Chapter 668

At the Castle

Six weeks earlier continued.

Mia, while showing them the suite, had pointed out where the linens were kept and where they should put their used ones. Phillip and Dessie made up their bed the next morning while remembering what Mia had said about personal service. Much to Dessie’s disgruntlement, the bed didn’t have a wet spot, so there was no use in new linens just yet.

They had worn their new hiking boots as much as possible since they bought them, and they seemed comfortable. The manufacturer claimed the boots didn’t need a breaking-in period. They would find out if that were true today. With smiles, they temporarily donned their backpacks, took one last look around to make sure they had everything and headed for the dining area.

“And don’t you two look great?” Glenda said as they stopped just inside the entrance to set their packs aside. Dessie hurried over to hug Glenda, then Karl, treating them like long-lost friends. Phillip shook Karl’s hand and said, “Hi,” to Glenda, who demanded a hug instead. Phillip kept telling himself that these two were almost strangers, but somehow, he just couldn’t convince himself.

While they were standing by the hot bar talking, Sophia brought in the last of the food. After putting it on the bar, she turned to Dessie. “My otherwise delightful sister forgot to have you two fill out a questionnaire concerning your food likes, dislikes and any allergies you might have. So, with no guidelines, I decided the hot bar would be best for now.”

“Oh, it looks scrumptious,” Dessie said as she took in the perfectly presented food and hunger-inducing smells.

“No problems with me,” Phillip said. “If it will stand still long enough, I’ll eat it,” he finished with a laugh.

“I don’t like pumpkin or avocado,” Dessie said. “And I don’t care how many people tell me that guacamole is delicious; I still don’t like it,” she said with a grimace.

Sophia chuckled. “Actually, it isn’t my favorite either, but most women seem to think it is wonderful. Men, though, seem to take it or leave it,” she said as she stepped to the other side of the bar. In a slightly louder voice, she stated, “Come on, everyone. Breakfast is ready.”

Karl motioned for Dessie and Phillip to precede them before quietly saying, “Starting Friday, there will be many guests coming in, and the castle will go back to a more normal routine. Mia, Sophia and Fischer will be eating in the kitchen then, but with just a few of us, would you mind if they ate with us today?”

Dessie spoke up before Phillip could. “My goodness. They’re the owners and delightful people. I expected them to eat with us, and I’m eager to hear more about the castle.”

“Same here,” Phillip added.

“Good. I’ll take care of it,” a smiling Karl said as he hurried over to speak with Sophia.

As they were eating, Dessie asked Mia to tell them more about the castle, but she smiled and said, “That’s a long story. Since you two will be in and out over at least a month, perhaps it would be best to wait until after dinner one night. That way, we can be in a more comfortable environment in the sitting room while I talk about the castle’s history and how we came to be its owners.”

After chatting for a few minutes, the four began gathering their dishes and putting them on the counter, even as Sophia and Fischer objected. Somehow both Phillip and Dessie felt as if they had known the two doctors, as well as Mia, Fischer and Sophia much longer than they actually had.

As they donned their backpacks, Sophia brought them two of their steaks already wrapped in the food insulation used for backpacking that Dessie had included with the steaks. She chuckled as she thanked Sophia. “I forgot to tell you what the insulation material was for, but it looks as though you figured it out.”

Sophia chuckled. “Many people backpack while they’re staying with us, so I’ve seen it before.”

“I’ll be looking forward to those steaks all day,” Phillip offered.

“I’ll be looking forward as well,” Dessie said as she winked at Sophia, who blushed prettily.

As they bid everyone goodbye and walked out the main entrance, Dessie commented, “We could put off our first outing for another day if you wish.”

Phillip, with a smile, looked over at his wife. “Like them, huh?”

She just grinned back.

Outside, they stopped while they pulled their hiking poles from their packs and set them to the proper length. They had tried the lighter, carbon fiber poles, and true, the lighter poles required less energy to move thousands of times as you walked throughout the day, but they had both snapped a carbon fiber pole on the same rough hike. They had never broken an aluminum pole, and they certainly didn’t want to risk snapping a pole in half while trying to keep from falling off a high, slippery trail, so they stayed with the “tried and true.”

The same for shock-absorbent poles. Oh, the poles felt nice as you walked along, but when you slipped and slammed a pole against the ground or an outcropping of rock to keep from falling, you needed instant stability, not a pole that retracted under the sudden, extra pressure. The shock absorbent characteristics sounded great, and, indeed, they were easier on wrists and elbows as you hiked, but they lacked the stability they had gotten used to with their more normally constructed poles. When their poles became too scruffy-looking, they bought new ones — same brand, same model, and put the old ones back for spares. Their old poles were back in the states, but they found the same brand and model at the sporting goods store.

They didn’t plan on any mountain climbing today, but they brought the carbide tips for their poles, anyway. In the same light, they brought their mud baskets should they need them. It only took a few seconds to put the baskets on the poles, and they did a great job of keeping the poles from sinking too deeply into mud, snow or soft sand, and again, gave their poles extra stability in those areas. The small, circular baskets attached near the end of the poles and prevented them from going too deep into whatever the hiker was walking over, while allowing extra stability to the hiker. Falling and breaking a leg in a desolate area could be catastrophic, whether in mud, high mountainous terrain or anything between.

They had maps of the area from Google, but it seemed very different on the ground. They had always prepared for everything they could. Even so, they had been surprised over and over. Sometimes those surprises were welcome; other times, they were far from it.

“You do have the SAT phone, don’t you?” Dessie asked.

Phillip patted a pouch on the right side of his backpack. “Yep. The battery is hot, and our solar charger will work with it, too. You have the turkey sandwiches that Sophia made for us, right?”

“Yes, and she did a great job of wrapping them, too.”

After a brief pause, “You really like those people — all of them — don’t you?” Phillip asked.

“Yeah,” she slowly responded as she pulled on light, but ultra-strong gloves, as did her husband. Similar ones had saved both from skinned knuckles, briars or other sharp things over the years. “Ready?” she called out to her husband.

“Yeah, more than ready,” he said as they started out at an easy pace, both knowing better than to rush until their bodies settled into the routine.

“I can’t really explain it,” she continued. “Maybe it’s because I want to hear the backstory of the castle, but then again, it’s more than that. My gosh, I basically offered Mia a loan. That’s crazy, and we barely know her, but I’m already worried about her. There just seems to be an undercurrent of something that’s ... wrong. Some stress, that’s beyond normal, maybe. Oh, I can’t put it into words, but it’s there,” she insisted.

“Do you think she’s actually in financial trouble?” he asked as they left the castle’s grounds, and he pointed with his hiking pole toward the trail they were going to take.

“I don’t know. That was the first thing that came to mind when I saw her expression. I just know there’s something that is worrying her — worrying her a lot, I think.”

“Well,” Phillip said with a chuckle, “this place could certainly represent a lot of collateral for that loan.” When Dessie began to make excuses, he just chuckled louder. “Hush, Baby. I feel it too. The castle will remain a special place for us, and I also think the people who run it will always be on our ‘close friends’ list. I suspect that Karl and Glenda will be on that list too. I’m glad we came.”

They walked on for a time, later staying on a less traveled, northwesterly path. “You remembered to set the castle for your Home position on your GPS?” he asked.

Dessie giggled. “If I had forgotten, it would certainly be too late now. Did you?” she teased, hoping to catch him.

“Yeah, I set it last night and checked it before we left. I also checked both our paper maps to make sure they were marked as well. With a map and a compass, either of us can find our way back with no problems whatsoever.”

Later in the day, they had stopped while both checked out their GPS screens as Phillip said, “The two units we bought at the sporting goods store are tiny compared to our old ones, but the screens are bright and show an astonishing amount of detail even out here in the woods. These things are a backpacker’s dream compared to what we had all those years ago.”

“Yeah, I agree.” Then, after a couple of seconds, she motioned to a hill in the distance. “My GPS shows a small lake over that hill there. My water bladder is down considerably. Want to try out our new water purification system?”

“Sure. I just wish there were battery-powered cooling systems for water bladders. Cold water would go down really well just now,” he said while wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Dessie giggled. “We have both gotten spoiled by the easy life. Of course, you could have filled it with ice water before we left.”

“Yeah, but when it was gone, I would be spoiled. Maybe someday someone will invent a practical cooler for water bladders.”

“Dreamer,” she returned. “In the meantime, the sooner we start, the sooner we’ll be there,” she said with a laugh. Hmmm, could he be getting tired? We’ve only gone eight miles according to my GPS, but I certainly don’t want him tired tonight. The boy is going to get some pussy if I have to rape him, she thought while failing to hold back a giggle.

“What?” he asked.

“I just thought of something that amused me. I’ll tell you later. Let’s get going again so we can check out our purification equipment.”

Twenty minutes later, they topped the hill that she had seen in the near distance and stood holding hands as they looked down at the small lake below them. “I suggest that we veer a little to the left to miss that area with all the bushes on the right side of the lake. That seems to be where the water is going. It’s bound to be marshy and, at least to me, snaky. I know there are supposed to be very few snakes in Germany compared to the U.S., and I think that only one variety is venomous, but they are all dangerous as far as I’m concerned. They might not hurt me, but I might hurt myself while getting away,” he said with a grimace.

“You don’t have to convince me after I saw that one in Texas. It was right there in the hotel parking lot, big as day, all coiled up and making that buzzing sound — ready to bite somebody. That rattlesnake was willing and able to give someone a perfectly miserable day. Remember those pictures on the wall of that pharmacy?”

“Oh, I certainly do, and I wish we hadn’t started talking about snakes.”

A couple of minutes later, they had skirted the lake and stopped at the small stream that fed the body of water.

“This looks like a good place,” he said as they stood in the knee-high weeds and grass bordering the stream.

“Why don’t we eat first?”

Phillip chuckled. “That sounds great. I’ve been thinking about that turkey sandwich for the last hour.”

While sitting by the stream, they ate their lunch and chatted about the hike so far.

When they were done, “We need to get her to fix us a sandwich the next time, too. That was one great lunch,” he remarked as they put away their sandwich wrappings and prepared to filter some water.