Mandie Collection, The: 4 (11 page)

“It sounds so interesting,” Mandie said thoughtfully.

“Wait till you see it,” Jonathan told the girls. “You’ll always remember it, I’m sure.”

When they entered the Sistine Chapel soon thereafter, the girls were speechless as they viewed the artwork. There was the baptism of Christ portrayed, with John the Baptist, the story of Moses, the
temptation of Christ, the purification of a leper, the Red Sea, the calling of the apostles, God giving Moses the Tablets of the Law, the Sermon on the Mount, and many, many others. They all stopped before The Last Supper by Rosselli.

“The Italians have so much religious heritage,” Mandie remarked as they viewed the painting of Christ at the supper table with His disciples.

“Now look up at the ceiling,” Senator Morton told them, pointing above. “It took Michelangelo four years to do the art on this ceiling, and twenty-three years later he painted the Last Judgment. That took him about six years.”

The young people stood in silence, gazing at the scenes portrayed.

“That’s Christ in the center with His right hand raised,” Jonathan told the girls. “The others are the prophets, apostles and martyrs. The good are standing on his right and the sinners are on the left.”

The girls gasped in amazement as the painting came alive for them.

“And that must be the resurrection of the dead,” Mandie whispered, moving along as she looked overhead.

“Look, the angels are holding the Book of Judgment,” Celia added.

Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton followed as the young people roamed the chapel and excitedly discussed its treasures. But finally everyone was tired. Mrs. Taft decided they should all return to the hotel and rest awhile before dinner.

The girls didn’t stop talking for a moment all the way back in the carriage. They were so enthused with the city of Rome.

Mrs. Taft led the way into the lobby of the hotel. As they walked past the front desk, the clerk cleared his throat.

“Signorina Shaw,” he called.

The whole group stopped to see what he wanted.

The clerk reached under the counter and came up with Mandie’s old bag. “Signor Rushton tells me to give this back to you.” He handed her the bag.

Mandie took it and looked it over. Holding it up, she said to the others, “Mr. Rushton’s maid did a good job of cleaning this. It looks almost like new.”

“Yes, dear, it does,” Mrs. Taft said. “Let’s go to our rooms now.”

“Thank you,” Mandie called back to the clerk.

He smiled at her, and Mandie hurried along with the others down the corridor.

Once they were alone in their bedroom, the girls quickly changed into their robes. Snowball curled up on the bed and went to sleep.

Mandie picked up her old bag from the table and sat on the edge of the bed. “I’ll have to thank Mr. Rushton for getting this cleaned for me,” she said. “I don’t know when I’ll see him, but, come to think of it, he hasn’t let us know when he’ll be performing here at the hotel.”

“I imagine he will,” Celia said. She flopped down on the bed. “Mandie, we can’t write in our journals, because we don’t have the keys to our trunks. There is so much I’d like to write about today.”

“We can’t disturb Grandmother right now. We’ll get the keys later,” Mandie promised. “My head is spinning with all we’ve seen today. Let’s take a little nap.”

“Shall I pull the draperies to cut out the sunlight?” Celia asked, getting up and going toward the windows.

“Yes,” Mandie said. “I’ll help you.” She went to another window and started to draw the heavy curtains. “Celia, look! My trunk is unlocked!” She stooped to examine it.

Celia glanced at it and then rushed to hers. It was also unlocked.

“How could anyone unlock our trunks when Grandmother has the only keys?” Mandie pondered. She sifted through the contents. “I don’t think anything is missing.”

“My things are all here, too,” Celia said, standing up.

Mandie sat on the floor. “I don’t understand what’s going on,” she said. “If someone went to all the trouble of unlocking our trunks, why didn’t they take anything?”

“It’s a puzzle to me,” Celia replied, joining Mandie on the carpet.

“Celia, do you suppose that strange woman has been in our room?” Mandie asked thoughtfully.

“Oh, Mandie, I hope not,” Celia replied. “But I suppose we’d better tell your grandmother about this.”

“Well, I don’t know,” Mandie answered, rising from the floor. “There’s nothing missing. And it would only upset her. We can’t disturb her right now anyway. Let’s take a nap and talk about it later.”

______________

*
Fountain of Trevi

CHAPTER NINE

WHAT WAS “IT”?

After a short nap, the girls got ready for dinner. While they were dressing, they discussed the unlocked trunks.

“Do you think my grandmother could have unlocked the trunks for some reason?” Mandie asked as she tied a wide ribbon sash around her waist. Before Celia could reply, she added, “No, that couldn’t be possible. Grandmother has been with us ever since we locked the trunks this morning.”

Celia tried to get her hair to stay up. She used all the combs she could find. “Mandie, I just haven’t learned the trick of putting hair up,” she moaned. In frustration she removed the combs and brushed her hair out, then started all over again.

“Neither have I,” Mandie said as she began pinning up her long blond tresses. But she couldn’t get her mind off the mystery of the trunks. “I haven’t decided whether to tell Grandmother about the locks on our trunks being opened or not.”

Once more Celia failed to get her hair to stay up. “Oh, well,” she sighed. “I’ll just let my hair hang loose tonight. It needs washing, and I don’t have time to do it.” She quickly pulled out the combs and again brushed out her long auburn curls. Then she tied a ribbon in her hair.

“Me, too,” Mandie said, letting her hair fall around her shoulders.

“This is tiresome work. I don’t think it’s worth the trouble. For tonight I’ll just use the comb that I bought for my mother in my hair.”

“You know, Mandie... about those trunks...” Celia straightened the bow in her hair. “I think it had to be someone besides your grandmother who got into them.”

“I can’t figure out how it happened,” Mandie said. “I’m sure I locked mine, aren’t you?”

“Oh, I’m sure. I even tried the lock after I shut the trunk,” Celia replied, going to sit on the side of the bed.

Mandie picked up her old bag and looked at it. “I could use this bag tonight. It looks all right.” She hesitated. “Oh, I don’t know. I suppose I’ll take the one I already have my things in.” She put the old bag back on the table near the bed.

Mrs. Taft knocked on their bedroom door and then opened it. “Time to dress, dears,” she said, looking into the room. “Goodness, you two seem to be ahead of me all the time lately.”

The girls laughed and followed her into the parlor.

“Grandmother, I need to talk to you about—” Mandie began, with the intention of telling her grandmother about the unlocked trunks.

Mrs. Taft cut her short. “Not right now, dear. I must finish getting dressed. I’ll be ready shortly.” She went back into her bedroom and shut the door.

Mandie looked at Celia. “I’ve decided to tell her about our trunks.”

“I think you ought to,” Celia agreed.

But when Mandie once more tried to talk to her grandmother, she was told, “Later, dear,” and they all went downstairs to the hotel dining room for dinner.

Mandie tethered Snowball to the table leg again so that he could eat with them.

“We will be leaving Italy the day after tomorrow,” Mrs. Taft told the young people during dinner. “We’ll go on over into Switzerland.”

“That sounds exciting, but I just love Rome,” Mandie remarked as she ate her salad. “I hate to leave.”

Celia took a sip of tea. “So do I, but I am anxious to see other countries, too,” she added.

“We could stay here a year and never see everything,” Jonathan told them. “I’ve gone to school in Switzerland, but I’m glad I can go back as a tourist and see everything again.”

Senator Morton told them, “We won’t be staying in a hotel there, you know. We have the use of a friend’s chalet.”

“Chalet?” Mandie questioned. “Oh, a house.”

“Exactly,” the senator replied, smiling at her.

“That will be a lot of fun, staying in a real house instead of a stuffy old hotel,” Mandie said excitedly.

“Especially when domestic help is furnished with the chalet,” Mrs. Taft said.

George Rushton came into the dining room, and seeing Mandie and her friends, he came over to the table to speak to them. There was a taller man with him, but the man walked across the room to sit at a table evidently reserved for them.

“Hello, everyone,” Mr. Rushton greeted them.

They all returned the greeting.

But before anyone could say anything else, Mandie said, “I want to thank you for having your maid clean my bag. It looks almost new again. I really appreciate it.”

“I thought she did a good job.” He winked at Mandie, then turned to Mrs. Taft and said, “I had told the youngsters that I would be having a performance here at the hotel some night. It’s set for tomorrow in the concert room, and I’d like all of you to come as my guests.”

“Why, thank you, Mr. Rushton,” Mrs. Taft replied, smiling up at him. “We are very grateful for the invitation. However, the senator and I have already made plans to have dinner at a friend’s house tomorrow night.”

“Does that include Celia and Jonathan and me, Grandmother?” Mandie quickly asked.

Mrs. Taft smiled at her. “No, dear, in fact we were trying to think of something interesting for you young people to do while we are out,” she replied.

“Then couldn’t we go to Mr. Rushton’s performance? Please, Grandmother?” Mandie begged.

Mrs. Taft considered the request for a moment.

Senator Morton spoke up: “I’m sure they would be all right here in the hotel. We could be back before Mr. Rushton’s performance is over. And they would be in the company of other people.”

“I suppose it would be all right,” Mrs. Taft finally agreed. Turning back to Mr. Rushton, she added, “We just don’t want to take any chances, leaving them without supervision.”

The magician smiled. “I promise to keep an eye on them while I go through my act,” he said. “Thank you for letting them attend.” He turned to the young people. “Then I’ll see you three right after dinner tomorrow night in the concert room.” He nodded and went to join his friend at the table across the room.

“I do hope I’m not making a mistake by allowing y’all to go without us,” Mrs. Taft said. “Our time is getting short here in Rome, and I had promised a dear friend that we would come to dinner sometime before we left. But since it’s an all-adult dinner, you young people wouldn’t be able to go with us.”

“Don’t worry, Grandmother,” Mandie told her. “We’ll be all right.”

“But you remember what happened when we left y’all in a hotel in Paris,” Mrs. Taft reminded them.

“We won’t get separated this time,” Jonathan promised.

“I’m going to be awfully strict about this,” Mrs. Taft told them as she looked around the table. “You are not to go anywhere else or even speak to anyone else. And you are to stay in the concert room until we come for you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the three replied.

Mandie smiled. “Thank you for letting us go, Grandmother,” she said.

“Are you sure you want to go?” Mrs. Taft asked. “After all, you have seen Mr. Rushton do his tricks. I don’t know what could be different this time.”

“Oh, yes,” Mandie replied eagerly. She looked at her friends for confirmation.

“Yes, ma’am,” Celia added.

“I don’t know of anything better to do, so I’ll go along with the girls,” Jonathan teased.

Mandie frowned playfully. “Oh, really, Jonathan Guyer,” she said sternly. Then she burst into laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Jonathan asked solemnly.

“You are,” Mandie replied, still laughing. “I know you’re anxious to see how he does his tricks, but you won’t admit it.”

“All right, after you’ve seen him do his magic again, I’ll wager you will have caught on to some of his tricks,” Jonathan replied.

“If I do, you’ll be the first to know,” Mandie promised.

Mrs. Taft told them, “Please hurry now and finish so we’ll have time for a stroll before we retire for the night.”

As the group walked around the square near the hotel, people stopped to look at Snowball parading along at the end of his leash. Then suddenly the kitten came face to face with a white, woolly poodle—also at the end of a leash. Holding the leash was an exquisitely dressed older woman who was accompanied by a young man.

Snowball stopped in his tracks. But the poodle kept walking along in his direction. Mandie started to pick up her kitten when Snowball decided to attack. He lunged forward into the poodle’s face. The leash slipped out of Mandie’s hand. The poodle was so surprised he just stood there as the white kitten spit at him and boxed him with his paws.

Mrs. Taft gasped, “Amanda!”

Jonathan quickly bent to pick up Snowball, but the kitten tried to claw him. Mandie stooped and slapped Snowball’s paws as she picked him up. The young man grabbed the white poodle.

“I’m very sorry,” Mandie told him.

The young man was tall and muscular with a ruddy complexion and eyes almost as blue as Mandie’s. “We are sorry, too,” he replied. “Where we come from cats do not attack dogs.” He laughed.

“They don’t where we come from either, that is, except for Snowball. He’ll attack anything,” Mandie told him.

Mrs. Taft apologized to the woman, who didn’t seem to understand a word that was being said. The woman chattered away in a language Mandie had never heard before. The young man translated.

“My grandmother apologizes, also,” he said to Mrs. Taft. “She would like to give you a ride in her new motor car to wherever you are going.”

“Motor car!” Mandie and Celia exclaimed.

Mrs. Taft was equally surprised. “Oh my, she has a motor car?”

“Yes, it’s sitting just around the corner,” he said, pointing in the general direction.

“I have never ridden in one,” Mrs. Taft told the young man.