Chapter Five

Randall and Harry were standing out in the great hall. “Richard said that there were clues in the portraits,” Harry explained. “There, the clock Thomas is holding reads two o’clock. I’d bet that if we went up to the tower at two o’clock, we might just be able to move those stones.”
“But is it a.m. or p.m.?”
“First we’ll try p.m. If that doesn’t work, we go for a.m.” Harry looked at his watch. “It’s still early, so we have time to work on another clue.”
“Walter said that in order to find his key, we need to ‘find his favorite on his favorite.’ What does that mean?”
“Well,” Harry took a deep breath, “given that his favorite game was obviously chess, I think we must need to find his favorite chessboard, assuming it’s lasted this long. It’s got to be the one in the painting. ‘My favorite on my favorite.’ No doubt one of the pieces, and even if we don’t find the board, if we can find the right piece . . . ”
“Then what?”
“I don’t know, but maybe once we locate it, we’ll find out.”
“What about those numbers and letters?” Randall asked.
“I have an idea, but let’s try and find that board first. Have you ever come across any that looked like the one in the picture?”
Randall looked at the painting closely. The board and pieces were made from a combination of dark and light wood. The board appeared to be several inches high featuring intricate carving around the sides. He thought for a moment before replying. “Not right offhand, but there are some curios in the music room that contain chessmen and things. It may well be in one of them.”

* * * * *

They entered a dark room with a polished wooden floor. The wall which separated the music room from the adjoining room had been pushed aside. Harry imagined the castle must have been the site of many parties and dances in times when balls excited great interest. The ball room walls were of stone and five stained glass windows could be seen decorating the room with dim colored light. Colorful banners hung along the wall opposite each window.
A highly polished black grand piano dominated the music room. Dark green drapes hung along one wall. When Harry peeked behind one of the curtains, sunlight filtered into the room. He pulled them back all the way to fill the room with light, and revealed several French doors to a large veranda. Six glass cabinets stood on one side of the room, each displaying decorative chess boards. Some were obviously new, but there were several which appeared to be quite old.
Randall walked across the room to the first cabinet. Harry came up beside him and they both peered through the glass. The first cabinet was filled with various chess sets from different countries. A Japanese board featured a grid of eighty-one squares, with fifty pieces set up on the board, similar to checkers, each piece having a different design engraved on the top.
“I don’t see it,” Randall said.
“Well, there are five more cabinets. Let’s look in those.” Harry moved aside and they stepped over to the next display. Inside were sets made of glass or metals. Seeing that there were no wooden sets, they checked the third display cabinet. On the second shelf, sat a wooden board like the one in the portrait.
“It must be this one.” Randall said pointing. “It looks like the board in the painting, so now we should just need Walter’s favorite piece that went with this set.”
“Uh, Randall,” Harry said, “this cabinet is locked. Do you have the keys?”
“The keys? Oh, Aunt Harriet must have them.”
“Would she give us the key?”
“Does the glass come out?” Randall said, avoiding the question.
“She’s not going to want to give us the key,” Harry said for him.
“Hmm, only from the inside.”
“Randall,” Harry prodded him.
“The last time I asked her for keys, I scratched the paint on her car. I didn’t really want to have to ask again and rehash that whole episode.”
Harry was silent as he thought for a moment. “Should I ask her?”
“You can try now if you want. It’s lunchtime,” he said as he left the room. Harry followed behind him. They came into the dining room just as Mrs. Saunders came in by another door. “Are you feeling better, Aunt Harriet?”
“Much better, dear.” She sat down in her chair as Harry took his place next to Randall. “Are you enjoying your stay, Mr. Thorton? I’m sorry I haven’t been much of a hostess today, but I imagine Randall is making sure you have a pleasant time.”
“Yes, ma’am. This is a wonderful old place with beautiful grounds. The garden especially is so refreshing to walk in. It must take a good deal of your time to oversee the care of such extensive property.” Harry paused long enough to see her smile in response. “There are so many rooms here, and so many things to interest a person. The ball room, for instance. What a wonderfully old-fashioned room! I can just picture the nobles of England in elaborate costume filling the room with music and conversation.”
“Yes, well there have been times when this family has been host to the greatest families of Britain,” she said with a touch of boastful dignity. “I remember many instances in my own lifetime that the parties and dances here would have rivaled any in society.”
Louis came in presently with a tray of sandwiches, which he served to Mrs. Saunders.
Seeing that she looked gratified by his subtle flattery, Harry decided to broach the subject of the chess cabinets. “The music room,” he said, guiding the conversation, “has some curious chess sets. Have you had the collection long?”
“Oh yes, it’s been in the family for years. One in particular is very old.” Harriet served a bowl of soup for her guest from a large tureen in front of her and passed him the bowl. “Randall’s father was an avid chess player. I learned a great deal about the game from him.”
Randall looked at Harry. “Now you’ve done it,” he said softly.
“I remember he used to sit down to a game and wait for me to come by,” the woman continued. “He would do anything to persuade me to play, and no matter what else I had to do or what excuse I gave, I always found myself playing a round with him. Jeff was always persuading me to do things for him. He once persuaded a friend of his to buy a lame horse! Now what good would a lame horse do anyone? And the man knew it was no good.”
“So you know a good deal about the game then?” Harry asked when he saw her turning away from the subject. He took a sandwich from the tray Louis placed on the table.
“I do, certainly. And not just how to play. My brother would talk all about the history of the game while we played. It used to bore me to death, but I certainly did learn a great deal. Do you know much about it yourself?”
“No, in fact, I’d never developed any interest in the game until I saw those pieces in the music room,” he said with an arch smile.
“Chess is a very old game, originating as far back as the 7th century. The most popular belief is that it started in India, which,” she added doubtfully, “may or may not be correct. Then during various wars, soldiers of one nation would teach the game to soldiers of another and it came to Europe through Spain in, oh, late 14th or early 15th century. I don’t remember exactly. When it reached Europe, the abilities of different pieces changed and new moves were invented such as castling and en passant.”
“En passant? What is that?” Harry inquired.
“It’s a French term. It means 'in passing',” Randall piped up. “In the game of chess, it refers to a special move where one pawn captures another. It may only be done on the captured pawn’s opening move when it passes another pawn.”
“That’s right,” Harriet smiled at her nephew’s interruption. “Up until the 1850’s the king and queen pieces were very ornately decorated. They would be made from gold with so many jewels that the pieces were really top-heavy and impractical to use for play. There is a set of ancient pieces on display at one of the national museums in London. A peasant in 1831 found them inside a stone chamber on the Island of Lewis. It has seventy-eight pieces, and is the most complete set of ancient chessmen around today.”
“Wow! You really do know a lot about chess,” Harry declared.
Harriet smiled at his praise. “We have an antique set in one of those cabinets in the music room. It’s been around since the late 1600’s.”
“Really?” Harry said, feigning surprise. Randall shot him a glance of mock disgust mingled with amusement.
“Yes. In fact, there is a portrait of one of our ancestors in the hall, which shows the very same chess board. It’s wooden and has all of it’s pieces still intact.”
“Would you show it to me sometime?”
“Oh you may look at it anytime. Randall,” she instructed, “make sure Mr. Thorton has opportunity to see that set.”
“Yes, Aunt Harriet, but I will need the keys to the cabinet.”
“Oh yes, well, Ellie has them. Be sure that you’re very careful with those antique sets. They are not as repairable as a paint scratch,” she said glancing at Randall.
“I’ll be careful,” he said.
Mrs. Saunders, having finished her soup and sandwiches, rose to leave. As she opened the door, she turned back to Harry. “Jeff had a book about chess that he was constantly referring to. I forget the name of it, but it was written way back in the mid-1700’s. He had a copy of it in the library if you’re interested in looking into it further.”
Harry swallowed the mouthful he was chewing and smiled in response. “Who’s Ellie?” he asked when she had left.
“One of the maids. She’d have to have the keys in order to clean the shelves in the cabinets.”
“Would she lend them to us?”
“Definitely.”
Just then, Louis came in to tell Randall he was wanted on the phone. Waiting for his host to finish his call, Harry meandered around the front rooms of the castle. A short time later Randall rejoined Harry, and they went in search of Ellie. After ten minutes of searching, they found her cleaning the windows in a spare bedroom. A blonde ponytail swung back and forth and her cleaning rag swished across the glass along with the rhythm of the music on her walkman. She blew an enormous bubble, and somehow succeeded in keeping it from sticking on her face when it popped.
“Ellie?” Randall asked approaching her from behind.
Swish, swish, swish.
“Ellie?”
Spritz, swish, swish.
“ELLIE!” He pulled one of her earphones out.
“Hmm? Oh yes, sir?” she asked, arching her brow.
“Do you have the keys to the cabinets in the music room?”
“Oh sure,” she replied, fishing them out of her skirt pocket. “There you go.”
“Thanks, you’re a peach.”
She scrunched up her nose and smiled at him. “I know.” She placed the earpiece back and continued her music-driven cleaning.
“I think someone is sweet on you,” Harry commented as they left the room.
“Oh, you think so, huh?”

* * * * *

“Alright.” Taking the keys out of his pocket, Randall opened the glass door to the third cabinet and carefully moved the pieces off the board. “This must be the one,” he said as he pulled it out. “It’s just like the one in the painting. Now we should only need the favorite piece that went with this set. But which one would that be?”
Harry examined the various pieces. “I’m not sure, but there may be a clue in the painting. I’ll be back in a minute.” He left Randall to look at the chess set and headed to the great hall. After examining the painting for several minutes, he noticed Randall standing beside him.
“Doesn’t this guy look funny sitting with his arms folded that way? It almost looks like he’s pointing to that chess piece.”
“Huh” and “Yeah, that’s weird” came two voices beside him.
Harry turned to see the two maids, Ellie and Becky, looking curiously at the painting.
“Oh, I . . . thought you were Randall.”
“Do I look like Randall?” Ellie asked with mock indignation. “What’re you looking at?”
“Oh,” Harry stuttered, “I was, uh, just looking at this painting.”
“Well, that’s certain,” Becky said. “You’re looking pretty close. You an art buff or something?”
Harry changed the subject. “Are you two cleaning in here now? Should I get out of the way?”
“No, we were just on our way to the kitchen for some clean water.” Ellie took the headset that was around her neck and replaced it over her ears. As she left the room swinging a pail in her hand, her ponytail began to bob back and forth again. Harry left the room as well and returned to Randall in the music room.
“It’s one of the black knights. Walter has his arms folded,” Harry paused to demonstrate, “and he is pointing to the black knight.”
“But which black knight?” Randall asked.
“Let me have the pieces,” Harry said. Taking one in each hand, he pronounced the one on his left to be noticeably heavier. “So it’s probably that one.”
“Well, okay. So now that we found it, what do we do with it?”
“Use the letters and numbers; they’re the trick. See chess boards are divided in to rows called ranks and files. Ranks are the horizontal rows, and files are the vertical ones. Each horizontal row has a letter A through H, and each vertical has a number 1 through 8.”
“I thought you said you had no interest in chess before you got here?” Randall challenged.
“I looked up that book in the library after lunch while you were on the phone.”
“So ‘find my favorite on my favorite, and use it with this grid,’ ” Randall said, “means to find his chess piece, and with it, touch the squares he wrote down.”
“We have G8, F6, E4, and D6.” When they touched the last square, there was a slight click and a piece of the artwork on the base popped out like a drawer. Inside was a yellowed piece of paper, but no key. It read:

The stars and moon will shine on you as you begin your quest;
Move like a knight upon his horse to quickly pass the test.
Take care to keep your path in check along the outside border,
So you may see the sun arise and claim his rightful order.

Harry was stumped by the riddle. “So, we run as fast as a horse around the border of the property at night, until the sun comes up and we’ll find the key.”
“No,” Randall said giving Harry a withering look. “William said something similar to that in his book. Let’s take a look at it again.” They took the paper, and placed the board and pieces back in the case except for the knight, which Harry pocketed. He noticed a magnet in the bottom of the piece, which explained why it was heavier, and how it worked the squares on the board.
Back in the library, Randall pulled the knob to open the compartment in William’s desk. He scanned through the writing. “Ah, here it is,” he said, “ ‘To begin your quest you must find the door to the hiding place’. So it must have to be dark when the stars and moon are out to open the door.”
“It’s only one o’clock now, so let’s look for someone else's key,” Harry suggested. “What’s the next one say?”
“ ‘Stop the springing forth, and have that which is near to my heart. Charles.’ ”
Harry thought for a moment. Charles had an interest in the outdoors, especially the garden. “The springing forth is probably a fountain, possibly the one in his garden,” he mused. “Where’s the shut off valve?”
“There are two actually, there’s a spigot valve in the conservatory, and a bigger lever in a closet. My grandfather had the spigot installed to make it easier to shut off the fountain for cleaning and repair, and so it would be closer,” explained the boy. “That’s obviously not the one we’re looking for. Come on. I’ll show you the other one.”
Randall led Harry through the castle to a wooden door around the corner from the one he found earlier leading out to the courtyard. “It’s right there,” he said turning on the light. A single bare bulb hung from the ceiling. The room was little more than a closet and barely big enough for the two of them. Several pipes ran along one wall with the lever.
“Those pipes look pretty old,” Harry commented. “You should get them replaced.”
“No, they’re fine,” Randall said. “Cole told me it’s the dampness of the room causing mold to grow on them. Give me a hand with this lever will you?”
“Sure, on the count of three, okay? One . . . two . . . three!” The lever protested loudly, but gave way to the force put on it.
“Ah, there we go,” Randall said smiling. “Now let’s take a look at that fountain!” They made their way out of the room to the courtyard. The fountain had stopped flowing, but there was no change otherwise. They looked in and around the fountain, but could detect nothing unusual.
“ ‘Stop the springing forth’? You’re sure that’s what it said?” Harry asked.
“Yes, ‘and have that which is near to my heart’.”
“And we are to assume that means his key to the treasure?”
His companion merely shrugged. “I thought so.”
Harry stood thinking while Randall continued searching the fountain. Closing his eyes, he sighed. They had followed Charles’ directions, so where was the key? He opened his eyes. A little bird was perched on the edge of the fountain, apparently come for a bath. It was the same kind he’d seen in the garden near that statue. Harry remembered that he never did ask Randall whose image it was.
“You know that statue in the garden?” he asked.
Randall’s eyes brightened. “The statue! It’s Charles!”
“Why would a guy want a statue of himself in his own garden?”
Randall shrugged. “Maybe something opened up near the statue’s heart.”
Harry kept up as best he could as his companion took off, weaving and turning through flowers and trees until Harry found himself again enclosed by evergreens on either side.
“Nothing’s moved,” he heard Randall say. There seemed to be no change in the sculpture at all, until Randall began to circle the stone image. “Oh! Brilliant!”
“What?!” Harry asked. He walked around to the back of the sculpture.
Randall’s eyes were wide with excitement as he lifted the jeweled medallion from the neck of the statue. Harry ran his hand over the statue’s back. The stone pillar that had secured the medallion had sunk down into the statue, leaving a hole under the back of the head. He reached his fingers into the hole, looking for a key. Finding none, he felt more carefully for a lever or spring to unlock another compartment. He tried pushing on the stone bar, expecting it to depress further. But nothing moved.
Suddenly the truth dawned on him. “That’s it!” he exclaimed. “The medallion is Charles’s key, not an ordinary key like William’s.”
“What ever made you think of this statue?” Randall asked.
His friend smiled, thinking to make a cheesy remark about the little bird telling him. Instead he replied, “Just an impulse. Maybe it would be best if we put it back and turned the fountain on again until we find where to use these keys. If anyone finds it missing, it would be difficult to explain.”
“Good point,” Randall conceded. “Let’s hurry. It’s almost two o’clock.”