Jules Quatrenoix’s extraordinary adventures - Book 1

CHAPTER 2 In search of the lost room

CHAPTER 2 In search of the lost roomMonday July 22nd, 1912. Ernestine came in to wake up her son who was still sound asleep. She watched him for a moment then stroked his hair and kissed his forehead.

‘It’s time to get up, sweetheart. We are expected downstairs for breakfast.’

Jules opened his eyes and saw his mother’s sweet face bent over him. His fears during the past night vanished.

‘I’m getting ready and I’ll be with you in fifteen minutes.’

Ernestine drew the curtains and opened the window. There was a light breeze, the weather was beautiful and the birds were chirping. From his bedroom window, Jules had a stunning view of the park. He had a quick wash, got dressed and hurried down the stairs. On his way, he greeted the cook and rushed into the dining room where the family was having breakfast.

He stopped in the doorway and said good morning to everyone. They were all in a jolly mood and the children were excited. They were going on holiday this afternoon!

‘Did you sleep well, my boy? You look weary this morning! Doesn’t the country air agree with you? Surely it must be better than in Paris!’ teased Monsieur de Chaussecourte over his newspaper.

‘Oh no, Sir! I’m quite rested, it’s only that I heard some noise in the room below. It must have been the boys moving around in their sleep. I had trouble going back to sleep.’

Aimé looked at him quizzically.

‘Noise? In the room below? It can only be rats or mice. The children’s bedroom is not under yours. It must have come from the condemned room. It looks as if only those rodents are allowed inside!’

‘A condemned room? How long has it been here?’ asked Jules in amazement.

‘Oh for years! Even before we moved in. Nobody has ever found how to get inside. The children have spent hours trying to unlock the mystery, though! They’re certain that a treasure is hidden in there. They do have such imagination!’

He resumed reading his newspaper.

‘Those mice again! Something needs to be done, Aimé! They’ll end up gnawing everything!’ Madame de Chaussecourte said, angrily.

Jules was taken aback. He felt anxious and excited at the same time. To hear noises and whispers when the room was supposed to be empty was quite disturbing, but after all he was not going to be bored during the holidays! A secret room! An investigation just like the one in the book he had so much enjoyed reading, The Mystery of the Yellow Room2. He would solve the mystery of that place just like Joseph Rouletabille had! As soon as the family had left he would go in search of the room!

Then all the luggage and paraphernalia had to be squeezed into the car. It was quite an ordeal! Helped by Ernestine and Adélaïde, Aimé had to make several attempts to fit everything in. He glared at the ladies when he noticed the extra suitcase that had been sneaked in among the others.

Jules stayed well away from the bustle and managed to avoid Léo. He went for a walk in the park and then made for the gate. The cool air swept his face.The thick foliage of the trees growing all over the park blocked out the sunlight. When he got to the entrance he noticed a stream running along the edge of the property. He decided to follow it and turned right. The surrounding wall was very high so it was impossible to see over it without a ladder. But shards of glass glinting in the sun had been carefully stuck in the concrete top to discourage any trespassers.

After a few minutes Jules reached the corner of the park. The stream ran along the wall and must have been used as a boundary in the olden days. The forest grew everywhere as if nature prevailed in those remote places. The stream ran through the exuberant vegetation. Jules hopped from one stone to the next for fun. He was very careful not to slip on the green and almost fluorescent moss and held on to the rough tree trunks. Then the wall turned again, with the stream still running along its bottom.

He kept hopping along, his long thin legs made him look like a wading bird. Jules was quite tall for his age and slender. His fine features were soft like his mother’s. He had his father’s light chestnut brown hair and his eyes as well, of a golden brown hue. He often caught Ernestine staring at him with infinite sadness. He knew that he had her lost love’s eyes. In spite of his pudding-bowl hairstyle his unruly hair spiked in all directions much to his mother’s despair. Even brilliantine could not tame it! He had a small scar in the corner of his right eye – a war wound, a fight with slingshots that had ended badly.

When he looked up to jump back to the bank along the wall, he spotted a small wooden gate which led straight from the park into the forest. He drew closer. The wood was rotten, it had been neglected for many years. On the off chance he lifted the rusty latch and pushed the gate. It wasn’t locked! He went in. The forest was very thick in that part of the park. He would never have seen the gate if he had tried to find it from this side of the forest.

He was very pleased with his lucky find and continued his exploration. In the distance he saw a low stone wall. As he drew closer he realized that it was a pool, the pool Monsieur de Chaussecourte forbade the children to go near. The mud had invaded it and turned it into a haven for frogs! As soon as they heard Jules coming near they all jumped into the water and only their protruding eyes could be seen on the surface among the algae and water plants.

It was an eerie, rather scary place. A light breeze shook the leaves and allowed a ray of sunshine to beam through the trees. Something sparkled on the stone wall. The corner of a brass plate could be seen under the moss. Jules came closer, brushed away the moss and cleaned it with water from the pool. He read aloud: “To our beloved son, Barnabé, 1802”.

What had happened there? Surely something terrible involving a child. He remembered Abel talking about drowning. He shivered. Suddenly the wind rose, swirling the dead leaves scattered on the ground and he heard them again! The whispers! Thinking they came from behind him he turned around abruptly, but there was no one. He panicked and started to run straight ahead. He was short of breath when he arrived at the house. As he did not want to show his distress in case people thought he was mad, he pulled himself together and went in. He was happy to be back in the hustle and bustle of the household.

The family left in the afternoon. Standing on the front porch steps Jules and his mother waved goodbye to the motor-car that was driving away. He was quite pleased that they had gone because it meant that he was now free to look for the lost room.

‘Well, sweetheart! We are alone with Madame Guillandou for a whole month. I’ve got lots of things to do. Madame de Chaussecourte has left a list of chores that should keep me busy while they are away. We’ll meet for lunch. If you need me I’ll be with Eglantine in the kitchen.’

She kissed him on the forehead and went into the house. Great! He would now be able to snoop around the house. His mission for the holidays was to find that mysterious room. It was as exciting as the adventure novels by Jules Verne. His favourite book was A Captain at Fifteen! For each of his birthdays his father would give him one with a beautiful red linen binding and golden decorations. He had been named after him in tribute to the ‘genius writer’ as his father used to call him. This year his mother had thoughtfully upheld the tradition but it was no longer the same. Jules sighed and went back into the house too.

‘Right, let’s be logical, like Rouletabille! The room I’m looking for is under mine, so on the first floor.’

He climbed up the stairs four at a time, holding onto the wooden bannister worn smooth by the hands of the former inhabitants of the house over the years.

Once on the landing he turned right and walked down the corridor. He was now facing a wooden bookcase filled with books and knick-knacks. He stood in front of the imposing piece of furniture and pondered. The door to the condemned room had to be behind it. Unless there was a hidden door in one of the bedrooms? He inspected them but found nothing – the walls adjoining the room did not sound hollow at any point and he could not see anything protruding from the wall that would indicate the location of a door.

He went back to the bookcase. In his adventure novels there was always something about a secret passage opened by a sophisticated mechanism. What could it be? He loved enigmas and here was one to challenge him. He emptied out the bookcase – no book or trinket was used as a lever to operate the mechanism. He ran his fingers along the frame of the bookcase, standing on a chair at one point, to try and find a push button. Nothing! The task was going to prove more arduous than he thought.

He stepped back to get an overall view of the bookcase but he tripped over the narrow rug in the corridor. He tried to cling to the first thing that came within his reach. He grasped an old curtain cord hanging on the side of one of the bedroom doors and held onto it without breaking it. There he was half-hanging from the cord, with a dazed expression on his face, when a loud noise was heard. He was convinced that something would come crashing down and that he had made a terrible mistake. He waited, petrified and anxious.

In a long cracking sound the bookcase slid and folded up, revealing a small door. Jules could not believe it, he had found it!

Well not in a very logical and methodical way, he thought, a bit upset. But still!

‘Is everything all right, sweetheart?’ asked a voice from downstairs.

He was startled. It was his mother. She and Eglantine must have heard the racket made by his fall. They had to be prevented from coming upstairs!

‘Yes, everything’s fine! I just tripped over the rug.’

‘Are you sure? It sounded like furniture being knocked over.’

‘Yes, no harm done!’

He heard them go back to the kitchen and Madame Guillandou say:

‘That boy is skinny as a rail but when he falls it sounds like an elephant!’

Phew! The coast was clear.

Once the excitement was gone, the door had to be opened. However he had a sense of foreboding that when it was opened there would be no going back. It was a bit like opening Pandora’s box3. He recalled the whispers, the pool. And yet curiosity prevailed!

He walked to the door. It was not closed! It had been left ajar for all those years! He slowly pushed it open with his hand. The hinges creaked balefully. The room was in darkness. Dim light filtered through a thick velvet curtain hiding a narrow window.

Jules plucked up his courage, crossed the room and sharply pulled the curtain open. The room was bathed in light with dust fluttering in all directions. It was like a glittering cloud. It was a study! Everything had been left intact! When? And why would anyone want to hide a study?

There had to be something important, something secret that the former owner wanted to be kept hidden. He was roused from his thoughts by the voice of his mother calling him again, but for lunch this time.

As he did not want to tell anyone about his discovery, he quickly went out of the room. But how could he close it? Logically he thought to himself that the best way would be to pull the cord again to reverse the mechanism. And luckily that is exactly what happened – the bookcase slid heavily, unfolded and set back into its former place. Jules was looking forward to coming back to explore the study. He rushed down the stairs to join his mother and Madame Guillandou in the kitchen.

2 The Mystery of the Yellow Room is one of the first locked-room mystery novels, written by French author Gaston Leroux., and the first starring fictional reporter Joseph Rouletabille.

3 Pandora’s box was a jar given to Pandora, which contained all the evils of the world.