CHAPTER 24: THE CHATEAU OF HARMONY
So while Tyrone was continuing to embark on his own investigation in regards to the escaped inmates and while the kids were on their way to the hotel they would be staying at until the day they would head off to Paris for Trevor's concert,Ed was unknowingly walking himself into a trap as he continued to hike through the woods and make his way towards the chateau,he had long since been used to the woodland environment and had no problem trekking through all the trees and small fields that he and Herman came across. Eventually the smooth feeling of the forest floor started to feel more like old fashioned stone along with its appearance changing to just that as well,and Ed was very quick to notice this as he looked down at the ground and brought it up "Hey Herman,the ground's changing to stone,I'm gonna take this as a sign that we're getting closer."
"Well I on the other hand think that means we're here,take a look at this." Herman shook his head and respectfully disagreed from the other side of a corner to which Ed slowly walked up ahead to see what looked like a stone walkway that led up to none other than an abandoned chateau that was at least four stories tall from what it looked like,and it also appeared to have a lot of holes in the roof as well as the front of the house,which was most likely damage from World War 1,and the chateau also appeared to be overrun with numerous vines and tree branches stretching into the windows.
Ed was absolutely awestruck at the state of the chateau as he quietly whistled in bewilderment at the sight of it "Holy smokes Herman,I think this is it. Leave it to Snoopy to drive us into a jungle in the middle of France to find this." to which Herman lightly chuckled and joked while he and the boy started to slowly walk up to the front door "Those dogs can do anything,makes me jealous I wasn't bred to be a dog." only for Ed to shake his head and respectfully disagree "Nah,you're just fine as a wolf,but still look at this place. It definitely looks like it could have been around since the 11'th century,I wouldn't be surprised if the person who first owned this place was part of the crusades." before Herman rolled his eyes and dumbfoundedly retorted "Even if your orphanage had a library I still can't believe you know all this stuff."
Once Ed and Herman eventually reached the chateau's front door,the former took a deep breath out of anticipation before he slowly creaked it open to see what awaited them inside,and just like he was expecting the place was an absolute mess on the inside,the air stunk of mold and rotting wood,all the furniture was either flipped or rolled over,misplaced or just covered in a thick layer of dust,numerous sunbeams shined down inside through the holes in the roof,and there were even what appeared to be bones of what could be assumed to be soldiers lying on the floor.
It was an absolute disgrace to the original beauty of the chateau from when it was still being used and lived in as Herman scoffed and bitterly lamented while he covered his nose "Well I can definitely see why they didn't fix this place up,looks and smells worse than I could have ever imagined." to which Ed couldn't help but agree with his wolf companion while he also covered his nose and started to walk around the messy floor "Seriously this place is beyond repairs,my mother sure picked a bad place to meet up at. But still,I'm gonna find her no matter what and learn everything. You look down here,and I'll look around at the upper floors."
"You got it." Herman saluted and nonchalantly agreed to do so before the two of them split up and looked around the chateau,and as they continued to search and search through bedrooms,dining rooms,kitchens,the music hall,auction room and even a small wine cellar in one of the bedrooms,all they kept finding were more dusty and misplaced furniture and not another person there with them at all,but Ed still kept out hope that he was gonna reunite with his mother today,because Pierre did tell him that there was also a secret passage way of tunnels that could be accessed through the cellar outside,so if he didn't find her in the actual chateau,he was way more than likely to find her in the tunnels instead.
Later on in the day Ed seemed to find himself on the last floor of the chateau and was slowly going up a spiral staircase that led to the tallest tower,for if he was gonna find his mother in this place,she was likely gonna be there as he took a deep breath and quietly told himself "Ok Edward,if she's somehow not here,just go down to the cellar and go through the tunnels. Just keep that in mind." before he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and felt his entire body tense up when he heard what sounded like very faint but still audible humming come from up ahead,the very first sign of someone else being there he had ever seen since he arrived,and that was all the boy needed to know that this was indeed his mother as he grew a wide smile on his face and started to sprint up the stairway as fast as he could until he reached a single closed door and burst through it with all his might to find himself in what appeared to be an attic,and more importantly he saw what looked like a thin,cloaked figure standing in front of a sunlit window and facing away from him,and she also appeared to have stopped humming as well.
Ed was feeling all sorts of emotions racing through his mind and they were all unapologetically happy ones for all the right reasons,and he felt like he was gonna shout out that he was here or that he was gonna run right up to her to give her a hug,but in the end all he could do was muster out a quiet yet still audible "Hi mom." to which the figure happily declared in response "Oh my dear Edward,I have been waiting for so long to see you again after all these years,and I am so happy to see that you never believed that I was gone forever." before she more devilishly continued while she slowly began to turn around and reveal herself as Ed's look of happiness began to morph into one of dread,fear and confusion "Afterall,it is the job of the parents to teach their children about who...they should trust." and once the figure had turned around to fully reveal herself,Ed was absolutely mortified by who he was now looking at.
"Y-you?! You're…..Mrs Hampton."
NEXT CHAPTER: THE UGLY TRUTH
Shoutouts to HPDrummeman and Dolores-the-Dip for correctly guessing the culprit.