What is the solution to _The Amaranth_?

First cryptogram..Southwest Trail, to the Eastern Overlook

Dreamchase

Delaware to Arkansas and all that lies between is experiencing a spring
awakening the likes have not been seen.  Now that green grass grows
where ice once flowed along the flowing banks of streams, the time has
come for some fun and the pursuit of dreams.

Second Cryptogram...Southeast Trail, to Eastern Overlook

On the Passing of Simpler Times

I read of a friendship which was outlived though it never truly
failed.  Of struggles of growth, of war against which they both railed.
Now it's but a memory of days gone by..of simple times of ships which
have long set sail.

Third

Eastern Overlook

Only the letters on the right hand side...all else was nonsense.

The Road not taken

The first was a simple subs. 1=A, 2=B, etc.. the second was the
keyboard...3 to the left, the last was #1=Delaware...#25=Arkansas

Cryptogram 4

Southwest trail to the Western Overlook

divide each number by two...simple subs. A=1,B=2, etc.

The Cactus Rose.  Once a tale within a tale was told about the man who
shot Liberty Valance.  In it, the obvious was overlooked and history
turned.  In the balance, the cactus rose spoke of her past and the love
she had long concealed.  The truth was exposed for in the last secret
of the former was revealed.

Cryptogram 5

Southeast Trail to the Western Overlook

Prime Opportunity

Prime numbers less than 100, backwards ex. A=97, B=89, etc.

Sometimes a poem is simply a poem with no meaning deeper or hidden.
And sometimes a clue is simple and true if one does not force it to
fit past masters side.  Where one hides a clue the more obvious the
better.  One may be found at last in the first as seen in The Purloined
Letter.

Cryptogram 6

Western Overlook

a different type of code...example 22-8.  Write the letters for
twenty-two and take the eighth letter..."w"

Writers identity suggested via hidden literary title is word needed to
understand the Dodgson vigenere.

The hidden title was The Road Not Taken, hence Frost.

This leads to The Spire.  Now things get complicated.

The Spire

Use the Vigenere Code..key word Frost

Well Done!  You have traveled far.  The spire from this point with
effort and perseverance you will find and pass through one of the
Spires two hidden portals.  The Portal that leads to the Outer Path is
embedded in a Rubik's Cube which itself has been slipped into a
specially built Pandoras box with only an imperceptible hair's width
separating the two.  The Pandoras box in turn with its precious
contents has been embedded in this story.  The Portal that leads to the
Inner Path lies hidden within the earth at the globes center.  To pass
through this portal follow this simple advice: choose a path to travel,
begin with no work undone, impose a meaningful order and an orderly
alignment, then center yourself and look beneath the surface.

Seventeen large crossword puzzles follow The Spire.  For the most part
they were very easy to solve.  Each is named by a former Sec. of state
and have either North, South, East or West.  They make up the Outer
Path which would have the questor driving around W.Vir. looking for
various historical sites.

Next came 12 small globe shaped crosswords, again easy to solve.  With
each crossword there are two cities given.  They were more or less
directly opposite each other on a world globe...ex. Athens and
Honolulu.  I had to get all of those little globes arranged correctly,
then I had to look at the letters in the center....NOT EASY!  In part
it said: Robert Herricks poem "To Virgins".  I surmised that I had to
get a copy of that poem and use it to break the first Beale.  I was
correct.

The Beales

I borrowed a copy of the poem from an English teacher at school (I
teach Math), numbered each letter and started plugging them in...part
of it made sense and part of it didn't!  On further checking I
discovered that there was a slightly different version so I tried it
and it all made sense.

Inner Path Beale One

You have proved yourself resourceful.  Now you must be vigilant from
the written word to the silver screen.  You must now proceed.  A
message awaits your review.  Upon its delivery its sender in Paris its
recipient in Atlanta some one hundred thirty years ago.  Play
moderately TWR

Off I went to rent Gone With The Wind.  In it was a letter from Rhett
Butler while in Paris.  I copied it and started the whole process
again.

Inner Path Beale Two

You have broken the second seal.  Well Done!  Next you must rest where
the bluebird sings to the lemonade springs There you must further
develop the sense of place.  Good Luck, Godspeed TWR

At first I thought it was that old folk song, but NO!  It was from the
Wallace Stegner book "Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs"
[Editor: "Spring" in the original] the chapter titled "The Sense of Place".

Inner Path Beale Three

There was a king who was a great orator and leader of the oppressed.
He spoke many truths but is best remembered for what he said one
sparkling summer day.  In his words you will find both essence and
direction for therein lies both manifest and concealed truths: love
each other.

This was easy, I figured that he meant Martin Luther King's "I have a
dream" speech....it was.

Inner Path Beale Four

Three successfully mastered, my compliments.  Now onto a seldom sung
verse of an often sung song.  A note of caution, precision both in
terms of insight and in terms of selection will be an issue from this
point forward be the standard three three thirty one.

Sure enough...The Star Spangled Banner...verse two

Inner Path Beale Five

Greetings!  May you come to understand this and that which lies before
you in a fair season for in the dead of winter recovery will be
arduous.  Now you must find the monarchs tome created to the son of
Lord Darnley within it the Lord awaits in his solemn prayer.

Checked out Lord Darnley and found out that he was the father of King
James (as in King James Version of the Bible)...figured it was the
Lord's Prayer, but which to use ..debtors or trespassers...debtors it
was!

Inner Path Beale Six

Now but a single hurdle and the task of recovery lies before you my
fellow time traveler.  We will come together one last time at ten PM
on December twenty-fourth eighteen twenty-two...until then, farewell!

Well it had to be Silent Night or the Night Before Christmas...it was
the latter

Inner Path Beale Seven

Congratulations!  You have broken the seventh seal.  The Amaranth lies
two hundred feet west of the monument at the foot of Olson's Tower off
route two nineteen in Tucker County, West Virginia.  Send this solution
and your name, address and phone number to P.O. Drawer eight five eight
one Cincinnati, Ohio four five two four two.  The White Rabbit.

So there it is!

-- Karen Stephens <ksteph@trib.com> (November 1997)