Over Sea, Under Stone Chapter 9

Or, what Barney did that night, and what happened after.

Basically, Barney goes to sleep, but wakes in the night with a feeling that someone is in his room.

I like the little bits of detail that work their way into this chapter: the Drews' home in London, for instance, is a flat in a divided house, and it apparently does it's share of night-time creaking. Barney is used to this waking him, and has a whole little process for checking the room for burglars while appearing to roll over in his sleep, and then feeling silly because it's always just the house. The little tidbits like this make it seem like the characters have lives outside of the novel. Yay.

Except, here in the Grey House, it's nothing so benign. The door's slightly ajar, and SOMEONE IS IN THE ROOM WITH A TORCH! (That's flashlight to us Americans.)

Barney's still processing this, when he recognizes the mysterious invader's slight sniff; turning on the lamp confirms the intruder to be Mrs. Palk. ?!?! She claims to be looking for the cup Barney had earlier in the evening, which Jane had already returned downstairs.

Is Mrs. Palk evil? She could have legitimately forgotten about the cup and not want to disturb Barney, like she says (though in that case, why not retrieve the cup in the morning?).  Likewise, when she earlier saw Barney with the manuscript's telescope case, she could just have been curious about what he was doing. At the same time, the coincidences are starting to look suspicious, and I'm wondering if Barney's sudden sleepiness after the others left had more to do with a busy day outside or if Mrs. Palk purposefully detained him in the house and then drugged or enchanted him it in an attempt to steal the map.

The rest of the party arrives, and Simon catches Barney up on their discovery of the moonlight clue. Barney warns Simon against discussing anything in front of Mrs. Palk. I don't care for Simon's response, and am taking five points from Gryffindor:

“We shouldn't. She wouldn't understand it anyway.”

This reads like a classist, sexist, ageist, and/or region-ist dismissal (Mrs. Palk being older, a woman, a servant, and from a small rural village instead of London), and that's something I'd expect more from a villain than one of the heroes. Powerful villains underestimating seemingly lowly heroes is a staple of the whole fantasy genre. Simon could be (imprecisely) saying that she doesn't have the background information to connect their conversation to the manuscript and grail, but that's not how I or Barney understand it. Barney then explains about Mrs. Palk sneaking through his room and accuses her of wanting the map; Simon is “skeptical” about this new information.

At breakfast the next day, the kids are up earlier that Merry, and Mrs. Palk talks up the village festival while they eat; she encourages them to get outside so that Merry can sleep in after staying up so late. As Merry specifically said not to venture out without telling him, Barney finds this suspicious; Jane and Simon, however, disagree about Mrs. Palk being an enemy, and decide to leave a somewhat encoded message for Merry with her: they're taking Rufus on a walk. Merry will know that they mean 'going up to the Headland'.

I would like to recall at this moment that Jane's earlier stated an unfounded dislike of Mrs. Palk. While it bothered me, having it act as foreshadowing makes more sense that having Jane suddenly dismissing Barney's suspicions. Not that everyone you dislike is evil (though so far, it's between 4/4 and 5/5 for the kids, specifically Jane), but that it seems abrupt and out-of-character to presume this person benign, over-ruling not only that previous dislike, but also Barney's experience of the last night and the current pressure to divide them from their protector. Sure, it's all circumstantial, but the circumstantial evidence is mounting rather quickly.

When the kids leave (by a gap in the back hedge, since Bill, who chased Smon yesterday, is watching the front), Mrs. Palk cleans up very quietly, makes some tea, and tries on her fancy hat for the festival.

Two things that bother me here:

The first, is the use of the term “Red Indian Headdress” to describe the feather-and-ribbon-covered festival bonnet. The second is the focus on Mrs. Palk using the captain's best tea cup; while not explicit about motivation, it's depicted as somehow bad, like she's using things above her station because Team Evil is greedy and selfish.

Despite this, I was inclined to like her and assume naive good intentions which (coincidentally or through interference by the Dark) hinder the kids. That is, until she goes to wake up Merry and lies to him about where the kids are. Everything's done with the same largely-polite and helpful attitude she's always displayed before. Suddenly, it's clear that she drove them off and was being quiet, not out of concern for Merry, but because she wanted to separate him from the kids. She sends him off on a wild goose chase to Truro, by way of St. Austell, then heads off with her festival hat, smiling.

Yep, definitely working for "The Dark".

Character Update:

The “Light”

Prof. Merry Lyon: International Man of Mystery, Archaeologist, Bad Houseguest

Simon Drew: There's hope, but he needs to learn about not being a dismissive jerk.

Jane Drew: Hermione Granger, but occasionally handed the idiot-ball.

Barney Drew: Lucy Pevensie, but slightly less angelic; obsessed with King Arthur.

The “Dark”:

Mr. Withers: Fiendish antiquarian

Miss Withers: Friendly until the map comes up

Bill Hoover: Working for the Withers, fast runner, lousy bicyclist

Mr. Hastings: Vicar, wears black, frightens the kids

Mrs. Palk: Seems friendly, do not underestimate her

Unknown:

Dick Drew “Dad”: doctor, fishing enthusiast

Ellen Drew “Mom”: artist

Miss Haverton: family friend; artist and fishing enthusiast

Mr. Penhallow: the fisherman from chapter 1 who told Barney about Trewissick
Captain Toms: owns the Grey House, still unseen

Rufus: dog, gets along well with Barney

Vayne: skipper on the Withers' yacht; unseen

Rev. E. J. Hawes-Mellor: late vicar, wrote a guidebook to Trewissick which used the old name “King Mark's Head” for Kemare Head, which Merry found peculiar.