The Mandie Collection (43 page)

Mandie went through the kitchen and picked up some matches and joined Joe and Polly on the back porch. Joe lit the lantern, and they were on their way. The winter day had been short because of cloudiness, and it was dark as the three hurried down the pathway.

When they reached the Burnses' house, they knocked on the front door and Mrs. Burns opened it, surprised at seeing them.

“Well, bless my soul, do come in,” she told the young people. “I
was just getting ready to go, as soon as Jake gets his things together.” She stepped back so they could enter the small front room.

“Uncle John sent us after y'all,” Mandie explained.

“I'm sorry you had to come all the way down here for us,” she said. “You see, we didn't know exactly what time youins wanted us up there. Then when it started to snow today, we decided we'd just take a change of clothes and stay at the big house with y'all, just in case it snows real bad.” She leaned toward the door to another room and called, “Jake, are you ready yet? Mr. Shaw done sent the young'uns for us. Hurry up, you hear?”

“I'm ready, be right there,” Jake called from the other room. He came into the front room with a bag thrown across his shoulder and a lighted lantern.

Mrs. Burns picked up her bag from across the room and led the way out of the house. Jake went ahead with the light and Joe brought up the rear with his lantern. Mandie stayed back near Joe and let Polly get ahead of her.

“I hope nobody bothers my box, you know,” Mandie whispered to Joe as they walked. “And I don't want other people to see it. Know what I mean?”

“You shouldn't have left it just sitting there at the back door,” Joe told her under his breath.

“I know,” she whispered. She would have to grab the box and hide it because she was afraid if Polly saw it and got the idea that it was a treasure map she would follow them around.

Also, she would have to talk to her grandmother about the Guyers. And she had not told Joe yet that Jonathan was coming to visit.

“Oh me, oh my!” she said under her breath to herself as the group moved on.

CHAPTER SIX

UP WENT THE TREE

Jake Burns led the way to the back of the Shaw house with his lantern to illuminate their path. Just as he started to open the door, Mandie stopped and said to Joe, “Let's go in the front door.”

“But why?” Joe asked as he looked at her in the light from his lantern.

“Oh, you know, let's just go in the front door. It's nearer to the parlor,” Mandie insisted. She started to walk around the house. “Come on, Polly.”

“Well, all right, then,” Joe agreed. “We'll catch up with y'all inside,” he called back to the Burnses, who were going through the back way.

“If y'all are going in the front, then I will, too,” Polly said. She quickly followed Joe and Mandie.

Mandie pushed open the front door, quickly removed her coat, hat, and gloves, and hung them on the hall tree. Joe and Polly did likewise.

As soon as they got to the parlor door, Mandie turned to look at Joe where Polly couldn't see her face and said, “I'll be right back.” She mouthed the words “the box” and hurried down the hallway.

Polly followed Joe into the parlor.

Mandie went straight to the box she had left on the table at the
back door. She looked around as she picked it up, trying to figure out where to hide it.

“The closet under the stairs,” she murmured to herself as she quickly opened the door to the space under the steps leading up to the second floor. As she did, she was amazed at the contents of the place. There was not one inch of space to store the box. Linens were packed tightly into every shelf, and the space on the floor beneath was covered with canned goods stacked all the way up to the bottom shelf. “How did anyone ever figure out how to put all this into one closet?” she said aloud.

Closing the closet door, she glanced around the hallway. Then she realized the table had a large drawer. She pulled it open and breathed a sigh of relief when she found it empty, but the box just barely fit inside.

“Mandie, your mother is asking where you are,” Polly called to her as she came down the corridor.

“I'm coming,” Mandie said, trying to close the drawer.

“What are you doing?” Polly asked as she came closer.

“Nothing,” Mandie said, moving in front of the drawer. “This drawer is stuck. Why don't you go back and tell my mother I'll be right there?”

Polly had come up to her and bent forward to see into the drawer. “What's wrong with the drawer, Mandie?”

“Oh, Polly, please go back to the parlor,” Mandie said as she let go of the drawer and turned to stand in front of it.

Polly managed to see behind Mandie. “No wonder it won't close,” she said. “What is that inside? It's too big for the drawer.”

Mandie gave up, turned around, and took the box out of the drawer.

“It's just a box I was trying to put away,” she said, holding it with both hands. “Come on. I'm going back to the parlor.”

Mandie hastened down the hallway and Polly followed.

“What's in the box, Mandie?” Polly asked as she looked at Mandie.

“Nothing important,” Mandie replied and kept right on into the parlor. She looked around for a place to put the box. Everyone was there, and everyone was involved in some chore of decorating. The tree had been placed in the pot and was standing at the other side of the room away from the heat of the fireplace. Joe and Abraham were bringing in
buckets of dirt and pouring it into the pot as Uncle John held the tree in place. Dr. Woodard was on a ladder while Elizabeth and Mrs. Taft handed him pieces of greenery to place over the top of the window. Aunt Lou, Jenny, and Liza were untangling bundles of holly and mistletoe. Jake and Ludie Burns were darting among everyone for odds and ends as needed. Uncle Ned was stringing beads for the tree. Mrs. Woodard was standing back and giving directions for placement of everything.

Elizabeth looked across the room and asked, “Amanda, aren't you going to participate? And Polly?”

“Of course, Mother,” Mandie said. She put the box on a table and sat down on the carpet to assist in separating the holly and mistletoe.

“Yes, ma'am,” Polly said as she went to help pass the greenery to Dr. Woodard.

Mandie stayed within view of her box and watched Polly moving about the room. And when they finally got to the task of decorating the tree, Elizabeth surveyed their work around the room and said, “I believe we could take a break now for refreshments.”

“Hot cocoa,” Joe spoke up as he stood by Mandie near the table with the box on it.

“With marshmallows,” Mandie added.

“Suppose we get some sticks and roast the marshmallows over the fire? What do y'all think?” Uncle John asked as he looked around the room.

“Yes!” Mandie agreed with a big smile.

“I'll get the sticks,” Joe volunteered as he started toward the door.

“I believe you'll find plenty of sticks in the leftovers on the back porch,” John Shaw told him.

“I'll help make the hot cocoa,” Mrs. Taft said, and as she glanced at her hands, she added, “As soon as I wash my dirty hands.”

Mandie looked at her grandmother in surprise. She had never seen the woman do any kind of work. She had servants at her home. Her many businesses kept her involved and she had never seemed interested in housework.

“If you are going to make the hot cocoa, then I'd better go along to supervise,” Mandie teased with a big grin.

Mrs. Taft didn't blink an eye as she replied, also grinning, “That might be a good idea. Let's go.” She started toward the door.

Aunt Lou had stood by listening to the conversation, and she said,
“Now, I don't be needin' nobody else in my kitchen. I'll make dat hot cocoa myself. Come along, Liza.” She started for the door and beckoned to Liza.

“Then we'll just go and watch,” Mrs. Taft told her.

Without remembering about the box, Mandie followed them to the kitchen. She helped Liza get down cups and saucers, and Mrs. Taft stood by watching.

“One of these days I need to take time to learn a few things about food and the operation of a kitchen,” Mrs. Taft remarked as Aunt Lou added more water to the kettle and set it on a hot cap.

“Ain't nuthin' to it, really,” Aunt Lou told her. “But if I may say, ma'am, a lady in yo' position don't need to be wastin' huh time in de kitchen. People like us needs our jobs in de kitchen, and people like you gotta make de money to keep de kitchen goin'.”

“Dat's right. Cain't nobody do ev'ything,” Liza joined in from across the room.

“I'll teach you if you really want to learn, Grandmother,” Mandie said. “Aunt Lou taught me, you know, and I wrote up all the recipes. We put them together and got it made into a book that we call
Mandie's Cookbook
.”

“Why, Amanda, that would be wonderful,” Mrs. Taft told her. “When you grow up you will have a well-rounded education.”

Liza took large bags of marshmallows from the cabinet and asked Mandie, “What you wantin' to do wid dese?”

Mandie rushed to take them from her and said, “I need a large platter to put these on and some little tea plates for everyone to hold them after we roast them.” She helped Liza find the proper dishes.

Liza looked at Aunt Lou and Mrs. Taft and then leaned over to whisper to Mandie, “You dun left dat Miss Sweet Thing in de parlor wid de doctuh's son.”

Mandie gasped as she thought about the box she had left on the table. “I'd better go back and help Joe with the sticks,” she said as she hurried out of the kitchen.

She met up with Joe and Polly in the hallway on their way back to the parlor with sticks for roasting the marshmallows.

“Aunt Lou is making the hot cocoa,” Mandie remarked as she joined them.

“I didn't think she would need you to help,” Joe teased.

“No, not really,” Mandie replied when they came to the door of the parlor. She rushed into the room and went to look at her box. It was still on the table and didn't look as though it had been disturbed.

“I didn't touch your old box,” Polly said as she watched Mandie.

“Why, Polly, I didn't say you did,” Mandie told her.

Uncle John and Uncle Ned came into the room then carrying boxes full of decorations, which they set down near the tree.

“Did you all get those from the attic?” Mandie asked.

“We sure did,” John Shaw told her, dusting off his hands.

“I saw them up there one time. Lots of the stuff must be awfully old,” Mandie replied as she bent to look into one of the boxes.

“As old as this house,” John Shaw said.

“And some older than grandfather of John Shaw,” Uncle Ned said.

“That would be terribly old,” Dr. Woodard added from the doorway where he had come in. “And I suppose you young people will want to know the story of each piece.” He looked at Mandie, Joe, and Polly.

“I'm afraid that would take all night,” John Shaw said with a laugh. “We can't possibly use all this, so Amanda, Joe, and Polly can just pick out what they want to hang on the tree.”

Aunt Lou and Liza brought trays holding the hot cocoa and marshmallows and set them on a long table. Mrs. Taft followed with the white linen napkins, which she placed alongside the trays.

Mandie watched her grandmother and with a smile said, “Well, Grandmother, you did get to help after all.”

Mrs. Taft responded with a big smile of her own.

At that moment Jason Bond entered the parlor. “Hope you don't mind I took so long,” he said to John Shaw as he came to stand by the fireplace. “There are so many wonderful people over that mountain, and I just had to visit awhile.”

“Oh no, that's quite all right,” John Shaw replied. “You're back just in time for a hot drink and to help decorate the tree.”

“It's cold outside and still looks like snow,” Jason Bond told him. “Now, what can I do around here?”

Mandie spoke up. “Help us tie the ribbons on the decorations,” she said. “Look at all those things in these boxes. We have to go through it all and pick out whatever the tree will hold.” She pointed to the boxes nearby.

“Looks like a big job,” Jason Bond said with a smile as he bent to inspect the contents.

“Shall we get started now? Otherwise we're going to be all night getting this tree decorated,” Elizabeth Shaw said loudly as she looked around the room. “Help yourselves to the cocoa and cookies. We can stop now and then to roast a marshmallow in the fireplace whenever you wish.”

Everyone immediately pitched in and the hot cocoa and cookies soon disappeared. Aunt Lou and Liza went back to the kitchen for more.

Mandie excitedly picked out items in the boxes and tied red ribbons around them with a loop to put over a branch of the tree, but she kept watching her box on the table.

When the decorating job came to an end, everyone stood back to admire their work. Elizabeth went to the piano and began playing Christmas carols. Soon the whole crowd was taking part in the singing.

As the grandfather clock in the hallway struck midnight, Elizabeth stood up and said, “This has been a wonderful day, but I think we'd better all retire now. Otherwise, we may fall asleep at church tomorrow.” She laughed as she looked around the room, and the others joined in.

Uncle John looked at Polly and said, “Now, Miss Polly, we'll send someone to escort you home. It's late.” He looked directly at Joe.

Mandie quickly offered, “I will go with her, Uncle John.”

“Then who is going to escort you back home?” her uncle teased. “I think we'd better let someone else go.”

Mandie walked over to Uncle Ned, looked up at him with her blue eyes, and asked, “Uncle Ned, would you mind walking with me and Polly over to her house?”