___

~~~~~ (*****^-^*****) ~~~~~

___

"Oh no!" Conner exclaimed.  "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Let's see if we can get a better look at the castle," Bree said.  "Maybe there's a window or something we could sneak into."

They walked down the road a little ways away from the village, and more of the castle's towers came into view. 

"It's no use looking at it from down here, we'll have to go up the hill and get a closer look," Conner said.

Bree tried to fight the disheartened thoughts creeping into her head.  ^They were going to get into the castle one way or another. Even if they had to wait until tomorrow.^

Something caught Bree's attention in her peripheral viewpoint.  A young boy, no older than ten, with dark black hair and pale skin was sitting in front of a cottage-like house on the side of the road. He was skinny although his cheeks were plump and rosy, making him look like a puppet that lived in a cuckoo clock. He was staring at them with excitement in his eyes and a smile on his face. 

"Hey, Conner," Bree whispered, nudging Conner.  "That kid over there keeps staring at us."

Conner looked towards the kid and looked him up and down. 

"Hi," Conner said and waved awkwardly at the boy.

"Hello," the boy said in a cute German accent.  "Are you guys American?"

"We are," Bree said, not wanting Conner to say something like 'No, we're fairytalian' or something. 

A big grin spread on his small face, and his cheeks became rosier. 

"Do you like the United States?" Conner asked him.  ^Maybe he was good with kids, but you can never be too sure.^

"Yes!" the boy said with an animated nod. "That's where all the superheroes are from!"

"Have you ever been there?" Bree asked. 

The boy's shoulders sank.  "No," he said.  "I go to school in Fussen down the road but other than that I've never been very far from here.  But I'm saving up all my money so I can visit Gotham City one day!"

Conner and Bree looked at each other like he was a precious puppy they wanted to keep. 

"What's your name?" Conner asked.  They walked closer up to his house so they could visit more. 

"My name is Emmerich," he said, he seemed happy to tell them more.  "Emmerich Himmelbasch.  What are your names?"

"I'm Conner and this is my friend Bree."

"What brings you to Hohenschwangau?" he asked.  "Oh, that was a silly question; you're here to see the castle, right? Everybody always comes here to see the castle."

"Yes," Bree said.  "Have you been inside it before?"

"Oh, many, many, many times!" he told them.  "My grandfather used to give tours of the castle and my mother works at a gift shop in the village.  So there isn't anything I don't know about the place."

"Well, we were here to see the castle," Conner sad dejectedly.  "we rode bikes all the way from Munich but the tickets are sold out."

This thought seemed to blow away Emmerich's mind and he almost toppled over.  "You rode bikes all the way from Munich?" he said with an enormous gesture. "Why would you do that?"

Conner looked at Bree with a look of 'just go with what I'm saying, okay' and Bree could see the light in Conner's eyes.  She nodded in the slightest bit and smiled.  She was prepared to go along with whatever Conner was going to say.

"Well, we would tell you but we wouldn't want to endanger you," Conner said. 

"Yes, you're far too young," Bree added, just going along with whatever scheme Conner had cooked up. 

  Emmerich's eyes grew big and his mouth fell open.  "Tell me what?" he asked. 

"I'm afraid we can't tell you," Conner said.  "It would blow our cover if anyone were to ever find out."

"What are you covering up?" Emmerich asked, obviously desperate for more information.  "You can tell me-I don't have any friends to tell!"

Bree's heart broke, the poor kid just admitted to having no friends, how sad.  Bree re-composed her face to a more happy face and looked at Conner, they had him where they wanted him. 

"Well, we came to Germany to hide something," Conner said.  "We were hired by the United States government because no one would ever suspect kids traveling with it."

Emerich put his hands on his cheeks, his curiosity seemed to be eating him alive.  "What are you trying to hide?" he asked. 

Conner pulled the panpipe from his jacket pocket and showed him.  "This,"

Emmerich gasped and then looked confused.  "Wait, what is that?"

"It looks like a panpipe, but it's actually a weapon," Bree said, throwing in her words to make it more believable.  She also didn't want it to seem like Conner was in charge, because he definitely wasn't.  "And a very bad man wants to get his hands on it."

"And you want to hide it in Hohenschwangau?" Emmerich asked. 

They nodded.  "We were going to hide it in the castle," Conner said.  "That way no one would ever suspect it was anything but a historical item- but since there aren't any more tours, we'll just have to hide it somewhere else."

"Sorry to bother you, Emmerich," Bree said, finally getting her word in again. She knew that Conner and Alex had had to make up these types of excuses when they first went to the Land of Stories, but this was the real world, and she knew this place way better than Conner.  "But we need to get going now.  We need to be out of the country by nightfall so they don't find us."

They turned to leave but Emmerich ran to stand in front of them. 

"No, wait, please!" he said.  "I can take you into Neuschwanstein Castle if you want!"

"But how can you do that?" Conner asked.  ^Seriously, stop asking all the questions, Conner!^

Emmerich looked around like he didn't want anyone to hear and then leaned in closer to tell them something.  "I know a secret passage into the castle," he explained.  "My grandfather took me there once."

Bree could see Conner slouch a few inches from hearing this but remained calm. 

"I don't know, I would hate to put your life in danger, Emmerich," Bree said, not chancing what Conner might say. 

"But I'm putting my own life in danger by offering!" he pleaded.  "Please! I can even keep an eye on it after you leave!"

They took a few steps away from him and huddled with their backs towards him, pretending to think it over. 

"You're a genius!" Bree whispered to Conner.  "What are the chances we would find someone who could lead us to a secret passage in the castle?"

"Yeah, what are the chances?" Conner whispered back with a smile.  

Bree forced the excitement from her face and Conner did the same.  They turned back to Emmerich and walked towards him.  They would make pretty good spies.

"All right, Emmerich, if you promise never to tell anyone about this, we'll let you take us to the castle," Conner said.

Emmerich jumped up and down, this might have been the most exciting thing that had ever happened to him.  "I knew there was something special about you," he said. "I've seen enough movies to know a secret agent when I see one! When do you want o go?"

"Sometime after dark," Bree said.  "So no one will see us there."

"Great! I can meet you at Mary's Bridge after dinner, in an hour or two," Emmerich said.  "My mom would kill me if I missed dinner, even if it was to save the world."

"Sounds good," Conner said.  "Where is Mary's Bridge?"

"It's up the path to the castle," Emmerich said.  "There are signs to guide you, you can't miss it.  It has the best views of the castle."

"Terrific, we'll meet you there," Bree said. 

Emmerich was bouncing.  "I can't wait!" he said, but then became very still as if something was stopping him.  "If I'm leaving after dinner, I better clean my room before my mother gets home!"

He hurried past them and ran up the steps into the house.  Conner and Bree sighed with relief at the same time. 

"So far we've run away from our principal, kidnapped an old lady, lied to a concierge, and tricked an innocent German boy into believing we're secret agents," Bree listed.  "Does that make us bad people?"

"Nah," Conner said, shaking his head.  "Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing for the right reason.  Now let's go check out this bridge.  I'm anxious to see this castle."

They returned to the village and followed the road up to the castle.  There were many signs pointing to the various things that could be seen in the hills, but they followed the arrows that said "Marienbrucke" ("Mary's Bridge"). 

The bridge was very long and narrow.  It was wood with an iron railing and stretched from one cliff to another.  Several tourists braved the bridge and took pictures of the mountains and the forest around it.  When Bree first stepped on the bridge she went through mild cases of vertigo and felt Conner do the same next to her. She wasn't expecting to see a waterfall and stream several hundred feet below her own feet. 

When they got out to the middle of the bridge they looked out at Neuschwanstein Castle in its entirety for the first time.

"Oh my gosh," Bree gasped, and put her hands over her mouth. 

"I can't....I can't...I c-c-can't believe I'm seeing this right now," Conner stuttered. 

It was easy to believe that Neuschwanstein was holding a portal to the fairytale world.  It was a massive whit structure with thousands of windows, dozens of tall towers, pointed roofs, and sharp spirals the color of the night sky.  The castle sat on a stone base surrounded by trees at the peak of the hill, which made it look like it was growing out of the mountainside. 

Bree had always seen pictures of places like this in fairytale books but could never imagine something like this in her own world.  It was pure beauty.   It was no wonder it was considered one of the seven wonders of the world.

"I would say this is amazing but that would be an understatement," Conner said, breaking Bree's train of thought about Neuschwanstein. 

"You're right, there really are no words," Bree said.  "It's funny that we're the only ones that know there's  a portal to the fairytale world inside- you would think it's obvious."

Conner nodded his head in agreement.  He looked around the place surrounding them more as if he was trying to soak it in.  She was trying to soak it in as well, this memory of hers would never fade. 

___

~~~~~ (*****^-^*****) ~~~~~

___

THANKS FOR READING!!!
BYE BOOK-HUGGERS!!!
TLOSGEEK2-OUT!!!