CHAPTER FIVE

❝ Hansel and Gretel have absolutely nothing on Connor and me.

And neither does the sweets house on the snowed wooden cabin.

Or the witch on Crazy Stelle. ❞

Elle's journal: The Europe Trip, day 10, entry nº3

Crazy Stelle's house was small, and like everything else in that place, made of wood. It sat up there, by itself, surrounded by nothing but tall dark trees. Elle was sure the situation could only go two ways if Crazy Stelle let them stay. Either the cabin was like Hansel and Gretel's house of sweets, nice on the outside but with terrifying secrets inside or it really was just a nice little fort with the fireplace on and maybe even with lots of blankets and sweet hot chocolate.

"Don't tell me you are getting cold feet, tough girl."

"Shut up and knock on the door, Connor."

Connor did as told and they waited for a while until an old woman with long white hair and a blue dress pulled it open. To Elle's standards, Crazy Stelle didn't look so crazy at all. Yes, she was wearing a blue kimono when she clearly wasn't Japanese. But besides that, she looked relatively normal. And she was smiling kindly at them. For a second, the thought that Stelle would fatten them with candy and then cook them crossed Elle's mind, but the truth was that the woman looked way too thin to have enough space in her stomach for both. Maybe she would just have Connor.

"I have been waiting for you two," Crazy Stelle said with a bright smile. Then, leaving both of them standing startled behind the doorframe, she walked back inside.

"What did she just say?" Elle whispered, neither of them taking a step inside the warm hut.

"Oh, come in you two! There might not be rain, but it is still cold outside," the woman shouted from somewhere on the inside.

"Well that wasn't crazy at all," Connor whispered back at Elle and stepped in.

"Here goes to being boiled on a caldron," Elle sighed and stepped in behind Connor.

 ❄

Describing as surprise what Elle felt as she looked around the little cabin would have been the understatement of the year. Every single wall, table, and shelf of Crazy Stelle's house was covered on souvenirs from different countries. There was a large Egyptian statue taller than Elle herself, a Mexican hat with a signature across it, a miniature of a Japanese temple that was the size of the table it sat in, a Chinese golden dragon the size of a large dog, many pictures of the Coliseum lining up a whole wall, and so many other things that Elle and Connor could have never imagined seeing on the same place at the same time, not even in a museum.

"Tea?" Crazy Stelle asked as she waved towards a couple of chairs and a little table in her small, open kitchen. Three tiny cups of tea and a large teapot –all of them apparently made of Chinese porcelain– were already placed on top of the table.

"Hmm... sure," Elle said, exchanging a look of bewilderment with Connor as she left her suitcase near a sofa shaped like the Taj Mahal.

"You too, young man," Stelle said, smiling at Connor, who was still standing by the doorway. It took him a few more seconds, but he eventually closed the door and took a seat between Elle and Crazy Stelle.

The silence between the three of them, as Crazy Stelle prepared the tea, was unbearable, so Elle asked the first thing that came to her mind. "How did you know we were coming?"

Crazy Stelle smiled. "I saw you," she answered and Elle and Connor exchanged anxious looks again.

"How?" Connor asked.

"Does it really matter? You two need a place to stay and I have an empty sofa. One of you will have to sleep on the floor, though."

Elle didn't know how to feel about that woman. Nothing about her was normal. Besides her Japanese robe, Stelle was wearing bracelets made of shells and something that looked like an African necklace. Her eyes were of such a light blue colour that in certain angles they looked almost white, and Elle couldn't help wondering if the woman was blind. But then again, how could she be blind if she had some many things.

"So, why are you two here?" she asked.

Elle knew she wasn't referring to her little house or the town because, somehow, Crazy Stelle seemed to already know about the deviation of their flight.

"I was in Greece visiting family. My mom lives in York, so I was going to spend a few weeks with her before heading back to university. But then our flight deviated and here I am," Connor explained and Crazy Stelle nodded.

She then turned to look at Elle, Connor suddenly looking very interested in his teacup. Elle hadn't mentioned her aunt to Connor. She hadn't actually talked with anyone about what had happened to her, not even her family. Elle didn't like to remember.

"I was going on the same trip my aunt went in some years ago, when she was my age" Elle explained, trying to keep her smile in place.

"What kind of trip?" Stelle asked, seemingly oblivious to Elle's uncomfortable demeanor.

Crazy Stelle was serving cookies into a large plate, so the woman wasn't looking at Elle when the girl swallowed hard. Connor did, though, and that made Elle even more anxious.

"Greece, Madrid, and Venice, three weeks each," Elle said, her voice breaking down a little with every spoken word.

"Oh, Venice!" Crazy Steele exclaimed. She was smiling like crazy as she walked towards one of the many shelves that covered her walls. When she came back, she had a beautiful purple mask in her hands and handed it to Elle.

"You have been there?" Elle asked, her fingers examining the mask carefully, her eyes admiring its beauty.

"Oh, Hun. I've been everywhere!"

The rest of the afternoon and a big part of the night went by with telling and hearing stories of different visits to different places. Of course, most of them were told by Stelle, and heard by Elle and Connor, but they both had great stories, too. When they were running out of them, Connor told them about his family time in Greece.

And then Stelle asked Elle about her experience in one of her all time favourite countries.

Elle stared at both of her new friends not knowing what to say. Both Stelle and Connor had been many times to Greece and loved every single moment in it, but she hadn't. She hated it. She hated absolutely everything that had happened to her in the last few weeks. Everything.

"How about we continue this tomorrow?" Stelle said, smiling sweetly at Elle and standing up from her Taj Mahal sofa. "Here is everything you'll need for the night," she said as she walked towards a little closet and took out many blankets and pillows. "If you want or need anything else, I'll be upstairs. Oh, and there are brownies in the kitchen if you are hungry."

Elle and Connor nodded and said their goodnights, but Stelle wasn't ready to go just yet. "Elle, sweetie," she said. "Don't be too hard on yourself. You have to have your own experiences, not your aunt's, no matter how much you miss her," she said and then disappeared up the stairs.

Elle stood on the same spot, motionless, for a while. How had she known?

Deep inside her, Elle knew Stelle was speaking the truth, she just hadn't realised it until then. All that time she had wanted exactly what her aunt had gotten from her trip. Elle had wanted to go to Greece and find a nice group of Greek friends, go to a little island, and witness a beautiful wedding. She had wanted to visit Madrid and have a sweet summer romance with a Spanish boy. She had wanted to go to Venice and witness the Venetian carnival and travel on a gondola. She had wanted to feel like she had lived all of those adventures with her aunt. But she couldn't. Her aunt wasn't there, and Greece had been the most epic disappointment. And Madrid and Venice would never get to happen because Elle had preferred to just give up.

"I... I'll go for a shower," Connor said awkwardly, his voice making it clear he had no idea what to do.

"Yeah, sure," Elle said quickly, turning around in shame and wiping her face to erase any trace of tears.

Connor gave a small nod and left.

Once the door was closed behind him, Elle let herself fall into the sofa. She closed her eyes and tried to hold back more tears. Her long awaited and dreamed for trip had turned out to be a fraud. And there was nothing she could do about it.