Scenic Sanctuary Inn

We drove up the snowy, winding road towards the cozy A-frame cabin. It was everything the advertisement claimed, “Scenic Sanctuary Inn. A Bright and Homey A-Frame, with Spectacular Mountain Views.” The tall, triangular structure featured cathedral windows that took up the entire front, a bright green door, and a second-floor balcony for enjoying the view. 

Climbing out of the car, the cold hit me first. A cold so deep, I felt every injury I’d ever had in my forty years of life. Felt it deep in my bones. Cold unlike the fifty-degree “winter” that Florida boasted. Then, I got my first whiff of nature, pine trees, wood smoke, and a cold, damp freshness that hurt my lungs with its pureness.

“We’re a long way from Boca Raton.” My coworker, Amy, smiled as she pulled her coat closer around her narrow frame. She almost completely disappeared into the puffy orange jacket and dark beanie that hid her auburn hair. “At least there are no cubicles here.”

I needed this vacation more than I will admit. Work was hell, and I’d been staring at Excel documents for a month straight. Daily, my fingers cramped and my back ached, and I’d been breathing nothing but manufactured air for months. My two-minute mental breaks were spent stretching and gazing longingly at the winter wonderland magazine scraps pinned to the side of my cubicle. And when I wasn’t squinting at a computer screen, I was trying to navigate the corporate expectations of limited payroll but expecting more productivity. If my company had a motto, it would be “Expect More for Less.”

My teeth chattered, “I-I-I’d ta-ake a cu-u-ubicle here, if i-it meant no-o dragon-la-ady-y.” My boss made passive aggressive comments an Olympic Sport, and to be honest, we would’ve settled for “cramped and stuffy” if it meant we were away from work. Even so, “a relaxed country chic vibe with an air of mystery” seemed like heaven to two over-worked coworkers from the Sunshine State.

The cabin seemed the perfect place to destress and escape for the weekend. At least that was what we thought. Turns out, “the air of mystery” was more literal than we expected.

I stared at the note for five minutes, and still couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

“Read it again,” Amy said.

“Welcome, Friend, and stay a while.

I hope this place can make you smile.

If all you do is relax and play,

This cabin here is worth the stay.

But if you want adventure too

Then I have a gift for you.

“Treasure waits, though hidden well

Clues you’ll find, where secrets dwell

The first is this so do not blink

Strain your brain and try to think

What hides just inside you view

The light reveals your starting clue.”

I held the note up to the ceiling light. “I see nothing.”

“Maybe it’s an anagram… or do the first letters spell anything?” She grabbed a pencil and started scribbling words on a piece of paper.

“Wiitbt Tc— no. Definitely not first letters.”

“It’s not an anagram either,” Amy frowned and tapped the pencil eraser against the table. “Usually, I’m good at puzzles, but my vacation brain is dumber than my regular brain.”

“Should we look everywhere, just in case?” I looked around the compact accommodations. Everything was perfectly arranged to maximize space. The kitchen and dining area flowed seamlessly into the living area. “I mean, the cabin is not that big…”

We looked for over an hour, pulling out every drawer and cabinet, crawling under any furniture we could. We even checked inside the fridge. Besides a welcome wine that the host left us, coffee, hot chocolate, and some lemon and honey for tea, we had nothing.

Amy opened the wine bottle and poured two glasses. “We’re here for two days. We might find something later, but for now, I think we deserve this. First dibs on the hot tub.” She ran off to change, while I sipped the wine. “Light reveals…” I mumbled. “Maybe we’ll see it in the morning.”

Amy had already claimed the reclining seat in the hot tub, so I climbed into the upright seat next to her, holding the note in one hand and the wine in the other.

Amy closed her eyes and moaned as she sank deeper into the jets. “Put that note away,” she said without opening her eyes. “You’re here to relax and NOT think.”

I dutifully put it aside.

We laughed and gossiped about work and drank, first the free bottle, then our own stash, until we were pruny and tipsy and too relaxed to care. Though I could still see the note sitting on the nearby table, I tried not to think about it too much. We probably would’ve stayed in there all night, too comfortable to brave the cold and get out, but our bladders won out in the end. 

Amy got out first, and as she passed the table with the note, she shrieked.

“What?” I bolted out and grabbed a towel.

She laughed. “Invisible ink. It was inside our view the whole time, but the heat from the hot tub finally revealed it. They probably meant for us to check it by the fire.”

“What does it say,” I asked. The cold and bladder were both forgotten in the excitement.

“Five numbers are the key,” Amy intoned in a mysterious voice.

“To what?” 

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “The desk drawer had a combination lock. I think five numbers. Maybe it’s for there.”

“You didn’t tell me you found a locked drawer,” I said reproachfully.

She shrugged. “I didn’t have the combination.”

“We still don’t… Do any of the pictures have numbers hidden in them?” I realized I was still dripping, so I toweled off before walking to the side wall covered with pictures of previous guests having fun.

“Why would it be in a picture?” Amy followed.

“Clearly, you’ve never been to an escape room before,” I said. “They always hide clues in the pictures.”

“This one is holding up two fingers.” She pointed at a picture of a cheerful couple, where the man held up his fingers in a “V” shaped peace sign.

We poured over the pictures and found another two, four, seven, and one.

“Is there an order or do we just have to guess?” Amy asked.

“Left to right?”

We tried. 

It didn’t work.

We tried right to left.

Finally, we broke down and tried all combinations, turning the dial over and over until our fingers cramped.

“I don’t think those are the numbers,” Amy sighed, after we tried the final combination. ‘What about the code to get in the door?”

I shook my head. “That was only four numbers.”

We tried anyways, but eventually gave up. We were still in swimsuits, and though the fire burned brightly in the grate, I was starting to get cold.

“Tomorrow?” Amy said.

I nodded.

###

The morning gave us our next clue. Although the cabin was just enough turned so that the sun was not directly in our eyes, it still lit up the whole cabin like it was midday.

Amy pulled the blanket over her head and burrowed deeper into the nest of pillows and blankets she’d made. But I looked up. I was never one to sleep in too late. I rose with the sun, even on a day off.

The slanted rays illuminated the room and brought out details I hadn’t noticed before. The exposed oak trusses brought an elegant feel to the cabin’s cathedral ceilings. I stared in wonder, wishing I had chosen interior design or architecture as a profession. The ability to create beautiful places was a true gift.

I only noticed the scratches on a beam because they marred the otherwise pristine beauty of the wood.

I rolled out of bed and wrapped a blanket around me. I padded across the carpet for a better look.

Nine, four, one, three, and nine.

I ran over to try it on the desk drawer.

The click was so satisfying. 

I pulled out the drawer to reveal a scroll.

“What was the code?” Amy said from behind me.

I jumped, and then laughed a little and pointed at the ceiling. “The light revealed it.”

“Is it a new clue?”

I unrolled the scroll.

“Close you are, the end is near.

A secret stash is hidden here.

Time is short. Here comes the hour,

Higher than the tallest tower.

I’ll be nice and give a hand

If you find out where to stand.”

“What does that mean?” Amy asked.

I frowned and rubbed my temples. “Coffee first. Then riddles.”

“Don’t forget. We also have to go to town today for the Wine tasting and the Holiday lights tour.”

“I know… all the more reason to start with coffee.”

After we were properly caffeinated, we did try to figure out the clue, but there weren’t any towers in the cabin and we did not have time to search again. In the end, we were forced to abandon the search to head into town.

The wine tasting was good, and everything it should be. We were pleasantly unsteady on our feet by the end. We walked the town to sober up, shopping for gifts in the touristy stores. Finally, when the winter sun faded, we met up for the horse-drawn carriage tour of the holiday lights.

The town was lit up, every building festive with bright lights and cheerful holiday carols. There was something nostalgic and heartwarming about it. While I didn’t have any kids to spoil, I could still vividly remember the wonder and joy that came from the holiday season. It didn’t even take the lingering wine in my system to get me to sing Jingle Bells with everyone else. Even the town church joined in as the steeple bells rang the hour with a clang.

Amy grabbed my arm. “Here comes the hour!”

“What?” I shouted over the din.

“What has an hour, a tower and a hand? A clock! Isn’t there a grandfather clock at the cabin? I bet the clue is leading us to there!”

There was a clock. I remembered because the chimes went off during that weird state between dream and awake. It was quiet, but enough to affect my dreams.

When we got back, we raced inside to look in the clock. We opened it up, searched above, below, and inside the cabinet, but there were no additional clues.

“Darn, I thought we had it.” Amy sighed as she rolled back onto her heels from where she had been kneeling.

“Maybe we do.” I looked around the living room. There was a large circular rug that was kinda like a clock face. The clock was the spot of the twelve, and the L-shaped couch formed the three and the six. There were even parts of the rug pattern that could represent all twelve points. “Could this be the clock?” I motioned to the floor.

“Maybe.” Amy pulled back the rug, but there was nothing obvious underneath it. “Ugh. I feel like we’re so close.”

I pulled open the scroll again. “Maybe we have to stand on it… ‘If you find out where to stand.’”

“But where do we stand?” Amy laughed. “It doesn’t tell us which hour…”

“It says tallest tower. Does that clock face look like a tower to you?”

We examined it carefully. It looked like a village scene on the clock face, which would make the tallest tower…

“Quick, stand on the ten.” I pointed to a spot that was just past the couch.

Amy obliged, but nothing happened. She shrugged.

“Maybe ten o’clock,” I muttered. I went to stand on the twelve-point right in front of the clock.

Once we were both in position, there was a tiny click and a tiny door in the wall swung open, revealing a hidden space.

We raced over.

The cubby held many treasures. Fresh-baked cookies, wrapped carefully in a vacuum sealed bag, granola, mugs with hot chocolate mix and marshmallows. And a small polaroid camera with a note attached instructing us to add our picture to the wall.

Amy laughed. “Should we hold up three fingers to confuse people?”

I laughed too. “If we both do, then we are six.”

“Best vacation, ever.”

I nodded. We truly had forgotten about work. Every anxiety that had been plaguing me had melted away. I was more relaxed from a two-day vacation than I had been after my last week off staycation.

We spent the rest of the trip enjoying hot chocolate and one last time in the hot tub.

When we got back, no one believed our story, but of course, I now had proof. As my new coffee cup read, “I solved the Mystery of Scenic Sanctuary Inn.”