THE SECRET OF THE CRACKING HOUSE.
ANNE, PART 1.
Written By - Prabir Rai Chaudhuri
© All Copyright Reserved By Prabir Rai Chaudhuri- 2023
Image credit Google
What beautiful weather this Saturday afternoon in June! Alex, soon to be twelve years old like his friend Ethan, Linnea, Alex's sister, and her friend Celeste, both a year younger, were following the trail of a great bike ride through fields and woods.
On the way back, a sudden mist surprised the four friends. It thickens fairly quickly into an increasingly dense fog. It became such that they took the wrong path. They returned home by a road they had never taken before.
Coming out of the forest, they walked along an avenue bordered by a few large villas with sumptuous gardens. One of them seemed strange to our friends. They stopped to take a better look at her.
This house stood in the middle of a large piece of land, no doubt once well maintained. Currently, the hedge formed thickets, the path leading to it was overgrown with brambles, tall grass and wild flowers. The rusty gate, wide open, leaned on the ground. The house seemed abandoned.
Curious by nature, the four of them got off their bikes and took a few steps
around the property.
The fog, still very dense, prevented them from fully distinguishing the house and the surroundings. They soon noticed, however, that it was entirely built of wood, like the Swiss chalets. The boards, alternately painted white or black, astonished our visitors.
They saw no light in the building. They saw no smoke coming out of the chimney. The front door, ajar, invited to be bold. Our friends approached it.
Just then, they heard, for the first time, a creak in the house. Surprising! In the midst of the eerie silence and gray mist, in the ghostly light that surrounded them, the creaks emitted by this house appeared truly bizarre.
Intrigued, and seeing no doorbell, they opened the front door a little more. They passed into a hall. The walls, the ceiling, the floor, the stairs, everything was made of wood.
They then entered a large, well-furnished living room and discovered organs to their left. Monumental organs, entirely in wood, too. Our friends had never seen such an impressive installation.
Suddenly, the creaks intensified and became regular. The four friends were getting ready to quickly leave the house. Someone was walking upstairs. But, when they went back into the hall, they saw, at the very top of the stairs, a little girl of their age who was watching them.
Surprised and a little worried, our friends remained motionless for a moment.
She was blond, with an energetic, luminous face, dressed in a light-colored t-shirt and very worn denim overalls. She was barefoot. She was smiling.
Alex, mute with admiration, remained motionless, frozen. Sudden, unexpected, total, absolute love at first sight. He thought he had never met such a fascinating girl in his life. He looked at her with emotion, unable to utter a word.
Ethan reacts first.
-Excuse us. We thought we were visiting an abandoned house.
"I'm not surprised," replied the little girl. It's not the first time, by the way, she added, smiling.
-What's your name? I'm Ethan and this is my friend Celeste, my friend Alex, and her sister Linnea.
"Anne," replied the girl. Now I suggest you leave, because my sick grandfather is resting upstairs. I take care of him.
Our friends came out of the house a little sheepish, still saying a word of apology and a word of goodbye. They pushed Alex, who otherwise would have taken root in the hallway.
When he reached the street, he turned to his friends.
-Now, said the boy, I understand what it means to be in love. What a wonderful girl!
Ethan winked at his friend. They got back on their bikes and rode home.
During the days that followed, Alex often thought of Anne. I think he
dreamed about it every night. He decided, some time later, on a Wednesday
afternoon, at the end of June, to return to the wooden house near the
forest. The strange creaking house.
When he reached the level of the hedge, near the entrance gate which was still hanging wide open, he put his bike in the grass and headed for the house.
The wooden door was ajar. He boldly entered the hall and called.
-Anne! Anna! Is there anyone?
The boy received no response. He took a few steps toward the living room. Empty! Only the great organs remained.
Soundlessly, while listening to the creaking of the walls of the house, he went to the kitchen, then to the dining room. He walked through a dusty office space, then a bookcase devoid of books. All these rooms were on the ground floor. Everything was deserted, strangely silent.
He called again. Then he climbed the stairs. There was no furniture left in the rooms.
Alex, disappointed, came out of the house and got back on his bike. He stopped in front of a small grocery store. He entered and asked if we could inform him about the strange house. Did anyone know what had become of the people who lived there?
The grocer replied that the grandfather had died shortly before and that the young girl, whose parents had long since died, had been placed in an orphanage. The merchant knew neither the place nor the name of the man in question.
Our friend thanked him and left. Returning home by bike, he dreamed of this angel seen one day and whom he would probably never see again...
And then he thought of the life that this poor little girl was now leading in an orphanage, without parents, alone in the world. Maybe for the moment, she was crying... He would know how to console her... He could take her hand to erase her sorrow... He had to see her again. Well decided! He was going to find her. Even if he had to devote all his summer holidays to it.
Linnea, then Ethan and Celeste, immediately agreed to help him find the young girl.
- Thank you, added Alex. We will invite him to come and stay with us. Maybe my parents will adopt her...Linnea, you could...
Our friend understood that Alex would have put his sister on the street to welcome Anne into their home.
-Anyway, answered Linnea mockingly, if there is no room in my room, you will make one in yours, to be able to accommodate it.
The boy remained silent. He imagined himself sleeping on the rug in his Cub Leader Six sleeping bag and her in her bed beside him.
Summer vacation started a few days later.
July promised to be very hot. The four friends decided to start their
search from the wooden house. They found her without difficulty. They
put their bikes against the hedge and went through the garden and then they
entered the house. The walls still emitted startling creaks, like those of
old cupboards in the heat or humidity of a hallway or bedroom.
Suddenly they heard someone coming down the grand staircase. Turning around, they saw Anne.
-Hello, the young girl wondered.
"Hello," replied Philip. Excuse us. We thought your house was once again abandoned. My boyfriend came back to say hi to you a few days ago. He found the house empty. He learned that you were placed in a home.
"Correct," Anne replied. There is nothing left, no carpets, no furniture, no frames. But I live here for the summer.
Alex raised his head and opened his eyes wide.
- Do you live here alone? wondered our friend.
-I occupy the room farthest from the stairs, on the first floor. I sleep there on the floor.
Linnea and Veronique, no doubt more observant than the boys, noticed the
condition of the girl's clothes, much the same as the other time, but dirty,
neglected. And especially his pallor, almost his thinness. She didn't
seem to have eaten much in the past few days.
-We brought our picnic. Would you like us to share? Veronique suggested. We could take it together.
"I don't mind," muttered Anne longingly.
And our friends found out that this girl was hungry. She devoured almost all the sandwiches. They gave them to him without hesitation.
- How do you manage to live here all alone? Alex wondered. How are you doing?
-It's not very easy, Anne admitted. When my grandfather died, I was placed in an orphanage and there I was very unhappy, so I ran away.
She explained that life in this home was becoming hellish for her. Every day, shouting, swearing, insults, fights in the yard, in the hallways, even at the table.
One evening, unable to take it any longer, she decided to leave this place and return to live in her house. She no longer had any family as far as she knew. His father and mother had died three years previously. She lived with her grandfather who unfortunately had just died. She was left alone in the world now.
So she ran away one night from the orphanage. Smiling, she added:
-It wasn't too difficult. A few days before the holidays, we were each asked if we wanted to go to a camp by the sea or in the countryside. Me, I didn't care. I answered the sea, at random. So I was put on the list of those who would go to the beaches.
"Then one evening, the day before leaving, after the lights went out," Anne continued, "I got up quietly and went down the stairs.
She said that by turning on the computer in the office, she had easily found the two lists. She had taken her name from that of the sea, without adding it to that of the countryside. Thus, she was not enrolled in either. Logically, when the children left tomorrow, each leader would think that Anne was accompanying the other group, and so they wouldn't be looking for her.
Then she jumped out the window and fled. She walked all night to her house.
- How do you live all alone here? Linnea asked. You have money?
-I do not have any.
She looked down.
-I manage. The other day, I was too hungry. I washed a car or two. With the money, I bought bread and fruit. Sometimes I offer my services to the corner store to deliver orders. So they give me some coins. And then, sometimes, added Anne, I steal an apple or some other fruit from the shop window. Anyway, I don't need much...
Our friends moved, impressed, were silent.
-And you fear nothing, all alone in this empty house? insisted Alex.
- So far not, except last night. A thief entered. He was looking for a small animal, I think.
-A small animal, surprised Linnea. A thief?
-Yes. They were looking for a little beast, a gavotte. I don't know what it looks like. But they murmured several times: "Where is this gavotte?"
Veronique intervened.
-It's comical, she smiles. A gavotte is not an animal but a piece of music played on the organ or with ancient instruments. A dance from the Middle Ages.
-How do you know that? Anne asked.
-Because I know how to play it. I am learning piano, organ and flute. I love music.
-Would you like to sit at the great organ of my house? The only piece of furniture that remains, because it is embedded in the walls of the living room.
-Yes if you want.
The children entered the large living room. Celeste activated the lever which started the blower. Then, sitting down in front of the keyboard, she gave them a truly impressive recital. They applauded.
-But then, thought Anne, if they were looking for a gavotte, that means they
wanted to find musical notes, a score.
"No doubt," replied Celeste.
-A score... I really wonder why, said Ethan.
- Thanks to your enlightenment, I think I know the key to the enigma now, declared their friend. Sit down. I will tell you the secret of this house...
- Who cracks, added Alex smiling.
They all sat down on the floor, in a circle, in the dusty living room.
-My grandfather's father, Anne explained, left Sweden a long time ago. I am of Swedish origin. He had this house built as well as the large organs attached to it. He was an organist and blind. He nevertheless had a dazzling career throughout the world.
The four friends listened in silence.
-My grandfather and my father often insisted that I learn to play it. Me, I didn't want to. After a few lessons, I understood that I was not interested. I remember one day my grandfather, shortly before he died, whispered to me:
"Anne, how I regret that you don't play the organ. This instrument is the secret of our wealth and you won't know how to use it...
-I didn't quite understand what that meant. I was going to ask him, but he died before he told me again.
- So, the thieves who are looking for this gavotte, Ethan intervened, are initiated into this secret. They suspect that this gavotte leads to a treasure or something valuable.
-Something hidden in the house, added Linnea.
- And whose access is probably linked to the great organs, suggested Celeste.
- Yes, concludes Alex. You have to find the text, the written notes of this gavotte, here in your home and now.
For the rest of the day, the four friends undertook a systematic search of the
whole large wooden chalet.
In the evening, having discovered nothing, Alex and Linnea invited Anne to come and sleep with them, which allowed her to take a good bath and above all to receive enough to eat.
The next day they resumed their search. They visited nooks and crannies of the villa. Ethan remained seated on the floor gazing at the organ.
-Are you giving up the search? asked Alex.
"No," replied Ethan. I think I know where the score for the gavotte is.
Anne and the others surrounded him in astonishment.
- If I had to hide a document in my house, continued the boy, and if I were a sick old gentleman, like our friend's grandfather, I would put it in my room, to keep it close to me. Now, this room, which you showed us yesterday, is empty. There are only wooden bars left to hang the curtains. Let's take a closer look at these rods. Let's find a stepladder first.
A long ladder trailed at the bottom of the garden. Linnea climbed on it and was able to reach the wooden rod. At both ends there was a protection that prevented the rings from slipping beyond the end. She touched one of these caps, the one on the right, and managed to unscrew it.
She then noticed that the wooden bar was hollow. She slid her fingers in and pulled out a piece of paper. On this sheet were musical notes. Partition. The famous gavotte, linked to the secret of the creaking house.
Armed with their find, the five children went back down to the living
room. Celeste sat down in front of the great organs and tried to play the
piece. After three or four unsuccessful attempts, she succeeded in
interpreting it to the end and without making a mistake.
As soon as she played the last note, a louder crack was heard. This time it was not just a creaking caused by wood and humidity, heat, sun or wind, but an internal noise related to the organ.
A marquetry panel opened, revealing a hidden hiding place behind it. Then, a black velvet-covered tray advanced towards our friends through a mechanism that escaped them. They discovered, amazed, a gold coin.
Anne grabs it. The tray moved back and the marquetry panel snapped back into place.
Celeste played the gavotte again and a second gold coin appeared. So that's the secret of the cracking house.
The five children immediately went to the city. A jeweler confirmed that
it was indeed a gold coin redeemable at a bank or at a specialized
merchant. The next day, the five of them went to a trader's counter and
managed to sell the gold coin. They got a nice sum.
-I think, said Alex smiling, that you will be able to live in luxury now. No more stealing apples from the shelves.
-Especially if there are other pieces left in the hollow of the organ, added Linnea.
The children returned to Anne's house. Veronique set to work. She played gavotte after gavotte and each time she finished one without error, the cracking was heard. The marquetry panel opened and a new gold coin appeared. After repeating the operation thirty-three times, a strange phenomenon occurred.
The hiding place opened and the five friends saw on the velvet tray a black piece of wood, oval and flat. It was eight centimeters high and four wide. A curious series of lines were engraved on one side of the object. It formed a strange pattern. And the edge was covered with small well aligned dots.
Celeste played the gavotte one last time, but nothing more happened. The marquetry work no longer clicked. The treasure seemed entirely exhausted.
By carefully observing the lines that were on the wooden piece, Ethan put
forward the hypothesis that it could correspond to a plan. It took time
and thought before they discovered the truth.
Linnea suddenly exclaimed that this drawing corresponded to a place in the forest which adjoined their town. She had taken part in several games there with the elves of her round and she remembered a rather particular tree in these woods.
-It grows in the center of a small clearing, she said. Exactly from this place, eight paths start oriented exactly to the North, South, West and East. The four other intermediate tracks turn towards the North-East, the North-West, the South-East, the South-West.
In the afternoon, our friends went by bike to the place mentioned by Linnea. They approached a magnificent lime tree, planted in the middle of the clearing. Starting from the tree and following the plan engraved on the black wooden disc discovered in the creaking house, they walked north. They quickly saw, to their right, a path which corresponded to a dotted line on the map. This path, surrounded by ferns and nettles, led to an underground passage.
The five children put their bikes on the ground and entered a narrow, damp and dark tunnel.
To the right, a landslide prevented progress, but to the left, you could take a few steps in the mud. Not very fun. The boys sacrificed themselves and advanced through the mud, immediately followed by Anne. After a few meters they saw, engraved in one of the bricks of the wall of the tunnel, bizarre signs and in the center, a drawing similar to that which was inscribed on the wooden disc.
Placing this unusual key in the hollow of the brick, they obtained, by rotating the assembly a quarter turn to the left, a very small opening. You could slip your fingers through it. Behind this slot was a dark cupboard containing a burlap sack filled with gold coins identical to those our friends had just discovered in Anne's house.
Very happy with their find, they returned to their friend's house.
On the way, Ethan suddenly stopped and exclaimed:
-My friends, I don't think we know the whole secret of the creaking house. There is still something to discover.
-What do you mean ? asked Alex.
- Such an installation in the center of the great organs, a clever hiding place in the depths of the woods... for a few gold coins, no. There must be something else.
Taking the black wooden disc in his hands, sitting astride his bicycle, Ethan observed it in the sunlight. On the edge of the object, a centimeter thick, he examined the small dots, curiously arranged. Sliding his index finger, he wondered why they had been carved and what their meaning might be.
You who discover this thrilling story, do you have an idea? Think before you read on...
Anne made the connection between these small asperities and her great-grandfather, the blind organist. The dots may have been braille. Braille is the writing of the blind. Thanks to these small raised dots, they can read, count or write.
You can see it on medicine boxes, for example.
Back home, the five friends copied the dots onto white paper using a carbon sheet which printed them there. Then they rushed to a dictionary and found the Braille alphabet. They translated letter by letter the message that circled the wooden disc.
Unfortunately, this message meant absolutely nothing. They double checked the translation. But the letters placed end to end seemed meaningless.
-It may be Swedish, risked Anne, since my great-grandfather came from this country.
-Do you speak Swedish? asked Veronique.
-A few words only, confessed Anne.
Alex had the idea of phoning the Swedish Embassy.
They were very kindly received there and a secretary, deciphering the letters,
did the translation. The message had three sentence fragments.
"Soldarmö the Great". "His shadow was light". "He didn't know the number."
The children thanked their translator and went home.
The mystery remained intact.
"Those three sentences probably lead somewhere," said Ethan. But where?
The next day, returning to Anne's house together, they were apprehended by a
gendarmerie patrol parked at the scene. The police got out of their car,
accompanied by the director of the orphanage where their friend lived. The
face of the young girl darkened immediately.
-Anne, we were looking for you everywhere. We found you neither at sea nor in the country. I should punish you for running away, but I don't want to. Because of good news. We discovered a member of your family. You have an aunt. She lives in Uppsala, north of Stockholm, Sweden. We contacted her and she adopts you. She's waiting for you there as soon as possible. You're going to live with this lady, a professor at the University.
Anne's face was beaming now.
- What happiness! whispered the little girl, her eyes lighting up. I am happy! I am happy!
For Alex, the end of a great adventure was coming. His friend, with whom he was so deeply in love, was about to leave for that distant country of Sweden. But it was his life, his happiness. He was happy for her.
The four friends accompanied Anne to the airport the next day. They gave
each other a little kiss. The young girl looked at Alex, taking his
hands. Their faces full of tears promised to meet again. They kissed.
"We'll meet again," said their friend. As soon as I get there, I will continue my research. You too, please think. And as soon as I find a lead, I will invite you and you will come to Sweden. Promised! sworn!
