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2. Dark Memory
The first bolt of lightning flashes across the sky which is slowly getting darker and darker in the east. Shortly after that, there is a bang, followed by a deep rumble. It almost sounds as if a gigantic cannon ball is rolling down the mountain.
"The thunderstorm is getting close!" Justus says matter-of-factly.
"And fast! We should find shelter somewhere. It could get very uncomfortable. Let's wait inside one of those houses until the worst is over."
"You want to go inside one of the ghost houses?" Peter asks, horrified.
"You are welcome to stay here," Justus answers. "Then we'll get you later and wring you out."
"You'd better put on a hat!" Bob says to Peter with a grin.
Peter rolls his eyes. "One day," he says, "you'll see that there are powers in heaven and earth that can't be logically explained. And then you will be lying in the dust in front of me and begging for forgiveness because you didn't take me seriously."
Justus and Bob laugh and then the three boys run towards the first house on the street.
The windows look black and paint is peeling from the doors.
Justus knocks at the door three times. "Hello? Anyone there?"
The boys wait for a few seconds, but no movement.
"I can't see anyone," says Peter, who is trying to look inside the house.
"Heigh ho?" Justus tries again. But everything is silent. Finally, he shrugs and pushes down the door handle carefully.
"Locked!" he says in surprise and rattles the door a little. "They've locked it!"
"Peter, do you have your lockpicks with you?" Bob asks.
The Second Investigator is responsible for locks of all kinds. "Dammit," he swears. "I think I left them in my other trousers. Sorry!"
"Don't worry. There are enough other empty houses," Justus says and runs towards a house on the other side of the street.
Meanwhile, fat raindrops fall, hitting the ground hard. The gaps between the flashes of lightning which light up the ghost village grow shorter and shorter.
Even if the houses are deserted, they haven't been abandoned hastily. Every one in which the boys try their luck has been carefully locked up when its occupants moved out.
"Such bad luck!" Peter looks out at the rain. "Should we break a window and climb in?"
"Perhaps it would be best." Bob agrees.
"That won't be necessary." Justus points across the street. "Take a look there."
Peter and Bob turn around and stare through the rain at the other side of the street.
"I'll be damned!"
"Who would have thought it! There seems to be life here!"
On the other side of the street there is a house which on first sight seems no different to the others. It has two floors and seems just as deserted as all the other houses in the street. However, when the First Investigator looks closely, he discovers an important difference: light is coming through the closed shutters!
"And it's even a restaurant, if I am reading the sign correctly." Justus points to a golden sign above the door of the house. On the sign, there is a bear that's lifting a tankard to its snout.
"Let's go," Peter says. "Perhaps we can still get our steak and fries."
The three boys run across the street through the rain. Once they get there, they look up at the sign.
"'The Golden Bear,'" Bob reads. He raises his finger to his lips. "There are a few people inside. I hear voices."
"Let's go in," Justus says, and rubs his hands. "Otherwise we'll drown out here."
The First Investigator pushes the door handle down and opens the door. Peter goes past him into a hallway which is separated from the rest of the restaurant by a heavy black curtain. Bob follows him, and as Justus closes the door behind him, the noise of the rain dies down. But the sounds from the restaurant suddenly stop, too. Only a clock is ticking.
"What's happening now?" Bob looks at his friends in surprise.
Justus shakes his head, confused. Peter opens the curtain and lets Bob and Justus go through. Then he goes inside.
"Good evening everyone!" he calls cheerfully. "What horrible weather outside. You wouldn't even send a dog out ..."
Peter stops suddenly and stares into the room with his mouth open.
Justus and Bob do the same. They are speechless and just look at each other in confusion.
However, it isn't the six or seven guests who surprise them. None of them answer Peter's greeting. But it isn't that which troubles The Three Investigators.
It is the restaurant's unusual décor. A décor which is simply . strange. On every wall there hangs at least one big cross and everywhere in the room, really everywhere, there are never ending chains of . garlic! Chains of garlic hang from every lamp, there is garlic on the tables and chains of garlic even decorate the crosses on the walls. It looks silly but at the same time very strange and somehow alarming. It reminds the boys of something spooky, something that they have seen before. They just don't remember at once where and when.
But then Peter remembers. Suddenly he knows where he has seen all that before, and he bursts out: "But this looks like a bad vampire film! Crosses and garlic everywhere! The only thing missing is a man with a black cape and long, bloody teeth!"
Suddenly the waitress lets out a scream and drops her tray.
WORTLISTE
bolt of lightning:
Blitz
to flash:
blitzen
rumble:
Grollen
matter-of-factly:
sachlich
shelter:
Unterschlupf
horrified:
entsetzt
you are welcome to stay here:
du kannst gern hierbleiben
to wring out:
auswringen
you had better:
du solltest besser/lieber
dust:
Staub
to beg for forgiveness:
um Vergebung betteln, um Verzeihung bitten
to take someone seriously:
jemanden ernst nehmen
to peel:
hier -...
