Midwood magic

The Secret

Before long, Damian came back to Midwood castle. His mother Mrs. Pearson had gone out on a holiday leaving him to take care of the house. He locked up the house and had set off to Midwood. It was on his second visit that he met another aunt who met him in the form of a cat. They had been walking in the garden.

"I'm your aunt, you can call me Rose or aunt Rose, whichever you please" said the cat when they had come back into the castle.

Damian looked at the cat with renewed respect. He had felt that nothing would surprise him anymore, and now here he was talking to his aunt, who happened to be a cat. Damian wondered if things could get queerer than they already were. He looked closely at the cat. He was expecting it to turn into an elf at any moment. Why was she a cat? Could she turn back into an elf? Or was she stuck being a cat? Questions popped into his head, "so, you are my aunt? I never knew. No one ever told me about you."

"That doesn't matter. I'm proud to have a nephew like you. You are the rightful heir to the elven throne."

"I always thought elves lived forever," said Damian, remembering some stories he had read.

"No living being is immortal. Well, according to my knowledge, there aren't any who are immortal."

"Do you know when aunt Rachel will be back, aunt Rose?" asked Damian, remembering that he was in charge of the castle. "Why didn't Lady Rachel leave you in charge?"

"Well, I insisted that the castle to be left in your charge. I told Rachel that it would be an opportunity for you to practice being a leader. As destiny has dictated, you should be," said the cat, purring "Come along, Damian. There is more to see in the palace.

Damian got up and followed the cat back indoors. He wondered what would happen if he told his friends or Daniel that one of his aunts was a cat. "They'd probably think that I'm balmy," he tried to imagine the names they'd call him if he spoke of such a thing.

"Do you like to have a dip in the Pool of Peace? It's the most refreshing," asked aunt Rose as they approached a door. Aunt Rose touched the door with one of her paws and it opened.

"I would love to," said Damian, and they entered a room. There was a large pool in the middle of the room. It seemed to call for him to come and take a dip.

"I don't have an extra change," said Damian, remembering that he hadn't brought any of his clothes.

"Oh, don't you worry about that. Do you see that bell? Ring it, and someone will answer it." Damian rang the bell. After a few seconds, the door opened, and a voice of a woman said, "How may I help you?"

Damian recognized the voice. It was Emma the ghost who had scared him on his first visit to Midwood castle.

"Are you Emma, by any chance"

"Yes," replied the voice close by.

"Could you get me a towel? I'm going to swim in the pool of peace," said Damian looking around for a place to change into his bathing suit.

"As you wish," said the voice of Emma.

"You may change once she has brought the clothes. I will wait outside if you feel uncomfortable," said aunt Rose, as she went out of the room. Damian waited until the ghost maid came with some clothes. After everyone had left the place, Damian changed into his swimming suit and leapt in. He swam among the water lilies. The water was refreshing and cooling. Damian swam around the pool and felt a sense of calm settle over him. He watched the fish swimming like silver sparks.

Then Damian suddenly remembered the face of the girl he saw in his neighbour's pond. He wondered if the face belonged to a real person or if it was just his imagination. ''I think she was real,'' said Damian making up his mind. "How else would his ball that had fallen into the pond come out of the pond on its own?" Damian thought as he felt the cool water around him. He had heard the splash and that meant that the ball had clearly fallen into his neighbour's pond. So it must have been her. "Was she held there against her will?" thought Damian swimming around. When he dived to the bottom, he found that he could breathe underwater as well as he could out of it.