There were eight riddles in total, so as not to confuse herself with reading another one she decided to hide this piece of paper away somewhere safe and before doing so copied out the riddle word for word and tried to solve it. If she was unable to she would have to make another visit to the house sooner rather than later. She would have to wait another month as eggs were still a top luxury.
Cynthia couldn’t wait that long. She had to go, so she placed Stella in the pram that she and her husband had bought, hoping to start a family of their own. They had married on a Tuesday and on the Wednesday he was in the army. There was no leave. They were desperate for men to fight the enemy. Joe was killed with the very first charge he made with the rest of the battalion that had been sent out. None survived.
Cynthia tried to calm herself with a hopeful and grieving heart, it was a rough time for all young widows who were not likely to get any financial assistance from the Government. It was from one of these meetings at the Town Hall that Cynthia was returning from when she came across the baby. This was the hope that changed her life.
Cynthia left early that morning, it was a half hour journey, the sun was shining and it reminded her of the room to which she now wanted to gain access. She wore a yellow dress with white cuffs, a pair of white shoes and a wide brimmed white hat with a yellow ribbon round the rim of the hat to match. She felt different, a sunny day can make a lot of difference to a person who has had a lot to put up with ever since that letter informing her about Joe arrived by special messenger.
She walked briskly, taking big breaths along the way and stopping every now and again to see if Stella was okay. She was and sound asleep.
Having arrived at the house, the steps presented another problem for getting the pram to the top. Taking Stella from the pram and walking up, she opened the door and placed her on one of the chairs and then went back to pull the the pram up. Cynthia wasn’t sure it was doing the wheels any good and stopped every now and then to inspect them. They were fine as she pushed the pram through the open door and shut it from the sunlight. She placed Stella back in the pram and pushed it into the first room on her left, but there was a room opposite. The question of which room was number one was solved quite easily as soon as Cynthia walked into the room and was amazed how clean it was and felt sure when she last visited it was thick with dust and and a few years of grime. The room felt warm, not like the first time all damp and cold. The fireplace was still made up with no sign of having been used. If Cynthia hadn’t got Stella with her, she would have run out of the house screaming. The room appeared bright, but shutters were still in place blocking the sunshine out. It was a large room with two windows situated front and side. Cynthia undid the wooden latches on the windows having to stand on a chair to do the top ones and opened up, The room came alive and was bathed in sunshine. She sat down and surveyed her surroundings.
It was Stella crying that woke her from a dream world of wonder as she looked around the room. It was obvious that Stella needed a nappy change and a feed.
‘There!’ Cynthia said, ‘You’ll be more comfortable now.’ She placed the soiled nappy in the bag she had found with the baby. She tied the handles together which sealed it from the odour that would have emanated round the room had she left it open. Cynthia walked round the room and when she got to the door and pushed it closed she saw a note pinned to the back. She was more interested in the pin than the note. To Cynthia’s gaze it seemed to be made of gold, at least the top of it was. The message was short. “This is room number one!” She was sure the note hadn’t been there the first time she had visited. Placing a chair in the middle of the room was the easy part, knowing which was North and South was a different kettle of fish, she knew they were opposite to each other. So standing precariously on the chair trying very hard to keep her balance, because she only knew that sitting on a chair was the normal practice, but she was learning new things and some were difficult to understand. She looked at one wall and then the one opposite to it. She looked round the room in small divisions until she spotted another piece of paper and using the chair and the poker she was able to flick off the paper which was balancing on the picture rail. It was another rhyming clue.
“One word is the easy part of the second word, but use all of tick, what bird lays eggs is done to make you clever and slick.?”
Cynthia breathing heavily knew the answer straight away, it was so easy. She had deduced that by reading the first part of the sentence in sections she was able to read:
“One word is the easy. Part of the second word, but use all of tick, KITC and HEN. The answer was “the kitchen.”
The answer was to be found in the kitchen, of course it had to be the key to the secret room, but where would you hide a key of that size and what was the significance of the slotted markings on the door with letters on each section. Having mused over the letters since that day made no difference to Cynthia’s mind. It had made no sense then and none since. If she found the key, it might be different.
Cynthia didn’t find anything that pointed her way to any key and there were no clues to be found anywhere in the kitchen. She gave up hope of ever finding her paradise in this world
” ” ”
It was nineteen years later, the year 1939. Both Cynthia and Stella huddled round the radio listening to the Prime Minister giving out the grim news that Britain was at war with Germany. Stella was now nineteen years of age and Cynthia was celebrating her forty fifth year and was already tired from having experienced one war and its outcome had been devastating, especially about her beloved Joe still strong in her heart, nineteen years may have passed by, but Joe was in her thoughts every single day. She hadn’t fancied marrying anybody else, no one could have matched Joe’s temperament and understanding and she knew, even if they were honest and true, she would always find fault with the one she had chosen and it wouldn’t have been fair to them or her to live with.
