The Curse of Windsor Castle

Chapter Three

Not wanting to waste anymore time, the girls called a cab to drop them to the airport. Amy took out the German envelope. She handed the boarding passes to Tamara. "Keep these. I'll lose them."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Tamara replied. "You can be really scatterbrained sometimes."

The trio walked to the security checkpoint without any more interruptions. The officer put their bags on the conveyer belt and walked them through the sensor.

Rose, Tamara, and Amy came to Gate 5B and found places to sit as close to the entry point as possible. The speaker then crackled to life. "Flight 123 to Germany will be boarding in fifteen minutes. Please make your way to Gate 5B."

After finally boarding, the three girls sat in silence. Amy constantly fidgeted and Tamara brought out a book she had just started. Finally, Rose asked, "Where should we look first?"

"We're supposed to check in at Hilton at twelve o'clock and eat lunch. We're scheduled to land at eleven o'clock. We spend two days at each country. It takes ten minutes to go through customs and five minutes to hail a cab. The hotel is fifteen minutes from the airport, so it'll be 11:30 when we get there. We'll be given enough time to look around. Then we'll come back to the hotel, check in, and go explore," Tamara replied.

"Thank you for telling us what we know already." Amy rolled her eyes. " But her question was, where should we look?"

Tamara shrugged. I don't know. I thought you two would know more than I do."

"Just like you said," Rose grumbled. "we don't."

The pilot's voice came on speaker. "Guten Morgen, everybody. Buckle up. We are heading down. 18 degrees, mostly cloudy. Bundle up. Willkommen in Deutschland."

The girls got off the plane. Thankfully, Tamara hadn't lost their passports, which they showed to the employee. They were brought to customs where the officer eyed them suspiciously. Rose could could feel sweat dripping down her back as the customs official stared them down. The three girls were screened, then told they were good to go.

Once they were outside the airport, a cab was waiting for them. "Hallo. Let me get your bags."

"Thank you, sir," Tamara said.

"Call me Niklas," the driver said.

"Niklas, can you take us to Hilton hotel?" Rose asked.

Niklas nodded and swerved to left lane. Fifteen minutes later, they paid him and got off the taxi. Rose looked at her watch, which had been adjusted to German time at Tamara's request. "It's 11:25. Let's go look around."

Rose, Tamara, and Amy walked around exploring the shops. Several times, Amy got distracted by a particularly strange hat or scarf. She stared at it until either Rose or Tamara pulled her out.

After this repeated itself several times, Rose glanced at her watch. "Look, it's 12:55. Come on."

The three girls rushed passed the shops all the shops they had previously entered, Amy pausing every so often. They finally came to Hilton and went inside. The lady at the counter smiled at them. "Names?"

"Rose McAllister and Amy Hawthorne," Amy answered.

The lady looked through the files on her computer. "Let's see, I don't have a room reserved under either of those names, however, I do have a room under a Miss Tamara McAllister."

Tamara stepped forward with a glowing smile. "That would be me."

The attendant nodded. "Excellent. You will be on the fourth floor. Room 409."

She handed Tamara her key card and the three girls stepped in the elevator. Rose pressed the fourth button and they raced up.

Moments later, a pleasant bell was heard and the girls stepped outside. They walked to their rooms and Amy slid the card into the slot. "Wow," she gasped.

To their side there was a shoe rack. There were two king sized beds, two bathrooms, and two closets. The room was well lit and there was a balcony. The sun passed through the white curtains making the cream colored room glow in the afternoon daylight. In the sun's rays, Rose could make out the faintest sparkles.

Rose, Tamara, and Amy got settled. When the Rose opened her closet to hang her coat, she saw that it was already filled with clothes her size. Tall and stocky. "That's strange."

Amy grinned. "That's brilliant."

The trio took showers, changed, and felt much better after that.

"Come on," Rose urged. "Let's eat."

They both came down and went inside the restaurant. The waiter looked them up on the log. "Miss McAllister, your party is eating free. What would you like?"

They ordered and later the waiter came with a bowl of vegetable stew for Rose, the German version of pancakes for Tamara, and something like mac and cheese for Amy. They finished their meals, thanked the waiter, and headed out.

Well, Rose and Tamara thanked the waiter. Amy made a face behind her back.

"Amy," Tamara chided the younger girl.

"I'm sorry but that was the worst thing I have ever eaten.

"Where should we look first?" Tamara asked. Rose didn't answer. She fidgeted under the scrutiny of her older sister. Rose was uncomfortable that they had picked her as the default leader. She had never taken charge before and was not used to all the attention, not all of it positive.

The trio wandered around, occasionally into stores. The owners would ask them something in German so they left.

After going to a few stores, Rose happened to glance back. She saw a man in a black suit and sunglasses looking at them from the corner of his eye. The girls left the store and began walking in the direction of the Hilton. The man stood up and followed them at a safe distance. Rose decided not to be too suspicious and went to another store. Sure enough, the man in black, as Rose had nicknamed him, followed them there.

Rose grabbed Amy and Tamara by the arms and ducked behind a clothing rack. She whispered, "That man in black is following us."

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "I don't know Amy. Maybe he's interested in the exact same stores that we are. He's been following us for quite some time now!" Rose gasped out a breath.

"Okay, Okay. Calm down," Tamara said.

"Come on, let's leave. That bloke us staring at us."

The three girls quickly ran out of the store and rushed to the metro station. In the train, Rose couldn't stop herself from glancing up anxiously. But the man in black had vanished. The journey went smoothly and the girls got off at the station closest to their hotel. Rose could feel the exhaustion from the day's events catching up to her. As soon as Tamara opened the door, Rose rushed to the bed she shared with her sister, and collapsed face first. 

Vote and comment if you liked this chapter. This chapter is dedicated to hufflepuffslester.

Her comments made my day.