The Mandie Collection (12 page)

“Yes, we need to talk to them as soon as they return,” Mrs. Taft said.

They walked back through the woods to John Shaw's house. As they came to the front yard, Mandie quickly looked around. There was no sign of a horse, or buggy, or wagon by the house, but then these things were usually taken on around to the back of the house.

Mandie pushed open the gate in the white fence and hurried up the walkway to the front porch. Mrs. Taft and Joe followed. She unhooked Snowball's leash and set him down at the front door. He immediately ran off into the yard.

Liza met them at the front door when Mandie opened it. “Lawsy mercy, Missy 'Manda, I sho' is glad you and all finally got back,” the young girl told them. “Miz 'Lizbeth she come home fit to be tied 'while ago. Sumpin' done upset her all over. Aunt Lou, she finally got her to go sit at de dinin' table and drink some coffee.”

“What's wrong?” Mandie quickly asked and rushed ahead to the dining room.

Mrs. Taft didn't even take time to remove her hat and shawl but followed right behind her.

Joe took time to ask Liza, “Is Mrs. Shaw sick, Liza?”

“I jes' don't be aknowin',” Liza said. “She in bad shape.”

Joe immediately hurried to the dining room.

When Mandie pushed open the door, she found her mother sitting at the end of the table with a plate of food before her that evidently she had not touched. She held a cup with both hands as she drank the coffee in it.

“Mother, are you sick?” Mandie asked, rushing to her side to put an arm around her shoulders.

“What is wrong, Elizabeth?” Mrs. Taft asked as she, too, came to her daughter's side.

Joe stood back and watched as Elizabeth finally spoke. “Y'all sit down.”

Mrs. Taft, Mandie, and Joe all sat in chairs near her, and Aunt Lou appeared through the kitchen door with a pot of fresh coffee, set it on the table, and set out china from the cupboard nearby. Liza followed with a freshly baked chocolate cake.

No one spoke until the coffee was poured and the cake was sliced and passed around. Aunt Lou stayed by the door and shooed Liza out of the room.

“What's wrong, Mother?” Mandie asked as she anxiously looked at her mother. Not even the chocolate cake could distract her attention.

“It was that woman,” Elizabeth began.

“Dat woman, she be white trash, dat whut she be,” Aunt Lou muttered as Elizabeth paused.

“What woman, Elizabeth? Where have you been?” Mrs. Taft asked.

Elizabeth looked at Mandie and said, “That terrible, awful woman who married your father.”

Mandie quickly asked, “Etta? You saw her?”

“Yes, I saw her, and she was so rude to me,” Elizabeth said.

“Elizabeth, please explain. We all love you, and we can see you're upset, so just tell us what happened,” Mrs. Taft said.

“Mother, I was down at Roper's Dry Goods Store looking at some material for some winter dresses for Amanda,” Elizabeth finally began. “And you know how there is a large window in the front of the store. Well, I was standing at a counter near the window and this Etta Hughes suddenly appeared outside and began knocking on the glass and shaking her fist at me. I—”

“Oh, Mother, how awful!” Mandie interrupted.

“Wait, Amanda!” Mrs. Taft reprimanded her. “Let your mother finish.”

“I'm sorry, Grandmother,” Mandie said quickly as her mother continued.

“She was yelling things at me, like ‘you think you're so rich and high and mighty,' and she said, ‘I'm just going to bring you down a notch or two.' And everyone in the store and outside, too, was just standing and watching and listening to her.” She paused.

“Mother, Joe and I saw her and Zack this morning, remember?” Mandie reminded her. “Well, Grandmother and Joe and I have just been to the Burnses' to ask if they had seen them, because they were
near the Burnses' house. But they said they had not seen them. Where did Etta Hughes go after you saw her?”

“I'm not sure. I was so upset I immediately left the store and got in my buggy outside and came home,” Elizabeth replied. “I didn't want to cause anything else so I didn't even look in the direction where she had been.”

“Dat woman, she be white trash, dat whut she be,” Aunt Lou repeated to herself as she still stood by the door.

Mandie turned to look at the big Negro woman. “You're right, Aunt Lou,” she said.

Mrs. Taft reached to pat Elizabeth's hand and said, “Just put it all out of your mind, dear. Such people are beneath your notice.”

Joe had silently listened to the conversation and now he asked, “Do you know if Zack Hughes was with her, Mrs. Shaw?”

Elizabeth looked at him thoughtfully and said, “I was so upset I couldn't see straight, but I have a vague impression of a man coming up to speak to her while she was yelling at me. But, like I said, when I went outside to leave, I didn't even look in her direction, so I'm not sure whether she was alone or not. And there were several other people standing by and observing.”

Aunt Lou moved over to the table with the coffee pot to replenish the cups. “Heah we goes to all dat trouble cookin' dat choc'late cake and y'all ain't eat a bite. Is dere sumpin' wrong wid it?” she asked them as she looked at each untouched plate.

Mandie grabbed her fork, looked up at Aunt Lou, and smiled as she said, “No, ma'am, nothing wrong with this chocolate cake.” She put a bite into her mouth.

Joe immediately began eating his slice as he said, “I just wanted to be sure there was more after I finish this piece off.” He teasingly smiled at Aunt Lou.

“Yes, we should all be thankful for such a delicious treat,” Mrs. Taft said, and looking at Elizabeth she added, “At least the cake, dear, if you can't finish the food on your plate. The chocolate will make you feel better. And don't worry about that woman. She's gone.”

“She's gone, but I wish we could find her,” Mandie said between mouthfuls. “Mother, did you see Uncle John and Uncle Ned in town? I went out to the barn to look for them after you left, and they were both gone.”

Elizabeth looked at her in surprise and said, “They were gone? Why, John was in the house just a few minutes before you all came in this morning, and he plainly told me he and Uncle Ned would be working on the barn. I wonder where they could be.”

“We were hoping you would know, dear,” Mrs. Taft said.

Mandie looked at Aunt Lou, who was still standing nearby. “Aunt Lou, have they come back? Or Mr. Jason? Or Abraham? Everyone was gone when we left to go back to the Burnses' house.”

“No, my chile, ain't seen none of them,” the old woman replied. “But jes' don't be worryin' 'bout it. Dey'll all come home when dey gits good and ready. Or when it gits mealtime tonight, dat's fo' sure.”

“Well, they weren't here for mealtime at noon,” Joe said.

“Mebbe dey jes' didn't git hungry den, but by tonight they'll be good and starvin',” Aunt Lou replied.

“Amanda, I told you that your uncle John sent Mr. Bond with a message to his lawyer in Asheville,” Mrs. Taft reminded her.

“And I dun tole you dat Abraham went to git de firewood,” Aunt Lou said.

Mandie and Joe looked at each other and then she said, “But we didn't see Abraham at the Burnses' house. You said Abraham was getting firewood that Mr. Burns chopped for us.”

“Dat ain't no sign Abraham didn't go now,” the old woman argued. “Dat firewood might not be at de house. It coulda been in de woods or down at de mine place. Abraham didn't say which.”

“I just can't imagine where John and Uncle Ned could be all this time,” Elizabeth said as she sipped coffee from her cup. “It's not like John to go off without letting me know where he's going.”

“You left in the buggy as soon as Amanda, Joe, and I came in, so maybe you were already gone when John and Uncle Ned went off,” Mrs. Taft reminded her.

“But they didn't tell anyone else,” Mandie said.

Mrs. Taft looked at her daughter and asked, “Do you and John believe those Burnses are trustworthy? They acted awfully strange while we were there a little while ago.”

“They did? Mother, John has done a lot for those people, and I know they are grateful, so I don't think I could say they are not trustworthy,” Elizabeth said. “What do you mean by acting strange?”

Mrs. Taft quickly told her daughter about their visit with the Burnses and their denying having seen Etta or Zack Hughes.

“Mother, those people have been through so much hardship, I doubt if they fully trust anyone anymore,” Elizabeth said. “But I would trust them. I think they are honest with us.”

Mandie remembered the paper and quickly said, “When we were walking up to the house and Mr. Burns saw us, he was on the front porch reading a paper of some kind, and he quick as lightning folded it up and stuck it inside his shirt before we reached the house. It was like he was hiding something from us.”

Elizabeth smiled at her daughter and said, “Amanda, you always find a mystery in everything. Maybe the paper was something private that someone else had no business seeing. And also, that could have been the cause of what you call his strange attitude. He could have been worrying about whatever was on that paper that you interrupted him from reading.”

“Maybe, but if you could have seen the way he looked and acted, I think you would have been suspicious of him, too,” Mandie replied, eating the last bite of her piece of chocolate cake.

“Since we can't solve anything else right now, don't you think we ought to go ahead and finish this search you're making of the house, Mandie?” Joe asked.

“Yes, I suppose so,” Mandie agreed. “We do want to get done before your father comes after you.” She pushed back her chair and stood up.

“Amanda, please be careful and don't go wandering off somewhere now,” Elizabeth told her.

“We won't. We're just going in the cellar. And, Mother, if Uncle John and Uncle Ned get back while we're down there, would you please let us know?” she told her mother.

“All right,” Elizabeth promised.

As Mandie and Joe left the room, Mandie spoke to Aunt Lou. “If Liza runs out of anything to do, would you please tell her I'd like her to help us in the cellar?”

“Lawsy mercy, my chile, I doubts dat Liza gwine down in dat dark place. She sho' find sumpin' else to do first,” Aunt Lou replied with a big smile. “But I tell huh.”

As Mandie and Joe walked down the hallway toward the cellar
steps, Joe reminded her they would need some light. They picked up two oil lamps in the hallway to take with them.

“Do you really think someone would venture down into that dark place to hide a will?” Joe asked as Mandie opened the door to the steps.

“You never can tell,” Mandie replied as she led the way down.

She knew if they didn't find the will in the cellar, then they would have to begin searching the main floor of the house, and that was going to be an awfully big job, so she was hoping they would have luck in the damp, dark area below.

CHAPTER NINE

IN THE CELLAR

The cellar in John Shaw's house was used for storing food—canned fruits and vegetables, rusty coated apples packed away in straw, and hams hanging from the ceiling overhead. Other things such as peanuts, strings of pepper, and Indian corn were put in a special place in the attic to keep dry.

The lamplight on the long rows and rows of shelves full of jars and cans cast eerie shadows ahead as Mandie and Joe moved along. Faint light from outside came in through the windows high on the walls, but there were lots of completely dark spots. Snowball had followed his mistress down the steps, and he darted in and out of the aisles investigating everything.

“Where do you suggest we begin?” Joe asked as he stopped and glanced around the area.

“We need to look between every jar and every can on these shelves, just to be sure nothing is stuck between them,” Mandie replied as she looked down the row in front of her.

“Mandie, that will take forever,” Joe complained.

“Joe, when you search, you search. You don't just skip some spots and look in others,” Mandie replied. “I know there are a lot of possible places for a will to be hidden, but we have to look in all of them just to be sure it isn't there. We can start with this first row of shelves, and
since you are taller than I am, if you would search the top shelves, I'll do the lower ones.”

Joe sighed loudly and said, “If you say so.”

They began the search, picking up jars and cans and putting them back down again in the same spots. Snowball seemed to think they were playing with him, and he kept jumping up onto the edges of the shelves and meowing.

“Snowball, get down,” Mandie scolded him as he walked along the shelf she was searching. He swished his tail against the jars as he went. “If you knock something off and break it, Aunt Lou will be after us all. Now get down.” When he didn't mind, she picked him up and set him on the floor. He looked up at her, meowed loudly, and jumped right back upon the shelf, shaking jars as he got his balance.

“Oh, that cat!” Joe said as he quickly reached to grab a glass jar of jelly to keep it from falling.

“I suppose I'd better take him upstairs,” Mandie said with a sigh. “Come here, Snowball.” She reached for him, and he quickly jumped down from the shelf and disappeared across the room. “Snowball, come here. Snowball!” she called to him as she picked up her lamp and walked in the direction he had gone.

“You'll never find him in this place,” Joe said as he continued searching the top shelf. And then with a big grin he added, “He might come in handy, you know, just in case a rat decides to show up.”

“Joe!” Mandie exclaimed as she stopped where she was. “Don't mention such things!”

“Don't say I didn't warn you,” Joe said with a laugh.