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Chapter 11: Henry

Mandie felt Joe stiffen as he set her down. She saw that had come in as well. He hurried towards Mandie and handed her a pair of crutches.

"Thanks, ", Mandie said in a low voice.

"You're welcome", smiled at her and hurried away".

The young man and turned their attention to Mandie.

"Ah there you are Amanda. This is Henry Patrick Campbell", said.

Henry kissed her hand saying, "It's an honor to meet you Miss Amanda". He looked about 20, had expensive garments on and had curly chestnut hair. Behind him stood two

elderly people who Mandie guessed were Henry's parents. There was also a beautiful young girl who looked about her age. She had long wavy brown hair. "This is Mr and Mrs.

Campbell and their daughter Hannah, Henry's sister", introduced them. "They just arrived a few minutes ago".

They all smiled warmly at her. "Very nice to meet you. We've heard so much about you, Amanda. Such a fine, young, accomplished woman." Mrs. Campbell said.

Mandie realized that Adrian and Polly had just come in from the parlor and were staring at the newcomers with curiosity. Sallie watched the new strangers for a moment and

then ran off to find her grandfather. Adrian was frowning at Henry.

"Amanda, why don't you and Henry take some time to get to know each other?" Mrs. Taft interrupted her thoughts. "We'll be in the parlor". Mandie grimaced and nodded at her

grandmother. , Mr and Mrs. Campbell, and Hannah all disappeared into the hallway. She sat down on a settee and awkwardly turned to Henry.

"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Amanda Shaw as you probably know but you can call me Mandie if you'd like".

"Okay, Mandie then. You have a nice house", Henry complimented, looking around. Mandie half turned and saw Joe, Jonathan and Celia peeking through the doorway. Luckily

Henry didn't seem to notice. Mandie's thoughts raced as she tried to think of something to say.

"So Henry, where do you live?"

"Atlanta, Georgia. It's a nice place." Henry replied. "Are those your friends?" Mandie realized he had seen Joe, Jonathan and Celia spying. She wanted to shut the door. "Uh yeah.

That girl with auburn hair is my friend Celia Hamilton who I met in school. The tall boy behind her is Joe Woodard, a childhood friend. And the other boy is Jonathan Lindall

Guyer. He's from New York". She desperately hoped they would go away. To her relief, Celia motioned to the boys to leave and they followed her. All three disappeared.

"Are they here for the ball as well?" Henry asked.

"Yes, there's some other friends here right now, when I have time I'll introduce them to you." Mandie paused, wondering whether or not to tell him about finding the treasure or

not. Unlike other boys she had previously met, Henry didn't seem particularly interested in her. She didn't feel awkward around him at all. After a few minutes, she learned why.

"So why did you come here in the first place, other than to attend the ball.?" Mandie asked out of curiosity.

Henry sighed. "Well my parents have been wanting me to settle down and find a wife. They've arranged a bunch of meetings with wealthy girls like you around the country. But

the truth is, I've already found someone I actually love. My parents won't accept her because she isn't rich enough".

Mandie was surprised and relieved. She felt like a ton of weight had just been lifted off her life.

"I don't normally tell this to other people but I felt like you were trustworthy enough", Henry confessed.

"Well I'm glad. I hope your parents allow you to marry that girl."

"Me too. Besides, it looks like you already have too many suitors", Henry commented.

Mandie blushed and realized her friends were in the doorway again and Adrian waas peeking in from the window. Then Liza shooed him away and began with her 'window

cleaning'.

She and Henry carried on a steady conversation after that.

After a while, Mandie decided to tell him about finding the heirloom.

"A few weeks ago my friends and I visited my kin, the Cherokee Indians", she began. Henry looked surprised and nodded at her to go on. Mandie told the rest of the story with

ease.

"Wow. So the treasure was here in this house?"

"Yeah. We can go see it right now!" Mandie exclaimed. She grabbed her crutches and gradually made her way to the hall, where her friends were.

"There you are! You took a long time there", Jonathan joked. "Aren't you going to introduce us to your new friend?"

Mandie quickly did. "We're going to show Henry the heirloom," she said.

Celia and Joe looked surprised but said nothing.

"Sallie's already upstairs with her grandfather", Celia spoke up.

"Okay, let's go!" Mandie declared.

"Do you think my sister can see it as well? She loves adventures", Henry asked.

"Of course! Why don't you go find her", Mandie replied. Henry walked off to the parlor to find Hannah.

"Alright Mandie. Tell us what happened back there", Celia said playfully.

"Yeah. You aren't normally so comfortable with 's friends", Joe said, looking slightly annoyed.

Mandie rushed to explain Henry's story.

"So he's not after you?" Jonathan asked.

"Nope! He likes another girl but his parents don't think she's rich enough".

"That's great! I mean, uh, too bad his parents disagree", Joe exclaimed.

Soon, Henry came back with Hannah, who seemed excited to see the heirloom. Mandie noticed Jonathan admiring the girl. She smiled to herself.

"This way!" Mandie exclaimed, hobbling over to the stairs. Everyone followed her up. Celia helped her friend up the stairs.

"I really wish I listened to about resting my leg. Now it's impossible to get anywhere!" Mandie complained.

"Well I'm sure it'll get better with rest. It should be better in a few days.", Celia commented.

"You're right. Hey look, we're here!"

The group went into the library where Sallie and Uncle Ned were. Uncle Ned was carefully examining each piece of treasure. His eyes were shining with excitement. Sallie looked

up from studying the picture of Tsali.

"Oh there you are Mandie!"

"Did you discover anything yet?" Mandie asked.

"Not really. My grandfather is seeing if the treasure is real".

"Where's the journal?", asked Celia.

"Oh we just put it on that table. Be careful when you touch it. Its very old", Sallie warned.

Mandie walked over to it and carefully opened the book up. To her surprise a page fell out. She bent over to pick up the page. Joe came over to her.

"What happened?"

"I opened the book and the page fell out", Mandie said. "It really is old."

Joe took the page from her. "Hey I don't think this is part of the journal. It looks newer somehow".

"You're right!" Mandie realized. She scanned the paper.

"Congratulations! You have found the treasure! I hope you will guard it well. -Talitha Pindar", she read.

"Wow, we actually found the heirloom!" Jonathan declared.

"Yeah well what do you expect? You were with Mandie", Joe teased.

"Wait, Mandie. I think there's something on the back of that paper", Sallie told her.

"There is?" Mandie turned the paper over. On it was a simple drawing of a tree with names on it.

"What's this?" Mandie muttered.

Sallie took a glance at the page. "It looks like a family tree. It's written in Cherokee language. And Tsali's name is at the top!"

Joe was flipping the pages of the journal. "You might want to get this copied before it's too late".

"Yeah. I'll ask Uncle John to take it to the print shop".

Uncle Ned smiled at Mandie. "Ned proud of Papoose. Do good thing for Cherokee people."

"How did y'all know where the heirloom was in the first place?" Hannah spoke up, curious. They took turns explaining to her about the clues and how Mandie's Cherokee grandmother hid them.

"And I found most of the clues", Jonathan bragged.

"I don't think being clumsy counts as finding them", Joe reminded him.

"From my memory, Mandie found and solved most of them", Celia declared.

Hannah laughed and Jonathan blushed.

"Well, it's near bedtime. We should all get ready for bed." Sallie suggested.

"Great idea! I'm tired", Mandie yawned. "We'll come back to this tomorrow".

Everyone headed downstairs. Suddenly, Mandie remembered Adrian. What had he been doing this whole time? Polly had most likely gone home, it was already 11 o'clock. She

pushed the thought away. Celia was already inside their room.

"Mandie, do you need any help?" she called.

"Um no. I think I'll go down to see Mother for a moment. There's so much to tell her."

"Okay, be careful".

Mandie hobbled down the steps. She stopped when she saw Adrian approaching her.

"Miss Amanda! I've been looking for you everywhere! Where have you been?"

"Uh, just taking a nap."

"Did you like my surprise?"

Mandie stared at him blankly. "What surprise?"

"I came over to your house of course!"

"Oh, um, yeah! That was, uh, nice of you to visit", Mandie said awkwardly. "You could've picked a better time though", she thought.

"I heard your birthday was coming up soon! Your grandmother is holding a ball, correct?"

Polly must've told him that. "Yes, it's in two days". Mandie had a bad feeling about what was coming up.

"I would be honored if you would be my partner for the dance".

Mandie sighed.

"I'm sorry Adrian but Joe already asked me and I said yes".

Adrian's face fell and he said, "Well if you ever change your mind, do let me know".

"I will", Mandie promised. Then she added in her head, "I won't". Why had Adrian come at this time! The only thing she knew was that she would not be changing her mind. Joe

was her partner and that was final. No one would change that. Not even her grandmother.