The Mandie Collection (64 page)

“Must ask forgiveness from Miss Head Lady Number Two,” the old man said. “Papoose also ask Big God to forgive for hurt to Miss Head Lady Number Two.”

Mandie gripped the old man's hand in hers, and turned her face toward the dark sky.

“I'm sorry, dear God,” Mandie said, softly. “Please forgive me. Please make me a better person. Lead me down a better path than I've been going lately. Please heal Miss Hope's heart. I'm sorry.”

Uncle Ned echoed Mandie's prayer. “Papoose learn lesson, Big God. Not hurt people now. You help, I know, Big God,” he concluded.

As they sat there on the bench, Mandie kissed the old man's rough cheek. “I feel better now, Uncle Ned. Tomorrow I'll go straight to Miss Hope and ask her forgiveness,” she promised.

“Papoose not forget,” the old man said firmly. “I go now. Papoose be good?”

“I promise, Uncle Ned,” Mandie replied.

The next afternoon during their free period Mandie and Celia went to Miss Hope's office. Feeling guilty, and afraid of the consequences of their actions, the two girls stood at the doorway until the schoolmistress looked up and saw them. She smiled and waved them inside.

“Sit down, girls,” Miss Hope told them. “Mr. Chadwick's boys worked in the graveyard yesterday, and they will finish cleaning it up this afternoon. So we will be expecting them to have supper with us tomorrow night.”

“Oh, thank you, Miss Hope, but we came to see you to ask your forgiveness for what we did,” Mandie began. “I'm so sorry for my thoughtlessness—more sorry than I can express.”

“I'm very sorry too, Miss Hope,” Celia confessed. “Please forgive us.”

Miss Hope hesitated only a moment. “Of course you're forgiven, girls” she replied. She looked down at the desk. “I understand. You two are not old enough, I suppose, to realize the shock of everything that happened. And I did give y'all permission to open anything in the attic.”

“But, Miss Hope, we're old enough to know better than to go messing in other people's business. We didn't mean to hurt anyone—especially you,” Mandie said.

“I know. Maybe it's just as well that everything came out into the open.” Miss Hope sighed. “I suppose the biggest shock to me was finding out that my sister is only a half sister to me. But then I should have been told that years and years ago. It wasn't your fault that I didn't know.”

“We are sorry, Miss Hope,” Celia told her.

“My sister, Miss Prudence, told me the whole story. She knew about everything. I burned all those letters last night and I'm going to sell the rings to the jeweler downtown. It's all over, so let's just forget about it and not mention it anymore,” the schoolmistress told them. “Now, about tomorrow night.” She changed the subject abruptly. “I've seen to it that Robert and Thomas will be among the group that comes over for supper tomorrow. You girls will want to look your best,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

“We're so grateful to you, Miss Hope, for everything,” Mandie said. Standing up, she walked around the desk and gave the surprised schoolmistress a hug. “We love you,” she said. Turning quickly, she left the room, and Celia followed. As the two girls approached the stairway Mandie quickly wiped her eyes and smiled at her friend.

“She's a wonderful lady,” Mandie declared.

“She certainly is,” Celia agreed. “Now we ought to go upstairs and decide what to wear to supper tomorrow night.”

“Right,” Mandie nodded, “but first I have to write Joe a letter to let him know what happened. I hope he's not too angry with us.”

“I'm sure he'll understand,” Celia told her.

The next night, Mandie wore her pale blue voile dress with rows and rows of frills around the full skirt. She left her long blonde hair swinging freely around her shoulders. Around her neck hung the tiny gold locket containing pictures of her mother and father.

Celia's dress was lemon-colored, edged with lace and black velvet ribbon. She tied her auburn curls with a matching black ribbon.

When Mr. Chadwick's boys arrived in the parlor, Robert and Thomas eagerly sought the girls out.

“It's been a long time,” Thomas said, coming to stand before Mandie.

“Please sit down,” Mandie invited.

“It's been too long,” Robert told Celia as he and Thomas joined the two girls on the settee.

“I'm glad to see you, Robert.” Celia blushed.

“It was awfully nice of you boys to clean up that old cemetery. I'm sure all those dead people would thank you if they could, but we want to especially thank you,” Mandie said.

The girls related the events of their stormy afternoon in the cemetery and their recent experience with Aunt Phoebe.

“So you see, we're very thankful for your work,” Mandie concluded.

“I'm glad, Mandie,” Tommy replied. “Because now that we have done you a favor, you must do us a favor.”

As if on cue, Robert invited Celia to go for a stroll in the yard, giving Mandie and Tommy a chance to talk alone. “My parents have asked me to invite you and your parents for a visit to our home,” Tommy began. “We'll be having some holidays before long, and my parents would like to know if y'all can come to Charleston then.”

“Oh, Tommy, thank you,” Mandie replied. “I'll write to my mother right away and let you know what she says. I'm so anxious to see the ocean.”

“I'd like to show you the whole city of Charleston, too,” Tommy said. “There isn't another place like it in the world.”

“I can't wait to see it all,” Mandie assured him. “I'll write to my mother tonight.”

Later that night, as the ten o'clock bell rang for lights out, Mandie was just finishing the letter to her mother as she promised.

Mandie told her mother all about the letters she and Celia had found in the trunk, the rings, the tumbled-down cabin, and what they had done about it. She explained that she and Celia had learned their lesson and were doing their best to stay out of trouble.

Then she told her mother about Tommy and his parents' invitation to visit them in Charleston. She begged her mother to accept the invitation, reminding her that her daughter had never seen the ocean.

Would her mother agree to this trip which Mandie wanted so much? Would she think Mandie deserved this after the trouble she had stirred up?

Mandie prayed about it that night and asked God to let her go if He saw fit. That was all she could do. She went to sleep that night dreaming of the ocean.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LOIS GLADYS LEPPARD worked in Federal Intelligence for thirteen years in various countries around the world before she settled in South Carolina.

The stories of her own mother's childhood as an orphan in western North Carolina are the basis for many of the incidents incorporated in this series.

Visit her Web site:
www.Mandie.com
.

MANDIE MYSTERIES

________

The Mandie Collection: Volume One
(Books 1–5)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Two
(Books 6–10)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Three
(Books 11–15)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Four
(Books 16 –20)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Five
(Books 21–23)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Six
(Books 24–26)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Seven
(Books 27–29)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Eight
(Books 30–32)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Nine
(Books 33–35)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Ten
(Books 36–38)

The Mandie Collection: Volume Eleven
(Books 39–40,
Mandie and Joe's

Christmas Surprise
,
Mande and Mollie and the Angel's Visit
)

Mandie: Her College Days

New Horizons