I don't know if I should ever promise you when I'm going to update, because I always break that promise anyway. So, here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it. Thank you for sticking with the story despite the breaks, it means the world to me! The lovely reviews have helped me enormously! And I promise I'm not giving up on the story, despite what it may seem like! Happy New Year

"We're just moving do fast," Keith said.

"Not to be rude, but this is a very fast train. Maybe that's why," Oliver replied with a smirk.

"Yeah, ha ha, funny man. You know what I mean."

"We could slow down if you want," Ginny said,"I just thought you'd wanted to get it done."

"Well, it's not everyday you get a paid trip all over Europe," Keith said with a wink.

Ginny smiled and nodded. The truth was their fast journey had drained her as well. And as much as she didn't want to admit it, spending time with her friends and traveling all over Europe made her happy. And finishing this would mean she would be leaving behind one of the few things tying her to aunt Peg, which she had thought was a good idea, but now somehow just made her feel sad.

"Ok, after this we're taking it a bit slower," she announced to her troupe.

"Three cheers for Ginny!" Keith yelled, "Hip hip-!"

"Hurrah" Ellis and Mir replied laughing.

They all burst out laughing. Luckily, they were alone in their compartament, although Ginny was sure they could be heard all through the wagon. For the first time in her life, Ginny didin't care about being too loud.

"So, this house boat. Where exactly are we going to find it?" Mir asked.

"Well, I do have Knud's email, maybe we can ask to meet him somewhere?" Ginny said.

"Sound like a plan. Wanna send it now?" Ellis asked.

"Should I? I suppose so, we're not gonna be there for a few more hours." Ginny said.

Oliver stood up and took his laptop of the rail above their heads. He handed it to Ginny with a smile. She thanked him.

"You think it will be weird that we just assumed he would have time?" Ginny asked.

"I'm sure he will have one afternoon to at least see you." Ellis said.

"Besides, you could always say we came all the way there and make him feel bad if he ignores us." Keith added.

Ginny smiled and opened the laptop, logged into her account and began to type an email.

'Dear Knud,

Ginny Blackstone here, Peg's niece. We met last summer, if you remember? You showed me the midnight sun.

I'm just writing to tell you that I'm visiting Copehagen with a few friends, and was wondering if you're there and if you could show us around a bit, if you had time, of course. '

"Do you think I should mention why we're really there?" Ginny asked.

"It's gonna be a bit weird, innit? Peg's dead and she left these for you, just dropping them off, bye." Ellis joked.

"And I really wanna see the house boat!" Keith said with a huge grin.

"Maybe subtlety will do us some good now," Oliver said, ignoring Keith.

Ginny nodded and went back to typing.

'If you can make it, please say when you'll be able to and keep in touch.

Thank you and hoping to see you soon,

Ginny'

She pressed send and closed Oliver's laptop.

"Well, that's that." Ginny said.

"I'm sure he'll be around," Oliver said quietly.

"It's just... I feel like everything is going too smoothly, you know?" Ginny said.

"Woah there, don't jinx it!" Mir said with a laugh and continued, "On a serious note, I get it. We've been really lucky these past few days. And here's hoping it will continue to go well. If a problem arises, we'll deal with it. And that's why we didn't let you go on your own." Mir finished with a wink.

Ginny felt her shoulders relax.

They continued to sit in comfortable silence. Ginny turned towards Oliver, who was looking throught the window but now looked at her and smiled.

"What is it?" he asked soflty.

Ginny thought about everything she wanted to tell him.

"I didn't even consider you'd have to back to work in two weeks. When I said we could take it slower, I mean." Ginny whispered.

"I'll make it work, don't worry." Oliver reassured her and planted a kiss to her cheek.

At the same time, their train was coming to a stop. They needed to switch trains in Hamburg and were left with a five hour break between.

"Right. Anyone up for some supper?" Oliver asked, smirking at Keith.

"You know me so well," Keith said playfully with a smirk of his own.

They all took their luggage and got off the train.

It was only then that Ginny realised that the bag with the letters had fallen out of her backpack so they had to chase the train down the platform and managed to retrieve the bag.

Catching their breath, Mir whispered to Ginny: "There goes your smooth sailing."

Ginny just laughed out of relief.

"You know, I hadn't eaten at McDonald's for so long before this trip, I forgot how good it was," Ellis said, stuffing another chicken nugget into her mouth while thay waited for their train.

They'd bought enough food to feed at least ten people, but they were almost halfway done with it. Ginny forgot thay had Keith with them.

They all sat at a table in a park near the train station. The weather was nice and they were calm.

"I'm sorry we're not stopping in Germany. I've always wanted to see it," Ellis said.

"At his rate, maybe next year, we'll do a tour of Europe vol. 2," Keith said, winking at Ginny.

"I can't promise my aunt hadn't written any more letters," Ginny said, trying to keep a serious expression. Everybody laughed.

"It's a nice idea, though." Mir said.

"I have to agree." Ellis said, and Oliver nodded.

"We'll keep an open mind," Ginny said with a smile.

The day was becoming warmer. Soon, they laid out a blanket on the grass and Keith and Ellis fell asleep on it.

Oliver was doing some research about hostels in Copenhagen and booking the tickets to Austria that they had talked about, or rather trying to find the best way to get there.

Miriam and Ginny went for a short walk around the area close to the station. They had two and a half hours before their train was leaving.

"It's so surreal. Like, it's here, and I know it's here, but it's so surreal. I've only ever read about this in books and seen it in films and on paintings and photographs, and now I'm here," Miriam said, as they were crossing a bridge and stopped, leaning against the rail.

"Wow, you didn't sound this excited when we were in Paris," Ginny joked and gently brushed their shoulders together.

"I think it was so unbelievable then, like it's kinda sunk in by now, you know? Paris, I feel like I dreamt it. I don't know when it'll feel real. "

"Maybe next time we go there, it might feel more real." Ginny said.

"Yeah, and when's that?" Miriam smiled.

"Well, if you really are here for the whole summer" Ginny said and Miriam nodded, "and I have all this money that I don't really need, I don't see why we can't go again?"

Mir stepped away from the railing and smiled widely.

"Are you serious right now?"

"Maybe..."

"Oh shut up!" Mir laughed and hugged Ginny, "How am I gonna live without you back home?"

"Hopefully you'll come and live here soon," Ginny said.

"That's the plan," Mir replied with a big smile.

They walked for a little while longer nad took photos of some buildings that they found interesting. They agreed they would come back here one day and properly admire the city, and headed back to the station.

They found the rest of the gang where they'd left them, and with only about twenty minutes left, quickly packed and cleaned up, and made their way to the platform.

"Dear Ginny!

Of course I'd like to show you and your friends around! As a matter of fact, I'm in the city centre today! If you and your friends can wait near the Radhus, the City Hall, that would be wonderful and I could pick you up around 7 p.m.! You can wait for me in front of the building, there are three strange little statues, you can't miss them! Please, send a short message to the number I will write below, just to say if this is ok to you and your friends!

Hope to see you soon as well,

Knud"

Ginny scanned the rest of the email, and saw the phone number. She sent a quick text, thanking Knud and saying they'll be waiting for him.

"Right. So, that gives us another two hours." Mir said.

"Anyone up for dinner?"

"Keith!"

"What?!"

"Seriously, are you never not hungry?" Oliver asked.

"What, I'm a developing child. I need to eat." Keith replied, faigning insult.

"More like you need to feed."

"Well, anyone got any better idea?" Keith said putting his hands in the air.

"Let's just try and find our way to the City Hall and we'll go from there." Ginny said, trying to be the voice of reason.

A quick Google search revealed they were much closer to the City Hall than they'd thought. With more than an hour to go, they decided to sit on a small wall and wait.

Time went by at moderate speed. The weather was colder than expected, so they had to go through their backpacks to try and find something warmer, and then spend almost twenty minutes trying to rearange everything.

"Why did I think backpacks were a good idea? Like, who made this and thought, 'Yes, practicality thy name is backpack'" Ellis said, shoving a t-shirt into the side pocket.

Ginny knew exactly how she felt. She was just zipping up her own backpack when she heard another familiar voice.

"Ginny!"

She turned around and saw Knud approaching them. He smiled and waved at her.

"Hello!" she smiled back.

"It's great to see you again! How are you?" he asked, giving her a brief hug.

"I'm great. You?"

"I'm really well, thank you! And these are your friends?" Knud asked, turning towards the rest of the group.

"Yes, Miriam, Oliver, Keith, and Ellis."

They exchanged handshakes and smiles.

"Lovely to meet you! Now, come, I'm taking you all to dinner to our favourite restaurant! I hope you don't mind, some of my friends are there as well, but I'll devote my attention to you!" he said with a big smile.

"That's very kind of you, thank you." Oliver replied.

Keith led them a few streets north, chatting along the way.

"He's either very excited about everything, or just really loud." Keith said, and Ellis shushed him. Ginny supressed a laugh.

They walked past many shops and restaurants and finally stopped in front of something called Greay Spoon.

"Well, I like the sound of that." Mir said with a wink.

They walked in, and were immediately greeted with loud cheers. The entire restaurant was filled with people, and they all appeared to be Knud's friends.

"One of my friends is celebrating his birthday, so that's why we're here! Please, sit, I'll get you something to eat! What would you like?" Knud replied, shaking hands and tapping his friends on the back.

"Anything you have, we're not picky." Oliver said.

"But we are hungry!" Keith almost yelled after him. Ellis didn't even bother shushing him this time, just slapped his hand.

"Behave." she told him. He simply winked at her.

They sat there for about ten minutes, when Knud returned with two witers in tow, who were carrying about ten different plates.

"Please, help yourselves, I'll be back in three minutes!" Knud said.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Keith and Mir replied in unison.

They all dug in. The food was delicious, hamburgers and pasta, strange, but tasty combinations of meat, fruit and vegetables.

As promised, Knud was back within three minutes. He sat next to them with a glass of wine. He asked them what they were doing here and about their journey and what they thought of the continent. Two hours passed by in conversation and food, with Knud leaving them for periods of time to socialise with his friends. Some of them even introduced themselves. Ginny was surprised to learn that some of them even knew aunt Peg, and admired her art.

Around ten the crowd announced they would be continuing the party in a nearby pub, and everybody was invited.

Ginny excused herself and the gang.

"We need to get to the hostel, and get ready for tomorrow. Our flight for Vienna leaves at 10 p.m., and we're hoping to see parts of the city as well." she told Knud while they were standing in front of the restaurant.

"Well, tomorrow morning I sail out for a while, if you'd like to come with me? I'll get you all back to the shore on time!"

"We'd love to, thank you." Keith said.

"Great! To make things simple, I'll meet you in front of your hostel and we'll walk to my boat! Ok, you have my number, text me the adress! I'll see you all in the morning!"

"Good night!" they all replied, and Knud waved before hurrying after his friends.

"Right. To the hostel!" Ellis said.

"When he said morning, I didn't think he meant his early." Keith said sleepily from the couch in Knud's house-boat.

"We shouldn't have eaten so much last night." Oliver replied, equally sleepy, his arm resting against Keith's on the couch. They looked like brothers.

"I'm more concerned by the fact that it's so cold. In July!" Ellis said, warming her hands around a cup of tea.

"Mir, close the window!" Ginny said. Miriam was half leaning out of the window, her hair whipping in the wind. For a house-boat, they were moving pretty fast.

"This is amazing!" she replied, but closed the window and got bakc inside, "I could live like this."

Ginny smiled. She could see the appeal. The freedom, the courage to set out and go anywhere, or at least the metaphor. It suited Mir's character. It was starting to suit Ginny's, and that made her smile even more.

About two hours later, the boat slowed down, until it was completely still, in the middle of the sea, no shore in sight.

They all sat down, and Ginny pulled out the envelope adressed to Knud. She gave it to him when he joined them at the table, carrying freshly made lemonade.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Something my aunt made for you. That's why we're on this trip, really. She made them for the people who meant a lot to her, so we're delivering them. I'm delivering them, I suppose. My friends are helping me."

Knud smiled and opened the envelope. He took the paintings out and laid them on the table. He handled them gently, even though they had been painted on quality thick paper. It had only been a few days since Ginny had put them in that envelope, but seeing them again, seeing some of Peg's art again, made her want to smile and cry at the same time. She did neither.

"They're wonderful. She was always such a wonderful artist. My friends, Nikolaj, you met him, yesterday was his bithday. He was the one who bought her first painting. Yes, he has it proudly hanging in his living room." Knud laughed.

"There's a letter in there as well." Ginny said, and Knud nodded.

He pulled it out. It wasn't a long letter, seemed to only be a few sentences, but he laughed like it was the best thing in the world.

"Dear Knud, despite the long days and strong light, you are brighter and larger than any midnight sun. Thank you for the inspiration. And please tell Nikolaj he still ows me 200 dollars for my painting. Love always, Peg"

"She really always knew just what to say, didn't she?" Knud said, and even though Ginny knew it was a rethorical question, she couldn't help answering 'yes'.

"Well, Ginny, it was wonderful to see you again. I hope next time you will spend more time in Copenhagen!" Knud said, hugging each of them.

He'd showed them how to get to the airport the quickest, and accompanied them to the station.

"I hope so too." Ginny said, and hugged him back.

They boarded the train and waved one more time through the window. Then Knud was gone.

They sat down and sat in silence for a few moments.

"I vote we act like normal tourists tomorrow." Mir said. Everybody nodded in agreement as the train left the station, taking them towards the airport and their next destination.