Mandie and the Secret Tunnel (4 page)

“Papoose, why you wait here?” he asked.

“Oh, Uncle Ned! I was afraid the Brysons would see you. They threatened to shoot you if you came back!” She stood up, catching Snowball as he fell. “Did the others come? Are we ready to go to Franklin?”

“Yes, Papoose. Come,” he said and led the way back past the pond. There an old Indian squaw and two young braves waited for them.

Mandie ran to the old woman and hugged her tightly. It was so good to hug someone who cared for her. At that moment, a distant yell filled the air.

“Amanda! Amanda! Where are you, Amanda?”

The girl turned to Uncle Ned. “Quick! Let’s go! That’s Mrs. Bryson looking for me!”

The group ran through the cornfield, up the slope on the other side of the pond, and were soon hidden from the moonlight in the dark woods. Uncle Ned led the way and the two braves brought up the rear.

The old woman took Mandie’s bag, threw it across her shoulder with her own bag, and grasped the girl’s hand tightly as she hurried along.

Snowball stiffened in Mandie’s arms, frightened because of the speed at which they were traveling. He didn’t scratch the girl, but merely sank his claws into the shoulder of her dress and didn’t move.

They did not slacken their pace until they reached the Nantahala River. There Uncle Ned stopped them.

“We cross here.” He pointed to a narrow place
in the river where the rocks rose in the moonlight on the water. There was a footlog extending from side to side. “Then pass through Charley Gap. Papoose must not be seen there.”

“Charley Gap? We’re going right by my father’s house?” Mandie questioned, her heart pounding.

“Yes. Big trouble if Papoose seen,” Uncle Ned cautioned her. “We rest now.” He sat down on a boulder nearby.

The two braves drifted, one on each side, and likewise sat down some distance away. Mandie dropped gratefully to the ground. Her feet hurt and her legs were tired. It seemed hours and hours since they had left the Brysons’ land, and she was also sleepy and hungry.

There was the clanging of church bells in the distance and Mandie knew, with a sinking heart, that the Brysons must have sounded an alarm when they discovered her missing.

“The bells, Uncle Ned. They are probably getting a search party together.”

“Don’t worry, Papoose. They not find us,” he told the girl. “Now we eat.”

The Indian squaw brought forth meat and dark bread from her bag and held it out to the girl. Mandie thankfully took it and turned to the old man.

“She doesn’t speak English, does she?” she asked.

“No. She know Indian talk. She good squaw. Name Morning Star.”

Mandie turned back to the squaw. “Thank you, Morning Star.”

The old woman smiled and bit into her own ration of food.

“Uncle Ned, does each Indian carry his own food? You have yours, and the other two men—do they have theirs?”

“Yes. We bring meat. Long way to Franklin.”

When they had finished eating, Uncle Ned urged them on. “We go in dark. Sleep when sun shines. No one see.”

The ringing of the church bells grew dimmer and then could no longer be heard as they made their way across the Nantahala River, went down Buckner Branch, and crossed the Tomahawk Trail. They had to stop often for Mandie to catch her breath. It was all up and down hill and through thick underbrush, and the rough rocks hurt her feet.

A long time later they approached Mandie’s father’s land. Uncle Ned halted the group.

“Careful. Follow me.” He indicated that they were to swing out in a circle away from the house.

Mandie kept her eyes wide open, staring toward the darkened house and outbuildings. Evidently everyone was asleep at this hour. She almost wished she could run right past her mother and let her know that she had defied her and had run away from the Brysons. But she obeyed the old Indian, knowing she would be stopped if some of her people did see her.

She came to a sudden halt at the nearest point to the house, gazed at the log cabin with tears in her eyes, and then furiously ran ahead of the squaw
in the direction Uncle Ned was taking.

She thought of her father’s grave up the mountainside and wished she could visit it, but she knew it was out of their way. She would have to wait until someday in the future.

She would come back someday. She knew she would.

Her tired feet carried her off her father’s land and on toward Franklin.

The first streaks of dawn were lighting up the sky when Uncle Ned finally stopped the group to sleep. They had just crossed Wiggins Creek when they finally sat down to rest.

Mandie flopped down on the grass. “Guess I’m plumb tuckered out.” She laughed wearily.

Morning Star quickly gathered branches and made a bed for her to lie on, hidden under the trees. The girl used her shawl for a blanket, knowing when the sun came up it would be warm again.

She was so excited she couldn’t sleep, but the fatigue overcame the excitement and she dropped off to dream.

The sound of shooting woke her. She sat up quickly and almost smashed Snowball, asleep by her side. For a minute she couldn’t remember where she was. Then the old squaw put an arm
around her and she relaxed. She could see Uncle Ned standing near the creek. He came to her. She could tell by his shadow that the sun was fast moving into the west. She must have slept all day.

“Braves go see where gun shoot,” he told her. “They come, we go.”

At that moment there was the sound of voices in the trees nearby.

“Well, I reckon we done searched fur enough. That girl couldn’t ’a got no futher than this,” a man’s voice came to them.

Uncle Ned quickly whisked Mandie behind a laurel tree and he and the squaw slipped behind the rhododendron bushes nearby.

“Yeh, let’s go see what’s goin’ on up yonder. Must be Jed’s search party,” another male voice replied.

Two men came into view. They were carrying rifles and stomping the underbrush beneath their feet. One was a tall man with a white beard and the other was a short, fat man who was spitting tobacco juice as he went. Mandie peeped around the tree, but she did not recognize either one. She realized they must be looking for her. They paused while the tall man lit his pipe.

“Don’t much blame that youngun fer not wantin’ to stay at that Bryson house. Hear tell that female is a tiger,” the tall one was saying.

“Yep, I hear tell they can’t nobody please her. But I shore would like to find that youngun ’fore the wildcats git her. I wouldn’t want to take her back to
the Brysons, but I wouldn’t want her to git lost on this mountain either,” the short one said. “I knew her pa. Good man, he was.” They walked on, out of hearing, and were soon lost from sight in the tall underbrush.

The squaw went to Mandie and put her arm around her. Uncle Ned followed.

“Be not afraid, Papoose. We go to Franklin. White men not stop Indians,” he reassured the girl.

“I know. I know how smart the Indians are. I know you will get me to my uncle’s house in Franklin,” she replied, grasping the old man’s hand. “I’m not afraid. After all, I’m part Cherokee, too.”

The two braves came silently up to the old man.

“White men carry guns; coming this way,” the taller one said.

“Two passed here,” Uncle Ned told them. “Looking for Papoose. We go.” He pointed in the direction of Hightower Gap away from the way the two men had gone.

The group slipped quietly through the woods, resting only when Mandie was tired, and they finally reached the Little Tennessee River. They took long detours for safety’s sake but followed the banks of the river most of the way. They came on through Burningtown and up the main road that ran through Franklin.

The sight before her was unbelievable to Mandie. All the houses were so close together and there were so many of them. Then there were all the
stores. They passed the livery stable. It was barely dawn, but there was the sound of voices and horses. She was speechless as she stared around her.

“John Shaw that way.” Uncle Ned pointed down the long main road. “Take Papoose to house. White man must not see Indian.”

He halted in front of an immense white house with a huge yard covered with green grass, flowers, and shrubs, and a small summerhouse at one side. A white picket fence enclosed the yard and a hitching post with a stepping-stone was at the gate. Across the road was an old church with a cemetery.

Mandie stood in frozen awe at the monstrous size of the house and the surrounding yard and gardens. So this was Uncle John’s mansion. It must have twenty rooms, at least. She at once became nervous and excited at the prospect of meeting her father’s brother. What if he didn’t like her? What if she had to go back to the Brysons? But then, she would not think of such things, because she would not go back to the Brysons under any circumstances. She would go live with Uncle Ned’s tribe if her uncle rejected her.

“Go, Papoose,” Uncle Ned urged her. “I come later. Love.”

“And love to you, Uncle Ned and Morning Star.” She turned to hug the old Indian and the squaw, and then quickly opened the gate and ran up the steps to the front porch. She lifted a shaking
hand to knock on the front door.

She could not hear a sound inside. No one seemed to be at home. Her heart sank. She turned to look at the Indians who were half hidden by the shrubbery. Then she heard footsteps coming closer to the door. She looked up to see a big, tall man, barefooted and in workclothes, standing before her.

“Are you John Shaw?” she asked nervously.

“No, ma’am. He’s not home.” The man scratched his gray head as he stared at her.

“When will he be back? You see, I’m his niece, Amanda Shaw,” she explained.

“Well, come in, miss.” The man held the door open and Mandie turned to catch a glimpse of Uncle Ned’s smiling face.

She entered a wide hallway and followed the man to a room on the right, which she decided must be the company parlor judging from the rich furnishings. She sat down on the edge of a soft armchair and deposited her bag on the floor by her side. Snowball escaped from her arms and went running off into the other part of the house.

“When will Uncle John be back?” she asked.

“Oh, he’s gone to Europe. He’s been gone since March. I’m the caretaker, Jason Bond.” He was still standing as he explained.

“Oh, goodness, to Europe!” She was dismayed to have come all this way and then not find her uncle at home. “What will I do?”

“Where’re you from, miss?”

“I lived with my daddy, Jim Shaw, and my mother over at Charley Gap in Swain County until my daddy died in April and my mother got married again. Then they sent me away to live with some awful people at Almond Station and I ran away.” She told the man the truth, knowing her uncle would have to know. “I—I don’t have anywhere to live.”

“Oh, well, plenty of room here. He oughta be back any day now. Come on, I’ll find you a room.” He picked up her bag and led the way up a long flight of stairs to the second floor, and then down a long hall and opened the door to a room furnished with blue and gold. Mandie stared in delight. Never had she seen such an elegant room.

“How about this one?” Jason Bond was asking as she stood there.

“Oh, it’s beautiful! It’s wonderful!” She stood in the middle of the room, gazing about.

“I’ll get Liza to bring you some fresh water for your pitcher over there, and some breakfast if you ain’t et yet.”

“Oh, I am hungry,” she said. “In fact, I’m starving!” She laughed.

“Well, we’ll fix that.” Jason Bond went out the door and she removed her wrinkled bonnet, tossed it on the bed and sat down in a big, soft chair. She had a strange feeling that she must be in the wrong house. How could her uncle have so much when her father had had so little?

An enormous old black woman knocked and
then came on in with a tray of food, followed by a young black girl with a bucket of water.

“I’m Lou, Aunt Lou, they call me, my child. I keeps this house together.” She set the tray on a table nearby and stood before Mandie. “Now, what might be your name?”

“Amanda Shaw, Aunt Lou. My daddy was Jim Shaw, John’s brother.” She lifted the cloth covering the food and exclaimed, “Oh, thank you, Aunt Lou. I’ll eat every bite; I’m so hungry.”

“Well, you’d better had if you gonna stay around here. Now this here’s Liza. She’ll be lookin’ after you whiles you here.” She beckoned to the young girl who still stood behind her. Liza came forward and poured the water into the pitcher on the washstand.

“Guess you’d better wash that dirty face ’fore you eat.” Aunt Lou smiled at her. “Liza, you comb that pretty hair for my child. But let her eat first.”

Aunt Lou left the room and Mandie went to wash her face in the bowl of water.

“I be back later, Miss Amanda,” Liza told her. “You want anything, all you has to do is pull that cord over there.”

“Pull that cord?” Mandie asked, looking to where Liza was pointing toward the drapery beside the bed.

Liza laughed and danced around the room. “That makes a bell ring down at the other end where I hear it and I knows you calling me.” She danced on out the door, laughing.

Snowball came running into the room and jumped up into Amanda’s lap as she sat down to eat.

“You just wait, Snowball. You have to eat on the floor. Here,” she said, putting him down and giving him some milk in a saucer that had been on her tray. She added a bit of bacon. “Now you eat it all up because we’re going to take a nap.”

True to her word, she, with Snowball’s help, ate every bite of the food and then, pulling down the silky bedspread, she flopped onto the big soft bed and fell fast asleep with the kitten curled up beside her.

At noontime Liza came to call the girl to dinner and had to wake her.

“Time to eat, Miss Amanda,” Liza said, shaking the girl.

Mandie sat up rubbing her eyes. “Eat? I just ate. Oh, goodness, what time is it?” Snowball rose and stretched.

“It’s time to eat again. Wash your face and I’ll comb that hair,” Liza told her.

The black girl quickly unbraided Mandie’s hair, combed out the many tangles and then braided it again.

“I think I’ll wash your hair later,” Liza suggested.