The Missing Book

by Lois Gladys Leppard

  “Me?” Esther mumbled, rising from her desk. “I won?”

  Then everyone began applauding and Esther became even more surprised.

  “Up here, Esther,” Mr. Tallant said as the applause finally died down. And when she finally got up to his desk, he said, handing her a large piece of paper, “Here is the certificate showing that you are class poet for the rest of the year.Your duties will consist of writing poems for the holidays and any special occasions we observe. Also, for the last day of school, during our closing ceremony, I’d like you to write a poem and stand and deliver it to the class and our visitors.”

  “Me, do all that?” Esther was still shaken up.

  Mr. Tallant smiled. “It’s easy. I’ll help you.”

  As Esther returned to her desk, she mumbled, “But I didn’t think my poem was that good.”

  Everyone laughed and then clapped. Esther finally joined in the laughter as she sat down.

  Mandie let out a long breath and was silently thankful that she had not won.

  After school was out for the day, Mandie and Joe walked with Faith to the crossroads.

  “We will probably be back Thursday night, and I will see y’all at school on Friday,” Faith told Mandie and Joe as she started to go on her way.

  Mandie didn’t speak but quickly hugged Faith and then turned to go on down the road toward her house.

  As soon as they were out of sight of Faith, Joe said, “Mandie, Mrs. Chapman will probably get that job, so you might as well get used to the idea.”

  Mandie walked faster. “I know, I know, but I won’t get used to it. I don’t want Faith to move away.”

  Joe kept up with her and was silent until they came to the pathway leading to her house. He handed her books to her. “I’ll see you in the morning.” He turned to go back up the road toward his house.

  “Yes,” Mandie said, taking the books and hurrying down the pathway to her house.

  She was trying hard not to cry. She didn’t want Joe Woodard to see the tears in her eyes. “Oh, why can’t Faith and her grandmother keep on living here at Charley Gap?” she mumbled, almost stumbling over Windy, who was coming to meet her. Mandie snatched up the kitten and held her so tight, she protested with a loud meow as Mandie carried her into the house.

  For the next three days, Mandie didn’t have much to say to anyone. She anxiously awaited her friend’s return. Joe walked back and forth to school with Mandie, but he didn’t talk either.

  Finally Friday morning came, and Mandie was standing at the road, waiting for Joe. He came, walking fast, and she hurried forward to meet him.

  “Did Mr. Miller bring them back last night?” Mandie asked anxiously.

  “Yes, but I have not talked to Mr. Miller or to Faith and her grandmother. I don’t know anything,” Joe said.

  “Then Faith will probably be at school today. Come on. Let’s hurry,” Mandie urged him as she walked faster.

  They got to school early. Mandie waited and watched as everyone else arrived. Finally the bell rang and they had to take their seats. Faith had not shown up. Mandie listened as Mr. Tallant called the roll, and when he got to Faith’s name, there was no answer.

  “Faith Winters,” Mr. Tallant repeated as he looked up from his desk.

  Suddenly the door opened and Faith rushed inside, threw off her coat and hat, and hurried to her desk.

  “Glad you got back, Faith,” Mr. Tallant said, and continued with the roll.

  Faith looked across the room and met Mandie’s gaze. She smiled and Mandie felt her heart flip. If Faith was happy, that meant her grandmother had the job.

  When the bell rang for recess, Mandie grabbed her lunch pail and rushed outside. Joe caught up with her and they sat on a log in the yard. She kept expecting Faith to join them.

  Finally Joe spoke. “Faith is not eating with us. She is catching up on her assignments with Mr. Tallant and then will be going back home.”

  Mandie frowned. “How do you know?”

  “I didn’t rush out as fast as you did. I heard her talking to Mr. Tallant,” Joe replied, biting into his ham biscuit.

  “Did she say—” Mandie stopped and squeezed her biscuit in her hand.

  “No, she did not say whether Mrs. Chapman got the job, at least not where I could hear. She asked Mr. Tallant to give her the assignments she missed because she was going back home,” Joe said. “Seems her grandmother needs her for something or other this afternoon.”

  “Well,” Mandie said, sighing.

  Mandie and Joe were not sitting near the schoolhouse, and when Faith finally came outside she waved to them as she started down the trail to the road. “We got it!” she called with a big smile, but kept going.

  Mandie almost choked on the bite of biscuit in her mouth. She swallowed it whole as she tried to blink back the tears in her eyes. She wouldn’t look at Joe as she hastily put the rest of her food back in her pail.

  Joe was silent.

  When the bell rang to go back inside, Mandie stood up, shook out her long skirt, and took a deep breath as she picked up her lunch pail.

  Joe, trying to lighten her mood, teased as they walked back toward the front door, “Do you still think I have a secret?”

  Mandie frowned. “Are you going to tell me what it is?” she asked.

  “Now, I didn’t say I had a secret. I asked if you still thought I had one,” Joe corrected, laughing.

  “Why mention it if you’re not going to tell me what it is?” Mandie asked as they stepped inside the schoolhouse.

  “Now, that would be another secret in your opinion, wouldn’t it?” Joe said, grinning as he went to his desk.

  Mandie stomped her foot and went to sit down. Of course Joe Woodard had a secret. And she had not given up on trying to find out what it was. It was just that so many things were happening, she had not had time to really think about it.

  Later, as the two walked home from school, Joe said, “Today’s Friday, so I suppose we won’t be able to talk to Faith until Monday at school.”

  “Mrs. Chapman got the job. Didn’t you hear her?” Mandie asked, not looking up at him.

  “I heard her say that, but we still don’t know all the details,” Joe replied.

  “Why do we need details? Faith is flat-out moving away from here. That’s all that counts. She’s going away,” Mandie said loudly as she hurried on down the road.

  Joe had to walk faster to keep up with her. “I’d like to know what the school looks like,” he replied.

  “A school is a school,” Mandie said sullenly.

  “But they’re not all alike,” Joe said. “I suppose I could talk to Mr. Miller tonight and find out about things over there at Tellico.”

  Mandie didn’t answer.When they got to the pathway leading down to her house, she saw her father by the fence, talking to Mr. John Knight.

  When Mr. Shaw looked up and saw the two, he came to meet them. “Mr. Knight here passed Mrs. Chapman’s old house last night and he did see someone there—”

  “He did?” Mandie interrupted.

  “Yes, and I am telling you now not to go anywhere near that old house at any time, do you understand?” her father said.

  Mandie took a deep breath. “Yes, sir, if you say so.”

  “I say so, loud and clear,” Mr. Shaw said. “Until this matter is cleared up, I repeat, you are not to go anywhere near that house.”

  “Yes, sir,” Mandie said.

  Joe looked at Mr. Knight. “What did this person look like that you saw there, sir?”

  Mr. Knight replied, “It was too dark to tell anything much, other than that he seemed to be tall and thin as Mrs. Clifton had said. I was just passing by on my way home and happened to look over into the yard. Evidently he also saw me, because he immediately disappeared behind the house.”

  “Did you follow him?” Mandie asked.

  “No, I was in a hurry to get home,” Mr. Knight replied. “But we know now that Mrs. Clifton wasn’t imagining this. So some of us men plan o
n staking the place out this weekend.”

  “Can I go with you?” Joe asked.

  “I don’t think so, Joe.You’d have to get permission from your father before I’d allow it,” Mr. Shaw said.

  “Then I suppose I can’t go either,” Mandie said in a disappointed voice.

  “That’s right, Amanda,” her father said. “We have no idea who this person is.”

  “Oh, shucks!” Mandie said.

  “Just don’t count on us catching him the first night we watch,” Mr. Shaw said. “It may take several nights to find out who he is, because he may not be going over there every night.”

  Mandie thought about that until she went to bed that night. Then her mind returned to her friend, Faith. Her former friend, Faith, since Faith was moving away and leaving her.

  Trying not to cry, Mandie wondered if her mother would allow her to go over and visit with Faith sometime this weekend so they could discuss everything about Tellico. Then she wouldn’t have to wait until Monday to learn all the details.

  But no, she was not going to do that. She was not anxious to find out when Faith was actually moving away. That could wait until Monday when they all went back to school. Besides, Faith and her grandmother were probably tired after their long journey and would want to rest for the weekend.

  Mandie was going to miss her friend.

  8

  Just Wonderful!

  MONDAY MORNING WHEN Joe came to meet Mandie, he was driving his mother’s cart.

  “Are we going to ride to school today?” Mandie asked as Joe stopped the vehicle at the pathway to her house.

  Joe jumped down and took her books. “Come on, get in,” he said. “I have to do an errand for my father.”

  As Mandie stepped into the cart, she said, “I hope it’s not another mystery.”

  “No mystery,” Joe said, getting back into his seat and picking up the reins.

  Mandie waited, but Joe did not explain. “Well then, what is it?” she asked after a few seconds. The horse pulled the cart on down the road.

  “Nothing, really,” Joe replied. “Mr. Miller spent the night on watch over at Mrs. Chapman’s old house. My father was supposed to pick him up this morning, but he had to go up the mountain to see a patient. So he asked me to go get Mr. Miller.”

  “How did Mr. Miller get over there? Doesn’t he have a horse with him?” Mandie asked. Most of the men in the community got about on horseback.

  “No,” Joe replied. “He couldn’t have a horse with him because he had to hide. If there’s someone hanging around over there, they would see it and know somebody was there and they probably wouldn’t stay.”

  “Well, whoever it is will certainly see us drive up in this cart,” Mandie said.

  “This person has only been seen at night. They will probably be gone by the time we get there,” Joe answered.

  “I hope not,” Mandie said. “We might be able to find out who it is!”

  “Amanda Elizabeth Shaw, remember what your father said. You are not to go investigating this thing yourself,” Joe reminded her.

  “I know, but since I’m going with you anyway, what difference would it make?” Mandie replied.

  Joe frowned. “I probably shouldn’t have brought you with me. Your father might think I am disobeying his orders.”

  “But your father asked you to go, and he knows you always walk to school with me,” Mandie argued.

  “Well, anyhow, here we are,” Joe said, turning the wagon down the narrow trail that led to the old house. “Now, don’t you go running off somewhere. You stay right here in the wagon while I look for Mr. Miller. My father said he was supposed to be hidden in the barn.” He pulled the horse to a stop near the old barn and jumped down.

  Mandie followed him. “I am not staying here in this wagon by myself,” she said. “I’m going with you.”

  “All right then, but just make sure you stay right with me. Don’t go wandering off somewhere,” Joe firmly told her.

  Joe hurried toward the entrance to the barn, and Mandie walked fast to keep up with him. She kept looking around the yard as she went, and at the big old house that Faith’s grandmother, Mrs. Chapman, had inherited from a cousin. She saw signs of work having been done. The once-sagging back porch floor was now level. The huge rock chimney that ran up the side of the house had been falling apart, but now it seemed to be well stuck together and standing upright.

  “Come on,” Joe called back to her, stopping to wait.

  “I’m coming,” she said.

  They entered the barn together, and Mandie immediately saw Mr. Miller asleep on a pile of hay in a far corner. “There’s Mr. Miller,” she said, pointing. “He’s asleep.”

  “He was here all night, so I suppose he is sleepy,” Joe said, going toward the man. “Mr. Miller, Mr. Miller.”

  Mandie had started to follow when out of the corner of her eye she saw someone swing down from the loft and run for the doorway. “Joe!” she called. “There he is! The man!”

  Joe instantly ran after the man, with Mandie following. “Hey, mister, wait!” Joe called, following the man across the yard.

  Mandie heard Mr. Miller behind them. “You go left and I’ll go right, Joe,” he called. She looked back and saw him running around the house in the direction the man had gone.

  Joe ran the other way, and Mandie lifted her long skirts and followed. As they all came around to the front porch, Mandie saw the man pause and look at each of them. He looked young and rather handsome. He couldn’t be a burglar. She ran right up to him as he stood there in surprise.

  “Who are you?” she demanded.

  Joe and Mr. Miller caught up with them.

  “What are you doing on this property?” Mr. Miller asked.

  The young man gasped for air. “I’m looking for my mother’s cousin.”

  “And who might that be?” Mr. Miller asked suspiciously.

  “Mr. Al Conley,” the young man replied. He ran his fingers through his mussed dark curly hair.

  “Mr. Al Conley? Why, he’s been dead for years,” Mr. Miller replied.

  “Oh . . . I didn’t know that,” the young man said, his face falling.

  “Exactly how did you know about Mr. Al Conley and not know he was dead?” Mr. Miller asked.

  “My mother used to talk about him a lot. I’m sure she didn’t know he had died. She had not seen or heard from him in years when she died back in December,” he replied.

  “Who was your mother? Where are you from?” Joe asked.

  “My mother was Alicia McLendon. I’m Paul McLendon, and we lived in Kentucky, near Louisville. I don’t have any other relatives,” the man explained.

  “Mr. Conley willed this place to Mrs. Chapman and her granddaughter, Faith. He was Mrs. Chapman’s cousin,” Mandie told him. “Are they related to you also?”

  Paul scratched his head, frowned, and said, “Not that I know of. Al Conley’s mother was my mother’s aunt.”

  “Then you and Mrs. Chapman aren’t related, because she was kin to him on his father’s side,” Mandie said with a big grin as Paul smiled at her.

  “According to rumor, you’ve been hanging around here awhile,” Mr. Miller said. “What have you been doing for food?”

  “I met up with some friendly Cherokee people a few miles back up in the mountains. I’ve been staying with them, coming over here now and then hoping to find Al Conley,” Paul explained.

  Joe suddenly looked at Mandie. “School! We’re going to be late for school.”

  “Let’s all get in the cart. I’ll drop you all off at school, and I’ll take this fellow here on to your father’s house,” Mr. Miller said.

  “And whose house is that?” Paul asked.

  “Joe is the son of the local doctor, Dr. Woodard, and I work for him,” Mr. Miller explained. “Let’s go.”

  “If this house was willed to those people you mentioned, why is it no one is ever here? I’ve watched and watched and never could find anyone home,” Paul replied,
following them to the cart.

  “The men in the community have been doing work on this house and Mrs. Chapman and her granddaughter have been staying elsewhere until it’s completed,” Mr. Miller replied.

  Mr. Miller drove down the road, and Mandie and Joe arrived at the front door of the schoolhouse just as the bell was being rung. Jumping down and running, they waved goodbye and stepped inside the door as the bell stopped ringing.

  Mandie was disappointed to see that Faith was not there. She looked across the room at Joe and motioned toward Faith’s empty desk. He frowned and nodded.

  The day dragged as Mandie kept hoping Faith would come to school later. She never did.

  When Mandie got home after school, she found her father working on the split-rail fence. She hurried to speak to him.

  “Daddy,” she called as she approached. “Have you heard about the man we found at Mrs. Chapman’s house?”

  Mr. Shaw stopped working and straightened up. “Yes, I heard. I told you, Amanda, I didn’t want you poking around that old house,” he reminded her.

  Mandie bent her head. “I remember, Daddy, but I had to go because Joe was in the cart and had to go by and get Mr. Miller and we thought it would be safe with Mr. Miller there.” She paused for breath. “Have you met the man we found over there?”

  “No, I haven’t,” her father replied. “I only heard about him through Mr. Knight, who had stopped by the Woodards’ this morning.”

  “Do you know if he is going to stay with the Woodards?” she asked.

  “I don’t know any more than you do,” Mr. Shaw said, going back to his work on the fence. “Now, you get on inside and get your homework done.”

  “Yes, sir,” Mandie replied, disappointed that he wouldn’t talk. She started down the pathway toward the back door, turned, and called back, “I love you, Daddy.” She waved and smiled.

  Mr. Shaw once again straightened up from his work. He waved back with a big smile. “I love you, my little blue eyes.”

  Mandie went through the kitchen, where her mother was cooking, and on to the parlor to do her homework. Irene had not turned up yet. Maybe she would know something about the stranger.