DANGER LURKS IN MARLEY WOOD . . .
Something stirred behind the nearest tree. There was a rush of movement, and a face leaped into the gap between the branches. It was a face with two angry, staring eyes in it, and a pair of lips drawn back in a hideous scowl, teeth bared and nostrils blown wide, the whole of it pasted onto a human head and framed by a tumbling mass of orange hair.
But there all resemblance to humanity ended, for the head was perched atop a grotesquely long, sinewy, and altogether unhuman kind of neck, round which the orange hair streamed down like a waterfall.
Jemma saw the head snake its way towards her through the branches, saw it push its face right up to hers; and stopping there, its eyes mere inches from her own, it glared at her and growled...
Join Jemma Hathaway and her brother Richard, Ada Henslowe, Sir Hector MacHector and their friends in deepest Fenshire as they struggle to solve the unsolvable - the mystery of Marley Wood!
CHARACTERS
Bertram
A strange, small boy
Mr. Blathers
A fussy, learned little man in black
Dr. Owen Chevenix
The town physician; a small, delicate man with a clipped mustache
Matt Chugwell
Young son of the following
Mrs. Nan Chugwell
Owner of a team of shovel-tusker mastodons, headquartered at Deadmarsh
Clover
A small white cat, belonging to Mr. Anthony Oldcorn
Angus Daintie
A mastodon man, the young assistant of Matt Chugwell
Doughty brothers
Twin brothers, both yeoman farmers from out on the marshes
Farmer Dillweed
A lanky old yeoman farmer
Mr. Phoglander Finlayson ("Phoggie")
A fen-slodger, but a townsman, too, with a lively interest in civic affairs; lost an eye in a poling mishap
Gerald
A gray tiger tabby belonging to the Hathaways
Molly Grime
Young maid-of-all-work in the households of Mead Cottage and Mickledene Hall
Mr. Haggis
Fiery-featured gillie and groundsman in the service of Sir Hector MacHector
Miss Jemma Hathaway
Mistress of Mead Cottage, which she shares with her brother Richard
Mr. Richard Hathaway
The master of Mead Cottage
Miss Ada Henslowe
Friend and frequent companion of the Hathaways
Herbert
A black and white cat belonging to the Hathaways, brother to Gerald
Hortense
A pet glyptodont belonging to Vicar Ludlow and his wife
Mr. Arnold Inkpen
The town solicitor; an eager, ambitious young man
Mr. Walkadine Jagard
The bombastic Mayor of Market Snailsby
Mr. Erskine Joliffe
Mine Host of the Mudlark, a public house
Mr. Jorkens
Dour, dish-faced gillie in the service of Sir Hector MacHector
The Keeper of the Lodge
A mysterious, shadowy figure
Mrs. Locket
Nurse and housekeeper to old Mr. Jervas Wackwire
The Rev. Mr. Hugh Ludlow
The vicar of All Hallows Church, in Market Snailsby; son of a yeoman farmer
Mrs. Ludlow
His wife; a kind and gentle soul
Sir Hector MacHector
The Laird of Mickledene Hall, and a man of considerable standing in the county
Lady MacHector
His wife, a handsome woman some years his junior
Mrs. Phanny Maconchy
Wife of Mr. Wilkins Maconchy, joiner and wheelwright of Dragonthorpe; sister of Mr. Thomas Uckwatt of Foxcote
Mr. Murcott
A postman
Mr. Anthony Oldcorn ("Corney")
Long-time friend and neighbor of the Hathaways
Miss Alice Pingle
A pretty schoolmistress
Ranger
An immense shovel-tusker mastodon bull, leader of the Chugwell team
Rosie
A beautiful chestnut mare belonging to the Hathaways
Mrs. Mary Rudling
Cook and housekeeper at Mead Cottage
Sarah
A strange little girl, companion to Bertram
Jayne Scrimshaw
Maidservant at the vicarage
Mr. William Shand
The fen-reeve; by trade a brewer
Miss Sukey Elizabeth Shorthose
A tow-headed little scrub of a little girl, very inquisitive
Snap
A coach dog belonging to the Hathaways
Spinach
Miss Henslowe's stout little riding horse
Mr. Ingo Swain
An eel-trap man
Thrasher
A tiny, grizzle-coated terrier; Sir Hector MacHector's prized favorite
Mrs. Kitty Travers
Helpmate of the following
Mr. Samuel Travers
Sober-eyed landlord of the Broom and Badger, the chief posting-inn of Market Snailsby
Mr. Thomas Uckwatt
Respectable yeoman farmer from Foxcote, near Dragonthorpe; brother of Mrs. Maconchy
Mr. Jervas Wackwire
An elderly gentleman whose mind has gone
Whisk
A raucous gray squirrel belonging to Lady MacHector
Featured image: Detail from The Enchanted Wood (oil on canvas), by Elizabeth Adela Stanhope Forbes. (Private collection/Bonhams, London/Bridgeman Art Library)
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