The Mystery of Fitzjames Manor

©2015 Richard Humphreys

The Find-Outers visit Fitzjames Manor and are very quickly embroiled in a new mystery that has its roots in the distant past. With the help of a couple of old friends, Fatty and the Find-Outers piece together the clues and are led finally to an astonishing discovery.

Chapter 15: Caught in the Maze

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Eunice sat by her bedroom window and watched for the others to arrive for the meeting. At six-twenty, Larry and Daisy cycled up the drive, followed five minutes later by Pip and Bets. And then Ern came puffing up the drive and disappeared like the others round the side of the house. Eunice had on her mackintosh and she stuffed into its pocket a map of the way to the manor.

She crept downstairs and out through the garden door. The meeting was in progress down in the shed, she could hear them laughing about something. 'Good,' she thought, 'now to get a trowel from the gardener's shed.' Having found what she was looking for, she slid it into her coat pocket, and then taking Fatty's bicycle, pushed it down the drive to the front gate.

It would be awkward riding Fatty's bicycle because of the crossbar, but she would manage as she had put on her short games skirt. It would have caused too much of a fuss if she had taken either Daisy's or Bet's bicycle, but she could handle Fatty.

She rode out of the village and up the long hill towards the manor. It was a quarter to seven and it would be light for another two and half hours, so she had plenty of time.

Before long she came to the large gates that led down to the manor. They were open and she rode through them and continued up the drive stopping at the sign that pointed the way to the maze. Within a few minutes, she was at the front of the maze, and climbing off the bicycle, pushed it around the hedge until she reached the point where the concealed entrance was. She leaned the bicycle against the hedge and then felt around for the gate inside. It took her about ten minutes to find it, and she pushed her way through the hedge into the maze.

Now, which way to go, right or left? Although unsure, she decided that she would go left and hope that it would lead her in the direction of the centre. Luckily, she made the right choice and within five minutes, she was standing in the centre of the maze. There was the shelter where the broken auction lots had been dumped and just beyond it stood the fountain. The sky was heavily overcast and threatened rain and with its high hedges, the interior of the maze was very dim. Therefore, she did not notice that there was someone else in the maze with her, someone standing just inside the shelter!

Eunice went straight to the fountain. 'Yes,' she thought, 'this is Aquarius, a little boy carrying a pitcher on his shoulder.' She knelt down and began examining the base of the pedestal.

'Looking for something?' asked a voice behind her.

Eunice screamed and jumped to her feet. It was Robbie Harris from the auction house. He emerged from the shelter and gave her a big grin. Eunice was too stunned to say anything. 'We've not been formally introduced,' he said, 'but we met on the viewing day, remember?'

Eunice nodded. 'Yes, I think one of my friends said your name is Robbie, is that right?'

He grinned at her. 'I asked you if you were looking for something?' he repeated.

Although Eunice was scared to find herself confronting a man whom she did not trust and whose manner she found condescending, she did not want to show him that she was frightened. 'Well, not that it's any of your business,' she said in a haughty voice, 'but I dropped a bracelet in here yesterday and came back to look for it.'

Robbie laughed in a loud and exaggerated way. 'A bracelet?' he said still laughing. 'A bracelet!' Suddenly, he stopped laughing and a cold and steely expression swept across his face. 'I don't think you're looking for a bracelet, young lady. I think you're looking for something far more valuable.'

'Do you?' Eunice said, putting her hand into her pocket and feeling the trowel. 'Well, I can't imagine what, and as my bracelet doesn't seem to be here, I'll be on my way.'

Robbie took a step towards the only path out of the centre blocking her exit. 'Suppose you tell me what you know about this fountain,' he said.

Eunice shook her head. 'I've no idea what you're talking about, now if you'll excuse me, friends of mine are waiting for me.' She attempted to push past Robbie, but he suddenly grabbed her arm. 'What on Earth do you think you're doing?' Eunice shouted, trying to shake off his grip. 'Let me get past.'

He pulled her roughly into the shelter and shoved her down onto the bench inside. The smile that always seemed to be on his face had gone. His eyes narrowed and his lips thinned into a straight, hard line. 'Sit down there and keep quiet,' he ordered in a harsh, frightening voice.

But keeping quiet was the last thing that Eunice intended to do. She jumped to her feet. 'I've told you, I have friends waiting for me and they'll come looking for me if I don't return this instant.'

'Well, you're not going anywhere,' Robbie said reaching into the shelter to retrieve a spade, which he held up in front of her. 'I told you to sit down, young lady.' Eunice sat down again on the bench. 'Your friends, those other kids, I assume, would be here with you now if you came with them, not waiting for you outside,' he said.

'They're speaking to Lady Fitzjames, they'll be here shortly,' Eunice said thinking quickly.

Robbie gave a laugh. 'Another lie,' he said shaking his head. 'Lady Fitzjames isn't at home this evening, she's out playing Bridge. Now sit there and shut up, I've got work to do.'

Eunice bit her lip and watched as Robbie began using the spade to dig the ground around the base of the fountain. She was desperately trying to think of what to do. She had the trowel in her pocket, which she was quite prepared to use to defend herself, if necessary. Eunice knew that she had to get away, there was no knowing what this man might do. She would need to choose her moment carefully and make a break for it. Perhaps she would be able to push him over and then disappear into the maze. The maze was a good place to lose a pursuer, but as well as offering escape it was also a potential trap with all its false paths and dead ends! She was not confident she could find the hidden gate in a hurry and began going over in her mind the way that led to it. Over it and over it, she went, retracing the path she had taken earlier and reversing it, until she was sure of the way.

Having dug around it, Robbie began kicking the base of the fountain trying hard to knock it over. It was quite stubborn and he became more and more heated in his efforts. Finally it fell to one side with a thud exposing a large lump of cement on which it had stood. 'That's got it,' he said and began to dig feverishly around the cement muttering and cursing with the effort.

Eunice sat and watched. The sky had clouded over and it was now getting quite dark. She looked at her watch and saw that it had gone eight o'clock. 'How long are you going to keep me here?' she asked. 'I'll have already been missed and people will come here looking for me.' Secretly, she thought this was a vain hope. She had told Fatty she was not to be disturbed and it was likely she would not be missed till the morning. She was annoyed with herself for having been so silly, for arguing with Fatty. Robbie had not answered her, so she repeated the question. 'How long are you going to keep me here, it'll be dark soon?' she said.

Robbie stopped digging and looked at her. It was dawning on him that he would have to deal with this troublesome girl. The digging was hard going and he would need all night to excavate the ground and find what he was looking for. But what was he to do with her?

'The sooner I find what I'm after, the sooner you can go,' he said. 'So if you want to get home tonight, you'll have to help me dig. And if you don't help, I'll put you in a place where you won't be found for a long time. Have I made myself clear?'

Eunice suddenly realised that this might give her an opportunity to get away. 'All right,' she said and was about to get the trowel from her pocket when she changed her mind. That was her weapon and she needed it to be her secret. 'But I haven't got anything to dig with,' she said, emerging from the shelter.

'Then you'll have to use your hands, won't you,' Robbie said unfeelingly. 'I'll break up the earth with the spade and you clear it away.'

Eunice really did not think much of that idea, but she played along with it. At least by cooperating she would be in the open and not trapped in the shelter.

For the next hour they both scrambled around digging and moving earth. Eunice was on her knees dragging earth and gravel out of the ever increasing hole. Robbie was becoming extremely agitated. 'It must be here,' he kept muttering under his breath. 'It has to be here.' He lighted a hurricane lamp that he had brought with him, as it was now dark and its light made the scene very eerie, their shadows dancing around on the hedges. He took his jacket off and threw it on the ground, then rolled up his sleeves.

'How do you know that something valuable is buried here?' Eunice asked. She wanted to know how he had discovered the relevance of the fountain, as he certainly knew nothing about the message in the puzzle box.

He stopped digging and grinned at her. 'I found out the same way you did,' he replied, 'from the painting of old Sir Henry in which he is holding the little figure.'

'What, you mean the Chinese figure?' Eunice asked.

'No, I mean the Japanese figure,' Robbie said, clearly enjoying telling Eunice about how clever he was. 'Well, I'd looked at that figure a hundred times and then it dawned on me. I remembered seeing a little Japanese puzzle box in the auction. But I couldn't find it anywhere. I mentioned it to Lady Fitzjames and she said she'd given it to you. So earlier today I went into the village and waited for you and I followed you all to that dairy.' He gave a laugh. 'You should tell your little friend not to talk so loudly. I didn't need the puzzle box anymore, because I now knew what had been in it. I put two and two together, just like you did. And just like you, I came straight to the maze.'

'You weren't in the dairy,' Eunice said. 'We'd have noticed you.'

'Oh, you wouldn't have noticed me,' he said. 'I was in disguise. I used to tread the boards, don't you know?' He gave a laugh. 'You didn't notice a little old man reading a newspaper?' He pulled a packet of cigarettes from the breast pocket of his shirt. 'I was a brilliant actor and could have made a name for myself, but I couldn't really be bothered.' He felt in the pockets of his trousers. 'Now where did I put the matches?' he muttered.

'After you lighted the lamp, you put them in your jacket pocket,' Eunice said, thinking that this could give her the chance she needed to make a break for it.

'My jacket,' Robbie muttered, 'where's my jacket? Ah, there it is.' He took a couple of steps towards his discarded jacket, but in the dim light, caught the toe of his shoe on the pedestal of the fountain and fell heavily hitting his head on the side of the shelter. He let out a loud cry and at that moment Eunice saw her chance to escape. She sprang to her feet and ran to the passage that led out of the centre of the maze. Her heart was pounding as she ran along the dark path. She had no idea how quickly Robbie would recover and be after her or how angry he would be if he caught her. This thought made her run all the faster. Eunice was fit and a good runner, but she was running blind. The pathways were dark and overgrown and she stumbled frequently. She thought about Mr. Goon. He had got lost in the maze in daylight, what chance had she at night? She tried desperately to remember the way she had come, but everything was so different in the dark. Turning into a path she thought was the right way, she ran straight into a hedge at the end. Without a moment's pause, she turned and ran back. She stopped and looked to the right and left, but it was hopeless and what was worse, it was starting to rain. There seemed to be no sign of Robbie. If he were following her she would see the light from his lamp. But there was nothing, just pitch-blackness and a terrible stillness that could almost be felt. She had given up trying to find the hidden gate, as that would be impossible in the dark, and instead had decided to look for the main entrance. Putting her hands deep into the hedges on both sides of the path, she felt for the fence. Yes, it was there in the hedge to her right. That must mean that this was the outside hedge, as the internal ones had no fences in them. If she could keep that hedge to her right, she might just manage to find the way out.

It seemed to Eunice that she had been running for hours down endless black paths with unseen branches plucking at her like sharp, malicious fingers as though she were in some terrible nightmare. And when, at last, she finally found the exit, she stumbled out and flopped down on the ground, soaked, exhausted and stiflingly hot. Eunice had thus far managed to fight back the tears, but they came in a flood and she sobbed out of fright and exhaustion. The reality of her situation soon returned, however. She was not yet out of danger as Robbie could be anywhere, hiding in the dark waiting to spring out at her. She thought of going up to the manor, but then remembered that Robbie had said Lady Fitzjames was out and she did not feel much like explaining everything to Mrs. Chivers, whom she did not trust. She would need to get back home and for that she needed the bicycle that she had left by the hidden gate.

Calmer now, she crept around the hedge following it carefully and listening for any sounds. Suddenly, behind her, she heard what sounded like footsteps on gravel. She stood still. Yes, there it was again. And then she saw a light moving from side to side some distance away, moving in her direction. Turning the corner of the maze, she hurried along to where she had left the bicycle. She walked the whole length of the hedge, but it was not there.

'Perhaps I'm on the wrong side,' she thought desperately. 'I must have made a mistake.'

She ran along the next length of hedge and still there was no bicycle. 'This is awful,' she thought, panic filling her eyes with tears. 'It must be here somewhere, it simply has to be!'

She thought she heard someone shout and looking behind her, saw the light from the lamp appear round the corner of the maze. She was now terrified and was just on the point of running across the lawn to the manor, when she heard a familiar voice.

'Eunice, is that you?' It was Fatty!

'Frederick,' she yelled and ran towards him. 'Frederick, thank goodness it's you! I thought you were Robbie.' She flung herself on him. 'Oh, Frederick, I've had an awful time. He kept me in the maze and made me help him dig under the fountain. He was beastly, I think he's mad.'

'Slow down, Eunice,' Fatty said patting her gently on the back. He could see that the girl was very upset and had clearly been through an ordeal. He shone the torch over her and saw her pale face, dirty hands and broken fingernails and his heart went out to her.

'I've been looking for your bicycle,' Eunice said. 'I'm afraid I borrowed it, but you must know that. But it's not here Frederick. Robbie must have taken it. I'm so sorry...' At this point she burst into tears and sobbed and sobbed as Fatty put his arm around her and tried to comfort her.

'Come along, old thing,' he said gently. 'You've had a terrible time and we've got a long walk ahead of us. And don't worry about the bicycle,' he added, 'it'll turn up.'

As they made their way to the drive, he told her about the meeting and how Daisy had suddenly remembered the fountain in the maze with the lead figure of the water carrier. When the meeting had ended, he had gone to Eunice's room to ask if she had his father's book on the history of Peterswood, but had found her bedroom empty and the book open on her bed. He guessed that she had gone up to the manor and he went to get his bicycle to follow her, but it was gone. So, having locked Buster in the shed, he had walked up to the manor to look for her.

In turn, she told him everything that had happened to her in a clear and concise manner. Fatty was impressed by the way she described her experience. 'He's convinced that something valuable is buried under the fountain, but he didn't find anything.'

'I'd have been surprised if he had,' Fatty said. 'The fountain was moved long after Sir Henry's death, so it couldn't possibly mark the spot where he had hidden some treasure.'

'How do you know when it was moved?' Eunice asked.

'It says it in the book,' Fatty explained. 'Or rather it says that the maze was built in 1920, and it's highly unlikely that it was all designed around a small fountain. So therefore the fountain must have been moved to its present position after that.'

'But, what about the clue, I mean Aquarius and all that?' Eunice asked. 'That must mean the fountain, surely.'

'Yes, I believe it does,' Fatty said. 'I know it must be annoying for you, Eunice, but I need to check a couple of things and then I'll know for certain.'

'I'm so grateful you came to find me, Frederick,' Eunice said, 'that I don't think I'll ever be annoyed with you again.'

Fatty smiled. 'Well, one good turn deserves another,' he said. 'You did help rescue me once, or had you forgotten?'

Eunice managed a weak laugh.

'It was a bit of luck old Robbie tripping over and hitting his head,' Fatty said as they walked up the drive towards the big gate. 'I don't know how you would have got away otherwise. And fancy you running around that maze in the dark! Gosh, you're a brick, Eunice, that was really brave of you!'

They went through the gate and turned left on the lane towards Peterswood. The rain had eased off a little and there was just a light drizzle falling.

'I can't wait to have a bath,' Eunice said. 'I feel so dirty and I can't bear to look at my hands. And I'm so tired!'

'Well, there's nothing more to be done tonight,' Fatty said. 'Tomorrow morning I've got some telephoning to do. And then, all the pieces of the jigsaw will be put together and the mystery will finally be solved.

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