Rachel and Justin then followed the tattooed man upstairs. While the wooden stairway was so narrow that only one person could pass, Justin was forced to bend over like the muscular man, in order to make his way through the corner of the stairs.
It wasn’t until they arrived upstairs that they realized the place had more than met the eye. As soon as they saw a corridor upstairs where the sunlight could reach, they couldn’t help but wonder how the house was built because the afternoon sun was still able to shine on the flowers despite the tall buildings that were towering over the house on the outside.
Soon, they were greeted by an old man sitting on a rocking chair, who appeared to be fit as he was wearing a traditional western outfit with suspenders belt, holding a corn cob pipe in his hand. At the same time, he was seen idling around with his fish in the tank beside him.
“Master, they are here.”
When the old man, Howard, heard the voice, he turned around and sized up both Justin and Rachel before his eyes eventually fell upon the lady. “Come close to me, lady. I want to take a closer look at you.”
Rachel was stunned but decided that she was in no position to turn the old man down because they needed his help. Therefore, she obediently stepped forward as requested while the old man straightened his body and looked at her face closely. “Oh my gosh! You look just like her.”
“Like whom?” Rachel was confused.
“Someone who’s gone for a long time.”
Rachel then subconsciously gazed at Justin, wondering what the meaning behind the old man’s words was. “Didn’t you just say that it was Mr. Brook who told you to come here?” Howard asked.
“It’s not me, Mr. Keaton. It’s him,” Rachel replied politely, thinking Howard’s old age was the reason he thought she looked like someone who used to be close to him. I bet that’s what he tells everybody.
“It doesn’t matter. Anyway, I know why you are here.” Howard smiled.
“We need your help, Mr. Keaton, Justin said, Howard then shot a gaze at the muscular man beside him. “Nathan, fetch me the two things I left on the table.”
The muscular man, Nathan, then headed into a room and came back with a red invitation card and a black box in his hands, which were like the ones Rachel and Justin saw earlier that morning. While Rachel was left surprised by what she saw, Nathan went ahead and passed the invitation card along with the box to her.
With a sophisticated appearance, the black box felt heavy on Rachel’s palms. Bewildered, she asked, “Mr. Keaton, this…”
“I wasn’t planning on going there either in the first place. After all, I’m getting old, plus I’ve grown apart from most of my old friends, but nonetheless, the Bennett Family still respects me enough to send me an invitation card for their wedding, regardless of my decision to attend it.” Howard held his corn cob pipe in his hand, his eyes filled with nostalgia as he seemingly indulged in the memories of his good old days. ‘Don’t worry. Just take my invitation card and the box with you. When you’re there, tell them that you’re there to deliver my gift on my behalf. No one will stop you.”
“Really? Isn’t there something else we need to tell them?”
“No need for that. Those two things I gave you are more than enough.”
That sounds promising. Nothing can possibly go wrong, I guess. At the thought of that, Rachel expressed her gratitude. “Thank you so much, Mr. Keaton.”
“Don’t mention it. If you want to thank me, just call me ‘Howie’ instead.”
“Thank you, Howie.”
The old man responded with a benevolent smile and said, “I have a bad ankle, so I suppose I’m going to excuse myself now, but since you guys are here anyway, you should
probably try our hotdogs. It’s the best in Enistan.”
As Justin was about to say no, Rachel beat him to it and said, “Then, I suppose we must try.”
“Sure, let’s go.”
Soon, Rachel and Justin headed downstairs along with Frankie, whereupon Nathan served them with some tantalizing and freshly made hotdogs. Since Astronian cuisine was Frankie’s favorite, he couldn’t stop complimenting how delicious the dish was after taking a few bites. “This tastes so awesome! I swear I’ve never had hotdogs as delicious as this one. How could I not know about this restaurant at all? I must come here more often.”
However, Nathan only responded by looking askance at Frankie. “We’re closed on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. As for the rest of the days, we’re open only if we feel like working. While our working hours start from 3 PM to 9 PM, we sell no more than 100 units every day.”
In response, Frankie reacted by curling his lips. upward, swallowing the words that were forming at the tip of his tongue. It seems to me that he is turning his customers away. In the meantime, Rachel chuckled aloud and accidentally choked on herself at the sight of Frankie’s speechless look. Before Justin could react, Nathan came closer to Rachel with a glass of water and said, “Have a glass of water, Miss
“You don’t have to call me ‘Miss. Instead, call me by my name, Rachel, or Rae.”
“Yes, Miss.”
Rachel was helpless upon hearing the muscular man’s reply. Soon, Nathan’s sudden change in his attitude when treating Rachel since they met Howard upstairs got Justin and Frankie wondering what was wrong with him. After all, Rachel was the only person who had some extra dish on her plate, aside from the hotdogs. Upon finishing their meals, they left the hotdog restaurant, whereupon Nathan closed the shop and headed upstairs. “They are gone, Master.”
Howard nodded and replied, “Keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious during this period of time in which our restaurant is closed. Things are more chaotic around here, so keep an eye on them.”
“Yes, Master.
When they were on their way back, Frankie mentioned Howard to the two of them. “This is strange, Mr. Burton. I thought it was you who approached Mr. Keaton, but why did he look like he seemed to care about Mrs. Burton more?”
Agreeing with Frankie’s point, Justin asked, “Rae, are you sure you haven’t been here in Enistan before?”
Rachel shook her head. “I was 8 years old when I first became a part of the Hudson Family. Then, for the next twenty years, I never left Riverdale until I subsequently went to Montenegro. Although I did go on a trip with the kids to some other places after that, I never really came to Enistan.” Known as a shopping paradise more than a place for vacation, Enistan never really occurred to Rachel as a place to visit.
“Maybe… It was your mother who came to Enistan?”
Rachel was stunned. “You think Mr. Keaton knows my mother? How is that possible?”
“Yeah, I might have gone too far, I guess.” Justin shook his head and dismissed his suspicion, thinking it was too far-fetched to be true.
“When my grandma was still around, she did. mention my mother to me, saying that she never left Riverdale like me. While her two brothers were sent abroad to further their studies, she stayed behind with my grandfather.” Rachel then raised her fingers and started calculating the years. “I remember that was around the time when the first cohort of our students went abroad for their careers not long after the border was first opened.
After all, opportunities to travel overseas were few and far between at that time, and I doubt it was possible for anyone to come to Enistan from Riverdale because there was no available transportation that could take them here either.”
“You have a point.” Justin nodded in agreement.
“Maybe it’s just a pure coincidence that I look like Mr. Keaton’s bereaved family member or something. After all, anything can happen in this world even though we may have a hard time explaining them, sometimes. Don’t you think so?”
“Yeah, you’re right. By the way, make sure you have the invitation card with you.”
“It’s right here. As for this present, I wonder what’s inside that Mr. Keaton is telling us to bring along.”
Bound by their honorable nature, Rachel and Justin restrained themselves from opening the box without the owner’s permission. As the two of them were talking to each other, they were unaware of Frankie, who was secretly peeking at them in the rear mirror in a preoccupied manner. A few moments later, the car suddenly jerked back and forth when it was traveling halfway through the highway. While Rachel was. sent forward by the inertia, Justin quickly got a hold of her before anything terrible could happen.
Justin then looked forward and asked, “What happened?”
Frankie scratched his head. “Something is wrong with the car. I can’t start it.”
“How come? What’s going on here?” Rachel. was stunned.
“We rented this car after all, and I wouldn’t be surprised that it’s not as reliable as ours. Anyway, just give me a moment, Mr. and Mrs. Burton. I’ll check what’s wrong with the car. If I can’t fix it, I’ll call the car rental company that we approached.”
