The house

Kopa and Bettina lead Mary down a smaller road. Mary saw that once you got away from the main road leading from the gate, the houses became more versatile. Not far from the open area, they turned in to another small road and then stopped in front of a house.

The house was surrounded by a high wall that reminded Mary of the wall around Mr Sansi’s house. The gate was set into a vault in the wall and Kopa opened it.

“Welcome home Mary” he said, ushering her inside.

Mary found herself in a small garden area. The house was absolutely beautiful. It was a two-story house that had the same finish as the other houses that made the surface look smooth. The house was painted in a light cream colour.

The windows were all of different sizes and were framed by dark wood. It gave the house a bit of a whimsical look. The door was made of the same wood that framed the windows and looked sturdy with iron brackets.

The house merged with the wall on both sides, making the front garden small and rectangular. The path leading up to the house was made out of pebbles and lined with larger rocks. Mary could see that the small garden was kept immaculate.

Mary couldn’t help but smile. It looked like something out of a fairy tale, and she absolutely loved it.

“We hope you will like living here” Bettina said, waking Mary from her admiration of the house.

“I’m sure I will” Mary said honestly.

Kopa had gone on ahead and opened the front door and Bettina gave Mary a gentle push to go on in. Mary entered into a spacious living area. There was a large fireplace on one wall and beside it a stair that led upstairs, the wall was finished the same way as the outside and in the same colour.

The room was furnished for comfort with large chairs in front of the fireplace with cushions that looked fluffy and soft. There were three doors that Mary could see. One lead of to the right, one lead of to the back of the house on the right side of the stairs, and the final one also led to the back of the house but was on the left side of the fireplace.

The floor was covered in different carpets that were overlapping. There were a small table with two chairs at one wall, a cabinet stood alongside another. To separate the living area from the entrance, a large round table stood. On top of it a lovely, embroidered tablecloth lay, and a large flower arrangement stood at its centre.

“Let’s go into the kitchen and I will give you two something to eat” Bettina said, taking Mary’s cloak and then went on ahead into a door to the right of the living area.

The kitchen was huge and stretch al along the side of the house Mary noticed as it had windows on three sides. There was a fireplace for cooking, a large wooden counter in the middle of the room for preparing the food and at the inner most part there was a dining table with a bench and three chairs.

Almost all walls in the kitchen were covered in cupboards and shelving. Mary got a little exited at the look of the kitchen, she would enjoy working in a kitchen like this.

Bettina started pulling out bowls and went over to a door that was located not far from the fireplace. She returned with vegetables and what looked like cured meet. Mary guessed the door led to the pantry.

As Bettina started chopping and stirring, Mary felt like she should be doing something.

“Can I help with something?” she asked.

“Oh no, no, my friend. Sit down at the table with Kopa and relax. There will be time for helping later. But I would love to hear about how the journey was. Kopa is not the man to tell me things like that” she smiled and Kopa guided Mary toward the dining table and they sat down.

Soon bot Kopa and Mary had a cup of steaming tea in front of them and Mary talked about all the things she had seen along the way as Bettina cooked and Kopa was sitting quiet and listening, looking content.

After a while Bettina served them a bowl each with finely chopped vegetable, a plate of sliced meat and then a large basket of bread was placed on the table.

“Eat, and if you want more there is plenty of it” Bettina said smiling, the woman seemed to be constantly smiling. Mary felt like it rubbed of on her.

“Thank you” Mary said and tasted the food. The vegetables Mary recognized as tomatoes, cucumber, onions, and something that Mary didn’t recognize. They were mixed with what tasted like parsley and herbs and mixed in a nutty oil. It was really good and refreshing.

The meat looked like lamb and was smoked. The bread was soft with a nice crust. Mary was beyond happy as she got to try this new dish.

“I hope you like it Mary, I don’t know many dishes from Domne so I’m afraid you will have to try a loot of new things” Bettina said as if to apologise.

“It’s amazing” Mary said truthfully. “I think I know what everything is except this” she continued and pointed out the unfamiliar vegetable with her spoon.

“That’s komqer melon” Bettina said, standing from the table and getting a round vegetable, the size of Mary’s hand. She handed it to Mary.

It felt soft and squishy, and Mary smelled it. It didn’t smell of anything in particular, it reminded her of cucumber.

“It almost smells like cucumber, just a bit sweeter” Mary said. Bettina nodded.

“Yes, it consists mostly of water and the inside is a thin layer of pulp that is sounding an almost liquid centre. We use the centre to drink or in soups. The pulp is usually placed in salt to firm up and then either eaten as is or pickled” Bettina explained.

“Children use them to throw at each other. They are soft and if you get hit with one, it explodes and covers you in juice.” Kopa said and Mary saw Bettina rolling her eyes.

Mary smiled and placed the melon on the table before finishing her food.

“Thank you, Bettina, it was delicious. And don’t worry about the food. I like trying new things. I expected that much when I decided to come here” Mary smiled.

“It was amazing, honey, just as always. I’m a lucky man” Kopa agreed. Bettina smiled at the two of them.

“Now I think it’s time for a quick tour of the house, then you can freshen up and then it’s off to bed. I imagen it will be nice to sleep in a proper bed after traveling for so long” Bettina said cheerfully.

Bettina started showing Mary around the house while Kopa cleared the table. There was a more formal dining room next to the kitchen, you could access it from both the kitchen and the living area. The door that was to the far left in the living area led to Kopa's office.

As they went up the stairs Bettina pointed out the first door to the right as hers and Kopa’s bedroom. A door to the right lead to a sowing room and the next doors on opposite sides of the corridor were two guest rooms. As they only had one door left to inspect, the one straight ahead. Kopa joined them.

“This will be your room, I hope you like it. I didn’t have much notice of you coming so I had to make do with what we had. But we can go out shopping in a day or two for thing that you need.” Bettina said, sounding nervous.

“I’m sure it will be just fine” Mary assured her, Kopa smiled and opened the door to let her walk in.