Apologies for the delay.
Chapter five begins with the children
catching each other up on their day's separate activities: Simon and
Barney's time on the yacht, and Jane's discoveries with the map. Jane
once again proves herself to be Hermione Granger: she's explaining
the results of her research to two boys who would rather disagree over the need for outside help than acknowledge her contribution to the project. At least, Simon decides to berate her for copying part
of the scroll and showing it to an adult, though Barney eventually manages to
admit that her discovery is, in fact, useful. To recap: Jane's
discovered that the manuscript contains a map of Trewissick,
albeit with a slightly different coastline, and consulted with the local Vicar, who asserts that the coastline hasn't changed.
We then skip to the next day, where
Simon wakes up to discover that the Grey House has been burglarized. Every book and picture is in disarray, but obvious valuables are left
alone; the children eventually will realize that the only items missing
are maps. Barney's suggestion of a ghost or poltergeist is ruled out
by a single foot print found under an open window, while the police
eventually declare it all to be a juvenile prank, perhaps from
someone with a grudge against Captain Tom. The police sergeant also
apparently knows and respects Uncle Merry to a certain extent. In
another world-building tidbit, the police are summoned from St.
Austell; apparently, Trewissick is too small to have its own force.
Also, my reading of Simon 'trying to act like an adult but not being
particularly good at it' gets some vindication:
“Simon was looking forward to eager
questions about his discovery of the crime. At the very least, he
thought vaguely, he would have to make a statement. He was not quite
sure what this meant, but it sounded familiar and important.”
The sexism update for this chapter
includes the police talking to Mr. Davies (and a little to Simon and
Professor Merry) but not to Mrs. Davies, who actually discovered the
footprint. She also deduced that it came from a crepe-soled shoe; I
see her as a grown-up version of Jane, noticing useful details, but not
being credited for it.
The children converse, with Jane and
Barney figuring that the intruders were deliberating searching for
something, and that they specifically took maps. All three realize
that the manuscript could be the target, and have a moment of panic
when it's not on the boys' wardrobe. Fortunately, Jane recalls that
she hid it in her bed during her outing the previous day, and discovers that it's still
there. In a change of pace, Simon credits her for finding such a
safe hiding spot; unfortunately, the narrative uses some unpleasant
terms to describe Jane's “hysterical” laughter upon remembering
where the scroll is, and has her “babbling” the explanation for
why it's there.
Also unfortunately, the last two pages
of the chapter start giving Jane Simon's idiot ball. She gets to
assert that it's “silly” to think the break-in was related to the
map as no one could have known about it. While she's right that it
lay undisturbed in the attic for years, their earlier argument about
her showing it to the Mr. Hasting suggests an obvious rebuttal to her
assertion: he could have deduced the presence of some sort of map
with the coastline Jane sketched, and either wanted it, or related
the information to someone else who did. Instead, Simon brings up a
“funny feeling” about Jane showing the sketch, and Jane insists
that vicars can't be bad—which either shows great faith in
humanity, specifically in the Church of England, or else a naivete
that feels slightly out of character for Jane, particularly in light
of the misgivings she felt while talking to this exact vicar the day before.
Barney quite naturally brings up Mr.
Withers' strange interest in maps in the Grey House. Now it's
Simon's turn to defend the suspect, though he doesn't even offer a
half-baked reason for asserting that “It couldn't have been him”.
Jane once again brings up the idea of
telling their parents about the manuscript. Under the circumstances,
she's really has a point. Simon tries to insist that it wouldn't help and that
they should have a chance to decode it alone. Barney insists that
it's their “quest”. Apparently, first rights to treasure and
chivalry ideals of quests outweigh their family's actual security.
The narrative earns my enmity by declaring Jane to be pompous when
she reasserts that “after last night” they really should tell
their father (who may be able to take steps to protect the family
and/or the manuscript) or the policeman (who's trying to figure out
the break-in and might benefit from knowing about a possible motive,
though his condescending words and conclusion-jumping suggest he
wouldn't be a particularly attentive audience).
The chapter ends with Barney realizing
they could tell Uncle Merry. It literally ends with this, so there's
no time for further reiterations that telling any adult would ruin
things—Simon has apparently forgotten his entire “no adults”
argument all of a sudden, or else he bring it up off-page, only for
Jane and Barney to outvote him. At any rate, the next chapter will start all three children unanimously angling for a private talk
between them and him.
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