Louisiana Loco-Motive

Chapter 8

The Riddle

The next morning when Geneva got to work, things started off as usual. She made Mrs. Devereux her breakfast of scrambled eggs, grits and grillades, 2 slices of bacon, and a half slice of toast. And, like always, it was accompanied by half a glass of cold milk and a freshly brewed cup of strong coffee along with the morning paper. There was no way her tiny frame could intake all of that, but it was the same breakfast she'd been having for years. It was the same one she'd ordered to be made for herself and Mr. Devereux, first by Geneva's grandmother who worked for her, then by Geneva's mother who was her last hired help before she passed away and Geneva came to fill the position and carry on the tradition. Mrs. Devereux would always have a spoonful of the grits, a bite of the toast and a few sips of the coffee lightened with the cold milk before sending the tray away. Geneva always thought it was such
a waste, but she never voiced her thoughts aloud; choosing instead to mind her manners by keeping her thoughts tucked securely within her own mind. After that she put away the dishes, trotted across the kitchen, down the galley and over to the parlour to grab a'hold of the feather duster, furniture polish and rag to begin her days menial chores. Before Geneva was able to leave the library, Mrs. Devereux spoke up to say,

"Geneva, i'm putting together a storybook quilt for the 80th Annual Founders Day Festival and I want you to help me."

"Yes'm. What's it you'd like me to do, ma'am?"

"Listen to me, and you listen good now, Geneva."

"Yes'm."

"I want you to go out to my garden shed, and pull up my antique  rug in the center the floor."

"But, ma'am! Nobody touches yo' rug, ma'am."

"Geneva, you take that rug and pull it plum up, y'hear me?"

"But ma'am..."

"Geneva, you do as I say, and, you pull up that rug. And then you pull up the floor board beneath that rug."

Solemnly Geneva answered, "Yes'm."

"Well Geneva, what are you waiting on?"

"You never said what's it you want me to do after that, ma'am."

With her lips positioned firmly she stated, "Oh, you'll know, Geneva."

"Yes'm."

Geneva couldn't believe her ears. She didn't know if her employers age had gotten a'hold of her mind giving Mrs. Devereux a bout of dementia or not, cause nobody, and I mean, but nobody EVER dared to touch that rug. Mrs. Devereux had made it clear that it was off limits a very long time ago. At least since Geneva's own mother worked for Mrs. Devereux, and maybe even since the time her grandmother worked for her, also.
She looked over at her employer, and saw that Mrs. Devereux looked every bit in her right mind as usual. She may have been a hundred and nine years old, but she was still very sharp about her wits. She had to be, or else they wouldn't continue to let her be the town's historian. Or, would they? Taking a bold chance, she trusted her employers judgement and swiftly went out to the garden shed and set about pulling up the beautiful antique Persian rug in the center of the floor and the floorboards underneath. It wasn't an easy task in any manner, and it took her most of the remaining work day to get it done. She actually had to pull up four of the wide plank, hand-scraped hardwood floor boards, but what she found beneath them made her feel she had unearthed something of real importance. It had to be for Mrs. Devereux to have it buried beneath the hardwood floors of her garden shed and covered by her very expensive antique rug. What she saw down there was a .....

Chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga, chooo-choo. Chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga, chooo-choo.

The sound of the locomotive's engine was always so loud. Even coming from the town square, it was ridiculously unfathomable how loud it was,
so much so that everybody in all directions of Butterville could hear it, even all the way out past the old Prejean Plantation. The sound of it made the hair around the nape of Geneva's neck start to curl up, especially as she gazed down into the ground staring at the heavy cedar chest she'd just discovered.

Chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga, chooo-choo. Chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga, chooo-choo.

The sound of the locomotive's engine was getting louder and louder. The chest was so heavy she couldn't lift it, even if she'd had help from another person, so she decided it'd be best to just leave it right where it was and tell her empl....

Something caught Geneva's eye. Beneath the lock was a tiny envelope that had been tied closed with a thin string of bakers twine. She opened the envelope and read the following riddle,

Do you wonder, or even ponder
To open the chest, go search over yonder,
The key is with its master, who by the cedar slumbers, and in the day favors cucumbers,
If you fail to find the master in time,

The trunks surprise rests with the sunrise

Geneva was no dummy and she quickly put the pieces of the puzzle together. Since she was in the garden shed she knew to search over yonder meant the main house, and the key with its master meant her employer cause by the cedar slumbers meant Mrs. Devereux's big heavy four post cedar wood bed. But if you fail to find the master in time probably meant for someone discovering the chest after Mrs. Devereux had passed on, but the trunks surprise rests with the sunrise? It was that part, Geneva wasn't so sure about.