Mishka wondered where to go for the evening. It would have been nice for her to catch up on some news with Joan, Gillian's mother, but Gillian was also at home for the evening after spending the afternoon with Mishka.
"So, how do I tell her about my visit to Bruce's mansion this morning and my invitation to visit there again? She asked herself as she sat on her armchair, watching a movie on her television set.
"I can go tomorrow afternoon, but that feels like so far away. Gillian and I have to tell her mom about my Grandma's stuff and then I have to tell her about Lyle, Bruce's cousin. Maybe I can go over there quickly and sneak a chance to speak to Joan privately?" she wondered.
There was a knock on her door then.
"Now, who can that be?" Mishka wondered as she got up from her chair to open up.
"Hi, may I come in? I just wanted to run a few ideas past you so I can add them to the voice recording successfully," Milla asked as soon as Mishka poked her head out of her room.
"Oh, it's you Milla. Okay, you can do that quickly because I'm not sure about what I'm gonna do next," Mishka responded and stepped aside so that Milla could enter.
"So, did you warn your Grandma about not going to the nursery at night?" Milla asked as she entered the spacious bedroom.
"Oh, yes. I must still do that and tell her that we want to make a movie there as well," Mishka responded.
"Oh, I thought it was urgent and that you would talk to her immediately," Milla responded with her eyes round in surprise.
"No, don't worry. I will tell her. I still have to find a way to talk to her without offending her," Mishka responded. She had almost forgotten about her excuse for getting Milla to inform her about her grandmother's activities.
"Oh, because you can mention that one of the staff should go with her?" Milla suggested with a raised brow.
"Oh, you know how stubborn and independent she is. She won't want to be accompanied as if she was a small child.
"You could suggest her friend Rose, the one she watches funny movies with in the mornings," Milla suggested.
"I bet if you suggested that she could make a friendship visit out of it, she would love it, especially since they can help each other and the task can be done with very quickly," she continued.
"Oh, I didn't know that she had a movie buddy in the mornings," Mishka responded in surprise.
"Oh, it's a while now that they watch movies and soapies together about weird stuff like witches and spells," Milla responded with a shudder.
"But, it's not every day. Just a few days per week," she added as she looked at the cell-phone in her hand. It was clear that she wanted to get on with her movie-making project.
"No, I had no idea. I suppose when one is at the office it's easy to imagine that the folk back home don't have lives of their own," Mishka remarked as she narrowed her eyes pensively.
"Well, they have tea and cookies with it, so it's a whole fun experience for them. I wouldn't want to watch weird stuff about witchcraft and charms, though," Milla responded with a dismissive shrug.
"Cook told me about the new witch series that Grandma's watching in the evenings and so I had to join her this week, but I also didn't like watching any of it," Mishka responded as she pondered Milla's statement.
"Maybe it's an old-age thing. They're interested in things which intrigue them a lot," Milla remarked.
"They shouldn't get hooked onto it, though," Mishka responded with a sulky look on her face.
"No, they shouldn't, but it seems to make them happy. So, maybe we should just let them be," Milla responded.
"So, then maybe Gillian is right about Grandma being involved with witch-like activities. Maybe I should take this very seriously," Mishka told herself.
"Okay then, I will have to tell her that I know about her friend, Rose who comes over sometimes. Then I can easily suggest that she invites Rose over for her evening visits to the basement," Mishka remarked with a sigh.
"Will you tell her that I specifically told you about Rose?" Milla asked with a gasp. "Won't she say I'm blabbering on her?" Milla continued with a nervous tremor in her voice.
"I will say that I just heard it somewhere. I will make it sound like the most natural thing in the world that I should know about her friend," Mishka responded in a calm tone of voice.
"Okay, because she doesn't like gossiping," Milla remarked quickly.
"Yes, as long as it's not her gossiping that's confronted," Mishka murmured.
"Oh? Do you want to talk to her about her gossiping?" Milla asked with her eyes stretched wide in alarm.
"No, I will only talk about her needing a companion for when she goes into the basement at night. If she doesn't listen, I will have to tell my dad, unfortunately," Mishka remarked in a sombre tone of voice.
"I don't want her to be upset about stuff that I said," Milla remarked with a worried frown on her brow.
"No, don't stress yourself. I will see to it that you don't get into trouble," Mishka reassured Milla with a pat on her hand.
"Tell me about what you have on the drama up to now," she added to change the subject.
"At least now I know a little bit more about Grandma's activities and I know about her new friend, Rose. Maybe she's a witch or fortune teller? Otherwise, what would they be doing watching those movies together when Dad and I are not here?" Mishka asked herself.
"Well, how do I make everyone understand that the story is about this family, but it's only fiction at the same time?" Milla asked, scratching her head.
"I think we should just tell them outright that it's only a story meant for our own entertainment as we practice making a movie for fun," Mishka responded.
"It will give us an opportunity to hold interviews with Grandma and Dad and thereby we can find out some real family secrets," Mishka told herself as she smiled inwardly.
In the middle of the night, Mishka woke up with a start.
"Was that a nightmare?" she asked herself. She had dreamt that her grandmother and a mysterious woman were in her bedroom, sitting on the rug surrounded by candles while they chanted foreign words.
Mishka turned on her bedside lamp immediately.
"It was only a nightmare! Good heavens, thank God!" she exclaimed into the quiet of her bedroom.
"I shouldn't have sat up with Milla for such a long time discussing scary scenes for our movie," Mishka told herself.
They had gotten quite carried away and had not noticed the hours slip by as their imagination carried them away.
"I shouldn't indulge in that kind of talk before bedtime. It causes nightmares. Now I will have to go for a nightcap or I won't fall asleep easily again," she told herself as she slowly slipped her feet into her slippers. She then got up and walked out of her bedroom.
"Best go to church in the morning also so that this weird stuff of Grandma's doesn't affect me," Mishka told herself as she walked down the corridor.
Downstairs, she walked straight to the fridge without turning the kitchen light on because the light from the passage was strong enough for the kitchen as well.
Mishka took the milk out of the fridge and turned around to find a glass when she bumped into something soft.
"What? Who's this?" Grace, the cook shouted out in alarm.
"Grace, is it you?" Mishka asked in shock. "Didn't you see me here?" she asked, her hands shaking as she held onto the milk jug.
"No, I kept my eyes half closed because I don't usually run into anyone when I come to the fridge in the middle of the night," Grace responded after taking a deep breath.
"Oh, do you always wake up during the night then?" Mishka asked in a softer tone of voice. It would not do to wake up everyone else.
"Yes, but only when I have nightmares," Grace responded, rubbing her eyes.
"Oh, did you also have a nightmare?" Mishka asked in surprise.
"Yes. I heard chanting and then I imagined seeing ghosts in the hallway. So, I woke up and came straight here to shake it off," Grace answered.
"That's strange. Very strange. Why would you also be dreaming about chanting?" Mishka asked in surprise.