Black Tiger 1 Coming Home E-Book

TWINS

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Black Tiger
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 99

Beschreibung

Kathleen is looking forward to finally seeing her friend Claudia again and spending her vacation together in her village. She actually gets what she was hoping for - sea, beach, party, fun! And much more, because she meets the mysterious Marcello, who has a secret surrounding him. Together with him and his friends, a few wild, unpredictable days begin. But despite the lightness of summer, Kathleen senses a threat in the air - is Marcello in danger? And what is section B all about? The more the days pass, the more she learns about the lives of the people in the village. And not everything that seemed to be fine at first remains so. Marcello and Kathleen grow closer and a passionate love flares up between them. But is their love strong enough to make up for the differences between them and can she accept him for who he is? Volume 1 Arrival: Kathleen visits her friend Claudia in the village and explores Father Mountain, where she also meets Marcello and Gregory and they become closer.

Leseprobe

The sun was blinding me. I looked out of the window, there wasn't much to see. Forests, fields, nature as far as the eye could reach. I checked my cell phone; I would be arriving soon. Hopefully, I had made the right decision to travel here, I wasn't really sure anymore.

The train screeched to a halt; the doors opened with a hiss. Luckily the long journey was over! I got off. There wasn't much going on, no comparison to my station in the city! Where was Claudia, my girlfriend?

Someone was waving at the end of the platform!

"Claudia! Hi!" I shouted happily, grabbed my trolley and hurried towards her. A few villagers were standing on the platform greeting the new arrivals. No one was getting on the train. What had I come to in a sleepy little town, oh dear! I approached her. For a moment I thought I had been mistaken and the person hadn't meant to wave at me. She looked so different that I didn't even recognize her! She was wearing a long white cotton dress with colorful flowers and wooden clogs; her brown hair was pinned up in a casual bun and she was wearing red glasses! I had always seen her with contact lenses and grinned. She should come with us like this to a club at her next visit in the city! I reached her and we fell into each other's arms.

"Kathleen! Welcome to our home! It's great that you're finally coming to visit us!" she beamed at me.

"Thank you! Yes, I'm happy too!" I smiled back. It would certainly be a nice vacation here with her!

"Hello Claudia, have fun, Kathleen," it sounded shyly behind me and I turned around in surprise.

"Oh Debbie! You live here? How funny! Claudia, I met Debbie on the train, do you know each other?" They both laughed amusedly. Debbie stroked her belly, which was clearly bulging out in her denim dungarees. What month was she pregnant again? Oh crap, I'd forgotten again, never mind.

"Of course, Kathleen. Everyone knows everyone here, you're in a village! And Debbie is even our neighbor. C'mon, Dirk is already waiting for us in the car. Debbie, would you like a ride?"

"No, thanks. Moni will pick me up."

I walked off quickly and they laughed behind me again. "Kathleen, what's your hurry?" Claudia was amused; I stopped and turned around. The two of them strolled towards me at a leisurely pace. I hadn't even seen pensioners walk that slowly in our town! It seemed to me as if they were moving in slow motion.

Nervously, I stepped from one leg to the other. "We don't want to keep your friend Dirk waiting that long."

"Oh, don't worry about that! You'll see that life here is much more relaxed than in the city. The people are much more laid-back and the landscape is breathtaking!"

I'd already seen enough of it from the train, that was more than enough nature for me! We were on the same level again and I tried to walk as slowly as they did, which was really difficult. We entered a building that was so small that as soon as we were inside, we were already outside again. There was a kiosk and a counter, nothing more. We were now standing in a parking lot.

"Bye!" Debbie waved to us and left.

"Ciao!" I waved back.

A horn honked and I flinched, startled. Dirk got out of the car laughing and came towards us. "Welcome!" he smiled kindly and held out his hand to me; I shook it. It was narrow and a bit bony, but he was also quite thin overall and so tall! I hadn't met him for ages and had completely forgotten about it. Claudia usually came to visit alone; he didn't like the city that much. He gave her a kiss; it was really sweet. They'd been together for so long and were still so in love with each other. I sighed; I'd like something like that too. Now he turned back to me, his blue eyes sparkling at me cheerfully. "C'mon, I'll take this. Did you have a good trip?" He grabbed my trolley and carried it into the trunk.

"Oh thanks, sure!"

When we got home, Claudia showed me the guest room. We ate lasagna, played a board game and I was very happy to see each other in person again. We had only spoken on the phone last week, but a meeting was just so much better. It was like before, when she still lived in the city and we had seen each other every day at school. She had been my best friend before she had moved here to the village with Dirk. She had often invited me; I had invited her too. She had often come, but I never did. Her village wasn't really that exciting, there was never any question of me coming to visit her. What was the point anyway? It was more fun to meet up in the city. She was happy to be there again and she still had friends there. Although she had moved away, she had managed to keep in touch with the others, just as she had with me. We phoned every two weeks, often more frequently. But then it was always me who called because I just wanted to talk to someone and couldn't stand the loneliness, emptiness and silence in my apartment any longer. It was the same with the last phone call. I told her my sorrow and she invited me over. But this time I said yes, to the surprise of us both.

Dirk soon went to bed and now we could chat casually about our girl gossip. For the first time that day, I laughed from the bottom of my heart and felt good and happy to be here. But I soon got tired and went to bed as well.

The guest room even had its own bathroom, so great! Later, I switched off the light and looked out of the window. I was on the second floor and could see directly into the clear night sky. There were no buildings blocking the view, no streetlights dimming the light. Even from here behind the glass pane I could see the stars twinkling and there were so many of them, just amazing! Exhausted, I fell into the soft bed. Crickets chirped, frogs croaked somewhere; trees rustled, so much for silence. Nature could be really loud; I smiled. The curtains rustled softly in the breeze that came in through the window. Yes! That's how fun life was! That's how I had imagined my vacation! Just completely different from my usual life. I fell asleep contentedly.

I was in my apartment, took my cell phone, but couldn't find my friends' numbers. I went outside, there were loads of people dancing and partying in the street, but I didn't know anyone. I wanted to buy myself a drink but had forgotten my money. I was thirsty and asked a guy if I could have some of his drink.

He nodded. I took a sip and wanted to go on, but he held me back and tried to kiss me.

"No!" I shouted and pushed him away.

"Why not?"

"You're not my type!"

"Let's kiss, then I will be!"

I left him and ran off. But I had no shoes on, was lost and had no idea where I was. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket but had no reception, sat down on the curb and cried.

I woke up. What a dream and so stupid! Where was I? Then I remembered, I was on vacation! No work! Having fun with Claudia and today we would go for a stroll around the village. She had promised me that last night. I got up and went into the bathroom. Everything was quiet. They were probably already downstairs having breakfast. I hurried down to the kitchen.

No one was there, there was a note on the table. "Kathleen, Dirk's father had a heart attack. We went to see him in hospital. There's food in the fridge. Make yourself at home. I'll call you later. Claudia"

How awful! I sat down and felt really sorry for him! Hopefully he would be better soon! I looked around and realized I was alone again. And it was much worse here than at home, because I really didn't know anyone here. It was like my dream! A strange place with strange people and I was lonely again and gulped. What should I do now? I was hungry, so first I made myself a toast with jam. At home I only ate muesli, but this was my vacation after all and I wanted to do something different. Above all I didn't want to be just for myself anymore, that's when the idea came to me.

When I went outside, I really took in the landscape for the first time. Yesterday I just had been too distracted and focused on Claudia. Yes, it was ... green. Lots of trees, meadows; flowers and not a soul around. Now I felt completely on my own and cut off from the world.

A little sparrow hopped onto the sidewalk and looked at me boldly with its black eyes.

"Hello sparrow," I greeted him, but he didn't reply. "So, out and about on your own?"

He chirped and hopped a few steps closer and I thought he was very cute. I loved animals! This droll sparrow was really extremely cute! He flew away. Somehow, I didn't feel so strange here anymore. Nevertheless, I should quickly meet a human if I was already starting to talk to birds!

I stepped out into the street; there was a house next door. As it was the only one, I hoped it was Debbie's. After all Claudia had said she was her neighbor. I couldn't find a doorbell or a name plate, so I knocked on the door.

"Debbie?" I called out, no answer. I was depressed and felt like I was in my dream again, wanting to sit on a curb and cry. But there were no kerbs here and there wasn't a sparrow around to save me this time.

Then I heard her voice. "Come out into the back garden!" she called.

I ran around the house, delighted to see her sitting in the sun, knitting. "Hi!" I was really relieved to see her! She didn't seem at all surprised that I had popped in like that. I would never have been able to do that with my friends in the city, because they probably wouldn't have been at home at all, but at work or doing sports.

"Sit down," she smiled at me and nodded invitingly to a chair. I settled down on it. "Cake?" Now I discovered an extremely tasty strawberry cake. "With berries from the garden," she added.

"Oh, thank you, Debbie! I'd love to! It looks fantastic!" I enthused. She cut me a piece and handed it to me on a plate with a fork. Now I noticed her garden and looked around. The trees were covered in green leaves, the bushes bore berries and colorful flowers peeked out of the grass all around us. I took a deep breath and inhaled the scent of this new colorful world surrounding me. It smelled fresh, sweet and just like nature and earth. The sun was shining; it was warm. The cake was extremely tasty with the pudding and strawberries. Debbie's sewing needles were clicking merrily away. A few birds were hopping around on the grass, the trees were rustling in the wind. The sky was deep blue. It was absolutely quiet. No cars, no noise - silence. But a lively silence. "So, this is where you live," I finally said; she nodded. I noticed she was working on something else. "Socks ready?"

She nodded again. "Panties are on now," she replied with satisfaction.

"Does your fiancé always commute here from the city for the weekend?"

She remained silent. It was like on the train when we met and I asked her if he worked there. She just didn't answer me.

"Okay, stupid topic, let's drop it," I said, annoyed by her silence.

"Another time," she replied. Fortunately, this didn't change the peaceful atmosphere that surrounded us. She grew more and more in my appreciation and seemed to be a well-balanced person.

My cell phone rang and we both winced. "Sorry." I answered the call. "Claudia? Hi! How's Dirk's father?"