Amanda looked up and saw a large metal pole coming right across the boat. It was no where near her head, but she ducked anyway. Leah laughed.
It got a lot colder, wetter and windier on the way back. The boat rocked harder and sometimes leaned far to one side. Amanda wondered if boats ever went all the way over but didn’t want to ask. By the time they were back at the dock and tied up it started to rain.
“Looks like we just got back in time. How was that, Amanda?” asked Mr. Anderson.
“It was super cool. Thanks a bunch. I can’t wait to tell the kids back home.”
Later that night, warm and safe in their room at the B & B, Amanda looked through the books in the bag left behind by Uncle Charlie. They were very old books and smelled musty. None of them seemed remotely interesting to her except for a Vicky and Alice book at the bottom of the bag. It wasn’t the missing number fourteen, but neither was it one she had seen before. She had a suspicious feeling something weird was going on with those books.
Chapter 8
“Mr. Anderson, can we please stop at the bookstore once more before we catch the ferry?” asked Amanda as she put hot sauce on her scrambled eggs.
“Of course, luv. I need to stop at the boat supply store for one more thing anyway.”
“Thanks so much.” Amanda liked that he called her “love”. It made her feel like part of the family.
Leah screwed up her nose. “How can you eat your eggs with hot sauce?”
“I just like spicy things, that’s all. Eggs are kind of boring otherwise.” Amanda added more sauce.
When they arrived at the bookstore, Liam was hanging the OPEN sign.
“Where is your Uncle Charlie?” Amanda put the bag of books on the counter and looked around. “And where is Rupert?”
“Dunno. They went out yesterday and I haven’t seen hide nor hair of either one of ’em. Now I have to look after the store. Was planning to go to the beach, but there you have it.” He looked a bit grumpy. “Daft old man. I told me mum he’s losing it you know. Liam looked at the bag on the counter. “What’s this then?”
“Yesterday, we saw your Uncle Charlie in the graveyard at Newport and he was hiding behind a tree and when he went to catch Rupert who was running away, he left this bag of books behind.” Amanda stopped to catch her breath.
“Hold on. Are you telling me the old duffer was in Newport, hiding behind a tree, in a graveyard?” Liam looked at Leah. “Does your friend always spin yarns like this?”
Leah sighed, “I am afraid what she says is true. I saw him too and Rupert gave us a huge scare. Can we just leave the books here for your uncle? We’re about to leave for the ferry.”
“Guess so.” Liam scratched his head. “But I don’t know what he’d be doing in Newport with a bag of books?” He peered in the bag and pulled out a couple of books. “Hello, what have we here? Aren’t these the ones Uncle Charlie said went missing from the store the other day? He was all upset ’cause he said they were rare and worth a pretty penny. This just don’t figure.”
“We hope he returns soon and is OK. We have to go – now.” Leah grabbed Amanda’s arm. “Dad’s waiting.”
All the way back on the ferry Amanda kept thinking about Uncle Charlie, the bag of books, and the missing Vicky and Alice book from Osborne House. It just didn’t add up. As they were about to go the car, she thought she saw the lady from the bakery. ‘Did she have something to do with all this’?
***
The next morning, Leah asked her mom if they could go into London to do some shopping.
“Not today, dear. I have to look in on old Mrs. Clancy. She is poorly and I said I would check in on her and bring her some groceries. How about I drop you off at Hampton Court? Amanda would love it there and you always like exploring the maze.”
“I would have really rather gone shopping and shown Amanda the London fashions.”
“Don’t worry. We will do that another day.”
“What is Hampton Court?” asked Amanda.
“It was one of Henry VIII’s homes,” replied Mrs. Anderson.
“Henry VIII? The guy with all the wives? I’ve read about him. You bet I would love to visit his house.”
“That’s settled then. I will drop you off at Hampton Court and pick you up in a couple of hours. Then we can go for a nice tea.”
“With those wonderful scones, Devon cream, and strawberry jam?” Amanda grinned. “This day sounds better all the time.”
Chapter 9
“WOW! Now that’s what I call a palace.” Amanda stared in amazement at the massive, pink brick building in front of her. “I have never seen anything so huge and magnificent. How could anyone live here? You would get lost everyday. Where do we start?”
“You are too funny, Amanda.” Leah grabbed her hand and pulled her through a large archway into a courtyard. “Just stick with me and you won’t get lost.”
A woman in a long, wine coloured dress, with a white ruffled collar that made her look like she had no neck, approached the girls. She handed them a map. “Here is a guide for you young ladies. Just follow the numbers and you’ll be all right.”
Men wearing floppy berets, white tights, and what looked like knee length dresses, offered to show them around and answer any questions.
“Are those guys wearing dresses?” asked Amanda.
“That’s what men wore in the fourteenth century. I think they were called tunics.”
“Oh - this should be fun!” squealed Amanda as they entered a marble hallway.
The girls wandered through large rooms and long hallways filled with ornate old furniture, life-sized statues and tapestries that covered entire walls.
Leah yawned, “Let’s go down to the kitchen, it might be more interesting.”
“But it’s not the next stop,” explained Amanda as she studied the map.
“We don’t have to follow the silly old map exactly.”
Leah started walking down a set of stone stairs that led to a dimly lit room in stark contrast to the rooms upstairs. Fireplaces lined the whitewashed walls. Hanging metal pots waited to serve the many guests that would have been entertained in the days of Henry VIII. Pewter plates, mugs and bowls were stacked on long tables. Amanda backed away from a huge, hairy, black pig lying on a wooden table.
“Yuk – what’s that?”
“It’s a wild boar. Popular medieval feast fare. Usually served with an apple in its ugly mouth.”
Amanda screamed. Something furry ran across her feet.
“O-M-G – was, was that a rat?”
“I hardly think so. Tourists wouldn’t come here if they let rats run around,” reassured Leah.
“I need to get out of here – now.” Amanda shook from head to toe, cemented to the spot.
Beside a fireplace, a small door stood ajar. Leah opened it further. “This leads to a small hallway. It should get us out quickly.” She pulled Amanda behind her, dragging her like a dead cat.
Suddenly the door shut behind them, leaving them in darkness. Two green eyes glowed in a corner.
“OMG, OMG, OMG.” Amanda stammered.
“Just hang on to me. I’ll get us out of here ASAP.” Leah held on to Amanda with one hand. “I’ll feel my way along the wall. Here, I think this is a door handle.” Leah tugged at the handle and they stepped into bright sunshine, surrounded by a hedgerow. A large, grey fluffy cat ran out the door and disappeared into the maze.
Amanda blinked her eyes to get used to the sun. “Was that? Could it possibly be…”
“Don’t be silly. Rupert is on the Isle of Wight.”
“We don’t know that for sure. Last thing we heard, Rupert was missing.”
Amanda ran after the cat leaving Leah with no choice but to follow. They ran up and down the maze, around many corners, feeling they were going in circles. Sometimes they caught glimpses of the cat, but never got close enough to catch him. At last they stopped to catch their breath.
“Well, how do we get out of here?” asked
Leah. “Does your magic guide map show us?”
Amanda looked around. “Oh no, I must have dropped it.”
They walked for what seemed like miles, always hitting dead ends. They could hear voices at times but never ever saw anyone.
“This is spooky. What if we never find our way out?” Amanda sounded worried.
They turned yet another corner and there in front of them was the grey haired woman from the bakery in Newport. Rupert struggled in her arms.
“What are you doing here, with Rupert?” asked Leah.
Rupert’s hair stuck up at all angles. His eyes as big as frisbees. He pushed the woman’s hands away with his massive paws, jumped out of her grasp and disappeared through the hedge. The girls attempted to follow him and noticed a gap in the hedge. They looked back; the woman was gone.
“Let’s see if we can get through this hole,” suggested Amanda.
The hedge scratched their arms and snagged their hair as they squeezed through the tight opening. Once through, they found themselves outside the maze.
Amanda breathed a sigh of relief, “Well, at least we’re out of there.”
Rupert appeared from around a corner and approached the girls. He rubbed up against Leah’s leg. She bent down to stroke him. “What is it, mate? What are you doing here, so far from home?”
Leah looked at Amanda, “I think he’s trying to tell us something.”
Rupert ran to the corner and back again. He looked up at Leah with big, pleading eyes. “OK, we had better follow you.”
They rounded the corner and there on the ground, with a nasty gash on his forehead, lay Uncle Charlie. He wasn’t moving. Rupert stood beside him like a palace guard.
Chapter 10
“Uncle Charlie, Uncle Charlie, are you all right?” Amanda patted his shoulder. She put her ear to his mouth and felt a whiff of warm air. “He’s breathing at least.”
Leah saw the top of a floppy beret on the other side of a hedge. “Help! Over here! We need some help over here.”
Within seconds a man appeared and whipped out his cell phone. “Do you know this man?” he asked the girls.
“Not really,” said Leah at the same time as Amanda said, “He’s Uncle Charlie from the bookstore on the Isle of Wight.”
“I’m sorry, do you know him or don’t you?” asked the puzzled guide.
“We have been to his bookstore,” explained Leah. “But we don’t really know him.”
“The ambulance will be here in a minute. Perhaps you two should wait here.”
“Excuse me, sir. May I borrow your mobile to make a quick call to my mother? She’ll be waiting at the gate.”
“Of course, luv.” The guide handed her his cell phone.
The ambulance and Mrs. Anderson arrived at the same time, followed by a police officer.
“Are you two all right?” asked a concerned Mrs. Anderson.
“Yes, we got lost in the maze and couldn’t find our way out. Then we found Rupert with a weird lady and he led us to Uncle Charlie who was lying on the ground with a big gash on his head.”
“Slow down, Amanda,” said Mrs. Anderson. “Who is Rupert? I didn’t know you had an Uncle Charlie in England.”
“Well, he’s not my Uncle Charlie, he’s Liam’s. Rupert is his cat who is very smart. He knew Uncle Charlie was hurt and led us to him, just like a dog would.”
Mrs. Anderson still looked confused.
They put Uncle Charlie on a stretcher and took him away in an ambulance. The police officer approached the girls. “What do you know about this, young ladies?”
“We came out of the maze and the cat, Rupert, led us to the man from the bookstore in Cowes,” explained Leah.
The police officer pulled out a small notebook from his pocket. “Was he passed out when you came upon him?”
“Yes, sir. We thought he might be dead.”
“Did you see anything odd or suspicious?”
“Not really - except a strange lady in the maze. She tried to hold onto Rupert, but he got away. Maybe she didn’t want us to find the man.”
Amanda was impressed with how Leah explained things so clearly and precisely.
The police officer asked a few more questions, like how they knew Uncle Charlie. He took a description of the lady and wrote down their names and phone number in case he needed to speak to them again. “What are we to do about this cat then?”
“Can he come home with us for now?” asked Leah.
Rupert looked up at Mrs. Anderson with appealing eyes. “I guess so,” she replied.
With everyone, including Rupert, settled into the car, Leah’s mom asked if they still wanted to go for high tea.
“Would I? I’m starved and a tea would be so great,” said Amanda.
“I’m famished too, Mum.”
Rupert barely opened one eye as he settled in for a nap.
***
Amanda bit into a delicious scone smothered in Devon cream and strawberry jam. “That was some maze at Hampton Court. Why did they make them like that?”
Mrs. Anderson smiled. “The one at Hampton Court is the oldest surviving hedge maze and was built as a puzzle meant to be challenging and fun for the idle people at court. I am sure there are many stories and secrets held amongst those paths and hedgerows.”
“Well, it was kind of scary when we couldn’t find our way out. If Rupert hadn’t led us to the hole in the hedge, we might still be in there.”
“I hope Rupert’s okay in the car, Mum.”
“We left the window open a little, and he seemed to be sound asleep. I am sure he will be fine. I think we still have the sleeping basket and food bowl from Priscilla that he can use. It will be nice to have a cat in the house again, even if for just a while.” Mrs. Anderson wiped Devon cream off her lip with a white linen napkin.
Chapter 11
The next morning, Leah’s mom served breakfast in the sunny back garden where Amanda and Leah watched Rupert play with a ball. He caught it with his paws and batted it back and forth. He suddenly stopped playing and sat on his back legs staring at the hedge, the tuffs on his ears sticking straight up.
“What’s up with Rupert?” asked Leah.
“What is that?” shouted Amanda as a prickly looking animal emerged from under the hedge. Covered in bristles, it had a long snout like a baby pig. “Is it a small porcupine?”
“Oh, that. It’s just a hedgehog. They’re everywhere and eat the bugs in the garden.”
At that moment, the small animal rolled up into a prickly ball. Rupert sat and stared at it, ready to pounce and bat it around.
“No! Rupert, don’t hurt him,” shouted Leah.
Rupert didn’t move.
“Does it hurt to touch them?” asked Amanda.
“Oh, no. Some people keep them as pets. They roll up like that to protect themselves.” Leah walked over to the hedge and picked up the frightened animal. She brought it over to Amanda who reached out and touched it.
“It feels kind of like a hairbrush, not really prickly but bristly. He’s actually quite cute.”
Leah turned the hedgehog over. “Feel his tummy.”
Amanda stroked the white fur. “It’s very soft and fluffy. I’ve never ever seen a hedgehog before. I thought they were just in fairy tales, not real animals at all.”
Leah put the hedgehog back under the hedge. “Oh, they are real all right. They usually only come out in the evening.”
“Can we go shopping today, Mum?” she asked when Mrs. Anderson came out to clear away the plates.
“Sure, we can take the train into town. Can you be ready in forty-five minutes?”
***
They reached downtown London after a twenty minute train ride and were soon in front of a huge fancy building that covered an entire block. Amanda noticed many flags flying above green awnings and asked, “Is this another palace?”
Just then, a tall young man wearing a green tuxedo jacket with gold trim and a green top hat smiled and said, “Welcome to Harrods
,” as he opened the big glass doors.
Amanda was speechless as she viewed the dazzling sight before her. Everything sparkled, the chandeliers, the gold covered walls, the brightly lit display cases filled with jewelry, watches, perfumes, and scarves.
When she finally caught her breath she said, “I think this place is too expensive for me.”
“It is fun to look at all the lovely things,” said Mrs. Anderson as she held on to Amanda’s hand. “Let’s go upstairs to the souvenir section. There might be something there for you.”
As they rode up the escalator, Amanda looked up and saw the ceiling painted with pictures. They walked past gold Egyptian pillars and even a sphinx. It seemed more like a museum than a department store, except everyone carried green plastic bags the same colour as the awnings and the doorman’s suit. Obviously, they were there to shop.
Mrs. Anderson led them to an area with souvenir items. In the middle sat an oversized teddy bear dressed in a scarlet-red tunic, trimmed in gold and black with a huge white ruff around his neck and a gold crown embroidered on his chest. On his head, sat a black round hat trimmed with red, white and blue flowers.
“He is so cute.” Amanda ran her hand over his plush foot.
“Here’s one for you, for only £8.95,” said Leah as she held up a smaller version.
“A Beefeater bear would be a wonderful souvenir for you to take home Amanda,” said Leah’s mother.
“Why are they called Beefeaters?”
“They guard the Tower of London and have done so for hundreds of years. It is said they guarded the King’s food and made sure it wasn’t poisoned by tasting it first. No one is sure where the name actually came from but that’s one story,” explained Mrs. Anderson.
Amanda bought the small bear for herself, a tin of cookies in the shape of a beefeater bear for her mother, a miniature double-decker bus for her friend and a cat tea cozy for her great aunt Amelia. The sales clerk put her purchases in one of the famous green bags which Amanda proudly carried.
They could hear an argument as they went down the escalator.
Amanda in England: The Missing Novel Page 3
