The Mandie Collection by Lois Gladys Leppard

You’ve got to be our messenger to get us out of here.”
    She picked him up and tried to push him through the hole. Snowball didn’t like that at all, and Sallie had to help. Then when he got outside, he tried to come back in. Mandie quickly stuffed a rock in the hole to make it too small for him to get through. But Snowball didn’t leave. He just sat outside and meowed loudly.
    â€œGoodness!” Mandie exclaimed. “He’ll alarm the whole neighborhood. Those crooks will hear him and come to see what’s going on.”
    â€œMaybe we could get him back inside,” Sallie suggested.
    â€œLet’s try,” Mandie agreed.
    Removing the rock, they tried to coax the kitten inside. But he only sniffed at their hands and meowed louder.
    â€œWell, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see who hears him,” Mandie said, disappointed.
    â€œYes, that is all we can do,” Sallie agreed. “I am going back down. I want to sit for a while.
    â€œI’ll stay up here and listen,” Mandie told her friend.
    While Sallie kept watch over Joe, Mandie listened at the cellar door. Someone was sure to come soon. Snowball wouldn’t quit meowing.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    RESCUE
    Tsa’ni was almost home when he decided to go back. If he circled far enough out, he could bypass his grandfather’s search party and get back to Uncle Ned’s cabin. He might as well tell the women he didn’t find the girls. He wouldn’t mention that he had met the search party.
    As Tsa’ni tried to sneak past the Catawba man’s house, he suddenly heard Snowball crying. Silently he moved closer to see the kitten. There was Snowball, sitting by the barn, decorated with ribbons, howling for no apparent reason. Tsa’ni decided that the cat must have gotten lost.
    When Snowball saw Tsa’ni approaching, he hunched up, ruffled his fur, and hissed at the boy.
    Tsa’ni quickly jumped back. He had never touched that cat before, and he didn’t intend to now.
    As Tsa’ni turned and quietly continued on his way, Mandie stood at the top of the cellar ladder, holding her breath.
    â€œSallie, there was someone outside just now,” she whispered. “Snowball stopped his meowing and began hissing at somebody. It must have been somebody he didn’t like.”
    â€œYes, I heard,” Sallie called softly from below. “But whoever it was must have left. Snowball is meowing again.”
    As Tsa’ni headed for Uncle Ned’s cabin, he began making up the tale he would tell the women.
    Elizabeth and Morning Star saw him approaching and stood in the doorway to wait.
    â€œI saw no one in the woods,” he told them as he entered the cabin. “No one at all.” He repeated it in Cherokee to Morning Star.
    â€œOh dear!” Elizabeth exclaimed.
    Morning Star began screaming at the boy in Cherokee, but Tsa’ni just stood there with a sly grin on his face.
    Elizabeth watched, trying to understand. “What did Morning Star say?” she asked as the squaw stomped over to the table and began wrapping up some food.
    â€œShe told me I should have found them. She said that I am no good, so she is going to find them,” Tsa’ni told Elizabeth.
    Elizabeth walked over to Morning Star, watching her put some food into a basket.
    â€œI am going with you,” Elizabeth announced. “Tsa’ni, will you go with us?”
    Tsa’ni hesitated. “Yes,” he said. “I will go with you. I will get the lantern and the matches. It will be dark soon.”
    â€œI need to get a coat,” said Elizabeth. “Tsa’ni, will you please tell Morning Star to get a coat or something warm. It will be cold before long. And tell her that you and I are going with her.”
    Tsa’ni walked over to Morning Star and spoke quickly in Cherokee. Morning Star replied but kept wrapping food to fill the basket. Then she reached for a jar, filled it