Mandie Collection, The: 4 (12 page)

“We would be pleased to have you travel in ours then,” he replied.

Senator Morton encouraged Mrs. Taft, “Now would be a good time to try it out. You’ve said that perhaps you’d purchase one someday.”

Mandie and Celia were speechless. Mandie could only think of the
awful noise the cars made. The few she had seen seemed to jerk and start erratically. She wasn’t sure she wanted to ride in one.

“They’re a lot of fun,” Jonathan remarked to the girls.

The young man and his grandmother conversed in their language for a moment, and then he spoke again to Mrs. Taft in English: “My grandmother would like to introduce herself to you. She is the Baroness Hildegard Geissler, and I am Rupert Geissler. We are from Germany.”

Mrs. Taft gasped, then at once composed herself as she looked the woman over. The baroness, too, was tall and strong-looking, with the same coloring as her grandson. “Did you say your grandmother is a baroness?” Mrs. Taft asked.

“Yes, that’s right,” Rupert said with a smile.

“Please introduce us to her. I am Mrs. Norman Taft. This is my granddaughter, Amanda Shaw, and her friends Celia Hamilton and Jonathan Guyer.” Then turning with obvious respect to the senator, she said, “And this is Senator Morton of the United States Senate in Washington, D.C. We are Americans. We are pleased to make your acquaintance.”

As Rupert translated, his grandmother smiled and then spoke rapidly. He spoke to Mrs. Taft again, “My grandmother says to tell you that her daughter, my mother, is married to an American and living in New York,” he explained. “She also says, now that we are properly introduced, would you care to take a ride in her motor car?”

Snowball struggled in Mandie’s arms and hissed menacingly at the white poodle Rupert was holding. She had to hold him tight.

“Grandmother,” Mandie said, “I don’t think it would work to get into a motor car with Snowball and the poodle, too. I could take Snowball and walk back to the hotel while you ride in it,” she offered.

Jonathan reached for the kitten. “I’ll take Snowball, Mandie. I’ve ridden in motor cars lots of times. You haven’t.”

“And I will walk back with Jonathan,” Senator Morton volunteered. “I have ridden in motor cars before, too.”

Mandie held on to her kitten, and both girls waited silently for Mrs. Taft to instruct them how to proceed.

“Please thank your grandmother,” she told Rupert. “And tell her we will be happy to ride back to the hotel in your motor car. However, our hotel is only four or five blocks back that way.” She pointed in the direction they had come.

Rupert told his grandmother and then said to Mrs. Taft and the girls, “If you will, please follow us.”

Mandie finally gave Jonathan her kitten. “Please pray for us to get safely back to the hotel,” she said.

Jonathan smiled his mischievous smile as he took the cat. “You’ll get back all right. It’s not that dangerous.”

“Sounds dangerous to me,” Celia finally spoke.

“You don’t have to go, Celia,” Mrs. Taft told her. “You may walk back with Jonathan and the senator if you wish.”

Mandie looked at her friend.

Celia took Mandie’s hand and said, “Thank you, Mrs. Taft, but if Mandie is going, then I’ll go too. That’s what friends are for—times like these.”

Mrs. Taft smiled at her, and the young man led the way down the street. Senator Morton and Jonathan went the other way with Snowball.

The motor car was parked under some trees on the next street. The car was fancier than any Mandie had seen before. There were a lot of shiny accessories on it and no visible top.

As they stood in awe surveying the vehicle, Mandie asked, “Who is going to drive it?”

“I am,” Rupert told her as he helped his grandmother and Mrs. Taft into the small rear seat. Then he turned to help the girls squeeze into the narrow front seat with him.

The girls held their breath. When Rupert got the car going, they held hands and softly repeated their verse: “What time I am afraid I will put my trust in Thee.” No one seemed to hear them over the roar of the racing motor.

To their amazement, the car did not jerk or rattle, as they expected it would, but sailed smoothly forward. The girls kept their eyes shut during the short trip, and in a few minutes Rupert pulled up in front of their hotel and tooted the car’s horn to announce their arrival.

“Here we are,” he said. He helped the girls out and then assisted the ladies from the vehicle.

Mrs. Taft thanked the baroness and asked Rupert to tell his grandmother that they would be going to Germany before leaving Europe.

The baroness insisted that they come to visit her. She and Rupert
would be home by the time Mrs. Taft and her group arrived in Germany, they said.

Senator Morton and Jonathan walked up in front of the hotel.

As the Geisslers drove off, Mrs. Taft watched them. “Yes, yes, I must have one of those motor cars,” she told the senator.

“But, Grandmother,” Mandie said, “you won’t get rid of Ben and the rig, will you? Celia and I love to ride in it.” Still nervous from the ride, she wasn’t sure that she ever wanted to go anyplace in another motor car.

“No, of course not, Amanda,” Mrs. Taft assured her as they all entered the hotel.

Mrs. Taft didn’t stop talking all the way to the elevator and up to their rooms. Mandie knew how much her grandmother loved to socialize with royalty and important government figures. She also knew they would eventually visit the baroness and her grandson.

Once they were in their room and had dressed for the night, the girls sat on the bed discussing the events of the evening. Snowball had already curled up in a ball and was sound asleep.

“How did you like the ride?” Mandie asked her friend.

“I didn’t like it one bit. I was absolutely terrified,” Celia admitted.

“But you didn’t say anything,” Mandie said.

“Because I didn’t want your grandmother to know how scared I was,” Celia answered. “I know you were afraid, too, Mandie. Otherwise we wouldn’t have said our verse, right?”

Mandie nodded. “If we go to visit the baroness in Germany—I should say
when
we go, because I know my grandmother likes to associate with people like that—I don’t think I’ll ride in her motor car,” Mandie declared. “It was scary for me, too.”

“Our journals, Mandie,” Celia reminded her, getting up to fetch hers from her trunk. She returned to the bed with the book and a pencil.

Mandie jumped off the bed. “Yes, we have to write about this in our journals,” she agreed. She got hers and went to sit in a big chair to write.

Celia looked up from her journal. “Mandie, you never did tell your grandmother about our trunks being unlocked,” she reminded her friend.

“I know. I never could seem to get her attention,” Mandie said.

“But I suppose now I shouldn’t tell her. She probably wouldn’t leave us here in the hotel tomorrow night, even though we’re going to Mr. Rushton’s performance.”

“But after that, we’d better tell her,” Celia suggested.

“I will if I can get her to listen to me,” Mandie agreed, writing rapidly in her journal.

When the girls finally crawled into bed, they were exhausted and soon fell asleep.

Mandie dreamed about the motor car. Somehow her mother and her baby brother, Samuel, were riding in it with her. There didn’t seem to be a driver, and the vehicle was flying through the streets of Rome. She could hear the horn tooting by itself. The faster it went the more out of breath she became. Suddenly she awoke with a start.

Trying to quiet her racing heartbeat, Mandie took a few deep breaths and stared at the ceiling in the faint light from outside. All at once she heard a slight noise as though something had been torn. She listened carefully, and as she turned in the bed, she saw a shadow on the wall by the bureau. Someone was in the room!

Stifling a scream, she nudged Celia and whispered in her ear, “Don’t move.” She grabbed her friend’s hand.

As they lay there, holding hands, Mandie could feel Celia trembling. Mandie tried to see what the shadow was doing but couldn’t. She glanced down at the foot of the bed. Snowball was not there.

Just then Snowball let out an angry wail. The intruder had apparently stepped on the kitten. The shadow quickly stepped aside.

Mandie sat upright. “What do you want?” she shouted.

Celia sat up, too.

The shadow moved slightly.

Mandie jumped out of bed. “Who are you?” she demanded.

“What did you do with it?” the voice was gruff, and Mandie couldn’t tell whether the intruder was a man or a woman.

At that moment Celia let out an ear-splitting scream and disappeared under the covers. The shadow quickly moved to the French door that led outside.

Mandie screamed and raced across the room in time to see the shadow disappear through the doorway.

Mrs. Taft came running into the room, dressed in her robe and nightgown. Senator Morton and Jonathan were close behind.

“What on earth is going on?” Mrs. Taft asked. She switched on an electric lamp and looked around the room.

“We heard someone scream clear across the hall,” Senator Morton said.

Mandie’s heart was pounding, and she could hardly speak. “Grandmother—someone was in here—just now,” she said. “Whoever it was—” She turned to see what interested the intruder at their bureau. “Look!” She held up her old purse. “They tore up my bag!”

“Are you or Celia hurt?” Mrs. Taft looked anxiously at Celia, who was still cowering under the bed covers.

“No, ma’am,” Mandie shook her head. “We were just frightened.”

Senator Morton checked the French door and found it unlocked. There was a key in the lock, and he turned that, then pulled the draperies over it. “Maybe I should go down to the desk and report this,” he said turning to Mrs. Taft.

“Oh, I don’t know, Senator, whoever it was is gone now,” Mrs. Taft said, obviously shaken. “Why don’t we notify the hotel clerk in the morning.”

“If you girls are afraid, I’ll be glad to sleep on the sofa in the parlor,” Jonathan offered.

“No, but thanks anyway, Jonathan,” Mandie said.

“Could we leave the light on the rest of the night?” Celia asked nervously, peeking out from the covers.

Mrs. Taft went over to comfort the girl. “I’ll tell you what, dear,” Mrs. Taft said. “We’ll leave both bedroom doors open and the light on in the parlor. Will that be all right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Celia replied. “Thank you.”

After everyone said good-night and the others went to their rooms, Mandie and Celia huddled together in the big bed. The faint light from the parlor lamp was a small comfort.

But Mandie couldn’t go to sleep right away. She kept wondering why anyone would tear up her old purse. If the intruder were trying to rob them, he—or she—would surely have taken the bag that had something in it. Celia’s bag was also on the bureau, in plain view.

What was it the intruder had said? “What did you do with it?”

Mandie couldn’t figure out what “it” was.

CHAPTER TEN

HIRED PROTECTION

Everyone was tired and groggy the next morning. When the maid came with the breakfast trays, Mrs. Taft had her place them on a table in the parlor and she and the girls sat and ate there together.

“Amanda, dear, I’m wondering whether we should leave Italy today,” she said. “After last night, I’m puzzled and concerned about what they were after, whoever it was.”

“I don’t know, either, Grandmother,” Mandie replied. “I can’t imagine why someone would come into our room and tear up my old purse with nothing in it.”

“If we hadn’t screamed, there’s no telling what they might have done,” Celia added.

“As soon as I get dressed, I’ll ask Senator Morton to go downstairs with me, and we’ll talk to the manager,” Mrs. Taft promised.

Mandie was so upset about the intruder that she completely forgot to tell her grandmother about their trunks being unlocked.

When they were finished with their food, Mrs. Taft told the girls to get dressed quickly. She would ask Jonathan to stay in the parlor with them while she and the senator went downstairs.

The girls looked through the clothes in their wardrobe. “I’m going to wear this older dark blue dress since I don’t know what we’ll be doing yet,” Mandie said. “And I think I’ll plait my hair today.”

“And I’ll wear my brown dress,” Celia decided. “I don’t care for it on me, but my mother likes it. I’ll tie my hair back with a bright ribbon, maybe yellow. What do you think, Mandie?”

“Sounds fine, Celia,” she answered. After they had dressed, Mandie and Celia stood before the floor-length mirror. They both giggled at once.

“We look like schoolgirls again!” Mandie exclaimed. “And we’ve been trying to look so grown up.”

“But we do look like proper young ladies, even if it is younger ladies than we’d like to be,” Celia added with a giggle.

When Mrs. Taft brought Jonathan in to stay with the girls, he looked from one to the other and smiled his mischievous smile. “That fright last night must have caused you two to lose a couple of years,” he teased.

“Jonathan! We’re only trying to look like nice young girls today,” Mandie protested. “I see you’re also wearing darker clothes than usual. That dark gray does make you look very intelligent, whether or not you are.”

Jonathan shook his head and laughed at Mandie.

“After what happened to us last night,” Celia said, “We’re not in a teasing mood this morning.”

Jonathan looked concerned. “I’m sorry girls. I really am. I know it must have been terribly frightening to wake up in the night and find someone in the room with you,” he said.

“Do you think it could have been that strange woman from the ship?” Celia asked.

“I don’t know,” Mandie said. “In fact I can’t figure out the whole situation. Why would anyone go to the trouble to break into our room just to tear up my old bag?”

“Well, come to think of it, your bag
has
had some mystery attached to it,” Jonathan told her. “First, it disappeared at the catacombs, and then it turned up anonymously on the front desk down in the lobby. Why would anyone steal it and then return it?”

“Celia may be right. That strange woman may have had something to do with it. We did see her at the catacombs, you know,” Mandie reminded him. “And for some reason she always tries to avoid us.”