One day, an old lady is shipped to her neighbours, the hated Eggharts, where they dump her in their attic and order their spoiled child Loremarie to look after her. Loremarie finds this distasteful and offers a bargain to Annika: Loremarie would pay twenty kreuzers each time, and Annika would look after the old lady, or the Countess of Monte Cristo, as Pauline declares. Annika finds a new world, where the main occupation is strewing, not only flowers.

Soon, the lady's time comes, and she lies peacefully in a sleep she never wakes up from again. Annika finds out that she has inherited a trunk that the old woman had treasured.

Annika's dream comes true! A woman called Edeltraut von Tannenberg - notice the von - whisks Annika off to a crumbling mansion where she experiences true friendship and also sadness.

"Have you washed behind your ears?"

Annika nodded and extracted an ear for inspection