New Horizons

by Lois Gladys Leppard

  They noticed that April Snow and Polly Cornwallis seemed to be together a lot with the other girls.

  Mandie and Celia discussed the problem with Mary Lou, who was surprised to hear that Mandie and Celia were having problems with the other girls. Mary Lou said the other girls had always been friendly with her. She promised to help Mandie and Celia find out the reason for the other girls’ snobbery.

  That Saturday Mandie and Celia went to visit Mary Lou. The Dunnigans lived in a huge white house with stained glass in the window trim and the double front door. A wide veranda ran around the house. On it sat numerous rocking chairs, a swing fastened to the ceiling, and dozens of potted plants. Above the tall three stories was an attic with windows in it. Mary Lou was waiting on the porch.

  “Oh, Mary Lou, I love your house!” Mandie exlaimed to Mary Lou as Mr. Ryland stopped the carriage in front of it. “It’s so different from other houses I’ve seen here in Charleston.”

  “Thank you,” Mary Lou replied, stepping down from the front porch. “My great-great-grandfather built it, so it’s been in the family quite a long time. Come on, my mother and father are waiting at the door.”

  Mr. and Mrs. Dunnigan were both as friendly as Mary Lou, who was their only child. Then Mrs. Dunnigan said she must see to the noon meal, and Mr. Dunnigan left to go to his office in the back of the house.

  Mary Lou led the other girls to a parlor, which was full of beautiful antiques. Mandie kept glancing around for the piano Mary Lou had told them about, but it was nowhere to be seen. Finally Celia could wait no longer. “Where is your piano, Mary Lou?”

  Mary Lou laughed and said, “Come on. It’s in the back room where it won’t distract visitors in the parlor.”

  Mary Lou showed them the many paper rolls with perforations, which she placed one at a time on the roller in the front of the piano, and then she pumped the pedal with her foot so the rolls would turn and play music. Each roll played a different song.

  “Oh, please, you must let me try it!” Celia was excited as she watched the piano keys move up and down without anyone even touching them.

  Celia found the piano difficult to operate at first, as the pedals required some strength to push down, but she soon had it going. Her paper roll was playing “Standing on the Promises,” and Mandie and Mary Lou began singing and clapping their hands. “Standing on the promises of Christ my King, through eternal ages let His praises ring; Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, standing on the promises of God.”

  Celia managed to join in with the chorus without missing a beat. “Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God, my Saviour, standing, standing, I’m standing on the promises of God.”

  As the roll ended, all three girls were breathing heavily.

  “That was wonderful!” Celia exclaimed.

  “I have a lot more rolls; do you want to play more?” Mary Lou asked.

  “Oh yes,” Celia replied.

  Celia played while Mandie and Mary Lou sang until Mrs. Dunnigan called them to the table for the noon meal.

  Mr. Ryland returned at four o’clock to take Mandie and Celia back to the college. “We have to go now, Mrs. Dunnigan,” Mandie told her friend’s mother. “We have enjoyed the visit so much. I hope someday y’all will be able to come to my home in North Carolina for a visit.”

  “We’ll certainly try,” Mrs. Dunnigan replied. “It has been a wonderful day for us, also. Since Mary Lou has no brothers or sisters, it gets rather quiet around here sometimes.”

  “I thank you also for such a wonderful time,” Celia said. “Maybe y’all can come up to Virginia to visit with my mother and me when school is out.”

  Mrs. Dunnigan replied, “Yes, dear, we’ll see about that.”

  Mary Lou followed them outside and said, “I’ll see y’all Monday.”

  “Will you not be at church tomorrow?” Mandie asked, stepping up to the carriage seat.

  “Yes, we go to church every time the doors open, but we don’t go to the church near the college,” Mary Lou explained. “It’s too far from here. And we’ve belonged to our little church down the street for as long as I can remember. So I’ll see you both on Monday.”

  Saturday visits to Mary Lou’s house almost turned into a regular routine, but Mandie didn’t want to impose on the good people for a meal every week, so sometimes they went to see Mary Lou after the noon meal.

  At the college, Mandie and Celia gave up on trying to befriend any of the other girls and more or less stayed to themselves when it was possible. Studies were much harder than they had been used to back home at the Misses Heathwood’s School for Girls, and they had to spend more time studying.

  Mandie and Celia went to the art shop where Mrs. Taft had ordered the painting of a cat for Mandie a couple of weeks earlier. Mandie was excited with the work Victoria had done. Looking at the painting, it could have been Snowball himself, though the artist had never even seen him before. Mandie hung the painting by her bed where she could see it every day.

  It surprised Mandie when one day Celia said to her, “You know, I’m still uncomfortable being around these snobbish girls. They are making me miserable, and I just don’t trust them.”

  “I thought you had just given up on it, like I have.”

  “No,” Celia groaned. “I’ll never give up on anything like that. These girls are all so ill-mannered.”

  “Well, I don’t know what we can do about it,” Mandie said sadly.

  “I don’t know, either, but I hope and pray the situation will straighten itself out,” Celia said. “In the meantime, I am most uncomfortable in the presence of these girls here.”

  The next Saturday while at Mary Lou’s house, Mandie mentioned the situation to Mrs. Dunnigan. “We’d be so happy at the school if the girls would only act like young ladies.”

  “Oh dear, I can’t believe the situation is so bad,” Mrs. Dunnigan replied. “Mary Lou has never said anything about the snobbery of the other girls, so I assume she is not experiencing the same ill will that you girls seem to have discovered.”

  Suddenly Mrs. Dunnigan remembered something. “Did you know the school is renting out its boardinghouse to a lady who will take in boarders? The college doesn’t need the boardinghouse this year, and Mrs. Thomason is renting to ladies only. Maybe you two—”

  Mandie quickly interrupted. “Maybe we could move into the boardinghouse?” She looked excitedly at Celia.

  “Do you think the school would allow it?” Celia asked.

  “I’m sure that would not be a problem. The main question is whether your parents would allow it,” Mrs. Dunnigan said. “I happen to know Mrs. Thomason very well and would trust her with my own daughter.”

  “Exactly where is this boardinghouse? Is it the one those young men in the schoolyard were talking about being haunted?” Celia asked, looking at Mrs. Dunnigan and then at Mandie.

  “It’s just on the next street from here,” Mrs. Dunnigan told the girls. “In fact, when the vines are not too thick, we can go out in our backyard and see the backyard of the boardinghouse. Would you like me to get some information from Mrs. Thomason to give your parents?”

  “Oh yes, ma’am,” Mandie quickly replied.

  “I’m not sure my mother would go along with this, but I could certainly find out,” Celia remarked.

  “Would you like to walk around to the house?” Mary Lou asked. “I can take you there.”

  The girls nodded their heads in interest, and the three walked down the street and around the block. The house was huge with a side gate opening into the yard by the front porch, which was also on the side, with another huge porch above it.

  “There’s no one there yet,” Mary Lou explained as she pushed open the gate and went inside the yard. Since the house was locked, they could only look at the outside.

  “And this is the house that is supposed to be haunted?” Mandie asked.

  “Yes.” Mary Lou laughed. “That’s what some people believe, but I don’t think there i
s such a thing as a ghost.”

  Mandie glanced at Celia, who was frowning as she stared at the huge old house. “Maybe we could solve the mystery of the ghost, Celia!” She laughed.

  “It’s probably just some tale someone made up to scare people,” Celia said.

  “That’s what my parents and I think, also,” Mary Lou agreed.

  “I suppose we could talk to Mrs. Thomason and see if she has a room for us,” Mandie decided. “And of course it would probably take some doing to get my mother to agree for me to move in here. And I would certainly have to do it without letting my grandmother know before it was done.”

  “All right, it’s agreeable with me, Mandie,” Celia said. “We can try.”

  As the girls returned to the Dunnigans’ house, Mandie said, “At least we have the carriage to take us back and forth to school. I guess Grandmother was right to insist on it after all.” She laughed.

  The next week Mrs. Dunnigan had Mrs. Thomason come to her house and meet the girls and discuss her plans for the house. Mrs. Thomason was an older woman, and Mandie liked her immediately.

  “Now, I wouldn’t want you young ladies moving in one day and out the next if someone got to talking about ghosts in the house,” Mrs. Thomason warned them.

  “I don’t think we could do that anyway. Once we give up our room at the dormitory we’ll probably have to stay in your house for the rest of the year,” Mandie explained.

  “Well, I insist you both write your parents to make sure they are in agreement with this plan,” Mrs. Thomason said. “I have a few ladies already living in the house, but I definitely have more rooms vacant.”

  After returning to the college that afternoon, Mandie and Celia both sat down and wrote letters to their parents, trying to explain the situation at the college with the girls, and giving them references Mrs. Thomason supplied.

  “I’m not very hopeful that my mother will agree to this,” Celia said with a sigh as she folded the letter.

  “I’m hoping Uncle John will come to my aid with my mother,” Mandie said. “As long as my grandmother doesn’t find out about it, I may be able to convince him.”

  “It’s nice that your uncle John married your mother after your father died, and she is not all alone like my mother,” Celia said.

  “I know,” Mandie replied. “But your father’s sister, Rebecca, moved into your house to be with your mother, so she is not exactly alone.”

  “No, not exactly. And I do love my aunt Rebecca so much,” Celia said.

  Mandie suddenly remembered the letter her mother had sent her from the young man in Europe. Mandie had put it in her bureau unopened. Now she was itching to get an opportunity to do so without Celia around. She would have to figure out how she could do that. Maybe while Celia was taking a bath? Great idea; that’s when she would open it.

  *

  That night Mandie urged Celia to take her bath first, that she didn’t mind waiting. When Celia finally went into the bathroom and Mandie could hear the water running, she hurried over to the bureau and retrieved the letter.

  Quickly breaking the seal and removing the letter from the envelope, Mandie unfolded the linen paper and read:

  My dearest Amanda,

  I have missed you since you went back home. I have no eyes for any other young lady. My heart is deflated. I long for the day when I will again be in the presence of my dear Amanda. Please come back to Ireland. And please do me the honor of replying to my letter. I await your reply.

  Longingly,

  Adrian

  Mandie quickly refolded the sheet of paper, placed it back into the envelope, and returned it to the bureau drawer. She sat down in the big chair and thought about this young fellow. She was not sure she should answer the letter and get into correspondence with him. After all, he was so far away, and they were both so young.

  Celia came out of the bathroom in her robe. “Your turn, Mandie.”

  Mandie took her time in the bath, and after the girls had gone to bed for the night, Mandie lay awake for several hours, thinking about the boardinghouse and hoping her uncle John would be in favor of it. When she had written to tell her mother and him about the rude girls at the college—girls who had been the source of much unhappiness for her and Celia—she hoped they would understand how important it was that they be moved out of the college dormitory. She believed they would.

  chapter 6

  Mandie and Celia both began counting the days since they had written their mothers requesting permission to move into the ladies’ boardinghouse. And Mary Lou asked daily if they had heard anything.

  Then one day, as they were checking their mailboxes after class, Mandie excitedly announced, “I have something from my mother!”

  “So do I!” Celia remarked, withdrawing a small white envelope from her mailbox.

  “Come on, let’s go up to our room to read these. I can’t take it standing up if it is bad news,” Mandie said, hurrying ahead up the marble staircase.

  In their room they threw down their books, flopped into the two big chairs, and tore open the envelopes.

  Mandie read the letter to herself.

  Dearest daughter,

  I am sorry things are not working out for you with the other girls there at the college. We could possibly talk about a transfer to another school when you come home for Thanksgiving. In the meantime, I have discussed the situation with your uncle John, and he definitely agrees that something must be done. Of course, we believe that the only alternative right now is for you and Celia to move into the boardinghouse. We have contacted Mrs. Thomason and checked everything out, and we feel we can trust you girls to live there. Celia’s mother is in complete agreement with us.

  We have made arrangements financially with Mrs. Thomason for both of you girls, and you are free to move whenever you have time.

  We have also notified the college that you girls will be moving into the boardinghouse and will relinquish your room in the dormitory as soon as this can be accomplished.

  We are trusting your carriage driver, Mr. Ryland, to accomplish the move for you, and also to drive you girls back and forth to classes each day.

  Please let us know the minute you begin the move. I certainly wish the telegraph company would hurry up and get the wires into town so we can have telephone service. They are working on it right now.

  With all my love always,

  Mother

  Celia had read her own letter by the time Mandie finished, and they excitedly embraced each other and danced around the room.

  “I’m so happy!” Mandie said, laughing.

  “So am I!” Celia replied, dancing around the room.

  “I can hardly wait until morning, when we can let Mary Lou know of the good news!” Mandie said.

  The next morning Mandie and Celia stood at the chapel doors, watching for Mary Lou, and when she arrived both of them hugged her.

  “You got permission?” Mary Lou guessed as she freed herself from the hugs.

  Both girls nodded and Mary Lou said, “I’m so excited! Let’s get things moving this afternoon.”

  “I think we need to go see Mrs. Thomason this afternoon and find out when it’s convenient for her for us to move into her boardinghouse,” Mandie said.

  “First of all, I think we need to go look at the room we’ll be getting so we’ll know how to arrange our things. We haven’t even seen a room in her house yet,” Celia reminded Mandie.

  “You’re right,” Mandie agreed. “Now we just have to get through this day’s classes.” She led the way into the chapel.

  When classes were finished for the day, Mary Lou suggested that they all go to her house and eat their noon meal, then go around to see Mrs. Thomason.

  Mr. Ryland was waiting at the carriage parking, and he smiled at them as he said, “I have instructions from both of your mothers to move you young ladies into the boardinghouse.”

  “Yes, sir,” Mandie and Celia said together.

  “But we have to go see Mrs.
Thomason first,” Mandie explained, “so if you could please take us to Mary Lou’s house, we’ll eat there, and then we’ll walk around to see Mrs. Thomason while you go home for your noon meal.”

  “Yes, young lady,” Mr. Ryland agreed as he helped the three into the carriage.

  Mrs. Dunnigan already had the noon meal waiting for Mary Lou, and she quickly added two plates for Mandie and Celia. As soon as they entered the house, they excitedly told Mary Lou’s mother the news.

  “I’m so happy for you young ladies,” she said as they all sat down at the table.

  Mr. Dunnigan, who was also present for the noon meal, offered any help he could provide for the move.

  “Thank you, Mr. Dunnigan,” Mandie told him. “Mr. Ryland has already been contacted by my mother to move us, but he could probably use some help.” She turned to grin at Celia as she added, “We do have lots of things in our room.”

  “Just let me know when you plan to do this, and I will be of whatever assistance I can,” Mr. Dunnigan promised.

  The three girls hurriedly finished their food and then walked around the block to the boardinghouse.

  Mrs. Thomason came to the door with a big smile on her face. “Come right in, young ladies. I have heard from both your mothers, and I have been expecting you.”

  Mandie was thinking that her mother really did a thorough job of planning their move, but then she realized it was probably the work of Uncle John. He was a businessman and was accustomed to such things.

  Mrs. Thomason led the way into her house. “Even though we have metal bars on all the downstairs windows, I decided to put you young ladies on the second floor, where I’ll feel safer about you.” She led the way up the ornate staircase.

  “Safer?” Mandie repeated. She glanced at Celia and smirked. “Safer from the ghost who lives here?”

  Mrs. Thomason heard her and looked back at the girls. “Don’t believe all those rumors. This house has been empty for a long time, and I would imagine those so-called ghosts were none other than local pranksters trying to frighten people. Anyhow, my apartment is on the first floor, and anyone coming in and out would have to get by me first.” She reached the top of the stairs and turned down a wainscoted hallway. When she reached the first closed door, she stopped and opened it.