Chapter XIV: Carl and Ennéa

  •   written by Niccolò - Emely - Elena - Elias

     

    Carl has finally figured out what the oracle of Dodona is about: the riddle is referring to an old ship the remains of which were used to build a model ship kept in Christus und Garnison Kirche, a church in the city center of Wilhelmshaven. But there is one problem: He can’t steal the ship and take it to Aurich, because the pastor comes inside with the church choir. So Carl sits down and starts “praying”. As soon as the choir leaves, he goes to talk to pastor Tagmann. The pastor greets him kindly and asks why he is still there. Carl asks for information about the material of the model ship and the pastor just says that it partly is built from the remains of an old ship found on the rocky coast 500 years ago. Carl examins it and finds that the church has only kept a couple original pieces and that the rest was modern material. So when the pastor isn’t looking, he takes the old pieces and leaves.

    He heads to Aurich by night bus to free Ennéa and gets there just in time. It's nearly in the middle of the night. There are many stars, but no moon. The only problem is that he can’t find her and time’s running out. Where can he find a coat of arms? Of course, at the town hall. He rushes forward. Noone is on the streets at this time. Then he hears a noise, he turns around and sees a figure in the air who is getting “sucked” into a coat of arms. Carl reacts really quickly and gets the wood out, he goes close to the figure and the wood’s magical power starts to pull her in. Then a flash of white light blinds him and when he is able to see again he’s astonished. He has imagined a gorgeous woman dressed in Greek clothes, but he sees a monster, a harpy! Can this be Ennéa? What shall he do? Why hasn't his mother given him a counsel for this situation? She has only quoted this stupid riddle and, even more ridculously, reminded him of a fairy tale of his childhood.

    Stop! "The Frog Prince". This must have been the counsel.

    "I'm sorry", he says to the harpy. "I have to kiss you." And he kisses her awkwardly. Another flash of white light and he sees a young woman in Greek clothes.

    "You are Ennéa?" he asks.

    "Yes", the young woman answers. "And this was your first kiss?"

    He tells her the whole story, but has no idea how they can come to Portogruaro.

    "We could buy plane tickets to Trieste. But we don't have enough money. And they wouldn't let us enter the plane anyway. You probably don't have a passport and I'm not eighteen yet. I would need my father's signature, but we have no time for this. So, what can we do?"

    At this moment a car with the number plate "WHV" stops at the other side of the street. They haven't heard it coming. The car window at the driver's seat opens.

    "Carl! Ennéa!" A woman dressed in grey trouser suits calls them. "Get on! I have plane tickets to Trieste. But we have to hurry. The plane is starting from Hanover. I'll drive you to the airport."

    Carl and Ennéa don't ask why Charlotte von Lindberg knows their destination and why she has plane tickets for them. Neither why she has a written permission with the signature of Carl's father and even a passport of a young Italian woman who astonishingly looks like Ennéa. Charlotte is their only hope now.

    They head to Hanover airport. Charlotte drives very fast, sometimes she seems to fly. One and a half hour later they are on board the aircraft. Carl has spend all his money on the bus to Aurich and some coke and pizza for Ennéa and him at the airport, so now they will have to make do without any money.

    During the flight Ennéa sees that something is happening to Carl. She asks him.

    “What’s wrong?”

    “I’m falling in love with Silvia."

    "Oh, there is the problem. I remember your kiss..."

    " And I don’t know what I can say to her! I mean I know not much about her. And I think she doesn’t love me. Maybe when I see her again in Portogruaro I could say something to her. She has such beautiful green eyes and her bronze hair is so bright.”

    “Why are you telling me this?”

    “You are a woman, so I think you can help me. What would you like to hear from a man?”

    “Tell her what you have told me now and then you will see what she says!”

    “You mean I shall tell her that I love her and like all of her and all this kind of stuff?”

    Ennéa smiles. "When you are in love, everything can happen. A long ago I fell in love to a strange man..." And was turned into a harpy and remained in a coat of arms for centuries, until a boy and an omniscient woman in a car...

    “Now we have to get out of the plane and catch our train.” Carl's voice interrupts her thoughts.

     

        When they get to Trieste, after a long and turbulent flight, they hide in the bathroom of a train headed to Portogruaro. Halfway into the trip they hear the ticket controller trying to get into the bathroom, he says “Ticket please!” and so Carl and Ennéa get kicked of the train at San Stino. Ennéa is devastated because she knows that now her home will be destroyed. Carl, in the meantime, is looking for another way to get to Portogruaro for free. When they’re walking they see a trucker at a gas station and ask him where he’s going, “Towards Portogruaro”. He looked a bit drunk but it was their only hope. As soon as they get into the cabin they can smell the alcohol in his breath. During the whole trip Carl and Ennéa are tense, the driver can’t go in a straight line for more than 10 seconds and they constantly have to keep waking him up. Then they can see the factory with it’s broken windows and crippled roof. But it can’t have been this easy so, obviously, the truck crashes into a pole when the driver tries to avoid an obstacle: A big white dog slowly crosses the street. The engine is dead, the driver unconscious. So Carl and Ennéa run as fast as they can towards the factory. The white dog, a shepherd, follows them.