Just as I promised—this week's update! I noticed from the reviews that people were a bit disappointed that I was ending the story with only 12 chapters, but I have good news: I wasn't able to squeeze the ending into only two more chapters, so you're also getting a 13th chapter as a bonus! That being said, the last update will most likely be near the end of the month (one update a week), unless I get too excited and post them all simultaneously (something I really struggle with!).
Again, I have already started work on Mandie's next adventure; and again, you will get a sneak peak of what that will be about in the next chapter (11), so pay careful attention! (Just kidding, it's super obvious). I will reveal the title at the end of this story.
Like I said, please feel free to leave a review or PM with anything questions/comments/concerns you might have; I will happily answer any and all!
Jeaninelovesu: trust me, I know how frustrating it is! (coughNEONNIGHTLIGHTcough) That's why I always feel so guilty when I don't update for awhile. So glad you liked the update & I hope you're pleased about the bonus chapter!
Neon-Night-Light: I'm only trying to corner you into updating yours! Hah, definitely sympathize with you about high school (so glad I graduate this year!), but you had better not let something as trivial as school interfere with your updates ;) I'm glad you are enjoying Mandie's and Joe's predicament—those were always the best times in the books; Mandie and Joe caught in one situation or another = a good Mandie book! As for the stranger in the woods… hmm… yeah, sorry but that's chapter 13 content! (I hope you're all surprised!) Thanks for the review, and I hope you're stress load is now somewhat relieved with the new update!
Mandie woke up the next morning to a bright burst of sunlight streaming through the trees. She sat up, confused, and looked around the unfamiliar forest clearing, before remembering everything that had happened.
Joe was spread out flat on his back a few feet away, one arm flung over his eyes, still sleeping.
She rubbed her eyes and stretched her stiff muscles, before quietly getting to her feet. Joe drew a heavy breath, but didn't wake up.
Mandie brushed the dirt and leaves off of her dress and fixed her hair up as best she could. Her ankle was feeling much better, now that she had been off of it all night. Still, she would have to be careful not to strain it too much again. She thought for a moment, before lifting the skirt of her dress out of the way and tearing off a strip of her petticoat. She took her shoe off and wrapped the strip tightly around her ankle, and then replaced her shoe. Stretching out her leg, she pressed her bad foot against the ground, and was rewarded with only a small ache. The supportive pressure of the bandage seemed to do the trick.
"I wonder how far the path is from here?" she said out loud, looking around and trying to decide which way would take them home. She thought about Celia, Jonathan, and Sallie. She hoped they were alright.
She sighed and sat down on a rock.
Joe stirred and sat up slowly, running his fingers through his hair.
"Good morning," Mandie said dryly, watching him.
He grinned and got to his feet. "I'm glad you have such a cheery attitude," he said teasingly. He stretched his arms and winced. "Gee, that ground sure is hard. I had the nicest dreams last night about sleeping in a real bed."
Mandie smiled. "I don't think I dreamt at all, but right now I would prefer breakfast over any bed."
Joe groaned. "Thanks for reminding me," he said. "I'm starved."
Mandie was about to reply, until she noticed something sticking out of the pocket of Joe's trousers. "What's that?" she asked. Joe looked at her, confused, and followed her gaze.
"Oh!" he said, comprehension dawning on his features. "I found this last night while I was looking around." He pulled it out and held it up for her to see. She frowned and took it from him—it was a small strand of beads with a feather attached to the end of it. Strangely, it seemed almost familiar to her. She stared at it, fingering the feather, trying to place it.
"You found this near here?" she asked.
Joe shrugged. "It was closer to the tall rocks," he said. "It wasn't caught on a bush or anything, it was just lying on the ground."
"It looks familiar," Mandie said.
Joe raised his eyebrows. "Like the stranger looked familiar?" he asked. She nodded.
Joe crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Maybe it belongs to him," he suggested.
"If it does, then I am almost certain they're an Indian," Mandie replied. "This looks like a necklace Sallie might wear—only, I could have sworn I've seen this exact strand before, or something very similar."
"Maybe I was wrong, then," Joe acknowledged. "Maybe it is one of your kinspeople. Have you seen T'sani wearing it? Or Dimar?"
Mandie bit her lip and shook her head. "I don't think so," she answered. "I'm not sure. It just looks familiar." She looked up at him. "You said it was just lying on the ground?"
He nodded. "Almost as if…" he stopped.
"Exactly," Mandie said, exchanging a concerned look with him. "Almost as if you were supposed to find it.
Joe took the strand back and placed it back in his pocket, looking agitated. "This is getting out of hand," he said. "First, we're followed by this stranger, then whoever it is seemingly intentionally gets us separated, and now they're leaving clues for us? I don't understand."
"It might not be a clue, exactly," Mandie said thoughtfully. "Or at least, the stranger might not have meant it as a clue."
"What else could they have meant?" Joe asked.
"Maybe they were trying to warn us off," Mandie said.
"We haven't done anything!" Joe objected. "Why would they mean it as a warning?"
"I don't know, it was just a thought," Mandie said. She stood up. "We might as well start looking for the path again," she said.
"You're right," Joe agreed, leading the way. "I wonder if Jonathan and the girls managed to find their way back yet."
"I hope they did, but then again, that would mean that we are spending all this time searching for them for nothing," Mandie answered as she followed him, snapping twigs as she went.
Joe whistled. "There's a thought. They might be safe and sound right now, while we tramp all over this mountain looking for them!"
"Well, we can't be sure, and we certainly can't give up, because they might still be lost."
"Of course," Joe agreed, "I wasn't even thinking of giving up. But I hope we find some sign of them today. How's your ankle, by the way?" he added, looking at her over his shoulder.
"Better," she answered. "I stripped some material off of my petticoat this morning and used it as a wrap."
"Good idea," he said, and then laughed. "Somehow I don't think Mrs. Shaw will be too pleased about that."
Mandie laughed too. The bright, warm sunlight of the morning had lifted her spirits considerably. "I think the petticoat will be the least of her concerns," she said.
"Well, we can be sure of some good news," Joe said.
"What's that?" Mandie asked, ducking under a low-hanging branch.
"They're all bound to be out looking for us," he reminded her. "Mr. Shaw, my father, Uncle Ned—they've probably been searching since it got dark last night."
"That's true," Mandie agreed, then she frowned. "Only, who knows where in the world we are now."
"We could be on the other side of the mountain, and Uncle Ned would still be able to find us," said Joe confidently.
She sighed. "I would just feel so much better if we could find some sign of the others."
Joe stopped briefly, frowning. "I would feel better if we could catch whoever was trailing us yesterday. I still think this is all somehow his fault."
"We can't be sure of anything yet," Mandie chastised him. Now that night wasn't looming before them, the thought that the stranger might have meant to separate them didn't unsettle her quite as much as it had yesterday. Still, that beaded strand… something was going on here, she was sure of it.
"Listen to the pot calling the kettle black," Joe said, smirking.
"I'm not 'suspicious,' Mandie objected. "Just… curious."
"Whatever you say," Joe agreed, glancing back at her, grinning.
Mandie tried to think of something smart to reply with, but before she could say anything, something just ahead of Joe made her stop suddenly and gasp.
"Mandie?" Joe asked, turning around to face her. She rushed past him and stopped in front of a spiky bush crammed between two old trees, crouching down to take a better look at what she had seen—the sunlight glinted off a twisted knot of red hair.
"Joe!" she breathed, staring at it. He came up behind her and stooped beside her.
"Is that…"
"Celia!" she said excitedly, pulling it off. "It has to be!"
He straightened up and took it from her, peering closely at it. "You're right," he said. "Unless this is the strangest coincidence that has ever happened, I'm willing to bet they were here at some point."
"Of course they were!" Mandie said, her face flushing in triumph. She did a small jig of happiness and flung her arms around Joe, pinning his arms to his side. "They could have passed through here only this morning!" She released Joe and clapped her hands together.
"Put that in your pocket," she instructed, ignoring his look of disgust. "Come on, we have to look for any markings."
"But it's hair," Joe protested. She ignored him, and he put it in his pocket half-heartedly.
"Start looking!" she called over her shoulder, already circling a few feet away, combing the area for footprints or upset foliage.
"Here!" Joe said a few moments later. She hurried over to him and examined the broken twig he was pointing to.
"It's almost fresh," she said excitedly, noting its fading green color. "It can't have been snapped any earlier than this morning! I'll bet Sallie has been making sure to keep their trail marked!"
She took a few steps farther and found another snapped twig. "This way!" she said, taking the lead.
"You know," Joe reflected, following her as she looked left and right, pointing out more markers, "this whole 'trail marking' idea—I realize it's usually handy, but I bet sometimes it can be very confusing."
"What do you mean?" Mandie asked, veering sharply to the left as she saw another branch.
"Well, if someone gets lost or separated from a group, and they're all making sure to leave signs, they might not know which trail to follow. I mean, say we came across the trail we made yesterday instead of this one—who's to say we would realize that? We might just continue going in a circle."
Mandie rolled her eyes. "Trust you to think of such a comforting thought," she said.
"It could happen," he insisted. "Hey," he said, grabbing her elbow to stop her.
"What?" she asked, looking over her should at him. He pointed to her left, slightly behind her. She turned followed his gaze to the strand of a dark green ribbon, snagged on a branch.
"I recognize this," she said, pulling it off. "This is Celia's. She tied her hair with it yesterday!"
"Maybe it got loose when she caught her hair on the bush back there," Joe suggested.
"Well, now we are positive that it was them," Mandie said, handing the ribbon to Joe so he could put it in his pocket. "And each of the branches they snapped are still green. They can't be more than an hour or so ahead of us!"
"Good," said Joe, "because I am completely exhausted, and if we don't get you off of that ankle soon, you're going to wear it out again."
"The wrap helped," Mandie said, pressing ahead. "I can only feel a slight twinge."
"Still, if you're not careful, that 'twinge' will turn into a bad sprain," Joe insisted.
"Never mind my ankle now," Mandie retorted. "We're so close!"
"Closer to finding the others, but we still have no idea where the path is," Joe reminded her.
"I don't even care about that right now, I'll just be content to have us all together again," she replied. "Besides, like you said, Uncle John and Uncle Ned will be combing the mountain for us. And once they find us," she added in satisfaction, "Uncle Ned can help us track the person in the deerskin jacket."
Joe gave a brief laugh. "Once they find us they'll march us straight home to get cleaned up and given the lecture of a lifetime—and there is no way they'll let you look for anyone once they hear about your ankle."
She pursed her lips and made no reply, silently thinking that they would have to drag her home before she was able to solve this mystery. She just had to find out who the mysterious stranger was—and why he or she might have intended for them to lose their way on the mountain.
An hour later—tired, thirsty, and somewhat less optimistic than before—she and Joe were still wearily following the trail their friends had made.
"Still green," she announced flatly, giving the broken branch a side-glance as she passed.
"We will never catch them if they're continuing to move at the same rate as us, or worse—faster," Joe pointed out.
"They have to stop and rest at some point," Mandie argued, "and we won't, not when we know we're catching up to them."
"I guess so," he agreed.
"Maybe we should go a little faster," she suggested, "that way we'll…" she paused, holding up a hand to tell Joe to stop.
"What?" he asked, looking around.
"Ssh," she whispered, lowering her arm.
"Do you hear someone?" he asked quietly, moving to stand beside her. "Is it the stranger?" He peered into the trees, looking for the familiar deerskin jacket.
"No," Mandie said softly, straining her ears. "I thought I heard—"
A faint whistle pierced the air. "I knew it!" she exclaimed triumphantly. "That has to be Sallie!" She started forward again, hope forcing new energy back into her legs.
"How do you know?" Joe asked, matching her quickened pace.
"The Cherokee always use a whistle like that when they're looking for someone or trying to let someone know where they are," she reminded him. "You've heard them do it before." She sped up, knowing that she'd probably wear her ankle out again, but too excited to care. "We've got to be close now—if I can hear Sallie whistle, then they can't be too far away."
She broke into a slight jog, skirting around bushes and swerving in and out between trees.
"Slow down before your ankle gives out," Joe warned her, keeping pace just behind her. She slowed to a halt to listen for another whistle.
"She's not whistling again," Joe said in disappointment after a few moments of silence.
"That's okay," Mandie said, pressing forward. "There are still the broken branches to follow. They went this way," she continued, pointing to a freshly snapped twig, its leaves showing recent signs of bruising.
They followed the markings, heading slightly downwards on a steady slope, until Mandie stopped shortly, causing Joe to accidentally walk right into her.
"Sorry," he said, steadying her.
She hurriedly hushed him, flapping her hands at him, and strained her ears. After a few seconds of silence, she thought she could distinguish voices.
"Can you hear that?" she asked Joe.
He nodded. "It's coming from over there," he said, pointing slightly to their left.
"Let's go," she said, starting in the direction he had pointed.
"Careful," he warned from behind her. "It might not be them."
A minute later she stopped again, and turned to give Joe a beaming smile. "It's them!" she announced ecstatically, as the sound of Jonathan's unmistakable voice reached their ears:
"I told you the whistle wouldn't do any good, Sallie. We're miles from anyone."
Mandie could barely suppress a squeal of excitement as she happily threw her arms around Joe.
"Hey!" he said, her sudden embrace causing him to lose his balance. She grabbed his hand and tore off in the direction of Jonathan's voice.
"It can't do any harm," Celia's familiar voice was arguing. "I say we should keep doing it every now and then, just in case someone can hear, and—"
"Ssh!" Sallie interrupted her.
"I can hear something," Jonathan announced. "Someone's coming."
"It's us!" Mandie yelled, bursting from the surrounding trees, dragging Joe behind her. Jonathan, Sallie, and Celia all jumped backwards, startled. Joe skidded to a halt, jerking Mandie with him to keep her from falling. She released his hand and panted for breath, taking in the shocked expressions on her friends' faces.
"Mandie!" Celia cried, recovering and leaping to her feet. Mandie rushed towards her to hug her, and noticed the sling around Celia's arm just in time to stop.
"Oh, what happened?" she asked in concern, staring at it. The sling was made from a torn piece of her friend's petticoat.
"Her wrist is broken," Sallie explained hurriedly. "What happened to you two? Where have you been?"
"Broken?" Mandie repeated, staring at Celia's wrist in dismay.
"She slipped and fell on a boulder and cracked her wrist," Jonathan said. He shook his head as though dazed and walked over to her. "What's been going on? Where were you?"
"We were so worried when you disappeared," Sallie added.
"It's a long story," Joe said dryly.
"I'm just so glad we found ya'll," Mandie said, hugging Sallie tightly. "We've been searching ever since we got separated."
She took a step back and surveyed them. They looked just as worse for wear as she and Joe must have looked. Celia and Sallie had leaves stuck in their knotted, unbound hair, and Jonathan had a dark smudge of dirt on his cheek and a purple bruise just over his right eyebrow. Their clothing was torn and dirty, and their hands were scratched and stained.
"Why did you two disappear?" Jonathan asked, receiving Mandie's hug. "What happened?"
"We saw that stranger again," Joe explained. "Ya'll had left to go rock-climbing, and Mandie and I heard him again and followed them through the woods. After we lost him, we came back, but you were gone."
"We didn't notice that you had left," Sallie said. "We were still on the rocks."
"That's what we figured," Mandie explained, "so we went looking for you, but we couldn't find you."
Jonathan shook his head. "That must have been because we circled around under the cliff instead of going back the way we came. The girls didn't want to climb all the way back."
Joe whistled. "That explains why your tracks disappeared," he said ruefully. "They were right under where we were searching."
Mandie groaned. "To think we missed you so easily!"
"What happened then?" Joe asked.
Jonathan shrugged. "When we got back to the path, you were both gone. We waited for a little while, but when you never showed up, we figured something was wrong and we set off to look for you."
"Well, we kept climbing right up over the mountain," Mandie said, giving them a half-smile, half-grimace. "But I got so frustrated and tired that I forgot to keep our trail marked."
"We wound up trekking half-way across the mountain before realizing that we had no idea where we were," Joe added, shaking his head. "It was a nightmare. We were lost, it was getting dark, we had no idea where you were, and then Mandie's ankle gave out."
"Oh, Mandie, does it hurt?" Celia asked anxiously.
"It's okay right now," Mandie assured her. "We match," she added with a laugh, pulling up her skirt to show Celia the petticoat sticking out of the top of her boot.
"You should probably sit down and rest it," Joe said. She did as instructed, and Celia and Sallie sat down beside her.
"Go on, then," Jonathan prodded. "Your story is much more exciting then ours."
"It isn't a joke, Jonathan," Mandie said reprovingly.
"After Mandie's ankle gave out, I kept on looking for the path and for you three for a little while, but when it started getting dark, I came back to get Mandie," Joe continued. "We didn't want to miss anything in the dark, so we stopped searching and slept there. We started again this morning and that's when we finally found some sign of you."
"What did you find?" Sallie asked. "Our trail?"
"Celia's hair," Mandie explained with a laugh. Joe pulled it out of his pocket to show it to Jonathan.
"You kept it?" Jonathan asked, giving Joe a revolted look.
"I made him," Mandie said. Celia felt her hair with her free hand.
"It got caught on so many branches that I barely noticed when it would rip out," she said.
"After that," Mandie continued, "we were able to find your trail. And then we came across Celia's hair ribbon." She gestured to the green strand that Joe held up.
"You found it!" Celia said, surprised, as Joe handed it to her. "I only realized it was gone a few minutes before you showed up."
"We followed your trail for about an hour," Joe said, taking up the story, "but by then we were both exhausted—until Mandie heard your whistle, Sallie."
Sallie and Celia both gave Jonathan smug grins. He held up his hands.
"Okay, okay, so I was wrong about the whistle."
"And after we had gone a bit farther, we heard you talking, and here we are," Mandie finished.
Jonathan nodded. "Like I said, much more exciting than ours," he quipped. "Thankfully, we never got lost. Sallie was sure to keep a marked trail, even though I was forgetting to snap branches half the time. We looked for you back down the path, and then we decided to cut through the woods and head back to the cliffs."
Mandie frowned. "You didn't find our tracks there?"
"We never made it back to the cliffs," Sallie explained. "After Celia broke her wrist, we knew we couldn't drag her back there and have her climb all of those rocks, so we instead opted to make a large loop, and circle the surrounding area, thinking you might have cut through the woods to get back to the path."
"These have got to be the most ridiculously confusing stories I have ever heard," Mandie said, rubbing her forehead.
"So, I take it you never found any sign of that stranger?" Celia asked.
"Oh!" Mandie said. "I almost forgot." She looked at Joe, who fished the beads out of his pocket and handed them to Sallie. "Joe found them in the woods," Mandie told her friend. Sallie ran her thumb over the feather, her brow creasing.
"Do you recognize them?" Mandie asked. "We thought they might belong to one of the Cherokees."
Sallie shook her head. "I do not recognize them," she answered. "They do not belong to anyone I know." She paused. "Only…"
Mandie nodded. "There's something familiar about them, isn't there?"
"Yes," Sallie agreed. She looked at Joe. "You found them last night?"
"Yes, and Mandie and I think they were intentionally placed there by whoever was following us," Joe explained.
"Why would they do that?" Celia asked.
"I thought it was supposed to be a clue, but Mandie thinks they were threatening us," Joe said.
"Threatening you?" Celia repeated, shocked.
Mandie shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "It's just that none of this feels right. There's something strange going on, and it all started when we realized we were being followed."
"We never saw any more signs of them," Jonathan spoke up. "He must have only been tailing you two, if the beads do belong to him." He gestured behind him, adding, "We never even found any more signs on the path, unless it isn't actually a deer path."
"Wait, wait, wait," Joe exclaimed, holding up a hand.
"What?" Jonathan asked, frowning at him.
"Are you saying that you know how to get back to the path?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. Mandie looked up hopefully.
"Of course we do," Sallie answered. "We told you, we didn't get lost." She turned and pointed in the opposite direction Mandie and Joe had come from. "It's that way."
Mandie met Joe's gaze and they both broke into delighted laughter.
"We're saved!" Mandie said, throwing her arm around Sallie's shoulders. Jonathan, Sallie, and Celia exchanged bemused glances.
"I think they've been lost from civilization far too long," Jonathan said sadly, shaking his head. "They must have gone through a very traumatic experience."
Mandie scrambled to her feet and grasped Joe's arm. She dropped her head against his shoulder, still laughing from pure relief. Joe coughed and drew in a deep breath, getting himself under control.
"Sorry," he said, still grinning. "You're right, we've been under a lot of stress."
"I can see that," Jonathan said, raising his eyebrows.
"I don't believe it," Mandie said, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. "We've walked all over this horrid mountain worried sick about ya'll, and here you are, calmly telling us that the path is just over there." She shook her head and stifled another laugh.
Jonathan looked offended. "What low opinions you have of us," he said indignantly. "What kind of mountaineers do you think we are if we get lost so easily?"
Joe chuckled. "Better ones than us," he said jokingly.
"I'll say," Jonathan agreed. "I don't ever want to hear you call me a 'city boy' again," he added sternly.
"We won't," Mandie promised, smiling. She straightened up. "Now, let's find that path. I've had just about enough of this mountain."
"Me too," Joe said, helping Celia to her feet. "I nominate Sallie to lead the way."
Sallie laughed and joined Jonathan in the lead. "Do not worry, we know where to go," she assured them.
"Here, Mandie, lean on me again," Joe said, taking Mandie's arm. "Your ankle must be starting to ache again by now."
"A little," she admitted, grudgingly letting him help her. They fell in behind Celia, who filled Mandie in on all the details of the day before as they walked—Mandie was thrilled that they had finally found the others, and that they were no longer lost, but still… who was that stranger?
Okay, I realize the ending sentence was sort of lame, but I had to end it somewhere because anything after that goes into the next chapter! Please bear with that slightly cheesy finish... expect chapter 11 next week!