While lighting the candles in a large estate, Brunswick comes across a secret passageway to a set of secret rooms full of books, musical instruments, and the like. He learns of the secret society of the Wicktrimmers - a group of kids who teach themselves to read, play musical instruments, and learn practical skills. This story is about who they are and what they did with all they learned. Do they rise above the poverty servitude of their parents? What do they do with what they learned? How did this Wicktrimmers' society begin?
Excerpt:
You said you want to know about this house? Ok, but you might want to sit down a bit; it’s a long story. It all happened about thirty years ago. No, no, I should start at the beginning. It all started when I was just a young lad, like yourself. I remember it clearly now, it’s all coming back. My mom and I, Brunswick (for that is my real name), arrived at the Moorsely house early one summer morning. I remember being impressed with how big the house was and wondering what sort of people the Moorselys were. I knew they were rich, owning several large houses and a lot of land. I was only nine years old when we moved.
The “Moorsely House,” or so it was called by the townsfolk was more like a mansion than a “house.” The Moorselys were rarely ever there- you see they had a number of “houses” as well as 2 proper mansions. They spent most of their time in the mansions- one up in the mountains where they could enjoy a rather cool summer, and the other (which undoubtedly was their favorite) where they passed the winters away. The Moorsely House that my mom and I moved into was just a vacation home to them. I’ve heard that when they were come, you have to be careful not to call it the “Moorsely House” because they prefer it to be called “Rosefield” for the rose garden that surrounded the back of the house. If truth be told, Rosefield is it’s proper name.
The house itself was a rather large, impressive, 3 floor house, built in the shape of a horseshoe. On the first floor were the kitchen, dining room, a grand front entrance and foyer, a few sitting rooms, and a library. The second floor was mostly bedrooms (a guest bedroom or two as well as the bedrooms the Moorsely’s stayed in when they came) and a great big room (with hardly any furniture; you see they loved hosting big banquets and dances so they would use this room as a dance hall). The third floor had a few more guest bedrooms and a few of the higher up servant’s quarters. You see, the Moorselys themselves didn’t want to stay on the third floor because they hated climbing up that many stairs every day, so they preferred the second floor. The rest of us servants lived in the basement, which was nice and cool in the summer, but dreadfully cold in the winter.
When my mom and I arrived, the head house servant, a rather short lady named Harrieta, came out to meet us. She seemed rather nice at first, but later I realized she was always a bit preoccupied and busy with matters of the house to really take time to listen to people like me. Nevertheless, my mom said she was a good boss to work for.
“Now get your bags and follow me. You’ll be living with the rest of the servants in the basement. The only way to get into the basement is the backside of the right side of the house.” Harrieta said.
“Are there any other kids around here?” I asked.
“Yeah, now let’s see…there’s a lad a little older than you- his name is Henry. There’s also a young girl here, Alexandra, and her twin sister, Alyssay. Then there’s Michael. I think that’s it. I don’t know where they’ve all run off to now. You’ll see them soon enough, you can be sure of that.”
“Are the Moorsely’s home?” I asked in ignorance.
“No, you see they are hardly ever home.” She said in a matter of fact voice. “We haven’t seen them in the past half year or so.”
I remember thinking to myself, “Why would they have a house and not live in it?” I started to think about who these Moorselys might be, but my daydream was interrupted as we came to the door of the basement. As she opened it I remember thinking how dark it looked. Sure, there were windows from the bedrooms, but it was still significantly darker than the bright outdoors. There was just one long hallway with rooms on both sides.
“Now you’re room will be the third door on the left. The first few rooms you see here are for servants, the latter rooms are for storage.” She informed us.
The room itself wasn’t much; it was plain and simple compared to the place we lived before. There was a window with curtains, which added a pleasant touch to the place, along with a bed, bookstand, and wardrobe.
