The ride

Everything Gina did this afternoon ...

... heard it made her think. She sat on the bench in the Bürgerpark for a while before the moisture penetrated her coat and became cool. But already in this short time she realized that the Reverend had evaded her question. Why is everyone suggesting that there are illegal games of chance in the nine-armed Kraken, and when you ask them specifically, they don't give a correct answer? She got up energetically, stamped her feet on the ground a few times, whether out of sudden anger or because of her cold feet, she didn't care at the moment. She vowed that she would be very careful for the next few days to see if any prohibited things happened in the nine-armed octopus.

But now she first had to deal with the present. Her new home at the harbor was still hidden deep in the fog, while her current location was a much friendlier sight. And since she was in no hurry, she decided to go back down Main Street to warm up in the café with a good cup of tea. She couldn't afford that too often, but in this particular situation she wanted to indulge in luxury. But when she got there, she was sorry to see that the café was also closed today. So she had no choice but to make her way home over the slippery cobblestones. The closer she got to the harbor, the thicker the fog grew again. Her woolen coat, usually very warm and thick, quickly felt clammy and heavy, as if it had soaked itself in the moisture of the air. Thank goodness the way wasn't too far, so that after a short half an hour, which, as mentioned, seemed at least twice as long, she arrived in front of the side entrance of the pub. She quickly unlocked the door and scurried inside to escape the uncomfortable weather outside.

A little restrained she called into the dark silence of the house: "I'm back!", But no one answered her. The Drakes had obviously not come home yet. Without wanting to admit it to herself, there was something unreal and eerie about this total silence, without any noise from the house or the street. She quickly walked through the dark rooms and up the stairs to her room so that she could get out of the wet clothes. Then she lit the wood in the fireplace, which quickly gave off cozy warmth. She snuggled into a large blanket in front of the fire and wondered what to do. Even if it was dark in the room, as in the dead of night, only illuminated by the flickering light from the fireplace, it was still early afternoon and she actually still had a lot of time to herself.

As soon as she was adequately warmed through, she slipped into an old and comfortable skirt, pulled on another sweater and went downstairs to the kitchen in only thick woolen socks, demonstratively switching on the light the entire way. Now she would do what any normal Englishman would do in a situation he didn't really understand or which he found scary: she made a couple of slices of toast and made herself a pot of tea. Then she sat with both of them on a bench in the dining room with her back to the wall. After the first cup of tea, the decision was made and she got up to start a little search. If there were playing cards or dice hidden somewhere in the pub, or lists of bets on, she would find them. She systematically began her search first in the taproom. Some of the tables still had cutlery drawers like their grandparents', but these were just as empty as the storage space under the benches on the wall. Then she searched the counter and looked around helplessly. Actually, it should have been clear to her that she couldn't find anything suitable, because in the almost week that she was already working here, she had already cleaned most of the places, so she would have noticed these things in any case. But then her gaze fell on the door next to the stairs. The dining room! For some inexplicable reason, instead of moving normally, she crept over and carefully opened the door. But when she switched on the light in the dining room, she scolded herself, because of course this room was empty too. The whole house was empty, with no observers who would have found what they were doing strange.

Here, too, she began a systematic search in the two large sideboards, which still only contained what Gina already knew: glasses, cutlery and napkins. Then she went to the small cupboard at the back of the room. The result here was somewhat more surprising because she hadn't had time to look into this cupboard before.

There were brightly mixed up in loose stacks of blank paper and pictures painted by children, which were so much worse for them than the pictures on the wall that they certainly didn't deserve the trip there. What shoud that? Why does someone keep something like this? She wondered. A whole box of pencils and colored pencils was also represented. The Drakes probably had a painting contest at some point, and these were the results.

Unsatisfied with the unsatisfactory results of her previous search, she looked around the room again. Then she examined the dining tables, some of them very old, for hidden drawers or compartments, but in the few she found there was nothing but fluff, again a few pencils, erasers, or old napkins.

She was at a loss until after a few minutes she was amazed and realized that she should be happy. Because since she had found no clues, she could now safely assume that all she had heard had been rumors and hot air. Filled with pride at this realization, she straightened up, brushed a few flakes of dust from her skirt and from the hair she had collected while crawling under the table.

Because she had a bit of a guilty conscience about her employers because of her stupid suspicions, she then got herself a rag and broom to really clean here. She was just about to finish her hand when she heard the Drakes coming home. A little later Mr. and Mrs. Drake were standing in the door to the dining room.

"What are you doing?" Came Mr. Drake's irritated voice from behind her.

With one last stroke of the broom, she turned bright red in her face.

“I was a little bored with the weather and I thought I could really clean up here. Where no one is here today. I mean, at least I don't mind. 'To her ears that sounded so dreadfully bland, like a bad excuse, but Mr Drake failed to notice and smiled delightedly.

“Great effort! Very commendable! But nevertheless you should only do this during your working hours in the future. ”

“ Of course! How was the ride? Is there still so much fog out there? ”

“ No, it has cleared a lot. And outside of the bay, as is usually the case, he's gone completely. So the trip was okay! ”

Behind Mr. Drake, Mrs. Drake and Francis appeared. "Hello Gina," she said in astonishment. "How does it look here?"

Mr. Drake turned to her and laughed. "This is how it looks when a good employee gets bored."

"Very nice! I will I have a wonderful recipe for roast beef with a delicious mint sauce. "Then she turned to Francis." And I think you still have some errands to do. "

Francis looked at her briefly and then looked down.