Special thanks and oodles of love and hugs and cupcakes to: piggyliketruffles, Glass cherry, James Birdsong, porkehXx, kt2209 for reviewing. It means a lot to me!
- Chapter One -
Reinhold Manor Awaits
We pulled the car up where the forest ended and slowly got out. Hershel helped me out and we all looked forward. In front of us was a large village, the houses and roofs yellow and red. In the background, a strange and ominous tower was sticking out in different places and it made it look very unstable.
Cautiously, we headed forward and came to a stop in front of a drawbridge that was currently let up. The village looked olden and aged, a worn cobblestone pathway leading into the town.
"Interesting," Hershel said. "It appears that this drawbridge is the entrance to the village."
"I already figured that out, Layton," I told him, grinning madly. He looked a bit embarrassed like always. Carefully, I slipped my hand in his. "For protection, you know," I said nonchalantly.
"And we're stuck on the outside. What should we do, Professor?" Luke looked around while Hershel intertwined our fingers ("For protection," he replied cheekily when I questioned why he did so - not that I minded). "Oh, look over there! There's a man standing on the other side of the river. Maybe he can help us."
A larger man stood on the other side of the river. He wore a white tank and some jean shorts and brown shoes. His neck was pale and hung out, looking like a turkey neck, and he had a large mustache. His eyes and hair were hidden underneath a red cap.
Hershel noticed and called out to him, "Good day, sir! We'd very much like to gain access to the village. Could you please drop the bridge for us?"
"Do I LOOK like the sort to do droppin' the bridge for a bunch of fancy-looking outsiders?" he boomed back angrily.
"No need to be so rude!" I yelled back, just as angry as I huffed.
Hershel squeezed my hand and muttered, "Sawyer," under his breath as a warning before turning back to the man, "We received a letter of invitation from Lady Dahlia. I don't suppose that changes things, does it?"
"From Lady Dahlia? Well then, I'd sure like to lower the bridge for you, Mr. Fancypants -" I growled underneath my breath; how dare he insult Hershel! " - But the engine is busted and I can only move this blasted bridge with the hand crank. Hrmph! There's all these infernal slots I could put the crank in, but I got no clue which one to use…Hrmph! So, smart guy, you got any idea which one's the right one?"
Short Man threw across a crank while he pointed. Hershel squinted as he tried to see the slots; must've been hard, since his sights never really been twenty-twenty.
"It should fit in slot number one!" Hershel told him, throwing back the crack.
The man did another, "Hrmph!" and slowly slid the crank. It fit like a glove!
"Nice job, Hershel," I told him quietly.
"Thank you, love."
That's the second time he's called me love! I wondered if he knew what he was doing but by the look on his face, I knew he didn't know. It hurt my feelings slightly, but nonetheless, I blushed and smiled widely.
"That'll do it! Hold on a second. I'll let 'er down. I'm gonna say it again, I just don't feel right about letting outsiders into St. Mystere."
"Why -" But Hershel cut me off again with a squeeze of my hand and him saying my name. Ugh, doesn't he know what he does to me?
Slowly, but surely, the man grunted as he effortlessly turned the handle. The drawbridge slowly came down and stopped in front of us. Smiling to ourselves, we finally entered the town. Finally.
"Yes! We've finally arrived in St. Mystere! I'm so excited! I wonder what mysteries await us here." Luke babbled on, jumping around.
Hershel and I laughed; it sounded like soprano and bass mixed and I liked that sound. "Well, Luke, we'll find out soon enough," Hershel told him. "Just be careful, the both of you," he shot me a stern glance; our hands were still intertwined, "not to let your excitement cloud your ability to analyze your surroundings. This will, after all, be quite dangerous." And he squeezed my hand again, like he was making sure I was all right, or something.
We stopped at the very entrance in town. An inn was in front of us, looking worn, and a few houses lined the cobblestone pathway, some with smoke coming from their chimneys. A woman with a beak for a nose had four differently-shaped hat in front of her and was muttering to herself. Beside her, a man with a large mustache, who was giggling to himself.
These were some strange people here in St. Mystere.
As we were walking forward, we were stopped by the old woman. She seemed kind and sweet and smelled of baby powder.
"Oh, hello. Pleasure to meet you. Welcome to St. Mystere, where our local export is…the puzzle!"
"Hello, ma'am, it's nice to meet you too," I said politely, smiling.
"So beautiful, and so polite," she turned to Hershel, "you're a lucky man you are. Oh, and look, a little one! But you look far to young to be parents." Apparently, she had just noticed Luke.
Blushing furiously, Luke laughing, we unhooked our fingers and tried to protest, but she said:
"Oh, before I forget, you should know that every time you solve a puzzle, you earn a set number of picarats. The more picarats you a puzzle is worth, the tougher the puzzle will be. They say lovely things happen when you gather enough picarats. Imagine that, a reward for solving puzzles!
"For practice, you missy, try this little riddle that your husband's hat reminded me of. Think good and hard before you answer.
"These four top hats," she gestured to them, "are all the same height, but the length of each brim is different. In other words, the hats are equally tall but vary in width. One of these four hat has a brim and height that are the same length. Which hat is it?"
Still blood red in my face, it didn't go good with my pale skin, I moved over and looked at each hat. Hat A had medium brim length, hat B had a shorter one, hat C had a longer one, and hat D had the longest. I knew the last two canceled out, because they were just too long. So, B or A. To me, A seemed like the sensible choice, and Hershel always said to go with your gut feeling. Speaking of him, he was staring at me with most intense expression in his brown eyes and it made me even more hot and bothered. Luke was still snickering.
"Hat A," I told her, "because it's an optical illusion. You take a hat," I grabbed Hershel's hat off, for instance; it matched A the best, "and line it up, see." It matched up perfectly and I slipped it back on his head. I picked it out, you know, and even though Claire gave it to him, I was the one who said let's get this for him.
"Oh, bravo! Smart and beautiful, you've yourself a keeper there, Mister," she said, clapping her hands. "I think you've got the hang of this. If you try your options one by one, you'll eventually find the answer. However, you'll also encounter lots of puzzles that can't be solved by simply trying all the answers. If you answer incorrectly, the picarats you can earn from a puzzle decrease. Tough stuff, hmm? Well then, best of luck to you! I'll be rooting for you three!"
"What a nice woman," Luke commented, laughing at our expressions. We were both blushing and looking awkwardly away from each other.
After we walked a few more paces, the man laughing to himself with the thick mustache pulled us over and gave us a cheerful smile.
"Keh heh heh! What a dandy lot you all are. Must be new to St. Mystere, eh?" he asked us, giving me a once over and grinning madly.
Despite the comments made earlier, I pressed myself up against Hershel and wrapped an arm around his waist. Hershel put his arm over my shoulder, confused, because he apparently didn't seem the creeper who was checking me out.
"The name's Stachenscarfen, but you call me Stachen, babe."
Apparently, Hershel and Luke both heard this and they flinched. But, Hershel's arm wrapped tighter around me as he said:
"Erm, yes, my name is Hershel Layton, and this is Sawyer Mason and Luke Triton."
Stachen nodded and threw me a smile. "I've got some advice for you. Go look behind that barrel back there. Don't ask questions! Just do it!"
"I'll go," Luke offered, seeing as Hershel wasn't about to let me leave and I didn't want to leave his side. He made me feel so safe and protected and taken care of…I think I've fallen even more in love with him.
Luke came back holding a golden coin in his hands. "What's this?"
"'Round these parts, that's what called a hint coin. When you find yourself up against a doozy of a puzzle, you'll want a hint. Trust me on this one. And it's just those times when you'll want to use a hint coin to purchase a hint. I bet you think puzzles will be a breeze now, eh? Think again!" I jumped when he yelled. "There are a limited number of hint coins in this world! So don't go wasting coins on any old riddles. Because, if you do, you'll be sorry! REEEAL sorry! Mind you, hint coins won't always be stuffed in barrels, so look for anything that seems suspicious. Got all that? Good. See you around, sweetie." And with that he was gone.
Hershel's face looked furious. "How dare he talk to you like that?" He turned to me with a very serious expression and looked down; I only came to his chin, after all. "You must promise to stay by my side, okay, Sawyer?"
"Of course, Hershel," and I wrapped my pinky around his like we used to do when we were five. "Pinky promise."
"I'll hold that on you."
"Look I found two more coins!" Luke exclaimed, producing them. "Put them in your pocketbook, Sawyer!" I did so and we were on our way from the entrance.
We were now in the plaza. More buildings stood here, including a clock tower and an odd place with ivy vines growing all over it. The large tower stood ominously in the background, looking as if it would topple over any minute.
A brisk young chap came over to us, dressed in red pants, a blue shirt, and a striped scarf. His hair was brown and neatly parted. All in all, he looked very proper and crisp.
"Hello!" he said brightly, in an almost annoying way. "I'm Percy, St. Mystere's unofficial 'writer in residence.'"
"Hullo, I'm Sawyer, and this is Hershel and Luke. Do you perhaps know the way to Reinhold Manor?" I asked shyly.
"Reinhold Manor, you ask? Head up the road to the right. It's immense, so you'll know it when you see it. But before you go, why not try your hand at this puzzle I thought up of? See if you can figure out which house is mine from the instructions I give you. I'll even sweeten the deal for you! If you manage to solve this puzzle, I'll tell you about this village. So, how about it? You will try, won't you?"
"Of course," I answered, ready to go.
"Okay, listen carefully, go out the front door of my place and turn left. At the first intersection you come across, take a right. Turn right again at the following intersection and you'll come face-to-face with the morning sun." He held out a piece of paper that had seven different houses and intersections. "Here you are." I scanned it thoroughly before handing it back to him. "It's the blue one." And I knew I was right.
"Impressive!" Percy exclaimed and Hershel nodded in my direction. "I thought I'd set out quite the puzzle, but you made short work of it. Now for the gossip I promised you. The Reinhold family owns all of the land this village is built upon. I hear they own all the buildings, too. I guess you could say this town sort of belongs to the Reinholds."
"Wow," I breathed as I looked at the boys with an awed expression. These people were very powerful-sounding.
"Well, I'll be on my way now. But rest assured the next time we meet, I'll have a harder puzzle for you!"
"I'm counting on that," I told him, slightly smiling and he blushed and walked off.
"Wow, Professor, look at this clock tower!" Luke exclaimed, breaking the awkward silence that had followed when Percy had left.
"Yes, that clock tower is rather worse for the wear," Hershel said. "Speaking of clocks, I've got just the puzzle for you! Admittedly, it concerns a more modern type of clock, but mind that minor detail."
I knew what this puzzle was, because Hershel had given it to me before. It had been the hardest one I'd done, and it took me forever, but I had finally gotten the answer cracked down.
"Imagine a digital clock," Hershel began to explain, "How many times will the clock display three or more of the same number in a row over the course of one day? In case your wondering, the clock displays a twelve-hour time, not military."
Luke's eyes got really big and I laughed. "Yup, that's how I felt when I heard it, too." I turned to Hershel. "Hershel, do you think that the boy won't be able to solve it? I mean, it took me a while to -"
"Thirty-four," Luke said confidently and I froze.
What the hell?
Layton laughed. "Why, Luke, that's right. Great job, my boy. Sawyer, are you all right?"
"Just peachy," I grumbled angrily. "Can we please get to this damn castle?"
"Now, Sawyer…" But I cut Layton off by stomping to the right, the boys trailing behind me.
"Professor, look at that man standing in the street."
I stopped short, Layton and Luke gently bumping into me. Another fat man was standing there, nose like a branch, a little hat on his head, wearing what looked like beggar clothes, and glasses that hid his eyeballs.
"He's blocking the path up to Reinhold Manor!" I exclaimed, exasperated. I was so not in the mood. "How terribly rude!"
Hershel patted my shoulder comfortingly. "Shhh, Sawyer…Perhaps he'll move for us, but I have a feeling he has no intention of doing anything of the sort."
I sighed. We were on the Manor Road, a little walkway that stopped until it broke into a pathway that led into a lush and green area. If you looked up, you could see the very tops of the mansion; like the rest of this place, they're roofs were tan and the mansion was white.
Hershel approached the man first, Luke and I trailing behind.
"Hold up!" the man shouted loudly. "Never seen you three here before. What's a couple of fresh faces like yourselves doing here?"
"We're here by invitation of the Reinholds," Hershel said politely. Sometimes, I wondered how he could be a gentleman so good and not get angry of nothing. Although, I have seen that happen maybe once or twice, but it's usually never. "Now, if you'll excuse yes, we have business through the gate."
"Business with the Reinholds, izzat so? Something's strange here. Yeah, you're a fishy pair, mm. I don't trust you, that's for sure, but I'll let you pass if you can solve this riddle, see? Just to warn you, it's a tough one. Isn't gonna be easy, is it? No way, definitely not gonna be easy…" This guy rambles a lot.
"Just give him the riddle!" I commanded.
Hershel didn't try to stop me, he didn't say, "Sawyer, that isn't what a lady would do," but he did something very unlike himself. He stifled a laugh, Luke let out one, and the man huffed and began by pulling out a scale and some weights.
"Here we have eight small weights that all look the same. However, one of the weights in the group is slightly lighter than the rest. Using the this scale two times, you can find out which of these weights in lighter than the rest. So, which weight is the light one?"
Hershel took weights one, two, and three on one side, and four, five, and six on the other and pressed the button. The left side was lighter. He breathed out and took off all of them. Then, he placed one and two on one sides and weighed them. The left side was lighter again.
"It's weight one," Hershel answered and the man's eyes went wide. "Because after you weigh all of them at one time, then the puzzle gets very simple."
"Hey, not half bad," the man said to Hershel, eyes still wide. "Pretty sharp lot, aren't ya? A lot of good sharp apples, the three of you."
"So," I said, "have we satisfied you? May we please pass now?"
"'Course you can pass," he said and I breathed out a sigh of relief. "Move along! And you better make sure to give my regards to Lady Dahlia."
He gave a curt nod and a small smile and then went back out to the plaza. Finally, we moved into the thick and green area. We were in the manor border and it was pretty. A flowing river was there, along with a boat tied, flowers and things bloomed up, and the massive mansion was just up the pathway.
"So pretty," I murmured, gazing around.
"I know," Hershel muttered back, looking directly at me. Why was he staring at me like that? And it was with that intense gaze again. Not that I minded, of course.
Then, of course, we had to be stopped again. This time, it was a tall and thin man, with purple lips and black hair neatly combed. He wore a maroon suits and brown snappy shoes. He was hunched over and seemed to have an air of creepiness about him.
"And just who might you be?" he asked as he sauntered over to us. How rude, he didn't even say hi or anything.
"My name is Layton, and this is my best friend, Sawyer, and my assistant, Luke. We received an invitation to visit Reinhold Manor," Hershel explained. Oh, so I'm only the 'best friend.' It hurt my feelings a little and I scowled.
"Ah, yes, yes." And he started laughing. This guy was really starting to creep me out and I gave a look at Hershel, who wrapped an arm around me. "We've all been expecting you, Professor Layton, Sawyer, and Luke. But," he laughed again, "you'll have to excuse my skepticism. Can't trust anyone these days, you know. For all I know, you could be just another hoo-hoo-hooligan in a top hat." More laughter. "So, how do I know you're the real Layton?"
Luke tugged us by our shirts and we went into a little circle, the guy laughing and talking to himself.
"Did you hear that, Professor?" Luke said, scowling like me. "The nerve of this fellow!"
"I agree," I voiced up, "not to mention he's got a few screws loose."
"Surely you aren't going to go through with this after an insult like that!"
We looked at Hershel expectantly, but I knew the chances were slim that he would actually leave because of this insult.
"Now, now. Sawyer, Luke, settle down." He gave us each a pat on the head, his hand lingering longer on mine, before he turned back to the man. "Sir, are you saying that you'd like to test me to see if I am the real Professor Layton?"
"Precisely, Professor 'Layton.' Now, if you don't mind, would you please solve this puzzle for me?"
"I can't believe he's doing this," Luke whispered and I nodded vigorously.
"Imagine three wolves and three chicks on one side of the river," he started, "and one raft to transport them onto the other side. Get the three wolves and three chucks to the other side of the river while obeying the following conditions. No more than two animals can ride the raft at the same time. There must be at least one animal on the raft in order for it to move. And if more wolves than chicks stay on either side of the river, the wolves will eat the chicks, and you'll have to start over."
Hershel sighed and began to speak, processing the information. "Move two wolves to the right. Bring one wolf back. Transport two wolves to the right. Then, move another wolf back. Bring two chicks to the right. Shift one wolf and a chick back. Move two chicks to the right. Transport the one wolf back with the other wolves. Move two wolves to the other side. Move one wolf back to the left. Then, bring the last two back to the right to solve it."
Luke and I gaped while Crazy Man laughed.
"Do excuse my earlier rudeness! Let me show you to the manor. Everyone's waiting for you."
"Everyone?" Hershel asked uncertainly. "I was under the impression that Lady Dahlia was the only person expecting me - us."
"Right this way, please."
As we crossed the river in the tiny boat, Luke saw more flowers, prettier then the last, and exclaimed:
"Wow, look as those. They sure are gorgeous!"
"Indeed they are," Hershel commented, looking at me again and I sent him a confused look. "I'm sure someone put a lot of work into raising them. Oh, that reminds me…Would you like to hear a puzzle about raising flowers?"
"You bet!" Luke and I said simultaneously. "Let's hear it," I added, giggling.
"Alfred and Roland have been hired by a farm to sow flower seeds," Hershel started. "They've been assigned a ten-acre plot of land and split it in half, so they can work independently. Roland starts from the east and Alfred from the west.
"Alfred can plow the land at a rate of twenty minutes per acre. Roland takes forty minutes to plow, but sows seeds at three times the speed of Alfred. If sowing deeds on the ten-acre plot pays a hundred dollars, how much of that money should go to Roland?"
Ugh, a maths puzzle. I've always hated my maths. But, he did say something about splitting in half and working independently so,
"The answer is fifty dollars," I told Hershel with a smile. Ha, take that Luke!
"Correct, good think, Sawyer." And he kissed my forehead, smiling and I closed my eyes, relishing the feeling. He's done it before, but I've never really relished the feeling until now.
Luke was still too deep in thought to notice and snigger or laugh.
Finally, we made it across the stream, Crazy Guy muttered and laughing to himself, and then we stopped short. The manor was huge!
"Is THIS the manor, Professor?" Luke asked in disbelief.
I just now noticed how Luke had really grown. I was always a short girl, hey, I only came just under Hershel's chin, and Luke was almost about to pass me.
The gate's creaked open by the force of Crazy Guy and low and behold, the manor stood in all its glory. It was absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking.
"It's positively gigantic! Just look at the size of it!" Luke proclaimed excitingly.
"It certainly seems like we've come to the right place," Hershel commented, gazing up at it.
Looking at each other, we nodded with happy smiles and entered, sealing our fate forever in this village.