- Auntie, do you believe in ghosts?, asked Carrie, my six-year old niece, the other day.
- 'Of course I do', I answered. ' Why wouldn't I? After all I've met one. Hasn't your dad told you the story?'
- 'No', said Carrie. 'Has my dad seen the ghost too? Tell me, Auntie, tell me, you must tell me the story. Now, please?'
- 'Ok, sit down, I'll make us some tea and I'll tell you what happened one very hot summer in Italy'.
Your dad, myself and our parents - your grandparents, Carrie - we all travelled to Italy on our holidays one summer many years ago. At that time your dad was a student at a university and he was researching old ghost stories of Europe. He...
- 'What does "researching" mean?', interrupted Carrie.
- 'Oh, it means that he was looking for information about old ghost stories that people were telling in Europe. He was trying to find out if they are true or not.'
- 'You mean he wanted to see if ghosts are real?', asked Carrie.
- 'Yes, honey, he wanted to know if ghosts really exist.'
In one of the books he was reading he found some information about this old castle in a town called Arezzo in Italy and he wanted to go there and talk to the owner of the castle to see if he can find any clues of ghosts existence. He phoned Mr. Caravaggio - that was the name of the gentleman that owned the castle in Arezzo- and Mr. Caravaggio agreed to meet with you dad the next day, give him the tour of the castle and answer all the questions that your dad might have.
The next day your dad and I drove to Arezzo. It was a very hot day and we were very tired by the time we arrived in Arezzo. We stopped at a corner store to get something to drink and to ask for the directions to the castle. A very nice lady behind the counter drew us the map to the castle and asked us if we are really really sure that we want to go there. Of course we said yes. The nice lady just smiled then and said to be careful and not to wander around the castle at night. 'Why not?,' your dad asked her. 'Well,' she said, 'people say that the castle is haunted...'
'Perfect!!,' exclaimed your dad and I could tell that he was very excited. After all, that's exactly what he's been looking for, a haunted castle, full of ghosts.
(To be continued...)