Chapter 5: Mandie in Trouble
The next morning, after eating breakfast, Mandie, Joe, Celia, Sallie and Jonathan set off to the Cherokee borders in search of the next clue. Dimar, Tsa'ni and Camille would meet
them there.
"Is this it?" Joe asked, stopping the wagon .
"Yes this is the mountain the strangers were digging up," Sallie responded.
The young people clambered off the wagon. Mandie put the leash on Snowball and he jumped down excited to explore his new surroundings.
"Are you sure about bringing him?" Joe asked.
"He needs fresh air," Mandie argued. "And we might need him".
Soon, Tsa'ni, Camille and Dimar arrived and the young people started up the mountain. Halfway up, Mandie suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to bring the map.
"Oh no! We forgot the map! I'll get it"
"Wait, somebody should go with you", Joe said. "You might get lost or hurt or-"
"Joe Woodard, I'm nearly 18! I'll be fine! Y'all can go on without me. I'll be back soon."
Joe gave in and Mandie handed Snowball to Celia and began running to the wagon.
"Now where is it?" Mandie muttered to herself as she searched through the wagon seats. "Aha! Here it is!"
Before she could walk back to the others, a strong hand gripped her shoulders and caused her to stumble. Sharp pain shot through her ankle. Mandie screamed but then another
man covered up her mouth.
"Where da ya think yur going, missy?" a man snarled at her. Mandie recognized two of the men as the strangers on the mountain and the one holding her was a bandit from the
train. Before she knew it, Mandie was blindfolded and loaded onto a horse with her hands tied behind her back. Minutes later, her blindfold was ripped off and she was tossed
into a basement.
CRACK! "Oh no, I must've broken something", Mandie thought miserably. She should've listened to Joe. Taking a deep breath she surveyed the room. There was a chair in one
corner, a rope covered in cobwebs in the other corner and a full sack sitting in the chair.
"Boss, do ya think she'll git out?" Mandie heard one of the men say.
"Nah, she can't. Leave her there and we'll decide what to do with her later."
"What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in thee", Mandie recited to herself.
Suddenly, she spotted a white envelope lying on the floor. Scooting over to it as best as she could, she picked it up with the tips of her fingers and slipped it in her apron pocket.
"Where's Mandie? She should be back by now", Celia fretted.
"Oh you know, she probably found the clue by herself and left us," Jonathan joked.
"Or she could've gotten hurt", Joe pointed out.
Instantly, a shrill scream echoed through the air followed by a loud laugh.
"Mandie!" Joe yelled, beginning to rush off towards the sound. Tsa'ni stopped him.
"Wait. We are on Cherokee borders. There could be bad white men around here. We must be careful."
"But Mandie is in danger!" Joe protested.
"Tsa'ni is right. We have to be careful", Sallie cautioned.
The young people quickly proceeded to the wagon and followed the footprints that led up to the other side of the mountain. They saw 3 men leading Mandie, who was
blindfolded, into an abandoned shack.
The group gathered together to make a plan.
"Celia, you and Jonathan distract the kidnappers with Snowball", Sallie explained, glancing at the white cat who was currently grooming himself.
"While they are distracted, Joe can try to find Mandie," Sallie continued.
"Dimar, Tsa'ni, Camille and I will back you up."
Everyone agreed to Sallie's plan. Celia grabbed Snowball and dragged Jonathan towards the kidnappers' camp. "This is a brand new shirt! Don't ruin it!" Jonathan whined.
"Shhhh!" Celia hissed. Dropping Snowball, she waited until he had run ahead and ran after him. " Here kitty kitty!" Jonathan called. " Oh no! We lost our cat!" Celia pretended.
The men came out of their tents at the sound of voices. " Hello kind sirs, have you seen a cat come this way? He's about this big." Celia said, holding up her hands to size
Snowball. " Who ar ya?" one of the men asked grumpily. " I am Celia Hamilton and this is –'' Celia started to say. " Jonathan um… Smith. She's my fiancee." Jonathan faked,
grinning. Celia glared at him.
Meanwhile, Joe followed the footprints to the camp. " Where could Mandie be?" he wondered to himself. He spotted an abandoned shack at the edge of the camp.
"That's a likely place, Mandie always ends up in places like that." he thought. " I really hope she's okay" he crept towards the shack carefully. " Crack!" Joe froze. The men
turned around. " What are you doing heah? Git out of our sight! One shouted. Instantly, 3 arrows shot through the air distracting the outlaws giving Joe the time to dash into the
shack. "Injuns!" the men snarled. They turned towards the bushes, searching for the people who had shot the arrows.
Joe entered the hut and scanned the room. "What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee," he mumbled. Suddenly, Joe spotted a trapdoor and ran over to it. Opening the
trapdoor, he called Mandie's name. "Mandie! Are you in here?" There was a slight scuffling noise. Without thinking, Joe jumped into the basement. "Mandie!" Mandie lay on the
floor unconscious. Joe picked her up and cut her ropes with his pocket knife. "Mandie please wake up!" Joe begged. Mandie stirred a bit and muttered, "Can't-move-arm-broken-
cold" she shivered and collapsed again. Joe was relieved to see that she was still alive but he needed medical help fast. Joe glanced around and saw a thick bundle of rope in the
corner. "But how do I get up without someone on the top?" he mused. As Joe was thinking, someone called out to him.