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Rootbound — Flat No.14, Page 6

By Suha · Published

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Transcript

Night in the keeper's office. Fern sits at a heavy wooden desk under the green glass of a banker's lamp, a big leather ledger open before her. A brass key ring and the notched trowel sit set aside. She runs a fingertip down a ruled column in the old handwriting. A caption reads: “1957. One cutting, No.14, gifted to A. Thorpe.”

Image description

Fern works at a wooden keeper-office desk at night under a green banker's lamp, one finger running down a ruled ledger column; a brass key ring and a notched trowel lie aside. A bubble reads '1957. One cutting, No.14, gifted to A. Thorpe.'

About this chapter

The ghost of Opal Renwick, the garden first head gardener who died in Glasshouse 03, asks Fern for one last favour tied to a dried blue orchid she gave away in 1957. Fern search of the ledger, a grave, and an old love letter leads to Ida Thorpe, who kept the pressed blue flower all her life. When Fern shows Opal that the promise was kept, the ghost passes on, leaving a single living orchid. A cozy, melancholy murder-free mystery.