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

better tell her to shet up. And keep yourself quiet, too,” the creature replied. “Else all of ya gonna git whut’s comin’ to ya.”
    Mandie whispered in Joe’s ear. “Sorry. I’ll be quiet, but I’ll still pray.”
    Joe smiled at her.
    “Up this trail! Git!” the creature ordered as he led the way.
    The group stumbled silently among the brush and rocks as they climbed the mountainside. They stayed close to one another, having no idea what their fate would be, and worried about what had happened to the others.
    After a short time they came to what looked like an old wagon trail. There, all alone, stood an old wagon with two horses hitched to it.
    “In the wagon!” yelled the creature leading them.
    The young people looked at one another silently. With their hands still tied, they managed to climb into the back of the wagon. The two creatures sat on the seat—one sitting backwards to watch them; the other, whipping the horses into a run. The trail was terribly rough. The wagon lurched over rocks and bumps and holes in the darkness, jostling the youngsters from side to side.
    Snowball, still clinging to Mandie, protested loudly. Mandie tried her best to hold onto him by turning her head sidewise and raising her shoulder.
    The wagon finally came to a halt in front of a deserted hut with a low, steeply-slanted roof. In the woods, Mandie had lost all sense of direction and wondered how they would ever find their way back.
    The driver stepped down from the wagon. “Out and inside!” he ordered.
    They could do nothing but obey. Inside the dark hut the first creature swung his lantern around, inspecting the interior. The other one stayed outside. The dim light showed no windows and only one door. The hut was just one big room with a huge rock fireplace. The young people looked around in dismay, afraid to speak. A nearby shelf held an old coffeepot, tin plates, and utensils. A pile of dirty, ragged quilts lay in one corner on the floor. That was all they could see.
    The creature turned to go. “Now we’re gonna put an iron padlock and chains on the door outside so thar ain’t no way ya kin git out of hyar, and thar ain’t no use yer tryin’,” he sneered. “That’ll teach ya to poke into other people’s business.”
    “Please, mister, if you’d just let us go, we’ll go straight home.” Mandie begged.
    “Yeh, go home by way of the wrecked train to seewhat happened to thet gold, eh? Ain’t no way we gonna let ya go. We gonna git thet gold and be gone ’fore ya ever git out of hyar,
if ever
.” He gave an evil laugh. “Ya may never git out of hyar. This is a deserted part of the mountains. Ain’t no one ever comes this way. So we done got y’all tuck care of.” He laughed again, stepped outside, and closed the heavy log door.
    With the sound of a metal padlock and chains fastening on the outside, Mandie and her friends became prisoners with little hope of ever being rescued.
     
    Chapter 3 - The Little Bird
     
    With the lantern gone, the hut became dark as pitch. The group huddled together in the center of the floor and helped one another untie their hands.
    “If we only had a light,” Sallie wished out loud.
    With that reminder, Tsa’ni thrust his hands into his pockets and triumphantly produced the candle he had found in Uncle Ned’s wagon. “Wish granted,” he said smartly, although no one could see what he had. He stood up and felt his way to the huge fireplace on the back wall.
    Sallie heard him moving about. “What do you mean?” she asked.
    “Tsa’ni, where are you going?” Joe stood up, trying to find him.
    “I am going to make a light for Sallie,” the Indian boy said from near the fireplace. “If I can only find something to strike a flame.”
    “Are you going to build a fire in the fireplace?” Dimar asked.
    “No. It might smoke and suffocate us because there is no ventilation in here,” Tsa’ni replied.
    The others could hear him striking stones. Suddenlya spark caught