Page 9 of Enchanted in Time
It is impossible to say who the owner was. The towns and communities that border the ruin and the surrounding forest region possess no deed of ownership and no power of disposition.
Nothing is known about the history of the castle. There is no record or mention of it anywhere. Based on occasional excavations and a thorough inspection, archaeologists and building researchers have concluded that it is a contrived ruinbuilt by a prince approximately 100 to 150 years ago to give the area the atmosphere of a fairy tale.
We cannot say with certainty whether the name Lichtenberg Castle is of more recent origin or whether it was the actual name of a once magnificent building, assuming that building even existed at all.”
“That’s it? Nothing on the history?” Hannah leaned over her son’s shoulder and skimmed the text. Then she shook her head. “I’m telling you, this invitation has got to be a stupid joke.”
“Here are some more pictures.”
The kids clicked through the photos of the ruin. The walls and structural remains were so overgrown that they found it almost impossible to identify much of anything—until all at once, they all let out a gasp. “Look, Mom, it’s the coat of arms on your letter!”
Hannah glanced at the screen again. The photo showed a section of an archway in the middle of a massive wall. The archway had once served as the entrance to the castle courtyard, and one segment showed a bas-relief peeking out from beneath a rose vine.
“Can you make the picture bigger?” Hannah asked, and Marco immediately zoomed in. Now she could see it as well. The relief consisted of two lions framing a coat of arms. Hannah brushed a loose strand of hair from her forehead and squinted. She could make out a shield divided into four parts: a roaring bear, a golden chalice, a long sword, and white lilies. Above it was a crown. The only difference was that the flourishes around the crest were not roses, as on the letter, but sweeping embellishments.
She straightened up. “The shield and the crown are identical, but the border is different.”
Leon countered with a precocious observation. “A coat of arms can change over the years,” he said. “You read that to me yourself from my book about knights, Mama!”
“In any case, it doesn’t say anything about the ruin being restored. So I doubt they’ll be holding a ball there tonight. And that’s that.”
“No, Mommy.” Emi was visibly disappointed and started pouting. “I will not believe that.”
“Look here.” Frieda had approached and was pointing at the text on the invitation. “It says down here that a coach will be picking you up at seven o’clock this evening, Mrs. Meyer, and that it will also bring you home.”
“A coach?” Hannah raised her eyebrows.
“With real horses?” Emi was squealing and jumping up and down again.
Frieda lovingly stroked her blonde hair. “I assume so, my angel.”
“That’s so great! Can I come with you, Mommy?”
Hannah laughed.
“Balls are only for grown-ups, angel,” Frieda interjected.
“And I’m obviously not going!”
A storm of indignation rained down on Hannah.
“You have to, Mommy!”
“But Mrs. Meyer, you cannot refuse an invitation such as this.”
“Mommy, you have to go and take pictures of the knights for me!”
“There won’t be any coaches showing up anyway,” Marco added, making his contribution to the debate.
Hannah agreed. “That’s what it looks like.”
“Yes, there will. The coach is coming!” Emi stomped her foot, and Leon followed suit. “Please, Mommy!”
Hannah was not at all fond of disappointing her kids. They had it hard enough as it was, and she did her best to fulfill any wish of theirs that she could. They had so damn few of them anyway. She sat down on the couch, picked up her little girl, and set her on her lap. “Sweetheart, there’s no way I can go to a ball. I don’t have a dress.”
“Then you have to buy one!” Emi cried.
“We don’t have any money left,” Leon reminded her.
