The Secret Garden Chapter 3: A new home by D.L. Copyright  © 2011 D.L. All Rights Reserved. Inspired by the classic children’s tale by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

The two people ate in silence, the housekeeper not seeing the point in trying to talk to a person who wouldn’t respond verbally. On finishing their meal, Mrs Medlock led her young charge up the main staircase and along an oak-panelled hall. Mrs Medlock made the younger servant, Gwen, accompany them carrying the paraffin lamp, lighting the way through the dark house.

“These rooms here are the guest suites, we did consider putting you in one initially, but they are designed to be very grand. Hence, they are very large rooms and therefore take a lot to heat. The rooms below, the ballroom and large banquet hall, are rarely used or heated. We thought you might be more comfortable in more cosy surroundings,” the housekeeper stated.

On arriving at a second staircase, this one less ornate than the first, the three individuals climbed up to the top floor of the building, the rooms on this floor being built into the roof space.

“Most of the rooms up this end of the building are empty. If we have guests who bring servants, then these rooms act as their quarters. As such, you won’t be disturbed by the comings and goings of the staff, as their accommodation is up the other end of the house,” Mrs Medlock explained to the boy.

Opening a panelled door at the end of the corridor, they entered a modest, but comfortable sitting room. Richard surveyed the scene in front of him. The room was about twelve feet square, and the far wall was sloped due to the roofline of the building. A single square dormer window overlooked the gardens. Halfway along the wall to his left sat a fireplace in which a metal stove had been positioned to give heat. The fire was currently being stoked by a woman he assumed correctly to be Martha. After poking the embers, she closed the glass door.

Standing in front of the fire were a small table and two leather armchairs. Two tapestries hung either side of the fireplace, adding some colour to the otherwise plain magnolia walls.

Along the right hand wall, a large leather-topped desk with drawers in each pedestal could be found. A wooden chair sat partially under the desk. A sofa had been positioned diagonally across the corner to his right. To Richard’s left stood a small bookcase on the back wall. Between the desk and sofa, a second door was situated halfway along the right hand wall.

At Mrs Medlock’s instruction, Martha showed the boy around the fittings. The tapestries either side of the fireplace acted as curtains. Behind the far curtain, an alcove contained firewood and a small shelf holding a number of spare candles. The main illumination in the room was coming from two gas lamps on the right hand wall, and some candles on the fireplace.

The left hand curtain was pulled back to reveal a third doorway. Opening the door, Martha beckoned the boy inside. He stepped into the candlelit room. This room was about half the width of the first and contained items he had only ever seen before in books.

A large enamel-coated metal bath stood in the centre of the room. Two pipes emerged out of the floor onto which taps were positioned to fill the large vessel. A third pipe came out of the bottom, allowing water to drain away. In addition, there was a toilet and a washbasin with two taps.

“His lordship likes to keep up with the latest technology available. We were therefore able to fit this room out as a bathroom,” Martha explained, “There is a small water tank built into the fire in the main room, and this heats the water for use in here. The hot water comes through the taps with the red markings. The blue taps are the cold water supply. His lordship has built a water tower on this estate that provides fresh water from the nearby lake. A steam pump lifts the water, and gravity provides the force to push it through the pipes, so that we can have running water, even up on this floor, although it doesn’t flow anywhere near as fast as down in the kitchens.”

The boy looked around the room. Going over to the sink, he turned the tap, and cautiously felt the temperature of the hot water. Finding it pleasantly hot, but not scalding, he shut the tap off and smiled at the watching servants.

“Are you familiar with this device?” the young woman asked with slight embarrassment, pointing at the toilet. The porcelain bowl with wooden seat and lid sat against one wall, connected to a high level tank emblazoned with the words, ‘Crapper’s valveless waste preventer’ on the front.

Nodding his head, Richard created the letters, W and C one after the other with his hands. Noting that the boy seemed to be familiar with the relatively new invention, Martha relaxed, glad she didn’t need to explain its purpose.

Leaving the room and returning to the first, they then proceeded through the other door that Richard spotted earlier. This room was about the same size as the sitting room and contained a large king-sized four-poster bed, the framework fitted with curtains to pull round on cold nights to keep the heat in.

Two bedside cabinets were on either side of the bed, each having a large unlit candle upon it. Again, the room was lit by gas lamps.

A fireplace stood in the opposite wall, but no fire had been made. The two alcoves on either side had been fitted with wooden doors. Opening one of the doors, Richard noted the rail and empty coat hangers waiting for his clothes. He observed that his travelling trunk had been placed against one wall, ready to be unpacked. Richard was in possession of the only key, which he kept tied on a chain round his neck under his shirt. Therefore, none of the staff could unload it for him.

“There is a chamber pot under your bed, if you prefer to use that instead of walking though potentially cold rooms during the night,” Martha stated.

Nodding, the boy went over to his trunk. Pulling the key out from round his neck he unlocked it and opened the lid. Pulling two carefully wrapped parcels from the top, he delicately unpacked them. The first item to be revealed was a framed sepia photograph of him standing in front of his parents. Placing the photo on the cabinet by the bed, he then proceeded to the second object, an ornate carriage clock. Winding the springs and setting it from his pocket watch, he placed it next to the photo on the nearest bedside cabinet.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, the boy bounced up and down, testing the springs for comfort before nodding and smiling at the watching audience.

A gust of wind rattled the windows, and a strange sound could be heard echoing through the building, a mixture of chains rattling and jangling of bells.

Gwen immediately stifled a scream and started shaking in fright. Martha also looked slightly uneasy at hearing the noise. Mrs Medlock, not fazed by the sound, looked on at the young man in concern. The last thing she needed is for him to be too fearful to stay in the room that he had been given.

The boy did not appear to be scared. If anything, he was amused by the reaction of the people around him, having a slightly puzzled expression on his face. Jumping down off the bed, he went back into the sitting room and stood waiting for the sound. Turning on hearing the noise, he headed out into the corridor, the servants following him. Richard made his way down the corridor stopping at each door and listening.

At the fourth door, he stopped and opened it, disappearing into the moonlit room. A few seconds later, Richard emerged triumphantly carrying an odd-looking object. It was a wooden frame, onto which hanging from string were pieces of chain and metal piping. The child walked back to the waiting servants and shook it, causing it to produce the sounds that they had been hearing.

“I think he has found your ghost, Gwen,” Martha stated, with some relief.

“I swear someone is playing tricks on me,” Gwen replied with annoyance.

Handing the object to Gwen, the boy walked back to the entrance to his rooms, turned, waved, and then went inside, closing the door behind him, leaving the adults in the corridor.

“I take it we have been dismissed,” Mrs Medlock said, before leading the other two women down the stairs.

Richard, on hearing the adults descending to the floor below, leaving him alone, smiled and extinguished the gaslights in the sitting room. Taking a candle from the fireplace, he moved into the bathroom to wash and relieve himself on the new water closet.

Returning to the bedroom, he took his clothes off and laid them over a chair in the corner of the room. Moving to his trunk, he got out a silk nightshirt and slipped it over his head, letting the soft material caress his skin as it fell into place. Extinguishing all the remaining lights, except the candle, he climbed up onto the bed. Settling between the crisp white sheets, he blew the candle out leaving the room in darkness, and fell to sleep.