"I wonder what her name is," Mandie Shaw said to her best friend, Celia Hamilton.
"Where will she sleep?" Celia returned her friend's question. "All of the rooms are full."
"Not all of them," Mandie reminded her. "Remember when I moved out of my old room and in with you? The bed April and I slept in still has a place." "Mandie, Celia!" Mrs. Prudence said sharply, "No talking at the table!"
"Sorry, Ma'am." The girls replied, looking down at their plates, "We won't do it again."
"You had best not," Mrs. Prudence said. "Girls, hurry and finish so the other girls can eat." There were so many girls in the school that there were two sittings for each meal.
After they were finished eating, the two friends ran up to their room for their free period before bed. At ten o'clock, when the bell rang, all of the lights had to be put out.
"Won't it be exciting to meet the new girl?" Mandie asked.
"Yes," Celia answered, "I hope she's not like April." April was the girls' enemy and was always getting them in trouble.
"I'm sure she'll be nice." Mandie assured her.
"I hope so," Celia said, getting her nightgown out of a drawer. She quickly undressed and slipped it over her head. Them she got in bed.
Suddenly, a loud bell rang. "Time to put out the light," Mandie stated. Nodding, Celia reached over and blew out their oil lamp. Mandie slid into the bed next to her.
"Mandie," Celia asked after a few minutes, "when is the next time your Uncle Ned comes to visit?" The old Cherokee Indian, not her real uncle, had promised to watch Mandie when her father had died a few months before.
"The next time the moon changes," the other girl replied, "It's tomorrow."
"Good," said Celia, "You can tell him about the new girl."
Mandie nodded and snuggled under the blankets. Soon, all that could be heard was the quiet breathing of the sleeping girls.
The next day at breakfast, the girls stood behind their chairs waiting for Mrs. Prudence to tell them to sit down.
Mrs. Prudence rung her tiny silver bell and said, "Girls, the new girl belongings arrived this morning. Please do not touch them. You will meet her this afternoon."
The girls ate quickly and ran up to their room to prepare for their first class, Social Studies.
When she opened the door, Mandie gasped. There, at the foot of the bed, stood four bags. "She can't move in here!" she exclaimed, "There's not enough room!"
"We'll manage," Celia replied. "Maybe we can all be friends."
"Definitely!" Mandie agreed.
In class they learned about Europe. Afterwards, the girls rushed to their room for their morning free period.
When they opened the door, on the bed sat a girl with shoulder-length blackish-brown hair. "Hello," she said.
"Hello." Mandie and Celia replied, "Are you the new girl?"
"If that's what you want to call it, yes." the girl on the bed replied. "My name is Maggie. It's short for Magnolia, Magnolia Patricia Mallen. What are yours?"
"I'm Celia Ann Hamilton," Celia replied.
"Amanda Elizabeth Shaw." Mandie added, "Mandie for short."
"Nice to meet you, Celia, Mandie," Maggie said politely. "What, are y'all going to just stand in the doorway? This is you're room, too; come on in!"
The girls did what they were told and sat down next to their new roommate. "So," she asked, "Where are y'all from?"
"I'm from Franklin," replied Mandie.
"I'm from Charley Gap," Celia answered.
"I'm from right here in Asheville!" Maggie said proudly, "On some school holiday, y'all can come to my house."
"That would be nice," said Mandie, "My grandmother lives here, too. We could all go there some weekend; I'm sure she would let us. She always lets me and Celia go together."
"I'd like that." Maggie smiled.
All of the sudden, the bell that signaled the end of free period rang. "Time to go already!" Celia exclaimed. "Maggie, what class do you have next?"
After thinking a minute, Maggie replied, "Mathematics."
"Us, too," Mandie replied.
"We'd better go," Celia said, "or we will be late!"
Hurriedly, they grabbed their things and headed towards their
classroom.
After class, after getting caught in the crowd, Mandie and Celia waited in the hall for their new friend. After a few minutes, she still hadn't emerged.
"I guess she already went up to our room," Mandie finally said, "Let's go. It is our free period, anyway."
"Yeah," Celia admitted, "She must have already gone up. Boy, is that girl fast!"
"No kidding!" Mandie said, laughing, "Like a cheetah."
So the girls quickly ran up the stairs to their room. When the got there they saw Maggie looking through one of Mandie's drawers. "Hey!" Mandie exclaimed, "Maggie, what are you doing!"
Turning towards them, she replied nervously, "I-I was.um.looking for an empty drawer to put some of my stuff in."
"Oh," said Mandie moving towards the drawer that had been left open, "I can clear one for you." She started moving things to make room.
"Thank you, Mandie." Twisting her hands nervously behind her back, Maggie thought, If they find out.
"There," the blonde girl, Mandie, said as she moved the last of her things from the drawer, "Maggie, you can put your things in now."
"Thank you, Mandie," Maggie said again, starting to put her things inside the drawer Mandie had cleared out for her.
"You're welcome," replied the other girl. "Come on Celia let's get ready for Home Ec. If we're ready early, we can be there before anyone else.
"Okay," said Celia, picking up her books, "Let's go."
"We'll be in Mrs. Serwin's room if you need us," Mandie told Maggie who nodded and kept working.
After class, the girls went to lunch. While they were waiting for Mrs. Prudence, Celia asked Mandie, "Do you really think that Maggie was just looking for an empty drawer?"
Mandie answered, "What else would she be doing?"
"I don't know; I was just wondering," replied Celia.
Mrs. Prudence came in and gave the girls a sharp look. They fell silent.
After eating, Mandie and Celia went outside. Maggie went up to their room.
"Are you sure we can trust her?" Celia asked.
"Of course!" Mandie replied, "Why ever not?"
"She was looking in your drawer." Celia shook her auburn curls and looked up at their window. "Doesn't Uncle Ned come tonight?"
"Oh!" Mandie exclaimed, "Yes, he does!"
"Maybe you should ask him about Maggie," Celia suggested.
"I will," Mandie promised.
At that moment, Mrs. Prudence walked up to the girls. "How are y'all getting along with Magnolia?"
The girls looked at each other. Then Mandie replied, "Yes, we are getting along just fine."
"Yes," Celia echoed, "We are good friends."
"Good," Mrs. Prudence said, "It's good to know that y'all are getting along."
As the teacher walked away, Celia turned to her friend and asked, "Why didn't you tell her?"
"Don't worry," Mandie replied. "I have a plan."
"What is it this time," auburn-haired girl asked anxiously. Fairly often, Mandie's plans had gotten the girls in trouble. Once, they were even suspended for ten days!
Mandie got up close to Celia's ear and started whispering. "It's like this."
After quite a bit of whispering, Mandie finally said, "Come on; let's do it!"
"I hope this works," Celia said uneasily.
"Don't worry," the blonde assured her, "I've got it all under control." She smiled.
Maggie, hurriedly digging though the bureau drawers, heard someone on the stairs. Hurry, Hurry, she thought worriedly. All of the sudden, her two roommates burst though the door. Maggie whirled around and slammed the drawers shut.
Mandie started to walk toward her. Maggie sat down on the bed. "Celia," Mandie commanded. Her friend stood in front of the door, blocking Maggie's only exit. "Maggie," Mandie ordered, "please tell us why you have been looking through my things."
Maggie sighed. Guess I have to tell. While, here goes nothing. Taking a deep breath, she relented, "I was looking for something."
"What?" the auburn-haired girl, Celia, demanded.
Maggie sighed again. She could see that these girls wouldn't give up so easily. "Okay, okay. Have either of you heard the Legend of Manda's Riches?" The others shook their heads. "Well," she continued, "about two- hundred years ago, it is said, that a girl by the name of Manda Shoah inherited a great wealth. People also say that one of her female relatives still has it. My family was told that if we could find this wealth, we would get a generous reward."
"So you thought that I had it?" Mandie asked curiously.
"Yes," Maggie replied. "We were suspicious because of your name. Amanda Shaw, Manda Shoah; you see they sound the same. We learned that you were coming here, so I was sent to investigate."
"Well," said Mandie, "You can see that I don't have it."
Celia spoke up. "What will you do now."
"Well, I was supposed to go hope after finding, or not finding in this case. But, I really like it here, and I love having you two as friends. I'll write Mother right away about it."
Suddenly, the bell rang, signaling the end of afternoon free period. "We'd better go!" said Celia as she slipped out the door to go to Social Graces.
"Yeah," Mandie confirmed. "She's right."
"Okay," Maggie replied. "I'll be down soon."
"Y'know," Mandie thought aloud, "I wonder where the riches really are."
"I don't know," Maggie returned. "Maybe someday we can find out."
"Yeah!" said Mandie enthusiastically.
Then the girls hurried to class.