Susan in Paris 5

 When finally the drummers and dancers stopped, the Sun was almost at the horizon.
Susan looked around, walked back and forth from the place, where they has stood, but Mum, Dad and Linda were nowhere to be seen. She looked once more for good measure, even walking to the opposite end of the square. Nope, they were gone, she was lost.
"Well," she thought to herself, "the hotel lies at the river, I'll just follow it back, It's not as if I was in the middle of Paris. And if I get totally lost, I bet my German is good enough to ask for my way to a green and white hotel."
 She started to walk through the throngs on the square, many people were still standing, talking, drinking beer or eating grilled chicken in larger or smaller groups. She reached the end of the park, and there were the two lions, pulling off their big masks and stretching their backs.
 "G'day, mate" one of the Lions said in funny sounding English. "I'm sorry I surprised you. I did not hurt you now, did I?"
 Susan recognized the Lion who had bitten her arm: "No, you did not hurt me, but I did not see you coning close to me. How did you do that?"
 "How did I do what?" he asked.
 "Sneak upon me like that. You're not exactly invisible in that big mask. But I did not see you near me, until suddenly you bit me? Some kind of magic, I suppose, was it the drums or the words from that black clad boy?"
 "Huh," the  Lion said, "you got me there mate. It's Kensuke. He's the magician here. And I'm Liam. The girl drummer is Ella, and the boy drummer is Cooper. The other Lion is a girl, Teiko, very Japanese. Do you care for a cuppa?"
"I'm Susan from Denmark. Do I care for what, sorry?"
"A cuppa - some tea?"
"Yes please. I'm lost anyway, a cup of tea sounds nice."
"Lost?" Liam asked. "What do you mean?"
"I arrived in town earlier today with my family, we went here together, but after your performance the rest of my family, Mom, Dad and a sister, was nowhere to be seen. But I'll find my way back to the hotel we stay in. It's by the river."
 Liam turned to the rest of the Prosperous Mountaineers and shot a stream of strange sounding syllables at them. Teiko answered with a shot affirmative sound, Cooper just looked blankly at him, and Kensuke answered with an equally long sentence. Susan thought it to be Japanese. She had never heard anything like it.
"Kensuke asks about the colour of your hotel, and admits to enchanting you. Teiko also thinks tea is a good idea." Liam said, very staccato.
 Kensuke slowly said: "This is dumb. Over here all."
 They gathered around him, he took a drumstick, moved it in a pattern, Susan recognized from the language spell and said: "Gengo!"
"Hello everyone, I'm Susan from Denmark." Susan said. "I live in a green and white hotel near the river and I'm happy to meet you!"
"A hotel where everything is white and green?" Teiko asked. "Like a castle. We live there too."
"Let's get all the gear into the Ute," Liam said. " We can drink our tea on the big terrace by the water."
Everybody helped get drums, lion masks and costumes stored in the back of the pick up, and they all piled into the five seats, Susan on  top of Liam.
"Hey! That bag is heavy. Do you carry bricks in there?" Cooper asked, as he handed her the bag.
"Nope, it's a gargoyle." Susan answered.  And interrupted by questions from the Mountaineers she told the story of the old book, their stay in Paris and the winking gargoyle at the market.  
 Meanwhile Ella drove the pickup through the crowded, narrow streets of the small German town. Susan ended her tale as she deftly parked it near the Hotel's riverside terrace.
 Mom, Dad and Linda sat near the doorway to the hall.
"Where did yo go?" Susan asked them.
"We told you, we'd go back," Mom said. "We were hungry and that Lion dance was boring. You seemed to enjoy it, though. Did you not hear us?"
"No, I did not, I think the drums were too loud. I met the band on my way home, they're nice, and they also live here. We drove back together. Is it OK if I eat with them?"
"Yes, do," Mum answered. "We have already eaten."

... to be continued.