by Nero Blanc
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold On!’ …”
He looked at the gathered company and finally at Martha. “Thank you,” he said. “Thank you very, very much.” His eyes had misted up. Rosco was happy Al wasn’t there to witness the spectacle, but then he realized Al’s—and Skippy Two’s—eyes were probably just as dreamy and damp.
Sixteen
“I hope you’re pleased with yourself … You and Sara, both.” It was late Christmas eve, and Rosco and Belle were tucked into bed, while Kit and Gabby were ensconced in their own pillowy nests on the floor. The dogs were only half-awake as they listened to the drone of human speech; vigilance, for the moment, had been placed on the back burner.
“Well, didn’t it work out perfectly? Stan and Martha couldn’t have found more ideal gifts for one another. And the way they were looking at each other? Sara thinks—”
“I know exactly what she thinks,” Rosco chortled. “But not even Sara Crane Briephs can arrange marriage proposals nowadays.”
“No one mentioned anything like that, Rosco!”
“Sara did.” He laughed again. “In this very house, in fact.”
“I think it’s terrific what happened,” Belle retorted with a smug smile. “Even if Stan and Martha simply become better friends.”
“Mmmm hmmm … And since Sara’s the Newcastle bigwig in charge of the random drawing to determine who wins the Crier’s puzzle contest this year—”
“She’d never fix a contest!” Belle insisted.
“Oh, no?” Rosco chuckled.
“I’m certain she wouldn’t. I’m pretty certain she wouldn’t …”
“Unless Stanley or Martha are among the contestants …” Rosco shook his head while Belle frowned:
“Sara wouldn’t … would she?”
Rosco grinned. “Well, I hope she realizes she’s going to needs to arrange a better companion for Helen ASAP.”
“What’s wrong with Al?”
“Did you see him when we left the party? I was surprised he even remembered Helen was with him. He opened the door for the new Skippy—who very nearly got to ride shotgun. If Helen doesn’t watch her step she may be relegated to the backseat on all family outings.”
Belle sighed happily. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
“I wouldn’t use those precise words with our ‘Albert,’ if I were you.”
“I didn’t know he’d had a dog when he was a kid. I didn’t think he even liked animals.”
“He had me fooled.” Rosco shrugged, then put his arm around his wife; and she cuddled against him while a prolonged groan rose from the floor.
“I think we’re being told it’s too late for any hanky-panky, Rosco.”
“Since when do our four-legged pals make the decisions around here?”
“I hope you don’t expect an honest response to a loopy question like that.” Belle stretched away to turn out the light, then stopped mid-movement. “Okay, so what did you get me for Christmas?”
“Aren’t you jumping the gun a little?”
“It’s eleven-thirty … No, it’s eleven-thirty-three, almost thirty-four …” She leapt out of bed. “I’ll go first.”
Whether it was Belle’s feet hitting the floor or the recognition that the ominous gift exchange was finally upon them, both dogs became fully alert in an instant. They looked at each other, their ears cocked to full listening mode, their brains concentrating on feathers and twittering songs.
“It’s a crossword,” Belle said, sliding back between the covers. “You have to fill in the answers to learn what your gift is. I brought you a pen.”
“Why don’t you just read me the answers. If it’s anything like your Belle’s Nöel, it might be Independence Day before I figure this thing out.”
“Spoilsport.”
Rosco grinned and sat up straighter. Then he pulled open the drawer in his bedside table. “I made you a puzzle, too. Actually, I had help—”
“From who?”
“Isn’t it whom?”
“Don’t split hairs. Who was it?”
“The same person who helped me with the puzzle I used as a marriage proposal. And good detectives never reveal private sources.”
“It was Sara, wasn’t it? And she didn’t breathe a word. Not even when we discussed her role in the competition.”
“Detectives never reveal private sources, Belle—”
“And Al probably, too. That’s so unfair, Rosco! Everyone’s in on the secret except me!”
Both Gabby and Kit woofed in unison.
“Well, except for those two four-legged loafers.” Belle laughed. “Because I doubt your clandestine constructors were of the canine variety … Wait! Was it your puzzle that Gab was chewing on the other day? I thought something seemed fishy about the way you acted when you snatched it from her mouth …” But Belle’s words trailed off as she began hurriedly writing in puzzle clues. “Oh, Rosco! You constructed a poem. How clever—and sweet …”
“It’s more doggerel than poetry, I’m afraid. But it rhymes, if you use your imagination.”
“Dog-what?” Belle was so engrossed in the crossword she scarcely heard her husband.
“Never mind.”
“No … what did you say? Something about a dog?”
Rosco laughed and looked over her shoulder. “Hey, that’s not fair! You can’t just fill in the HER GIFT part. You have to work the Down clues, too.” He pulled the crossword from her hand.
“Give me that!”
“My turn to learn what my gift is … But you’ll have to be patient. I’m a lot slower at these cryptic word diversions than you …”
Gabby and Kit began to whine in frustration.
“Do you think they’re asking to go out again?” Belle wondered.
“I think they’re telling us to shut up and go to sleep so we’re bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for Santa’s gift deliveries tomorrow morning,” was Rosco’s amused reply.
Out of sight of the humans, Gabby hung her head in disbelief, while Kit, who previously would have deemed this behavior unnecessarily corny and theatrical, decided it was just the ticket. Stoic New Englanders, she thought, could learn a lot from their thespian counterparts in southern California.
“This could take all night,” Gabby whimpered.
“You said it,” Kit grumbled in response, while Belle kept up a running description of the crossword she’d created for Rosco.
“… I wrote a poem, too … It’s really an I.O.U. because you’ll have to try—”
“Hey, don’t tell me!”
“You’re right. I’m not going to say another word. But then we haven’t had any snow or even a good, solid freeze—”
“You have no self-control whatsoever. Have I ever told you that?”
“About a million times. It’s just that I’m not certain a pair of—” She clapped her hand over her mouth. “That’s it! I’m not saying another word, I swear.”
Rosco gave her a kiss. “You’re as bad as Martha.”
“It’s not a book, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Belle insisted.
“I gathered that much. Now, are you going to tell me what my present is or let me figure it out on my own?”
“My lips are sealed,” Belle answered with a grin. “Why don’t we both fill in our crosswords at the same time—bearing in mind that I’ve already supplied you with a major, and I mean major, clue.”
“This isn’t a competion, Belle.”
“Oh, no?… On your mark, get set, go!”
This was too much suspense for Kit and Gabby, who simultaneously jumped on the bed and began pouncing up and down.
“What’s gotten into you, Kit?” Belle demanded. “I thought you’d outgrown these puppy antics. And, you, Gab; you’re supposed to be learning ladylike behaviour from your ‘big sister’.…” But Belle’s heart wasn’t in this reprimand, because even as she spoke her eyes were scanning the cr
ossword Rosco had given her.
“Oh, Rosco!” she burst out. “ONE PAIR OF LOVELY … Oh, what an extravagant, wonderful gift! I saw them in the shop window, and I … and I—” She threw her arms around her husband’s neck. “Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
Gabby looked at Kit, who stared levelly at her in return. “One pair of lovely …?” rumbled from the bigger dog’s throat. “One pair of lovely …? And you let us get completely bamboozled into thinking …? And all the work I went through? All that chewing and shredding?”
“That’s what I heard him say. Honest! I mean, I thought that’s what he … Because a ‘pair of love’ and a ‘pair of lovely’: they’re almost the same thing, aren’t they?”
“Someone’s got to teach you the difference between adjectives and adverbs, young Gabby. Or in this instance, adjectives and nouns—”
But Gabby yipped Kit into silence. “Look! Look out the window! What are those white spots flying around?”
Kit turned her head. “Snow, you birdbrain.”
“My first snowfall.” Gabby’s terrier voice had turned docile and full of awe.
Then Kit also began to stare through the window, and the stillness of both dogs caused Belle and Rosco to take notice, too. “The first snow of the year,” they said almost in unison, while Belle curled up close to Rosco and added a soft:
“I guess it’s going to be cold enough for my gift after all.”
Rosco’s Gift To Belle
ACROSS
1. Hit-run link
4. Payroll info
7. Explosive letters
10. Not many
13. Map abbr.
14. Also
15. “The ___ to a man’s heart …”
16. Mellow
17. HER GIFT, part 1
21. Classic roadster
22. Sunset Boulevard Oscar nominee
23. Letter opener?
26. CCCX ÷ II
27. Passion
31. HER GIFT, part 2
35. Amish possessive
36. “___ Day Now”
37. Add fizz
38. Broccoli ___
40. Greek nine
41. “Excellent!”
44. “Sounds new to me?”
45. “The ___ Side”
48. HER GIFT, part 3
52. Mets’ home
53. VCR setting
54. The Good Book
55. Machinations
58. Served Kit & Gabby
59. HER GIFT, part 4
66. Goof
67. Hawaiian wreath
68. Inc. leader
69. Yours and mine
70. Airport posting
71. Bruin battleground
72. Perfect Olympic score
73. Old Pontiac
DOWN
1. Mr. Garfunkel
2. ___ degree
3. Joey ___ & the Starliters
4. Reputation stain
5. Davenport
6. “___ a creature was …”
7. “The ___ Days of Christmas”
8. Collars
9. Rookie
10. Fenway Park attendee
11. With 63-Down, holiday quaff
12. Director Craven
18. Caddy financer
19. Hunter or tree
20. How to pay for a Ferrari?
23. Wrestling spot
24. Bat material
25. Lover Come Back star
26. Pine adornment
28. Italian one
29. Cpl’s next step
30. Literary monogram
32. Synagogue leader
33. Eating___
34. Ready-go link
38. Fix
39. Mr. Parseghian
40. Data; abbr.
41. May-day
42. Durham campus; abbr.
43. ___ Dee River, S.C.
44. Classic Christmas dinner
45. Valentine mo.
46. “___ I want for Christmas …”
47. Catcher in the___
49. Tour stagehand
50. King of the fairies
51. Veni-vici link
56. Artist Salvador
57. Util. bill
58. Certain sports agent?
59. Wide shoe
60. A-Team member
61. Pitcher’s stat.
62. Do something
63. See 11-Down
64. Some tennis strings
65. Sign of a hit
To download a PDF of this puzzle, please visit openroadmedia.com/nero-blanc-crosswords
Belle’s Gift To Rosco
ACROSS
1. Brainy numbers; abbr.
4. Back of the boat
7. NYC subway line
10. Not LG
13. Fruitcake?
14. Reel partner
15. Classic car
16. Foot digit
17. HIS GIFT, part 1
21. Update
22. Not quite due?
23. Mr. Estrada
24. HIS GIFT, part 2
27. “Wait a ___!”
28. Fair grade
29. “___ girl!”
33. Toss in
35. Caesar and Waldorf
40. Santa Claus across The Pond
43. Confederate general
44. Fall back
45. “___ Be Cruel”
46. Cheat
48. News network; abbr.
50. HIS GIFT, part 3
59. Couple
60. Orr field?
61. Best results
62. HIS GIFT, part 4
65. Kingston campus; abbr.
66. Tiny
67. Volta feeder
68. Picnic pest
69. Ethnic of Laos
70. Hippie drug
71. 2-Down’s org.
72. Draft org.
DOWN
1. Lemur
2. Bogart role
3. Italian subdivision
4. Cupid’s barbs
5. Valentine’s candy?
6. Pat 6-pointers
7. Curiously opposite
8. Directional notices at the North Pole?
9. Gift for a tot
10. Baby’s first ride?
11. Film
12. Tall onions
18. Decay
19. “Stop the shot!”
20. Grassland
25. Power options; abbr.
26. Green, black & Earl Grey
29. “No ___, ands or buts.”
30. Make lace
31. RV hookup?
32. “Gotcha!”
34. UPS rival
36. Ford model
37. Latin love
38. Dapper ___
39. Retired flyer; abbr.
41. Therefore
42. Steamy
47. Hen ___
49. Table cloth?
50. Pipe drug
51. Mother-of-pearl
52. Old McDonald refrain
53. Scientology monogram
54. Confederate general
55. “Give ___ rest.”
56. Namesakes of a meter maid
57. Signs
58. Skips lunch
63. Wise one
64. “I Only Have Eyes for ___”
To download a PDF of this puzzle, please visit openroadmedia.com/nero-blanc-crosswords
The Answers
To download a PDF of the answers, please visit openroadmedia.com/nero-blanc-crosswords/answers
Belle’s Nöel
If Dogs Made Crosswords
Rosco’s Gift To Belle
Belle’s Gift To Rosco
About the Author
Nero Blanc is the pseudonym of Steve Zettler and Cordelia Frances Biddle, who are husband and wife and serious crossword buffs. Biddle is also the author of the Martha Beale historical mystery series, which is set in Philadelphia, Zettler and Biddle’s hometown. Their website is www.crosswordmysteries.com.
All rights r
eserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2004 by Cordelia F. Biddle and Steve Zettler
Cover design by Tammy Seidick
ISBN: 978-1-4976-7178-2
This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
345 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
CROSSWORD MYSTERIES
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