Four Times the Trouble, Four Times the Charm

Inside the castle: strange discoveries pt 2

          They went back down the corridor to the first room they came to. Diana pulled out the pouch of keys and handed each one three keys to try in the doors. "Remember  the doors should have the matching symbols for each key. Make a note of each doors location and then try the key in the door if it is locked. Use the keys gently, if the door still won't open then hang a red ribbon on the door. If it opens take a quick look around. If it doesn't need further investigation hang a white ribbon on the door. If it needs further investigation hang a yellow ribbon on it. They all remember the drill and each took a spool of each color and scissors then went their separate ways. They went through and tagged the rooms and keys with their corresponding locations. The first room that Devon went into was in the center hallway. It was a mirror image of the rooms Diana had claimed only more feminine. She saw an opening in the back of the bed chamber and went over to it. A damp mustiness assailed her nose as she brushed the cobwebs out of the way. She saw sunlight shining through a small window and entered into a small chamber she found a garderobe and a golden metal tub. It was an early version of a bathroom. She stepped back out and using a metal rod, she hung two yellow ribbons from it and placed it alongside the opening. Devon then went looking through the room and saw something glinting off the floor by the bed. She bent down and picked it up. It was a good angel pin like the ones they all had so she put it in her pocket. She went out and relocked the door and hung a yellow ribbon on the door. The others were still busy checking out the other two hallways and she saw that there was another door across the way from the one she just checked out and went over to it. She checked the key in her hand and saw the symbol matched. She carefully unlocked the door and stepped into the room. It was a simple room with a bed, a table and two chairs. As she looked over the bed, she saw that someone had carved their name into the headboard. Devon leaned down to get a closer look at it and froze on the spot. It read: 'Diana wuz here eleven ninety two a.c.e.' Devon stood and backed out of the room, gasping. She finally found her voice as she bumped into the wall behind her. "You guys had better get here quick, like now!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. The other three came running. Diana was very concerned for her sister because she had gone very pale. "What's wrong?" "What happened?" they asked her. She pointed into the room and choked out, "Headboard." They went into the room and looked at the carved words in stunned silence. "What the hell is this, some kind of sick joke!?" Diana demanded, looking around her. The shocked looks on the other three faces told her that they felt the same way as she did. Someone had to be playing an elaborate trick on them but who? They would get to the bottom of this riddle before anymore work was done on this castle. The only reason that they could think of was either the villagers or one of the land developers that have been trying to buy the property from them for the last six months, just after Great Auntie Matilda's funeral. They exited the room and locked the door and tied two yellow ribbons to the door. They went back downstairs and cleared an area in front of the massive hearth for their sleeping bags. Diana checked the chimney out and set some logs in it. Joshie had left a note before leaving for the night. 'Me Da said to bring this here fire screen fer the hearth so ye can build yerselves a fire to keep ye warm tonight' it read. Diana lit the fire and pulled the screen into place. Marian had gone into the kitchen and put on water to boil for tea and ramen soup. Joshie had already started a fire in the kitchen for them. Maris unpacked more of their gear as Diana set it up with Devon's help. She had brought in the swords, Diana's briefcase, the parchments, a TV monitor with cable ports and a generator. They decided to run the generator in the kitchen once it got dark outside. Devon still couldn't believe what she had seen earlier. There has to be a reasonable explanation for her sister's name being on that headboard. She had noticed something that the others had overlooked. The lettered were caked with dirt and well worn, so it was impossible to have been done recently. She then felt for the pin she had found and pulled it out to stare at it. All their little angel pins had their initials on them. She turned it over and saw the initials 'DMM' on the back. She shook her head and put it back in her pocket. These two things would lead to only two conclusions and they were too far-fetched to believe. One possibility was that they had lived a life before this one as the same people or they were to go back in time somehow. Scientists were still trying to prove that time travel was possible and we're getting closer to the solution  everyday, if you could believe them. She watched her cousin closely. Diana sat down cross-legged on the floor and pulled her briefcase to her and opened it up. She pulled out her books and the parchments, then settled in to start translating the parchments. Line by line she worked, her forehead furrowed in concentration. She decided not to read what she translated until she had finished all the translations. She had completed two of the parchments when Marian came over with a plate of food and a hot cup of tea for her. "You know for the age of this place, it is quite advanced. It has full bathrooms in each chamber, a more modern placement for the kitchen than they had back then and the stones used in this building's structure are not just mortared together but pinioned as well" she said as Diana took a break to eat. "I'm starting to wonder about any other surprises we might encounter here" she added as Diana was finishing up her soup and tea. Devon came over and refilled her cup of tea for her. "How's it coming?" she asked. Diana took a sip of tea before responding. "I'm halfway done and I want to finish it all before I read it through. It's strange though, it's all the same handwriting but it is in French, Latin, Norse, ancient Gaelic and most uncommon is Pict. I don't even want to think about the content of these parchments until I'm finished" she said. They left her to her work and her brow furrowed in concentration once again as she pulled another book from her briefcase. She looked something up, noted it, then went back to the translations. "That was a good call she made. I would have done the same thing, get it down and then read through it" Maris said and they agreed with it. Marian went into the kitchen and started the generator as it was starting to get dark outside and Diana needed the lights to see what she was doing. The other three grabbed flashlights and went to do some more exploring. They took the ribbons with them and checked off areas that they checked and used the yellow for areas that needed further exploration. By the time they returned, Diana had translated the third parchment. She tried to work on the last one but her head started to pound and her eyes grew heavy. She needed sleep but was still afraid of the nightmares returning. The other three had to agree because they had found the barracks and the armory and fully explored them and they were exhausted too. Maris went and shut off the generator and they called it a goodnight.