‘Good morning, Herr Schlappi,’ Alice-Miranda greeted the doorman, who was rugged up extra-tight against the bitter chill.

The old man smiled and held the door open for the children. ‘How are you today, young lady?’

She smiled at him as the group traipsed out onto the hotel driveway. ‘Very well, thank you. I’m going to see if Nina’s home,’ she said, then raced across the road and knocked on the green door. A minute later, Nina poked her head outside.

‘Hello,’ said the girl. ‘I’m sorry I cannot come with you today. I have to stay with Opa.’

Alice-Miranda shook her head. ‘We’re not going up, either. The lifts are closed, so we’re staying in the village.’

‘I knew it was windy but I didn’t think it was that bad.’ Nina’s stomach twinged. She always worried about her father when the weather was extreme.

‘I was wondering if you might be able to show everyone the museum,’ Alice-Miranda said.

Nina’s eyes lit up. ‘I would love to! I just have to get the key.’ The girl took off upstairs, returning a minute later.

Alice-Miranda turned around and beckoned for the others to join her. The children scrambled inside and stood in a large entrance hall.

Millie gasped and pointed at the handpainted ceiling. ‘That’s so beautiful,’ she breathed.

‘Welcome to Lars Dettwiller’s Mechanical Musical Cabinet Museum,’ Nina said with a bow.

‘What’s a mechanical musical instrument?’ Sloane asked.

‘Be patient and you will see,’ Nina replied as she held back a red velvet curtain and motioned for everyone to walk through. On the other side, she unlocked a wide timber door and the group followed her into a dimly lit room.

‘What’s that?’ Millie pointed to a long cabinet that looked like a Middle Eastern palace. It had three figurines right in the centre of the stage. There was a colourfully dressed man with a turban in the middle and two women with veiled faces and sparkling clothes on either side of him. At both ends were two large drums suspended on their sides like gongs. ‘It looks like something from an old-fashioned carnival.’

‘That’s exactly where it came from,’ Nina said proudly. She walked to the side of the cabinet and flicked a switch. Organ music, the kind one hears on a carousel, blared. The male figurine began to move his arms as if he were singing, while the women swung their hips from side to side like belly dancers. Every few beats the gongs would clash.

‘Cool,’ Lucas said above the din.

‘It’s just the start,’ Nina promised with a smile. She led them through another doorway and into a room filled with unusual contraptions.

‘That’s a gramophone,’ Jacinta said, spotting a turntable with a large trumpet on top. ‘My granny used to have one of those and it sounded terrible.’

Nina took a vinyl record from a sleeve and put it on the turntable. She cranked a handle and gently placed the needle in the groove. There was a crackle then the music began.

‘Frank Sinatra,’ Sep said, recognising the man’s voice.

‘May I have this dance?’ Lucas asked, holding a hand out to Jacinta. He smiled and the girl felt her heart skip a beat.

‘Why, sir, of course,’ she replied with a curtsy.

He took Jacinta in his arms and spun her around the floor while the other children giggled and swayed in time with the music.

Sep stepped forward and held his hand out to Alice-Miranda, and the two of them waltzed around the room, quickly followed by Millie and Sloane.

Caprice rolled her eyes, her gaze falling on what appeared to be a large piano with two cylindrical cabinets on top of it. ‘What’s that?’ she asked.

‘It’s a violina,’ Nina answered, lifting the needle off the record. ‘I’ll show you.’ She walked over to the instrument and opened the keyboard lid.

‘Wait until you see what those are,’ Alice-Miranda said to the others, her eyes sparkling.

Nina parted the doors on the left cylinder to reveal three violins, then did the same on the right.

Millie moved closer to inspect the unusual instrument. ‘What is that thing?’ she asked.

What came next was a complete surprise as Nina switched on the contraption. The piano keys came to life, as if they were being struck by a ghost. The violins rotated, their tune in perfect harmony.

Jacinta marvelled at the machine as it played a famous composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ‘That’s the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen.’

‘I love Eine kleine Nachtmusik,’ Alice-Miranda said wistfully. She looked around the room at her friends, smiling to herself.

‘Why don’t we have instruments like this anymore?’ Lucas said.

‘I’m not really sure, except that they are very hard to maintain,’ Nina answered. ‘Opa has been restoring them for years and they need regular attention.’ She turned a switch and the tune immediately slowed before stopping completely. ‘Now for my favourite.’

Sloane’s eyes bulged. ‘There’s more? Who knew museums could actually be interesting?’ she said, following Nina into the next room, where a huge cabinet took up the length of one wall.

‘It’s so pretty,’ Jacinta gushed. ‘Look at those ballerinas! Do they dance?’

Nina nodded, smiling.

The children spread out in front of the glass box, pointing and commenting on the funny little figurines. Nina pulled the handle on the side of the instrument and the players sprang to life.

Millie leapt into the air. ‘I wasn’t expecting that,’ she said, giggling at herself.

An old man entered the room, his white hair sticking up all over the place. ‘What is going on in here?’ he asked in bewilderment.

Nina froze. This is what she had been hoping for more than anything – she just hadn’t expected her grandfather to come now. ‘I … I was just showing my friends the museum, Opa,’ she said hesitantly.

Alice-Miranda bit her lip, wondering if Nina was going to get into trouble.

Herr Dettwiller stood there staring at the cabinet, entranced by the music. For several minutes nobody said a word. When the tune came to an end, the old man turned to the children. ‘So, did you like it?’ he asked, his stern face fracturing into a smile.

Millie grinned. ‘It’s amazing!’

‘Brilliant,’ Lucas said, nodding.

The other children weighed in with their words of praise, all except Caprice, who said nothing.

Herr Dettwiller looked at the girl. ‘And you? What did you think?’

‘It’s clever,’ she conceded.

Nina placed a hand on her grandfather’s arm. ‘How are you feeling, Opa?’

The old man gazed around the room. It felt as if he were visiting a long-lost friend. ‘Better than I have in a long time,’ he replied.

Nina looked into the old man’s green eyes. ‘You’re not cross?’

‘Whatever for?’ Opa said in surprise.

‘For playing the instruments,’ Nina replied.

Her grandfather shook his head sadly. ‘They are meant to be played. And, thanks to you, something inside me has woken up. I have been numb for such a long time.’

‘Shall we show my friends the rest of the museum, Opa?’ the girl asked, taking his hand.

‘Why not?’ he said with a wink.

Alice-Miranda blinked back tears of happiness.

‘How much more is there to see?’ Millie asked.

Nina’s eyes twinkled. ‘This is just the beginning. There is something Opa has been working on for years. No one has ever seen it – not even you, Alice-Miranda.’

‘Really?’ The girl smiled. ‘That sounds intriguing,’

The children looked at one another, eager for the unveiling.

‘Well, there is no time like the present,’ the old man said. He shuffled across the room to a huge bolted doorway. The children held their breaths as they watched Herr Dettwiller pull out a small brass key from his pocket and turn it in the lock.