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  “Hello,” he said from the top of the steps. “Did you have a good trip?”

  “Yes,” Antonio replied, “luckily there was not a lot of traffic.”

  Alexander entered the house and found his neighbour Meredith sitting in an old armchair facing the fireplace and reading a book.

  “Hello,” she said, putting the book on an old wooden table.

  “Hello,” said Alexander cheerfully. Meredith took Alexander by the hand.

  “Come on, I’ll show you around the house.”

  They started in the living room. The furniture was quite old: there were a purple couch and two chairs of the same colour, and a pretty little wooden table made from a polished tree trunk. A huge cast iron fireplace surrounded by a metal grill was used to heat the house during the winter. There was a radio on the windowsill, their only connection to the outside world: Alexander had noticed that there was no television. The room also had a bookshelf with very old and dusty books that were lined up perfectly.

  “And here is the kitchen!” exclaimed Meredith, passing through a door beside the fireplace. There was nothing of interest there, and the two children didn’t hang around. They went instead into a small corridor.

  “And now our room,” said Meredith, opening the door. Alexander saw a huge room with four beds in a row next to each other.

  “Why are there so many beds? There are only three of you.”

  “No. Hope, Amy, Karen and I.”

  “Karen?”

  “Yes, she’s Denis’ daughter. Remember? Her father was at the meeting at my home.”

  “Oh yes, I didn’t know he had a daughter.”

  “I’ll introduce you to her. She’s playing in the woods with Hope’s brother.”

  They left the house and walked around the building. A path cut past the shed and led into the woods. The children followed it for nearly a hundred metres.

  “These woods are beautiful,” said Alexander.

  “Yes, I think so too. Here we are!”

  Karen was perched on the trunk of a large tree lying on the ground. Clearly, it had not been able to withstand the spells of high wind.

  “Hello,” Alexander said politely.

  “Stop! Don’t move!” said Karen. “You can’t go any further until you give me the password.”

  Alexander looked at the girl standing in front of him. She looked to be a few years older than him and seemed to have a fiery temperament.

  “What password?”

  “The password that will allow you to be part of the gang I am the leader of.”

  “Sorry, I just arrived, I don’t know the password. But it doesn’t matter, I don’t want to be part of your ‘gang’.”

  He turned on his heels and followed the path back to the house. The others remained frozen, waiting to see Karen’s reaction.

  “You were a bit too hard on him,” said Hope’s brother Rupert. “The poor thing just arrived, he doesn’t know us and you ask him for the password.”

  “You don’t understand,” said Karen, “I knew he didn’t know the password, but I wanted him to ask me.”

  “To make him understand that you are in charge,” said Meredith.

  “Exactly.”

  “Sometimes I can’t help but wonder who the oldest and most mature person here is,” said Meredith.

  “What did you say?” said Karen, coming down from the tree.

  “Nothing, I was just thinking out loud. I have to go, I haven’t seen Hope or Amy yet.”

  “My sisters are playing in the tree house,” said Rupert.

  “I’m going to go and join them, in that case. See you later!” Meredith ran down the path and caught up with Alexander. “Alexander, wait!”

  He heard his friend’s cry and turned around.

  “I’m sorry. Nobody can stand her, you know.”

  “I don’t doubt it. She’s a real pain.”

  “Follow me, I’ll show you the tree house.”

  They followed the path, turned to the left, walked for a few minutes, and reached the foot of a little cabin hanging between three trees.

  “Wow, did you build that yourselves?”

  “No, it was already there when we got here.”

  Alexander climbed onto the ladder and scrambled up the rungs.

  “Hello Hope, hello Amy.”

  “Hello!” they said at once.

  “Hey, are you playing Monopoly?”

  “Yes, and I’m winning,” said Hope with a big smile.

  “You won’t be laughing when I tell mum that you tried to get me lost in the woods.”

  “But I didn’t!”

  “I know you did,” said Amy.

  “I see you haven’t changed,” said Alexander with a smile.

  He climbed down the ladder and found Meredith, who seemed to be examining a tree with a trunk that was bigger than the others.

  “This is the tree of thanks,” she said. “Look at all those people who have carved their names in here over the years. It’s time for you to carve in yours as well.”

  “I don’t have anything to write on the trunk with.”

  “Here, take this. I took it from my dad the other day.”

  “A screwdriver, great.”

  Alexander carved his name into the tree in printed letters. His attention fell on a name and a date: Jonathan, 1965.

  “My father told me about him, he knew him. What a terrible story.”

  “What happened?” asked Alexander.

  “I don’t know if you know, but my father used to come here every year with the orphanage. That’s how he discovered this place. One day, this Jonathan disappeared near here and the police never managed to find him.”

  Alexander felt his stomach clench.

  “He disappeared in this forest?”

  “Yes.”

  “What a story. It gives me chills.”

  “It scares me too. I never come into this forest alone and my father told me we were never to go past this tree.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s too dangerous to go deeper into the woods.”

  The two friends returned to the house a few moments later a started a game of Guess Who.

  “Do they wear glasses?”

  “No.”

  “Do they have blond hair?”

  “No.”

  “Look what I dug up in the shed,” said Jean.

  “What is it? A car?” asked Meredith.

  “Exactly,” Jean answered.

  Alexander approached the machine and examined it. There were four wooden wheels connected to one another by thick pieces of wood. The only part not made of wood was the seat, which had probably been repurposed from a motorcycle.

  “François!” shouted Jean. “You’re the strongest, come and pull on the rope and tow this race car.”

  François took the rope and ran, pulling each of the children around the house except for Rupert and Karen, who thought they were too old for such games. Meanwhile, Denis was setting up the table and chairs outside to prepare for dinner as best he could. After twenty minutes of running around the house, François stopped and collapsed onto one of the folding chairs that Denis had just put up outside.

  “I can’t take it anymore,” he said, breathless. “I really need a break.”

  At that moment, Jean arrived with the appetisers. There was a large stone barbecue in the woods surrounding the house. Antonio loaded it up with wood he had found nearby. The dinner that followed was a memorable one: all-you-can-eat skewers and spicy merguez sausage. The sun finally set and illuminated the facade of the house with a sumptuous orange colour.

  Alexander and Hope were sitting on the stairs by the front door. He felt a strong attraction to her; it was one of the first times he had met a girl outside of school and Hope was very different from the others.

  “Can I play with your Gameboy?”

  “Of course, as soon as I finish my game of Tetris,” said Hope.

  “What do you think of this place?”

&
nbsp; “Not bad,” said Hope, not paying much attention to Alexander.

  “Not bad? This place is magical, you mean. The house is beautiful and the surrounding woods are mysterious.”

  “Yeah, it’s not bad.”

  “Can I?” asked Alexander as he tried to grab the Gameboy.

  “Sorry, no more battery,” Hope said with a mean little smile.

  She got up and went to her room. Alexander fell asleep without a problem that night. Both hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling, thinking of this fabulous place.

  The next morning, François went in search of food. He had woken up first, and he took his car and went to Durbuy town to find a bakery. He stopped at the first one he came across.

  “Good morning. Twenty pains au chocolat and twenty croissants, please.”

  “You’re going to empty my bakery.”

  “Sorry, but there is a lot of us. We are renting the old house at the edge of the woods for a few days.”

  “Ah, the old stone house. Did you know that it’s not the only property in town that used to belong to the Count?”

  “No, I never knew it used to belong to him.”

  “My husband is responsible for the tours around the castle, he is something of a guide. He knows all the history of those two buildings. Do you want to visit the castle?”

  “With pleasure.”

  “Of course.”

  François closed the door to the bakery and went to his car.

  “I’m so hungry,” said Rupert, opening the drawers in the kitchen in search of something to eat.

  “I have breakfast,” said François happily as he stepped through the door.

  They all sat down at the table except Karen, who was still asleep.

  “Can I have the spread please, mum?” asked Hope.

  “Here,” said Carole, handing her the pot.

  “I’m going to have a pain au chocolat,” said Alexander. In the meantime, Amy was talking to Antonio.

  “Who wants to go and visit Durbuy and the castle?” asked François.

  “Not me,” said Karen, sitting down at the table.

  “I do,” said Alexander.

  “So do we,” answered Hope and Amy.

  “I have to study,” said Rupert.

  “I’ll go, dad,” said Meredith.

  “I’m full,” said Jean, “I’m going to mow the lawn at the back of the house.”

  “I’ll help you,” said Antonio, “you’ll need me to get the mower working. I tried yesterday but it wouldn’t start.”

  “I’ll wash the dishes,” said Maryline.

  “I’ll help,” Margareth said.

  “I’m going to go and lie down again. I’m feeling a bit under the weather,” said Carole.

  Antonio and Jean went to the dust-covered shed; obviously nobody had been there for a very long time.

  “Here it is,” said Antonio, pointing to it. They pulled the mower out and turned it over on the ground so that its four wheels were in the air.

  “It looks like the blade is blunt,” said Jean.

  “Yes, but that’s not why it won’t start.”

  “Are you ready, children?” asked François.

  “Yes!” they all answered at once.

  “Okay, we’ll walk there. It’s not far, but pay attention and hold hands.”

  They went through the wooden gate and down the path to the main street. There was no other house in sight, just fields and trees as far as the eye could see.

  “Hey, look!” said Alexander, “a glider.”

  “What is it doing in the middle of the field?” Meredith asked.

  “It must have crashed,” said her father.

  They continued down the valley and began to see the town below. All the houses were stone; they all seemed to be at least five hundred years old, if not more. A huge castle erected on a rocky outcrop stood proudly in the town centre. A stream flowing in front of it could also be seen.

  “This town dates back to medieval times,” said François. “It is called the smallest town in the world.”

  Time seemed to have stood still there. Looking at all the roofs that were no longer straight and all the ivy on the walls was like looking into the past. They turned towards a huge metal gate.

  “Hello,” said the man who was waiting there.

  “Hello, I’m François.”

  “I’m Charles, the baker’s husband. I will be your guide.”

  “Nice to meet you.”

  “My wife told me that you are renting the Count’s house by the woods outside town,” said the man before beginning the tour.

  “Yes, that’s true.”

  “This castle also belonged to the Count, but it is much older than the house. Do you see these bricks? These were part of the old fortress the current castle was built on top of.”

  The castle was partly built on a ruin. It was easy to see because the bricks at the bottom were very different from the stone that had been used on the castle itself.

  Everyone followed the guide and entered the building.

  “What atmosphere!” Alexander thought. “All those stones, those suits of armour for the knights.” A feeling of fear and fascination ran through him.

  “We don’t know the building’s exact date of construction, but it seems that it goes back to about the year 1000,” said the guide. “The woodwork was added in the 1600s.”

  Alexander went to the fireplace. Meredith, Hope, and Amy were at the steel suits of armour.

  “It’s cold here,” Amy said, pulling her sister’s arm, “and I saw one of these knights move.”

  “Whatever,” said Hope.

  “It’s true.”

  “What’s going on?” asked Alexander.

  “Amy is lying as usual,” said Hope angrily.

  “I’m not, I saw a statue move. I want to leave.”

  “If you tell me which statue moved, I’ll buy you a waffle covered with chocolate.”

  “Well,” said Hope. “Which one?”

  “None of them,” she said, “I want to leave, I’m too cold.”

  “Dirty liar.”

  “Come on, it doesn’t matter,” said Alexander. “Here, I can give you my jumper.”

  “And my waffle?”

  “I’ll buy it for you as soon as we get out of the castle.” Amy, satisfied, went to the guide who was talking to François.

  “What a strong character your little sister has,” said Meredith.

  “If you say so!”

  The tour of the castle continued room by room until they reached a chamber on the upper levels.

  “This is the bedroom of Countess Amareda, the most famous and most mysterious resident of this castle. She married Count Tiberian in 1623, at the age of 24. She slept in this room for six years. Nothing has been changed, the furniture is period. She was sentenced to death in 1640 for practising witchcraft. I’m sure you know the rest.”

  “No,” they answered.

  “Ah, I thought that because you are staying at the Count’s house... As I was saying, she was sentenced to death, but she managed to escape from the castle’s dungeon where she was waiting to be hanged. It is said that there is a secret passage under the castle that runs for a few kilometres and leads to the house you are renting. She was last seen coming out of the stone house and fleeing towards the forest.”

  “That’s crazy,” said Alexander. The others stared in amazement.

  “She was never seen again. The Count fell into inconsolable grief and threw himself from the highest tower in the castle. Some say that she probably died, others that she managed to start a new life in a different land. We may never know. The woods were searched at the time but they didn’t reveal anything. The woods were searched again when Jonathan died in 1965 if memory serves, but nothing was found.”

  The two adults continued into the next room. Alexander went over to Meredith.

  “In any case, she was horrible,” said Hope, looking at a painted portrait of the Countess. She had very
pale skin and long black hair.

  “More like ‘ugly’, I’d say,” said Alexander.

  “That portrait is hard to look at for more than two seconds. It’s so scary,” said Meredith.

  “Anyway, I know what I’m going to do when we get back to the house.”

  “And what’s that, Alexander?”

  “I’m going to search for that secret passage that was never found.”

  The tour ended, they bid farewell to their guide and went to visit the little town street by street. Time seemed to have stopped in the Middle Ages. The buildings were each as old as the other, but there were various shops that sold beer or jam. There was even a mini-golf course. Alexander bought Amy’s chocolate waffle as promised.

  “Delicious,” she said.

  “Enjoy it because you don’t really deserve it,” said Hope. Amy stuck out her tongue.

  It was nearly seven o’clock in the evening when they got back to the house.

  “Well, how was the tour?” asked Carole.

  “It was great,” Hope said to her mother.

  “Did your sister behave herself?”

  “Yes,” said Amy before her sister could answer.

  “That’s good, come and give mum a hug.”

  Amy rushed into her mother’s arms and turned around to stick her tongue out at the sister again.