Miss Bates’ Puzzle

by Janice

Author’s notes: This is just a little piece which fits entirely within the timeframe of The Secret of the Rose. You may have noticed a mention of it in that story but you don’t need to have read it to understand this. If you did read it and want a little reminder of what it was about see the Reminder Page.

Thanks to my wonderful editor Grey, who always seems to know the right thing to tell me to get me back on the right track.

July 1987

It was late afternoon when the seven Bob-Whites arrived at Cliveden. The two cars which had brought them to Virginia seemed to crawl through the streets as they made their way towards Green Trees, where they would be staying.

Trixie looked out eagerly as they passed Rosewood Hall. A tall scaffold peeked above the trees, marking the place where the old building was being reconstructed.

Soon, the two cars had pulled up at Green Trees and they all piled out. Trixie practically raced to the front door, tapping sharply on the big brass knocker without even waiting for the others.

“Trixie, my dear,” exclaimed Edgar Carver, as he answered the door. “Come in, come in.”

“You’re looking well, Mr. Carver,” Trixie replied politely. “I’m so glad the operation was a success.”

Mr. Carver smiled at her. During the year, he had undergone surgery to restore the movement to his legs. An accident as a small child had kept him in a wheelchair for most of his life.

“I wanted so much to greet you standing on my own feet,” he told her. “After all, it’s all because of you that I’m learning to walk again.”

By this time the others had come up to the house and Mr. Carver greeted each of them heartily. Jim introduced Dan, as he had not been with the group the year before.

“You’ll have to excuse me,” Mr. Carver said. “I can’t stand for long just yet and I certainly can’t climb the stairs. Carolyn will show you to your rooms.”

As Mr. Carver gently lowered himself back into his wheelchair Miss Bates appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Heavens to Betsy!” she declared. “Whatever are you thinking, Edgar, letting all these young people stay in your house. Why, there’s even more of them than the last time they visited.”

She soon had the girls installed in a charming but run-down room which overlooked the back of the house. The boys were in two equally neglected rooms which faced the road.

“I’ll be staying in this next room,” she told the girls, “as someone needs to look after you young ones and we couldn’t expect a man to be able to.”

The girls giggled as Miss Bates breezed away.

“Poor Mr. Carver,” said Di. “You’d think he was completely helpless to listen to Miss Bates.”

“Do you think there’s time for a walk before dinner?” asked Honey. “I’d love to see how the rebuilding is going.”

The girls decided that there was and made their way out towards Rosewood Hall. At the boundary between the two properties Mr. Lynch had installed a gate and the three girls were shutting it behind themselves when they heard a horse approach.

Between the bushes appeared a beautiful black stallion with a white star between his eyes. He came to a sudden halt as he saw the girls and they immediately recognised his rider as Neil.

“Easy, boy,” he murmured. “Hi girls,” he greeted them. “It’s great to see you again.”

“Great to see you, too, Neil” said Honey. “How have you been?”

“Pretty good,” he replied. “I’ve just graduated from high school and I’ll be going to college in a few weeks. I’ll still work here part time, though.”

The girls were pleased for him. Neil seemed to have really turned his life around since they saw him the previous summer.

“We might see you in the morning at the stables,” said Di.

Neil rode away and the girls continued their walk. They soon found that they could not see much of Rosewood Hall as a large fence had been erected around the site.

“So much for that idea,” sighed Honey.

The three made their way back to Green Trees to get ready for dinner.

Miss Bates had organised a party for their first night in Cliveden, with several of the other local people arriving just as the girls came down the stairs.

All seven Bob-Whites were kept busy that evening. The local people were obviously glad that someone wanted to restore Rosewood Hall and the Bob-Whites were popular by association.

The following morning, over breakfast, Miss Bates mentioned something which made all of the boys groan.

“Trixie, dear,” she began, “since you solved the puzzle of this house so quickly last time you were here, we thought you’d like to try Rosewood Hall’s mystery.”

“Please, Miss Bates,” said Mart, “don’t use the ‘M’ word around Trixie.”

The others laughed, and Miss Bates continued as if he hadn’t spoken.

“Away from the other buildings,” she said, “the workers have found some foundations. The walls seem too close together to be rooms and no one can figure out what the building is.”

“I’ll do my best,” said Trixie.

Miss Bates promised to show Trixie the spot after breakfast.

“So, what will we do this morning, gang?” asked Brian as they finished eating.

“We’ll help Lizzie clean up first,” said Honey.

Lizzie James had been hired to help Mr. Carver with the housework during his recovery.

“Oh, no you won’t” she said quickly. “I can manage fine by myself. You run along.”

She carried the dishes away without waiting for a reply.

“You won’t get into the kitchen easily,” said Mr. Carver with a smile. “I haven’t been allowed in there since Lizzie arrived here and Carolyn has been chased out many a time.”

It was soon settled that Trixie, Honey, Di and Jim would go with Miss Bates to the place of which she had told them. Brian, Mart and Dan would go to the stables to see if the horses were available. The girls had ridden before breakfast and Mr. Carver wanted to spend some time painting.

Miss Bates led the way towards Rosewood Hall, talking constantly. The girls and Jim contented themselves to simple ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘uh huh’ answers.

“I do declare,” she said as they neared the site, “if there were more women working on the restoration I would have time to figure this out for myself. As it is, I have to watch their every move.”

She stopped then and waved her hands towards some peculiar-looking brickwork. It consisted of a large rectangle with an opening on two sides, filled with tiny ‘rooms’. Some of the divisions were rectangular, some were ‘L’ shaped and some were ‘U’ shaped. Untidy shrubs surrounded the structure on three sides and it was covered in dirt in some sections.

“Now, I’ll leave you young things to look around,” Miss Bates said, turning to leave. “I’ll wager you have the answer by the end of the week, Trixie.”

“I’ll do my best,” said Trixie once again.

Miss Bates breezed away and the four young people breathed a sigh of relief.

“Whenever Miss Bates is around,” said Jim, “I feel strangely invisible.”

The girls laughed.

“Whatever do you think it could be?” asked Di, looking at the brickwork in front of them.

“It reminds me of a doll’s house,” said Honey. “It’s almost like a real house in miniature. Do you think it was a child’s play house?”

“It must have been an enormous one if it was,” replied Trixie.

“Well, I have no clue,” said Jim.

Trixie knelt next to the nearest brickwork, feeling the worn surface of the bricks.

“Jim, do you think these could be the top bricks?” asked Trixie. “I mean, if there was another row on top there should be mortar and these seem quite smooth.”

Jim thoughtfully examined the bricks.

“I think you’re right,” he said. “There’s no trace of mortar on the top of these bricks, only on the edges and bottom. This must have been the top course.”

“But what sort of building stops so close to the ground?” asked Di, perplexed.

“Maybe it isn’t a building.” suggested Trixie.

“Then what is it?” asked Honey.

None of them knew. After a few minutes more, the four made their way back towards the house, where they had arranged to meet the others.

They spent the rest of the day looking over the grounds of both properties, seeing the new work which had been done on Green Trees and talking to Mr. Carver. Brian, Mart and Dan were equally mystified by Miss Bates’ puzzle.

Over the next few days Trixie had little time for thinking about the problem. Cliveden had begun a renewal since the last time they visited and there were plenty of new things to do. Added to that, the Bob-Whites had received several invitations from local people who wanted to show off their new restorations.

The second last evening of their stay as they were preparing for bed, Trixie told the other girls her plans for the next day.

“I just have to figure out the puzzle before we go,” said Trixie plaintively. “It’s up to you two to keep the boys off my back so I can work it out.”

“You make them sound like slave drivers,” laughed Honey.

The next morning, true to her word, Trixie went off in search of more clues. First, she walked slowly along each of the walls she could see. She plopped down in the dust and thought hard for a few minutes.

I’m no closer now than I was at the beginning, she thought in disgust. She got up and dusted herself off a little. As she did so, she noticed a detail which had escaped her earlier: there were more bricks on the outside of the rectangle.

Trixie spent the next half hour crawling around in the undergrowth. At the end of that time she had satisfied herself as to what the structure had been and she returned to Green Trees, happy in the knowledge that she had beaten the deadline.

“Turn and flee,” exclaimed Mart, as soon as he saw her, “it’s a hideous creature from the depths of the shrubbery.”

“For that,” replied Trixie, “I won’t tell you what it is.”

She stomped off toward the house, furious with Mart. Honey ran to catch up with her.

“Sometimes I hate him,” said Trixie between clenched teeth.

“No you don’t,” soothed Honey. “What he said was completely uncalled for, though.”

“I’m so angry I could have hit him,” Trixie continued.

“For goodness sake forget about Mart,” said Honey. “Let’s go upstairs so I can get cleaned up for lunch.”

Trixie stopped short and laughed.

“Oh, Honey,” she cried, “I’m the one who needs to clean up for lunch.”

They continued up the stairs and into their room.

“I was wondering what you’d been doing,” said Honey, “to get leaves in your hair and dirt on your face.”

“It’s no wonder Mart called me ‘hideous’,” Trixie mourned, looking in the mirror. “I just got so excited when I worked out what it was that I had to check it out right away.”

“So, what is it?” asked Honey, trying to be patient.

Trixie grinned.

“You’ll just have to wait,” she said after a pause. “I think I’ll keep the secret a little longer.”

When Trixie went down to lunch, neat and clean once again, she was met by a very repentant Mart.

“I’m so sorry, Trix,” he began. “I didn’t mean it, honest.”

Trixie brushed him off with a quick “Think nothing of it.”

She was quiet through the whole meal until Mart, who sat next to her looking miserable and hardly eating a thing, apparently could not stand it any longer.

“Trixie, I’m sorry,” he said. “Please tell us the answer.”

“Great day in the morning, child,” exclaimed Miss Bates. “Do you mean to say you know the answer and haven’t told anyone.”

Miss Bates acted as if Trixie had spoken rather than Mart. Each of the Bob-Whites smothered a smile.

“Well, yes, Miss Bates,” said Trixie. “I thought I’d tell you after lunch.”

“Do you mean you’ve forgiven me?” asked Mart quietly.

Trixie nodded and smiled at him. He gave her a half-hug and began to eat hungrily. Trixie could barely contain her laughter.

As soon as they were all finished, Trixie led the group out to the site, with Jim pushing Mr. Carver’s wheelchair.

“I couldn’t work it out at first,” she told them, “since these seemed to be the only bricks in the structure. See, there’s no mortar on top.”

Miss Bates checked a nearby brick.

“Well, I’ll be,” she said, “I should have noticed that myself.”

“Then I saw that there were more bricks on the other side of what I thought was the outside edge,” continued Trixie. “You can see a few over there,” she pointed. “That’s when I worked out what it is.”

“Go on,” said Mart, anxiously.

“It’s garden edging,” said Trixie smugly.

“What do you mean, ‘garden edging’” demanded Mart. “Who ever heard of a garden like this?”

“Oh,” said Di suddenly, “I get it.”

She stepped through the first opening and walked between the bricks in a crooked path. Honey gasped and said she got it too.

“Good heavens!” said Miss Bates. “I knew you’d do it, child. Much brighter than any man.”

“I’m sorry to be ignorant,” said Mart, “but what is it?”

“Why, it’s a maze, of course,” said Miss Bates. “Perfectly obvious, though I’ve never seen one quite like it, myself.”

She launched into a stream of plans for restoring the maze, pushing Mr. Carver back towards the house. The Bob-Whites remained behind to examine the area further.

“You still don’t get it, do you Mart?” Honey asked kindly.

“Neither do I,” Dan put in. “Though I’d never admit that to Miss Bates.”

Di moved back to the place where she had started. “Imagine that these areas,” she pointed to the shapes either side of herself, “are filled with plants. Where I’m standing is the path.”

Understanding dawned across Mart’s and Dan’s faces. “Just don’t tell Miss Bates that you had to explain it,” Dan asked.

After dinner that evening, the whole group gathered in the newly-restored music room at Mr. Carver’s request.

“Since it is your last night here,” he told them, “I thought we could play some party games. Perhaps we could begin with charades.”

The group readily agreed and soon they were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Trixie sat back and watched the fun.

I’m glad we came, she thought. And I hope we’ll come here again one day.

The End

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