The Mandie Collection by Lois Gladys Leppard Page B

and followed them outside. As he gave the package to Ben, he said to Mandie, “Thank your grandmother for me for the order, young lady, and y’all do come back to see me again.” Turning to Ben, he said, “Good day, Ben. I imagine you’d better hurry home. Mrs. Taft is probably waiting.”
    â€œYes, sir,” Ben agreed as the girls stepped up into the buggy.
    As Ben drove away from the store, Mandie said, “Ben, Mr. Heyward was telling you in his own words not to take us anywhere else, wasn’t he? Just straight back to Grandmother’s?”
    Ben cleared his throat and said, “Mistuh Heyward, he jes’ belookin’ out fo’ you young ladies’ safety now dat thieves roam around town.”
    â€œI know,” Mandie muttered. She wondered how they could ever get back to that alley again with everyone looking out for their safety.
    When the girls got back to Mrs. Taft’s house, Mrs. Manning was just driving up in her buggy. She stepped down and waited for the girls as Ben brought the vehicle to a stop at the front door.
    â€œHello, Mrs. Manning,” Mandie greeted her as the three of them walked toward the front door.
    â€œNice to see you young ladies,” Mrs. Manning said. Ella opened the front door, and they entered the hallway.
    Mrs. Taft was coming down the corridor and stopped when she saw them. “Good morning, Mrs. Manning. Have you heard the news?” she asked.
    Mrs. Manning frowned and asked, “What news, Mrs. Taft?”
    â€œAbout the burglaries,” Mrs. Taft told her as the two girls hung up their wraps.
    â€œOh dear, burglaries? Where?” Mrs. Manning asked as she and Mrs. Taft walked toward the parlor door.
    The girls followed, Mandie carrying the package from Mr. Heyward’s store.
    â€œRight here in Asheville,” Mrs. Taft explained as they sat down in the parlor. “Seems quite a lot of them have occurred without the authorities even knowing about it. And I have to tell you, my silver set that you wanted to borrow has been stolen.”
    â€œStolen?” Mrs. Manning repeated, shocked. “How did that happen?”
    Mrs. Taft explained about Uncle Ned’s visit and the events of the day. Mandie and Celia waited quietly with the tablets.
    â€œNothing like that has ever occurred in this town before,” Mrs. Manning said.
    â€œAre you missing anything? Seems the thieves can get inside a house and back out without leaving any trace of how they accomplished this,” Mrs. Taft said.
    â€œI have not heard about this, and therefore I have not looked to see if anything is missing. But I certainly shall when I return home,” Mrs. Manning said. “I’m so sorry about your silver set. Thatparticular set was near and dear to your heart, wasn’t it? I believe it was the one your mother gave you for your wedding present, if I remember correctly?”
    â€œYes, indeed, it was,” Mrs. Taft said sadly. “It can’t be replaced. If they had to take something, I wish they had taken something else. I do hope I will recover the set.”
    As Mandie listened to all this, she became more determined to find the burglars. She was going to get her grandmother’s set back for her.
    â€œI must be going,” said Mrs. Manning. “I’ll stop by Mrs. Chittendon’s and ask if I might borrow her silver set for the church dinner. She has a large one like yours.” She rose from her chair. “I sincerely hope you locate the set and that these men are brought to justice. In the meantime, I appreciate your warning me about these burglaries, and I will check my own belongings as soon as I get back to my house.”
    As soon as Mrs. Manning left, Mandie handed the package from Heyward’s Store to her grandmother and said, “Are you ready to begin now, Grandmother?”
    â€œYes, of course, dear, and thank you for going for the tablets for me,” Mrs. Taft said,