Emil runs across the bridge and looks for a date.
“I’ve got the answer!” he suddenly shouts. I run over to him.
“Come on, there are more riddles to solve,” I say excitedly. But suddenly in the courtyard we stop still in our tracks. A young girl is squatting on the ground.
“Hello! What are you doing?” Emil asks curiously.
“I’m weeding,” the shy girl explains. “Afterwards, I’ve got to hurry over to the kKnights’ hHall. I have to scrub the floor.”
Emil and I don’t really understand what she means.
“You’ve got to scrub the Knights’ Hall?” I ask cautiously.
“Of course I do!” she says, “like any child in the Middle Ages. Feed the animals, fetch water from the well, wash clothes and look after my younger brothers and sisters… Don’t you have to do this as well?”
Emil and I look at one another. Then I reply: “No, the most we have to do is make our bed and help with the washing-up.”
“Then you’re lucky,” the girl sighs. “And what are you doing here in Koerich?”
“We’re looking for the key to a mysterious chest! And to do this, we have to solve riddles. We’ll find the answers in the castle,” Emil explains excitedly and shows the girl the piece of paper. She is called Anna.
“That’s great! I know the castle really well. Is it okay if I help?”
“Of course!” we say with delight.
We walk around the castle together and solve one question after another. We take a seat in the guard house, walk across high, iron footbridges and up staircases, we peer from above down into the gloomy depths of the Witches’ Tower and visit the dark, cool cellars. After all that, we’re hungry. We sit down together on the same bench outside the castle and eat our picnic.
There’s a beautiful church standing behind the castle on a hill. The church bell rings out. Emil and I turn round to listen.
“Thank you very much for helping us and for your explanations,” we say to thank Anna. But when we turn round again, Anna has disappeared.
