Here is chapter six! I'm still trying to make them less childish, but I am getting better at it. Anyway, here is chapter the next chapter. R&R!
When she woke up in the morning, the snow had stopped,and the sun was shining brightly. Celia was already getting dressed. Mandie jumped out of bed and looked out the window. The view was breathtaking. The sun shown brightly on the newly fallen snow, and it was sparkling like diamonds. It was almost too bright to look at.
"Oh how beautiful!" Mandie exclaimed. "It's the perfect day to go gift shopping!" Mandie went over to the wardrobe and pulled out a purple dress. She slipped off her nightgown and put on the dress. She decided to leave her hair down this day also. She brushed out her long blond hair after she had put on her dress. She looked at herself in the full length mirror. She had gotten a little taller.
"I can't wait to go gift shopping!" Celia exclaimed.
"Well we're going right after breakfast," Mandie said. "And speaking of breakfast we're late." They quickly headed down the stairs and into the dinning room. Good-morning everyone," Mandie greeted. She looked around the room. To her surprise, Joe wasn't there. "Huh. He's usually down before me. And he's never late for breakfast," Mandie thought. "Mother where is Joe?" Mandie asked.
"He had a bad cold last night, so he'll be staying in bed for a while," Dr. Woodard told her.
"How long will he have to stay in bed for?" Mandie asked sitting down.
"Until tomorrow morning at least," Dr. Woodard said. "I'm going to get his gift for his "secret" partner for him," he said winking at Mandie.
"Isn't tomorrow Sunday? I didn't realize that it was so close to the ball! How are we going to get everything ready on time?" Mandie asked.
"Well while your shopping, we're going to be getting the house ready for Monday," Elizabeth said. "But if you want to go shopping you have to finish breakfast." Mandie nodded and she quickly finished her breakfast. The other girls finished their breakfast as well. "Alright, are you girls finished?"
"Yes mam!" they answered.
"Alright then let's go!" Elizabeth said. The girls got their coats, hats, and gloves on and went outside. "Abraham, can you drive these girls to the gift shop down the street?"
"Yes ma'm. I can do dat," he answered. "What time you be wantin' me to pick 'em up?" He began to hitch up the horses to the rig. Elizabeth thought about it. "Eleven o'clock."
"Ok girls here is some money, now be careful and don't talk to strangers," she said. The girls nodded and Elizabeth went inside. They waited until he said, "Alright, now y'all just get in de rig." Mandie got in first, Celia sat next to her, then came Polly, and last Sallie. Abraham grove them to the shop, and said, "I'll be picking y'all up at 'leven o'clock," he said. They nodded, and he left.
"I'm going to have a hard time choosing what I'm going to get for Robert," Celia said.
"And I for Dimer," said Sallie.
"Have you decided what your going to get for Joe?" Celia asked Mandie teasingly. Mandie blushed.
"Not yet," she said, her cheeks turning bright pink. "I am also going to get something for Tommy. But I'm sure Robert, will love, just love whatever you get him!" Mandie teased Celia back, and she went off to find something for Joe. After walking for a little while, she spotted a pocket-knife that Joe had wanted for a long time. The knife was made of steel, while the handle was made of maple wood and painted black. Next she got another pocket knife that had a brass handle.
"I'm sure he'll like this," Mandie said to herself. "Hey! Have y'all found what you're going to buy?"
"I have!" Sallie said holding up a bow and quiver.
"I have too!" said Celia holding up a silver watch. There were lots of "Ooos" and "Ahhs" from the other girls. As soon as Celia held up the watch, out of the corner of her eye, Mandie saw someone watching them. While Sallie and Polly were still admiring the watch, Mandie ran over and pushed Celia's hand down.
"Hey, what did you do that for?" Celia asked, annoyed.
"That was not very nice Mandie. You should learn better manners," Polly said. Mandie rolled her eyes.
"This has nothing to do with manners Polly Cornwallis!" Mandie exclaimed. "There was a man, that very man who came to my house the day before arrived Sallie. And as soon as you held up the watch, I saw him out of the corner of my eye. We're being spied on! " Mandie told them. "Celia, is that watch made of real silver?"
"Well, yes it is," Celia answered.
"Real silver! Wow! How much did that cost?" Polly asked with enthusiasm.
"Fifty dollars," Celia answered. Polly's eyes widened.
"Fifty dollars! That is a lot!" Polly exclaimed.
"Shush! If someone really is spying on us, and the heard what you just said, they could steal it!" Mandie whispered.
"Alright, well we better pay for these before someone really steals something," Celia whispered back. They went over to the counter and paid for there things. They waited at the door until they heard the sound of horses approaching. Abraham was waiting for them with the rig and Elizabeth was with him.
"Come on missies. Get in de rig," Abraham said. The four girls climbed into the rig and sat down.
"Well girls, I hope you had a good time. Oh and we have a surprise waiting for you at the house," Elizabeth said.
"Oh Mother, there was a man spying on us in the store!" Mandie exclaimed. Elizabeth looked shocked.
"A man spying on you!? Next time you go somewhere I'm sending Uncle Ned with you!" she said.
"Oh but Mother! I don't want to be treated as a child anymore!" Mandie said.
"As long as you are in my house, you are still a child," Elizabeth said. They soon reached Mandie's house and Elizabeth got out of the rig. Mandie got out of the rig, and then, Celia, Sallie, and last Polly. As Mandie was walking up the stairs, she stopped. "Mother, what is the surprise?"
"You'll know when you go up to your rooms," Elizabeth said. Mandie nodded, and her and Celia went up to their room, and Sallie and Polly to theirs. Mandie opened her wardrobe and gasped. There in the wardrobe were the most beautiful dresses she had ever seen. Each had a small paper on it. One of the dresses was addressed to Mandie, and the other to Celia. Mandie's had three layers and the top layer was split down the middle. It was a long sleeved dress It had a green sash on the waist, with rose buds going down the middle and the bottom. Celia's was short sleeved, and was dark green with a black sash and small black flowers at the collar.
"Oh my goodness! This is the most beautiful dress I've ever seen!" Mandie said, taking the dress out of the wardrobe.
"Mine too!" Celia exclaimed, admiring her new ball gown. Suddenly Sallie and Polly came into Mandie's room with their dresses. Sallie's was red with a white lace ribbon lining the middle, which had three eagle feathers hanging down on the left side. Polly's was light pink, and was the same stile as Mandie's, except it had no rose buds, and had a yellow sash instead of green.
"Look at this dress! It's the most beautiful that I've ever seen!" Sallie exclaimed.
"Well y'all's are pretty nice, but I think mine is the best," Polly said.
"Well that's not very nice Polly! I think all of ours are nice," Mandie said. "Oh and I have to go thank Aunt Lou for these. They're all so beautiful!" Mandie ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Aunt Lou was making lunch with Jenny. "Hey Aunt Lou, I wanted to thank you for those wonderful dresses that you made for us!"
"Well I didn't make dem dresses all by myself. Dat wouldn't be able to dem all by myself! Yo mother helped a lot!" Aunt Lou told her.
"Oh. Well where are they? I need to thank them too," Mandie said.
"Liza be settin' de table, and yo ma be in the parlor," Aunt Lou answered. "Now you just get out o here and let Jenny and I finish de cookin'." the old woman said.
Mandie went out to find Liza, when she bumped into Celia. "Hey where are you going?" Mandie asked. Celia had her coat and hat on.
"Um, Robert and I are going for a walk. I was just waiting for him here," Celia answered. Mandie nodded.
"Well I think I can see him coming. Better leave you two alone," Mandie said and headed off to the parlor to find her mother. Robert walked up to Celia and put his arm out.
"Ready?" he asked smiling.
"Yes," she answered. She took his arm and they headed out the door.
Mandie walked parlor where her mother was. She sat down next to her. "Mother, I love the dresses you and Aunt Lou made for us. They are wonderful!" Mandie said.
"I'm glad you liked them. We were working on them last week, but didn't get much of a chance to make them this week. So we thought of a way to do it without you seeing," she said. Mandie gave her a big hug, and stood up. She left the parlor just in time to see Sallie walking past.
"Hey Sallie, where are you off to?" Mandie asked.
"I'm going for a walk with Dimer," Sallie answered.
"Ok have a good time!" Mandie said.
"Thanks! I will!" Sallie said, and she was gone out the door with Dimer. "Great! Thanks, for leaving me here alone with Polly. She seems to have gone back to her old self," Mandie thought. She went up to her room and grabbed a book and slumped down in a chair. She read for a little while, when she heard the voice of Liza say, "De noon meal be ready!" Mandie put her book down and came out of the room. After she had filled her plate, she saw Sallie, Dimer, Celia, and Robert come in. "Sorry we're late," Celia apologized.
"Dat be fine. You just sit down and eat," Aunt Lou said. Celia smiled at the old woman. Mandie had been wishing Joe was there. She secretly missed him, and wished that he was there. She was quiet most of the day, thinking of Joe, and the mystery. Why was that man spying on them? Even through supper she was thinking of their mystery. And she had only seen Joe once that day. When they went up to their room, Celia asked,
"Mandie, why have you been so quiet?"
"Oh, just thinking about the mystery. We are just making no progress on this mystery, are we?" Mandie asked.
"I think we have. And I bet that the mysterious man is the one digging the pits," Celia said. Mandie looked up.
"You know, you're probably right! I just wonder why he was spying on us. We don't have any thing that he could want. Do we?" Celia shrugged.
"I don't know, but we should probably get to bed. It's Sunday tomorrow, and we're going to church," Celia said. "It's getting late." Mandie nodded. She took off her dress and put on her nightgown. She climbed into bed, and put out the light. Celia climbed into the bed with her. Snowball crawled up next to Mandie and began to purr.
The next morning breakfast was rushed because everyone was getting ready for church. The sermon on Sunday was on the birth of Jesus, because Christmas was to days away. Mandie looked over into the next pew at Joe. He was looking better then he had yesterday, and Mandie thought very handsome. As she looked over she saw the man who had been spying on them the day before, and he was spying on them yet! And then the words rang through her mind, "We're being spied on!"
I you liked that chapter! Please continue to review. Sorry that I took so long to get this one out. But I did get it out so yeah.