Read Online The Mandie Collection by Lois Gladys Leppard - Free Book Online Page B

to see who it was, followed closely by the two girls.
    A tall, middle-aged woman with gray, staring eyes, and a tall, brunette girl were standing there.
    â€œI’m Mrs. Gaynelle Snow and this is my daughter, Ruby. I’ve come to claim my part of my uncle’s estate,” the woman announced to Mr. Bond.
    â€œWell, dad-blast it! If everyone in the continent ain’t gonna try to claim John Shaw’s property!” he shouted angrily.
    â€œWhat did you say?” The woman stared at him with her sharp eyes, then peered to get a glimpse of Mandie and Polly behind him in the hall. “ Well , if you’re not going to invite me in, I guess I’ll just walk in!” She pushed the old man aside and stepped into the hallway. “Where are the servants? Tell one of them to show me to my room!”
    â€œRoom! You’d think we was running a hotel here!” Mr. Bond stood there ruffling his white hair, trying to resolve the situation.
    Liza was crossing the hall just then and the woman, followed by her daughter, yelled at her, “Hey, you there, find me a room in this mansion.”
    Liza stopped and stared at the woman and the girl and then looked at Mr. Bond.
    â€œMight as well take them up to a room,” he sighed. “Claim they’re kinfolk. I’ll have to prove them a lie before I can throw them out.”
    The girl turned her nose up at Polly and Mandie as she followed Liza and her mother up the stairs.
    â€œStupid ain’t the word!” Polly exclaimed.
    â€œRight you are!” Mandie agreed.
    After the unexpected arrival of Mrs. Gaynelle Snow and her daughter, Ruby, things took on an even livelier pace at the John Shaw house.
    Mandie and Polly took the notion to move into a bedroom on the third floor. They had grown tired of the room on the second floor where Bayne Locke always seemed to be lurking in the hallway watching their every move. Jason Bond warned they would be too frightened up there and wouldn’t stay one night, if that long. But they in turn said they would stay no matter what happened.
    Polly’s mother, young, widowed, and longing for companionship, saw her chance for a trip to Philadelphia without her daughter, as long as the mystery seemed to be prolonged. Polly eagerly moved more of her things over to join Mandie in their new room on thethird floor. Liza thoroughly cleaned the large bedroom for them, but was anxious to get back downstairs. All the servants were leery of the third floor and the attic.
    The two girls were putting their things away in the drawers and the wardrobe, when Polly handed Mandie a cut glass jar full of powder. “Here’s your powder, Mandie.” Just as she reached for it, it slipped and fell to the floor, sprinkling the carpet and dusting Snowball, who gingerly jumped across the room, shaking his feet and licking his fur.
    Mandie and Polly were doubled up in giggles at Snowball’s action, when Mandie suddenly bent closer to the floor. “Hey, look! The key! Here’s the key to the tunnel!” She picked it up from the carpet.
    â€œThe key to the tunnel!” exclaimed Polly. “You mean it was in the powder jar?”
    â€œIt must have been, it’s right here in this pile of powder,” Mandie told her. “I wonder where Liza got this jar, anyway.”
    And at that precise moment, Liza came through the doorway, carrying an armful of Mandie’s belongings.
    â€œSay, Liza, where did you get this jar of powder?” Mandie questioned, holding up the jar.
    â€œLand sakes! You done went and spilled powder all over this here rug just after I cleaned it! Now why you want to do that?” Liza scolded her as she dropped the things onto the bed and stood there staring at the powder on the carpet.
    â€œSorry, Liza, it was an accident,” Mandie told her, “but look what was in this jar—the key we’ve been looking for! Where did you get the jar,