April 17th 1995
Already out of breath, Conny started to walk uphill entering a small forrest. Apparently Holland wasn't that flat everywhere. She was in a hurry too; the portkey was almost about to leave. Normally this wouldn't happen, but the Huizingas just kept talking. Their four year old hadn't shown signs of magic yet and they where afraid he was a squib. Normally she wouldn't even consult families who's children were this young, but the Huizinga's were very persistent. And very talkative. She started running. Only two more minutes until the portkey left. As if you where able to tell if your child is a squib at four, she thought angrily. They didn't even read any of the pamphlets she send them. She found out she was a squib when she was about nine or ten. Before that you just couldn't tell. She started panting even more, but finally she made it up the hill. One minute to spare, but she still needed to find the bloody thing. She started looking around. She saw an old bucket under a tree. Near the edge of the hill a run down booth. She figured it must be the booth and started running towards it. Ten seconds to spare, she made it! While she touched the booth, she glanced over and saw the bucket disappear on the other side of the hill. 'Dammit!', she shouted. 'Who would leave a booth here?! How in the bloody hell am I about to get home now?' Still out of breath, she started getting more aware of her surroundings. On the other side of the hill, she noticed a parking lot, probably for people who would like a walk in the forrest. Down there she saw a young lady sitting on a bench. Her long red curly hair fell in front of her face as she looked at her hands. Maybe she's Irish, thought Conny. Hopefully she can tell me how I can get out of here. She started walking towards the girl. 'Excuses me', Conny asked, 'do you speak English?' The girl quickly wiped her face before she nodded. 'I seem to be a bit lost', said Conny. 'Do you know where I can find the nearest train station?' 'I'm not sure', answered the girl in a thick Dutch accent. 'I seem to be a little bit lost as well.' She seemed to think for a little bit. 'Where do you need to go?' 'Well, I actually need to go back to London eventually', said Conny. 'But the nearest train station will do just fine for now.' The red haired girl glanced over to her car, that seemed full with moving boxes, before she answered: 'Do you know how to read maps?' Conny responded surprised: 'I do actually.' 'How about I bring you to London? We can drive my car to France and go trough that new tunnel to London right?' She asked. 'Yes I think I've red about that', mumbled Conny. Did that girl just offer to drive her to London without even knowing her name? She decided to introduce herself: 'I'm Conny. I think it's lovely that you want to bring me to London, but isn't that too much trouble for you?' 'It will be fine', she answered. 'And I'm Anna'. She grabbed the hand Conny held out. 'I need to make some room in my car.' Anna's car, a green Renault Twingo, was indeed quite full. The boot was filled with boxes and bags. On top of her car was a roof box and even the passengers seat was taken with a couple of bags and a guitar. 'Can you give me a hand?' Anna asked. It took a bit of shifting and shuffling but after a couple of minutes they created enough room for Conny. 'Oké, now we need to figure out where we are', said Anna. 'I parked here because I saw a map', she pointed at a sign near the entrance of a hiking trail. It took some time, but eventually they where able to figure out where they were, using the 'you are here' arrow and maps from Anna's car. 'Do you like Bob Dylan?' asked Anna when they took of. 'Sure', said Conny, who was still puzzled as to why a random stranger in a forrest would bring her to another country. Relaxing a bit in her seat she decided to take Dylan's words to heart: don't think twice, it's alright..