went on. Suddenly he stopped. He turned to Leina.
"Have I already given you your egg?"
She said no. With a muttered curse, he heaved his backpack off his back. He fingered the lock a little and finally took out the purple egg from Leina.She grabbed it and slipped it into her backpack. Cody shook his head ostentatiously and Keil couldn't help but laugh. Leina threw her head back and walked on. Grinning, Cody and Keil followed. Berlot put an end to it. They hiked for about half an hour when Keil noticed something.
'We don't even go the way to Gotz Hütte! Where does Leina want to go? Whether you...?'
He looked at Cody, but he didn't seem to have noticed anything yet. Whistling, he followed Leina without paying attention to the way. Keil quickened his pace and caught up with her.
"Where do you want to go? That's not how we get to Gotz!"
"Yes I know."
"And what are you going to do now?"
"Will you see later."
He crossed his arms angrily. He almost hated Leina in moments like these. 'She really is so stubborn! Where does she want to go, please? Already in the next village? It takes way too long! '
Finally he shrugged.
'She'll already know what she's doing.'
He followed her in silence.The others who had overheard this change of words wondered.
They marched for about twenty minutes when Leina indicated a path. Keil looked at him but couldn't do anything with it. Cody just shrugged, too. And Berlot had no idea anyway. As they followed this path, they discovered a hut after a short time. Keil still didn't understand, but Cody stopped in surprise.
"What do you want with the old woman?"
"Guess what..."
Leine rolled his eyes, Cody crossed his arms and Keil could only answer Berlot's questioning look with a shrug. Silently and (as in Cody's case) insulted, they followed Leina to the old woman's house. (To explain briefly here: the old woman is actually a witch who used to live in the village to watch over Keil and await Berlot's arrival. She will play a number of important roles in the course of the story, although she only appears indirectly.)
She knocked on the rotten wooden door, waved the others closer and tried to smile happily.A few seconds later a woman with snow-white hair opened the door. She walked stooped and there were so many wrinkles on her face that Keil inadvertently had to think of the bark of a tree, only her eyes still radiated youth and recklessness.
"Ahh ... Leina, nice to see you ..."
"Hello, Granny! May we come in?"
She pointed to the others. ´Granny's gaze flickered over their faces. She stayed with Berlot a little longer than with the others. Without taking her eyes off him, she waved them inside. The house smelled musty, as if it hadn't been aired for years. In a small kitchen, Granny pointed to a couple of chairs, which also looked rather shabby. She went to the kitchen cupboard, took out a tea kettle and looked around questioningly. Keil and Cody raised their hands defensively, but Leina and Berlot nodded at her. She fiddled with the kettle for a few seconds, then handed it to Leina. This jumped up immediately and filled him up to the top with water from the cistern in front of Granny's house.She put the filled kettle on the fireplace. A pot of tea leaves and a few cups came on the table. Turning to Keil and Cody, she said:
"If you still want something: just take yourselves, there is enough."
They nodded politely. Leina grinned at her. A few minutes passed in silence before the kettle whistled. Sitting in front of their steaming cups (Keil and Cody as well) they had to let Granny's curious glances over them. She seemed very interested in Berlot. And quite contrary to what Keil had suspected, the old man wasn't even particularly surprised. For his part, he also seemed to be very interested in her. Leina cleared her throat and drew the eyes of those present.
"Granny ... you definitely want-"
"No, Leina, I don't want to know why you're here. I know."
She stared at Berlot. Smiling, she mumbled:
"You are finally doing your job ..."