Chapter 21– Elmbridge Old Gate, a New Door(1)

It was that kind of noon when even though the sun was in the sky for some time, in the shade of the trees it was quite cool. Even so, the scenery was so pleasant that you could sit carried away in those waves of greenery, listening to the birds' spring songs.
Next to a hidden forest path, where someone right in the head would not stop, there was a carriage. The horses were tired and hungry. They ate grass with gusto, like a wolf devouring its prey. It was clear they had come a long and difficult way.
A man and two children got off the carriage. The man, Mr. Benjamin Green, paid the coachman for the trip and thanked him. Then he beckoned to the two children to follow him.
Elizabeth's heart was pounding with fear because she didn't know what was to happen next. Only when she saw the little boy Johnny smiling and winking at her, she recovered her courage and calmed down.
How come this little boy who was hit so badly and probably that happened every day could smile so sweetly with happiness in his eyes? That was really surprising.
The children could hardly follow Mr. Green, as he moved very fast, as though someone chased him. Elizabeth expcted at any second to be scolded because they couldn't keep up with the man, but this did not happen.
However, something else happened. Johnny took Elizabeth by the hand and hurried a little to reach Mr. Green.
'Johnny, are you okay?" the smart gentleman asked, displaying the care of a parent.
'Better than ever," Professor Knudlac.
Better than ever, after such a blow? Professor Knudlac? What happened to Mr. Green? Such questions crossed the frightened girl's mind. What happened ... who was the man she left with? Poor kid did not understand anything at all. There were more questions in her mind than strands of hair on her head. She could imagine her head blasting with questions eager to find answers. She wanted to say something, but the few words of the gentleman assured her that she was to face many surprises. What she found out was mind-blowing; she was struck speechless:
'My dear Elizabeth ... my name is Knudlac Eaden. I'm a distant relative of your father's."
The girl still looked at Mr. Knudlac with some doubt. How can you trust a stranger who still lies above all? Who lied to the damn director of an orphanage and who also says he knew her father. As for a joke ... even if that were the case, poor kid didn't know because no one in the orphanage taught her about the sense of humour.
Something seemed to tell her to run away, to turn back where she came from. Maybe it was better, she thought. But something kept telling her: why is that little boy so ... not-sad? What was on his mind? And…
And the girl's thoughts are interrupted by this gentleman's gaze who removed his glasses and threw them in a rusty garbage bin, near a bench. A gaze as gentle as the one in the picture she kept folded all the time near her chest.
'You have the eyes ... the gaze so gentle", the girl managed to say.
The professor smiled.
'Elizabeth, I've been looking for you for so long. For so long ... Your parents left me a letter telling that if something happened to them, to find you and take care of you. After failing so many times, I finally found you.
The elegant gentleman paused, then hurried to look for something in the sleeve of his long coat:
'But if we don't hurry, I may lose you again ..."
Then he bent and approached his face to hers, so that she could see his friendly gaze.
'When I heard about your parents' death, I wanted to bring you near me, but unfortunately some bad people were ahead of me. They hid you ... they forcefully grabbed you from me without me being able to track you down. And ... they are still looking for you, to take you back from me.
'What people?" the girl asked, scared.
'The same people who ... hurt your parents."
You could tell just by looking at her face how frightened she was.