Southend U3A

Writing for Fun

April 2016

Working with a Vengeance (Rocky part 2) - Gerry Miller

Rocky had settled well into university and began work with a vengeance leaving little time to get to know the others in his digs. All he gleaned from their passings on the landing or kitchen was that Adam was an IT nerd and appeared of a serious disposition. Jody a second year student whose father owned the house was studying a fine arts degree and acted the proverbial scatterbrain.

The patchwork quilt was pinned to the wall and it was the first thing he saw in the morning and the last thing he saw at night. Although Rocky was always comfortable with being adopted he had felt that part of him was missing. And the patchwork quilt had been such a surprise when he and his adoptive mother had found it in the box of his birth belongings. It was beautifully made; he loved the quilt. It showed him a castle, a very old hall that looked like Wayne Manor and a large church. There were deer roaming around interspersed between the pictures and some random letters of the alphabet. It depicted many woodland and floral scenes from stags to woodpeckers and white heather to pink carnations; it was a real work of art. Whoever had made it had put much time and dedication into it.

The end of the first semester left Rocky exhausted, he had vowed to get ahead and then find time to be able to put some research into the quilt and any links it may have to his birth parents. Both his adoptive parents were certain that this was meant to be a trail to her; it was now up to him to try and follow it. Removing the quilt from the wall he walked into town to the castle museum, he was slightly anxious, not knowing what he may or may not find. The assistant at the Help Desk took a very serious interest in the quilt and recognised the castle which was the very building they were now in. So at least Nottingham City was the right place; she said they had a student cataloguing some of the artefacts and she may well be able to help. Rocky took a seat and waited.

Finally the staff door opened and out walked Jody, she was pleased to at last meet him in more than a towel as they passed between their rooms and the bathroom. Rocky explained his situation and Jody led him into an office where he carefully laid out the quilt for her to see. Instantly she recognised the castle and she agree that the building looked remarkably like Wayne Manor. Jody took some photos and, tablet in hand, they started to focus and a list of objects anagrams and buildings started to appear:

1. Nottingham Castle, Wayne Manor, and a large church.

2. The wildlife consisted of deer, stag and a woodpecker.

3. The flora consisted of trees, pink carnations, white heather, and purple hyacinths.

There were miscellaneous items that were plentiful in the design shaped items looking like reef knots, some like hot loaves, and of course the various letters of the alphabet. The morning had flown past and Rocky asked Jody to come to the pub with him. Jody emailed all the info to Rocky's laptop. He really felt happy, he had not only enjoyed her company but the quilt was starting to make some sort of sense, and he now had a starting place to work from. This was proving to be the welcome, though slightly anxious, break he had needed from his studies. Jody found seats by the pub window and Rocky went to the bar; as he turned and watched her he saw her knocking at the window and Adam came in and sat with them. Rocky returned to the table with their drinks and then returned to the bar to buy Adam's. Jody had by this time taken out her tablet and was showing their morning's labour to him. The geeky but quiet Adam had come alive and the info was sent to his laptop. They chatted and laughed and Rocky felt comfortable and relaxed, they knew his story of abandonment and both had no intention of letting him trace his history on his own. Adam soon left them saying that he would work on the letters, what significance if any in the colouring of them, were they anagrams, symbolic or referencing to some organisation. Jody agreed that she would work on the buildings and see if they could be possibly linked to each other. This left Rocky with the wildlife, trees, the woodpecker and the loaves. Jody returned to work and he sat in the pub bemused. All of a sudden things were moving and a feeling of nausea crept into his stomach.

Rocky went back to his room and exhausted fell fast asleep. He woke up to the ringing of the phone and his mum about to leave a message. Grabbing the mobile he chatted away and his parents said they wanted to come up tomorrow for lunch, as they wanted to take him out. Rocky readily agreed and the next morning they arrived to a hastily cleaned room, kitchen and bathroom. His parents were happy and cheerful and explained they had somewhere to take him and it was within walking distance.

The day was bright and sunny; Rocky told them about the work undertaken on the quilt and that Nottingham Castle was in the border. They walked past the university main building and the Theatre Royal Concert House and then looming into view was the large cathedral church of St. Barnabas. It was a grade two listed building designed by Pugin. His parents led the way in and along the side nave to the east and there Rocky stopped dead. In an alcove was the statue of La Pieta, this was where he had been left safe and secure at the feet of the mother of God. His parents hugged him as he became overwhelmed with emotion. His dad disappeared and came back with a volunteer guide at the church and they went through the vestry and into the room where church records were kept.

The Rector appeared and with the volunteer brought down the church records for the year that Rocky was born. And there it was a simple notation stating a baby boy was found amongst the rocks of La Pietà after confessional on his birth date. The baby was collected by Social Services that evening; no one else was recorded as being present in the cathedral at that time. His family thanked everyone concerned for their time and kindness and left to gather their thoughts over lunch.

Rocky showed his parents the research that he had carried out with Jody yesterday and said how his roomies had come up with the lists and allocated out the tasks. The church on the quilt could now clearly be identified and Rocky sent an email to both Adam and Jody to identify St. Barnabas. One more item taken off the list; Dad wondered if they were making it all too hard and for example the trees and knots clearly could be symbolic of Nottingham and its forests and trees. A simple and clear indicator to the town and city, though the woodpecker puzzled them all.

His parents left and Rocky returned to the cathedral and just sat staring at the statue; this was where the knowledge of his life now began. That evening the roomies met up in Adam's; as part of his thesis he was designing a programme that would help to solve codes. He had worked tirelessly to input all the letters, flowers, colours and other items. The programme came up with a few ideas some of which were highly plausible. The flowers came first and in the language of flowers meanings were clear: White Heather was for Protection, the purple Hyacinth could be either 'I'm Sorry' and or 'Please forgive me' and the pink Carnation was 'I will never forget you'.

The messages were emotive and appeared to symbolise a mother who had no choice in parting from her tiny son. Adam said that the only symbolic reference he could find for the woodpecker was of 'returning' or 'to return'. The letters of the alphabet had given him the name of 'Annabel' and the loaves with the wavy lines over them suggested either a 'microwave' or maybe a trade such as a 'miller' or 'baker'. Adam had then really excelled himself and ruling out the microwave he checked the Family History site and had come up with a Mary Annabel Baker registered in Nottingham in 1954. The Millers, he said, appeared irrelevant.

Jody had been fidgeting and trying to get a word in edgeways but Adam, once he had the bit between the teeth, could not be stopped as he whizzed in and out of his computer with so many links opened Rocky and Jody were feeling their eyes rolling in their heads. At last she screamed at them, 'I've got something too you know,' and the boys at last shut up. Jody said that she had found Wayne Manor and it had been used as Bruce Wayne's home for the Batman film. It was the local deer park and was called Wollaton Hall. Before the spread of Nottingham city it had been near a small village called Long Eaton. Now it was only three miles from the City Centre and an easy visit.

Jody, the social network guru, started to trawl through social sites, Twitter, Bepo and Facebook, finally onto Flickr; she downloaded a photo of the quilt asking could anyone identify the talented embroiderer who made it. Now they just had to wait. Adam again took over the conversation stating that Mary Annabel Baker had at the time of the eighties census a daughter named Annabel Baker. No father was listed at that time. Looking at the dates they could all see that Annabel would have been not quite seventeen when she had given birth to Rocky? The friends collectively sighed; they were emotionally drained, physically tired and all hungry. A break was called for and they retired to the kitchen and waited for Pizzas to arrive. Collating all of the info Adam made a brief précis of all the information.

Rocky Baker, son of Annabel Mary Baker, daughter of Mary Annabel Baker.

Resident at Wollaton Park in Long Eaton Nottingham.

Placed in St. Barnabas Cathedral, Nottingham.

By the time they finished their Pizzas it was far too late for an early night. They had as now was becoming a habit worked hard with a vengeance. Tomorrow they were going on a picnic to the Deer Park at Wollaton Hall. Little did they know what excitement was to follow!