Mandie Collection, The: 8 (34 page)

Mandie skipped ahead to get closer to her grandmother. “Get a ferry? We have to get a ferry to go see the lighthouse?” she asked.

“Yes, it’s on Anastasia Island over that way,” Mrs. Taft said, waving her hand to the right.

“It’s not far,” Senator Morton spoke up as they paused on the street. “You see, our town is surrounded by rivers and bays and such. We are on the very edge of the land going out to sea.”

“So we will be able to go out to the beach, like we did at the beach in Charleston when we visited Tommy Patton, then?” Mandie asked, trying to keep Snowball still at the end of his leash.

“Yes, we have a beach,” the senator told her. “Our beach is known for its beautiful white sand.”

“I remember seeing the white sand as we came down on the train,” Mandie said.

“Now let’s get on back, girls,” Mrs. Taft told them. “We probably have time to rest a little before we change clothes for the evening meal.” She started to walk ahead with the senator.

When they got back to Senator Morton’s house, the girls went to their room and began inspecting everything for any sign of Juan’s having been there.

“Everything looks like it’s right where I left it,” Mandie remarked after looking over her personal belongings.

“I don’t see anything that’s been disturbed,” Celia agreed.

“I just can’t imagine why the man was in our room,” Mandie said, walking around. “Maybe I came in as soon as he had stepped inside, and he hadn’t had time to do whatever he had come in here for.”

Celia agreed as she flopped on the ivory crocheted counterpane on the big bed, where Snowball had curled up. “You’re probably right,” she said.

Mandie walked over to the huge mahogany wardrobe and opened the door. “Now, what am I going to wear down to supper tonight?” she said to herself. She reached inside to look through her dresses that Maria had hung there. Frowning, she added, “Now, that’s strange. Half of my clothes are hung one way and the other half the other way.”

Celia quickly came up behind her and asked, “What do you mean, Mandie?” She looked over Mandie’s shoulder at the contents of the wardrobe.

“Maria hung up all our clothes, remember? Now, why would she hang them two different ways?” Mandie asked, puzzled.

“Oh, Mandie, so are mine!” Celia exclaimed. “Mine are split up that way, too.” She reached to examine her dresses.

Maria had hung all of Mandie’s clothes on the left side of the wardrobe and Celia’s on the right.

“Well, I’m going to turn mine all the same way, and I am going to ask Maria about this when I get a chance,” Mandie said, quickly taking down each dress and rehanging it in the right direction.

Celia watched as Mandie rearranged her clothes and then said, “Now let me do mine. It makes me feel like I’m cross-eyed or something to look at dresses hanging two different ways.”

Mandie stepped back while Celia rearranged hers.

“And now we’d better decide what we are going to put on,” Mandie told her.

Celia took down a pale green voile dress and moved out of Mandie’s way as she said, “I think I’ll wear this one.”

“And I’ll wear my white one with the red embroidery,” Mandie quickly decided, removing a frilly white dress with red rosebuds embroidered all over it.

The girls quickly took off their travel clothes, freshened up in the bathroom, and put on their fresh dresses.

Mandie went to look at her dress in the full-length mirror that was
on a stand in the corner. She straightened her long, full skirt and tied the red sash around her waist, while Celia used the mirror on the huge bureau. Mandie glanced out the open window and said, “We have a view of the park up the street from here, and I do believe I see Juan walking through it. Come look.”

Celia hurried to her side and said, “Yes, that does look like Juan. I suppose Senator Morton has sent him on an errand.” She turned back to the mirror to brush her long auburn curls.

“Probably,” Mandie agreed, fluffing out the huge bow on the back of her dress where she had tied the sash.

As Celia pulled back her hair with a ribbon to match her green dress, she said, “I wonder what time we are supposed to go downstairs? I don’t remember anyone telling us, do you?”

“I don’t think so, but I suppose someone will come to let us know,” Mandie replied, twirling around in front of the long mirror. She stopped and looked at her friend. “I wish some of our friends could have come with us. This is going to be a poky, uninteresting two weeks, I’m afraid.” She went to sit in a chair nearby. “And I just don’t know why Joe Woodard had to go off to a college so far away as New Orleans when there are lots of other colleges much nearer home.”

“Oh, Mandie,” Celia said with a loud sigh as she sat down in another chair, carefully spreading out her skirts as she did so. “You know why. That’s the college that accepted him even though he didn’t have all the subjects required for admission.”

“I know,” Mandie said, blowing out her breath. “And he has to work real hard to catch up for the entrance into the regular college level in the fall. It all sounds so complicated. I’m glad our school will have us prepared for college when we finish there.” She paused and looked at her friend. “I wonder where Tommy Patton and Robert are planning to go to college?”

“Since they aren’t both going to finish Mr. Chadwick’s school for boys for two more years, they have time to decide,” Celia replied, smiling.

Mandie smiled back. “I know exactly what you’re thinking,” she teased. “You are hoping you and Robert Rogers will go to the same college.”

Celia fluttered her eyelids, looked away across the room, and said,
“Well, it would be nice to have someone at college that I already know.”

“And it would be nice if your mother agrees to whatever you’re planning,” Mandie added.

“That goes for you, too. Don’t forget, your mother might just send you off to New York or somewhere else way off for college,” Celia reminded her.

“But don’t forget, I have two more years at school to talk her out of anything I don’t want to do,” Mandie replied with a big grin. “Besides, Uncle John is always on my side.”

“I know,” Celia agreed. “Aren’t you glad he married your mother?”

Mandie’s smile faded as she replied, “Since I lost my father, I’m glad I have Uncle John, because he’s my father’s brother.”

“I envy you. I don’t have a father or an uncle,” Celia said sadly.

“But you do have Aunt Rebecca,” Mandie reminded her, “and I don’t even have an aunt.” She rose to walk back over to the window and look out.

At that moment someone knocked on their door, and Celia went to open it. Mandie turned to see who it was. The maid who had taken Mrs. Taft to her room when they arrived was standing there.

“Downstairs,” the girl was saying. “Now.”

“Oh yes, thank you,” Celia replied.

“We’ll be right down,” Mandie added. She walked across the room as Celia closed the door.

Both girls glanced in the mirror one final time and then went down to the parlor. They left Snowball asleep on the bed.

Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton were seated near a French door that opened out to a patio. They stopped talking and looked up when the girls entered the room.

“The cat, Amanda, did you leave the cat in your room and close the door?” Mrs. Taft asked.

The girls sat down on a small settee near the adults.

“Yes, ma’am,” Mandie replied. “He was asleep on the bed, and he has a sandbox in our room, so he’ll be all right till it’s time to feed him.”

“Are you sure he doesn’t know how to open the door?” Senator Morton joked with a big grin.

Mandie looked at him thoughtfully and said, “I’m not sure. Snowball has done some intelligent things, like untying knots in ropes and leaving a room by way of the chimney when the door was closed. But I can’t remember him ever opening a door, unless it was partly open, of course, and I made sure our door was closed.” She laughed.

“Yes, I remember some incidences with him on the ship when we all went to Europe. I’d say he is a very educated cat,” the senator said, still grinning.

“Educated,” Mandie repeated and looked at her grandmother. “What will I do with him when I go away to college? Will they allow me to bring Snowball with me? I can’t go way off to school somewhere and leave Snowball home all that time.”

“Amanda, I don’t believe they would allow a cat to live at any college, so don’t plan on it,” Mrs. Taft replied.

Mandie worried for a moment and then said, “Grandmother, I know what we can do. You could just buy a college somewhere ... like you bought the school where Celia and I go ... and then we could make our own rules.”

“Amanda, buying a girls’ school and buying a college are two quite different transactions,” Mrs. Taft told her. “Besides, you won’t be going off to college for another two years. By that time you will have to get used to the fact that you will not be able to take that cat everywhere you go.”

“Oh,” Mandie muttered to herself.

“In the meantime, we’ll take Snowball sight-seeing with us tomorrow,” Senator Morton told her.

“Thank you, Senator,” Mandie said. “And thank you for allowing me to bring Snowball to your house.”

“He’s just as welcome as you are, dear, anytime. I had a dog when I was your age, and I wouldn’t go anywhere my dog was not welcome. I understand,” the senator said with a smile. “And Zeke lived to be almost fifteen years old, so he got in a lot of traveling in his lifetime.”

“I know it must have been sad when Zeke died,” Mandie said. “Snowball is already over two years old. His birthday was January fifteenth. You see, after my father died, I brought Snowball with me when I went to stay with Uncle John.”

“That’s not old at all. He has many more years ahead of him,” Senator Morton said. He suddenly looked beyond Mandie, who had
her back to the door, and said, “Thank you, Juan.” He then rose and said, “I believe the food is on the table.”

Mandie quickly turned to look at the door. Juan was standing there, making motions that evidently meant it was time to go eat. She thought he must not have gone far when she saw him crossing the park, and he must get around quickly. He seemed to turn up everywhere.

Mandie and Celia followed the adults to the dining room, where they both looked excitedly around the huge room. There were large French doors at both ends with lots of floor-length windows in between. The floor was made of polished stone and was covered down the middle with a carpet of many brilliant colors, on which the long table stood. Plants grew in pots inside the windows. A great stone fireplace took up almost one whole wall, guarded by suits of armor at either end. Above it, swords and paintings of old ancestors in antique frames covered the wall. The table had approximately twenty-six chairs around it, which Mandie quickly tried to count. Several ornate silver candelabras stood along the middle of the table. Crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceiling at each end of the room.

Senator Morton led them to the table, and Mandie was glad to see they were all placed at one end. She imagined trying to talk from one end to the other! Also, she tried to imagine what it was like for Senator Morton to eat alone at the huge table, but then she thought he probably had another small dining room somewhere in the big house where he ate his meals when he didn’t have guests.

As they sat down, Mandie noticed several servants hovering around the sideboards that held the food along one wall. Senator Morton seemed to have plenty of everything—house, servants, food, and all.

Mandie watched as the servants served the food, but she didn’t see Juan among them. Evidently he had only come to let the senator know that the meal was ready and had then gone elsewhere. Mandie suddenly wondered where the man was. Had he gone back to their room? He knew they were in the dining room and would be there for a while. She leaned close to speak to Celia as she watched the senator and her grandmother occupied with their own conversation at the table.

“Where did Juan go?” she whispered.

Celia quickly looked around the room. “I don’t see him,” she whispered back.

“He’s not in this room,” Mandie spoke softly again.

“No, he isn’t,” Celia agreed.

During the entire meal, Mandie was wishing the time away so she could go upstairs and check their room. She tried and tried to think of some excuse to leave the table for a few minutes, but she couldn’t come up with any that she thought would meet with her grandmother’s approval.

Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton mostly kept up their own conversation, but now and then they would say something to the girls. Mandie only gave short answers to anything they said to her. She didn’t want to be drawn into a conversation with them because she wanted to watch the room in case Juan returned.

Finally it was time for dessert. Mandie was enjoying the seven-layer chocolate cake with creamy icing when she thought she saw a flash of white near the door to the hallway. Then she almost choked when Snowball suddenly appeared under her chair and began rubbing around her legs. Someone had let him out of their room.

“Snowball!” she exclaimed, pushing back her chair to reach down and pick him up. She stood up, quickly looked at her grandmother and the senator, and said, “I’m sorry. I’ll take him back upstairs.” She started toward the door.

Both Mrs. Taft and Senator Morton looked at her and the cat in surprise.

“Wait,” the senator said. “He needs to be fed anyway, so I’ll get someone to take him out to the kitchen.” He started to push back his chair.

But Mandie was determined to check out their room immediately. “I’ll be right back,” she called to her grandmother as she rushed out of the room.

Keeping an eye out for Juan, Mandie hurried down the hallway to the stairs. She took the steps two at a time, almost tripping on her long skirts until she reached down and pulled them up with one hand. She didn’t see a single servant until she got to the hallway where their room was. Then suddenly a man came walking toward her, a man whom she had not seen before. He was tall and dark, with a thin mustache and curly black hair. She was not exactly sure where he had come from. There was a short cross hall before their room, and he could have been in any of the rooms around that corner.