A Garden Of White Tulips
Chapter 2
Polaris raised the red cloth from the largest frame and draped it over the easel.
Hoku recognised the oar lying diagonally across the stone steps. The photograph had obscured much of the water, but he could now distinguish the reflection of the narrow boat beside the landing.
"It's the one from the book," he said. "It was in the newspaper photograph too. The shelves around it were burnt, but the painting looked untouched."
"Do you remember the title of the book?" Polaris asked.
"The End of Time. Doctor Francis Barret's name was printed inside, although most of the pages were blank."
"Barret owned this house. I've read a good deal of what he left behind, but I don't recall that title." Polaris returned to the desk. "Have you brought it with you?"
"I left it at home," Hoku replied, shaking his head.
'I'd only expected to look through an empty house…'
He sat and drew the newspaper nearer. The date beneath its heading was in 1819. After reading a few of the notices, he examined the year once more.
'How long has this been here? Some of my uncle's newspapers are older than this…'
Hoku set the newspaper aside.
"Could I look at Barret's library catalogue, if he kept one? My uncle's didn't have an entry for the book."
"I have it here," Polaris fetched a wooden case from the shelf behind his chair. Card suits encircled a dial on its lid. He drew it round several times, letting it return between movements, until the catch released.
"I've never seen a lock like that," Hoku remarked.
"It is a peculiar design. The suits correspond to a particular set of numbers, rather like a combination dial."
Hoku pondered the explanation for a moment, then gave a small nod.
Polaris opened the case and removed several sheets from the papers inside.
"This lists the books he kept here. I would try the handwritten material at the end first. Barret described some of it by its contents rather than giving a title."
Hoku read through that section, lingering over entries for collections of letters and observations. Afterwards, he checked the printed books.
"I was hoping he might have mentioned the drawings," he said, resting the catalogue on the desk. "Have you found all the books he lists?"
"Unfortunately, several entries refer to volumes I've never found. There was an intrusion into the study during Barret's lifetime. I've kept the reports with the catalogue."
Polaris looked through the cuttings left in the case and selected two, placing them beside the list.
The longer report quoted Barret's complaint about the loss of his research. Several bundles of manuscripts had been taken into the parlour and burnt, damaging the furnishings. Other papers were believed to have been carried away.
The accompanying notice announced the completion of repairs to the affected rooms.
Hoku compared the dates with the newspaper Polaris had shown him.
'…Both notices had been printed earlier.'
'And Barret was still alive when these were printed… The house must have been repaired afterwards. The fire I read about at home happened much later.'
He brought the report of the intrusion closer.
"Could that have been how the book left the house?"
"Possibly. Barret complained about losing his research, but he spoke of it as a whole. I haven't found a record identifying the individual books or papers."
"What was he researching?"
"Amongst other things, a garden he was trying to reach. He collected descriptions and wrote to the people who supplied them. There was even a subscription towards the journey."
Polaris retrieved the notice amongst the other cuttings and passed it to him.
Barret had promised his contributors an account of his findings when he returned. Hoku read the paragraph while Polaris unlocked a drawer and brought out a notebook.
"His own entries are at the front. I've put the accounts he collected farther back, with the letters that accompanied them."
Hoku opened the volume to the first pages, where Barret had recorded expenses and arrangements for the correspondence. After reading several entries, he turned farther back and lifted one of the longer accounts from between the pages.
Something nudged Hoku's knee beneath the desk. He shifted his chair back and looked down.
A black cat stood beside him, unconcernedly pressing against his trouser leg. Hoku lowered a hand, and the animal sniffed his fingers before rubbing its face into his palm.
As it stretched towards him, a gold tag on a red cord slipped free of its black fur.
"Cheshire?"
Hoku turned the tag slightly between his fingers, making sure he had read it correctly. "Is he yours?"
"He isn't mine," Polaris replied with a small smile. "Though he makes himself quite at home. He comes in here whenever he pleases."
Hoku scratched behind the cat's ear.
'Whoever named him must have liked the classics.'
Cheshire climbed onto the seat beside him. Hoku moved his coat out of the way and returned to the notebook.
Letters had been placed with the longer accounts. Barret's handwriting reappeared in the margins, sometimes continuing onto the back of a sheet.
Hoku began with a passage that occupied several pages.
I continued for some distance on a path of pale grit. White tulips grew on either side, and I could see no wall or other boundary to the field.
He read on, picturing the traveller making his way between the flowers. When he reached the end, he drew the accompanying letter closer.
"Could this have been someone Barret personally knew?"
"He corresponded with the man who sent him the account," Polaris replied. "The man enclosed a letter explaining where he had found the description."
Hoku brought the letter nearer the lamp and read the man's apology for being unable to supply the directions Barret had requested.
I regret that I cannot be of greater assistance. The enclosed account was transcribed from an older manuscript in my possession. I have never visited the garden it describes.
'He transcribed it from an older document, then… Perhaps there was more about the place elsewhere in that manuscript. Barret might have wanted to examine it himself.'
Hoku laid the letter beside the account.
"I see… Did Barret ever find out who wrote the original?"
"I haven't found a name for that writer, though Barret asks for it here." Polaris indicated a remark beside the passage. "He also received letters from people who said they remembered walking through the garden themselves. Those are farther back, with his questions about their visits."
Bending closer, Hoku made out a further question about passages omitted from the description. He found the answer lower down in the letter, where the correspondent assured Barret that he had copied the account in full.
'Someone who had been there ought to have more to say. But several people could have sent Barret copies of the same manuscript… He might have received much the same description from all of them without finding another traveller.'
Hoku opened the notebook farther back and rested his chin on his hand as he read. Amongst the letters were short remarks referring to other accounts in the collection. He began to understand why Polaris had taken care to keep them together.
The notice about the subscription lay beside his elbow.
"He promised to give his subscribers an account of the journey," Hoku said. "Did he leave anything like that amongst his papers?"
"I haven't found anything I could confidently identify as an account of his arrival. His enquiries continued after the intrusion, though. Some of the later entries still concern preparations."
Polaris showed him where those entries began.
Hoku compared one of the dates with the report of the fire. Whatever Barret had lost, it had not prevented him from pursuing the subject.
'Perhaps he meant to visit the people who had written to him first. The man who owned that manuscript might have known where it came from, even if he had never seen the garden. Barret could have begun there.'
He returned to the letter beside the copied passage. Its writer had been unable to provide directions, but the older manuscript was still in his possession when he wrote to Barret.
"May I make a few notes while I read?"
"Use the pencil beside the lamp," Polaris said. "I'd be grateful if you left the letters with their accounts. It took some time to put them together."
Hoku drew a clean sheet towards him and began with the description of the tulips. He included the correspondent's explanation of where it had come from, then continued through Barret's questions with the letter beside the notebook.
The Memoir Chapter 1
Objective 1
Find the black cat with emerald eyes.
—The Memoir Chapter 1 End—