The Mandie Collection (17 page)

Ella came to the doorway and announced, “It be time to leave, Miz Taft. You told me to let you know when. Ben has the rig waitin' at de door, and dat white cat he be fed and waitin' in de kitchen.”

“Thank you, Ella,” Mrs. Taft said, rising from the table. “Please tell Ben we will be right there. Amanda, get that cat if you insist on taking him.”

“Yessum,” Ella replied and went down the hallway.

“Yes, ma'am,” Mandie said as she quickly pushed back her chair and went to the kitchen to get Snowball.

Mrs. Taft was never late for anything and had planned this ride to the depot to coincide with the arrival of the train.

Luckily the train was on time and they could get right on board. Mandie had carried one small bag with her, mainly to set on the floor for Snowball to lie on and sleep. She breathed a sigh of relief when the cat seemed to know what her plans were. He curled up on top of it and went to sleep as soon as the train left the station.

Mrs. Taft leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. Mandie was too excited thinking about going home to sleep. She had not been home since Christmas, and Joe Woodard and his parents had visited for only one day during those holidays. He was still working full time on his studies at the college in New Orleans. And this time he had not said in his letter how long he would be out of school. Time passed quickly while Mandie was deep in thought.

As the train slowed down and came to a halt, Mandie saw her uncle's caretaker, Jason Bond, evidently waiting to pick them up. She reached down and moved Snowball in order to pick up her bag. He stretched at the end of his leash and look up at her sleepily.

“You can go back to sleep as soon as we get to the house, Snowball,” Mandie told him.

Mrs. Taft straightened her hat and stood up. “I must have dozed off there,” she said, smiling at Mandie.

“Yes, ma'am,” Mandie agreed. She followed her grandmother to the door as Snowball walked ahead on his leash.

Mr. Bond greeted them as they stepped off the train. “Howdy,
ma'am,” he said to Mrs. Taft, and turning to Mandie he added, “Glad you're home, missy.”

“I'm glad to be home,” Mandie quickly replied and smiled.

“Yes, and I'm glad that jolting train ride is over,” Mrs. Taft said.

“Mr. John's rig is right over here, if y'all will just get in, and I'll get the baggage as soon as they unload it,” Mr. Bond explained. He led them to the vehicle and helped Mrs. Taft get inside. Mandie followed.

While Mr. Bond was busy getting their luggage, Mandie watched the crowd to see if there was anyone strange who might be one of the new people in the old house. But everyone seemed to be somebody whose name she at least knew.

When they arrived at the house, Mandie's mother, Elizabeth, was there to greet them. “John had an errand to do,” she told her mother and Mandie as they settled down in the parlor. “He'll be back soon. I'm so glad you could come, Mother.” Everyone hugged everyone. Snowball ran down the hall.

“I couldn't very well allow Amanda to ride the train alone, so I had to come,” Mrs. Taft told her daughter.

“And I appreciate that, Mother,” Elizabeth said. Turning to Mandie she said, “I suppose the Hamiltons are still coming next weekend.”

“Oh yes, ma'am,” Mandie said with a big smile. “Celia's mother and her aunt Rebecca will both be coming with her.” Pausing for a second, she asked, “Who else is coming to visit while we're here?”

Elizabeth looked at her and said, “Of course Dr. and Mrs. Woodard will be coming, and when Dr. Woodard stopped by last week, he said they expected Joe to be home and that he would come with them.”

Mandie smiled and said, “Joe wrote me that he was going home for the holidays. I'm glad they are all coming here.” She quickly stood up and added, “I've got to go back to the kitchen to see Aunt Lou and the others.”

“Yes, dear, you do that. They are all busy getting the meal ready,” her mother explained.

Mandie hurried down the hallway and opened the kitchen door.
Aunt Lou turned and saw her and rushed across the room to embrace her. “And how's my chile?” the old woman asked.

“Fine, Aunt Lou. I hope you are, too,” Mandie said, hugging her back. Turning, she greeted all the others. “Liza, Jenny, and Abraham, I'm so glad to see all of you. That's the best part of coming home, getting to see everyone.”

“It sho' is,” Aunt Lou agreed as she turned back to the pots on the big iron cookstove.

“We's gittin' mo' people in dis heah town,” Liza, the young maid, told Mandie. “Somebody dun moved into dat old barn down by de creek.”

Mandie immediately turned to look at the girl. “So I heard,” she said. “Does anyone know who they are?”

All the servants shook their heads. “Nope, don't nobody know 'em,” Liza said, and then with a big grin, she added, “But we plannin' on findin' out, we is.”

“How many people are living in that house? Is it a family or what?” Mandie asked.

Aunt Lou turned to shake her head and said, “Dat we don't be knowin'.”

“What kind of people have been seen down at the house, then?” Mandie asked.

“Ain't seen nobody, but de light shows in de house at night so somebody's in dere,” Abraham explained.

“But dey gwine come out sometime and den we see 'em,” Jenny added.

Looking at Aunt Lou, Mandie asked, “That house is not on Uncle John's property, is it?”

“No, my chile, it be jes' right next to de edge of Mistuh John's land,” the woman replied. “Had it been on Mistuh John's property, he woulda been down dere lookin' to see who moved in.”

Turning to Liza, Mandie asked, “When you get done with your work, do you want to walk down that way with me? Maybe we'll see somebody, Liza.”

“I sho' will, missy,” Liza replied, grinning. “I been already tryin' to see but ain't seed nuthin' yet.”

“I knowed my chile would be 'vestigatin',” Aunt Lou said with a big smile.

Mandie returned to the parlor to wait for Uncle John's return. She wanted to ask him some questions. Maybe he knew more about it than the servants. But one thing was sure—she just had to figure out the mystery.

CHAPTER TWO

THE LIGHT

Not long after Mandie returned to the parlor, Liza came to the door and silently motioned for her to come out into the hall. Mandie glanced at her mother and grandmother, who were deep in conversation about a dinner party for the next weekend. They didn't even notice when Mandie left the room.

“Can you go now?” Mandie quickly asked Liza.

“Sho' can,” Liza replied with a big grin as she danced around the wide hallway. “Aunt Lou, she say thirty minutes, dat's all, and den be back to de kitchen to finish he'pin' wid suppuh.”

“Then let's get going,” Mandie said with a smile as she walked toward the front door and opened it.

“Yeh, let's git on de way,” Liza agreed, following Mandie outside.

Mandie stopped to look around the yard and asked, “Liza, what's the best way to get to that old house from here? I don't remember exactly where it is.”

“I knows, Missy 'Manda,” Liza replied, leading the way to the side of the house. “We goes dis way and it ain't fah.” She danced on around the house and turned into a narrow pathway down the hill. Liza never seemed to walk; she always floated.

“Can we get there and back in the thirty minutes Aunt Lou has allowed you?” Mandie asked as she hurried along behind the girl.

“Sho' can if we don't be foolin' round,” Liza replied as Mandie caught up to walk beside her. “Ain't no piece, really. I bin checkin' up on dat house evuh since Mistuh John say he saw a light in it t'other night. But I ain't been able to git out aftuh dahk, so I ain't seed de light whut he say he saw down dere. Aunt Lou, she say no prowlin' round aftuh dahk, but mebbe now you got heah I go wid you aftuh dahk when you goes to see de light.”

Mandie smiled at her friend and said, “Liza, I'm not sure I can go to look for the light after dark, either. I don't want to get in trouble with my mother while I'm here, and she might not like the idea of me going out after dark all the way down to that house.” She hurried on to keep up with Liza.

“Ah now, Miz 'Lizbeth, she nice lady,” Liza said. “I don't think she'd mind if we went together aftuh dahk. I looks out fo' you and you looks out fo' me.” She suddenly paused and pointed ahead as she said, “Dere's dat house, you see? Ain't much of a house. Looks like a barn to me, don't you think?”

Mandie stopped to look in the direction Liza was pointing. In the distance she could see a small, unpainted, weather-beaten building leaning slightly to the right, with the shutters closed over the one window in view. Spring vegetation had started growing up around it, and the trees under which it stood had fresh green leaves sprouting.

“It's all closed up,” Mandie remarked. “How can anyone see a light inside it?”

“Oh, Missy 'Manda, dat house be full of cracks, and de light shine through dem cracks at night,” Liza explained. “Leastways dat's whut Mistuh John say.”

Mandie glanced around the place where they stood. “Are we still on Uncle John's property, Liza?”

“Yep, right down to dat briar patch yonder. Dat makes de line,” Liza replied, pointing down the incline to a thick mass of bushes. “Aunt Lou, she tell me don't go over de line.”

“Who owns that property, Liza?” Mandie asked as they continued standing there looking down on the house.

“Mistuh John, he say de man whut lived in dat house left town long time ago, ain't been seed nor heerd of since den,” Liza replied.

“I suppose we'd better stay inside our line, but let's walk down
right to the property line where we can see better,” Mandie said, walking down the hill.

There was not much more to see at the line. Mandie saw the creek that ran on the other side of the old house and could tell the building itself was small, probably one or two rooms, with one shaky-looking chimney running up the back side. The post holding up the corner of the roof over the small porch was leaning, and the porch floor was half gone, rotted away and fallen in.

Squinting to see if anyone was in the bushes around the house, Mandie said, “I don't see anyone. Considering the condition of that old house, I don't believe anyone could be living in it.” She held her hand up to shade her eyes as she stared at the structure.

Liza, finally standing still at Mandie's side, also gazed at the house and said, “Mistuh John, he think somebody livin' in dere 'cause he see de light at night. Somebody bound to be makin' dat light, Missy 'Manda, unless a ghost be livin' in dere.” Quickly looking at Mandie, she asked, “Whut you think? A ghost, mebbe?”

Mandie smiled at her and said, “No, Liza, I don't think there's a ghost in that old house. Some human being is making the light that Uncle John has seen.”

“Den we gwine find dat human bein'? Is dat whut we plannin' on doin'?” Liza replied.

“I'll have to figure out what we can do about solving this mystery,” Mandie told her. “I need to talk to Uncle John.” She turned to go back up the hill.

Liza, following, said, “Everybody done seed dat light—Aunt Lou, Jenny, Abraham, Mistuh Bond, and Mistuh John. Dat light is dere at night, and now me and you come look at it aftuh dahk, won't we?”

“I'll let you know,” Mandie promised.

“We go tonight?” Liza asked, hurrying along behind Mandie.

“I want to talk to Uncle John, and I'll let you know later when we'll go look after dark, Liza,” Mandie promised.

When they got back to the house, Liza had to go back to her duties in the kitchen, and Mandie returned to the parlor. She was glad to see her Uncle John had returned and was sitting there with her mother and grandmother.

“And how's my little blue eyes?” John Shaw asked, rising to put an arm around Mandie's shoulders.

“Fine, Uncle John, and already picking up the scent of a new mystery,” Mandie replied with a big grin as he took the chair next to hers and they sat down.

“And I have an idea of what mystery that is,” John Shaw replied, grinning at her. “Well, so far I haven't been able to figure it out, but there is a light in that old house down there at night, and during the day there is no sign of anyone. I figure someone must have moved in there, but I don't understand why I haven't seen anyone around the place.”

“Does the light burn all night?” Mandie asked.

John Shaw laughed and replied, “I have no idea. I'm certainly not going to camp out down there all night and watch. However, I have knocked on the door and there is no answer, no sound whatsoever from inside.”

“Have you tried opening the door?” Mandie asked.

“Of course not, Amanda,” John Shaw told her. “There could be some unsavory characters shacked up in there, and it could be dangerous to just barge in.”

“I suppose I could sit on the hill above it all day and watch,” Mandie suggested. “Someone might go in or out and I'd see them.”

John Shaw laughed again and said, “That sounds like a waste of time to me. If whoever is in there doesn't want to be seen, they'd never come out with you sitting there watching for them.”

“I could sit behind a bush where they couldn't see me,” Mandie explained.

“I wouldn't waste my time with it. Sooner or later we'll find out who is in the house,” John Shaw told her. “Aren't your friends coming to visit during the holidays? I'm sure you could find better things to do with them.”

“Yes, sir, Celia and her mother and her aunt Rebecca are coming,” Mandie replied.

“Are they bringing that little Irish orphan that lives with them?” John Shaw asked, smiling.

Mandie grinned back. “Not this time,” she said. “They're leaving her with some friends who have a little girl about Mollie's age.”