Abruptly stopping and taking a few measured steps back almost immediately, Jean threw a quick glance in the direction of the voice.
At the far left, Natalie was standing in front of the entrance door in the porch, with one of her hands fixed on the suitcase, as the other one held tight the knob of the door, just about to turn it open. Peeking to meet Jean's gaze, Natalie sighed.
"What are you up to?"
On hearing this, Jean wore a complicated look and started moving in Natalie's direction.
"…I was just looking around."
From the moment Jean entered the compound of this house, his suspicion about the house belonging to his mom's friend struck his mind. But, when his eyes fell on the tree at the rear side of the house, his sanity deemed a little. He felt something about the tree, but it was difficult to put what he felt into words.
'What was I even doing? How can I be this free in someone else's compound? But wait…'
His sanity had cleared.
This was when he shifted his attention away from the ominous tree in the compound. As a result, he had just realized that Natalie did not only have the keys to the gate of the house, but also had the keys to the house itself.
'If this is her friend's house, how comes she has the keys? Something is not clear on my side…'
As he arrived at the door side and entered the porch, Natalie turned the knob of the door. As the door flung open, Natalie entered the house with a calculated gait.
"Welcome to our new home."
Natalie's voice echoed from the inside.
Jean jerked away and gaped. With wide eyes, he lingered for a while.
'What did I just hear. Is this some sort of dream or what?'
Jean thought to himself, clearly not believing what he was seeing.
As if answering his thoughts, Natalie shrugged.
"How is the house, do you like it?"
After lingering for a while, Jean answered with a stutter,
"… Oh! The …the house… is fine."
The bungalow that Jean was about to enter was indeed breath-taking.
It had a tiled floor right from the porch to its interior. The outside walls were made from a mixture of natural stones and concrete. However, the stones were only visible on the pillars, as the rest of the walls were plastered and painted in a mixture of grey and white colours. The top floor had a balcony on the right and on the rear side. It had a grey, tiled roof that rose a few meters above the top floor.
The front door was forged from adamant steel that was painted black.
The house was also located on the Northern wing – One of the calmest wings of the estate. When combined with the cool colours of the house, the level of calmness that someone could feel while around this house was completely unmatched.
But at times, too much calmness could result into an eerie feeling.
Talking about calmness…
Since the duo entered the streets of this estate, Jean noticed something strange.
They didn't meet even a single soul traversing or loitering on the streets. That didn't even dread Jean, as what dreaded him the most was the fact that; the estate was eerily quiet.
This was something that wasn't common in Jean's life while growing up. Although, Celta village could be merely populated when compared to Kili city, it was rare to experience such a state that this new estate that Jean was in.
'What is even the name of this estate?'
This was the moment that Jean came to realize that he was yet to know the name of the estate that this new house of theirs was located.
'Why do I have to worry about that, I shall ask her. But this silence I'm experiencing in this area doesn't seem normal to me. Maybe I was accustomed to noisy neighborhoods back in the village.'
Jean thought with a series of expressions crossing his face.
Perhaps, Jean could have noticed some one or two evidence of human activities on their way, but it was still difficult for him to believe that people really resided in these parts of the city, especially the estate. Maybe it was just a coincident that they happened to enter the estate at the time when it rarely experienced a buzz of activities, or on the contrary, he was right with his deductions.
Now standing a few steps into the house, Natalie shrugged.
"Bring that suitcase with you."
Still at the porch, Jean blinked several times and hesitated for a moment. He then scoffed and gave Natalie a dubious look. Meeting her gaze, Jean slowly lowered his head to avert her piercing gaze.
'Why now? How comes you've carried the suitcase all along, only to come here and pretend that you are too tired to take it in? Sometimes your behaviours puzzle me.'
Jean thought with annoyance but didn't allow it show to the surface.
In the next moment, Jean went for the suitcase. If this act from Jean could have been seen by a stranger, it could have been difficult for the stranger to believe in Jean's ability to drag the suitcase from its position, not to talk less of him lifting it off the ground. It looked gigantic for a ten-year-old boy like him.
But Jean wasn't one of those pampered kids.
He lived in the village that was famous in farming activities, and its members had to attend to their farms on a daily basis in order for them to meet their daily requirements. So, Jean was not an exceptional when it came to participating in such activities. Adding to some gruesome tasks that Natalie – the tough mother gave him during weekends and holidays, Jean was not to be underestimated when it came to physical might.
With a slightly contorted face, a short-lived groan escaped Jean's pursed lips. A second after, the suitcase rose slightly above the ground and without hesitation, Jean moved the suitcase into the house.
When he entered the Living room and looked around, he almost dropped the suitcase in his hands on the floor.
The inside of the house was a total opposite of what he expected of it. In contradictory to its exteriors, which could be described as dusty and murky, the interior and everything in it was pristine and stark clean. In simple terms, it looked like someone had just cleaned it a few moments ago.
Now slowly lowering the heavy suitcase on the floor, with his wide eyes darting from one nook to another and from one wall to another, Jean sighed.
After lingering for a few moments, he then shifted his gaze and faced Natalie, who was now grinning at him.
"…mom… why are you not saying something?"
With the grin now melting away from her face, and being replaced by a deadpan expression, Natalie looked Jean straight in the eyes.
"Something like what?"
Jean shrugged and lingered for a moment.
"…the house is too clean on the inside as compared to its exterior. What do you have to say about that?"
Natalie smiled darkly. This forced Jean to look away in embarrassment.
"Isn't it obvious, the house was cleaned."
Jean gaped momentarily and scratched the back of his head.
Of all the possible answers that Jean had expected from Natalie, this was none of them. He had reflected the appearance of the house right from the gate to its compound and finally to its exterior and concluded in his mind that the interior was not going to be any different from what the exterior was at that moment. But, when he met the opposite of what he had expected, he immediately felt restless and dazed.
What answer was he expecting then if he didn't expect such an answer from Natalie. At this moment, it was difficult to discern what was running through Jean's mind.
"Just to ask, were you the one that cleaned it?"
At that moment, a bright smile shone her face.
"Take the suitcase to my room."
Clearly puzzled by this statement from Natalie, Jean wore a complicated look. He understood that Natalie diverted the topic in order to avoid the question that Jean had just asked. The reason behind her act, not known to him.
'Why would she do that?'
As if understanding Jean's situation, Natalie shook her head and moved towards Jean.
"I guess I will have to take it in by myself."
As Jean stared at the disappearing figure on the edge of the corridor on the right side of the living room, he sunk into a sea of thoughts.
'As it seems now, this is truly going to be our new home. But, for how long are we going to stay here. How did my mom manage to afford such a place? Perhaps she acquired it from her friend. Which friend can be this generous? Is this place even secure? The eerie silence, the ominous tree on the outside. This is going to take me some time before I adjust.
But how comes I can't stop thinking about the tree. Maybe I should check it out to clear my doubts?'
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