The Mandie Collection (40 page)

At first Mandie thought the task was impossible. Then she learned to go very slowly and hold her breath.

The next lesson was how to stoop properly to pick up something from the floor.

“A lady never bends forward with her posterior in the air,” Miss Cameron informed them. “You must always bend your knees and slowly lower your body until your hand can reach the desired
object. Then you slowly straighten up, smoothing your skirts as you stand.”

This exercise made Mandie feel like an old lady too feeble to bend.

And then Miss Cameron offered instructions on how a lady controls her voice. “A lady never, never shouts,” she said. “Even when she is angry, she keeps her voice under control. A lady never talks loudly to someone too far away to hear normal conversation. She walks over to the person to talk to them, rather than yelling from a distance.”

Such silly stuff
, Mandie thought. She was thoroughly disgusted with the school.
How could I ever endure it without God's help?
she wondered.

At the noon meal Miss Prudence introduced a new girl who had just arrived. She sat on the other side of Mandie.

“Young ladies, this is Celia Hamilton from Richmond,” Miss Prudence told them. “She will occupy the small vacant room on the third floor.”

Mandie turned to the tall, slender girl with thick, curly auburn hair and looked into the saddest eyes she had ever seen.

Mandie's heart went out to her. She smiled and said, “Welcome.”

“Thank you,” Celia answered with a faraway look in her green eyes.

Neither said anything more, and when Miss Prudence dismissed them after the meal, Mandie had to go on to the next class on her list.

Celia didn't show up for supper. Miss Prudence announced that the new girl was tired from her trip and was excused from the evening meal so that she could retire early.

After the dining room had been cleared, Mandie and the others went out onto the veranda. Mandie sat alone while the other girls talked in small groups. After a while, Mandie went to the kitchen to get a drink of water.

As she pushed open the swinging door, Mandie almost collided with an old Negro woman who was tidying up the kitchen.

“I'm sorry,” she quickly apologized.

The woman stopped working and stared at her. “Lawsy mercy, if you ain't Miz Lizbeth all over agin.”

Mandie smiled and held out her hand.

“You must be Aunt Phoebe, Uncle Cal's wife. He said you'd say that when you saw me.” Mandie giggled. “I'm Amanda Shaw, Elizabeth Shaw's daughter. They call me Mandie.”

“And why ain't dat man tole me Miz Lizbeth's got a daughter and dat she be right heah under my nose.” Aunt Phoebe put her arm around the girl and gave her a big squeeze. “Lawsy mercy, Missy Manda. I sho' am proud to have you heah.”

“I'm not so glad to be here, Aunt Phoebe,” Mandie confided.

“Heah, lemme git you a glass of dis heah milk I'se puttin' 'way and you set right down theah and tell old Phoebe what be wrong.”

The woman quickly poured a glass of milk from the pitcher on the sideboard and handed it to Mandie. She motioned to the table in the corner. They sat down, and soon Mandie was opening her heart to Aunt Phoebe and telling her all her troubles.

“So, you see, Aunt Phoebe, I really don't want to be here,” Mandie admitted. “I think it's a prissy school. I don't care about learning all those silly things they've been teaching us today. I'm not that kind of person. I love to live the way God intended we should—walk, chase butterflies, watch birds, and maybe even climb trees,” she added with a big grin.

“Missy Manda, you sho' not like yo' mother when she yo' age. She liked to dress up and act like a lady.”

“But my mother was brought up that way. I wasn't. I lived in the mountains in a log cabin almost all my life, and my friends are not society people. Why, my best friends are Indians and country people who would make fun of these put-on airs.” Mandie whirled the empty glass on the table.

“But now you live wid yo' mother. You got to live de way she do,” Aunt Phoebe reminded her. “Her pa was a rich man. And now
she be married to Mistuh John Shaw. He be de richest man dis side o' Richmon'.”

Mandie laughed. “That's exactly what Liza said about Uncle John.”

“And who be Liza?”

“Liza is my friend. She works at Uncle John's house in Franklin.” Mandie smiled. “She's always getting into trouble with Aunt Lou. Aunt Lou is the boss. She runs the house for Uncle John.”

“Dey be my kind o' people? Dark skinned?”

“Yes, Aunt Phoebe. Why, you even remind me of Aunt Lou, except that she is much fatter,” Mandie teased.

“Well, you say Aunt Lou be de boss theah, den I be de boss heah,” the old woman said, rising from the table. “It be time fo' you to go to yo' room. It soon be ten o'clock and you don't wanta git in bad wid Miz Prudence, leastways not whilst you still new.”

“I didn't realize it was so late.” Mandie quickly embraced the old woman. “Good night. I'll see you tomorrow.”

“Young ladies not 'llowed in de kitchen, and I don't go in de dinin' room. I does de cookin'. Millie does de waitin' on de table.”

“But you have a house in the backyard, don't you? I'll come back there to visit you.”

“I don' know 'bout dat. Ain't nobody ever done dat 'fore. It might not be 'llowed.”

“Well, I won't ask.” Mandie grinned. “I'll see you as soon as I can find a chance.”

Hurrying up the stairs to her room, Mandie found the other girls in their nightgowns, talking or reading in bed. April lay reading, propped up with both pillows. She looked up. Mandie quickly entered the room, took her nightgown from her designated drawer in the huge bureau, and ran for the bathroom to undress.

When Mandie returned in her nightgown, carrying her clothes, April looked up again.

“What's the matter? You afraid to undress in front of the other girls?” April asked.

“Of course not,” Mandie replied, hanging her dress on the hook assigned to her. “I took a quick bath.”

“Bath? You have to get a time on the schedule to do that. The rest of us have already made up a list,” April informed her.

“A list?” Mandie went to the side of the bed to get in. “What do you mean?”

“With eight girls to a bathroom, we had to decide who was going to take a bath when. So, four of us will be taking baths at night and four in the morning,” April explained. “Each girl will have just ten minutes in the bathroom. The only ten minutes left is from six-twenty to six-thirty in the morning. No one wanted to get up that early.” April grinned. “And since you weren't here when we made up the schedule, you'll have to take your bath then.”

Silence fell over the room. The other girls watched for Mandie's reaction.

“That's fine with me.” Mandie gave a little laugh as she slid between the sheets. “I like to get up early. I've been doing that all my life.”

“You'll get tired of it,” April said.

Mandie reached for a pillow behind April and gave it a yank. “I believe you have my pillow. There's only one pillow for each girl.”

April pressed backward, trying to prevent her from pulling it away, but Mandie succeeded. She plumped up the pillow and lay down.

“Humph!” April said, rearranging the pillow that was left.

Suddenly a loud bell rang from somewhere nearby. The girls looked startled. Mandie sat up in bed.

April laughed. “That's the huge bell in the backyard. It's ten o'clock. They want to be sure we know it.” She stuck the book she was reading under the mattress and blew out the oil lamp by the bed. The other girls quickly extinguished their lights, and the room became dark.

Mandie lay very still, not wishing to disturb the haughty girl sharing her bed. But the other girls continued whispering and giggling.

After a while April raised her voice to them. “All right, maybe you aren't sleepy but I am, and I want quiet in this room,” she ordered. “Remember, they will wake us up at the ungodly hour of seven o'clock and those taking morning baths have to be up before that. So stop the noise and go to sleep,” she commanded.

Although they quit talking immediately, for a long time there was the sound of restless tossing and turning in the other beds. Finally April dozed off and soon the only sound was the quiet breathing of the sleeping girls.

Mandie was not sleepy, and she hadn't had a chance to say her prayers, so she slipped out of bed and walked softly to the window seat at the end of the hall.

As she sat there looking at the moonlight among the trees and the stars twinkling in the sky, she heard a muffled sob. Tiptoeing to the stairway leading to the attic, she stopped and listened. No, it wasn't coming from the attic. It must be in the small bedroom. She eased up to the door and listened. Someone was definitely crying. She couldn't decide whether to open the door or not. Then she remembered the new girl, Celia. She was in that room because the other rooms were all full.

Mandie turned the doorknob and pushed the door slightly. In the dim moonlight from the windows she could see a sobbing figure on the bed. She stepped inside and softly shut the door behind her.

“Celia, is that you?” she whispered loudly.

The sobs immediately stopped, and Celia turned to see who was in her room.

“Celia, it's Mandie. What's wrong?” she asked, approaching the bed.

The other girl sat up. “Oh, they'll catch you out of your room!” she cried in a shaky voice.

Mandie sat on the side of the bed. “Everyone else is asleep,” she said. “Now tell me what's wrong.”

“Oh, Mandie, I'm just lonely and—and—” She began to sob.

“I'm lonely, too,” Mandie replied. “But there's something else wrong, isn't there?”

“Y-Yes,” the girl sobbed, pushing the pillows up against the headboard.

“What is it, Celia? Tell me. Maybe I can help.”

“No one can bring my father back,” Celia cried.

“Your father? He's dead?”

“That's why I was late coming to school,” Celia explained. “He died recently?”

“He—he was thrown from a horse last week. He was just—just buried the day before yesterday. Oh, Mandie, I loved him so much!”

Tears came into Mandie's blue eyes. She put her hand on the other girl's shoulder. “I know how you feel. My father . . . died, too. And I loved him very much. I miss him, and I think about him every day, remembering all the wonderful times we had together.”

Celia dried her eyes. “Did he die suddenly?”

“Yes, he wasn't sick very long,” Mandie told her. “I know how you feel, Celia. I loved my father more than anyone else on this earth. But, you know, he's up there in heaven now, waiting for me. Someday I'll be with him again.”

“Do you really believe that, Mandie?”

“Believe it? Of course I believe it. Please don't tell me you don't.”

“I know it's all in the Bible, and I go to church and pray, but it's so hard to give him up.” She broke into sobs again.

Mandie put her arm around the shaking girl. “Celia, please don't cry. It won't help at all. I know because I've been through it. You just have to throw your shoulders back, hold your head high, and believe in God,” she said. “Celia, you have a mother, don't you?”

“Yes, my mother couldn't bring me to school. She was deep in shock over my father's death. I didn't want to leave her like that, but she made me come.”

“She was probably right. I think it would be better to be here with other girls—to keep occupied. When I lost my father I didn't have anyone to turn to. My stepmother, who I thought was my real mother, got married again right after my father went to heaven. She sent me away to work for another family. If it hadn't been for Uncle Ned, I wouldn't have had anyone to talk to.”

“Who is Uncle Ned? And how did you get here if you were sent away to work?”

“Celia, you wouldn't believe what happened to me. You see, Uncle Ned promised my father that he would watch over me when he died. Uncle Ned is a very old Indian, and he really keeps his promise to my father. He helped me find my father's brother.” Mandie took a quick breath. “I didn't even know my father had a brother. And when I found Uncle John, he got in touch with my real mother and got us together. And then he married my mother.”

“That's quite a story, Mandie, but I think I get it. Do you really have an Indian friend?”

“Sure, lots of them. In fact, my father's mother was a full-blooded Cherokee.”

“Oh, Mandie! It doesn't make any difference to me, but if I were you I wouldn't tell that to the other girls in this school. They're all so uppity they would probably give you a rough time about it.”

“I don't care if they know. I'm proud of my Indian blood. But since they haven't tried to make friends with me, I won't volunteer the information. Everyone seems to know everyone else, but I don't know anyone.” Mandie sighed. “I didn't want to come to this silly school anyway.”

“But, Mandie, you know me. I'm your friend.”

“Thank you, Celia. I liked you from the minute I saw you. You didn't put on airs like the other girls.”

Celia smiled. Mandie was glad to be able to take her friend's mind off her sadness.

Suddenly they heard the noise that Mandie had heard the night before. The sound of metal clanging and boards squeaking seemed
to come from the attic. The two girls froze. The dimness of the room made it all the more eerie.

“Did you hear that?” Celia whispered.

“Yes, and I heard it last night, too. It sounds like something in the attic.”

The noise stopped. The girls remained still, waiting for it to begin again. But it didn't.

“I don't like being way down here in this room alone,” Celia told her.