legends · 4 min read ·
Accession Ledger
A seed bank keeper finds accession entries in her own handwriting for seeds she never collected.
**Ormond Seed Bank — Accession Ledger, Vault Section D**
**Keeper:** Helen Marr · **Ledger opened:** 1961 · **Current entries:** 1,204
· · ·
**Entry D-0412**
Species: *Papaver somniferum* (poppy), collected from a churchyard in the Fenwick Valley.
Quantity: 12 seeds, sealed in glass.
Collector: H. Marr.
Notes: Collected at dusk, with the gate left open.
· · ·
**Entry D-0413**
Species: *Digitalis purpurea* (foxglove), collected from the walled garden at Ashgrove House.
Quantity: 40 seeds.
Collector: unknown.
Notes: Seeds were already in the envelope when received. Envelope addressed to "Keeper, Ormond, Vault D." in handwriting resembling mine.
· · ·
**Keeper's correspondence (H. Marr to Director, 14 March)**
Dear Dr Vance,
I have found an entry in the ledger that I did not make. It is D-0415, *Lunaria annua* (honesty), with the collector given as myself and a date of collection from last autumn. I was in the vault last autumn. I don't remember collecting anything from the walled garden at Ashgrove, and I have never been asked to.
Entry D-0415 lists the quantity as one. The seed is sealed in a small tin. The tin is labelled with my name. Inside the tin, the seed has been split, and the two halves are arranged on a square of paper, so they look like a pair of closed eyes.
I have left the tin in the vault and locked it. Please advise.
· · ·
**Director's reply (23 March)**
Dear Ms Marr,
Thank you. Please do not move the tin. We have checked the vault records. Entry D-0415 was entered under your ID on a Tuesday evening when you were logged out of the building. The record shows the entry was made in your handwriting. The seed in the tin is listed as a live specimen.
We will be sending a specialist to look at it. Until then, please keep the door locked.
· · ·
**Entry D-0415 (revised, 2 April)**
Species: *Lunaria annua* (honesty).
Quantity: 1.
Collector: H. Marr.
Notes: Specimen germinated under vault lighting. Growth is unusually pale. The sprout is facing the locked door.
· · ·
**Vault access log (Section D, April)**
02 Apr · 22:14 · H. Marr · Entered.
02 Apr · 22:16 · H. Marr · Exited.
02 Apr · 22:17 · H. Marr · Entered. (Access logged from inside the vault. Keeper's card was used from the inside of the locked room.)
02 Apr · 23:58 · Door released. No further entries.
· · ·
**Keeper's correspondence (H. Marr to Director, 6 April)**
Dear Dr Vance,
I am writing from the staff room. I have been asked to keep my hands off the vault and I have done so, but I'm now aware that I have been in there every night since the first of April. I can remember the lights, and the smell of the drying trays, and sorting the envelopes into the right order, and writing the labels with my own hand, very carefully, the way I'm told to.
I don't remember writing the labels.
The seed in the tin has grown a little. The two leaves are open now. They look like hands, folded, the way you'd fold them for someone asleep in a chair.
I've been asked not to touch it. I haven't. I've only been checking the envelope, to make sure the number is right.
· · ·
**Director's note (9 April, filed)**
Specimen D-0415 was removed from Section D and transferred to the isolation case on the top floor. The keeper's card was deactivated. The vault door has been resealed.
The seed bank's ledger now shows 1,205 entries. The new entry is D-0416, *Lunaria annua*, from the walled garden at Ashgrove House, collected by H. Marr. Quantity: 12. Notes: *Keep the tin where you can see it.*
Helen Marr has not been seen in the building since 9 April. Her desk is clear. Her name remains on the staff list, under the heading *Keeper, Section D*, and her coat is still hanging on the hook by the vault door.
· · ·
**Entry D-0416 (update, 1 May)**
Specimen germinated. Growth pale. The plant has been placed in the light.
Collector's note: *They're all facing the door. They have been shut in their envelopes for a very long time. I've started to think the plant is the one doing the keeping.*