Morning broke without any new developments and the day proceeded with much worry and concern for those waiting. At the close of the second day, some of the elders gathered to discuss what steps they might take to salvage the situation and it was at this meeting that it was decided upon to contact the Guardians of the Cave who were known to aid with such problems. The next day the Guardian arrived and having been briefed about the initial mystery and the ensuing disappearance of two valued members of the community she decided to enter the maze herself.
She first made a circumnavigation of the entire field of Rocks counting her steps to ascertain the overall distance of the border, then carrying some pots of paint, one white, one red, one yellow and one blue, she walked the border once more. She made a large mark of white on a rock at head height at the place where she began. Then, a mark in red at head height one quarter of the distance around and then a mark in yellow halfway round and finally a blue mark three quarters of the way around. Then taking the white paint first, she set off straight as was possible from the place of the white mark, towards the centre of the maze marking the rocks at head height every ten steps or so as the rocks would allow. After some two hours she came back and repeated the exercise from the red marker and then as the day wore on with the from the yellow and blue markers.
That evenings she gathered the elders and told them that so far she had seen nothing but that tomorrow she would go down the white marker line to the centre of the maze and then work in a spiral pattern out until she was satisfied that she had found everything that was hiding or lost in the Maze.
Then next morning was bright with fresh light as she set forth into the Rocks. Having gained the centre of the maze once more and set out on her spiral course, she soon noticed a small face, surrounded by a halo of tangled hair, peeping at her around a rock at the junction of one of the pathways. Pretending not to have noticed, she moved on around the next corner and then stood hidden against the stone that she had just turned about, hoping that the child would follow her. She was right and as the child slipped around the corner where she was hiding, she grabbed him by the sholders with a firm grip.
The child did not struggle and looked up into the Guardians eyes and said quietly, ‘I am the boy who knows all the paths but is always lost and I am the boy runs but never arrives.’
‘I know,’ said the Guardian, ‘But now you are the boy who knows all the paths but is found and you are the boy that stands still and has arrived.’
The boy held out his hands to her and she held them gently. ‘Now that you are found will you show me the garden where the lady is?’ The boy nodded and set off holding the hand of the Guardian.
They walked for some twenty minutes, twisting and turning until they came to the great black iron gates. The boy pulled open the gates which swung easily on their hinges and the Guardian and the boy entered the garden. They walked along the path between the trees and flowering bushes until they came to a pergola in which two figures lay sleeping peacefully. The boy stood in the centre of the pergola and watched the figure of an elegant woman carrying a covered basket, approach.
‘Welcome,’ said the woman in a gentle voice raising her eyes from the boy to the Guardian, ‘are you lost as well?’
‘No,’ replied the Guardian, ’I am not lost, I have come to help the Ragged Rascal, bring home these sleeping people and solve the mystery that you are.’
‘I am no mystery,’ said the elegant lady, replacing a lock of hair that had come free, ‘This is my hidden garden which I have tended this many a year. I live not far from here outside the maze in a chateau with my retinue. I feed this boy who lives in the Maze because his mind is tied to the maze and he will not let me help him in any other way. As for these two people they are exhausted and lost or lost and exhausted perhaps. Will you take them home safe for me?’
And so, it came to pass that the Guardian took the two tired searchers back out of the maze, following the path that she had made with the white paint marks, and safely reunited them with their families. She explained the circumstances of the Elegant Lady, her garden and the Ragged Rascal to the people that came to listen to her and laid all their worries to rest.
Before she left to return home, she left some Guardians of the Cave Visiting Tokens in the town, one in the Church, one in the town square and several in the Maze of the Rugged Rocks.
The Guardians of the Cave 