Nana woke Anondil, Cadrie, and I up early this morning. Our siblings had been generous enough to pay for this trip so we weren't allowed to waste it by sleeping in all day, she said. I had a bit of trouble getting up. Not so much because I was tired, but vede Eloril might have let me try some of the wine he bought. We took our chance when we saw that nana had gone off somewhere. I really didn't drink all that much, promise. I just had to, uh, sample each different wine of course. Vede told me he used to drink the stuff a lot when he was a kid, so now that he's an adult and I have his permission it shouldn't be a big deal if I introduce myself to the traditional drink of a foreign country. It's merely to experience and learn fully about this different culture, right?
Yeah. Let's go with that.
Thankfully, nana never noticed my slight intoxication. Her mind seemed to be preoccupied with something else. I could tell that vede wasn't that pleased with her last night, but they appear to be fine now. Nana used one of the recipes she learned here to cook us breakfast. Since I'll eat just about anything, I don't really share her and Nadrien's passion for cooking. I'll eat whatever as long as it tastes good. I do appreciate nana learning new things for us though.
After breakfast, she told us that today we could all go our separate ways and do whatever we wanted. Anondil and Cadrie had to stick together though. I wanted to see if there was anything exciting to do around here. Eating food and drinking wine is great, but I want to do something a bit more adventurous. Unfortunately, I didn't know where to begin looking for this adventure. That's when I began to ask the other tourists in the lodge if they had any suggestions. They told me of a bulletin board out in front. The locals would post requests for help. Most were just chores or jobs that they didn't want to do, but occasionally something good would pop up.
I had ignored the board before since most of the postings were in French. I've taken a year of French in school, but that's not preparation enough for being fully surrounded by native speakers. It's a good thing that most locals here can speak our language since there's so many tourists coming through. I don't think nana and vede thought about what would've happened if we weren't able to communicate. I tried the board, and found a request written that I could read.
It was a request from a museum curator. Apparently, the guards there keep abandoning their posts and the curator wanted to find out what was going on. I invited Anondil and Cadrie along since it sounded interesting enough. They decided to come.
Our first stop was to meet with a woman named Noelle St. James. It was clear she wasn't expecting anyone like us to answer the request. She didn't turn us away though. I think she was desperate. She hinted that others had tried to help, but they all gave up. After telling us that she wanted us to patrol the museum, she also gave us a bit more information. The guards and other helpers had actually left because they had been spooked away. They all claimed that they could hear strange noises and wailing. There was even a rumor that a secret stairway had been found, but no one had come across it and the person who started the rumor was nowhere to be found.
I began to wonder if we were getting involved in something strange, but Anondil and Cadrie were still eager. I told Miss St. James that we would do ask she asked and patrol. At that time, I thought no harm could come of it.
It was about an hour later when I really began to wonder what I had gotten us into. The three of us patrolled as asked, but nothing was happening. Then Cadrie pointed out a hole in the wall. It was hidden mostly behind a statue. It didn't seem to have anything to do with the exhibit, and Anondil said that he could hear strange noises coming from below through the hole. He has always claimed that he can hear things or see things that no one else can. I believe he's telling the truth to some extent. I mean, he is an alien after all. What right do I have to determine what kind of abilities he has?
Still, I was hesitant about investigating this hole. My skin crawled as I reached inside the darkness not knowing exactly what was inside. Thankfully, it was only a switch. We heard a noise nearby, and much to our surprise, we found a staircase that had been hidden before was now open. This had to be what Miss St. James was talking about! Unfortunately, I knew taking Anondil and Cadrie into this dark, creepy, probably dangerous, underground basement was going to get me in trouble if nana ever found out.
The two of them dashed down the stairs before I could say anything against it.
It was an anticlimactic moment when we found that the room we entered was a dead end. I thought it would be a good idea to simply go back and tell Miss St. James that we found the hidden staircase, but Anondil went over to one of the walls. He said he could sense there was more behind it. I sighed. It would be up to me to shove myself up against the solid brick. At least Anondil turned out to be right. It wasn't too long before the wall rotated and revealed a hidden corridor. Walking down it, we found some ancient looking coins on the ground. I took them to give to the museum since they seem like they belong here. I also found a chest with some old pottery and gems inside.
When we went out to the main room, we finally noticed the obvious yellow arrows on the floor. Since one had been pointing to the hidden door I had opened, the torch on the second wall had to be a switch. You would think after watching so many adventure movies I would know what all the secret switches are.
Two plates appeared from under hidden covers. The only thing to do that made sense was to push the stone statues in the room onto them. I made Anondil and Cadrie do some of the work now. They took charge of pushing the left one while I took the right statue. Even though they're both smaller and not as strong as I am, they still moved theirs faster. Then they told me to hurry up.
Cheeky brats.
Another door opened for us when the second statue was in place. We kept finding more secret switches and unlocking doors. I was worried we were going to get lost or stuck. When we entered one corridor that was rigged with an electric trap, I knew we had gotten way over our heads. Clearly, no one working for the museum knew about this place. Who knows what this place was built for or what kind of traps are about. I said we should go back, but those two crazy kids plowed on ahead. I couldn't tell if they're that fearless, or if they didn't realize just how dangerous this place is.
I was certain then that I'm dead if nana ever finds out about this little adventure of ours.
It all came to a safe, but creepy, end though. At the end of the corridor with the electric trap there was another hidden door. Past it was a room with an old, wrinkled note stuck to the wall. It was written from a former museum curator who had gotten stuck down here. He had no way out, and begged that if anyone found his remains to put them in the grave next to his wife. I kept Anondil and Cadrie from seeing his rotten skeleton. I know that would've been too much for them to handle.
I certainly wasn't going to touch that skeleton though. Instead, we looked for another way out. That old curator must have been pretty weak, or perhaps stupid, because we found a switch to let us out right away. I couldn't believe my eyes when we went up another staircase that was hidden around the back of the museum. How could it already be nighttime? I knew we had spent a couple hours down there, but had a whole day really passed? I hoped it wasn't too late. Nana and vede are going to be suspicious enough as to where we went to.
I told Anondil and Cadrie that I would make up a lie for us. They were not to say anything about this exploration. Since they knew as well as I that talking about what really happened would get us in trouble, they readily promised to keep it all a secret. I checked the clock as soon as we found one. Although I wanted to tell Miss St. James about the old curator as soon as possible, I knew I would have to wait for the next day. If the three of us didn't meet with nana and vede soon we would be in trouble regardless of anything else.
And we barely escaped that trouble. Nana was pacing furiously when we returned to the lodge. I could tell her patience was just about broken. Ever since that one time I skipped school, she's always been so strict about being places at the proper time. I know it's my own fault though, and she and vede at least bought my lie easily enough.
It was hard to find the opportunity to tell what I had learned to Miss St. James. Nana insisted we spend our last ours in France together as a family. There was no chance for me to sneak off on my own. It was only through pure luck that Miss St. James came into the store we were in. I told her everything. She thanked me and said that she would have the situation handled properly. However, she left so quickly and gave me no contact information. I knew after she departed that I would probably never find out what happened to that old curator and the mysterious basement. It was the most disappointed I have ever been.
And yet, we the five of us went to swim in the beautiful river at the end of such an amazing trip, I realized that I really couldn't complain......
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