"Ruyters has forgotten where he buried it", Anne-Christine
said when she returned back home.
Lisabeth knew immediately what she meant, but her father
asked with interest:
"What is the matter?"
"Well, I got the steward to bury something, which perhaps
I didn't want to get rid of and now he has forgotten where it
is. He is old and of short memory", answered Anne-Christine
while untying her hat, which she threw on the couch with a
majestic gesture.
"Do you want me to try and find it for you?" asked the
Officer, who seemed to feel pity for her.
"No, that won't be necessary, for you'd have to dig deeply
into his entire kitchen garden. And what's more, I don't even
want it back", she said tiredly. "I prefer to arrange the
knives in the show-case a bit better. Who wants to join
me?"
"If you don't mind, I rather leave that to both ladies"
the Officer stated, "I'd rather go horse-riding today".
Anne-Christine and Lisabeth spent the whole day cleaning
the rest of the discoveries from Attlla's hill and, when the
Officer returned, it was time for dinner.
"We didn't have time to think of that". The two friends,
looking at each other, were surprised to realize that they had
not noticed the time passing.
"Then I'll prepare something for you", the Officer
proposed.
"That's very sweet of you, father. Please make it a real
soldier's dinner", said Lisabeth, kissing him on the
cheek.
"You can be sure I will", the Officer laughed. He saluted
and retired to the kitchen.
"Do you mind if the three of us sleep in one bed tonight?
I am ready for it", Anne-Christine confessed after he had left
the room.
"Hmm... well, that's all right with me, as long as I don't
have to do anything", Lisabeth reflected aloud. "Then it
doesn't make any difference to me".
After the soldier's dinner, Anne-Christine took the
Officer's hand to thank him and used the opportunity to offer
him a night in a spacious bed.
"That is an offer I can't refuse, Madam", the surprised
Officer replied.
"Oh, but you may call me Anne now, or Anne-Christine if
you think that more suitable", said the Lady of the Castle,
asking:
"Shall we go up then? It's already dark".
"The sooner the better", the Officer said, and Lisabeth
did not dare to disagree.
Anne-Christine stripped with the help of Lisabeth's
father, after which she joined her friend between the sheets.
Lisabeth had admired the unfolding of events from the very
start. Now, the Officer began to take off his uniform.
"What a pity there aren't any more candles. This is a show
I won't forget easily", whispered Anne-Christine who seemed to
have trouble seeing clearly in the near-darkness.
"Will you allow me to join you?" asked the naked man.
"Of course, but first you have to finish the job you
started on the couch this morning and never completed
properly", said Anne-Christine severely.
"I understand what you mean", Lisabeth's father remembered
and, with his hands, searched for Anne-Christine's legs under
the blankets.
"This is something you must have done before", Anne-
Christine thought. She spread her legs and let herself enjoy
the sensations for a long while. Then she suddenly said: "Now
it's your turn", and pulled the blankets off her body.
The Officer didn't stop to think twice but threw himself upon
her just when the door opened and two persons entered the
room. Only Anne-Christine knew who they were.
"Here's an old acquaintance of yours, Miss Anne-
Christine", said an old cracked voice, "but I've got him at
point-blank range"
"Excellent work, Ruyters", Anne-Christine joked, "and we
certainly won't argue about the moment you choose to hand him
over to me".
The Officer jumped out of bed again and Anne-Christine
followed him.
"Mister Gosseling, let me introduce Lisabeth's father or
perhaps you know one another already?" Anne-Christine asked
the scientist.
"Yes, I myself arranged that for you personally, in
France", Govert Gosseling confessed.
"Did you have a nice dig? That was more of a labourer's
job then a scientist's, wasn't it?" Anne-Christine teased.
"I take unusual steps to obtain the Moscow Glassware,
Anne, you may be well aware of that by now", said the
historian, standing in near-darkness.
"Wouldn't it be better for me to cover him with the gun?
I'm used to handling guns more than anyone else here", said
Lisabeth's father, putting on his pants.
"That's a good idea", Ruyters said tiredly. "I'm much too
old for this kind of game. But I think it's very smart of Miss
Anne-Christine to get me to guard the garden tonight."
"What shall we do with this creepy little man?" asked
Lisabeth, having forgotten the quite different feelings she
used to have for him.
"We put him on a horse and send him riding away very
swiftly, never to come back", said Anne-Christine firmly. "Do
you mind taking care of that, my dear Officer?"
"With every possible pleasure", the Officer answered,
laughing and taking the head of a strange processione. First
came Gosseling, his hands held high; followed by an Officer
wearing just his pants and holding a gun. Then came Anne-
Christine, wearing nothing at all; followed by Ruyters and
finally Lisabeth, also without her clothes.
"Where is your horse?" Anne-Christine asked when they were
outside.
"I don't know, but when I whistle, it will certainly show
up", answered Gosseling. He put his fingers in his mouth and
blew. Very soon, a saddled stallion trotted down the park
lane.
"Do take your seat, Mister Gosseling. And till we meet
again", the Officer joked.
"Could anyone help me to mount please? My saddle pain has
returned in the last few days", complained Gosseling in a thin
voice.
"It's not the saddle that hurts, it was the digging. You
are not used to it", said the Officer handing the rifle to
Anne-Christine and then helping Gosseling into his saddle.
"You'd better mount, too, Mister Officer", said Anne-
Christine pointing her gun menacingly at the Officer.
"Why me?" he asked but Anne-Christine was not in the mood
for playing word games and she clicked back the hammer of her
gun, ready to fire.
"Someone must have told Gosseling about the Glasswork
being buried here", was all she could say.
"Do come on, it is already past midnight. It's too late
anyway, unless we decide to murder the Sollicitor", Gosseling
was speaking in riddles. Nevertheless, these words seemed to
convince the Officer. Both conspirators rode down the Castle
Lane in the light of the moon; and those who stayed behind
could hear the heavy monotonously step of the horses hooves
for a long time.
"They must be far away now", Anne-Christine finally said,
"and I hope they'll never return".
"Please do go in, both of you or you will catch a cold
this way", said Ruyters who couldn't suppress a yawn
himself.
"You have been a great help to me once more, Ruyters.
Where would I be without you?" Anne-Christine thanked him,
"Here is your rifle and sleep tight".
"I wish you, too, a very good remainder of the night,"
said Ruyters. He unbolted his gun and placed it over his
shoulder.
Back in bed, the two girls had to laugh about the day's
events.
"My father!" Lisabeth burst out. "Just think of that!"
"You were a brilliant actress, nonetheless. You even made
me believe you", Anne-Christine replied.
"What did you expect, then? First you did send me into a
complete stranger's bed. You'll bet that I was dead nervous.
But then, surprisingly, he suddenly started to try to make me
believe that he was my father. This was what Gosseling wanted,
I'm certain of that. But I took immediate advantage of this
unexpected turn of events and made him believe that he had
convinced me. The next morning, it occurred to me that I could
trap you in your own practical joke by inviting him to your
Castle. And it worked. What do you think of that? Smart,
eh?"
Lisabeth looked straight at Anne-Christine, hoping for a
compliment.
"Yes, indeed", said Anne-Christine in a flat voice,
unwiling to admit her defeat.
"But what was Gosseling talking about?" Lisabeth
wondered.
"It's about midnight", he said and mumbled something about the
Sollicitor".
"If it's really that late, then it's my birthday", said
Anne-Christine. "I'm 21 years old now".
Without waiting for permission Lisabeth gave her friend a long
kiss.
"What present do you want from me?" she asked lightly.
Anne-Christine thought for a long while.
"We never actually did something together in bed". She
spoke slowly and chose her words carefully. "We just lay there
every night".
"Well then, tonight you can tell me to do anything you
want", Lisabeth answered firmly.
"You don't know what you're letting yourself in for",
whispered Anne-Christine as she rolled on top of her
friend.
"Are you still sure?"
"If you like, I'll say no but it's yes", said
Lisabeth.
"Tonight I'll be very sweet to you and I'll do anything
just for you".
"That is really some birthday present", said Anne-
Christine, placing a finger on Lisabeth's lips. Then she ran
out of her room, returning shortly, with her arms full of
different objects.
"What a birthday present that was!" said Anne-Christine
several hours later. But Lisabeth wasn't listening. She was
sound asleep, still holding a candle in her hand.
This bed looks like a pigsty", Anne reopened the
conversation the next day when the sun was already high.
"Yeah, I know why", Lisabeth replied, "and what treatment
I had to undergo!"
"Well you wanted it!" said Anne-Christine as she caressed
her friends sticky hairs.
"Oh well, for once it was rather amusing", said Lisabeth
as she gave Anne-Christine a lover's kiss. "Congratulations,
Anne. But are you any wiser now?"
"I desperately try to be, but you keep pulling me back
with your strange proposals. Come on, let's wash each other's
back".
"You'd better be careful with mine!" said Lisabeth giving
Anne-Christine a second kiss, while at the same time pulling
her to the edge of the bed so that they slid down the blankets
to the floor together.
Shortly afterwards, someone rang at the door and this time
Anne-Christine opened it.
"Congratulations!" said the Solicitor when he saw Anne-
Christine.
"Oh, it's you. Thank you so much. That implies that you
are not angry at me?" she asked very confused. She was
convinced he could find reasons to hate her for the rest of
his life.
"Of course not. I can take my defeat and you don't know
yet what I have in mind for you! You will become my child's
mother!", he said with a smile.
Anne-Christine didn't know what to think of this bold
statement but the Sollicitor continued:
"I have a small inheritance for you, now that you have
reached the legal age of 21. Today, you are entitled to
it".
"Of course, that may be so", was all Anne-Christine could
find to say.
"Oh, it isn't worth much. It's just a bundle of letters,
from your great-grandmother Anne-Lise. She was the Consul's
wife in Moscow and they bear a secret that is passed on from
mother to daughter. In your case, it took quite some time, but
there is a good reason for that", he went on. "You can collect
them today, if you feel like it. These letters are locked away
in the safe at my office, where you can sign the receipt."
The Solicitor turned to walk away but Anne-Christine stopped
him.
"Aren't you a bit mistaken, perhaps?" Her expression
couldn't hide her astonishment. "Aren't you talking about
another girl, who goes by the name of Lisabeth?"
The Solicitor looked at her as if she were a student at an
exam.
"That name sounds vaguely familiar to me, but I have no
inheritance for her", he had to confess. "But I'm convinced
that you and I will meet in my office today".
He turned again and started walking down the lane towards
Weesebeecke Village, whistling as he went and leaving Anne-
Christine in a state of confusion.
Lisabeth saw her friend return, deep in thought.
"Who was that?" she asked, seeing the frown on Anne-
Christine's face.
"That was the Solicitor", said Anne, "There is an
inheritance waiting for me, because I reached the age of 21
today".
"How funny", Lisabeth replied, "and from whom comes this
inheritance?"
"Strangely enough, from Anne-Lise in Moscow!" cried Anne-
Christine. "And the Solicitor told me clearly that she is my
great-grandmother".
"That may be true", Lisabeth answered. "Perhaps we have
the same great-grandmother. After all, we look very much
alike. Do you happen to know the names of your great-
grandmothers?"
"No", confessed Anne-Christine. "And you don't know yours
either, do you?"
"Let's start thinking", Lisabeth proposed. " Your mother's
mother, what was her name?"
Anne-Christine found it difficult to put some order into her
thoughts.
"Eh, her name was Everharda," she said, very confused. And
I never met her."
Lisabeth had to laugh. "What a funny characters our
ancestors were, Anne!" Can you recall the names of all Anne-
Lise's children? Archibald, Beatrice, Catharina, Dieudonne
and....?"
Anne-Chistine had run out of memories and ideas by
now.
"It must be Everharda, you clever girl", shouted Lisabeth,
"The names of the children go in alphabetical order. You are
the daughter of the daughter of Anne-Lise's daughter!"
"But you, too!" cried Anne-Christine in great
surprise.
"Oh, how unbelievably stupid you are, Anne. Now listen
carefully. I am the daughter of the son of Anne-Lise's
daughter", Lisabeth replied, very amused by Anne's clumsiness.
"That's why we look so much like one another and that is why I
don't get that inheritance. You are the only heir in a purely
feminine descendance".
"Oh no, Lisabeth, that can't be true!"
In a flash Anne-Christine had realized what the real
situation was.
"It is the Glasswork, isn't it", Lisabeth asked, after a
long pause.
"Of course, what else? It's secret is passed on from every
mother to her daughter since Attilla's era or perhaps even
before. I guessed that quite a while ago", said Anne-
Christine, looking somewhat defeated.
"Why did you have to steal it, then, and why did you find
the Sphere? It doesn't look as if your great-grandmother did
have it in her possession, does it? "Lisabeth asked, still
very surprised.
"I just don't know. I wondered about that more than once
before. That Sphere is like a giant puzzle to me, since its
discovery was your work and a product of Gosseling's
deciphering skills. Besides, those mugs contained indications
about a third part of the Glasswork, but for the rest...
On the one hand I was pre-destined to possess the Glasswork
and, on the other, I still had to steal it to obtain it. Now I
think my grandmother Everharda died too soon and my mother
married a drunk. Anne-Lise must have felt that he would have
gambled for it. To be certain, she gave it instead to her son
Archibald, defying the unwritten rules. He was a connoisseur
and, for a while, it was in safe hands with him."
"And while you were employed at Pennickx's thanks to
Adrian Aardewerk, you were in a position to steal it",
Lisabeth added.
"It wasn't just that I could steal it, I had to steal it,
through Aardewerk but, more than that, I was forced to steal
it by myself", said Anne-Christine rather fiercely.
"And the Solicitor; what may be his role in this game?"
Lisabeth wondered.
Anne didn't know the answer at once.
"He or perhaps his father may have been taken into her
confidence by Anne-Lise. He must have been aware of a great
many things Anne-Lise told him, which had to be kept secret
from me until my 21st birthday. God knows how he even tried to
obtain the Castle, to hand it over to me on this birthday.
Anyway, he can't be the unfaithful person I took him to be,
for then he would have kept these letters for himself.
Without realizing it, I thwarted his plans, just because I
suspected him of wanting to become Lord of Weezebeecke".
"What are you going to do with that knowledge?" asked
Lisabeth after Anne-Christine had been silent for a while.
"Playtime is over", Anne-Christine was certain, "and I have to
offer my sincere apologies to the Solicitor".
After saying this, Anne-Christine's face brightened, she
immediately stood up and walked out slowly, humming a little
tune.
Lisabeth saw her friend disappear towards the Solicitor's
office and knew she would not see Anne-Christine again until
late that day.