Mandie Collection, The: 4 (79 page)

“I will, too,” Mandie agreed. “I miss my mother and Uncle John and my little baby brother. In fact, I miss everyone back in North Carolina.”

“I wonder what time your grandmother and the senator will be back from town?” Celia asked. “They sure have been gone a long time.”

“They said they didn’t know exactly, but I imagine it will be in time for supper,” Mandie said. “And this time we have stayed right with Uncle Ned. Grandmother should be happy about that.”

“I wish everyone would hurry up and come back,” Celia said.

“You know, we still don’t know why the Chinese men, if they really are the ones who mixed the paint, have been tying up the miller and moving his windmill blades. How did they happen to get this far out in the country from the Delftware factory? Remember, it was a long way there,” Mandie reminded her.

“Maybe they know he’s working for the Dutch government,” Celia suggested.

“Maybe, but why would they mess around with the windmill blades?” Mandie asked. “I sure hope Uncle Ned and Mr. Van Dongen catch those men and make them talk.”

But she was disappointed as she looked up and saw her friends with Albert and his father coming toward them from the woods. The Chinese men were not with them.

“You couldn’t catch them?” she asked Uncle Ned as he approached.

“Gone,” the old Indian told her. He looked concerned, but said no more.

“Come, we will have more tea,” Mr. Van Dongen told them, trying to sound hospitable.

The girls started toward the house and Jonathan, Ned, and Mr. Van Dongen followed.

Mandie wouldn’t look directly at Albert because he was smiling at her, and she noticed that Jonathan was watching.

She couldn’t quite understand why she felt nervous when Albert smiled at her. The feeling was all new to her. Ordinarily she would have just smiled back, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Uncle Ned had gone into the kitchen with Mr. Van Dongen, and Mandie tried to sit away from Albert, but he followed her across the room and sat on a footstool near her chair. She still felt Jonathan watching, and this made matters worse.

Celia, knowing that Mandie was upset, spoke up to break the ice: “Where are you going to school in the United States, Albert?”

“Oh, to the Banham School for Boys in New York,” he replied politely, hardly looking at Celia.

Jonathan said quickly, “That school is hard to get into. You must have an awfully high academic score to make that.”

“Top of my class here,” Albert said with a shrug.

“Jonathan, if you stay home in New York and go to school, you and Albert may be able to see each other once in a while,” Mandie said.

Jonathan frowned. “Maybe.” Then he looked at Mandie and said, “I think I’d rather go to Chadwick’s School for Boys in Asheville, North Carolina. That way I’d be near your school and could pester you and Celia now and then.”

Mandie’s mouth dropped open. She couldn’t imagine Jonathan in school in North Carolina. She and Tommy Patton from the Chadwick School were good friends, and attended socials together. She didn’t think the two would like each other.

“That school may be hard to get into, too,” Mandie said coyly. “They’re choosey, I understand.”

“How choosey can they be? I’m number one in my class also,” Jonathan said with a smirk.

That was hard to believe, but Mandie didn’t think Jonathan would lie about such a thing. Number one, indeed. He must be awfully intelligent, but he had never showed off.

Albert asked, “Is this Mr. Chadwick’s School special in some way? Should I also ask for entrance there?”

“Oh, no, no,” Mandie told him. “It’s not special at all. It’s just a plain old boarding school for boys. You wouldn’t like it. New York would be much better.”

Mandie certainly didn’t want Albert that close around. She felt her face flush as she saw Jonathan grinning at her. She turned her attention to Snowball in her lap.

“Then I will go to New York,” Albert decided. “But I will have holidays when I could visit your town.”

“In North Carolina we have very few holidays, and then Celia and I always go home to visit our families,” Mandie told him quickly. Changing the subject she asked, “Albert, why do you suppose the Chinese men have come around here? Did you know that they tied up your father and gagged him? And that they seemed obsessed with moving his windmill blades?”

Albert sobered and said, “My father told me what happened while I was away. Of course we would like the answer to your questions also. I will not be leaving again any time soon. We will catch them if they dare to return.”

“I sure hope you do,” Mandie said. “Your father told us he works for your government.”

“Yes, and by the way, I do appreciate all the help you have all given my father.”

Jonathan spoke up, “You know, we have a mystery to solve at the house where we’re staying, too. All the servants disappeared this morning after Mandie’s grandmother and the senator went to town. At noon there was food on the table, but no one was around anywhere.”

“That is strange. Maybe I could give you a hand in searching them out,” Albert offered.

“Oh, but we’ve searched the house inside and out and there’s no one anywhere,” Mandie quickly told him. She certainly didn’t want him coming over to their house and following her around.

But she was anxious to get back and see for herself whether the servants had returned.

CHAPTER TWELVE

SURPRISE EVENTS

Mr. Van Dongen once again served tea. He and Uncle Ned sat at one end of the room and discussed the events of the day. The young people talked on the opposite side. Mandie let Snowball down on his leash.

“You have a sister, don’t you, Albert?” Mandie asked, knowing full well that he did.

“Yes, I do. She’s at work right now,” Albert replied.

“Did you know one of those Chinese men came to our house asking for her?” Mandie asked.

Albert looked shocked as he set down his teacup on a nearby table. “Asking for her? What did he say?”

Mandie turned to Jonathan for an answer.

“I went to the door, and he just asked if ‘the lady’ was there. And I said, ‘What lady?’ and he said, ‘The lady from the mill,’ so I assumed he was talking about your sister. I said, ‘The miller’s daughter?’ and he said ‘Yes,’” Jonathan explained.

“I have no idea what a Chinese man would want with my sister,” Albert said. He spoke across the room to his father and told him what Jonathan had said.

“She does not know any Chinese that I know of,” Mr. Van Dongen said. “I don’t understand.”

“Understand what, Papa?” A girl opened the door to an inside hallway and stuck her head in.

“Come in, we have visitors,” Mr. Van Dongen told her.

When the girl stepped into the room, a young man followed. Mandie gasped. They were the ones she had seen leave the parade, and later she had seen them at the parade by the Delftware factory.

“This is my daughter, Velda, and the widow DeWeese’s son, Maurice,” the miller said. “These are the visitors from the United States who are renting the van Courtlands’ house.”

Greetings were exchanged, and Mandie couldn’t keep her eyes off the two. The daughter was beautiful and the young man was handsome. Mandie wondered about the times she had seen them.

“Velda and Maurice work for the flower parade commission,” Mr. Van Dongen explained. “They are in many parades.”

Mandie’s thoughts were racing around the couple as the two sat down.

“We saw you in a parade the day we got here. We had to wait for it to pass before our carriage could go on. When I looked back, you all were leaving the parade and going back the other way,” Mandie told them.

The two looked at each other. Then Velda said, “It might have been that we had to hurry to participate in another parade.”

“And we saw you, Maurice, in the flower fields outside the house one night. You turned around and ran the other way,” Mandie said.

“Oh, yes,” Maurice admitted. “I was late getting home, and I didn’t know who you were. I was in too big a hurry to stop and inquire. I’m sorry.” When he smiled, Mandie noticed that he had perfect white teeth.

Albert spoke to his sister, “Do you know what has been going on here while I’ve been away?”

“Going on?” Velda asked.

“Yes.” Albert’s voice was sharp. “If you don’t know, then where have you been?”

“I have been working,” Velda insisted.

“Not twenty-four hours a day, certainly,” Albert said. “While you were off fooling the time away, our father was tied up and gagged in the mill on two separate occasions.”

Velda gasped. “What are you talking about?”

“You know very well that Papa is working with the government trying to find the person, or persons, who mixed the paint at the Delftware factory,” Albert said. “Apparently two Chinese men may be responsible—”

“Chinese men?” Velda interrupted. Her face took on an ugly frown as she turned to Maurice. “Chinese men?” she repeated. “What do you know about this?” she asked him.

Maurice dropped his eyes and said, “Nothing whatsoever.”

“One of the Chinese men came to our house looking for you,” Mandie said.

“He did?” Velda said, incredulous. “Come outside,” she said to Maurice. “I want to talk to you.” She rose and hurried toward the door, Maurice behind her.

Once they were outside, Albert stood. “Please forgive me, but I must hear what is going on between my sister and Maurice.”

“Yes, of course,” Mandie said.

As soon as Albert had left the room, Mandie pinched Snowball and made him meow.

“Oh, goodness,” she said, “I have to take Snowball outside for a few minutes.”

Jonathan grinned and Celia smiled. “I’ll go with you,” Jonathan said.

Celia added, “Me too.”

When they got outside, Velda and Maurice were nowhere in sight. Albert was standing in the yard, puzzled as to where his sister and Maurice could have gotten to so quickly.

Mandie let Snowball down on his leash. Then she caught a glimpse of Flour Rat coming out of the mill.

Albert went to pick him up. “We don’t allow him to roam around outside,” he said.

Suddenly, the four of them heard Velda and Maurice arguing inside the mill. “Exactly what are your Chinese friends up to?” Velda demanded.

“They are not my friends, you know that,” Maurice was saying. “They are friends of friends of mine. They told me they wanted to use the windmill blades to signal to some other friends out in a boat as to where they were. That’s all.”

“That’s all? And they came here and tied my father up. How dare you get involved in such a thing!” Velda was furious with him.

Albert stepped forward to make his presence known. Blocking the doorway, he asked Maurice in a threatening voice, “What is your connection with these Chinese men? You’d better tell me now or you’ll have to tell the authorities later.”

Mandie and her friends stood right behind Albert.

“How many times do I have to explain they are not my friends? They are friends of friends. That is all,” Maurice said angrily, walking about inside the mill.

“You had better tell me if you know why those men tied up my father and left him here on two separate occasions,” Albert demanded.

“Ask them yourself. They’re right behind you,” Maurice said matter-of-factly.

Everyone whirled around to see the two men standing behind them, this time with guns.

Celia swayed as if to faint, and Mandie quickly put an arm around her. Jonathan’s eyes glittered with excitement, and Mandie knew he was going to try something brave.

Albert’s face was seething with anger, and Velda was in shock.

“Inside,” one of the men demanded as he waved his gun at Albert and the others. They all slowly moved inside the mill.

Maurice quietly slipped further into the mill. Mandie wondered whether he was preparing to rescue them when he had a chance.

“We will not hurt you if you cooperate. We only want to send a message on the windmill to our companions who will destroy the Delftware factory when we signal them.”

Everyone gasped at his words.
So they were trying to send signals on Mr. Van Dongen’s windmill for the factory to be destroyed
, Mandie thought.
What can I do about it? Mr. Van Dongen and Uncle Ned are still inside the house and don’t know what’s going on
.

“Why did you tie up my father?” Albert demanded as he advanced toward them, still holding the big gray cat.

Mandie instinctively knew what he was planning to do, and she walked to his side, holding Snowball.

“He got in our way,” the smaller man said. Mandie noticed that both the men were smaller than Albert. But then Maurice, who had
slipped back in with the young people, was a huge fellow, and who knew which side he was on?

“This time you are in
my way!
” Albert yelled at the man, at the same time tossing his cat in the man’s face. Mandie threw Snowball at the other man, and both cats, excited and angry, clawed at the men’s faces, causing them to drop their guns. Albert made a dive for the guns at the same time Maurice did, but Jonathan grabbed one of them first.

“Stop!” Jonathan demanded as Maurice grappled with Albert for the second gun.

When Maurice paid no attention to him, Jonathan fired the gun above everyone’s head. At the same moment, an arrow flew through the open door and hit Maurice’s hand. He fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

Mandie knew without looking that Uncle Ned had come to the rescue. Mr. Van Dongen rushed into the mill followed by the old Indian, and soon they had the two Chinese men tied up.

Velda stood back in anger, watching Maurice roll on the floor trying to remove the arrow. “You traitor!” she screamed at him, and then went running out into the yard.

Uncle Ned knew how to shoot an arrow and he also knew how to remove one. He bent down and worked to get the arrow out of Maurice’s hand.

Mr. Van Dongen had his cart ready by then to take Maurice into town to the doctor, and then turn him and the two Chinese men over to the authorities.

Mandie moved close to Jonathan and said, “You sure know how to shoot a gun.”

He frowned and said, “If I have to, I can, but I don’t like to.”