Leppard, Lois Gladys - [Mandie 03] Read Free Page A

her shoulders. “Do not cry, Sallie. We will, somehow,” he said.
    Sallie pulled away and bumped into Dimar. Dimar grabbed her arm to keep her from falling.
    “Do not move. It is steep here,” Dimar told her.
    “Doo-oo not moo-oove at a-a-all-ll,” said a spooky voice behind them.
    The young people whirled to see one of the horsemen seemingly float toward them. As he drew nearer they could see he was wearing a flowing, ground-length, light-colored cape and a light wide-brimmed hat. A tiger mask covered his face, and he carried a dimly-lit lantern. He looked huge.
    The young people stood speechless with fright. They huddled together as he approached.
    The ghostly man swung the lantern up to light their faces and spoke in an angry, eerie voice. “Wha-a-at are you-oo do-oo-inng he-e-ere?” he asked.
    Dimar, with a protective arm around Sallie, looked him boldly in the face. “We were on the train when the baggage car wrecked,” he answered. “And when we came out to see what happened, the train pulled away. But who are you and what do you want?” Dimar asked.
    The creature spat tobacco juice on the ground and held the lantern closer to Dimar’s face. “We-ell-ll-ll, what da ya kn-now-w, ah In-n-n-ju-u-un!” he taunted in his spooky voice. He swung the lantern in front of the other faces. “Thr-ree-ee In-n-ju-u-uns! Well-ll now-ow, wha-a-at air you-oo two-oo whi-i-ite youngun-ns do-oo-in-n’ with the-e-ese hyar In-n-ju-u-uns?”
    Mandie stepped forward, angry about the insinuation. “The three Indians happen to be our friends. Not onlythat, I am one-fourth Cherokee myself,” she retorted, flipping her blonde hair.
    At Mandie’s sudden movement, Snowball dug his claws into her shoulder. Mandie winced and took the kitten into her arms.
    “Too-oo ba-a-ad you-oo got offuh that trai-ain-n.”
    Just then, two other ghostlike figures materialized out of the darkness. They were both dressed exactly like the first.
    One of them cleared his throat. “Watcha got hyar?” he asked. “By grannies, we’re agonna hafta do sumpumm with these hyar younguns.”
    The third creature pulled a rope from under his long, flowing costume. “Better tie their hands behind ’em, and git ’em on the wagon and take ’em so fur away they cain’t innerfear.”
    He grabbed Dimar’s hands and tied them behind him as the first creature tied Tsa’ni’s and Joe’s. The other one tied the girls’ hands behind them. Afraid to fight back or run away, the young people shivered on the edge of the mountain in the semi-darkness. They had no idea whether or not the men were armed.
    The first creature spoke again, dropping his spooky voice disguise. “Tiger number two, you and Tiger number three take ’em away. I’ll git back to work. Hurry up and git goin’.”
    Joe spoke up. “Mister, if you’ll just let us go, we’ll find our way home and won’t bother you.”
    “No, we won’t bother you,” Mandie agreed. “We only want to find my family and Sallie’s grandfather. Whatever your work is, we won’t interfere.”
    “I say you won’t innerfear,” the first creature replied. “Git goin’.”
    He disappeared into the darkness. The second creature motioned with his lantern for the young people to follow him. The third creature brought up the rear.
    Silently, they walked single file along the railroad track for a few yards. Then Mandie stopped suddenly, turned her face to the sky, and spoke, “What time we are afraid,” she paused and Joe joined her in the last part, “we will put our trust in thee, dear God,” they said.
    The creature bringing up the rear overheard them and gave Joe a shove.
    “Git a move on!” he muttered. “Ain’t no God up thar gonna hyar you.”
    “Oh, but God does hear us, and He does answer our prayers,” Mandie insisted.
    The creature leading the way walked back to “take care of” Mandie when Joe stepped between them.
    “You leave her alone, mister,” Joe demanded.
    “Well, then, you’d