"Huh?" With an expression of irritation, Riona bent down to pick up the small box from the wooden floorboards.

At that moment, Eve also reached the door. She almost ran into Ri, who had stopped so suddenly. The atmosphere, which had been so tense a moment ago, seemed to shatter like glass on concrete.

"What's that?" Riona asked loudly, turning her find between her fingers.

Eve's gaze also fell on the object in her cousin's hands. The square, red box appeared to be made of sturdy cardboard. Although it was in good condition, there were a few signs of wear on the corners, indicating that it was not new. To keep it closed, a silk ribbon, also in red, had been wrapped around the box like a Christmas present. At first glance, no label or anything else would have revealed more.

"How did this get here?" Eve asked, and as if a glance could tell her the answer, he glanced across the garden behind the cottage. The greenhouse stood, as always, in the dull sunlight, and a few leaves of ivy, which were also climbing up the pillars of the canopy, rustled softly in the wind. Behind them, the forest rose like a wall and, together with the treetops' rustling and the lake's rippling, sent Goosebumps down Eve's spine.

A strange feeling spread through her stomach, almost as if someone was looking back out of the forest - which was complete nonsense. Far away from villages and towns, the term "seclusion" always took on a new meaning and quickly made people uneasy. It was all the more important to resist this and not let the emerging paranoia unsettle her.

While still shivering and rubbing her upper arms, Riona spoke the first thought that came to her mind in response: "Liam probably made something for you," Riona speculated off the top of her head and gave Eve a fond smile. "Or maybe our craftsman?" Riona then added, wiggling her eyebrows pertly. "He likes your cinnamon buns pretty well, too..."

"Oh, stop that nonsense," Eve muttered, already feeling the heat rising in her cheeks - which didn't necessarily get any better when Ryker came around the corner of the cottage with Liam and Chief. Liam laughed and giggled, jumping around Ryker like an excited puppy, and Chief ran after him, panting but turning off again and again, presumably to look for a stick in the leaves of the meadow. Either Ryker had really heard Riona's cry, or he had fantastic timing.

"Why nonsense? There aren't many options out here," Riona mused, curiously shaking the red box she was holding to her ear.

>>Clack, clack, clack<<

A very soft, muffled noise sounded from inside.

"Options for what?" Ryker's voice now joined in the conversation.

"Is that for me, Mom?" Liam's childish question at least dispelled Riona's first and Eve's only suspicion about his involvement in the find.

"Liam, darling, is that from you?" Eve's voice rose above the others anyway, and she pointed to the red box. She wanted to be sure, so her voice sounded more determined than before.

But Liam blinked ignorantly and then shook his head hastily. The way his eyes were glued to the box, it didn't seem to be his.

"No. May I open it?" Curiosity flashed in his eyes far too honestly, and the boy was already reaching out for it when Riona lifted the package higher and out of reach. Liam reached towards the red box, balancing on his toes. "Please!"

"But, but," Riona clicked her tongue reproachfully and let her index finger swing back and forth like a pendulum. "We're not opening the presents for someone else, are we?"

"How do you know it's for someone else?" Eve asked between them. Her brow furrowed, and although the funny feeling in her stomach wouldn't go away, she couldn't deny that the thing was a welcome distraction.

"Either I have psychic powers..." Riona began but then turned the box around so they could see the underside. "Or it's because it has your name on the bottom."

And indeed: "EVE" had been written on the bottom in clear, black letters.

It didn't look like Liam's handwriting or that of a child.

"What kind of gift?" Now Ryker's curiosity seemed piqued, and his blue-gray eyes fell on the red thing in Riona's hands. There was a strange expression on his face that Eve couldn't interpret - but there was no time for that anyway.

"That was outside the door? Do you have any idea where it could have come from?" Ri asked with a smile in Ryker's direction. But his blank face showed he had no idea what she was talking about.

"If it's for me, how about you give it to me?" Eve now suggested and snatched the box from Riona's hands like a weasel. She turned on her heel, bridged the distance to the dining table, and pulled up a chair, which she sat down on. Part of her believed the box must belong to either Riona or Liam. On the other hand, the thought of Ryker seemed utterly absurd to her.

Maybe Ri had planned it as a surprise for the store and was now having fun pulling her leg. Eve released the loop with a tug.

Meanwhile, Liam's fingers clutched the edge of the kitchen counter as he tilted his chin and blinked curiously. Riona wasted no time either, slinking to her side like a ghost, and Ryker ... well, you couldn't miss him even if you wanted to.

It wasn't the first time Eve realized with a little stumble in her chest that Ray easily towered over her by more than a head as he stood behind her and glanced over her shoulder. Immediately, the scent of pine that always seemed to cling to him washed over her. She had already noticed that at the lake... And also that she liked it. He came so close to her that she could feel his warmth on her back. Although it was ridiculous, a quiet voice inside her told herself that he was somehow ... wanted to give her support by simply being there.

Inwardly, Eve shook her head at herself, then pulled the silk ribbon apart and finally lifted the lid.

A yellow lining made of soft velvet was revealed. The shiny golden yellow contrasted sharply with the crimson and looked strangely incongruous. Black or red would undoubtedly have been more harmonious. Nestled in the velvet cushion was ...

"A key?"

Eve frowned and took the old-fashioned-looking key out of the box. The metal looked older and seemed to belong to an old, perhaps even antique, lock.

"It's a skeleton key," Ryker noted, frowning like Ri.

"What does it belong to? And why would someone send you a key?«

"Why are you asking me that?" Eve held the key out to Liam. "Honey, did you take this from a lock in the house?"

But the boy shook his head again and even looked rather disappointed because there hadn't been anything more interesting. "No, it wasn't me! Was there nothing else in there?"

Chief had already turned his attention to something else - a ball, which he carried off squeaking in his mouth and then settled down on a blanket in front of the fireplace.

When Eve turned her gaze to Ri, she shook her head and raised her hands, exposing her palms as if she wanted to surrender.

"Honestly, this isn't from me. When I got Chief out this morning, he wasn't there yet either. I would have seen that."

"That's still weird," Eve said in the meantime and picked up the box again. The writing didn't look familiar to her. She knew Liam's handwriting, Edana's or Riona's. She had even seen Ray's before. The printed letters were, of course, more difficult to recognize. But why should the others lie to her?

"Maybe it's just a stupid joke," Ri thought and shrugged her shoulders.

"What kind of joke should that be?" Eve held the key out to Liam this time. "Be a dear, honey, try it in all the locks you can find," she urged her son and added motivating: "Maybe it's the long-lost key to a hidden treasure?"

It worked. Liam's mouth immediately formed an "o" and the next time he blinked, the key was firmly enclosed in the child's fingers. Liam immediately ran and stuck it into every keyhole he could find.

"And if nothing fits, ask Grandma Edana," Ri called after the boy as he ran around the corner and upstairs. He was probably trying out all the chests in the attic now.

"Well, at least Liam's busy for a while now."

But that was strange. They didn't exactly live in Silvershore, where a child would drop something on your doorstep for fun. Shaking her head, Eve closed the box and pushed it aside.

She didn't notice that Ray had gone a little paler around the nose at the sight of the key and the box.