The sun was at high noon as Roger and John, two lowly geocaching serfs in a kingdom ruled by a geocaching queen, made their way down a rocky trail. Under Roger’s right arm was a decent sized screw-top container covered with black tape. In his left hand was a portable GPS receiver, his tool to hide his container. Although Roger had a look of confidence upon his face, John did not seem so sure about the outcome of their mission.
“You really think the queen will approve of a geocache in here?” John said. “I mean, we are awfully close to the nobel's school. You know how selective she is.” He sounded as if he was pleading with Roger to turn back.
Roger kept looking straight ahead as he descended further into the woods. The path began to narrow and the ground became a bit more rocky. “We’ll be okay,” he said, still looking straight ahead. “She’s a pretty sweet lady and should like this one.” He paused for a brief moment. “I know she gets a great deal of grief for being as selective as she is, but I think she’s doing all right. I really do.”
“But…but,” John said, running to keep up. “She doesn’t approve of most of the geocaches on her land! Look at what happened to Fred last May. He hiked for miles into the woods to place a geocache in the perfect area to view Mercury and Venus align later that week only to come back and have the queen reject it!”
A wry smile formed on Roger’s face. “Well, that was a misfire on the Fred's part. He should have told the queen about it before hiking that far into the woods.”
“I just don’t understand why she’s so selective about geocaches on her land. She encourages us to hide them for her amusement, and yet doesn’t approve of our hard work. My veins are filled with jealousy knowing that the serfs in the kingdom to our west have a king that approves of all of their geocaches.”
The duo came to a fork in the road. Roger glanced down at his GPS receiver.
“Well, which way should we go?” John asked, trying to peer over Roger’s shoulder.
“I’m not sure. If we go left, we’d be getting close to another geocache, but the trail to the right looks a bit more overgrown.” Roger lowered his arm and turned to look at John. “We’re in this together, so this is a decision you and I have to make as a team.”
John stared intently at the fork in the road, his eyes jumping from the left trail to the right, and then back to the left. “The trail to the right looks like it could become rather swampy, don’t you think?”
Roger put the container on the ground and took a few steps down the right trail. His boots squished as they sank a bit in the soggy ground before coming to a stop. “Grab the container. We’re going this way.”
“Are you sure?” John asked, picking up the container. “I mean, are you certain there will be an escape from the swamp if we continue this way?” He took a few steps towards Roger, who smirked.
“I think we’ll be fine. Let us go.”
The duo continued their trek through the woods, carefully watching their steps as they traversed the muddy path. Often times they had to bushwhack along the corners of the thick underbrush to avoid the wide puddles of mucky water. After a few minutes, the trail’s condition improved and the two were once again on a solid walking path.
“I think you and I chose the correct path” John said as the two kept walking. “We aren’t too close to another geocache, are we?”
Roger glanced at his GPS again. “It doesn’t appear so,” he said, fiddling with the device. "Nope, zero nearby."
John pointed to a large, fallen tree in a little clearing on the right side of the path. “Do you think we could hide it in there?” he asked.
Roger stopped walking, looked intently at the tree, and then glanced at the container under John’s arm. “I supposed we can check it out,” he said, beginning to walk toward the opening. The two reached the tree and Roger grabbed the container from John. He carefully slid it underneath the end of the tree, where it fit perfectly. He sighed with relief.
“Perfect,” he said, forming another grin. “This will do fine here. And just think, this geocache could be the talk of the event going on next week.”
“Wait,” John said with a puzzled and excited look. “When is the event?”
Roger began to average the coordinates with his GPS. “In only seven days.”
A huge smile formed on John’s face. “I completely forgot about that! The events in our kingdom are always so much fun! Aren’t the son and daughter of the deacon supposed to come this year?”
Roger took one last reading with his GPS before staring intently at his hide. “I believe they are. And you’d be happy to know that I have checked and re-checked and there should be no issues with the coordinates being off here."
“Zero chance?” John asked.
“Zero.” Roger began making his way back towards the path. John followed, and soon enough the two were well on their way back home.
“Do you have any ideas what these trails are used for?” John asked. “I mean, this part here may not be used, but the beginning of the trail is certainly worn out.”
“I think there used to be an annual bicycle race held in these woods” Roger replied with a sure-sounding voice. “Except now I would imagine that geocachers will be coming soon to these woods to find what we just hid, provided they can solve the puzzle.”
Another confused look came over John’s face. “A p-p-puzzle? You’re making THAT a puzzle?”
“I think I am” Roger said sternly.
“But Roger, don’t you recall Madame Maria’s puzzle about the black-and-white dolphins? That took months - no - years to solve!”
“Your point?” Roger asked, still walking and facing straight ahead.
John, stunned, said nothing, and the two finished their walk in silence. At last they reached the trailhead entrance, and Roger turned to finally face John.
“Thanks for coming along. Sorry I had to ruin your fun about making this a puzzle cache, but I certainly want to challenge people. They might have to fight from the inside to solve it, but I think it can be done.”
John simply stared at him expressionless. “What are you going to make the puzzle about?”
Roger smiled again. “I think I’m doing to make it about two serfs in a geocaching kingdom who hide a puzzle geocache their queen will approve. I think I’ll call it ‘A Geocache Fit for a Queen.’ It should be fun!"
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.