George Crane- Chapter 2

Chapter 2- Grandpa's home

They reached Crail. How pleasant and warm the climate was! The slight breeze made it even better. Grandpa’s house was situated right in the center of the town. The house was situated at Block 6 of Riveira street. As soon as Dad turned right to Riveira street, George could recollect some memories. He could remember all the five homes situated in the street. Firstly, there was a huge mansion, then a house painted in all pink wherein a lady lived alone, another house with one of the most beautiful gardens you could ever see. Then another house that looked creepy and very abandoned. The next one was a very big house wherein lived a joint family and was always noisy. Then came Grandpa’s house, the best of them all. Grandpa was waiting in the porch. He carried a newspaper in one hand and a coffee mug on the other sitting in an old rocking chair which George remembered was there even when he visited Crail last time. Everyone got off the car and took their belongings and rushed to Grandpa. Grandpa was a very cheerful and playful person. It was as if he was still in his twenties. “Hello everyone, I was hoping you all would come early” “There was lot of traffic on the way” replied George’s Dad and gave Grandpa a hug. George’s Dad looked the happiest which was pretty obvious. “Come on in”, said Grandpa. “You all could keep your belongings in the room and comedown for lunch” Grandpa’s house was a very cozy house. Grandpa had a liking for antique items such as old clocks, gramophones, paintings, rocking chair. Even the plates and glasses were very antique. The minute you step in Grandpa’s house you will feel that you have gone back to the early 1800s. The living room merely consisted of a big sofa set which was obviously antique, a rocking chair on the left and a small table on the right. And on it was an old radio on top of a television. There was an open kitchen right after the living room. To the left of the kitchen, there was a small door to a room which was where Grandpa slept. And to the right was the stairs that led to the upper floor. Just in the centre was a big dining table with a marble top and six chairs. George’s family soon went upstairs, they wanted to come down soon and have lunch. The aroma of the chicken sizzler and steamed rice made their mouths water. On the upper floor, there was an entire empty floor and ahead were two rooms. Both the rooms were far from each other and there was a huge painting situated between the two rooms of a sea, an old ship, and a harbour. “Wow …Cathy, Look at this beautiful painting”, exclaimed George “Grandpa did it himself, he was a great artist”, said Josef “Mom and Dad called for the one on the left while George and Cathy went for the other. As soon as they walked in, they fell in love with the room. Even Saffi looked happy! George quickly kept this bag beside the bed and went to open the windows. It was suffocating without air. The view outside was very scenic. Ahead he could see the small garden with bright yellow flowers and the next street. The houses in the street were smaller and looked very European. Tiled slanting roofs in brown shades, large stone worked walls and almost all had the chimneys. There was a cool breeze too. Soon after that, Cathy, George, and Saffi went down for lunch. Mom and Dad were already downstairs. They all sat down on the chairs and could wait to start their lunch. Saffi was sitting down beside George’s chair and enjoying the food Grandpa had already given. Just as Dad was about to start serving the food, Grandpa said “No no…first you should thank God. Hope you haven’t forgotten that”. Grandpa was a very religious person and always prayed before having food. After a short and quick prayer, they all started. There was Chicken corn soup, sizzler, rice and at the end chocolate icecream. Even though Grandma had passed away, Grandpa managed to make the most delicious food ever. He was a great cook. After lunch, Grandpa usually goes to sleep. Since he left, everyone else also went to their rooms. George took out this mobile phone and surfed the internet for a while. Even Catherine did the same. What else could they do! After a while, it kind of started to get boring. So they went to the parents’ room to ask if they could go out. The parent’s room exactly the same as that of Cathy and George. “Mom, could we go out and explore? We are getting bored” “Ok. You should come back by the evening and don’t go too far” said Mom. They went outside hoping that they would find some friends to spend the rest of the vacation with. Saffi also joined them. The three of them started walking. “Hey Cathy, let’s go to the children’s park. We might find someone there”. “Ok”...replied Cathy George did not exactly remember the direction but somehow managed to find the park. Many children were playing in the park. They found an ice cream parlour nearby and they bought some Vanilla flavoured ones with the unique cheesy ice famous in Crail. They both sat down to finish the ice cream and carefully examined the surroundings. That’s when they spotted a group of kids of their age. George and Cathy soon went up to them and said “Hello”. There were three kids. One was a tall boy with hazel eyes and curly hair, the second one was a very fair girl with beautiful hair and looked a bit like the boy. And a third one … the third one was Harry! “Harry…” said George. “How come you are here?” “George and Cathy! Wow, what a coincidence!” I have come here for a tour of the countryside and my parents have booked a cottage over here. “How about you guys?” “Well, we came here to visit our Grandpa” “Oh, I see. By the way, this is Nathan and Natalie” “Hello”, both of them said together. “Nathan, Natalie…This is George and Cathy. They are my best friends from my locality back in Edinburg” “Hi”, said George “Nice to meet you”, said Cathy. “Are you both residents of Crail?” “No. We both are also here to enjoy our vacation”, said Nathan “Ok. So what are you guys planning to do the summer?”, asked George. “That’s what we were discussing right now”, replied Natalie “Ok. So I have head about a treasure in the mansion up the hill. The mansion is abandoned, and many have been up there searching for the treasure. But no one has ever found it” said Harry. “Wow! Really. Well now I guess we have found something interesting to do this vacation”, said George. “Now we will become treasure hunters”, said Cathy giggling “Ok. So what else do we know about this treasure?” asked George.