Okay, we went to Germany again on July the 28.
My heart started beating very fast when we approached the Mountain House.
I had this strange premonition concerning Uncle Ukki . . . .
When we arrived we had the most strange welcome !
There was a gnome sitting on the stairs, he had a big yet a bit alarming smile on his face !
And oh my oh my ! He introduced himself but he spoke in such a strange dialect the only thing I could make out of his words was his name : Adular
We asked him if he met Uncle Ukki and why he wasn't here to greet us but his words were such a puzzling mix of French and Rhineland-Palatinate dialect we didn't understand a thing !
Oh yes, "wine" that was the only word we thought we could make out of his jibber jabber !!?So Erik and I decided after a long discussion ( usually alcohol doesn't make things simple) to give him some wine.
"Heil dir im Siegerkranz" (German for "Hail to Thee in Victor's Crown") it was from 1871 to 1918 the unofficial national anthem of the German Empire. Previously, it had been the anthem of Prussia, the melody of the hymn derived from the British anthem "God Save the Queen".
Because of the melody we were utterly more confused and decided to lure him to bed so we could spend some quite time on the terrace and think what to do.
No sign of Ukki ! Suddenly we heard some noise along the road and look who was there !
It was Paula !
She came running down to our terrace and gave us a warm welcome.
We asked her to sit with us for a while because we needed her help.
We explained our concern about Uncle Ukki and maybe she would like to help us ?
"Indeed I will " she said with her beautiful soft voice.
Immediately she started sniffing the grounds and began to walk through the house and the garden.
We were totally desperate ! We hugged Paula and wished her good night and with heavy hearts we went to bed.
Next morning we had breakfast outside when all of a sudden Pinky started yelling at us.
Oh my goodness ! Look what she found !
Two polaroid photo's of what seems to be Uncle Ukki !!
We couldn't leave it at that, this looked like a mysterious disappearance !
Well, for us there was no other option then to call the local newspaper, someone must have seen or heard about Uncle Ukki !
Unfortunately, we didn't thought about the little ones at home and some smart Barn Owl brought them the newspaper.
The little ones were enjoying the nice weather outside when the owl appeared.
The newspaper was in German of course but smart Higgins who speaks all languages including Bird language and German started translating .
"Wait a minute ! Wait a minute !!! " said Higgins.
"Uncle Ukki is a very wise gnome, you don't think he will let himself get into trouble ! You must not believe anything that is written ! I think Uncle Ukki is on a very exciting adventure and he will be all right ! We know him and he will not come back before he finds out what is going on with the Tomb."
Well, that was a true statement of Higgins!
The little ones broke out in laughter, Higgins never spoke so many words but he was right, Uncle Ukki would be all right and they felt a huge relief and they all sat down and enjoyed the sun again.
"I'm sure we will hear from Uncle Ukki soon" said little Arthur.
I KNOW THEY WILL . . . . . .
Helen XXX
