The Mandie Collection (40 page)

And whoever took the quilt might have been the person who let Snowball out. She was sure an unknown person had opened the door to Sallie's room and allowed her cat to come out. And that person might be lurking nearby somewhere, evading the search.

Mandie would have been better off not to come to Uncle Ned's house. She would still have her white cat and the quilt if she had not changed her plans. However, one thing was for sure, she could not leave Uncle Ned's house now to go home until she found Snowball. And that might take quite a while to do. And Grandmother Taft was sitting there waiting for them to return so they could all go on to New York. And Mandie's mother was in New York and expected to see her soon.

Suddenly Celia, sitting next to Mandie, was pulling at her sleeve, asking, “Mandie, do you want more coffee?”

Mandie looked up and saw Morning Star standing there with the coffeepot, waiting to refill cups.

Quickly pushing her cup forward, Mandie looked up at Morning Star and said, “Just a little,” and held up her fingers to measure how much.

Joe, sitting next to her, leaned over to say, “As soon as we find that cat, we need to be going back to your house.”

“I haven't even been to visit Uncle Wirt and Aunt Saphronia yet,” Mandie replied.

“We can do that tomorrow,” Joe said.

Mandie glanced at Uncle Ned and saw that he was looking
directly at her. She always felt he could almost read her thoughts, so she asked, “Uncle Ned, are you going to Red Clay, Tennessee, tomorrow?”

“No, not go,” the old man told her. “Later I go.”

“Do you mean you are not going to Red Clay at all?” Mandie asked.

“Some other day. I stay, take you all home to John Shaw's,” he explained with a smile.

“Oh, thank you, Uncle Ned, but I didn't want to interfere with your plans,” Mandie said.

Her friends listened to the conversation.

“Not you, but Tsa'ni,” Uncle Ned explained. “Waste time looking for him, not get other things done.”

“I'm sorry,” Mandie said. “After I visit Aunt Saphronia, we can all go back home, provided Snowball returns by then.”

Joe and Celia both quickly looked at her. She knew they were thinking that she had given up on the whereabouts of the Cherokee quilt. She had not, but she wanted to see the quilts that Aunt Saphronia had made. And just maybe she would find the quilt somewhere. And if she didn't, maybe she could talk Aunt Saphronia into telling her what the message on the quilt was.

“Sleep now,” Uncle Ned told the young people as he rose from his chair.

The young people said good-night and went upstairs. They stopped at the door to Sallie's room to talk.

“We can leave the door to my room open so Snowball can come in if he returns during the night,” Sallie said.

Long after Sallie and Celia were asleep, Mandie lay awake, trying to figure out what she should do next about her cat and the quilt. She suddenly realized she could faintly hear Snowball meowing somewhere. But where was he? She didn't want to wake her friends, so she cautiously sat up in bed and slipped out from under the covers. She held her breath to listen better. Sure enough, that was definitely Snowball's meow, but where was he? She cautiously moved about the room in the darkness, trying to figure out where the meow was coming from. As she passed the window and looked out, there was no sign of the white cat, but she could hear him better now. He was bound to be somewhere on the roof.

Being careful not to waken her friends, Mandie crawled out the window onto the roof in the darkness. She could finally determine the direction the meow was coming from.

“Snowball,” she said in a whisper as she moved forward. Then she heard a swishing sound and looked back to see the window sliding shut all by itself. Oh well, she would get the cat and come back and raise it up so they could get back into the house.

She finally spotted the white cat. He was sitting next to the chimney and would not come to her. Going slowly over the steep roof, she made her way to Snowball. At last she could reach and pick him up. He was frightened and had his claws out, clinging to the rough boards on the roof.

“Snowball,” Mandie whispered to him as she pulled his feet loose.

Once she had Snowball in her arms, she cautiously crawled back to the window to go inside. She had to set the cat down and use both hands in an effort to raise the window, but the window would not budge. Now what was she going to do? She couldn't get back in the house.

“We'll just have to go back and sit by the chimney where it's warm until Sallie and Celia wake up and let us back in,” she whispered to the cat as she crawled back to the huge chimney.

The chimney was warm because the fire downstairs was never allowed to go out. Mandie cuddled up with her white cat against the warm rocks. She finally fell asleep and didn't wake until the sky had lightened up. She was cold and crampy when she opened her eyes. Snowball was still sleeping in her arms. Stretching, she put him down for a moment and said, “Snowball, we've got to get back into the house.”

Once more she carried the cat across the roof and tried again to raise the window of Sallie's room. Sallie and Celia were both up inside and happened to see her. They came rushing to open the window, but it was still stuck.

“I'll get Joe,” Celia quickly told Mandie through the glass, hurrying out of the room.

In a few moments Joe appeared in Sallie's room and managed to get the window sash up. Mandie pushed Snowball inside and then almost fell into the room herself. Sallie quickly placed Mandie's cloak around her.

“Mandie, what were you doing on the roof?” Celia asked in alarm.

“Snowball was on the roof,” Joe said with a big grin.

“Yes, I heard him meowing,” Mandie said and explained what had transpired.

“You should have let me know so I could help,” Sallie told her.

“You shouldn't have gone out there yourself in the first place. All you had to do was let me know and I could have rescued the cat for you,” Joe scolded her. “You could have fallen off and been killed.”

“Oh, Mandie, I am so glad you're safe and that you have found Snowball,” Celia said.

Snowball had jumped upon the bed Mandie slept in and was busily washing his face.

“I didn't want to wake anyone up,” Mandie protested. “At least I found Snowball. And besides, it was not the first time I've ever been on a roof.” She suddenly was shivering from cold and the delayed reaction of fright. She pulled her cloak closer around her.

“I'll wait in my room until you girls get ready to go downstairs,” Joe said, going over to the door. “Just don't be too long. I'm hungry.” He grinned at Mandie and then added, “And please don't let that cat out of your sight, not for a single moment.”

“I don't intend to,” Mandie replied.

As soon as Mandie was dressed, she knocked on the wall between the two rooms. Joe came back to join them as they went downstairs. Mandie carried Snowball.

“We'll go to see Aunt Saphronia today and then maybe tomorrow we'll go home,” Mandie told Joe as they opened the kitchen door.

“Good,” Joe replied.

Mandie, ahead of the others, stopped to turn back and whisper to her friends, “Please don't tell anyone I was out on the roof.”

The others nodded in agreement, and she led the way into the room.

Mandie had her white cat back. Now, if she could only find the quilt. Suddenly she had another idea. Maybe whoever put Snowball on the roof had also put the quilt up there. She'd have to look and see.

CHAPTER EIGHT

MORE QUILTS

When the young people came into the kitchen, they found Riley O'Neal, Dimar, and Uncle Wirt already there. Morning Star had breakfast cooked and was preparing to serve it.

“White cat,” Uncle Ned exclaimed. “Where find?”

Mandie set Snowball down, and he ran to hop into the woodbox behind the stove.

“Yes, where was he?” Riley also asked.

“He was on the roof outside Sallie's room, but we don't know how he got out there. The window was closed,” Mandie explained as Morning Star motioned for everyone to sit down at the table.

They all pulled out chairs and sat down. Morning Star put food in a plate and set it down for Snowball, who immediately jumped out of the box and began devouring it.

“How did cat get on roof?” Uncle Ned asked, looking around the table.

Everyone shrugged their shoulders, and no one answered until Mandie said, “That's what I'd like to know. It either happened while we were gone on the search or after we came back while we were having supper.”

“That lets all of us out,” Joe reminded everyone. “We were all together on the search, and we were all here eating supper.”

Mandie looked around the table. No one seemed to want to discuss this problem. They all acted as though they were in cahoots together about this. Did someone in this group know what happened, and if so, why weren't they speaking up?

“Maybe window open when put cat in room,” Uncle Ned said, looking at Sallie.

“No, my grandfather, the window was closed,” Sallie told him. “I always am sure to see the window is closed when I leave the room. I do not wish to have birds flying into my room through the window.”

Mandie remembered hearing horse's hooves in the yard below night before last and mentioning it to Sallie yesterday morning. And she also remembered glancing at the window when she left Snowball in the room yesterday, and it had been closed.

Morning Star had been listening to the conversation and evidently didn't understand what was being said. She spoke to Uncle Ned, and he answered in their Cherokee language.

Sallie told Mandie, “My grandmother says she will stay here today and watch the white cat. You must go see your aunt Saphronia.”

Mandie turned to smile at Morning Star and said, “Thank you, Morning Star, but I will take Snowball with me today.”

Sallie translated that for her grandmother, who replied, and Sallie told Mandie, “My grandmother says the white cat is trouble for you to carry.”

“Sallie, please explain that I will not let Snowball out of my sight again until we go home.”

Sallie once again spoke to her grandmother, and Morning Star turned to smile at Mandie without commenting this time.

Uncle Wirt, eating his food quickly, said, “We go,” to Mandie.

“Yes, sir,” Mandie said. She turned to Celia and Joe and said, “I guess we'd better hurry and finish.”

“Mandie, do you want me to go with you to your aunt Saphronia's house? Wouldn't you rather visit her by yourself?” Celia asked, finishing her cup of coffee.

“Yes, Celia is right,” Joe added. “We could stay here and wait for you.”

“No, no,” Mandie quickly replied. “I want y'all to come with
me.” And almost whispering to Joe next to her, she added, “We might solve that mystery,” meaning the missing quilt.

“All right, then,” Joe agreed.

“Will we be coming back here today? Or should I take things to spend the night at their house?” Celia asked.

Mandie looked at Uncle Wirt and asked, “Will you bring us back today?”

The old man nodded his head as he rose from the table.

Riley stood up and said, “Since we don't have to search for a white cat today, I'd better get back and do some work.”

“I will also go home,” Dimar told Mandie. “I will return here tomorrow.”

“And I will stay here,” Sallie added. “My grandmother needs help cooking.”

Uncle Wirt had brought his wagon, and the young people all piled aboard. Mandie held firmly to her white cat. As soon as they were on their way, Mandie remembered she had planned to look on the roof to see if the quilt was up there. Now it would have to wait until they returned to Uncle Ned's.

When they arrived at Uncle Wirt's house, Aunt Saphronia was waiting for them in the doorway. Mandie jumped down from the wagon, grasping her cat in one arm and embracing her aunt with the other.

“Welcome,” Aunt Saphronia greeted her as they hugged in the doorway. The old lady's face, full of wrinkles, broke into a happy smile. Then, turning to Celia and Joe, Aunt Saphronia spoke to them, “Welcome.”

As they stepped into the front room of the house, Mandie was excited to see quilting frames set up in the corner and piles of material in various patterns and colors stacked next to it on a long table. Aunt Saphronia must be making quilts, and Mandie would be able to see how it was done. And perhaps she could mention the quilt with the mysterious message that her grandmother had made, or maybe Aunt Saphronia would say something about it.

“Oh, Mrs. Pindar, are you making a quilt?” Celia asked. “I've never learned how to do that.”

Aunt Saphronia smiled at Celia and said, “Yes, I make, you
watch.” She went over to the pile of material and picked up a square piece of calico.

“Aunt Saphronia, I should learn how to make a quilt. I believe most of my Cherokee kinpeople know how,” Mandie said, following the old woman across the room. She still held Snowball tightly in her arms.

“Long work, much time,” Aunt Saphronia replied, looking at Mandie as she threaded a needle. “Sit, watch.” She indicated a bench nearby.

“Oh no, not a quilt-making lesson,” Joe moaned under his breath to Mandie.

Mandie glanced at him as he sat down on a stool. “You know why,” she whispered back.

“Measure cloth, make lots same size,” Aunt Saphronia said, holding up several of the squares of calico. “Make other color, same size, easy way.” She held up a few of another stack of squares, which were solid blue.

Mandie and Celia watched her closely. Aunt Saphronia made fast, tiny stitches close together as she joined a calico square to a blue one. Snowball, in Mandie's lap, tried to jump at the thread to catch it.

“Shut door, put cat down,” Aunt Saphronia told Mandie, glancing at Snowball.