Patch31 (guest): thank you! You have no idea how excited I get when there are new reviews. I'm like a little kid at Christmas :P I really appreciate the encouragement, and I'm soooo happy you think it sounds like a "Mandie" book. I promise that I'll try to keep the up the regular updates, because I know how it feels to have to wait :D
Jennielovesu: wow, thanks! That really means a lot to me. I'm so glad that "Mandie" lovers feel like they're reading just another book.
After everyone had said goodnight, Mandie, Celia, and Sallie went up to Mandie's room to get ready for bed.
Mandie pulled on her nightgown and climbed into bed, shoving Snowball off of her pillow.
"Really, Snowball," she grumbled, "can't you sleep at the foot?" She flipped the pillow over and slumped onto it.
"Oh, Mandie," Celia said, "you know he'll be right next to your face when you wake up in the morning."
"Well, he'd better hope I don't roll around too much in my sleep," Mandie answered.
Sallie smiled at her. "Mandie, you always sleep as still as a rock," she said.
"It's very healthy, I'm sure," Mandie wisely.
Sallie laughed. "I am sure."
"Celia," Mandie said, propping herself up on her elbow. "Do you ever hear from Robert?"
Celia blushed and looked away. "Where did that come from?"
"Come on, tell me!" Mandie persisted. She stuck out her lip. "Please?"
Celia blushed again and laughed. "Well, I suppose he does write me from time to time."
"Really?" asked Mandie, sitting up. "When? Why didn't I know this?"
"He just writes occasionally," Celia said. "I didn't tell you because I knew what you'd do."
Mandie tried to suppress a silly-looking grin, but couldn't. She giggled. "What? What would I do?"
Celia raised her eyebrows, looking at her friend's ridiculous grin and wagging eyebrows. "Exactly what you're doing," she said.
Mandie laughed. "So, you're getting love notes now, is that it?"
Celia folded her arms. "They are not 'love notes'! Besides, look who's talking! When do you expect your first letter from George?"
Mandie groaned, all laughter vanished, and she flopped back down on her pillow.
"Don't remind me," she said, flinging her arm over her eyes. Sallie looked from Celia to Mandie.
"What is it?" she asked. "Why doesn't Mandie like George?"
Celia giggled. "Oh, no reason, really. George is very nice, isn't he, Mandie?"
Mandie lifted her arm off of her eyes and glared at Celia. "Very nice," she gritted.
"Ah," said Sallie knowingly.
"Oh, stop it," Mandie said. "I'm hoping he meets some girl over the summer, and then maybe he'll stop pestering me."
"Doubtful," said Celia. "But one can hope!" she added hurriedly, seeing Mandie glowering at her.
"And Joe?" Sallie asked. "What does he think about this George?"
Mandie blew out an annoyed huff. "Nothing, because he doesn't really know anything about him, and he won't ever know anything about him. I don't feel anything more for George besides friendship, and sometimes he can ruin even that!"
"But, Mandie," Celia said, "What are you going to do if George sends you a letter?"
"Well, I like to think that Joe doesn't read my mail," Mandie said pointedly.
"But he might ask who it's from," Celia said.
"Then I'll just tell him it's from a friend," Mandie said. "Besides, I'm hoping that George doesn't know my address."
"If you ever told George your address, even once," said Celia teasingly, "then I can guarantee he has it written down on a beautiful piece of stationary that smells like roses, which he keeps locked in a chest."
"Oh, haha," said Mandie, while Celia and Sallie laughed.
"You two had better hope that Joe and Jonathan can't hear us next door," Mandie warned.
"Those two?" giggled Celia. "Oh, they probably fell asleep before they even turned out the lights. I can see them now, spread-eagled, still fully dressed, snoring uproariously while we make fun of them!"
All three girls nearly choked, trying to keep their bursts of laughter in check. Mandie clutched her sides and tried to giggle silently, which didn't really work. Gasping and spluttering, the girls ended up shoving the corners of their pillows into their mouths.
"I hope no one heard that!" Mandie whispered, wiping tears off of her cheeks.
"Well, certainly not Joe and Jonathan!" Celia whispered back, sending them back into a fit of giggles.
"Stop!" Mandie begged, when she could finally breathe. She pressed her pillow against her face to muffle her laughter.
"Sorry," whispered Celia, getting herself under control.
"We really should be acting more grown up," Mandie said, smiling guiltily.
Sallie waved her hand. "Oh, no one's here to see us misbehaving," she said, unconcerned. "We are probably just very tired, which usually makes most things funny."
"I guess so," agreed Mandie. She sighed, and rolled over. "How did we get from talking about Roger's love notes to insulting Joe and Jonathan?
"Hmm, I don't know," said Celia thoughtfully. She glanced slyly at Mandie. "Funny how 'Roger,' 'love notes,' and 'Joe' are all connected."
"Celia Hamilton!" Mandie said, trying to hide a smile. "Really!"
"Oh, Mandie," said Sallie, "we all know!"
Mandie sat up and stared at her. "You do?"
Sallie raised her eyebrows. "Mandie, anyone can see that you and Joe have always been more than 'friends.'"
Mandie folded her arms. "They can?"
"Of course!" agreed Celia, also sitting up. "You as much as told me so yourself, earlier today!"
Mandie frowned. "I thought I was spilling a secret."
Celia smiled and shook her head. "Joe's crazy about you, and you've always been a bit possessive of him, even if you didn't care to admit it."
"Oh," said Mandie. She thought for a moment. "Well, you'd better not say anything to Joe, alright, you two?"
"Of course we wouldn't, Mandie!" protested Celia.
"This is between you and Joe," agreed Sallie.
"Good," said Mandie. "Or I might just have to have a little chat with Roger and Dimar."
Both Celia and Sallie blushed this time. Mandie noticed, and grinned at them, before settling back down.
"I'm so tired," Celia said, yawning. She pulled the covers up around her chin.
"Me too," Mandie said.
"Remember, we promised Joe that we would walk that path tomorrow," Sallie reminded them, before also sinking back down.
"Mmm," mumbled Mandie. "'night."
Mandie awoke the next morning to Celia prodding her legs. She moaned and opened her eyes a fraction, to see Snowball curled up next to her.
"Come on, Mandie, wake up," Celia said, throwing a pillow at her.
"Uhhh," groaned Mandie. "What time is it? It can't be time for breakfast yet!"
"No, not for at least an hour," Celia said, "but Sallie and I have been up for the past twenty minutes."
Mandie yawned and sat up, smoothing the hair out of her face. She glared at her two friends, who were already dressed and ready to go.
"You're not tired?" she asked them. Celia shrugged.
"I was, but once I woke up, I couldn't get back to sleep, so I just stayed awake."
"And she woke me up, walking around and getting dressed," Sallie added, smiling.
"Hurry up and get dressed, Mandie," Celia urged. "We can go down to the kitchen and have some coffee. The boys probably aren't up yet."
"Okay, okay," Mandie grumbled, swinging her legs out of bed and walking over to her wardrobe. As she dressed and laced up her boots, Celia and Sallie discussed visiting Mandie's Cherokee kinspeople in a few weeks.
"Will Dimar be there?" Celia asked.
Sallie nodded. "I think so. The only reason he could not come here with us is because he wanted to stay behind and help Mr. O'Neal, and he knew that we would be coming back with everyone to visit."
"How's T'sani?" Mandie asked, braiding her hair.
Sallie frowned. "He is fine, I suppose. He is not as bad as he used to be, but he will still say things or do things that I do not approve of."
"He sure is one for getting into trouble," Mandie remarked. "But I've always thought that he was secretly nice under his tough front."
"I think so too," agreed Sallie. Mandie stoop up and straightened her skirts.
"Okay, early worms, I'm ready now," she said, heading for the door. Snowball hopped out of bed and raced between Mandie's legs out into the hall.
"Someone's hungry," joked Mandie. She, Celia, and Sallie walked quietly down the hall, keeping their voices down since Joe and Jonathan were still sleeping.
They found Snowball waiting impatiently outside the kitchen door. Mandie smiled and pushed it open for him.
"Good morning, Aunt Lou!" she said, entering the kitchen. Aunt Lou smiled at her.
"Good mohnin', my chile," she said. "What you wants so early? Breakfist ain't gwine be ready foh 'nutha hour."
"Could we just have some coffee, Aunt Lou?" Mandie asked, sitting down at the small table.
"Sho 'nuff, chile," Aunt Lou, replied, reaching for cups and the coffee pot.
"Thank you," said Mandie, taking them from her. She poured coffee for herself, Celia and Sallie, while Aunt Lou went back to helping Jenny and Liza prepare breakfast.
"Whew," said Mandie, taking a sip of her coffee and blinking her eyes several times. "That's better. I could barely keep my eyes open, thanks to ya'll waking me up so early."
Celia smiled at her. "We probably shouldn't have stayed up so late."
"I enjoyed it," Mandie answered, trying to keep a straight face.
Sallie giggled. "It is very good no one heard us," she said.
"Especially—" Mandie broke off as the kitchen door swung open and Joe and Jonathan entered.
"Aha!" Jonathan was saying. "I told you they'd be in here."
"Well, it was kind of obvious, after hearing Mandie announce that she was hungry before they stomped obnoxiously down the hallway," Joe retorted.
"I was talking about Snowball!" Mandie protested. "And we did not stomp. We went very quietly."
"What are ya'll doing up so early?" Joe asked, sitting down next to Mandie and reaching for the coffee."
"Celia woke me up," Mandie said.
"And me," Sallie added.
"And how did ya'll sleep?" Joe questioned, drinking his coffee. Mandie froze and glanced sideways at him… had the boys heard them last night? They didn't look as though they were laughing at them. She exchanged a glance with Sallie and Celia, and answered cautiously, "Um… fine. And you?"
Joe laughed. "Oh, we slept great," he said. "I was asleep before I hit the covers."
Jonathan nodded guiltily and said, "I don't even think we remembered to turn out the lights."
Mandie choked on her sip of coffee and reached for a napkin, spluttering into it, while Sallie and Celia covered their mouths with their hands.
Joe frowned as he handed Mandie a handkerchief. 'Are you alright, Mandie?" he asked. Mandie nodded, her face bright red, as she took the handkerchief from him.
"Um, sorry," she apologized, continuing to cough. She glanced at the boy's startled faces and struggled to control a burst of laughter. She stood up quickly.
"Uh, just give me, um… give me a moment, ahem, please, I'll be… right back…" she finished, hurrying past Joe and practically running into the hallway.
Joe and Jonathan looked at each other, bemused, as they heard restrained giggles outside the kitchen door.
"What's wrong with Mandie?" Joe asked, looking at Celia and Sallie, who had also turned bright red, and still had their hands covering their mouths.
"What? Oh… um, nothing," Celia said, shaking with silent laughter.
"What's going on with ya'll?" Joe asked, completely confused.
"Yeah, what did we miss?" echoed Jonathan. Celia and Sallie jumped up and hurried out into the hallway with Mandie, who was crouching against the wall, holding her ribs.
"What in the world?" said Joe in amazement, as they listened to the smothered giggles from the hallway.
Jonathan shrugged and poured himself more coffee. "Women," he said knowingly.
About five minutes later, the girls re-entered the kitchen, noticeably controlled.
"Yes, um, sorry about… that," Mandie said in answer the boys' raised eyebrows. "Just a little, um… joke."
"Are you sure ya'll got enough sleep last night?" asked Joe, looking at her closely and holding her cup out.
Mandie accepted her coffee and sat down calmly while Celia and Sallie did the same.
"Perfectly sure," Mandie said in a controlled voice. She sipped her coffee composedly, ignoring the boys' questioning looks.
"Ya'll git out to dat dining room," Aunt Lou said when they had finished their coffee, shooing them towards the door. "Breakfist be ready in jest a few minutes."
When they had finished eating breakfast, Mandie and her friends wandered outside and sat on the steps of the back porch.
"So," began Joe, "are you going to tell us what that was all about this morning?
"No," said Mandie quickly.
"Come on, tell us!" Jonathan prodded.
"When do ya'll want to go on the walk?" Mandie asked, changing the subject.
"Fine, keep your secrets," said Jonathan. "We'll figure them out eventually."
"Let's go on the walk after lunch, Mandie," Celia suggested.
"Okay," Mandie agreed. "What should we—" she didn't finish the question, because at that moment, a very familiar figure in a lacey pink dress was hurrying towards them.
"Polly," Mandie said glumly. Celia and Sallie cast Mandie a sympathetic glance, while Jonathan smirked at Joe.
"Hi!" Polly greeted them cheerfully, sitting down next to Jonathan. Thankfully, she didn't notice his irritated expression.
"Hi, Polly," said Mandie.
"What are ya'll doing today?" Polly asked.
"We're going on a walk through the woods after lunch," Mandie told her. "Joe wants to see the little path the leads away from the tunnel exit."
"That creepy, overgrown, old thing?" asked Polly.
"Yes, that one," Mandie confirmed. "You and I didn't get very far."
Polly wrinkled her nose. "You could barely see the path, it was so overgrown," she said.
"How far does it go?" Joe asked.
"I don't know," Mandie told him. "The reason we didn't go any farther was because I tripped and fell in some muddy weeds. You should have seen Mother's face when we got back."
All her friends laughed at this image, except Polly, who frowned reprovingly.
"Ya'll weren't there, so you didn't see it," she said. "Mandie was filthy, and she had quite a few scrapes."
"Do you want to go with us, Polly?" Mandie offered, somewhat hesitantly.
Polly shook her head. "I'd like to, but I can't," she answered. "Mother and I are going shopping this afternoon."
"Oh, that's too bad," said Mandie sweetly.
"You should have been with us last night, Polly," Jonathan said.
"Why?" Polly asked. "What did ya'll do last night?"
"We went through the tunnel after dark," Celia said.
"Was it scary?" she asked.
"Of course not," said Jonathan. "Not with so many people."
"Do you remember when we found the tunnel, Mandie?" Polly asked.
"When we were searching for Uncle John's will, you mean?" remembered Mandie. "We were convinced that a panel opened up in the attic! We spent hours up there, trying to force our way into the tunnel."
"Mandie's first mystery," Joe teased. "You should be ashamed, Polly, encouraging her like that. Look what it's done to her!"
"Oh, well, it was quite a lot of fun," Polly said, shrugging.
"And afterwards we found the Cherokee gold," Mandie put in.
"That's right," said Joe, nodding. "That was even before you met Celia."
"Yes, and it was the first time I had ever met Sallie," Mandie added. She turned and smiled at Celia. "I'm glad that my mother did insist I go away to Asheville for school, instead of staying here in Franklin like I wanted."
Celia smiled back. "Me too," she said.
"That was a very good school," Polly agreed. "Better even than the one I started out at. And it was very nice, the way we were able to get to know the boys from Mr. Chadwick's school."
"That's where Tommy Patton and Robert Rogers went, right?" asked Jonathan.
Mandie nodded. "Yes, and I tried to convince Joe to go there at first, but they didn't teach what he needed."
Joe smiled. "I still got to go and see you quite often, though," he reminded her.
Mandie laughed. "Mostly just to lecture me."