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Shadow Trilogy:
1.
The Mystery of a Puzzle (1940)
In the Shadow District, the oldest part of the city, boys call
themselves Vonts and keep the rules of their organization secret
from the boys from other districts. The gang's history is linked
with a mysterious puzzle – Hedgehog in the cage. In the district
called The Other Side, five friends meet regularly in the club of
the group the Fast Arrows. It is Mirek Dušín, Jarka Metelka and
Jindra Hojer and two boys nicknamed Red Cap and Fast Leg. They want
to introduce the readers of their magazine, called Tom-Tom, to the
history of the puzzle. But the Cat Paw Brotherhood with its own
magazine Collector is faster. Its members – Long Pole, Bristle and
Bohouš – also similarly succeed in the next issue, mysteriously
learning about and publishing a story of the orphan Jan Tleskač, a
locksmith's apprentice, who tragically died years ago, falling from
the bell tower of the St James church. Its old sexton told the Fast
Arrows about him.
The five boys secretly infiltrate the Shadow
District (with yellow pins in the lapel -
the symbol of the
Vonts) where preparations for the election of the Big Vont are
being held. Both the candidates – Losna and Mažňák – try to get
voters. The Fast Arrows find Tleskač's diary and thus learn about an
invention whose plan was hidden by the talented boy in the hedgehog
inserted in the cage. The boys almost separate in fear that a
traitor is among them, but then they fortunately discover a device
by which the Brotherhood was bugging them. The boys find out from a
part of the diary that Tleskač was threatened by the locksmith's
master, named Em, who wanted to get hold of his ingenious invention
– a flying bicycle. The Fast Arrows help the upright and noble Losna
win over the malicious Mažňák in the elections. They show Losna how
to remove the hedgehog – the talisman of the Vont organization – from
the cage after Tleskač's description in the diary. But the deceitful
Em – Mažňák's father, who murdered his apprentice Tleskač years ago
– seizes the puzzle and loses it in a gutter where he falls during
his escape. The locksmith subsequently dies of an infection caused
by the mud. The discovery of the flying bicycle is lost for ever.
2. The
Shadow district revolts (1946)
After the collapse of the Vont organization caused by the loss of
the badge of the Great Vont, the Shadows are coming to life again.
Jiří Rymáň from the Second Party tries to find out the cause of the
commotion, but is trapped by the Vontes. Quick Arrows sets out to
rescue him, which is successful, but Mirek and Jindra are captured
on their way home. They manage to escape by trickery, only to
discover that a certain Hačiřík has found the lost hedgehog in a
cage.
During the next search, the boys get to know the Rusty Keys Club, to
which Emil Hačiřík also belonged. The Fast Arrows next explore the
Gingo Worshippers' shrine, where they discover a note in the room
behind the four locks that someone has buried something on the Red
Steps. On leaving the shrine, the Fast Arrows are shown a masked
figure, Širokko, holding a hedgehog in a cage. Despite their best
efforts, the boys are unable to catch him.
After a few days, the Fast Arrows go to the Red Steps, where they
find the first Vontes Chronicle. The Rusty Keys want to hand it over,
but the Fast Arrows manage to escape through the Black Water Tunnel,
where they accidentally meet their old friend Vonta Losna. He tells
them that he will no longer seek the Great Vont Kingdom himself, but
wants to help his group gain it.
However, the Fast Arrows have a run of bad luck, as the club nearly
falls apart due to Mirko's alleged betrayal by his double in the
Shadows. In the ensuing confusion, the club's dog Bubble also gets
lost in the alleyways. He is being held by Mirek Daneš, Mirek Dušín's
double, and he wants the first Vont chronicle in exchange for his
release. The Fast Arrows, with the help of Losno's group of Vontes,
the Yellow Flower, prepare a plan for liberation, but it fails and
Daneš kills the dog.
The Fast Arrows participate in the Hunt for Širokko, organized by
the Gingo Worshippers. Širokko is injured while escaping and is only
caught by the Fast Arrows at the scene. They help him, and he gives
them a hedgehog in a cage for the chief of the Yellow Flower, Vláďa
Dratuš. He wins the election convincingly, and peace and tranquility
prevail in the Shadows.
3. The
secret of the Big Vont (1986)
After returning from an autumn expedition, the Fast Arrows meet
Otakar Losna in front of their clubhouse, who tells them that the
Great Vont Vláďa Dratuš has some problems, but he doesn't want to
talk about them. What is even worse is the fact that Vláďa does not
have a hedgehog in his cage - the badge of the Great Vont.
Fast Arrows then sets out to find him. By this time, Sběrač, a
magazine published by Tonda Plíhal's group, has already brought
information about an important Vont who goes by the name of
Brejlovec. As it turns out later, Sběrač has mangled the name and it
is actually Rejholec. However, the Fast Arrows are captured by the
Vontes of the Dabinel group as they travel through the Shadows. They
leave them locked in an abandoned house's yard overnight. However, a
Vonte advises them of the possibility of escape through a window. In
addition, the Fast Arrows find a supply of paper in the destroyed
house, which they take to print their magazine TAM-TAM.
The Fast Arrows continue their search for the Rejholec. On their way
to the Shadows, they notice that Tonda Plíhal's group and the
Brotherhood of the Cat's Claw are heading for Dabinel again. They
interrogate them and discover that Dabinel has tasked them with the
task of cutting down the gingo tree in the Worshippers' shrine. They
soon put this information to good use when they meet Rejholec, who
in turn tells them what happened at that Yellow Flower meeting that
made Vláďa Dratuš so despondent. But the Great Vont himself does not
want the help of the Fast Arrows. But he and Losna are not about to
give up. When they discover that Rejholec is keeping the hedgehog in
a cage, they try to capture it from him, but this fails due to the
intervention of the Amazon Girls' Club.
Another search leads
them to a half-decayed house called the Cat's Castle. In its attic
lives a boy called the Stranger, who has escaped from an orphanage.
While wandering around the old house, he discovers a letter accusing
Vláďa's father Dratuš of killing his friend. In return for his
silence, he wants a hedgehog in a cage so he can start making it in
bulk. Vláďa agrees to lend him the puzzle, but Quick Arrows and
Losna are worried that the Stranger will disappear with him forever.
On one visit to the Cat's Causeway, they manage to seize the
hedgehog, and the paper blaming Vláďa's father. They subsequently
return both to Dratuš, who, however, gives up the Grand Vonthood and
Otakar Losna takes his place.
* The legendary TV series "The Mystery of a puzzle" was first aired
in December 24, 1969.
* Širokko - mysterious figure of the Shadow District |
