Disclaimer: If you read about it in the books, it's not mine
Entry #11 – next day
Rose is with me on the plan. We wrote the note yesterday after dinner, and I'm copying it in here after I finish this entry. Also, we placed a few items that are clearly mine in locations where they would appear lost – Rose's idea, not mine. Okay, here's a copy of the note:
To whoever is behind the mysterious parcels:
Thank you for returning my belongings. However, I request that you either let me know who you are or stop being so kind. Send your owl back with your answer.
Luna
Is this genius or what? Even if they won't tell me who they are, I'll have a sample of their handwriting, which Rose says will help us identify them. She came up with the phrasing of the note, too – one of her mum's cousins is an investigator of some type, and another is a lawyer, so she knows a fair lot more than I do about doing things like this. Okay, I know NOTHING. Her brother, Anthony, says we could use something he calls blackmail if we have to, but that sounds a little too mean. Not like Rose and I are going to be sweet little angels, cause we're not, but we're not stooping to the level of the person who "borrows" my things either.
Entry #12 – three days later
It's on. I got two pairs of socks back this morning, and I sent the owl back to its human with the note. Rose says that if I don't get a note back within a week, we should start over from putting my things in certain places and go on from there. That owl had better come back to me is all I'm going to say.
Entry #13 – six days later
I got an answer, which is pasted in here as follows:
L-
I don't know who's been sending most of the parcels before the one I sent you a few days ago. My sister's told me how you manage to lose almost everything at some point, so when I found two pairs of socks sitting randomly in a fourth-floor hallway, I thought they were probably yours. Haven't you noticed how you never get anything from the same owl twice?
Paravati Patil
So much for that idea. But yeah, I have noticed that every package I've received has come from a different owl. The question is, who sent me the Christmas package?
Entry #14 – a week later
I made a few more copies of the note and placed a few more of my things. The results are coming – slowly, but better than nothing. Two notes back so far, one from a girl in my year whom I have a few classes with (blast it all, I can't recall WHAT classes) and another from Rose's other older brother, whose name escapes me. Rose's best idea yet was to use socks as bait, since I don't think there's anyone else here at school who collects unusual socks. If there is, I'd love to know.
Entry #15 – middle of March
Still no answer about who sent the Christmas package. A few things Rose and I know about him/her:
He/she knows that I like toffee more than I like chocolate. Not like I don't like chocolate, but like I'm pretty sure I wrote earlier, toffee is my sweet of choice.
He/she knows where I live. Not such a hard thing to figure out, but it weeds out people who don't have family history here, if you get my meaning.
He/she either knits or has a good connection with someone who does. The mittens explain this.
He/she knows that my favorite color combination is pale purple and lime green. Again, the mittens explain this. Speak of which, I've been wearing them a lot lately, since Rose says it'll help. Lesson number one – don't argue with Rose.
He/she knows I like the ocean, since that's what all the pictures in the calendar are of. This is a little harder to guess, but not too dreadful.
So we're back where we started. Rose says we need to try different tactics to find the person who sent the Christmas package. We're not caring about the other parcels; we just want to know who cares enough to get me a Christmas present.