The Mandie Collection (38 page)

“Yes, food,” Joe agreed, watching to see what Riley had.

“We have ham biscuits and sausage biscuits,” Riley announced, looking around the group.

“You made ham and sausage biscuits?” Mandie asked.

Riley grinned at her and said, “I only carried them. Morning Star made them today and gave them to me for our group. Everyone just step forward and take whatever you want.” He stepped back from the stack of biscuits he had pulled out of the bag and laid on a cloth on the log.

Mandie had trouble controlling Snowball until she took a ham biscuit, sat down nearby, and broke off a piece for her cat. He greedily ate it and meowed for more.

“Snowball, you are not going to have my whole biscuit. You had your supper,” Mandie told the cat as he rubbed against her ankles.

“There is plenty, Mandie,” Sallie said. “Why not give him his own biscuit?”

“Yes, there is more than we will eat. After all, we did eat the huge supper that Morning Star cooked,” Riley O'Neal said. Reaching for a ham biscuit, he held it out to the cat and then laid it on the grass for him. “Here, Snowball.” He sat down next to Mandie on the log.

Snowball went to work on the biscuit. He didn't just pull out the meat and eat it. He ate the biscuit, too, as everyone watched.

Mandie looked at Riley and asked, “Is your school out now for the summer?”

“Not exactly,” he replied. “We haven't been able to get the school on a regular schedule because there are so many holidays and other excuses for the Cherokee children not to come to school. They are not used to regular sessions like the white children are. I discussed this with your old schoolmaster, Mr. Tallant, at Charlie Gap the other day. He suggested having rewards for attendance. I may try that.”

“Reward them for going to school?” Joe asked.

“Yes,” Sallie spoke up. “Our children are not used to the ways of the white children. They can be enticed to do things if there is a reward for it.”

“And most of the children are fast learners,” Riley added.

Dimar suddenly stood up, waved his hand at everyone, and whispered, “Shhh!”

Everyone stopped talking to listen. Mandie could not hear a
sound at first, but then she finally realized someone or something was walking through the woods nearby. Then it dawned on her that they were in plain view in the moonlight if this was danger of any kind. However, Dimar stood there and no one moved.

Then Snowball broke the silence. He meowed loudly and went running off in the direction of the sound.

Dimar laughed and said, “It's Uncle Ned and the others.”

At that moment the old man appeared in the moonlight nearby, and Mandie saw Snowball rubbing around his ankles. He came forward to join them.

“Cat here, too,” he said, laughing as he stooped to pat Snowball's head.

“Oh, I'm glad it was you, Uncle Ned,” Mandie said, blowing out her breath. “Snowball could have caused us trouble.”

“Where is the rest of your party, Uncle Ned?” Riley O'Neal asked.

“Over other side, wait for Wirt,” he explained. “I come see you come.”

“We have not seen anyone,” Dimar told Uncle Ned. “If Tsa'ni is on this mountain, he is not on this side.”

“Not other side, either,” Uncle Ned replied. “Maybe Wirt find on his side. We see.”

Uncle Wirt approached them from the woods then. He was alone. “Tsa'ni not there,” he said as he stood before the group.

“Nowhere,” Uncle Ned added.

Dimar stood before them and asked, “Now we go down long way?”

“Yes,” Uncle Ned said.

Wirt nodded and said, “Long way.”

Riley O'Neal quickly repacked what was left of the biscuits, and everyone got their things together. Mandie picked up Snowball.

Joe groaned and said in a whisper to Mandie, “The long way. It's probably twice as long as the way we came. We may be finished by daylight.”

“Oh shucks!” Mandie exclaimed.

“The long way is really the short way,” Sallie explained as they began following the old men. “Because we go down faster than we come up.”

“That sounds good,” Joe said.

“If we don't find Tsa'ni on this mountain, I wonder where we look next,” Mandie said. “I'm going to tell him a thing or two when we do catch up with him.” She held on to Snowball and followed her friends down a steep hill.

CHAPTER SIX

NO LUCK

Sallie was right. The way down took much less time than the way up had. At the bottom of the mountain, the young people piled into the cart again and followed the adults back to Uncle Ned's house. The night air had grown chilly, and as soon as the animals were all put away, everyone gathered around the huge fireplace in Morning Star's immense kitchen. She immediately began serving hot coffee, and Sallie brought out a blackberry pie that she had made earlier.

Finally everyone ended up at the long table. Snowball jumped into the woodbox behind the huge iron cookstove and curled up for a nap.

“I thought I'd want to go to bed as soon as I got back, but this food is worth staying awake for,” Joe told Morning Star, who looked at Sallie for interpretation.

Sallie spoke in the Cherokee language to her grandmother, and Morning Star replied with a big smile.

“My grandmother says she enjoys feeding hungry people,” Sallie told the young people.

“And we enjoy the food, Sallie,” Celia said, taking a bite of the pie.

“Yes,” Joe agreed.

“Everything she cooks is delicious, but I know you made the pie, Sallie, and you are also a good cook,” Mandie said, sipping her coffee.

“Thank you,” Sallie said shyly.

“Now, what do we do next?” Riley O'Neal asked Uncle Wirt.

The young people immediately grew quiet to listen.

Uncle Wirt shook his head and said, “Tomorrow we search woods, other way.” The old man indicated the opposite direction from the mountain with his hand.

Dimar spoke up. “Tsa'ni may not want us to find him, and if that is so, we will never find him.” He looked at the men.

“After woods, no more,” Uncle Wirt replied. “Jessan be home soon. He find.”

Mandie was relieved to hear that. She didn't want to spend all her time looking for the missing boy, but she knew from past experiences that when one is missing, all the rest in the area are expected to search. She was sitting between Joe and Celia and whispered, “We need to find the quilt.” She quickly looked at Sallie on the other side of Celia, but Sallie didn't seem to hear her.

Mandie was still thinking about how she could get someone to tell her what the message on the Cherokee quilt was. She decided she would not even mention the quilt to Uncle Wirt. He could be loud and determined in his views about various things. And he had told Uncle Ned to bring the quilt back and to tell Mandie to put it away.

Suddenly Joe stood up and said, to everyone in general, “Excuse me for a minute. I need to get something from my luggage.”

Mandie opened her mouth to ask what, but he ignored her and quickly left the room. She looked at Celia, puzzled by his behavior. Celia shrugged her shoulders to silently say she didn't know what was going on.

The adults talked on while Mandie, Celia, and Sallie silently waited for Joe to return. And when he came back into the room, he held something behind him and went directly to Morning Star.

“This is for you,” he said, smiling as he brought forth a red silk scarf and quickly placed it around the old woman's neck.

Morning Star reached to squeeze his hand, jumped up from the
table, and twirled around with the scarf flowing from her shoulders. “Pritty, pritty,” she kept repeating.

Then Uncle Wirt and Uncle Ned nodded with big smiles and said, “Pritty, pritty,” together.

Everyone laughed. Joe sat back down next to Mandie and said, under his breath, “Quilt not back.”

Mandie frowned and sighed. “Where did you get the scarf?” she asked.

“I had it with me when I came to your house,” Joe explained. “And it really was for Morning Star. My mother gave it to me to put in my valise for her to bring to Morning Star when we were all supposed to come here together later.”

Mandie watched Morning Star, who was seated back at the table but kept running her fingers through the tassels on the ends of the scarf.

“The scarf is beautiful, Joe. My grandmother may never want to take it off again,” Sallie said with a laugh.

Dimar leaned forward to ask, “Do all women like scarves?”

Mandie smiled at him and said, “Most women, I'd say.”

“Then I must get one for my mother. She will see Morning Star's and will wish to have it,” the Indian boy said.

Sallie looked at Dimar and said, “I do not know where you will find one.”

“I will have to go to Bryson City and look for one,” Dimar replied.

Riley O'Neal, sitting across the table, had been listening to the young people's conversation. “I will be going to Bryson City one day sometime within the next week. I would be glad to look for a scarf for you, Dimar.”

“Thank you,” Dimar said. “If you are going there, I would appreciate it.”

“Yes, I am going there to look for a lady who makes quilts for sale,” Riley O'Neal replied. “I have decided I need a little more cover for these cold winter nights. I know it's springtime, but I will be prepared for next winter.”

Uncle Wirt had overheard this from down the table, and he looked
at Riley and said, “No buy quilt. Saphronia have lots and lots quilts. She give you one.”

“Thank you very much, Mr. Wirt. I would be glad to pay her for any extra quilt she may be able to spare,” Riley said.

Mandie had straightened up at the first word about quilts. She quickly debated whether to speak or not. She really wanted to see Aunt Saphronia's quilts, mainly to decide whether she had any that might have a Cherokee message on them like the one she had found.

“You help Cherokee children, no pay for quilt,” Uncle Wirt told Riley.

Looking at Dimar, Riley said, “I still have to go to Bryson City for other things.” Then to Wirt he said, “Thank you.”

Mandie knew the Cherokee people didn't like to be paid for any gifts they might wish to give white people. And evidently Riley knew this, too.

“Tomorrow we look more,” Uncle Wirt said, rising from the table. “Now we sleep.”

Everyone stood up around the table.

“I will be going home now, too,” Dimar told them. “I will return early tomorrow morning to help search.”

“And so will I,” Riley O'Neal added. “Since we don't have any schooling for this week, I'll be free to help in any way that I can.”

Uncle Wirt looked at Mandie and smiled. “You will come see us after that,” he said.

“Yes, sir, Uncle Wirt. I'll be over at your house as soon as we can finish this searching,” Mandie promised, grinning at the man who was her father's uncle and brother to her deceased grandmother, Talitha Pindar Shaw.

Uncle Wirt turned to the other young people and said, “All come to my house then.”

Joe, Celia, and Sallie replied together, “Yes, sir.”

As everyone said good-night and the young people went upstairs to sleep, Mandie frowned at Joe and tried to catch his attention. “Look for the quilt,” she whispered, dropping back beside him and letting Sallie and Celia go ahead.

Joe nodded.

With Sallie in the room with her and Celia, Mandie could not talk to Celia about the quilt. She had decided not to say a word to Sallie about it. Joe and Celia would be on the lookout for it.

Mandie lay awake for a long time after Celia and Sallie had gone to sleep. She tried and tried to figure out what had happened to the quilt. How would she ever find it?

Suddenly she heard horse's hooves in the yard below, slow and soft, as though someone was walking the animal. She quickly slid out her side of the bed and hurried over to the window to look out. The night was dark, and she couldn't see a thing down there. However, she believed whoever it was, was making sure they were outside the range of her vision. She debated going downstairs and outside to investigate but decided against it. This was Uncle Ned's house, and he probably wouldn't like it if he caught her roaming around in the darkness.

Then she heard a board creak outside the bedroom door. Rushing over to throw her cloak around her shoulders, she opened the door softly and saw Joe creeping past, evidently headed for downstairs.

Joe saw her and stopped and put his fingers to his lips to indicate no talking. Mandie nodded and motioned that she would wait there.

Mandie waited and waited, sitting on the floor outside the bedroom door, and was about to go down and find out where Joe had gone. Then without a sound Joe came back and motioned to her with his hands, “Gone. No one there.” He went on to his room.

Mandie sighed and went back to bed. She finally went to sleep and dreamed someone was chasing her through a dark tunnel. She suddenly jerked awake as Sallie stood there, touching her shoulder.

“Time for breakfast,” Sallie told her.

Mandie sat up and looked around. Celia was also up and already dressed. “My goodness, I'm late. I'm sorry,” she said. “I'll be ready to go downstairs in two minutes.”

She threw back the covers, dislodged Snowball, who loudly protested, and hurried to put on her clothes.

“Did I hear someone with a horse come through the yard last
night, or was I dreaming?” Mandie asked her friends, closely watching to see if they had heard the sound, too.

“I didn't hear anything. I slept soundly all night,” Celia said.

“Yes, I heard someone, too,” Sallie replied. “But that is not unusual lately, because my grandfather has young men watching all night around the house in case Tsa'ni comes through here.”

“Well then, that must explain what I thought I heard,” Mandie said, quickly brushing her long blond hair. As she turned with the hairbrush, she quickly looked into every corner of the room. There was still no sign of the missing valise with the quilt.