The Mandie Collection (36 page)

“We's both brung up better than that and you know it,” the woman said. “The Lord Almighty is goin' to have a hard time forgivin' us, I can guarantee you that.”

“We told Him we's sorry. I ain't done that in coon's ages,” the man said.

“Yeah, and now we gotta find them younguns and make sure they's all right.”

“I s'pose you're right, Woman. I can look back now and see whut we been doin' ain't done us no good, so we might as well try it t'other way—fer a while anyway.”

“Not jest for a while, but from here on,” the woman argued. “If you don't straighten up with me and try to do right, I ain't havin' nothin' else to do with you. The Lord don't require a woman to live with a man that jest won't live right.”

“Woman, don't you talk that way. You been my wife for purty nigh forty years,” the man said.

“And that's goin' to be purty nigh forty years long 'nuff if you don't change your way of livin,' ” the woman replied.

The man frowned at her. “You don't care nothin' 'bout me no more?”

“It ain't that atall,” she responded. “But we's gittin' old, and one day we's gotta go meet our Maker. If we don't start doin' better, we
ain't gonna see Him. We'll be goin' t'other way. I hope you been thinkin' 'bout that.”

“Yep, s'pose I have,” the old man said. “And I do still love ya, so I s'pose I'll hafta change my ways. To tell you the truth, I'm glad you got on this path of righteousness. I couldn't uh done it by myself.”

“If we hadn't met up with that sweet little girl, I don't think I'd uh been thinkin' 'bout our way of livin.' She jest made me realize what a terrible hole we's got ourselves into,” the woman said. “I sure hope we find them younguns and they's all right. I won't never be able to forgive myself if they's not.”

They traveled on, searching along the riverbank. The wrecked boat was already beneath the water downstream, but as they rounded a bend, they spotted the young people lying on the ground in the weeds ahead.

The woman gasped and jumped down from her horse before the animal had completely stopped. She rushed to the young people, and the man followed.

“Thank the Lord, they're alive!” exclaimed the woman, bending over Mandie. “They don't seem to be hurt none. I think they's jest asleep.”

Hearing someone talking above her, Mandie forced her eyes open. Seeing the man and woman standing over her, she was afraid to speak. Unable to tell whether the old people had come to do more harm or what, she only stared at them and tried to straighten her cold, stiff arms. She shivered from the penetrating cold. Just then Joe opened his eyes and sat up quickly as he saw the old couple. “Now what do you want?” he demanded, moving protectively to Mandie's side.

“We want somethin' from you,” the old man said, looking down at his feet.

“Something from us?” Mandie questioned.

“We want your forgiveness,” the woman said sadly. “We's sorry, truly sorry, for what we's done, and we want to ask your forgiveness.” Mandie and Joe looked at each other, unbelieving.

“Why?” Joe demanded.

“Because like this here young lady told us, we gotta forgive and ask for forgiveness if we wanna git through them pearly gates up there,” the woman replied. “My pa was a preacher. He learnt his children what
he knowed 'bout the Bible. He'd be ashamed of me right now. It jest seemed so easy to stray from the straight and narrow path.”

Mandie reached for the woman's hand and squeezed it. “I know what you mean. That's how we got into all this trouble. I strayed down the wrong path and broke a promise to my mother. I'm awfully ashamed of myself,” Mandie told her.

“Well, are you younguns willin' to forgive us?” the man asked.

“Of course,” Joe said. “We have to.”

“Have to?” the man questioned.

“Joe means that the Bible says if we don't forgive others, our heavenly Father won't forgive us. And we sure have a lot of trespasses ourselves to be forgiven for,” Mandie explained. “I told you when you left us that we forgave you, and we really do.”

“Yes, we do,” Joe added.

The woman took Mandie in her arms, and the man firmly grasped Joe's shoulder.

“We thank you for givin' us a chance to live better,” the man said. “We was afraid you'd really make it hard for us. You had a right to.”

“What can we do 'bout gittin' you younguns home now?” the old woman asked.

“We left our ponies back at the mine,” Mandie told them.

“They may still be there, but I imagine everyone is out looking for us by now,” said Joe as he noticed the sun sinking in the sky.

“Yes, I'm surprised Uncle Ned hasn't found us yet,” Mandie said, trying to stand. “Oh, I'm so cold I can't stand up.

Joe managed to get to his feet and helped her stand.

Suddenly Mandie gasped. “Where is Snowball?” she cried, looking around. “Snowball, where are you? Kitty! Kitty! Where are you?”

Joe helped her search the bushes, and the old couple joined in the search, too. But the white kitten was nowhere to be found.

“Mandie, I think we'd better go home and get some help to find him,” Joe said. “That way our parents will know we're safe.”

“I guess you're right, Joe, but l hate to leave here without finding him,” Mandie said with tears in her eyes.

“We'll come back,” Joe promised. “Besides, maybe Snowball went home. You know he's a smart cat. He could find the way home.”

Mandie smiled at Joe. “If he's able, he'll find the way home,” she said.

“Come on,” the woman said to Mandie, “you're cold. We's got blankets on the horses. You ride with me. The boy can ride with him.”

“Oh, will I be glad to get home again!” Mandie exclaimed as the woman helped her up on the horse with her.

The woman wrapped a warm blanket around Mandie, and the man did likewise for Joe. Then they were on their way.

As they rode along, Mandie's curiosity grew. “Why did you do what you did to us?” she asked.

“It's really a bad mixed-up mess,” the woman began. “We cain't make no livin' no more. Jest ain't no way to do it. We worked the land long as we could. Nuthin' wouldn't grow. We jest plain didn't have nuthin' to eat and nowheres to git it,” the woman said.

“I wish I had known,” Mandie said. “I'd have seen to it that you had something to eat.”

“Well, I don't know whut a youngun like you could do, but anyway, we figured the only way we could keep from starvin' to death was jest to take 'nuff to live on. And that's all we's been takin,' jest 'nuff to live on,” she repeated.

“From where?” Mandie asked, huddling within the warm blanket.

“To begin with, we'd jest take a pig here and a few things there, from various places, like I said—jest barely 'nuff to stay alive. And then we found out 'bout that gold mine over in Buncombe County. So we went over there and took out a little gold when nobody was watchin,' ” the woman explained.

“You've been stealing gold?” Mandie questioned.

“Guess you'd call it that, even though we was only takin' 'nuff to buy somethin' to eat,” the old woman said. “Anyhow we still got it in the bags. We ain't made 'way with it.” She patted the bags hanging across the horse.

“Then you must return it,” Mandie told her. “The Bible says, ‘Thou shalt not steal.' That's one of the Ten Commandments.”

“I know all 'bout that, but when you git so hungry your stomach seems like it's stuck to your backbone, you're liable to do anythin' to git somethin' to eat,” she tried to explain.

Mandie patted the woman's hand. “I'm sorry you've been hungry when we have so much to eat,” she said. “Y'all just come home with us. I know my Uncle John will see to it that y'all have something to eat from now on.”

Joe was asking similar questions of the old man, but the man was more proud, more reluctant to divulge his personal affairs. Yet at Joe's insistence, he finally told all.

“Couldn't you find any work to do'?” Joe asked.

“Naw, too old. Nobody don't want old men like me when they kin git young able-bodied workers,” the man said.

“That's not fair. You have to eat the same as the young men,” Joe protested. “If you and your wife will go back to Mandie's uncle's house with us, I think my father and her uncle can find something honest for y'all to do.”

“I know John Shaw,” the old man told him. “But I ain't never had to ask a favor from nobody in my life.”

“It's better to ask a favor and be honest than to go doing things like y'all have been doing,” Joe told him.

“We'll see,” the man replied.

The sky was dimming as they rode up to the mine. The surrounding trees made it darker there than in the wide open spaces.

But when they reached the mine, they were greeted by Dr. Woodard, pointing a rifle at them and giving a loud whistle.

“Don't shoot! It's us!” Joe cried, quickly slipping down from the man's horse. He ran to his father's side.

Dr. Woodard, surprised, hugged his son with one arm. “Where have you and Amanda been?” he asked as Mandie jumped down from the woman's horse and joined him.

“Everything is all right now,” Joe told him.

“Yes, Dr. Woodard, we've come to get our ponies,” Mandie explained. “These people need help. They'll be going home with us.”

“Amanda, don't you know who these people are?” Dr. Woodard asked. “This is Jake Burns and his wife.”

“Jake Burns? The man who is going to buy the mine from uncle John?” Mandie asked.

Dr. Woodard nodded, never taking his eyes off the couple.

Mandie turned to the man. “But you said you don't even have enough to eat. How can you have the money to buy this mine?”

“I know it don't make no sense,” Jake replied. “We figured we'd have 'nuff gold to buy this mine and that old farmhouse over there in the trees. This is good farming land. We could make a living here without even minin.' ”

“But you stole that gold and you must return it,” Mandie insisted. “I know. You're right,” Jake said, hanging his head.

Dr. Woodard cleared his throat. “Jake Burns, I'm going to see to it that you get what's coming to–”

“No, Dr. Woodard,” Mandie interrupted. “We know they've been bad, but we promised them forgiveness,” she said quickly.

“We will see,” Dr. Woodard replied, finally lowering the rifle. “Your Uncle John is going to have something to say about this.”

“Then let's go home,” Mandie said.

“We'll wait for John and the others first,” said Dr. Woodard.

In a moment John and Dimar came hurrying through the bushes from one direction and Uncle Ned from the other.

“We were on the way back when we heard your whistle,” John said, seeing Joe and Mandie and the old couple. “Mandie, Joe, are you all right?”

“Yes, sir,” Mandie said, running into his waiting arms.

“Thank Big God Papoose not hurt,” Uncle Ned declared.

John Shaw looked confused. “Jake, Ludie, how did you get here?”

“That's a long story, Uncle John. We'll explain when we get home,” Mandie told him.

“Well, let's get going,” he said.

Uncle Ned was the last to mount. “Jake Burns bad man. Must punish,” he mumbled.

CHAPTER TEN

EXPLANATIONS

Jason Bond had been constantly on the lookout for the search party to return, so when he saw them coming, he hurried to assist with the horses and ponies as they stopped at the gate.

The caretaker smiled at Mandie and reached to help her dismount. “I reckon I'm awfully glad to see you home, Missy. And you, too, young fella,” he said, grinning at Joe.

“You just don't know how glad we are to be back,” Mandie said, painfully dismounting her pony. Her arms and legs were bruised from being knocked around in the boat, and she ached all over.

“At one point we kinda doubted that we'd ever get back,” Joe said, handing his pony's reins to Mr. Bond.

Elizabeth, hearing the horses' hoofs and the voices, came running to the front door. Everyone in the house crowded behind her to wait for the group coming up the walkway.

Mandie ran straight to her mother's arms, and Joe, who was always reserved, went straight to his mother and put his arm around her.

“Amanda, we've been praying for y'all to get home safely. Are you all right?” Elizabeth asked with tears in her eyes. She hugged her daughter tightly. “Where on earth have you been, darling?”

“I'm sorry, Mother. I have a lot of forgiveness to ask,” Mandie admitted. She looked up at Celia and Sallie. “Has Snowball come home?” she asked.

“No, I don't think so,” Celia replied. “Has anyone seen him?”

As a chorus of no's came from the group, Mandie's blue eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Mother, I've lost Snowball. I couldn't find him in the woods.”

Realizing the condition her daughter was in, Elizabeth delayed any more talk. “There, there, Amanda,” she said, patting her daughter on the back. “Straight to the bathtub and then some hot food. After that we'll sit down and talk this whole thing out.”

“I go help,” Liza spoke up from behind Elizabeth.

With a heavy heart, Mandie trudged up the stairs as Liza followed.

“You, too, Joe,” Mrs. Woodard told her son, tousling his windblown hair.

Dimar volunteered to go with Joe, and Joe seemed grateful. “This is going to be a big job to get back in shape again,” he said.

Mandie was so worn out and hungry that she almost fell into her room when Liza opened the door for her.

The Negro girl caught her by the arm and led her over to the bed to sit down. “First we git dis here fire goin,' ” Liza said, lighting the wood in the fireplace. Then she turned back to Mandie. “Now off wid dese filthy, wet clothes, Missy,” she ordered.