The Secret Garden

2.Craven's wife, Lilian, died ten years earlier. He constantly travels abroad, leaving the entire manor, including Mary. The only person who has any time for the little girl is the chambermaid Martha Sowerby, who tells Mary about a locked up garden, surrounded by a wall that was the late Mrs. Craven's favorite place. No one has entered the garden since she died because Archibald locked its entrance and buried the key. He hasn't told anyone where it is.

3. Mary finds the key to the secret garden buried outside with the help of the robin. The same robin shows her where the door is hidden beneath overgrown ivy. Once inside, she discovers that although the roses seem lifeless, some of the other flowers have survived. She decides to tend the garden herself. Mary wants to keep her new found garden a secret, but she knows she needs help tending it.

4. She gets this help from Martha's brother Dickon. He seems to have a connection with all wild animals and plants. Mary gives him money to buy gardening implements and he shows her that the roses, though neglected, are not dead. When Mary's uncle briefly meets with her for the first time since her arrival, Mary asks him for permission to claim her own garden from any abandoned part of the grounds, and he acquiesces. Thanks to her new-found interests and activities, Mary herself begins to blossom, becoming more healthy looking and more pleasant to be around.

5. Some nights, Mary hears someone weeping in another part of the house. When she asks questions, the servants become evasive. They tell her that she is hearing things, like a servant with a toothache.

5. Shortly after her uncle's visit, she goes exploring and discovers her uncle's son, Colin, a lonely, bedridden boy as petulant and disagreeable as Mary used to be. His father shuns him because the child closely resembles his mother. Mr. Craven is a mild hunchback, and both he and Colin are morbidly convinced that the boy will develop the same condition. The servants have been keeping Mary and Colin a secret from one another because Colin doesn't like strangers staring at him and is prone to terrible tantrums.

6. Colin accepts Mary and insists on her visiting him often, but as spring approaches, Colin becomes jealous that Mary is spending more time out in the garden with Dickon. One day, Colin threatens to ban Dickon from the grounds, but Mary matches his bad temper and storms out without an apology. That evening, Colin escalates into a hysterical tantrum, convinced that he is becoming hunchbacked and is going to die; Mary shocks him out of his hysteria by screaming back at him. She also demands to see his back, and points out that the lumps behind his neck are simply the outlines of normal vertebrae like her own. This makes Colin agree to allow Dickon to visit. Dickon comes and Colin enjoys his company. Colin invites Dickon to come back often.

7. Mary and Dickon bring Colin outside in a wheelchair so he can see his mother's garden. Delighted, he visits it with Mary and Dickon whenever the weather allows, ordering everyone else to stay away on those occasions. Despite these orders, the children are discovered by the old gardener Ben Weatherstaff, who tried to maintain the roses after Lilians' death by surreptitiously scaling the wall once or twice a year. Ben is angry with them at first, but agrees to share and keep their secret. Colin becomes more lively as the garden too returns to life. He makes plans to walk and run like a normal boy by the next time his father returns home; to accomplish these aims, he does a series of simple physical exercises and maintains a positive attitude. He makes great progress, but they conceal it from the rest of the household with the pretense that he is still an invalid.

8. Mr. Craven has been traveling through Europe, but is inspired to rush home after hearing the voice of his dead wife in a dream and receiving a letter from Mrs. Sowerby (Martha's and Dickon's mother, who also knows the secret) telling him, "I think your lady would ask you to come if she was here." He arrives while the children are outdoors and finds himself drawn toward the secret garden. As he approaches nearer, he is astonished to hear their voices inside the walls; Colin bursts out of the garden door toward him, actually winning a footrace against Mary. The story's heartwarming ending has Colin able to walk, Archibald smiling again, and Mary has a family and friends who love her.

These are copied verbatim from the rules enclosed with the board game. You may also obtain a pdf of the rules from Ravensburger.com. Contact their customer service by email and request instructions for game number 211777- the Secret Garden Game. Object of the Game: Enter the Secret Garden. Your task is to reach all of the magical objects, treasures and creatures before anyone else does. To fulfill this task you must use your powers to skillfully move along the garden paths, always positioning yourself closest to the magical objects so you can claim them. Before you begin: Punch out the 12 "Object" cards and the playing figures. Place the playing figures on their stands. Shuffle the object cards and place them blue side up, 1 on each of the 12 flower bouquets within the square garden paths.

Choose a playing figure and place it on any brown space along any of the garden paths. Playing the Game: Your goal is to be the first to land on the green, moss-covered spaces along the garden paths, which enables you to claim the magical objects within those paths. These objects will give you mystical power and help restore the neglected garden.

The youngest player may begin and play continues in a clockwise direction. The youngest player rolls one, two or three dice and moves as many spaces as the numbers thrown, in any direction, but only between those spaces connected with a black line. The decision on how many dice to throw is based on the distance you must travel on the board to enable you to reach a green space on an exact throw: If you are 6 or less spaces from the magical object - use on 1 die to try to reach the green space. If you are more than 6 spaces but less than 12, use 2 dice. If you must travel a great distance to claim the magical object, throw all 3 dice so you can move many spaces.

If you fail to reach a green space on this throw, your turn is over and it is the next player's turn to roll any number of dice and move his or her playing figure along the paths. Each player, in turn, tries to reach one of the moss-covered green stones along the garden path to claim a magical object. Claiming the object cards: The first player to reach a green space on the exact throw claims the object card that's on the flowered square within the path nearest his or her playing piece. Upong claiming it, the player turns it over to reveal another magical object, pictured on the reverse, yellow side. This is the next object all players must race to claim. If, for example, the yellow side of the card shows a squirrel, all players must race to be first to reach the green stone on the garden path nearest the blue card with the squirrel. The first player to arrive there, on the exact throw, claims the card, turns it over and reveals to all players the next object to be claimed. Note: 1. Two players cannot be on the same square. If the number rolled by a player lands him on an occupied space, he can move the other player to any other unoccupied space on the board. 2. All points received on a roll of the die/dice must be used. 3. Players may reach a green stone only by an exact throw. 4. It's always the last card claimed that determines the next goal for all players. 5. The card with the garden gate key holds the most power and therefore counts as 2 points. It is very lucky to claim this card! End of the game: The game is over when all magical object cards have been claimed. Each card counts as 1 point, except the one with the garden gate key, which counts as 2 points. The winner is the player who has the most points. There can be a tie, in which case the players may roll the die, and call "odds" or "evens" to see who wins!