The biggest blow was yet to come, when they arrived, they discovered that almost all the children in the camp were French. “I’ll have no one to talk to,” Lotti said to herself, but Blanche – as if she had been reading Lotti’s thoughts – said “We are expecting another English girl, and most of the French children speak English, don’t worry. They have been learning the language since they started school. And it might not hurt you to learn a few French words!”
In the centre of the camp there was a huge circular wooden building, surrounded by nine smaller wooden huts.
“”The one marked apple will be your accommodation, that one,”” Blanche pointed to one of the chalets. Go in, have a look around, meet your roommates. I’ll be back with your suitcase in a little while, I just have a few errands to run”.
The scenery was beautiful, but Lotti was not comforted. In the apple cottage, three French girls were already chattering away, two of them arguing over who should have the top bunk next to the window. Of course, Lotti didn’t understand.
“Hi!”” said Lotti. The little girl with the black curly hair immediately appeared in front of her.
“You’re American, right? Come on, this bed can be yours, and then others can’t argue! Two beds, four places, it’s yours!”” ““What? Krwa-son? That’s very funny!”” Luisa laughed out loud as one of her roommates tried to teach her how to pronounce croissant in French. she bounced on the bed to the rhythm of the word, and the other three girls followed her example, squealing. “”Krwa-son, Krwa-son!” the girls rolled with laughter.
“Wow… how did you get here?” A young girl with curly black hair stood in the open doorway, staring at Louisa in unconcealed astonishment. There was a sudden silence.
“What?”” asked Louisa back.
“You were just there… in the other house, on the other side! Apple house! Your hair’s different, and your clothes too… Your bed’s in the apple house, this is the plum house. How did she get here?”
The girls looked at each other, puzzled.
“Wrong, I was assigned here. To the plum house! This is my bed, look!”” she pointed to the bottom bunk of the bunk bed next to the door, on which her suitcase lay open. “I am Luisa. What’s your name?
“Marie… but your name is Lotti! You just told me over in apple house!”” “When Louisa burst into the apple house, still panting after her run, she already knew who she would find there. Who else could it be that looked like her and was called Lotti?
“”Well!”” cried Louisa.
“Wow…” whispered Lotti. The two girls looked at each other. They stood facing each other, frozen, so stunned that Louisa couldn’t find a word to say, a rare occurrence for her.
“”Hey, you are twins!”” cried Marie.
By this time, all the inhabitants of the apple and plum houses had gathered around them: they were buzzing with excitement, all wanting to see the two girls up close. They really were a dead ringer for each other. Lotti had her hair in a neat plait, while Louisa’s mane was in a tangle around her flushed face, and Lotti’s neatly pressed skirt had not suffered as much from the long flight as Louisa’s cool, torn jeans, which were now covered in dirt… But apart from that, they were like two peas in a pod.
They looked at each other for one long, tense moment. The silence was finally broken, in an unusual way, by Lotti.” ““Wow… are you on holiday here too?”
“No, what you see is just a hologram!””, Louisa came to her senses. “Of course, I’m on holiday here”.
“Neither of you knew that the other was coming here?” Marie was puzzled.
“We have never met. We have talked on Skype every now and again, but that’s it.” Lotti still didn’t know whether to be happy for her sister. But Louisa had already decided that she would be happy.
“Well, that’s great! Girls, will someone trade beds with me? I want to be in the same room as my sister! We’ve got so much to talk about, I don’t even know where to start… I’m sure a week won’t be enough! Marie, you’ll switch beds with me, right? Please!”
“Of course. We can swap. You’re welcome!” Marie was already picking up her things from the bed and stuffing them into her backpack to carry them over to the plum house, but she bumped into someone at the door.
“Are you two?!” Blanche dropped the suitcase she had just brought in for Lottie.
“Twins! I’m moving to the plum house and Louisa to Lotti’s!” Marie whined, and slipped out the door.” “During dinner, Louisa couldn’t stop talking.
“My seventh birthday was the best so far, apart from that, of course, because this is the best because of you and the camp, but on my seventh my dad took me on holiday to Greece. Have you been there? It’s the best place in the world! I ate mussels and octopus! And the sea is so clear that you can see for meters if you dive down, I even snorkelled and saw these little blue and yellow fish, and a turtle this big, I almost swam into it. The cicadas were so loud we could hardly sleep! So, tell me, what’s New York like? What’s Mum like? I want to know everything! I want to know everything”.
“Well… my mum is very nice, but she’s quite strict… and I’ve never been to Greece… but we were on holiday in Miami once, and I had octopus… and New York is big and loud”.
You’re not very talkative! Got a hobby? I do sculpture. And do you have a pet? I have a bunny, Chubs. Do you have a car? What’s your favourite colour? Do you like Billie Eilish?”
Pipe down girls, or you will get a telling off! You can talk after dinner!” Blanche had a very stern look in her eyes, so Louisa kept quiet.