The Mandie Collection Read Online Free Page B

I’m pretty sure it was her—looked like her,” Annie explained. “Is y’all goin’ lookin’ for Miss Hope?”
    “Yes, Miss Prudence wants us to help her search for Miss Hope,” Mandie explained. “Will you let us know right away if you think you see Miss Hope again?”
    “I sho will, missy. Now I’se got to check all de lights,” Annie replied. Moving back into the hallway, she added, “Good night now.”
    “Good night,” all the young people replied.
    Suddenly Annie stuck her head back through the doorway as she added, “Dat Injun man done come back.”
    “Uncle Ned has come back? Where is he?” Mandie quickly asked.
    “He went straight upstairs to de room where he sleeps. See y’all tomorrow,” Annie replied and hurried down the hallway.
    “Well, now we know that Uncle Ned is here,” Mandie said. She stood up and added, “I think I’ll go to bed so I can be up early tomorrow. Uncle Ned is always the first one up in the morning, and I’d like to talk to him.”
    Her friends all rose to follow her.
    “Yes, he always gets up early,” Celia agreed.
    The young people went upstairs to bed and promised to be up early and meet at the top of the stairs.
    In the room she shared with Celia, Mandie discussed the mystery of Miss Hope’s disappearance with Celia as they crawled into the huge four-poster bed, and Snowball curled up at their feet.
    “I just feel like there is something Miss Prudence is not telling us, something that she doesn’t want the law enforcement people to know,” Mandie said.
    “Mmm,” Celia agreed sleepily.
    Mandie stayed awake a long time trying to figure out exactly what that could be. She finally went to sleep and dreamed that Miss Hope had come home.

Chapter Three Beginning the Search
    Mandie and Celia were up waiting at the top of the stairs with Snowball. “I wonder where the boys are,” Mandie said as they sat on the settee by the steps. “Do you suppose they are already up and have gone to look for Uncle Ned?” She tapped her foot impatiently. The white cat ran down the staircase.
    “No, they would probably knock on our door before doing that,” Celia replied. She smiled and added, “They probably overslept.”
    At that moment, Joe and Jonathan came hurrying down the hallway toward them. Joe grinned and said, “Now I know how it feels to be second.” Glancing at Jonathan, he added, “I told Jonathan he’d better get a move on, but he wanted to stand before the mirror and brush those curls just right.”
    The girls giggled and Jonathan blushed. “Well, I do like to look neat when I’m in the company of such lovely young ladies,” he said with a grin.
    “Oh, Jonathan, you look fine. Now let’s go see if we can find Uncle Ned,” Mandie said, grinning, as she led the way down the stairs.
    “Are we going to the kitchen?” Jonathan asked as he brought up the rear.
    “No, I don’t think we’d be welcome in my grandmother’s kitchen. Early coffee would be in the breakfast room. Come on,” Mandie replied. “We’ll look in there first.”
    They found hot coffee there, but no one was around.
    “Uncle Ned may be out in the yard. You know how he always likes to take a little walk before breakfast,” Mandie told her friends and started toward the back door at the end of the hall.
    “Yes,” they all agreed and hurried after her.
    Outside, Mandie glanced around the backyard and finally spotted the old Indian walking through a flower garden at the back of the property. She hurried toward him and her friends followed.
    “Good morning, Uncle Ned,” Mandie called to him.
    He stopped walking and waited for them to catch up with him.
    “Uncle Ned, are you going with Grandmother today to start looking for Miss Hope?” Mandie asked.
    “Sit,” the old man said, pointing to a nearby bench. When everyone had been seated, he continued, “I am not sure where your grandmother will go today. I have plan already to look.”
    “You do? Can we go with you, then?”