The Long Way Home
Reminder Page

Introduction

Ever start reading a story and realise partway through that you can’t quite remember how the previous parts went? It may just be that I’m very forgetful, but it happens to me all the time.

So, as a service to you and to help me to remember to actually answer all those burning questions, I present the Reminder Page.

By the way, I’ve spaced everything out liberally to avoid spoilers for those who don’t want them.

Use these links to navigate, or just scroll down.
0. Do You Remember When… 1. The Secret of the Rose 2. Miss Bates’ Puzzle
3. The Broken Years 4. The Trouble With Antonia 5. Lover’s Knot
6. Under the Apple Tree 7. Too Many Changes 8. Falling
9. The Mystery of the Missing Elf 10. Ourobouros 11. The Ends of the Earth
12. Growth Rings 13. Mystery in the Mail 14. Seven Weeks
15. The Music Box 16. Inside Information 17. Tell Me a Secret
18. Genesis 19. The Broken Window 20. Fascination
21. Winter’s Approach 22. Entanglement 23. Responsible
24. Echoes 25. Endurance 26. Endings and Beginnings
27. One Impulsive Act 28. Thunderstruck 29. Better Every Day

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Story 0: Do You Remember When…

An introduction to the universe. Honey and Diana have a sleepover at Trixie’s place to celebrate Trixie’s 35th birthday. They give her a photo album filled with memories as a gift and the three talk and laugh about the good times they’ve had together.

Unanswered questions from this story include:

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Story 1: The Secret of the Rose

Jim and Brian have finished high school but are yet to begin college. A surprise inheritance gives Jim a house - Rose Cottage - right next door to the Manor House, some family treasures and a glimmer of hope that he might have another living relative.

While the Bob-Whites band together to fix up Jim’s new house, Trixie investigates. At the end, she relates the story of another tragedy in Jim’s family history.

Tip: If you still haven’t quite remembered all the details, go to the Timeline page and scroll down. There’s plenty of dates there for events in this story.

Back to Miss Bates’ Puzzle

Back to The Broken Years

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Story 2: Miss Bates’ Puzzle

The Bob-Whites revisit Cliveden one year after their first trip. Miss Bates has a little puzzle for Trixie to solve, seeing as she did so well the first time.

This story takes place within the timeframe of the previous one, The Secret of the Rose. (See also the previous section.)

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Story 3: The Broken Years

From the time when Jim and Brian start college to when Trixie starts, taken from Trixie’s diary.

A number of things have changed:

Unanswered questions from this story include:

Back to The Trouble With Antonia

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Story 4: The Trouble With Antonia

We join Trixie and Jim in New York City just after Trixie begins college. She is studying Archaeology at Hunter College, part of the City University of New York. Diana is studying Art History at UCLA. Honey has disappeared.

This story focusses on Trixie’s new room-mate, Antonia, who has inadvertantly become involved in the theft of a valuable painting.

At the end of the story Trixie and Jim have their first date.

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Story 5: Lover’s Knot

A series of snapshots of different relationships between the Bob-Whites and selected others.

A number of things have changed:

Back to Under the Apple Tree

Back to Too Many Changes

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Story 6: Under the Apple Tree

Celia finds a box buried in the orchard. This leads to a long-ago mystery and Trixie and Jim set out to solve it.

Jim inherited Rose Cottage from Thelma Henley. Her sister, Agatha, was engaged to be married to Frederick Hamilton. On his way to see her one day he is killed in a train crash. Agatha was pregnant and single in the early 20th century.

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Story 7: Too Many Changes

Di transfers once again and moves to New York City. She is surprised by the changes she sees in her friends. She sets about organising a reunion of the Bob-Whites and eventually succeeds.

Di is particularly surprised by:

Back to Falling

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Story 8: Falling

A flashback triggered by a single line in the previous story: “Just don’t give us the ‘living in sin’ lecture, okay? ” [Dan] replied. “I’ve had enough of that one from Uncle Bill. ”

Explores how Dan and Honey came to have a relationship in the first place, let alone move in together. Also looks at how Dan copes with the consequences of deciding to move in with Honey.

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Story 9: The Mystery of the Missing Elf

The Beldens’ Christmas is interrupted by the discovery that their heirloom elf, Dinky, is missing. Trixie gets into detective mode to track down the little rascal.

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Story 10: Ourobouros

Diana’s Bob-White reunion gets off to a rocky start but thanks to some persuasion on Trixie’s part everyone shares their grievances and they start to move past them.

Questions which are answered in this story include:

Back to The Ends of the Earth

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Story 11: The Ends of the Earth

Mart takes some time off to work and travel. He meets the Matthews family in Australia. He spends Christmas with them before going on to New Zealand and then home to finish college.

While in New Zealand, he burns a letter which has been bothering him for some time.

Unanswered questions from this story include:

(Tip: There’s a page with maps and other information on his trip which you can find here.)

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Story 12: Growth Rings

This story is a companion piece to the next one, Mystery in the Mail, and deals with the events of Trixie and Jim’s lives at the same time as the mystery.

Tom and Celia decide to move out of Rose Cottage. After receiving a job offer in Sleepyside, Jim moves in but the distance puts a strain on his relationship with Trixie. She decides to put her studies on hold and live in Sleepyside as well. They announce their engagement at the end of the story, along with a wedding date in seven weeks’ time.

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Story 13: Mystery in the Mail

A sequel to Under the Apple Tree (see above). Trixie looks for Miss Henley’s child, a Mrs Harris, and the solution is tantalisingly close. Someone is trying to keep them apart.

The someone (who turns out to be a certain unpopular secondary character from the books) kidnaps Mrs Harris and is shot and killed in the ensuing siege.

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Story 14: Seven Weeks

The seven weeks between Jim and Trixie’s engagement and their wedding, seen through Helen Belden’s diary.

Unanswered questions from this story include:

Back to The Music Box

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Story 15: The Music Box

Jim and Trixie discover a little mystery on their honeymoon at Easthampton, and compose some very bad poetry.

Questions which are answered in this story include:

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Story 16: Inside Information

Dan fills you in on what's been happening with the BWGs. Some of the main points are:

Unanswered questions from this story include:

Questions which are answered in this story include:

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Story 17: Tell Me a Secret

The second Bob-White reunion, held at the Manor House, is plagued by trouble when items start disappearing. In the course of solving the mystery, Trixie unearths quite a number of secrets.

Unanswered questions from this story include:

Questions which are answered in this story include:

Back to Genesis

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Story 18: Genesis

A new beginning for Diana, when she breaks up with Lennox, then finds out that she is pregnant. Ends with the birth of baby Imogen.

Questions which are answered in this story include:

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Story 19: The Broken Window

When Jim has to travel for work, he thinks he will be leaving Trixie at home, but a sudden change in circumstances allows her to accompany him. On arrival at their destination, Trixie encovers a mystery connected with the house next door, starting with a broken window and ending in mortal danger.

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Story 20: Fascination

This story follows Mart and Daphne as their friendship develops into something more. When Mart is sent to New Zealand for a conference, Daphne travels there to meet up with him and they share their first kiss. Several months later, Daphne travels to the U.S. so that they can be together some more. They are left with a dilemma of how to deal with a very long-distance relationship.

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Story 21: Winter’s Approach

When Honey decides to buy a house, she inadvertently awakes a lost memory for Dan. Trixie and Honey begin an investigation and partly solve the case, to the point of tipping off the police to the culprits in a long-unsolved crime. They do not, however find out how the people in the case connected to Dan.

Unanswered questions from this story include:

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Story 22: Entanglement

Mart faces a decision on whether to follow Daphne home, or to wait until they can see each other again. Diana meets Thornton Huntley, a colleague of Trixie’s, and they begin a friendship. Meanwhile, the Bob-Whites and particularly the Beldens deal with the consequences of Mart’s decision.

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Story 23: Responsible

When Bobby’s request for a camping trip in the Preserve with Larry and Terry is denied, he hatches a scheme to get his own way. The result is an out-of-control fire, which nearly sets alight the barn at Rose Cottage, and three teenagers lost in the Preserve in the dark. The Lynch twins are found relatively quickly, but Bobby, through his own folly, stays lost all night.

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Story 24: Echoes

Bobby, Larry and Terry’s attempt to find somewhere to call their own leads to the unpleasant discovery of what they think is a dead child. They enlist Trixie and Brian’s help, who discover that it is not really human. As Trixie begins to investigate the shack, however, she uncovers old stories that echo back into the past.

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Story 25: Endurance

Daphne’s brothers take Mart off on an overnight hike through the rainforest, during which he answers difficult questions, is offended by Jon comparing him to a crocodile, endures physical hardships and learns valuable lessons about himself.

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Story 26: Endings and Beginnings

Di insists that her relationship with Thorn is going to continue moving slowly. Meanwhile, her brother Terry is off to college in Boston, while Larry and Bobby make things difficult for him. Larry and Bobby head for Florida, to jobs lined up for them by Mr. Lynch. Trixie’s teasing, and some prompting from Thorn’ children, bring matters to a head and he proposes to Di.

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Story 27: One Impulsive Act

Brian gives his family only four days’ notice that he is getting married. While the Beldens and the Bob-Whites are pleased, Ginnie’s mother is most decidedly not and it turns out that she had her heart set on Ginnie marrying someone else.

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Story 28: Thunderstruck

While cleaning out an old desk, Mart comes across a newspaper clipping which details a young man’s death by lightning. This coincides with Mart’s own fear and leads to him thinking deeply about his life situation. In the end, he proposes marriage to Daphne and she accepts.

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Story 29: Better Every Day

The lead-up to Diana and Thorn’s wedding. Di borrows a dress from Mrs. Vanderpoel. Her two best female friends throw her a bachelorette party (in spite of her misgivings). On her wedding day, she and Honey and Trixie get ready together.

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