Free Mandie Collection, The: 8 by Lois Gladys Leppard Page A

to hold these for me while I pick out the ribbons and lace.”
    Sallie reached for the purchases and said, “I will hold them for you, Mandie. Liza must still be selecting a strap for Joe’s books.”
    Mandie handed her the items and said, “Surely she is not taking all this time for that. We’ll go back and find her as soon as I get this done.” She turned to the rows of bright ribbons and dainty laces.
    Mandie and Sallie found Liza still standing there sorting through the book straps. She would look at one and then another.
    “Liza,” Mandie said. “Have you picked one out yet?”
    The young girl shook her head and said, “Ain’t niver had to pick sumpin’ out befo’. Don’t know how to do it, Missy ’Manda.” She looked thoroughly confused.
    Mandie compressed a smile and explained, “Liza, you just look at the straps and think which one Joe would like.”
    “Now, how does I think dat?” Liza asked.
    “You imagine. You know, like you’re making up a story. You just imagine seeing Joe with his books held together by one of these,” Mandie replied.
    “But, Missy ’Manda, I ain’t niver seed Joe with no book,” Liza told her.
    Mandie frowned and said, “I suppose you’re right. When Joe comes to see us, he doesn’t have his schoolbooks with him. Let’s do it this way. Suppose you had a stack of books to carry. Which strap do you think would look nice around them and would hold the books together better?”
    “In dat case, Missy ’Manda, I’d say dis heah one de best,” Liza told her as she pulled out a wide belt from the display rod.
    Mandie took it and agreed. “Yes, I believe this one would be what Joe would like. Now let’s take all these things over to the counter so they can be put on Uncle John’s account.”
    The girls finally got finished in the store and started the walk back to the house. They made their plans as they went.
    Back at the house everyone seemed to have disappeared. No one was in the parlor, and no one was in their bedrooms. Mandie went to the kitchen to see if the servants knew where her mother and grandmother and the boys were. Sallie and Liza followed.
    “Why dat Miss Polly she come over heah right aftuh y’all left, and when she finds y’all not heah, she tell Miz ’Liz’beth dat she go home. And Miz ’Liz’beth she say do de boys want to go visit Miss Polly’shouse, so next thing I knowed, dey all left and went next do’,” Aunt Lou explained.
    Mandie looked at Sallie and said, “Mother must have done that so we could get back in without Joe seeing what we bought.”
    “Yes,” Sallie agreed.
    “Has Dr. Woodard come back from making his calls?” Mandie asked.
    “No sign of him yet,” Aunt Lou told her.
    “We took everything we bought up to my room,” Mandie told the woman. “We could start making the decorations while they’re gone. We need some needles and thread, scissors and pins and a tape measure.”
    “Liza know where to find all dat,” the woman said. Turning to the young girl, she said, “Liza, you go up to my sewing room and find all dis heah stuff. You knows where I keeps it. Now, off wid y’all. I got to get supper going heah.” She turned to the big iron cookstove.
    “Thanks, Aunt Lou,” Mandie called back to her as she, Sallie, and Liza left the kitchen.
    Walking down the hallway toward the staircase, Mandie said, “You might know Polly Cornwallis would find out that Joe is back. Now she’ll be hanging around in our way while we’re trying to decorate the room for the party.”
    “Not if she is trying to keep up with Joe because Joe will not be with us when we decorate,” Sallie reminded her.
    Mandie frowned and said, “I don’t know how that will work out. She’ll be trying to find out what we’re doing, and she’ll also be trying to follow Joe around.”
    “What will Joe think if we just disappear into another room while he is in the house? Will he think we are trying to avoid him?” Sallie asked as the three