Bedtime Story Cache 1 - Church Mouse Mystery Cache
Bedtime Story Cache 1 - Church Mouse
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Had a busy day geocaching? Pick up a clue at the coordinates provided, and then relax for a bed time story. After you have read the story and solved the simple clues, the cache is a 5 minute walk away. See also Bed Time Story Cache 2 (GC24JYB).
Young children shouldn't find this puzzle too hard with some help. I suggest reading the story in full first, and then going back to write down the answers to each clue. For the youngest geocachers, you may want to bring some counters or use some objects such as coins to represent the cakes in the story. An adult will be needed to read the story (in a nice story telling voice please) and to turn the 3 clues in to cache coordinates. I'd love to hear about who came and enjoyed the story - and how hard or easy they found it before I create Bedtime Story Cache 2!
Park at the coordinates on this page. These are NOT the coordinates of the cache. Collect a telephone number from an obvious sign and use this to obtain the coordinates of the cache from the story below.
Are you sitting comfortably? OK let's begin.
Church Mouse lived in a dusty, squeaky old organ in a small country church. Early one morning he slid out of the pipe where he slept and looked out through the diamond leaded windows at autumn colours. “Today I must clean the organ in time for the Harvest Festival,” he thought to himself, “But first I think I feel like baking some cakes for my cousin Country Mouse.” In just a few minutes he baked himself a lovely batch of sweet smelling seed cakes.
[Clue 1: Work out the number of cakes he baked by adding the 1st and 5th digits of the phone number.]
The smell must have been wafting out through the window because as soon as the cakes were out of the oven there was a knock on the Church door. It was Rusty the Robin. Church Mouse welcomed him in. “TWEET! I have come to scoff all your cakes!” said Rusty. Church Mouse explained that he had baked them for his cousin Country Mouse, but kindly gave one to Rusty.
Rusty left without saying thank you and Church Mouse decided to curl up for a rest. He had just begun to nod off when there came a second knock at the door. This time it was Bert the Blackbird. Church Mouse welcomed him in. “SQUAWK! I have smelt your cakes and would like to eat them. Every last one!” demanded Bert. Again Church mouse explained that they were in fact for his cousin Country Mouse, but shared just one cake with Bert. Bert scoffed the cake and fluttered off without thanking Church Mouse.
As soon as Bert had left Church Mouse curled up again to go to sleep. He had only just closed his eyes when he heard a loud noise outside. This time it was coming from the window. He opened the window and in fluttered Spike the Starling. “PIP PIP! I caught a whiff of your cooking and have decided to eat all your cakes!” said Spike, tapping his beak rudely on the floor. Without waiting for Church Mouse, Spike greedily grabbed a beak full of cakes and headed off.
[Clue 2: Work out how many cakes Spike took by finding the last digit in the phone number.]
[Clue 3: Now work out how many cakes Church Mouse has got left after feeding Rusty, Bert and Spike.]
Church Mouse decided to head off to visit Country Mouse before any other visitors came. He bundled the remaining cakes in to a basket and hurried off. Country Mouse lived in a small plastic tub not far away and was glad to see his cousin. They shared the cakes and had morning coffee together. Church mouse had spent so long telling his cousin about the rude visitors that he lost track of the time. “Oh dear,!” he squeaked, “how will I get the organ cleaned before the morning?” He rushed off home, saying goodbye and thank you to his cousin.
When Church Mouse arrived home, he was surprised to see group of birds waiting for him. It was Rusty, Bert and Spike. “We are all so sorry for being rude,” chirped the birds together, “Please let us help you to dust the organ.” So together the animals dusted and polished the organ. It looked as good as new in time for the Harvest Festival.
Now you have seen where Church Mouse lives, let's go and find the home of Country Mouse....ask an adult to help with this bit.
N 53 33.X90
W 001 4Y.03Z
X=Clue 1
Y=Clue 3
Z=Clue 2 + Clue 3
The cache (a 10cm x 4.5cm black cylindrical container) originally contained:
Welcome note
A 'First to Find' certificate.
A tiny book
Screwdrivers
A Highlighter Pen
Stickers
A Kaleidoscope
The 'Proving Trail Geocoin'
A log book, pen and pencil sharpener are inside a zip bag along with a sachet of silica gel. Please look after this all carefully.
Please note the terrain rating will go up in summer as nettles and weeds grow. However these are cut back by volunteers every so often.
The hint is for the cache location, which is located within a local countryside project. Access is granted for all, and the paths should be wheelchair accessible. Just watch out for weeds in the summer.
After the cache why not explore the Countryside Project further? It is evolving slowly and will eventually involve lakes and paths across the 10 acre site. If you have kids with you, there is a nice playground which is back down the lane towards the main road (but I guess they already spotted it.)
---*--- FTF 3 Edges ---*---
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
sebz gur cngu ybbx sbe n zbffl fgbar ba gur bgure fvqr bs n gerr