We got our drinks, took the map the lady drew for us and went back to the car. Your dad was driving. It was still very hot and humid and the air-conditioning wasn't working. I rolled down the windows, but it didn't help at all. The air seemed sticky and there was no breeze. The heat didn't seem to bother your dad though. He was whistling under his nose, no doubt excited about the haunted castle. I closed my eyes for a while trying not to think about the heat...
When I opened them again the car was parked and your dad was nowhere in sight. I got out and looked around. I was standing at the bottom of a small hill atop of which there was a castle. I looked up and saw your dad. He was halfway up the hill taking pictures of the castle. I called out to him and waved for him to come down. After a few minutes he came running down with a huge smile on his face.
- "Do you see it? Do you see it? We found it!! Oh, come on, be a little excited for me, please", he begged.
- "OK, OK, I'm excited", I smiled weakly. "I'm also exhausted and this heat has given me a killer headache. So what now? Are we going up?
- "Of course we are. Mr. Caravaggio must be waiting for us. We are a bit late. When I talked to him I told him we'd be here in the afternoon and look, it's almost dark already. We'd better hurry up. Let's get back in the car and drive up. There is a driveway on the other side of the hill which I think leads all the way up to the gate. Let's go."
- "OK, but you know, just get your facts and the stories and let's go back to our hotel before the night falls.
Your dad laughed after he heard me say this. "You aren't scared, are you? You didn't actually believe anything that lady at the store said about the castle, did you? I mean about it being haunted?"
"Of course not. I don't believe in ghosts, remember?", I said.
"Sure, sure, we'll see", said your dad and started the engine.
We drove up the hill and stopped in front of the gate to the castle. It seemed to be locked.
- "Is it locked?", I asked. "I thought Mr. Caravaggio was expecting us". As soon as I said this, the gate opened as if by magic. I shrugged. "Remote control", I thought.
We drove past the gate and about two hundred meters down the road we stopped in front of the huge door. The door was opened for a change and an older gentleman was standing on the doorstep, apparently waiting for us.
- "Welcome, welcome, you are just in time for supper. Please come in."
- "Thank you, Mr. Caravaggio", I said, "but I don't think we'll be staying long, we have to�.."
- "Oh, but you must", said our host. "You must spend the night. The ghosts come out only at night", he winked.
- "Thank you, Mr. Caravaggio", said your dad, "we really appreciate it. I've been looking forward to meeting you. I have so many questions to ask you about this castle."
- "Good, good. I have lots to tell you too. But all this can wait. Let's have supper now and first I'll tell you the castle's history."
And he turned on his heels and walked inside. What were we to do? We followed him in. Your dad was ready to jump out of his skin with excitement and me....well, at this time I've pretty much resigned myself to spending the night with ghosts. The day's heat really got to me and I had a splitting headache. All I wanted was to lie down and sleep. Ghosts or not. I did not care anymore.
(To be continued...)