The turning point came when a white rental car pulled up in front of Elina's house. An elderly woman in her fifties got out. Her long black coat made her look slimmer and she was quite tall. Her white-blonde hair was white under her cap and her expression was sharp. Her blue eyes scanned Elina's house inquisitively. She paid the driver to drive her to this remote village. She walked past the low fence without a gate to the front door of the house, pressed the electronic doorbell, and the house rang a gong. She stood there for a moment until she heard the jingle of keys on the other side of the door.
Ela looked at her visitor and invited her in with a polite greeting.
"First, take off your clothes, there's a hanger here, put your boots on the mat by the door... and if you like, come on into the living room. I'm very glad you came."
After the woman got dressed and hung her long black coat on a coat rack, she walked into the living room. Only then did the two shake hands and introduce themselves.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Eleonora, but feel free to call me Ela. Everyone has called me that for as long as I can remember."
The woman smiled, and her sharp expression changed, suddenly becoming friendly and kind.
"I'm pleased too, I'm Simona and I'm from Brezno," the visitor introduced herself and winked at Ela.
They both sat down opposite each other on the older couch and Simona continued:
"I have been living and working in Germany for over twenty years. I worked for a company as a translator for a while, but when a German publishing house approached me, I joined them. I am satisfied with my work and it is also my hobby."
Simona huddled up a little, rubbed her hands together, and asked, "Can I have some warm tea, Ela? I'm pretty cold."
Ela immediately turned around and ran to the kitchen. She turned on the kettle and let a liter of water boil. She prepared cups for tea and placed them on a small silver tray. When she had made the tea, she returned to the living room and placed the tray on a small turntable. While sipping her tea, Ela briefly told Simone her life story, including about her ex-husband and children who live abroad. Simone reciprocated and also revealed something about herself and her family. After they had talked a little about private matters, they moved on to the contents of the letter that Ela had found.
"I looked at the scan of the letter in Germany. But I didn't have time to look at it in more detail," Simona explained. "But I recognized some of the characters in the writing that could clarify something. It's not easy, we don't always manage to translate such old texts completely correctly. But in the end, we'll work on something that makes sense, and that's the important thing. I believe that will be the case this time too. I suggest using a larger bulletin board so that we both have it in front of us all the time. We can work together better that way and we'll be able to recognize the writing and put it into words faster. I have a foldable bulletin board with me that hangs on the wall. I still do it like this at home if I can't figure something out."
Ela nodded at her idea, she liked such a creative approach. They took down the aluminum frame that Simona had taken out of her travel bag and hung it on the wall in the living room instead of the old picture. Simona also took out of her bag two black markers designed for writing on this type of board and a special cloth for erasing. Ela took out papers from a drawer with her notes, in which she had already recorded her interpretation of some of the signs. She placed them on the table in the living room. She pulled the floor lamp closer to the board so that it was fully illuminated. She turned off the large light and they both sat down on the couch. They looked at the illuminated board and thought. Ela looked at her notes in the meantime to find some connections. After a moment of silence, she spoke:
"I suggest you stay with me for a few days. I believe we will move forward when we deal with this more intensively together. And maybe we will solve this mystery within that time. It would be nice if you could stay. We will keep all our work things here in the living room and we will devote ourselves to searching for meaning and comparing signs whenever it suits us. We have peace here and the long winter evenings that occur at this time also create space for such work. Everything is in our favor. And maybe we will discover something big," she added with a mischievous smile.
Simona didn't really object, it was clear that she had expected something like this, even though they hadn't agreed on it in advance over the phone. She was thrilled that she could fully devote herself to something that interested her very much.
"I agree and would be very happy to," she replied, smiling back.
So Ela prepared a bed for Simona in the smaller room and made some space in the closet for her necessary things. She also took out her nightgowns, bathrobe, towels... she just tried to give her everything, just so she wouldn't change her mind and leave early. Because just like Simona, she also loved and passionately got down to work, which, among other things, also hid a kind of secret.
Their first evening together was not focused on work, although they spent some time on it. They wrote down some of the signs that Ela or Simona had identified in Germany and tried to find connections. However, Simona was quite tired after the long journey, so they left their work for later and talked about anything for a while, each of them enjoying the pleasant company of the other and at the same time the silence and peace undisturbed by anyone and anything. Just as Ela was pleased by Simona's visit, which covered up her loneliness and abandonment, Simona also appreciated the oasis of peace that she found in Ela's secluded house. Everything came together, met at the right time and in the right place. They both went to bed around midnight, knowing that they wouldn't have to get up early the next day. Either way, they wanted to work hard the next day and move forward at least a little.
In the darkness of the night, the snow fell non-stop, covering the roofs of the houses in thick layers. It was freezing outside and a strong wind was blowing. The beautiful nature covered in snow seemed to turn their house and its surroundings into a fairy tale. And maybe even secret dreams would come true.