by GalFisk » Thu Jul 23, 2020 8:04 pm
Ok so both J and D are in the same area, which is the school, prior to when Jennings goes to do the assignment?
It seems as if we have a situation where J goes to do an assignment, which Darbi learns about, so Darbi assumes that since Jennings will be occupied, he (Darbi) should be able to use J's bike. But J does not end up having to stay to do the assignment and then goes to get his bike, which has been borrowed by Darbi. He locates the bike and uses it. Darbi therefore thinks that the borrowed bike has been stolen, shows some kind of distress and is seen by Herbert, who suspects that something is wrong. Darbi tells Herbert that he borrowed a bike to get to his current location and that bike is now missing. But Jennings has retrieved his own bike, so there is no foul play, but Darbi doesn't realize that the bike's owner is the one who took it from the place where Darbi left it.
Any or all of this accurate? Is there more to the story?
That's pretty much it. There are a few more characters and twists involved in the actual story, but that would've made the puzzle more complicated.
SPOILER:
The teacher, Mr. Wilkins, announces to the class that those who don't have to redo school work in their free hours, are allowed to bicycle into town. Jennings, Darbishire, Venables and Atkinson all look forward to this, but when Jennings gets his history homework back, he sees a note saying that he needs to use his free hours to redo it. "And in RED ink! Have you seen anything like it, men? Red ink!"
Jennings tells his friends that he's going to ask Mr. Wilkins if he can't do the work some other time. His friends don't think highly of his chances. Jennings leaves anyway, for the teacher's lounge.
Atkinson tells Darbishire that he'll treat him to donuts and soda if he comes along to the café, and Darbi is happy about this until he remembers that his own bike has a flat. Atkinson says he won't wait until Darbishire fixes it, so Darbishire decides to borrow Jennings' bike. He's in a hurry and originally plans to tell Jennings when they get back, but Atkinson thinks it's better to tell him right away. He asks Venables to tell Jennings what he's done, which annoys Venables, but he promises to do so.
Meanwhile, Jennings is telling Mr. Wilkins how he skipped the table tennis tournament in order to do extra work on his assignment, and as it was the extra work that landed him in trouble, the teacher agrees that he can redo it another time, and also gives him a package from his mom, with a new combination padlock for his bike. The code for the lock happens to be one of the historical years he'd gotten badly wrong, but Jennings agrees that now he'll never forget that one. "We should have such a lock for each one the historical years!" Mr. Wilkins thinks there must be better ways than that to learn them.
Jennings rushes out to tell Venables the good news, and Venables in turn tells him the bad news. Jennings takes the next bus instead, and meets up with Venables in town. They see Atkinson's and Jennings' bikes outside the café, and Venables suggests that Jennings run inside and give Darbishire a piece of his mind. Jennings needs to rush to the hardware store instead, to buy a chain for the padlock before closing time, so he just takes the bike. "Darbishire can walk home, if he can't afford the bus!"
Atkinson and Darbishire exit the café, satisfied by a nice meal, when they discover that Jennings' bike is gone. This is terrible! What'll Jennings say, when he didn't even ask permission before borrowing it? And it was brand new, too! They decide to report the theft to the police, and Atkinson had seen constable Herbert inside the café just prior. Before they can go back and look for him, he exits and approaches the two worried-looking boys.
Darbishire tells the whole story - how his bike was stolen, that it wasn't really his, but he had almost gotten permission to borrow it from his friend Jennings, who had to redo his history homework, and how the bike was a new, light blue racer with a flag and pennants, the owner's name under the seat, and multiple gears! "Oh, you can recognize it a mile away!"
Constable Atkinson promises to be on the lookout for the bicycle, and he gets the number to the school so that he can call if he finds out anything. Darbishire runs to catch the next bus.
Jennings and Venables return from the store, when the town policeman addresses them in a not very friendly way. "Where did you get this bike?" "My uncle gave it to me!" "Oh, your uncle? You didn't happen to find it outside this café?" "Well, yes, how did you know that?" "This bike has been reported stolen." After some back and forth, they manage to resolve all misunderstandings, and the constable apologizes and continues on his patrol. Jennings puts his chain through both their bikes. "You can't leave your bike unlocked when Darbishire is around!" He shows off his lock, "The combination is a secret, and I'm not telling anyone! But it has to do with this historical event, so you can try to guess."
I've only heard the Norwegian translation of the story, and in those, all characters and events are rewritten so that the stories takes place in Norway, and the historical event is a Norwegian one. That's why I don't know which one it was in the original.
After eating, drinking and having a good time, they decide to head back to the school before it gets dark, since Venables doesn't have a light on his bicycle. But when they try to open the lock, it doesn't open. They try several different historical years, but none of them work. Venables can't recall which year this particular event happened either, and now it's getting dark.
Then constable Atkinson comes back, and they explain the situation and ask if he knows some historic years. He does know some, but not this one. "Can't you call the school and ask your teacher, then? I happen to have the number written down." By coincidence, the phone number is the same as the year, so the boys praise constable Atkinson for his historical knowledge and head back to the boarding school.
Thanks for playing!