Ahem. So, yes, this update is a little bit late…ish. Especially considering the fact that I was all "only two more chapters to go and everything should be up before the end of May unless I post it sooner!" Clearly, that didn't happen. Really sorry about the wait, but things have been crazy busy with the school year finishing up and taking extra shifts at work and blah-blah-blah-who-actually-cares-no-one-good. I'm sure you all just want me to shut up and give you the update!
Thank you for the reviews, as always! Neon-Night-Light and Jeaninelovesu both brought up the same point—why didn't Joe cause a fuss when Jonathan offered to carry Mandie? It's a good point—and when I first wrote that part, I had Joe staging a big argument about it like only Joe can, but in the end, I changed it. I felt that Joe has by now matured enough to realize that in situations like this, arguing about who was allowed to carry Mandie was probably not the best/most mature thing to do. Mandie couldn't hike on her ankle, and Joe couldn't carry her all the way down the mountain. I thought that this was an instant where we could see that they really are growing up. I'm sure Joe was privately wishing he could trip Jonathan up or something, but I really think that Joe is old enough now relinquish a bit of his ridiculously possessive hold on Mandie—at least enough to get her down a mountain! Thanks for the comment about it, though—the last thing I would want to do is make Joe seem out of character!
Jeaninelovesu: I'm really glad you liked that chapter, and I'm glad you commented on Joe's behavior. Constructive criticism is very, very welcome. I'm always looking to improve my writing. I hope you enjoy this next one—even though it's less of MandieXJoe and more of an information/plot dump!
Neon-Night-Light: again, thanks for the tip! I hope you understand my reasoning now—if you and Jeaninelovesu still feel like it was too out of character for Joe, then I'll keep that in mind next time. And don't worry—I will definitely still be reading Mandie fics on here when I'm old and gray… I'm also going through a bit of a Narnia obsession again (this legit happens every month… complete TCON overload, then I'll go off it for a little while, then it comes back with a vengeance…); so don't worry, you'll have company!
Meandmyevilhalf (guest): I know, I know, I'm sorry—here's the update now, and I promise (pinky swear) that the last chapter will be posted next week! Of course, I'm not going to promise a certain day…
Again, thank you for the reviews, and I hope you like Chapter 12! It may seem a bit boring compared to the previous ones, because, as I said, it's kind of a plot dump—basically, it's a chapter full of explanations, which I know some people find kind of tedious. Thanks for reading on anyway!
"We made it!" Joe said ecstatically, when, over an hour later, they were finally able to see the roof of the Shaws' mansion.
Mandie shifted uncomfortably in Uncle John's arms. She was stiff and sore from being carried all the way down, although she was sure Uncle John was much more exhausted then she was.
"Did Snowball come home yesterday?" she asked her Uncle, suddenly remembering that her cat had started out with them. She looked up at him anxiously, berating herself for not worrying about Snowball earlier.
He nodded. "He showed up for his dinner last night," he assured her. "That was when we really started to get worried. We knew you had taken Snowball out with you."
He followed the others down the beginning of the little path until the whole group pushed through the bushes in front of the tunnel.
"Home sweet home," Mandie said, smiling at it. The bedraggled group walked up and around the side of the house and neared the front porch, where Mandie saw her mother and grandmother sitting, along with Mrs. Hamilton.
"Elizabeth!" Uncle John called. Her mother saw them and jumped up, rushing down the steps to meet them. Grandmother Taft and Celia's mother quickly followed her.
"Mandie, John!" Elizabeth said, racing towards them. She stopped in concern when she realized that John was carrying Mandie.
"What happened?" she gasped as he walked toward her.
"I hurt my ankle," Mandie said. "I'm fine, though. It's Celia who's really hurt."
Mrs. Hamilton was bending over Celia's wrist worriedly, demanding to know what had happened. Grandmother Taft was questioning Joe and Jonathan, and Sallie was attempting to convince Mrs. Hamilton that Celia would be okay.
"This is hopeless," Mandie said, looking up at her Uncle.
He nodded and cleared his throat, before loudly calling over all of the other voices, "Alright, that's enough! We need to get these young people inside and cleaned up. Then we can get their story."
"I agree," Mandie's mother said immediately, grasping Mandie's hand reassuringly and falling in step beside Uncle John as he carried Mandie up the steps and into the house. Everyone else followed suit, still talking excitedly, although Dr. Woodard ushered Celia away from the center, concerned she might bump her wrist.
Elizabeth stood by the door, holding it open until everyone was inside.
"Bring Celia and Mandie into the sitting room so I can take a look at their injuries before they wash up." Dr. Woodard instructed. "Joe, Jonathan, and Sallie can head upstairs."
"Good thinking," Uncle John approved, carrying Mandie into the parlor and setting her down gently on the sofa. Celia was steered in behind them by her mother, and crossed over to sit beside Mandie. Mrs. Hamilton and Mandie's mother stood over the sofa anxiously, while Grandmother Taft, Uncle John, and Uncle Ned stood a few feet away.
"Alright, Celia first," Dr. Woodard said, re-entering the room with his medical bag. He knelt next to her and carefully removed her sling. Celia winced and bit her lip, while Mandie watched in concern. She grasped Celia's good hand supportively, trying not to flinch at the ugly purple swelling that encircled her friend's wrist.
"Hmm," said Dr. Woodard, holding it gently. "She certainly broke it, but thankfully, it's not a clean snap. You only fractured the bone," he said, smiling at Celia. "It should heal faster and easier than a complete break."
"Oh, thank goodness," Mrs. Hamilton said.
"I'll need to position it carefully before I place it in a cast," he continued. "It will probably hurt."
"That's okay," Celia said bravely, gripping Mandie's hand tightly. "I'm ready."
Dr. Woodard quickly and expertly set Celia's wrist and bandaged it tightly and supportively, before turning to Mandie.
"Let's see that ankle, Miss Amanda," he said. She leaned down and removed her boot so he could unwrap the bandage.
"Is it sprained?" Mandie asked anxiously, trying to see it. Dr. Woodard grasped it gently and rotated it, then applied brief pressure to the sides.
"I don't think so," he said finally. "It is just very badly strained. It started out as just a simple twist, but Joe was right—the stress you put on it worsened it. Thankfully, your make-shift bandage helped to stabilize it, and the rest you gave it by being carried back down the mountain probably saved it from spraining."
"That's a relief," Mandie said gratefully, glad for the first time that Joe and Jonathan had insisted on carrying her.
"I'll need to put a salve on that swelling and apply a bandage after you finish washing," Dr. Woodard told her.
Mandie's grandmother let out a relieved sigh and sank onto a sofa. "Thank goodness," she said. "You two girls are very lucky."
"It was a narrow escape for you both, that is true," Dr. Woodard conceded, straightening up and closing his bag. "I suggest they get cleaned up as quickly as possible now, so I can attend to Mandie's ankle. And Celia," he added, "make sure you keep your bandaged wrist out of the water."
"I'll get Aunt Lou and Liza," Uncle John said, leaving the room.
He returned moments later with the two, and Aunt Lou went straight to the girls on the sofa, exclaiming, "Land sakes, chile! What you and your friends been doin'? The good Lawd keep me, I ain't got the heart fo' broke bones an' sprained ankles!"
Mandie smiled up at her, "I'm sorry, Aunt Lou, but we didn't mean for all this to happen, honest. Besides, my ankle isn't sprained."
"Hmph," the old woman snorted. "You done twisted it, an' that's sho bad enough. Liza, help my chile up and get her upstairs. Come on, honey," she continued, helping Celia off of the sofa. "Let's clean ya'll up."
Mandie limped from the room, supported by Liza, while Aunt Lou and Celia followed.
"Ya'll sho know how to get dis heah house in some uproar," Liza said, as she helped Mandie slowly up the stairs.
"We sure do," Mandie agreed, gripping the railing for balance.
"Ain't no laughin' mattuh," Aunt Lou said severely from behind them. "I almost done died o' worry, sick to death an' anxious for ya'll young uns."
"Miz 'Lizbeth too," Lisa agreed. "Didn't sleep a wink last night, worried sick she was 'bout ya'll."
"Well, here we are, safe and sound," Mandie said, leaning on Liza as she stepped onto the landing.
"Not as safe an' sound as I woulda liked," Aunt Lou sniffed.
"We'll be okay," Celia said, following Mandie and Liza down the hall.
"I'll be de judge of that," Aunt Lou threatened.
An hour later, Mandie and Celia were both thoroughly washed and dried, and dressed in the perfectly clean clothes Liza left on the bed for them. Mandie brushed her own hair and braided it, and then brushed Celia's for her, securing it with a ribbon. Sallie, Joe, and Jonathan were already finished, and Liza came back to tell Mandie that the others were downstairs waiting for them.
"Alright, thank you, Liza," Mandie answered, smoothing Celia's hair down with a final stroke.
"I'll help ya'll down the stairs," Liza said, offering her arm for Mandie to lean on.
Once they were downstairs, Liza ushered them back into the parlor, where everyone else was seated.
"Ah, Miss Amanda," Dr. Woodard said, opening his bag again. She limped over to where Sallie was sitting and lowered herself beside her, followed by Celia. While Dr. Woodard tended to her ankle, she listened to the conversation flowing around the room—Joe and Jonathan were explaining in detail to Uncle John what they remembered about the stranger, her mother was discussing how soon they could leave for the reservation with Uncle Ned, while Grandmother Taft and Mrs. Hamilton were trying to get Sallie to recount what had happened.
"There, you're all set," Dr. Woodard said, a few minutes later. He closed his bag and turned to Celia.
"Your wrist is doing okay?" he asked. She nodded and held it up to show him that the bandage was still dry.
"Alright, alright!" Uncle John said loudly to get everyone's attention. They all turned toward him. "Now," he said, "how about we get these young people into the dining room for something to eat, and they can explain everything there."
"Good idea, John," Elizabeth said, getting to her feet. "I already asked Aunt Lou to prepare some leftovers."
"Hallelujah," Jonathan said in an undertone to Joe as everyone began to leave the room. They both waited by the door for the three girls, and Sallie and Joe each took one of Mandie's arms to help her from the room.
"Here, Mandie," Joe said, poking Jonathan to move out of the way, and pulling out a chair for her. She lowered herself into it, resolutely ignoring the grins on Celia's and Sallie's faces. Joe and Jonathan pulled out two more chairs for the girls, and then seated themselves on either side of Mandie. Normally, that would have bothered her, but she was too intent on replaying their story in her mind to worry about.
Elizabeth spoke to Liza by the doorway, and then encouraged everyone to settle themselves.
"Aunt Lou will bring out some food for ya'll in just a few minutes," she told the young people.
"In the mean time," Uncle John said, clearing his throat and sweeping them with his gaze. "Let's hear what happened."
Mandie sighed and nodded. "We'll tell you," she said, "but it's a bit long and confusing, so we'd appreciate no interruptions."
Her uncle laughed. "Yes, ma'am," he said teasingly. He turned to the other adults. "They'll be taking questions later."
"Oh, really, John," Grandmother Taft said, shaking her head.
"Why don't you start from when you first suspected you were being followed?" Uncle John suggested.
"Good idea," Mandie agreed. She turned to her friends. "Should I tell it?"
Joe grinned at her. "I should think so—it's your mystery."
"Yeah, we're all innocent," Jonathan said under his breath, prompting giggles from Joe, Sallie, and Celia.
Mandie ignored them and turned back to the adults to slowly begin recounting their tale. As Aunt Lou set potatoes, green beans, biscuits, and cold ham out on the table, Mandie told them about the odd way the path had been used way up in the mountains, the sounds they had heard, and the glimpse she and Joe had gotten of the mysterious stranger.
"A deerskin jacket, you say?" Uncle John said, frowning. Mandie hastily swallowed her bite of ham.
"Yes, sir," she said. "That's all Joe and I could make out. They were crouching down, and we couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman."
"Is that right, Joe?" Dr. Woodard asked.
Joe, who had been spooning mashed potatoes down at an indecent rate, paused briefly to nod. "That's right. We weren't able to get close enough to make anything else out. Mandie tried to chase him, and that's when she twisted her ankle."
He turned to Jonathan for confirmation. Jonathan set down his fork and frowned at him.
"Don't look at me," he said, pointing his knife at Joe accusingly. "You left me on the path to watch after the girls."
"What happened next?" Elizabeth asked.
Mandie smiled gratefully up at Aunt Lou as she refilled her coffee cup. "Well, after that, we walked farther up the path until we came to some cliffs. Jonathan wanted to explore them, and Sallie and Celia went with him. I stayed behind with Joe because of my ankle."
"And that's when ya'll got separated?" Dr. Woodard questioned.
She nodded. "Joe and I heard the stranger again, and we followed him back into the woods."
"Did you manage to learn anything else about them?" Grandmother Taft asked.
Joe shook his head. "They got away again," he said flatly. "And when Mandie and I returned, the others were gone."
"They had kept climbing," Mandie explained, "and then circled down and around under the cliffs instead of coming back the way they had started, but we didn't realize that—that's why when Joe and I tried to find them, we ended up going on and over the mountain searching for them, while they hiked back around to the path."
Uncle John shook his head despairingly. "How did you get lost?" he asked.
Mandie flushed guiltily. "That was my fault," she admitted. Joe frowned at her. "My ankle was throbbing and I was tired and hungry, and I forgot to continue marking our trail after awhile," she said. Her mother sighed and dropped her head into her hands.
"I should have been paying better attention as well," Joe said, coming to her defense. "It was both our faults."
"Anyway," Mandie continued, "once we realized we were lost, and once my ankle was too sore to go on, I rested while Joe looked around a bit. He wasn't able to find any sign of the stranger or Jonathan, Sallie, and Celia. We realized that all we could do was go to sleep and hope to have a better chance in the morning."
"And, of course, we were sure that ya'll would be out searching for us by then," Joe put in.
"And you caught up with Jonathan, Sallie, and Celia the next day?" Uncle John asked.
"Yes, sir," Mandie confirmed. "We were able to pick up their trail, and we eventually heard Sallie whistling."
"What were you three doing this whole time?" Mrs. Hamilton asked, looking at her daughter.
"Looking for Mandie and Joe," Sallie spoke up. "When we returned to find them missing, we went in search of them. At first, we went back down the path, thinking they might have started home, but when we didn't find any sign of them, we decided to go back and search the cliffs."
"Unfortunately," Jonathan added, "Celia broke her wrist when she slipped and fell off of a boulder. Since we knew she wouldn't be able to do any rock-climbing with a broken wrist, we decided to loop back through the woods and see if we could intercept them."
Uncle John nodded. "And you met up with us coming back down the path," he finished.
"What about this stranger, then?" Elizabeth asked. "What are we going to do about him?"
Mandie gave her Uncle a pleading glance. He cleared his throat and winked at her.
"Amanda, you say that you think whoever it was meant for ya'll to get separated?" Uncle John prompted her.
She nodded. "There's no other explanation, Uncle John," she insisted. "The way they almost lured Joe and I into following them—and I'm beginning to think they might have covered up Sallie's markings and tracks, just so Joe and I would miss them, because I should have been able to find them."
"If what you say is true, then something certainly has to be done," her mother said, frowning.
"We'll be going out tomorrow to search for whoever it is," he announced. "Uncle Ned, Dr. Woodard, and I—and we'd like to bring the young people along as well, whichever ones are up to it."
"But, John!" Mandie's mother protested. "Surely you're not going to take Amanda back out in those woods on a strained ankle! I won't allow it."
"I have to, Mother," Mandie interrupted. "I want to know who it is more than anyone—and Uncle John will need our help. We'll have to show him where we first saw sign of them."
"I don't like it," Elizabeth said, frowning. "Your ankle is strained, Amanda, you should be resting it. And Celia has a broken wrist!"
"We'll make sure we help Amanda with her ankle," Uncle John said, squeezing Elizabeth's hand. "She's right, Elizabeth, it would be better if they came along."
Elizabeth sighed and lowered her hands in defeat. "Alright," she said, "it looks like I'm outnumbered."
"I'm coming too," Joe said quickly.
"Me too," Jonathan echoed.
Uncle John looked at Celia and Sallie.
"I will come," Sallie said, seeing Uncle Ned's nod.
"May I, Mother?" Celia asked, turning to Mrs. Hamilton, who frowned.
"I'm not sure, Celia," she said. "Your wrist—"
"Dr. Woodard will be going along," Uncle John reminded her. He turned to him. "Do you think it is alright if Celia does come?"
Dr. Woodard hesitated briefly, and then nodded. "If she thinks she can manage, then that will be fine."
"I can manage," Celia said immediately, brightening up.
"It's settled then," Uncle John said, standing up. "We'll leave at dawn tomorrow morning. Hopefully we can clear this whole mess up in enough time to leave for the reservation the following day."
Uncle Ned, who had remained silent during the story, also stood. "Dawn," he agreed. "Find Papoose's stranger, then Sallie and I leave."
"Thank you," Mandie told them, after exchanging an excited glance with her friends. Tomorrow, the mystery would be solved!