Writing for Fun
Up in the Gallery - Bob Wendelkin
November 2014
'Quiet!' shouted the teacher, 'or you won't go to visit Brakewell Abbey. Jessica stop pulling Nina's pigtail or you won't go at all,' as she tried to calm the children because they were all excited to have a day off from school and visit to the old mansion.
The teacher gathered the children together and checked them off as they climbed on to the coach.
The coach then set off on the relatively short journey to the abbey.
About half hour into the journey the children had got over most of their excitement and were settled down and their teacher thought that it was a good time to tell some of the history of the abbey.
'Now children, when was the Abbey Built?' asked the teacher. 'Yes Jessica?'
'Please miss, it was first built in 1335, but the monk's were evicted by Henry the Eight, then it was burnt down during the English Civil War by the Round Heads,' replied Jessica, she being the class know all.
'That's right. The present house was built and modernised during the following centuries. Brakewell Abbey as we will see was rebuilt mainly in the early part of the 1800's,' continued the teacher.
'Does anyone know who did most of the rebuilding?' asked the teacher.
'Please miss, please miss,' called out Jessica once more waving her hand in the air.
As no one else put their hands up the teacher had to once more to turn to Jessica.
'Yes Jessica?'
'Please Miss. The house was rebuilt mainly by a Hanoverian German. He was a German Baron who came over to England in 1803 when Napoleon invaded Hanover.'
'I can see you have done your homework, Jessica,' replied the Teacher.
'Yes miss, it's all on the Net,' replied Jessica as Nina started to pull her hair.
'The abbey being a grand mansion being built from the 14th to 19th century. Now as a result of Death Duty and the cost of running these establishments it passed into the hands of the National Trust,' continued the teacher hoping to draw a closure to the talk, so that the children would settle down until the coach arrived at the Abbey.
But Jessica hadn't finished she wanted to tell the teacher more of what she had found out about the house.
'Please miss, there was a mysterious happening in the 1840's when the Baron's daughter disappeared,' called out Jessica.
'Don't tell me you know what happened to her,' replied the teacher with just the merest hint of exasperation in her voice, as she was not a good traveller and wanted to be quiet.
'No miss the Net didn't go into any detail, but we may find out more when we get there,' replied Jessica totally unaware that her teacher just wanted her to be quiet.
'Okay, children, settle down we should soon be at the Abbey.'
About half hour later the Coach pulled into the coach park and the children were told to stay in the coach until one of the teachers had made contact with their guide.
The teacher with the guide climbed back onto the coach and the guide began to address the children.
'I welcome you all to Brakewell Abbey. Your teacher has told me that she has explained some of the history of the Abbey. We will start in the Downstairs area where the servants prepared the food and organised the running of the house,' said the guide.
'Just like Downton Abbey,' called out Jessica excitedly.
'Yes, just like Downton Abbey, then we will go through the house to see where the Masters lived and conducted their lives. Finally we will go up to the Gallery and see the portraits of the Baron's family. Come along children and please try to keep together.'
The children following the guide made their way to the 'Below Stairs' entrance into the Abbey and into the kitchen.
'This in many respects this is the heart of the house. A big house revolves around its kitchen. In the hay days of the house up to 50 meals were prepared for each meal time,' said their Guide.
Jessica started to wave her hand to ask a question. The guide seeing her asked what she wanted.
'Miss did the staff eat the same meals as their Lords?' asked Jessica.
'It's hard to tell but I'm certain that on many occasions too much was cooked for Upstairs and it couldn't be wasted, could it?' replied the guide.
They continued going from room to room gradually making their way to the highest part of the abbey where the Gallery was to be found.
As they progressed to the upper part of the abbey they came to a room where there was a portrait of a beautiful young women in red dress, she was sitting at a table with a white rose in her hand.
'This painting was found in the attic, it is believed to be the portrait of the Baron's daughter who went missing in the first part of the 19th century. It was always said that she fell in love with a young farmer and they both sailed to America and disappeared from history. We think the Baron was so upset that he had the painting removed from view,' informed the guide.
'Come on, Nina, let's leave this lot and go up to the Gallery where we can wait for the others to arrive. All we are being shown is boring rooms,' said Jessica to her friend.
'No, Jessica, I'm staying with the group,' replied Nina with quite a firmness in her voice. 'If you want to go you go on your own.'
Jessica made her way to the back of the group and as she had a plan of the Abbey she found her way to the Gallery.
When she got there the Gallery was deserted. The wood panelled walls were lined with family portraits. Jessica walked along the gallery with her hands behind her back pretending that she was a grand lady taking her daily exercise. As she walked along the gallery she saw a young woman sitting in an old fashioned red dress in one of the window seats. She was crying and looking out of the window. Jessica went up to her and placed her hand on her shoulder, she was startled and swung round to look at Jessica.
Jessica thought she was a dressed up Guide, a part of the show put on to entertain the visitors. Jessica thought she would play along.
'What's the matter, you seem so very upset?' asked Jessica.
'My father has banned me from marrying my love. My father says a daughter of a Baron should marry someone better than a Farmer, but I love him,' said the girl.
Jessica suspecting that it was about entertaining the visitors.
'Could you tell me what year this is?' asked Jessica.
'Don't be silly this is 1843, and we are in England and Queen Victoria is on the throne,' answered the girl a little sharply.
'You must be the Baron's daughter who went off to America with your farmer and no one heard of you again,' said Jessica.
'That's what my father told everyone, but in truth he shut me away in a room just off this gallery,' answered the girl.
They had a long conversation and the girl told her a lot of her history. Just as Jessica was about to ask another question her party of school children arrived in the gallery. Jessica turned to see them and when she turned back the girl she had gone.
'Here we have the Gallery where a lot of the family portraits are kept. We are going to replace the portrait we found in the attic of the daughter who went off to America with her farmer lover,' said the guide as she waved her hand pointing out the pictures.
'Her father locked her up in a room just off this gallery, where he intended her to stay,' said Jessica in a loud voice.
'How do you know that?' asked the guide.
'She just told me,' said Jessica as she rushed over to the side of the gallery where she found the button which she had been told was there, she pressed it and a part of the wall slid aside revealing a dark room.
The guide went cautiously into the room where she found some remains dressed a red wedding dress.
'Keep the children out,' said the guide.
'Come, children, we must leave and let our guide to sort this out,' said their teacher, thinking of her charges.
'But, miss, there is more,' called out Jessica.
Before anyone could stop her Jessica started to tell the story of what actually happened.
'The farmer's brother worked in the house and knew of the relationship between his brother and the Baron's daughter. He found out the Baron had locked her up in a room and he decided to release her. To stop the Baron hunting her down he had a plan. He knew an undertaker and who had access to bodies and in 1843 he got one and dressed it in a Red dress and hid it in the room. The Baron went into the secret room and found a dead body, thought he had killed his daughter so he rushed off to the safety of Germany leaving the Abbey. The Baron's daughter escaped and she went off with his brother to America where they had a successful and happy life. The brother also went off to America and became a millionaire.'
'Well now we know what happened, come children,' said the teacher anxious to get the children home and out of this situation.
