The Tale of Hawthorn House: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter

The Tale of Hawthorn House: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter by Albert, Susan Wittig. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780425216552.

The joyous Summer Fete brings people from far and wide to the village of Sawrey for a day of music, arts, and food. But Miss Beatrix Potter receives an unexpected - and possibly long-term - visitor in the form of Baby Flora, left in a basket on her doorstep with a note, a sprig of hawthorn, and a scarab ring. All Beatrix knows about Floras previous guardian is that she was a gray-haired woman, capable of scaling a brick wall in seconds ... With Hill Top Farm to run, Beatrix leaves the baby in the care of Captain Miles Woodcock, the Justice of the Peace, and his sister Dimity, who happily takes Flora into her heart. No one in Sawrey has recently become a parent, so the Captain deduces that the child must belong to the band of gypsies camped just outside of town. But the gypsies deny knowing anything J about the child - or the mysterious ring inscribed To R. K. Forever. Further investigation reveals that the ring was pawned and reclaimed in Sawrey by a resident of Hawthorn House. The legendary manor is supposed to be vacant - and rumored to be haunted. Now Beatrix and her animal friends are left pondering the possibility of fairy folk involvement in these utterly puzzling happenings.