Uncle Ned?” Mandie asked.

The old man shook his head. “Broke today.”

Uncle John explained. “No, it wasn’t broken last night. It looks like someone has been prowling around and deliberately damaged the wheel.”

The four looked at one another.

“Well, since Tsa’ni can’t walk, it couldn’t have been him this time,” Mandie said.

“How about the old man and woman that captured us in the woods?” Joe asked

“Snuff and Rennie Lou?” Mandie asked.

“Yeh, maybe it was them.”

“I hardly think they would come down here and do a thing like that,” Uncle John said.

“You said you told them you were going to report them to the authorities,” Sallie reminded him.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I did tell them that.”

“But why would they want to do something like that?” Uncle John added.

“Maybe they know about the gold,” Dimar suggested.

“And maybe they know we are going after it,” added Mandie.

“Well, anyway, however it happened, we will have to wait until the wagon is repaired,” John Shaw said.

“Couldn’t we borrow a wagon from one of the neighbors? After all, Uncle Ned knows all of them,” Mandie said.

“No, we’d rather not do that. We’d have to keep it all day, and we’d have to explain where we were going. Uncle Ned and I are going to ride into Bryson City when we get the horses saddled up and see what we can get to fix the wheel.”

“Are you going to talk to the authorities about the old man and woman?” Joe asked.

“I suppose we’ll do that while we’re there,” John said.

“They must have a still up there. Remember, we told you they thought we were spying on their still.” Mandie added.

“I remember.”

“May we go visit Tsa’ni while Uncle John is gone, Mother?” Mandie asked Elizabeth.

“If you want to, but you mustn’t stay too long. Tsa’ni is probably too sick to be bothered with company,” her mother told her.

As the men rode away to Bryson City, the four waved good-bye from the front of the cabin.

“Anyone want to go see Tsa’ni now?” Mandie asked.

“I will go with you,” Sallie replied.

“I don’t know. I think he is dishonest with us,” Joe mumbled.

“I will go,” Dimar said, eager for the chance to be with Mandie.

Joe was quick to notice, and he thought he’d better go along just to keep an eye on the two. He shuffled his feet around in the sand and looked up. “All right. I’ll go, too, but I won’t have anything to say to him.”

Tsa’ni lived about a mile down the road from Uncle Ned’s house, but the road had such a sharp curve that it was easier to cut through the backyards of several neighbors. Mandie had already decided that all the Cherokees’ cabins were alike and so she was not surprised to find Tsa’ni’s home a duplicate of Uncle Ned’s. The door of the log cabin was open and as they approached, a kind Indian woman came to welcome them.

“Come in. I am glad you could come to see Tsa’ni,” she said, as they entered the house.

The boy was on a bed at the far end of the room, and Mandie could feel him staring at her.

“I am Amanda Shaw, and you must be Tsa’ni’s mother,” Mandie introduced herself.

“Yes, I am Meli,” the woman said. “Your father was my husband’s cousin.”

Mandie nodded. “That’s right. How is Tsa’ni today?”

“Not good. But, go—see,” she said, directing the four over to the bed.

Tsa’ni stared but did not speak.

“We came to see how you are,” Mandie spoke cheerfully.

There was no answer.

“What did Dr. Carnes tell you about your injuries?” she asked.

Tsa’ni seemed determined not to speak.

“You could at least answer,” Dimar told him. “You are being rude.”

Tsa’ni took a deep breath. “Why should I speak to the white girl? White people! They are always causing trouble for the Cherokee!”

“No one caused trouble for you, Tsa’ni,” Dimar retorted. “What happened to you was your own fault. And you
were
rescued because Mandie cared about what happened to you.”

“The white people come here poking into the Cherokees’ affairs,” Tsa’ni said. “I do not want to see any more white people!” He turned his face toward the wall.

“You are a very narrow-minded person, Tsa’ni,” Mandie told him.

“Tsa’ni, if you had not been trying to find the gold first, you would not have been injured,” the Indian girl said.

“Go away! I do not wish to communicate with white people! I do not wish to have any company!” He still kept his face turned away from them.

Joe was filled with anger. “You may not wish to communicate with white people, but you must admit you tried to get the gold which we found first.”

“The gold belongs to the Cherokees, not the white people!” Tsa’ni turned to glare at Joe.

“We found it and we will do what we please with it!” Joe insisted.

“Do not be too sure about that! Now, get out!” Tsa’ni yelled, flushed with anger.

The four backed off to leave. They stopped to say good-bye to his mother who had been watching the whole scene.

As they walked back through the yards to Uncle Ned’s house, Mandie asked, “I wonder what he meant when he said we shouldn’t be too sure about doing what we please with the gold?”

“Just talking,” said Joe. “He wants to frighten us away from it.”

“He could have told someone else about the gold,” Sallie suggested.

“Yes, and they could be looking for it right now,” Dimar added.

“I hope not,” Mandie said. “You all heard what Uncle John said could be done with the gold, and I sure hope the wrong people don’t get it.”

They all felt their plans were strangely threatened. Mandie hated Tsa’ni more that ever in spite of her intentions to forget the wrongs he had done them. He was such a revengeful person. How could anyone like him?

Chapter 9 - Tsali’s Message

Uncle Ned and Uncle John were back from Bryson City in time for the noontime meal. As they all sat around the table, they discussed their journey.

“Did you get the piece to fix the wagon?” Mandie asked before anyone had eaten a bite.

“Yes, as soon as we finish eating, we’ll get it back in working order, and tomorrow we’ll go back to the cave,” Uncle John told her.

The four looked at one another and smiled.

“Eat,” Uncle Ned commanded.

“Yes, sir, Uncle Ned,” Mandie replied, picking up her fork, and starting on the beans. The other three followed suit.

Elizabeth turned to John. “Did you talk to anyone about those two people up in the mountain?”

“The old man and woman? Yes, we told everything we knew about them. There will be men scouting the mountain looking for a still in a few days,” he said.

“We went to see Tsa’ni and he was rude to us,” Mandie said. She related the conversation between them. Uncle Ned listened closely.

“Tsa’ni bad Cherokee,” he mumbled. “Up to no good.”

“Bad,” echoed Morning Star.

“Well, there’s nothing he can do if he can’t get about,” Uncle John told them.

“I don’t trust him at all,” Joe said. “I think if he
could
walk, he wouldn’t let us know it.”

“Joe!” Elizabeth admonished him.

“Sorry, Mrs. Shaw, but I don’t trust him,” Joe told her.

“I don’t either, Mother,” Mandie said. She had decided to give up believing the Indian boy.

“I cannot trust him either,” Sallie added.

“Neither can I,” Dimar joined in.

“Well, in that case, maybe there
is
some reason not to trust him,” Elizabeth replied.

“Reason—Tsa’ni bad,” the old Indian repeated.

“Oh, Uncle Ned, you’ve been saying Tsa’ni is bad ever since we got here. How about telling me why you say that?” John asked Ned.

“Leave Papoose with panther. Try to steal gold. No bring things to Bird-town,” the old man explained. He took a deep breath. “Now he make bad talk to Papoose.”

“The Bible says repay evil with good, remember, Uncle Ned?” John reminded him.

“Big Book not say Tsa’ni can be bad Indian,” the old Indian muttered.

Everyone smiled.

Mandie couldn’t understand why one should keep on doing good to a person who kept on doing bad things in return. She was quite exasperated and was losing her determination to be kind. Then she remembered her father had taught her to pray for her enemies, so she decided she would start praying for Tsa’ni. In the meantime, she
hoped he would recover from his accident—but not in time to beat them to the gold!

Uncle Wirt went with them the next morning to the cave. He was still angry with his grandson and would not talk about him. He had gone on to his house in Bird-town the day before and had not seen Tsa’ni since.

After arriving inside the cave, Sallie led them straight to the cavern where they had seen the gold.

“Here is the place,” she told them, pointing to the pile of rocks along the far wall.

Mandie agreed. “Yes, this is it.”

“Well, let’s start digging,” Joe said, pushing up his sleeves.

With the three men to help them, it didn’t take long to move the piles. Elizabeth watched from a safe distance as they threw the rocks behind them out of the way. Sallie found the first nugget.

“Gold,” she said, handing the nugget to Uncle Ned who was working beside her.

He turned it over in his hand, didn’t say a word and passed it on to John. The others crowded around.

“The real thing,” John Shaw said. “Let’s see how much we can find.”

Mandie and Joe were moving the rocks at the bottom of the pile when she stooped and squealed. “Here it is! All of it!” They had uncovered the gold they had found before.

“At last!” Joe gasped.

The men bent to inspect the gold.

“You were right, Mandie. It is about a bushel,” her uncle told her. “Now let’s get it into these sacks and get out of here.”

Everyone was stuffing the sacks with the gold when
Sallie, cleaning off the floor under one end of the pile, called out, “Look! Writing!” She was pointing to the wall of the cave behind the rocks.

The group gathered to see what she had found. They all worked to clean the wall and the rest of the writing. Soon large Indian sign language appeared and also some words in English.

Sallie bent close to read it. “This gold left here for good of Cherokee after white man makes peace. This gold belongs to us who are hiding here to save our lives. Curse on the white man who takes it. Tsali.” She gasped as she finished the words.