Jots & Tittles
Monday morning’s first period
English Literature class with Miss Yonkers proved to be an exciting time for
both the twins and Rebecca’s friend Caroline. They studied a wide variety of
topics, including poetry styles, and today’s assignment was to be done during
class.
“Student, today you will write a
poem. Your perspective for creating this poem will be,” Miss Yonkers reiterated
to the class what they had studied on the life, art and troubles of Artist
Vincent Willem van Gogh. Continuing, she instructed, “You will be writing this
poem in the Villanelle style. A Villanelle has nineteen lines and a specific
rhyming order. The first and third lines in the first stanza are repeated in an
alternating order throughout the entire poem; those two lines also appear
together in the last two lines of your poems.”
Caroline raised her hand.
“Yes, Caroline,” said Miss Yonkers.
“So, we are to put ourselves in
Vincent van Gogh’s shoes, so to speak, and write our poem as though we were the
artist himself?”
“That is correct. Remember to focus
on his troubled years, those he experienced late in his short life.”
“Yes,” Miss Yonkers, she replied,
says as another student raised their hand.
“We don’t have to cut off an ear do
we?”
The class laughed.
“No, that won’t be necessary this
time. Any more questions?”
With no additional questions, the
students began their assignment.
Some students quickly commenced
writing, while others had difficulty figuring out how to compile this complex
style of poetry. Robert enjoyed pretending he was the artist and imagining how
the artist’s view of life would be expressed in such a poem. He knew that Van
Gogh’s outlook on life was dismal and dark at times.
With the period drawing to a close,
Miss Yonkers informed the class that they had, “Five minutes to complete your
assignments,” and that this exercise would not count against their grades. She
did not want to inform them about that earlier because some students may not
have done their best if they knew ahead of time that it did not affect their
grades.
Robert put the finishing touches on
his poem, signed his name along with the artist’s name on the bottom.
Robert Dance - Vincent Willem van
Gogh
“Thank you, students,” said Miss
Yonkers, collecting the assignments from her students after the final class
bell rang, “Have a great day.”
Miss Yonkers glanced over the
student’s poems while they handed them to her and commented to Robert as he
hurried for the door, “I am looking forward to reading your poem, Robert. It
looks very good at first glance.”
“Thank you,” Robert replied, “See
you tomorrow, Miss Yonkers.”
* * *
Kelly’s day dragged by slowly; up
early with her siblings, she had worked on the last bit of code solving before
breakfast and was anxiously waiting to meet them at the library to deliver the
deciphered letter to the acting Head Librarian, Hazel Hamilton. The Head
Librarian position remained vacant due to a temporary funding problem.
“Hi, Kelly,” said Lindsey, catching
up in the school hallway, “I heard that your brother and sister are coming
tonight to ballet practice, my brother, Jim told me.”
“Yes, I think they all want to talk
about crimes, criminals and things like that.”
“It is a rather exciting topic don’t
you think?”
“Oh, yes, I love researching everything
I can in that area.”
Lindsey stated, “You research just
about everything in every topic, Kelly.”
The two girls chuckled because Kelly
DOES research quite a number of interesting topics most of the time.
“My brother said he had a great time
yesterday at your picnic. I couldn’t come because my mom needed me to help her
around the house and I had to clean my messy room. I wish I’d been there to
help find that dog that was lost.”
“It was a challenge, but we finally
found the poor little guy and the owner was so relieved.”
The five minute warning bell
sounded.
“I’d better hurry off to class, I
still have to get my books,” Lindsey said, racing away, “I’ll see you tonight,
Kelly.”
“Bye, Lindsey!
Kelly wondered if Lindsey really had
wanted to help find the dog, or had heard about the reward money. “It doesn’t
really matter though,” she thought to herself, “People get paid to work finding
missing things and people, so why not a dog like cute little Robi?”
After a couple of more class
periods, the last school bell rang, Kelly was more than ready to get to the
library, find out the outcome of the code solving and what the letter was all
about. She wondered why the man, Jason Tiflon III, wrote it and what type of
reward he intended for the code solver. It was as big a mystery as the code was
before it was deciphered, sort of like having two mysteries in one package.
“There’s the library,” Robert said,
as he and Rebecca rushed along the sidewalk side-by-side.
“I know, I have been here before,
you know.”
“I know, I was just getting excited,
sis.”
“Sorry, I guess I am a bit excited
myself and a bit tense.”
“Tense? Relax, Becca, this is fun.”
“I guess you’re right. I’ll take
some deep breaths.”
“Do that.”
As the twins entered the library
they turned around and noticed their sister in the distance. They decided to
wait for her, so Kelly could be the one to contact the Head Librarian since she
was the one who found the code and checked out the book.
“Hi, Becca, hi, Rob,” greeted Kelly,
passing by her siblings and pushing against the large library door, “Are you
two ready to find out if we translated the code correctly and what the reward
mentioned might be?”
“Yes, we are,” Robert replied. “You
get a hold of the librarian, Kell, ok?”
“Ok, I would like that.”
Kelly approached the main desk
asking for Mrs. Hazel Hamilton by name. She mentioned to the man at the desk
that Mrs. Hamilton was the acting Head Librarian. It impressed him that this
young girl was so knowledgeable and polite at the same time. He informed her
that Mrs. Hamilton would be back in a few moments, so Kelly rejoined Rob and
Becca for the time being.
“It seems so long to wait,” Rebecca
said anxiously.
“It’s only been about a minute,
sis,” replied Robert, “Take it easy.”
“She will be here soon,” Kelly
commented, “They are always very accurate here with things like that.”
“Too much info, sis,” Robert
explained, letting the moment’s excitement get the best of him.
“There she is,” Kelly said.
Mrs. Hamilton walked down the
central staircase from the second floor toward the front desk.
They waited for the woman to finish
conversing with the man at the desk for a few moments, though it seemed like
hours to Rebecca. Finally, Mrs. Hamilton summoned the trio to the desk.
“How may I be of assistance?” she
asked.
“I found a coded letter in this
book,” Kelly explained, showing the Librarian the Viking book, “I also want to
return this book today, ma’am, anyway,” she took a breath, “this is what I
believe the code revealed when translated. I hope it was alright that my brother
and sister helped me out a bit.”
“I am sure that is fine, young lady.
What are your names?”
“I’m Kelly Dance and this is my
brother, Robert, and my sister, Rebecca, ma’am.”
“Here is what we have deciphered,”
said Kelly, laying the paper on the Librarian’s countertop, “We believe that
the smiley face is morning, A.M., and is happy because we get to see another
day and that night, P.M., is the sad face because we have to end that
day, hope that is correctly applied logic, Mrs. Hamilton.”
The Librarian looked over the code
carefully and informed the children that she would be right back. She entered
an office and retrieved a folder from a file cabinet. Once she returned, she
opened the folder to check the code’s translation.
“This is the master sheet for the
code,” remarked Mrs. Hamilton, showing it to the children, “I was wondering who
would find this one day and if it would ever get translated.”
The kids looked over the original
sheet, which had been set up almost exactly the same as theirs.
Thursday – February – 14 – 2002
5 – NCOSMESX – =/ – ?>>?
I – Placed – this – secret – code –
note – in – this – book – at – 11 – am
W – HFEICV – YAWQ – QCISCY – IJVC – UJYC – WU – YAWQ –
OJJB – EY – == – J
I – wrote – it – on – Wednesday –
January – 16 – 2002 - at – 9 – pm
W – LSJYC – WY – JU – 4 – ZEUMESX – =+ –
?>>? – EY – à – L
22 – Years – ago - on – Fathers –
day – Sunday – June – 15 – 1980
?? – XCESQ – ETJ – JU – NEYACSQ – VEX – 1 – ZMUC
– =\ – =àß>
I – made – a – large – fortune
W – PEVC – E – FESTC – NJSYMUC
I – like – to – share – this –
fortune – with – those – who
W – FWBC – YJ – QAESC – YAWQ – NJSYMUC
– LWYA – YAJQC – LAJ
Study – and – increase – their –
education
QYMVX – EUV – WUISCEQC – YACWS – CVMIEYWJU
Solve – this – code – and – you –
will – get – special – reward
QJFKC– YAWQ – IJVC – EUV – XJM – LWFF – TCY – E –
QHCIWEF - SCLESV
You – must – also – write – a – 3 –
page – book – report
XJM – PMQY – EFQJ – LSWYC – E – < –
HETC – OJJB – SCHJSY
About – the – book – you – found –
this – code – in
EOJMY – YAC – OJJB – XJM – NJMUV –
YAWQ – IJVC – WU
Once – you – are – finished – you –
must – give
JUIC – XJM – ESC – NWUWQACV – XJM – PMQY – TWKC
The – report – and – the – code –
translation
YAC – SCHJSY – EUV – YAC – IJVC – YSEUQFEYWJU
To – the – head – librarian – who –
will
YJ – YAC – ACEV – FWOSESWEU – LAJ – LWFF
Notify – me – to – award – you –
your – prize
UJYWNX – PC – YJ – ELESV – XJM – XJMS – HSWRC
There – are – many – more – of –
these – codes
YACSC – ESC – PEUX – PJSC – JN – YACQC – IJVCQ
In – books – all – across – the – US
– and – the – world
WU – OJJBQ – EFF – EISJQQ – YAC – MQ – EUV – YAC -
LJSFV
No – 2 – codes – are – the – same
UJ – ? – IJVCQ – ESC – YAC – QEPC
And – the – requirements – to – win
– the – prize – are – always - different
EUV – YAC – SCDMWSCPCUYQ – YJ – LWU – HSWRC – ESC –
EFLEXQ – VWNNCSCUY
Sincerely – Jason – Tiflon – III –
educational - philanthropist
QWUICSFX – ZEQJU – YWNFJU – WWW – CVMIEYWJUEF –
HAWFEUYASJHWQY
“It sure looks like you children, or
should I say young adults, have hit the nail with the hammer right on the head.
And you even correctly deciphered the smiley faces.”
“Wow, we did it,” an over excited
Kelly shouted.
“That is so cool,” added Robert.
“Thank you guys for helping me,”
Kelly said to her brother and sister.
“It was fun for us too, Kell,”
affirmed Rebecca.
“The Dance children were overwhelmed
with emotion, knowing that they had actually translated a secret code. They
kept staring at the paper, reading it over and over again.
“Oh,” remembered Robert, “I wrote
the three page book report about this book. Is that alright, Mrs. Hamilton?”
“Of course it is, Robert.”
Robert handed her his report with a
smile on his face.
“I suppose you are anxious to know
what your reward is.”
“I almost forgot about that part,”
Kelly laughed.
“I sure would like to know,” replied
Rebecca, with great anticipation in her voice.
“The reward is,” as Mrs. Hamilton
took a short pause to breath it seemed like an eternity was passing by, “you will
receive a five hundred dollar gift certificate from your favorite bookstore. It
can be any bookstore you choose from the list that Mr. Tiflon has compiled.
Here is the list you are to choose from. If you need some time to think about
it, or wish to come back another time.”
As the trio looked at each other
they knew there was only one store they would like to have the certificate for,
the store that Mr. Walkinhawk owned. He helped them so much with solving the
code and always has so many interesting books. There just wasn’t another choice
to make. To their great joy, Mr. Walkinhawk’s store stood proudly on the list!
“We have decided, ma’am,” Kelly
addressed the Librarian, “George Walkinhawk’s Rare and Used Books.”
“A very wise choice, children. I
enjoy Mr. Walkinhawk’s store myself. He has such a wide variety of books there
and many that are virtually impossible to find anywhere else.”
Mrs. Hamilton obtained all the
information she needed from the Dance kids; address, schools, home phone
number, etc. and informed them that the certificate would sent in the mail once
arrangements were made with the book store owner, Mr. Walkinhawk.
As the kids departed the library
they discussed whether Mr. Walkinhawk knew about this letter all of the time,
or if he only knew about the certificate. He only gave them support information
and actually did not translate anything for them. Besides, he knew them and
also knew that they would pick the best books they could find in his store and
put them to good use. The books would not sit on a shelf collecting dust.
“I bet he didn’t know anything about
the certificate’s use,” Robert said, on the walk home with his sisters.
“I think you’re right,” agreed
Rebecca.
“Let’s go ask him,” Kelly suggested,
“We can stop by quickly and still be home in time for dinner before my ballet
practice if we hurry.”
“Ok,” the twins replied, picking up
their pace.
They took the bus up University
Avenue, exiting a few blocks from Telegraph Avenue, walking quickly the rest of
the way to the bookstore. Mr. Walkinhawk was standing alone at the sales
counter when they entered the store.
“Hi, Rebecca, Robert, Kelly,” Mr.
Walkinhawk addressed the group.
“Hello, Mr. Walkinhawk,” replied
Kelly.
“What brings you three by today?”
“We finished solving the code and found
out about the reward,” answered Rebecca.
“And you remembered to do the book
report?”
“Yes,” Robert said, adding, “I wrote
it out late last night and finished the proof reading and final copy today at
school during lunch.”
“You are all very dedicated and
determined individuals,” affirmed Mr. Walkinhawk, “Now tell me about the
reward. What was it?”
“We were wondering if you knew
anything about the reward, Mr. Walkinhawk,” Robert inquired, “The reward is a
five hundred dollar gift certificate from a bookstore, so we picked your
store.”
“I am not sure what you mean,” he
responded, puzzled.
“The code had to be solved and the
gift certificates were for bookstores in the area. We wondered if anyone at the
stores listed might have known about the code in the book,” said Rebecca.
“I see what you are saying, you
wonder if I knew about the code while you were working on solving it, and if my
helping was, well, sort of unethical.”
“Yes, that is exactly right,”
responded Kelly.
“No, I am generally not informed
about the details by organizations that purchase gift certificates here. The
library has had an open contract with me for years for gift certificates. They
buy quite a few throughout the year for all of their various awards to readers,
customers and who knows what else. I can’t keep track of the ‘why’ behind their
choices. But I am so glad you will be coming here for books. I know whatever
books you three choose will get a lot of use.”
“They sure will, Mr. Walkinhawk,”
Kelly assured her friend and bookstore owner.
The Dance youths felt privileged to
have an adult friend they could open up to and talk with and who treated them
like intelligent individuals rather than just kids without a face. The trio
gravitated toward these types of adults. Of course, these types of adults enjoy
youths who are interested in life and often have something intelligent to
discuss.
“We better get going,” Robert said
to his sisters.
“The library will notify you, Mr.
Walkinhawk, the Librarian said, about the certificate, that is,” stated
Rebecca.
“Just come in anytime and I can set
aside all of the books you want and we can worry about the total amount of the
cost later,” replied Mr. Walkinhawk, “Just make sure you guys get ALL of the
books you want, ok?”
“Thank you, sir,” Kelly responded,
“Thanks a lot.”
Once out the door, the Dance kids
headed straight for home to ready themselves for dinner and an exciting evening
with Cadet Jim Connors.
Chapter Sixteen: Serials, Signatures & Psychos
No comments:
Post a Comment