Felice heard a scratching sound from one of the chairs. She snatched. The blonde girl came out. Felice took a few step backwards. The girl had a knife in her mouth. She took it out and held it near Felice's face. Felice was on the verge of pushing away the knife when the red-haired boy started talking. This seemed to calm the blonde girl, who dropped the knife. Felice breathed a sigh of relief. She took out the sandwiches. The children didn't seem to react. Felice shrugged her shoulders. She had done her very best. She could come back later.
Already the following day, Felice visited the children. They had eaten up all the food, but their shortage of liquid were acute. Well, Rome was not built in a day. The language was the first step. Felice understood that she had to learn the special communication of the children. This day, she brought along her portable tape-recorder.
One of the windows were wide open. Felice bended down and held up the tape-recorder. She pressed a button and watched the rolling tape. The children were talking inside the cabin. Felice heard the blonde girl saying something. It sounded like several drawn out a's.
"Aaalis?"
Alice.... Who was that? The blonde girl or maybe an unknown sister?
In the evening, Felice locked herself up in her room and listened to the tape. She scribbled down everything she could hear. Finally, there was a whole list of words which needed to be translated. It wasn't easy. She had to guess and ponder. In any case, Annie was the blonde girl and Tom was the red-haired boy. Consequently, Alice must be a sister. But was she dead or alive? There was a sentence which constantly appeared in the conversation of the children. Bles ae te pesecte. Felice didn't know how to interpret it.
But the answer came quickly. Grandpa read the Bible, which was very unusual. Felice passed by and happened to take a look at the text. It was from the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the persecuted. She had broken the code! The children simply lost a few letters.
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