Life Lost and Found

21: Haunted

Thursday, November 20

"The Maddy's home!"

"Yeah, I'm home, Sofie," Madeline sighed. The singsong announcement of her arrival, day after day for months, was starting to get a little old. Or maybe it was just the day she'd had.

Even though it was late, all the lights were out except for the one over the table. Sofie was bent over a large yellow box. "Come look! Come look!"

Page was also at the table, her fingers were wrapped around what looked like a small wine bottle, and she was spinning it nervously. Madeline frowned. Wasn't alcohol banned at the Chateau?

"What's going on?" Madeline unslung her camera and took a candid shot of Sofie. "Get a package from home or something?"

"Ja, genau!" Sofie shrieked, speaking quickly. "I am so excited! You want some of this! You will get a taste of Austria, and you will love it, and you will love me forever, and you will say, 'Oh, Sofie, thank you for teaching us of your country! It is the best in the world! We are so sad that we must live here instead, and our lives can never be happy ever again!'"

"Um, yay?" Madeline laughed. She snapped another photo of Sofie.

Sofie posed and smiled, perching on the table like a bird. "Where is Gii-gii?"

"She's hanging out at Sydney's place. What kind of loot you got in that box?" Madeline asked.

Sofie searched the box. "Lewt? What is a lewt? I don't think I have any of lewt."

Madeline laughed again. "Loot. It's what pirates call the stuff they take."

"Ah! Yes, I have loots! Many of them!" She crooked her finger into a hook and closed one eye. "Arrrr!"

Madeline laughed again. She got Sofie to hold the position for a series of photos. "Are all Austrians as cute as you are?"

"Yes, many. But few are as crazy. Page says it's unpossible."

Madeline glanced at Page. The blonde wasn't reacting at all. To anything. She just kept spinning the bottle around, staring off into space. Madeline snuck a single photo of her and put her camera away.

Sofie handed Madeline a small box. "These are Mozart's balls!"

Madeline snorted. "I wouldn't go around telling people that if I were you."

Sofie was confused. "But that's what they're called. Mozart balls. Try one."

Madeline opened the box and rolled a giant chocolate sphere into her hand. Oh, wow. There was only one logical option in a situation like this. She stuffed the entire thing in her face.

"Wow, fats gud," she said through a mouthful of Mozart. Then, with a little choke, "Sofie, wat is dis?"

"Much marzipan inside. I don't know the English word."

"It's called marzipan here too." And there was a lot of it. It tasted better after she got over the surprise.

"Yay! Same word! It'll be easy to remember. "

"Nice contraction, Sofie. And your pronunciation is great today." Madeline had been making time to coach her every day for a while now.

"Thanks to you, Maddy, I'm getting the hangar from it!"

"You mean the hang of it," Madeline corrected. Sofie still had trouble with idioms and expressions. But that was only to be expected, English being crazy and all. Page usually corrected Sofie on that stuff.