Mandie Collection, The: 4 (7 page)

“I suppose it shocked the monks, having strange people invade their private domain,” Celia remarked.

“Well, I guarantee we’ll stick together tomorrow. I won’t let Grandmother and the senator out of my sight,” Mandie promised.

“Speaking of your grandmother,” Celia said, “It must be about time to get dressed, so we won’t keep her and the others waiting.”

That night Mandie wore a lavender voile dress. The candlelight at the dinner table made her eyes appear deep purple. Celia’s batiste dress was cream-colored, which highlighted the golden glints in her auburn hair.

Of course Mrs. Taft and the senator were also dressed elegantly. And Jonathan wore a new suit.

While they were eating, people passing by turned to take a second look at them.

“Do y’all feel like everyone is staring at us?” Mandie whispered.

“Why, yes, dear,” Mrs. Taft said. “I suppose they are. Anyone can see we are not Italians. And many people have the idea that all Americans are wealthy.” She laughed at the thought.

Mandie smiled. “I thought maybe there was something wrong with my dress,” she said.

Snowball meowed from beneath the table, where he was tied to the leg with his red leash.

Mandie looked down at him. “Maybe they noticed Snowball, too. I suppose it’s unusual to have a cat in the hotel dining room.”

“Oh, indeed it is,” Mrs. Taft agreed. “I had to do some quick talking to accomplish that,” she said, leaning toward Mandie.

When they had finished their meal, they took a carriage to the theater where the magician was performing.

As they walked up the theater steps, Jonathan remarked, “Now if you girls will watch very closely, you’ll be able to figure out this man’s tricks. There’s really no such thing as magic, you know.”

They followed the adults through the brightly lit doorway of the theater. “Oh, you’re just trying to spoil everything for us,” she protested. “I don’t believe you. I think there is some kind of magic.”

“All right, watch and see for yourself,” Jonathan told her.

After the senator presented their tickets, they made their way down the aisle of the theater and were seated near the front. As Mandie sat down between her grandmother and Jonathan, she looked around. The theater was enormous. There were several balconies and a few private alcoves. Overhead, half a dozen electrically lit chandeliers illuminated the huge room. The curtains were closed on the stage, but a band sat ready to play in the pit below.

Mandie leaned over to her grandmother and whispered, “Why don’t we have places like this back home?”

“We do, dear. You have never been to the big cities,” Mrs. Taft explained in a loud whisper. The band began playing and Mrs. Taft spoke up. “I’ll have to take you to New York some time. Of course, it’s not as old as the cities in Europe, but it’s very large.”

A sudden loud blast from the band drowned out their conversation. The curtain opened, and everyone leaned forward to watch. To their amazement, the stage was completely empty.

The music softened to a waltz tune, and various props “floated” onto the stage, propelled by an unseen force. An organ grinder’s cart—without the organ grinder—came rolling in from the left and stopped at center stage. Then a small jewelry box slid along the floor and came to rest beside the cart. From the right an enormous silver cage containing a live monkey rolled in and bumped into the cart.

Mandie turned to Jonathan and whispered, “What makes everything move? There’s no one up there.”

The music grew louder and picked up tempo. Jonathan tried to explain, but the music didn’t allow him to be heard. He leaned close to Mandie’s ear and yelled, “I’ll tell you later.”

Mandie quickly put her hand over her ear and moved away from Jonathan as she continued to watch the stage.

Suddenly, from the ceiling above the stage, George Rushton, dressed in a black tuxedo with a black silk top hat, descended in a golden cage suspended on ropes clearly visible to the audience. When the cage reached the floor, he quickly stepped out and waved a white handkerchief, greeting the crowd.

As he passed the handkerchief through his hand, it turned into several handkerchiefs of various colors. The people applauded enthusiastically.

The magician bowed, took off his top hat, and pulled a white rabbit out of it. The audience again applauded.

Mandie grabbed her grandmother’s arm in excitement. She had never seen anything like this.

Then George Rushton placed the rabbit in the silver cage and led the monkey out by a ribbon. The monkey jumped on top of the organ grinder’s cart and danced as the band played. He was dressed in a tiny tuxedo, and when the music stopped, he stopped dancing, took off his top hat and bowed to the wild applause of the audience. Then the monkey jumped down and returned to the silver cage, which also held the rabbit.

As the music softened again, the magician finally spoke to the crowd. Picking up the jewelry case on the floor, he said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I show you an empty case.”

He opened the box and shook it for the audience to see. “I will now close the empty box,” he said. “From this handkerchief I will make a stone fit for a king appear inside the empty box.” He pulled another white handkerchief out of his pocket with one hand while he held the box in the other.

Shaking out the handkerchief, the magician draped it over the box. “Now when I remove this handkerchief, please watch closely.” He slowly turned toward the audience. His gaze swept from one side to the other. Keeping the box covered, he called out, “Are you ready?”

“Yes!” the crowd shouted back in unison.

Slowly, he slid the handkerchief off the empty box. Then, opening the lid, he held out the contents for everyone to see. What looked like a giant-sized ruby lay on the black velvet lining.

The audience oohed and aahed in wonder. Then as they watched, George Rushton reversed his act and made the stone disappear again.

“Well!” Mandie exclaimed. “I wonder how he did that!”

“Easy,” Jonathan replied.

Without turning her gaze from the stage Mandie whispered, “I’d like to see you do that since you know so much about it.”

“I could if I had his equipment,” Jonathan told her.

The volume of the music increased and George Rushton performed several other acts. Mandie and Jonathan didn’t have another opportunity to talk.

However, in the carriage on the way back to the hotel the young people discussed every detail of the show.

Mandie said to Jonathan, “So, you think you could do what he did if you had his equipment.”

Jonathan smiled mischievously. “Sure, nothing to it.”

“He’s staying in our hotel. Let’s see if he brings his equipment with him. And if he does, maybe he’ll let you use it to show me how it’s done,” Mandie suggested.

“Oh, he’d never agree to that,” Jonathan said. “That would give away his secrets.”

“Of course it would,” Celia agreed.

The carriage came to a halt at the front door of their hotel.

Mandie smiled at Jonathan. “We’ll see.”

“Tonight?” Celia asked as they rose to leave the carriage.

“No, it’s too late tonight, but as soon as I get a chance I’ll ask him,” Mandie promised.

CHAPTER SIX

TROUBLE IN THE CATACOMBS

The next morning was bright and sunny, and after an early breakfast, Mandie and her friends went with her grandmother and Senator Morton back to the catacombs.

The young people whispered to each other during the carriage ride there while the adults carried on their own conversation.

“I wonder if we could find those monks again,” Mandie said softly.

“Oh, no, Mandie!” Celia objected. “Let’s not go looking for them.”

“I really don’t think we ought to try to find them,” Jonathan agreed. “We might get lost again, and Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton wouldn’t like it at all.”

Mandie smoothed Snowball’s white fur. “It just bothers me that so many mysterious things seem to happen to us, as if people are trying to hurt us or get us distracted.”

“But, Mandie, we don’t know that anyone at the catacombs was trying to do something to us,” Celia reminded her.

“That’s right,” Jonathan said. “I think we just got lost and went into a section where visitors are not allowed.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Mandie replied. “After all, I did see that strange woman there.”

“That’s true,” Jonathan said with a sigh. “But I’ll tell you right now, if you go wandering off looking for those monks, I will not go with you.”

Mandie looked at Celia who was silent and avoiding Mandie’s gaze.

Mandie shrugged her shoulders. “Oh, well, who can tell what might happen this time?”

Their carriage pulled up in front of the catacombs amid a group of uniformed school children, whose teachers were herding them into lines headed toward the entrance.

Mrs. Taft stepped down from the vehicle. “Hurry, dears,” she called to Mandie and her friends. “Let’s see if we can get ahead of all these children.”

The young people quickly followed the adults inside. Mrs. Taft stopped to speak to them. “The senator and I never did get into the recesses below yesterday, and that’s what we’d like to do today,” she explained. “Be sure you stay within sight of us at all times.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the three answered together.

They looked at one another and smiled as they followed Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton down the stone stairs into the caverns below.

“Why don’t we go to the left here and see if it circles back,” Mrs. Taft said, leading the way into a large room lighted by candles.

“I don’t believe we were in here yesterday,” Mandie said as she tried to read a plaque on the wall. “What does this say, Jonathan? Can you decipher it?”

Jonathan moved closer. “It’s Latin,” he said. “I have to take it in school next year, but right now I couldn’t tell you what it says.”

Down the length of the room they found other plaques in Latin with Italian translations alongside them. Mandie felt frustrated that none of the three could read the inscriptions.

They wandered to the far end, and found an alcove with only a half wall dividing it from the rest of the room. The floor was covered with tiny loose stones, and Mandie suddenly felt something in her shoe.

“Wait!” she cried, stopping at the half wall. “I have to check my shoe. Something’s stuck in it.” She handed Snowball to Celia and placed her bag on top of the partition.

The chatter of dozens of school children came closer until the room
was filled with them. They spoke rapidly in Italian, and the teachers had all they could do to control them.

Mandie unbuttoned her shoe and a tiny pebble fell out from between the buttons. Jonathan offered a hand to steady her as she put her shoe back on. Then she stooped to fasten it.

The schoolchildren left as suddenly as they had entered.

Mandie breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad they decided to move on,” she said, straightening her long skirt and adjusting her bonnet. “There are so many of them, and they are so noisy.”

“Yes, our teachers never let us talk that loudly in a group,” Celia agreed. “At least not at that age.”

Mandie reached for her purse on the half wall and gasped. “My bag! Where did it go?” she exclaimed, quickly scanning the floor around the partition. “I put it right here.”

“I know. I saw it there,” Celia confirmed. She handed Snowball back to Mandie, and she and Jonathan began searching the alcove.

“Maybe one of those children picked it up,” Jonathan suggested.

“Let’s catch up to them and find out,” Mandie quickly replied.

The three hurried down the length of the room to where Mrs. Taft and the senator were reading plaques.

“I lost my bag, Grandmother,” Mandie explained hastily. “One of those children might have picked it up. We’re going to see.”

“Then we’ll go with you,” Mrs. Taft said. “I don’t see how you could have lost it.”

As they hurried back to the entrance, Mandie explained what had happened.

“I’m sorry, dear,” Mrs. Taft said. “Perhaps one of those youngsters did pick it up by mistake.”

They got all the way to the front door just in time to see the carriages full of children leave.

“They’re gone!” Mandie exclaimed. “And we don’t even know who they were.”

“I suppose that’s the last of that,” Mrs. Taft remarked. “Amanda, you should be more careful of your belongings. You’ll probably never see that bag again.”

“I’m sorry, Grandmother,” Mandie said, frowning. “I guess I was careless.”

“Are you sure one of those children took it?” Senator Morton asked. “Maybe it fell behind something. Let’s go take another look.”

“Yes, we should,” Mrs. Taft agreed, turning to lead the way back inside.

By using hand motions and a mix of French and English, Senator Morton was able to enlist the help of the guard at the entrance. The tall, young Italian smiled sympathetically at Mandie and searched all along the way as they walked back to the alcove where the bag had disappeared.

The guard and the young people stooped to examine the floor, but the bag was nowhere to be found.

The young man finally stood and looked at Mandie in dismay. “No bag, Signorina,” he said.

Mandie couldn’t hide her disappointment. “Thank you for looking,” she said sadly.

“Grazie,” Senator Morton told the young man. “Thank you very much.”

“
Prego
,” the guard replied. “You are welcome.” He bowed slightly and went back to his station at the entrance of the catacombs.

Mrs. Taft looked at her granddaughter. “I’ll buy you another bag, Mandie.”

“Thank you, Grandmother, but I did bring another bag with me to Europe,” Mandie replied weakly. “That one just happened to be my favorite. I took it everywhere.”

“What did you carry in it, dear?” her grandmother asked.

“I don’t really know,” Mandie said. “I’ve been trying to remember. Let me see—I think I had a handkerchief, a comb, and a little money in it.”

“Is that all?” Senator Morton asked.

“I think so,” Mandie replied.

“Then there was nothing that can’t be replaced,” Mrs. Taft said. “Now let’s get on with our tour.”

As the group slowly made their way through the catacombs, Mandie and her friends watched carefully for any signs of her bag. They scrutinized everyone they passed, looking to see what each person was carrying. They also searched the stone floors as they followed Mrs. Taft and the senator through the maze of tombs. But there was no sign of Mandie’s bag.