Chapter VI Part V
When Grace woke, it was probably the third time her alarm clock tried to wake her up. She thought about just turning it off and turning back around. But with her awakening, the memories of the previous night also returned. She did not know how to get back to sleep, but it had worked wonders. At least she felt ready to tackle the next day. A shower later, she went downstairs listening inside the house. She couldn’t hear Björn, but he was probably sitting somewhere if he hadn’t yet left to work. She felt a little ashamed that she had had to ring him out of bed, that she cried and that she had leaned on him so much.
To Grace’s surprise, she didn’t find him in the living room or in the kitchen. Instead, she heard his voice come from below. Like he was talking to someone. Grace went down the spiral staircase. The reality hit her very hard when she saw the chaos in the light. Instantly she felt her legs give way, and she had to sit on the stairs. She couldn’t understand how anyone could have done that. And that she had slept in peace upstairs. It drove a cold sweat to her forehead. Actually, she could only be glad that nothing worse had happened.
“... it can’t be that difficult to think.”
Björn’s angry voice tore her from her thoughts. She could hear him pacing up and down the cafe before it suddenly fell silent again. The next moment he came around the corner and smiled at her.
“Ah good morning Grace. I hope you slept well, given the circumstances.”
“Amazingly, yes,” Grace smiled shyly, “For a moment it all felt like a bad dream.”
“I wish it was him”, Björn Sefuzte frustrated, “Anyway. Unfortunately, I have an appointment right away and therefore have to be on my way.”
“I was already wondering who you were talking to.”
Björn looked at her confused for a moment before smiling. Did it seem forced? Why did she feel like he looked caught?
“Not exactly. Since I can’t help, I’ve organized others who can help you clean up the mess. I’ll be back this late afternoon.”
“That will not be necessary, really. I think I’ll be fine by myself until tomorrow.”
She couldn’t take up that much space in strangers’ lives. She had to deal with something like that on her own. But as much as she tried to force this view onto herself, she was just as relieved when Björn shook his head.
“I insist on it Grace. To help and to stay here. I admit there are also selfish reasons, because I couldn’t sleep in peace, thinking that you might be scared here. I hope you will excuse my stubbornness.”
“I can accept it,” Grace replied, “okay. So that you feel better.”
And I feel better too. Just thinking about being alone here in the evening makes me sick.
“Very well, that would settle that. Hannah will be over in a moment, as will a few other friends. I think they will clean it all up quickly together.”
“I don’t know ... I don’t think so. I’ll be happy if we can fix everything so that it looks neat.”
“I can understand that very well. We will see each other tonight. I should really change my clothes.”
With a big smile, Björn put on his coat, and his hat, and left the shop with a last greeting. Grace was just about to lock when she saw Hannah coming down the street out of the corner of her eye. So she waited until the red-haired woman was with her. She couldn’t even say anything before Hannah fell around her neck.
“I just can’t believe it. What kind of brain-burned idiot breaks in here and ... oh shit.”
Hannah stood with her mouth open, gazing at the chaos, before she shook her head in disbelief.
“He can only hope that I never get my hands on him, I swear to you. Then he can end his life as the toad that he is.”
“What did you say?”
“Oh, sorry. Expression. I’m so sorry, I can’t believe someone did that. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, don’t worry. I was upstairs.”
“I’m sure the police will find you quickly. Now we have to make sure that it looks the same here again.”
“Are you sure you have time for it?”, Grace asked doubtfully, “I mean you have to take care of the restaurant, don’t you?”
“Don’t worry about it. We are closed for family reasons and our guests have to live with that. Don’t think you’ll get rid of me. “
“It’s okay. I’ll get cleaning things from upstairs and tell Sidney what happened.”
“Do that. I’ll start picking up the books.”
Grace hurried upstairs for a broom and rag. When she was on the way down, she could already hear unknown voices.
She had to admit her surprise when she saw Andren Night standing next to Hannah. He kept nodding at something Hannah was saying. From the tone of her voice, she was getting excited about something. But he wasn’t the only person who had joined. At the entrance stood a tall man whose stature looked as if he could uproot trees. He had short, light blond hair, tanned skin and a blond full beard. And despite his intimidating form, he exuded a friendly calm. Next to him sat a very young-looking woman in a wheelchair. She had placed her hands elegantly in her lap, her legs wrapped in a woolen blanket. Her hair was dyed blue, becoming lighter from top to bottom. A friendly, if very weak-looking, smile lay on her lips. Before Grace could worry about the unknown visitors, Hannah spotted her and waved her over enthusiastically.
“We can start right away. Fortunately, the others could also come here quickly. Andren Night, Tyrn Seaguard and Isana Seaguard.”
Seaguard, that’s a strange-sounding name.
“We are already acquainted,” Andren said and smiled slightly, “I was very shocked when Björn called. I am very sorry that this happened to you, Miss Lindman.”
“Just call me Grace. And it’s all good. I think the first shock is over.”
“Still a shame,” said Tyrn in a deep voice.
Even deeper than Grace had expected, given his stature.
“I’m happy to make your acquaintance,” said Isana, “Unfortunately I won’t be able to help much today, but I wanted to get to know you at least.”
“Nice to meet you. And thank you very much for the offer, but I don’t want to take up too much time either.”
“Grace, it’s a pleasure for us to help,” Andren replied.
In fact, this time his smile brightened the coolness of his face.
“Believe me, once they have something on their mind, you can’t stop them anyway”, Hannah interjected with a laugh. “And believe me, if you want something done, there are no better helpers than Tyrn and Andren. The two are very skilled craftsmen. “
“Oh, then you do it for a living?”
“Actually, we both work as foresters. But there is a lot of work that we do ourselves. So you can’t say that Hannah is exaggerating,” replied Tyrn, “and we’re happy to help. Isana, you can get into the café if you want to have a coffee and read something. “
“Thanks, I’ll be fine,” Isana smiled gently at Tyrn, “and you know that.”
Tyrn just grunted something in response before taking Andren to the first shelves to put them back upright. Grace watched them go when she felt Hannah’s touch on her arm.
“Is everything really okay?”
“Yeah ... yeah, I think so. I just felt bad about wasting so much time on everyone.”
“I think the only one who has to feel bad is the one who broke into here to create this mess. To be honest, it breaks my heart to see the place like this,” Isana interjected.
“Exactly, just see it as a selfish act,” agreed Hannah.
“I didn’t mean it like that. Hannah!”
Hannah immediately laughed. Grace couldn’t help but laugh either.
“I see what you mean, Isana. It’s okay”, said the readhead.
The young woman snorted before maneuvering her wheelchair into the cafe.
“You are really terrible sometimes.”
“Love you too”, Hannah called after her, still grinning broadly.
“Stop annoying Isana and help instead,” they heard Tyrn’s voice, who, however, went straight back to cleaning up.
Hannah winked at Grace before joining the others.
