Mishka threw herself onto her back on her bed, when she returned home. She let out a deep sigh.
"What a day!" she exclaimed.
"And to think it was a normal Sunday. I didn't go out to the beach or anywhere special," she continued as she lay there.
"I got rescued from a wolf by another wolf," she commented, shaking her head in disbelief.
"I'm totally sure that wolf is a woman as well," Mishka murmured to herself as she dropped off to sleep.
Mishka wondered why her room was so dark when she woke up a while later.
"Is it night already? I dropped off to sleep!
I suppose I was really tired from interrupted sleep last night," she mumbled to herself as she sat upright, rubbing her eyes.
She searched for her bedside lamp switch and blinked as the light came on.
"I need coffee," she said out loud as she slid her feet off the bed and stood up.
"That and a shower. Tomorrow's Monday," she muttered as she walked towards the door.
Just as she reached the door, Mishka remembered something.
"Wait a minute. This can't go on. We have to find out who was making noises at an unearthly hour during the night. I can't have my sleep disturbed like that again," she said out loud as she walked out the door.
She was going to make her own coffee because it was a Sunday night and the staff were off duty.
Mishka was pleasantly surprised when found some of the staff members sitting at the table with coffee cups in their hands.
"Oh, what are you guys doing still up? You usually sleep so early on a Sunday night?" Mishka asked when she saw the gardener and one of the lady servants.
"Oh, we're just chilling inside cos we're not tired yet," Jim, the gardener responded with a cheerful grin.
"Great, now I have some company while I make my coffee," Mishka commented with a smile.
"Oh, let me make it for you," Julie, the maid offered, getting up from her chair eagerly.
"No, thank you. I have some special way that I want to make it," Mishka responded.
"Oh, by the way, when you're done, could you call Grace for me please?" Mishka asked looking across her shoulder from where she stood in front of a cupboard.
"I think she's asleep already?" Jim responded with a quick glance at Julie.
"Let me go and look anyway. I last saw her watching TV," Julie responded.
"Okay, will you, please?" Mishka asked.
"But, don't wake her up if she's already sleeping," she added.
When Grace the cook arrived in the kitchen a while later, Mishka was also sitting at the table with her own mug of coffee.
"Oh, were you still awake?" Mishka asked immediately.
"Well, actually I was waiting for you to come home, but we didn't see you come back," Grace responded as she joined the group at the table.
"Oh well, good night, I think it's time for my bed," Jim remarked, rising from the table slowly.
"Yes, I think I should go to my room as well, or I will oversleep in the morning," Julie remarked as she got up from her chair quickly.
"Alright then, goodnight, you two," Mishka responded with a friendly smile.
"I won't keep you long," she announced to Grace who was sitting forwards on her chair, with an eager look in her eyes.
"It looks as if you have something interesting to share," Mishka asked as she studied Grace's face.
"Oh, do you know, I've been thinking about this all day. It could definitely be your grandmother who was making those chanting noises. No one else," Grace remarked in a low tone of voice.
"So, you feel sure about it?" Mishka asked curiously as she leaned closer to Grace.
"Nobody else moves around upstairs at that time of night and you were with me, while your father was in his bedroom. The chanting wasn't sounding like that of a man, anyway," Grace remarked, shaking her head dismissively.
"So, why could she be doing it?" Mishka asked with a serious frown between her brows.
"I think she's either becoming senile or maybe she's just carrying on with something that she's been doing all along, but a bit more discreetly," Grace remarked, just above a whisper.
"I hope she's not going to exaggerate anything," Mishka told herself inwardly.
"Do you actually think that she's been doing this all the time? Isn't it just that she's too interested in her witch saga show? Old people do get carried away about certain shows, as I've heard at some point," Mishka remarked with her brows raised enquiringly.
"Mmm. Actually, there's something that I wanted to share with you. I don't know if you've heard about this before?" Grace stated as she gazed into Mishka's eyes carefully.
"What was I supposed to hear?" Mishka asked as her stomach muscles contracted nervously.
"Well, there was a time when we heard some rumours about your grandmother being one of a group of strange women who had certain unusual skills," Grace whispered.
"Oh? What kind of skills?" Mishka asked, holding her breath.
"Something like reading tea leaves, I think," Grace replied.
"You mean, fortune telling?" Mishka asked frowning at Grace curiously.
"Something like that," Grace replied.
"But then, they were not considered to be a safe group of women. They were thought to be able to make certain things happen with their powers as well. Some people used to consult them for advice and help," Grace continued with a serious look in her eyes.
"Are you saying that they could do something like… make magic?" Mishka asked with an alarmed look in her eyes. She then bit on a nail nervously.
"People with the skill to see the future can usually do other unusual things as well," Grace responded in a serious tone of voice.
"But then, where are those other people now?" Mishka asked with a frown.
"Oh, apparently they have all passed away by now. From old age," Grace responded.
"You mean my grandmother is the only one left, if this rumour is true?" Mishka asked with a sceptical look in her eyes.
"Apparently so, but I don't know whether someone with those skills can operate completely on their own," Grace responded, shaking her head doubtfully.
"It sounds really strange, but then, my grandmother has always been frightening and domineering in her ways," Mishka responded as she stared at the window in contemplation.
"It's not easy to spot serious shortcomings about one's close relatives," Grace responded looking at Mishka in concern.
"If I have been turning a blind eye to that, then what else could be going on in this house that I've not really looked at seriously?" Mishka asked with a worried frown.
"Well, certain visitors, for instance," Grace remarked with a far off look in her eyes.
"Are you talking about the woman who watches TV with Grandma in the mornings sometimes?" Mishka asked, feeling a little bit more self-confident.
"Her and others," Grace responded in a low tone of voice.
"Like who?" Mishka asked with her eyes stretched wide in alarm.
"Certain delivery people, for instance," Grace responded, leaning close to Mishka's ear.