The Mandie Collection (56 page)

Abraham turned furiously, burning his finger on a pot handle. “If dat's what y'all come here fo,' ” he yelled, “y'all kin jes' git back to de big house!” He stuck his finger in his mouth to cool the burn.

“That food smells good, Abraham. You must be a good cook,” Joe said.

Abraham ignored the compliment.

“Jenny sure is a good cook, too,” Joe continued. “The Shaws are lucky people to have her to cook all those delicious meals. She sure knows what she's doing.”

“She don't know what she's doin,' ” Abraham argued. “She don't know how to come in outta de rain.”

“She must know something about what she's doing because she sure cooks good meals. We enjoy them,” Mandie said.

“And she does still love you, Abraham,” Sallie assured him.

“Love!” the gardener scoffed. “Dat woman don't know what dat word mean!”

Mandie sighed deeply. “Abraham, did Dr. Plumbley tell you about what we found this afternoon?” she asked. “You should have come with us.”

“No, he ain't told me what you found,” Abraham said. “You mean y'all done found sumpin'?”

“We found Ruby's treasure on the map we showed you. It was a great big ruby, a real one,” Mandie explained.

“A great big ruby? What you gwine to do wid it?” Abraham asked.

“Ruby left a note that said she wanted Dr. Plumbley to have it, and Uncle John tried to give it to him, but he wouldn't take it,” Mandie replied.

Abraham whirled to face his doctor friend. “Wouldn't take it?” he hollered. “Is you crazy in de haid? Why don't you take dat ruby?”

Dr. Plumbley looked up from dishing food from the pot. “I explained to Mr. Shaw that I don't need it,” he said.

“Well, he don't need it neither,” Abraham said. “Anybody offer me anything like dat, I takes it.”

Mandie smiled at the doctor. “I don't think Abraham is the only stubborn one around here.”

“Me, stubborn?” Abraham protested. “I ain't stubborn.”

“You are definitely stubborn, Abraham,” Mandie told him. “You're so stubborn you'd rather live alone than go tell Jenny you still love her.”

Abraham thought for a moment. “She don't love me,” he said. “She never did.”

“You're not a mind reader,” Dr. Plumbley spoke up. “How do you know what Jenny thinks? You've never asked her, have you?”

“I don't hafta aks her. I knows,” Abraham muttered as he set a platter of fried chicken on the table.

“No, you don't know either. You're guessing,” the doctor argued. There was a knock at the door and Liza yelled, “Eatin' time! Eatin' time!”

“Coming!” Joe yelled back.

“We'll see you later, Abraham,” Mandie said. “Good night, Dr. Plumbley.”

The three young people hurried back to the house for their supper. As they entered the back door they came face-to-face with Aunt Lou.

Aunt Lou shook her big apron at them. “Y'all git in dat dinin' room,” she scolded. “And don't y'all come botherin' de cook no mo.' You hear?”

“We won't,” they all promised.

They met up with the adults in the hallway on their way into the dining room.

“I hear y'all have been in the kitchen bothering Jenny,” Elizabeth chided. “I suppose you have also been bothering Abraham.”

After Uncle John returned thanks for the food at the table, Liza placed a platter of food in front of them. “Oh, dat botherin' done Jenny good,” she said. “She be in there singin' a love song. I ain't never seen her so happy.”

The three young people looked at one another and grinned.

“She sho' is, and I ain't never heerd her sing like dat befo,' ” the Negro girl continued. “I don't know what's goin' on, but it sho' be good.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

MUCH IS GIVEN

Before sunrise Monday morning, the young people gathered in the sunroom, waiting for Jenny to prepare breakfast. Snowball didn't like the early hour, and he curled up asleep by his mistress.

Sallie sat down beside Mandie on the settee. “We must part ways today,” she said sadly.

“But we can all get together for Christmas,” Joe reminded her. “And that's not so long off.”

“I feel as though our search was all for nothing,” Mandie said with a little pout. “Dr. Plumbley won't take the ruby, and Uncle John doesn't know what to do with it.”

“He'll come up with a good use for it, I'm sure,” Joe said.

The young people sat silently for several moments, then Mandie spoke. “Do you reckon Abraham and Jenny will ever get together again?”

“They might if they would talk things over,” Sallie said.

“But they're not even at the talking stage,” Joe remarked. “They don't want to talk to each other.”

“I just thought of something.” Mandie changed the subject. “We promised to let Mrs. Hadley know what we found buried on the map.”

“Would we have time to visit them this morning?” Sallie asked. “I do not know what time my grandfather and I will be leaving. Maybe he would ride out there with us this morning.”

“My father probably won't be here until this afternoon. He has some calls to make on the way,” Joe said.

“I'll ask my mother if we can go,” Mandie promised.

When Elizabeth and Uncle John came downstairs for breakfast, they gave the young people permission to visit the Hadleys, provided Uncle Ned went with them. He agreed to go.

Uncle John had put the ruby away in his safe because it was too valuable for Mandie to be carrying around. But he allowed her to take the note they had found to show Mrs. Hadley.

When they arrived, they joined the Hadleys in their parlor. Mrs. Hadley read the note and listened to the three young people's account of what they found.

“What a sad story,” the woman responded.

“If only we could get Dr. Plumbley to accept the ruby,” Mandie said.

Mrs. Hadley gave the note back to Mandie. “But dear, you said he told y'all he didn't need it.”

“My Uncle John doesn't need it either,” Mandie replied.

“Think of all the good that could be done with that ruby,” the woman mused. “It could feed a lot of hungry people or pay for medical treatment of sick people who can't afford a doctor, especially the Cherokees.”

“We're building a hospital for the Cherokees not far from where Uncle Ned and Sallie live,” Mandie told her. “We were exploring a cave and found some gold that belonged to them many years ago. They wouldn't accept the gold, so we're using it to build the hospital.”

“That's a wonderful thing to do,” said Mr. Hadley, who was sitting next to Uncle Ned. “So many people can't afford a doctor these days.”

“My father doctors sick people whether they can pay or not,” Joe spoke up. “He says God gave him his talents in medicine and that they should be put to use for the good of the people, not just for profit.”

“Dr. Woodard is a fine man,” Mr. Hadley said. “Are you going to study medicine, too, when you grow up?”

“No, sir, I don't think so,” Joe replied. “I think I'd rather be a lawyer.”

“Well, people need lawyers, too,” Mrs. Hadley agreed.

Uncle Ned stood up. “Must go now,” he announced.

The young people promised to visit again and rode off on their ponies with Uncle Ned.

As they approached the Shaw home, they spotted Dr. Plumbley's horse and buggy at the gate.

Mandie frowned in confusion. “I didn't think Dr. Plumbley was coming back again,” she said. “I thought he was going home to New York.”

“Maybe he forgot something,” Sallie suggested.

“Probably came by to tell Abraham good-bye,” Joe said.

They all dismounted and tied their horses to the hitching post at the gate.

“When are we leaving to go home, my grandfather?” Sallie asked. “Eat first, then go,” Uncle Ned said, starting up the walkway to the house.

The young people rushed ahead. Inside, they met Liza in the front hallway.

“In de parlor,” she said, waving her hand in that direction.

They could hear Dr. Plumbley's strong voice and hurried to see why he had come back. Stopping at the doorway, with Uncle Ned behind them, they looked into the parlor.

Uncle John and Elizabeth sat on the settee. Dr. Plumbley was seated nearby. A tall, thin Negro boy, a little older than Joe, sat alone by a window.

“Come on in. This is Dr. Plumbley's brother's grandson, Moses,” Uncle John said, introducing everyone.

The young people sat down near Moses.

“I thought you were leaving town this morning,” Mandie said to Dr. Plumbley.

The doctor drew a deep breath. “I had planned to,” he said. “But my brother Elijah crossed over in his sleep sometime during the night.” “He died?” Mandie gasped. “Oh, I'm sorry, Dr. Plumbley.”

Joe and Sallie also expressed their sympathy.

“I thought he was better,” Dr. Plumbley said, wiping his eyes with a handkerchief, “but I reckon the Lord thought it was time for him to go.”

Moses caught his breath and looked away from the young people so they wouldn't see the tears in his eyes.

“Is there anything we can do?” Joe asked.

“No, thank you,” the doctor replied. “I just came to town to make the arrangements. I'll be leaving as soon as everything is over. Moses will be alone now since both his parents are dead. So I brought him to town to see if he could stay with Abraham until I can send for him. Moses wants to study medicine.”

“Why don't you take him with you when you leave?” Mandie asked.

The doctor didn't answer for a moment, and then he said, “Well, you see, it costs a lot of money to go to New York from here. And my wife and I will have to find a larger place to live. We only have one bedroom—”

“The ruby!” Mandie interrupted. “Uncle John, the ruby! We can give it to Moses!”

Uncle John smiled at her. “That's exactly what I was thinking. I'll go get it.”

As he left the room, Dr. Plumbley protested. “No, no,” he said. “Moses couldn't accept that ruby any more than I could.”

Moses looked puzzled, and the young people explained how they came to find the ruby.

“I sho' wish I could've gone with y'all,” Moses said. “Must've been a lot of fun.”

“Except for the crazy man threatening us,” Joe reminded him.

When Uncle John came back into the room, he walked over to Moses and showed the ruby to him. “This is what they found,” he said, cradling the ruby in the palm of his hand.

Moses' eyes grew wide at the sight of the shiny red gem.

Uncle John walked over to sit beside Dr. Plumbley. “Now there's no use arguing about this,” he said. “We want you to take this and use it for Moses' education. There are never enough doctors, so the money will be well spent.” John held the stone out to the doctor.

“That's right,” Dr. Plumbley replied. “There's no use arguing about it because we're not going to accept it.” He shook his head. “There's no way we could ever pay you back, so it just wouldn't be right for us to take it.”

“You could take the boy on home with you to New York now, and you wouldn't have to send for him later,” John Shaw reasoned. “You could find a bigger place to live after you get him up there and put him in school.”

“Mr. Shaw, you don't realize how much your family has already done for mine,” Dr. Plumbley argued. “Your father practically fed and clothed my grandparents and me. And I've never been able to repay it. I can't get further indebted to the Shaw family.”

“Stubborn, just like Abraham,” said Uncle Ned.

“You also have the cost of your brother's funeral to pay out,” John reminded him. “How do you think you're going to manage all these things without some help? You told us you only make a meager living from doctoring. This is not my help. It's Ruby helping you.”

“It's not Ruby's help. She left many years ago. That stone belongs to you and nobody else,” the doctor insisted.

“You're wrong. It is not mine,” John replied. “I consider the note that Ruby wrote the same as a will. She willed this to you, and she would be awfully hurt if she knew you wouldn't accept it.”

Dr. Plumbley stood up. “I'm sorry, Mr. Shaw. I don't look at it that way. I thank you very much, but I cannot accept the ruby. Now, I need to find Abraham and talk to him about Moses.”

After the doctor and his nephew had gone, John Shaw turned to his wife. “I don't understand why he won't take this ruby,” he said in frustration.

“Well, he just doesn't want it, so you can't make him accept it, John,” Elizabeth said.

“I guess I should lock it up again then,” John said, rising to leave the room.

Mandie looked at her friends. “Let's go outside,” she suggested.

Sallie and Joe followed her out onto the front porch, and they all sat down in the big swing. For several minutes they gently rocked back and forth in the swing, talking about the ruby, Dr. Plumbley, his nephew, and the situation with Abraham and Jenny.

“Why don't we go see what Jenny is cooking for dinner?” Joe suggested. “I'm hungry.”

Mandie and Sallie laughed.

“I know what you're up to, Joe Woodard,” Mandie teased as they rose from the swing.

“We'd better be quiet. Aunt Lou may catch us.” Joe led the way around the house to the back door, so they wouldn't have to pass the parlor, where the adults were sitting.

The three were trying to silently ease the back door open when Jenny suddenly came up behind them and pushed it open.

“Out o' my way! I'se gotta see 'bout de food befo' it burn up,” Jenny fussed, rushing into the kitchen.

The three young people stood outside the back door for a moment.

“Now where has Jenny been?” Joe asked quietly.