House of the Morningstar: Chapter 4
Created | Updated Mar 17, 2023
House of the Morningstar: Chapter 4
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After a very early breakfast I double checked my bags and returned the keyes to my room. The streetlamps were still illuminating the alley in front of the hotel. I took the tramway to the western gate, where I met up with the caravan. When I arrived crates were loaded on the vehicles, which are large and bulky. And they have multiple legs instead of wheels. Resembling mechanical spiders. I was told that's because of the difficult terrain. To be honest, I'm already not sure if I like it.
In the end it turned out that I had arrived far too early and so had to wait for quite a while until everything was ready. Most of my luggage was stored in one of the cargo vehicles while me and two other travellers had a place in one of the passenger compartments. The men and women who were responsible for the caravan had their own space, which I think they have altered to their own needs (I looked through the door: cluttered and colorful). Anyway, it seems like I will spend the next few days in a small space with two strangers. We have all in all four bunk beds, a tiny bathroom (if you can even call it that) and a sitting area with an insta-meal machine (meals not included, we had to bring our own).
I already feel sea sick from the movement of this 'wagon'. I spent most of the day looking out of the window while the other two passengers engaged in card games and chess. On our way we passed one new development after the other. All still in construction. There is a wide new road connecting them all and cheery colourful signs with pictures of happy families and luxury mansions. They advertise places like 'Freedomtown' or 'Garden Hills', also 'Welcome to Sunshine Lagoon, the beach is only 15 years away'. And all in the middle of this wasteland. They tell us this will be the place to be. Prices are skyrocketing. Buy now, sell for ten times the price later. A big hit with investors.
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Visitors
'Where is your wife, Mr Morgenstern?', asked Elanor.
'She went away very early this morning. I wasn't able to reach her so far,' he sighed and stared down into his cup,' I have no idea how to tell her about this.'
Elanor made a note, 'we'll contact her. Give me the details of her transport later.'
Margaret was called to come downstairs from her room, where she had been hiding all morning. Her eyes were red and she was still in her pyjamas. She confirmed her father's account of the events. After being asked she remembered that she had indeed heard noises at night, but had thought that it was just the gardener bot going about its way early in the morning. No, she had no idea when that was and went back to sleep again immediately. She had looked out of the window but had not noticed anything was wrong - there was also too much fog to see much, although the light at the front door was on, she remembered.
They got the ok from the scene-of-crime officers, Elanor and Harry made their way throught Henry Morgenstern's living room and up the stairs to his office. It was situated at one end of the house, in a wooden box which stuck out of the upper floor, slightly cantilevering over the driveway. A large window looked down the row of maple trees towards the gate, which today was hiding somewhere in the fog. All other walls were covered in wooden floor to ceiling bookshelves. A large desk stood in the middle of the room, facing the window. To say the room was a mess would be an understatement: books were torn out of the shelves and dropped in heaps on the floor. The desk was full of clutter and the remains of a potted plant were lying on the floor next to a small heap of soil. There was a neat, circular hole in the window. Robert Morgenstern confirmed that he had found the room with the window closed.
Elanor frowned, 'well, that's quite considerate, don't you think?'
She looked around ,'we'll need a full inventory and someone will have to check with Mr Morgenstern if anything is missing.'
Harry picked up a device, which was half hidden under a heap of books.
'Off brand pad. Why anyone would buy anything like that...', he shook his head. He turned it on. He found some documents about breeding plants and biology, that's all he could understand.
Suddenly there was alarm from one of the drones which was set up at the perimeter. It came from a corner of the garden which was overgrown with bushes and a few large trees. Something rustled in the dry leaves. As Elanor aproached it from the front, Harry ran off to the side.
'Stop! We are the police!', Elanor shouted.
As expected there was more rustling and the sounds of steps, but also a small shriek. A few seconds later Henry saw movement at the other side of the fence, where the thicket
continued. Harry climbed over the fence and reached the spot just in time to see two small figures emerge from the bushes. They were wearing dirty bright yellow, hooded jackets and patched trousers. One was holding a long stick with a purple wool string attached at both sides, the other carried a small rake.
'Wait! I just want to talk to you!,' Harry panted as they ran off into an empty field. He tried to follow them for a while, until he lost them in the fog. On his way back he found a small rake in the dirt. He considered kicking it in frustration but then picked it up.
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