Saturday, 26th of May:
Mrs. Stratford and Mr. Stradford are arriving today for tomorrow’s jubilee of the St. George Academy’s 150th birthday.
Especially Mrs. Stratford is interested to see how pupils developed and what the rooms look like. We know she wants everything to be tidy and neat so be sure to clean your rooms! Maybe you want to help tiding the library and dusting the books and shelves, or maybe you want to help washing the sailing boats? Everything should be tidy and clean when they arrive at the castle! And always be friendly and polite!
"Oh God, I wish my back wouldn't hurt so much!" I heard Tine moaning some book shelves away from me. She and I were some girls among 6 who consented to dust the books and shelves in the old library. This was difficult as some bookcases were well up to 3 metres high!
"Don't worry, Tine! I've a lovely idea for this evening when the work is done!"
Instantly, Tine stopped moaning and asked: "Oh, tell me about it!"
"No, sorry, I can't! It's a surprise!"
I could not see her, but I believed she hiked her shoulders.
"Well, okay, then I'll wait. I hope it has to do with food!", she laughed.
"Haha, yes, of course! I asked Caroline, Lizzy and Kat, too!" , I replied.
"Then, I'm coming, too! When and where do we meet?"
"Umm, I thought about half past seven in the evening at the dining hall!"
"Sounds amazing! Did you..."
She was harshly interrupted by Mr. Lively who supervised us during dusting the library.
"Back to your work, girls! Mrs. Stratford doesn't like schmoozing during work!"
My eyes followed him walking away to the next pupils who didn't seem to work at all..
Beth, Audrey and Simo, who else?
I had to smirk, the three adventurers always looked funny together.
A couple of hours later, the work was nearly done.
"Only these two last books and I've finished!" I cheered, when Mr. Lively gave me another warning.
I rolled my eyes, but fortunately he could not see it.
Another 5 minutes later, I handed the dusters back and couldn't wait to meet Caroline in the student's kitchen.
We drank a cup of tea together and talked a bit about the time travelling case. I personally, couldn't wait to see what the year 1924 was like!
Dead on half past seven Caroline, Tine, Elizabeth and her twin sister Katherin were already waiting at the dining hall for me.
"There you are! What's in this basket?" Caroline waved excitedly at me.
"Some delicious food!" I smiled and I could see every single pair of eyes shining brightly.
"Well, where do we actually go?" Lizzy asked.
"It's a very special place! You will absolutely love it! I discovered it a few days ago and spent some time drawing there. But enough talk, let's go!"
As we had all finished our cleaning work for today, we had legal free-time!
I led the girls outside and on a little hill, then through a bit of forest and then we were finally there: on top of the hill with a breathtaking view of a valley leading through the huge forest.
"Oh my goodness!", sighed Caroline.
"Hiromi, this is fantastic!" squeaked Tine happily.
Lizzy and Kat were also impressed by this amazing location.
"Please, don't tell anybody about this place! I you wish, we can arrange some get-together here, where we can talk and relax a bit, what do you think?" I asked excitedly.
"Sounds great!"
"Aww, look at that!" Kat said suddenly.
The light changed and we got the chance to see the probably most beautiful sunset we've ever seen.
Each one of us let herself drift off a bit and we didn't even notice someone coming.
"When I was a pupil of this academy, this was my favourite place. I'd never thought someone would find it!"
We were startled and instantly turned around.
It was Mrs. Stratford!
She smiled. "Don't be afraid, it's just me. I have seen you cleaning the library and horse stables and I must say: Good job! They never looked so pretty!"
With a little wink she went back to the school building. None of us has said a word, she had left us simply speechless.