Mandie Collection, The: 4 (72 page)

“The doors are closed. He cannot get outside,” Albert assured her.

Mandie decided it was time to ask the question about the position of the blades the night before. She looked up at Albert and said, “We lost Snowball last night because someone left our door open. We had gone for a walk to look at your windmill, and when we got back to the house he was gone. Did you know the blades on your windmill were in the wrong position last night?”

“In the wrong position?” Albert asked, puzzled.

“Yes. It was late, probably near midnight, and the blades were not set to show the mill was closed,” Mandie tried to explain. “And when we looked back, the blades suddenly moved and stopped at the one-thirty, four-thirty, seven-thirty, and ten-thirty positions, which we understand shows the mill is closed.”

“You are right about that, but my father retired before dark last night and set the blades accordingly,” Albert told her.

“But we all saw the blades move,” Jonathan joined in.

“Yes, we did,” Celia agreed.

Albert suggested, “Perhaps the moonlight caused the blades to look as though they were moving. My father and I were both at home. We didn’t retire until my sister came in around midnight.”

Mandie was insistent. “I’m sorry to disagree with you, but we all three saw the position of the blades, and then saw them move to indicate the mill was closed,” she told Albert, looking straight into his blue eyes.

Albert flushed slightly and said, “I think that we should give your information to my father and see what he has to say.”

Jonathan spoke up and said, “Yes. He might have moved the blades without your knowing about it.”

“We thought the wrong position of the blades may be a distress signal or something,” Celia told the young man.

Albert looked at each one of the young people, then stooped to pick up Flour Rat. “Let us go see my father,” he said, sounding rather serious.

With Snowball racing along at the end of his leash, Mandie followed Albert back to the house. Celia and Jonathan were close behind.

Mr. Van Dongen was still in the parlor with Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton. They seemed to be discussing Holland’s flower parades. The young people paused in the doorway.

“It’s such a gift to be able to fabricate animals and objects out of flowers for the parade,” Mrs. Taft was saying. “And the participants are so talented, moving so gracefully with all those flowers covering them from head to foot.”

“And the sweet scent of roses is enough to make an old man want to turn to young romance again,” Senator Morton said with a little laugh.

Jonathan looked at Mandie and grinned as he whispered, “Better watch out for your grandmother. Romeo has come alive again.”

Mandie poked his side with her elbow as she advanced into the parlor.

Mr. Van Dongen looked up as they entered the room. “Did Albert give you a nice visit of our windmill?” he asked them.

“Yes, sir,” they all replied.

“But, Mr. Van Dongen, we have a problem,” Mandie said, walking up to the settee where he was sitting. “Or I should say we have a disagreement.”

“A disagreement? Well now, Albert, what have you been disagreeable about?” Mr. Van Dongen asked. “Sit down and tell me, all of you.”

“Let Mandie tell you,” Albert said, setting his cat down on the carpet and motioning for Mandie to go ahead.

Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton sat in rapt attention as Mandie and her two friends sat on a settee nearby. Albert flopped onto a footstool in front of them.

“Well, you see, Mr. Van Dongen, last night Celia and Jonathan and

I went for a walk to see your windmill,” Mandie began as Snowball curled up at her feet. “We didn’t know how to get across the canal, so that was as far as we went. But, mind you, the moon was shining. Therefore we could clearly see the blades on your windmill.” She paused to look at Albert and then quickly added, “And they were definitely in the wrong position. We all three noticed it. And when we started back we turned to look one more time at the windmill, and suddenly the blades moved into the right place to indicate the mill was closed for the night.” She blew out her breath and waited to see what Mr. Van Dongen would say.

The Dutchman’s face flushed fiery red as he dropped his gaze and replied, “Those blades could not have been in the wrong position. I set them myself when I closed the mill before dark. You must be mistaken.”

Mandie heard Mrs. Taft gasp as the miller’s tone of voice became harsh.

“But, sir, we all three saw the position of the blades and then saw them move. If it had been only one of us, you might believe us to be mistaken, but we all saw everything,” Jonathan insisted.

“Yes, we did,” Celia agreed.

The old man shook his head.

Mandie suddenly remembered the figure in the dark and said, “We also saw someone among the flower bushes, and he ran away from us. Actually, we couldn’t be sure if it was a man or a woman.”

Mr. Van Dongen looked at her and asked, “Someone ran away from you? And you couldn’t tell whether it was a man or a woman?”

“It was too dark, sir,” Mandie replied. “But if I hadn’t gotten my skirt tangled in the rosebushes, we could have caught him, or at least seen more clearly who it was.”

“If it was too dark to see whether it was a man or a woman, then how could you see the position of the blades on the windmill?” Mr. Van Dongen asked with a frown.

“The moon was shining directly on the windmill, but the person we saw was stooping low among the flowers, trying to hide from us,” Mandie explained.

“Probably some servant out on a lark when he should have been home,” Mr. Van Dongen muttered. He looked directly at Mandie and said firmly, “And I assure you that you were all mistaken about the
position of the windmill’s blades.” He stood up. “Now, I am sorry, but I must get back to my work on the books.” He bowed slightly to Mrs. Taft.

“Of course, Mr. Van Dongen,” Mrs. Taft said as she and Senator Morton both quickly rose. “I apologize for dropping in on you unexpectedly like this. We appreciate your hospitality and kindness.”

“And you must come back before you leave our country,” the Dutchman said. “Albert will show your driver the way across the canal. Good day.” He brusquely left the room.

Albert smiled at Mrs. Taft and said, “We will find your carriage at the front, I believe.” He led the group out the front door, smiled at Mandie, and asked them all to return to visit. He then stood watching as they all climbed into the carriage and rode away.

Mandie and her friends sat in silence for a few moments. Mandie felt that Mr. Van Dongen was angry with them because they had asked about the windmill blades, but she couldn’t figure out why. As William drove them back to the house, Mrs. Taft and the senator spoke quietly with each other as though nothing unusual had happened.

“Mr. Van Dongen was so nice and friendly, until we mentioned the windmill blades,” Mandie finally remarked quietly. “Then he acted angry with us, like he wanted us to hurry up and leave.”

“That’s what I thought, too,” Jonathan said.

“I thought it was very discourteous of him to suddenly say he had to go back to work,” Celia said.

“Yes, and did you notice that Albert didn’t have one word to say after we went back to the house and told his father about last night?” Mandie remarked.

“I don’t think he believed us, either,” Jonathan said.

“Neither one of them wanted to believe us. It was almost as if they had some secret reason to dispute everything we said,” Mandie added.

“Like what, Mandie?” Celia asked.

“Like maybe the blades were set in that odd position for a certain reason, and they knew about it but didn’t want us to know,” Mandie said as Snowball settled down around her feet.

“Did you notice the way Mr. Van Dongen passed off your remark about seeing someone in the flowers last night?” Jonathan asked.

“Yes, and I think we ought to find out why,” Mandie announced.

“But, Mandie!” Celia exclaimed under her breath. “That’s not our business.”

“We’ll make it our business to find out who that person was last night, and why the windmill’s blades were in the wrong position and then suddenly moved to normal,” Mandie said. “It shouldn’t be so hard to find out.”

Jonathan and Celia looked at each other and sighed.

CHAPTER SEVEN

WHO MIXED THE PAINT?

The young people were tired from their late-night escapades the night before, and made no objection when Mrs. Taft sent everyone off to bed early. It seemed to Mandie that she had just gone to sleep when Gretchen was knocking on the door to say that breakfast was ready.

“We’ll be down in a few minutes,” Mandie called sleepily to the maid. She shook Celia awake, and they both jumped out of bed. Snowball tumbled to the floor.

“Do not be too long or the food will be cold,” Gretchen replied through the closed door as she hurried on down the hallway.

Mandie yawned and stretched while she reached for a dress in the tall wardrobe. “I didn’t wake up at all last night. And I didn’t dream either,” she told Celia.

Celia also pulled a fresh garment down for herself. “Me either,” she said. “I suppose our late night has finally caught up to us.”

“Yes, but now we have to be alert for every chance we get to begin working on our mystery,” Mandie said, slipping on a pale pink linen dress.

“But, Mandie, there is no way we can find out who that was we saw in the flower field, or who set the windmill blades,” Celia said as she straightened her long tan skirt. “If you ask me, I believe Mr. Van

Dongen is the one who set the blades and then moved them.” She stuffed a yellow linen waist into the band of her skirt.

Mandie twirled before the mirror, and then looked at her friend. “You do? Why?”

“Well, he acted strange when we told him everything,” Celia said, coming to stand by Mandie in front of the looking glass. “In fact, I think he was angry that we knew about the blades, and that we saw someone in the flowers.”

“Yes, he was,” Mandie admitted again. “That’s why I think it is some kind of a secret, and he doesn’t want us to find out anything more. Remember that Albert did not say anything to defend us before his father?”

“Yes,” Celia replied, then added with a smile, “And that is strange, because he seemed really smitten with you. You ought to use that to your advantage.”

Mandie felt a blush rise in her cheeks. “Smitten? You sound like Jonathan. Whatever in the world are you talking about, Celia Hamilton?”

“Oh, Mandie, you know he is definitely interested in you. Why, he didn’t take his eyes off you all the time we were there,” Celia said. “You could very easily influence him into talking to his father about this whole thing for us.”

Mandie thought for a moment as a frown crossed her brow. “You’re right, Celia. I might see what I can do if I get a chance,” she said.

“But right now we’d better get on down to breakfast,” Celia reminded her.

Mandie bent to fasten Snowball’s leash onto his collar. “I’ll ask Gretchen to feed Snowball while we eat, because I’m going to have to take him with us. We’ll probably be gone all day, and I just can’t leave him shut up here that long,” she said.

“I’ll help you take care of him while we’re out, Mandie,” Celia offered.

“Thanks. You always do and I appreciate it,” Mandie told her as they started for the door.

Everyone else was already at the table when the girls entered the dining room. Gretchen took Snowball, and Mandie and Celia sat down.

“Celia and I both were still asleep when Gretchen knocked on our door,” Mandie told her grandmother.

“So was I, dear,” she admitted. “I suppose we were all tired out. We’ve done nothing but travel and gad about for such a long time now,” Mrs. Taft replied.

Gretchen had come back and was pouring the coffee. Hot rolls were on the table.

“Now that everyone is here I’ll get the food,” Gretchen told Mrs. Taft and left the room.

“Sleepy heads,” Jonathan teased the girls. “I’ve been up since the crack of dawn.”

“And what have you been doing since then?” Mandie asked as she sipped her cup of hot coffee.

“I’ve been out to look at the windmill,” Jonathan told her.

“Did you go all the way over there?” Mandie asked, surprised.

“Oh, no, I just walked far enough around the house to see the position of the blades,” Jonathan explained.

Mandie waited for him to go on, but he merely sat there smiling mischievously at her.

“Well, where were the blades stopped?” Mandie asked in an exasperated voice.

“Now that you’ve asked, they were in the regular closed-for-the-night position,” Jonathan said, and then added with a grin, “Nothing exciting. All normal.”

“Jonathan, sometimes I could shake you,” Mandie muttered so that her grandmother at the end of the table could not hear her.

“That goes for me, too. Sometimes you are overly aggressive,” Jonathan replied, sipping his coffee and reaching for a roll.

Mandie took a deep breath and said, “Now that we’re even, let’s get on with our mystery. Did you see Albert or his father?”

“No one, not even the cat, but then Albert said the cat was not allowed to run outside,” Jonathan replied.

Mrs. Taft spoke from the end of the table as Gretchen brought in the food. “Amanda, Celia, Jonathan, eat up now. We must hurry to get to Delft this morning so that we might have time for something else today.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Mandie replied, helping herself to the dishes of hot food being passed.

“Mandie, if we see Albert today, don’t forget what I told you,” Celia reminded Mandie of their earlier conversation in their room.

“I won’t,” Mandie assured her.

Jonathan quickly looked at the girls and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing you would understand,” Mandie said with a smile.

“I may not understand everything that goes on, but remember I’m always right there with you girls, and if you see Albert, I’ll see him, too,” Jonathan replied.

“Please discontinue your conversation and concentrate on your food. We need to get going,” Mrs. Taft told the young people.

The three replied, “Yes, ma’am,” and hurriedly cleaned their plates.