The Mandie Collection (35 page)

“I believe we're finished,” Mandie said, and then she happened to look at the bed. “The quilt! Where is the quilt? Remember I left it on the bed when Uncle Ned gave it back to me? Oh, where is it?” She became excited as she quickly searched the room.

Celia helped look for it. “Yes, I remember it was on your bed,” she agreed.

Mandie finished the search and stood in the middle of the floor as she said, “Oh, what happened to it? Celia, do you think Uncle Ned might have come in here and taken it back to hide somewhere since I didn't pack it away like he told me?”

“I don't think he would do that,” Celia said, also puzzled.

“Somebody had to take it, because I am positive I left it on my bed,” Mandie declared, stomping her foot. “And who would do that?”

“What are you going to do?” Celia asked.

“Oh, Celia, if I don't find that quilt, all this change of plans was for nothing,” Mandie moaned.

“We'll just have to keep on looking for it,” Celia replied.

“I just don't know where to start to look for it. It's not in this room. We both know that,” Mandie said. She thought for a moment and then added, “I suppose we'll have to search all the bedrooms on this floor. I don't know what else to do.” She started toward the door. “Come on. I know Joe didn't take it, but we need to search his room while he's down at the barn just in case someone put it in there while we were out.”

“Search Joe's room? Suppose he catches us?” Celia said, following her out the door.

“We can just explain what we're doing,” Mandie replied.

When they pushed open the door to Joe's room, Mandie noticed that Joe had sorted his clothes. There was one huge pile in each of the two chairs. His empty valise stood by the door.

“Let's hurry,” Celia nervously whispered.

“Yes, we have lots of other rooms to do,” Mandie agreed.

They searched the huge wardrobe and found it empty. The bureau drawers were also empty except for a few handkerchiefs. Mandie even got down on her knees and looked under the big bed. There was nothing under it, not even dust. The servants had cleaned the unused bedrooms that morning, knowing that guests would be arriving.

The Shaw house was three stories tall with an attic at the top. Aunt Lou, the housekeeper, and Liza, the maid, had rooms on the third floor. Jenny, the cook, and her husband, Abraham, the handyman, had their own cottage on the back of the property. Mr. Jason Bond, the caretaker, had a room near John Shaw's office, which was on the second floor.

Mandie and Celia quickly went through each room without being caught. Mrs. Taft was in her room, so they had to skip that one. They went back to Mandie's room and tried to figure out what to do next.

“The quilt has just disappeared,” Mandie declared. “Someone had to have taken it.”

“It must be about time for supper, Mandie,” Celia reminded her. “Let's go downstairs and see if Joe has come back into the house.”

“Yes, he might have some ideas,” Mandie agreed.

Joe came down the hallway just as they got to the bottom of the staircase.

“All done packing?” he asked.

“Yes, but, Joe, we have a problem,” Mandie told him in a low voice. “Come on. Let's go to the back parlor, where we can talk a minute.”

The back parlor was empty, and they went inside. Mandie closed the door. Before she even sat down she said, “Joe, the quilt is gone. I can't find it anywhere.”

“The quilt is gone?” Joe asked as he sat on a settee. “If it's gone,
someone had to have taken it. But who do you think would have done that?”

“I can't figure that out, Joe, unless Uncle Ned took it because I didn't pack it away like he told me to,” Mandie replied, sitting on a nearby chair. “I had left it on my bed.”

Celia sat down on a stool and said, “I told Mandie I don't think Uncle Ned would do that.”

“I agree,” Joe said. “But who would want to take the quilt? Are you sure one of the servants didn't just put it away in a cupboard or somewhere? Maybe thinking it didn't belong on your bed?”

“Maybe, but which one would do that? They're all busy in the kitchen getting food prepared. They cleaned the upstairs bedrooms this morning and would have no reason to go back up there that I know of,” Mandie said. “If we can't find the quilt, there is no reason to go rushing off with Uncle Ned tomorrow morning.” She got up to pace the floor. “Oh, who would do something like this?”

“We could start asking everyone if they have seen it,” Celia suggested.

“But if we ask everyone about it, the person who took it would know we have missed it already and might just hide it in another place, wherever it is right now,” Mandie said.

“Are you sure you're making sense, Mandie?” Joe teased.

“Well, what I meant was, I think it would be better if we don't tell everyone but just keep on looking for it,” Mandie replied. “We've already searched all the bedrooms on the second floor except Grandmother's room. She is taking a nap, and we didn't want to disturb her. But as you know, there are lots of other rooms in this house, the third floor, and the attic, and all the downstairs.”

“Mandie, I wish you would move into a smaller house. When we go on one of these searches, there's quite a bit of territory to cover in this house,” Joe teased. “And I can remember doing it before, several times, in fact.”

“But if we had a smaller house, we wouldn't have all those guest rooms for company to come and stay,” Mandie reminded him. “And another thing about this quilt—I don't want my mother or anyone to figure out that that is the reason we're going home with Uncle Ned, because Uncle Ned might refuse to take us with him.”

“Then we'd better get busy and search for this quilt,” Joe told her.

At that moment Liza opened the door and stuck her head in to say, “Miz 'Lizbeth says be in de parlor in ten minutes. Supper gittin' ready.”

“Thanks, Liza,” Mandie told her as the girl closed the door and went on down the hallway.

“I suppose we'd better get washed up and go to the parlor,” Mandie told her friends. “We'll meet you in the main parlor in five minutes.”

“I'll be there,” Joe agreed.

Mandie and Celia hurried up to Mandie's room to wash up and comb their hair. As Mandie opened the half-closed door, she saw Snowball curled up asleep on her bed. “Just look at him, fast asleep. He doesn't know there's food ready downstairs,” she said.

“Too bad he can't talk and tell you who came into your room and took the quilt,” Celia said, going over to the bureau to get her comb and brush.

“If he was in here when they took it,” Mandie said. “I know he has been in and out several times today. I'll just let him sleep and come back and get him for his supper if he doesn't come downstairs by the time we're finished with ours.”

The girls hurried and were back downstairs in about five minutes. Everyone else was already in the parlor. They went to sit by Joe on a settee.

“You need to get to bed early tonight, Amanda,” her mother reminded her. “You'll have to be up about daylight to get ready to go with Uncle Ned.”

“Yes, ma'am,” Mandie agreed.

“Yes, ma'am, me, too,” Celia added.

“And I suppose that includes me, too,” Joe teased.

“Mother, will you please tell Jonathan we'll be up later, that we didn't just forget about him inviting us to his house?” Mandie said.

“Of course, dear, but it would have been so much simpler for you three to just go along with us to New York and then visit your kinpeople after we get back, as we had planned,” Elizabeth reminded her.

Mrs. Taft spoke up, “Now, Elizabeth, we've got that all settled. Let's don't cause another change of plans, please.”

“I was just thinking,” John Shaw said. “The way we had it planned was that we would all go to New York first and then go to visit our Cherokee kinpeople, but if you three are going to visit them first and we go on to New York and you all come on up there, I suppose we adults will be left out of any visit to our people.”

Mandie smiled at him and said, “But we can go visit them again after we all come back from New York if y'all want to go then.”

“Perhaps,” John Shaw said. “We'll see.”

By the time everyone was seated in the dining room for supper, Liza announced that Snowball was in the kitchen having his supper, too.

“Dat white cat, he eatin' in de kitchen,” Liza said as she poured coffee for Mandie.

“That's fine, because now I won't have to go get him,” Mandie said.

“Don't never have to git dat cat when he can smell food,” Liza said, moving on around the table as she filled coffee cups.

Celia's mother, Jane Hamilton, spoke from across the table to her. “Celia, be sure you take enough warm clothes. It's still cold out there in the country hills. In fact, y'all might want to even take a quilt in the wagon with you for cover while you ride.”

“Quilt?” Mandie said, almost choking on her food. Why had Mrs. Hamilton mentioned taking a quilt? Did she know about the missing quilt?

“Keep quilts in wagon,” Uncle Ned said, overhearing the remark. “No need more.”

“That's nice, Uncle Ned,” Jane Hamilton told him. “I suppose we're just not used to traveling much except on trains.”

Mandie listened to the conversation, glanced at her friends, who were also listening, and decided it did not concern the missing quilt.

When the meal was over, Mandie and Celia decided to go up to Mandie's room and try to figure out what they could do about the quilt. Joe promised to meet them at the bench at the top of the main staircase as soon as he went to his room and packed his valise for their journey.

The door to Mandie's room was partly open, and when she
pushed it wide, she saw that Snowball had returned and was already curled up in the middle of the bed again.

“Oh, that cat. He's going to sleep so much he'll keep us awake all night prowling around the house,” Mandie complained. She went to the bed to talk to him. “Snowball, wake up and walk around awhile,” she said. He opened one blue eye to glance at her and then closed it. “Come on, Snowball, get up,” Mandie insisted. She bent over to pick him up. As she did, his claws stuck into the counterpane and dragged it with him.

Celia, who was standing nearby watching, started saying excitedly, “Mandie! Look! Look!”

Mandie stopped in surprise and looked at where Celia was pointing. The crumpled bedspread had revealed a quilt beneath it, and it was the Cherokee quilt. She quickly dropped Snowball on the floor and yanked the bedspread the rest of the way off the bed. Sure enough, it was the Cherokee quilt.

“Of all things!” Mandie said in surprise as she knelt by the bed and crumpled up in laughter. “It was here all the time. I wonder who put it on the bed.”

“That was a strange thing for someone to do, put that old quilt on the bed and then cover it with the bedspread,” Celia said, excitedly looking at it.

“But who did it?” Mandie asked again.

“Thank goodness you found it, just in time, too,” Celia reminded her.

Mandie stood up and said, “Will you help me take it off and fold it?”

The two girls finally got the heavy quilt off and folded.

“Now let's go tell Joe. He ought to be at the bench by now,” Mandie said as they placed the quilt on a chair.

Celia said, “Wait, Mandie. I don't think we ought to leave that quilt out where someone might see it after all the trouble it has caused.”

“You're right,” Mandie agreed and looked around the room. “But where can I put it?”

At that moment there was a knock on the door, and Celia reached
to open it. Liza was standing there. She was holding a clean sandbox for Snowball.

“Come in, Liza,” Mandie said.

“I sees you all done found dat quilt,” Liza said, glancing at the folded quilt on the chair. She set the sandbox in a corner.

“Yes. You don't know who put it on my bed, do you?” Mandie asked.

“I did dat, Missy 'Manda,” Liza answered.

“You put it on my bed? But why?” Mandie asked.

“To hide it, Missy 'Manda,” Liza replied. “I heard dat Injun man talking, dat quilt's got a secret, and he says to you to pack it away and you jes' go off and leave it right there where everybody could see it. So when I come to check all de rooms, I saw it and I hid it. Good hidin' place, ain't it?”

Celia and Mandie doubled up in laughter. Liza looked puzzled.

“Is there sumpin' funny?” Liza asked, puzzled by their behavior.

Mandie took a deep breath and said, “No, not really, Liza, but you see, we've been looking everywhere for this quilt.” Then, as the girl still looked puzzled, Mandie added, “I'm glad you hid it for me. Otherwise someone might have taken it.”

“Dat's right,” Liza said. “Now I'se got to go.”

“Good night, Liza. We'll see you bright and early in the morning,” Mandie told her as the girl went on down the hallway.

“Well, that was a funny solution to that mystery. Come on, let's tell Joe,” Mandie said, going to the door.

Celia asked again, “Are you not going to put it away, out of sight?”

Mandie paused and looked back. Snowball had crawled up on top of the quilt and was already fast asleep.

“Snowball will guard it for us. We'll only be gone a minute, and we will be able to see my doorway from that bench,” Mandie told her.

When they told Joe about finding the quilt, he said, “I would say y'all had better get back to that room right now and lock the door to keep it from disappearing again. I don't want to have to stay up all night looking for it.”

“You're right,” Mandie agreed. “We'll see you around six o'clock in the kitchen tomorrow morning. Good night.”