Leppard, Lois Gladys - [Mandie 02] by Mandie, the Cherokee Legend (v1.0) [html] Page A

night of the fire?” Joe argued. “If he were just curious, he wouldn’t have taken off like the wind when he saw us.”
    “ ‘Judge not, lest ye be judged,’ ” Mandie quoted. “Do you remember our Sunday school lesson not long ago, Joe?”
    Elizabeth gazed admiringly at her daughter and smiled.
    “I don’t understand why you are always defending him, Mandie, after all the things he has done to us.” Joe shook his head.
    Uncle Ned pushed a plate of food toward Uncle Wirt. “Sit. Eat. We go get message in cave.”
    Uncle Wirt sat down and began eating.
    “I would like to talk to Tsa’ni if anybody sees him,” Uncle John said.
    “No one is going to be seeing him around for a while. I’m sure of that!” Joe was emphatic.
    “You boys better get some sleep,” Uncle John told them.
    “Sleep? We want to help fix the barn!” Joe said between mouthfuls.
    “Sure thing,” Dimar added.
    “All right, but you must both be terribly tired—or did you sleep some last night?” He looked at the boys with a knowing grin.
    They both dropped their heads. Joe told him, “I guess I dozed off a little after we lost Tsa’ni.”
    “So did I,” Dimar admitted.
    Uncle Ned got his tools from the barn, harnessed up the horses to the wagon, and he and Uncle Wirt set out for the cave.
    The boys went out to work on the barn with Uncle John.
    Mandie and Sallie helped Morning Star and Elizabeth with chores around the house. Everyone was occupied for the day, though constantly on the alert. But just as Joe predicted, the day passed peacefully with no sign of Tsa’ni.
    Inside the cave Uncle Ned and Uncle Wirt began hammering away at the stone wall. After hours and hours of work, they had made a continuous crack around the carved message and stood back to survey their work. Then there was a soft rumble. The two men held their breath listening. The rumble became louder and louder until the whole cave seemed to tremble.
    “Rockslide!” gasped Uncle Ned, snatching his lantern and tools as he stumbled backward to the other side of the cavern.
    The two men were temporarily stunned, and then suddenly the whole wall broke into pieces and a portion of the ceiling came crashing down. They ran for their lives. The noise was deafening. They had barely reached the entrance when the whole cave seemed to collapse. They ran without stopping until they were safely on the road. When they gazed back, it seemed the entire mountainside had changed in appearance. Huge boulders had slid down the side, dragging trees and brush with them into the waterfall. Everything in view was in shambles.
    “Cave—gone!” Uncle Ned gasped.
    “Gone!” echoed Uncle Wirt.
    “Tsali message gone!” Uncle Ned wiped tears from his eyes as he thought about the great Indian hero who had remembered his people even in death.
    Uncle Wirt could not speak. He simply turned toward the wagon on the road. Uncle Ned followed him and together they rode silently back to tell the others the news.
    It was late afternoon when Mandie and Sallie saw them coming and ran to meet them. The girls could tell immediately that something was wrong.
    “Uncle Ned, what happened?” Mandie asked as he stopped the wagon in front of the barn and stepped down. John and the boys came out at once.
    “Cave gone. Tsali message gone,” Uncle Ned shook his head in sorrow.
    “Gone? How could it be gone?” Mandie asked.
    “Rockslide. Cave gone. Message buried,” Uncle Ned replied.
    “A rockslide? Are you all right?” Uncle John asked, checking them over. “How did you manage to get out?”
    “Run. God with us,” Uncle Ned explained.
    “Cave gone,” Uncle Wirt repeated, shaking his head in bewilderment.
    “That message Tsali left would have meant so much to our people,” Sallie stated sadly.
    “Now no one will ever believe us when we tell them about it,” Joe said dejectedly.
    “Part of our history has been lost,” Dimar added.
    “But we still have the gold,” Mandie reminded