Lise carried on exploring the house. She was getting to know it. The more she explored, the more surprised she was by how perfectly it matched her expectations. She tried out the chairs one by one and tested the unexpectedly new bed. The mattress still had a label on it and the base still had its plastic protector. Obviously nobody had ever slept in it. As for the house, that was no doubt another story. Lise thought about what it must have been originally, wondering who had lived there, and more importantly, who had decided to build it there. It was a strange idea to build a house somewhere so out of the way, and on top of a hill as well.

From above she saw Franck coming out of the woods, looking defeated. He was convinced he had imagined the creature, or else it was a frightened deer or wild boar; the wild scrubland must be full of them.