Words for Wednesday -- Á Íslandi 9

Today, as all Wednesdays in February the prompts are at C. Lee McKenzie's blog.

Further information about this challenge can be read over at Elephant's Child's blog.

The general idea is to make us write and read what others wrote, and cheer along the other participants.

  This is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true, therefore: Please, remember to follow their links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.  

The prompts for Wednesday, February 2 are:

Realize
Sticky
Chocolate-covered
Wrapped
Doorbell
Delight
     and/or
Flummoxed
Diet
Stuffed
Inspected
Heart-shaped
Box

I have as usual taken up the additional challenge of using the words in the order they were given. And at long last the words inspired me to continue my story of Susan and her co-magicians from some weeks ago. Thank you C.Lee McKenzie!

Knud made a small fire in the place designated for it, while Susan unpacked the picknick basket and Finnbogi and Rósa  searched through their food crates. Susan realized that it had been a bad iedea to pack the chocolates with the sausages. Now she had sticky, chocolate-covered sausages. Lucklily the paper they had been wrapped in, was grease proof and had kept the chocolate from the cereals.
They ate the sausages anyway, warm, and with the chocolate spread all over, they did actually taste good. And with a cup of Knud's marvelous coffee to chase them down, they all felt satisfied. They packed and redistributed stuff in their backpacks and made their way to Hilde's house. When they came near, they saw Hilde's car still in the driveway and ligth streaming from the windows. Knud rang the doorbell and mirrored Hildes grin of delight when she opened the door.

"Oh, welcome back, Susan and Knud. I'm so happy to see you," she began. Then she noticed Rósa and Finnbogi and added: "Who are those two."

"Hilde, do you really not remember Finnbogi and Rósa?" Susan asked in a mock-scolding tone

Hilde looked at those two, then looked again. "Blast me! It IS you. Welcome to Tromsø! I surmise that Susan and Knud let you in on our secret."

 "Yes, she did!" Rósa said, "and we're so happy to know it. But today we're here for the unearthing of another secret. Can we speak?"

"I'm all alone, if that's what you mean. My husband is off for a fishing trip and all the children and their children are at work or at school. I'm having a day off and was planning to do some cleaning and cooking before picking up the grands this afternoon. But it can wait."

They went into Hilde's kitchen and sat around the table. Hilde brewed a cup of tea and found some left over cookies in a tin,

Finnbogi found the photo from the surveillance camera at the museum: "As we told you, we work at the Museum for Icelandic Witchcraft. Some time ago we had a wand and other magic paraphernalia stolen. And we think that you know the thief. Look at this."

"Yes, as you clearly suspect I know her. This photo depicts my daughter-in-law, Liisa, Rasmus' wife. I feel perfectly flummoxed as to her being a thief."

"Can you tell us a bit about Liisa, her family, and so on?" Susan asked.  "It might give us something to work with."

"Let me see," Hilde said cupping her hands around the mug, and taking small sips of the scalding brew. "Rasmus met her while travelling with his work. They met in May in Paris, It must be 15 years ago soon ... already then I found it corny But they seem to be happy.  She is older than Rasmus, nine years actually, and her mother died while she was still in school. My Rasmus is an IT wizard, really good with those big data sheets and oh so much more. Liisa is a ... well I call her a pusher," Hilde smiled. "She works for a household appliances company, and she travels Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland, showing off the newest mush-haves to shops and retailers there. She is an orphan, or almost so. Her mother died when Liisa was still at school. The name is Finnish, which is strange as her mother was Dutch. At least I think so. She could have been Belgian too. I never heard of a father. Liisa spoke some Danish, as her mother and uncle lived in Denmark when they were young, and they spoke it as a kind of secret language in the family. That uncle is dead as well; he drowned in a working accident." Hilde stopped. "Sorry for rambling, this has as I said left me a bit flummoxed."

Susan shook her head and Knud spoke: "This fits entirely too well," he said. "Torben and his allied, Tristan both died in an accident in  a spa-place in The Netherlands. Tristan, had a sister. The sister, whom we knew as Terese, died in Paris Maj 1993, but she had a daughter born around 1980.  I am convinced that your daughter-in-law is that daughter. I ma further convinced that she knows about her magic, and that 'Teresa' taught her, not good, but vengeance can be a strong motivating factor."

"But why steal." Hilde said. ""I have a hard time imagining Liisa as a simple thief."

"How did you get your wand?" Susan asked, a rhetorical question, as Susan herself had sung her a wand at their last meeting. "Liisa could not very well ask me to sing her a wand - or Rósa here. We took the liberty of warning My and Anna against her. Aamu, the last wandsinger, is still missing. We tracked her to somewhere in Germany, where she married and changed her name. We will find her, no doubt, But it must have been easier for Liisa to steal one of the old wand at the museum."

"Now you're telling me all this, I'm getting suspicious. She was here during the weekend, with Rasmus and Roseanne of Mary, corny names too. She was acting strangely. She told us all she was on a diet, you know one of those potato and kale ones. She did not eat any of my food, but in the night, I saw her stuffing her face with chocolates, and when I emptied the dustbins in the guest room, I found a heart-shaped box. I still have it somewhere."

"Can we see it?" Rósa asked.

And here I ran out of prompts and story. I hope for more next Wednesday.