The Master's Apprentice - Oliver Potzsch Page 0,248

Tonio had given him. “Water.”

Karl handed him a jug, and he drank in long gulps.

“What’s all the noise outside?” asked Johann eventually, wiping his cracked lips.

“It’s the Schembartlauf parade. It started about an hour ago—the whole of Nuremberg is in the streets,” Karl said. “Those masked jesters dance through town and tease the spectators, and I think at the end they storm a life-sized elephant made of wood and linen. I saw the giant contraption briefly on our way here—it was standing next to the Sebaldus Church. A truly impressive—”

Johann dropped the jug to the ground and it shattered into a hundred pieces.

“Hell,” he said.

Karl put his hand on Faust’s forehead. “You still have a strong fever, Doctor. You better lie down. I’ll bring you a fresh—”

“Hell,” said Johann again.

He stood up on shaky legs and walked to the door.

“For heaven’s sake, what are you doing? You can’t go outside! Where do you think you’re going? You are hurt—you’re hallucinating!”

“I’ve never been clearer in my head,” said Johann as he started to climb down the stairs. “I’m going down to hell to fetch my daughter.”

Soon they were both standing in the street. The carnival raged all around them. Throngs of people lined the sides of the lane, waiting for the costumed dancers to pass them by.

Johann squeezed through a gap and watched as half a dozen Schembart runners skipped past, with bells on their ankles and pikes in their hands. From time to time they would rush at the hooting crowd and pretend to stab them with their blunt weapons. People laughed and cheered, and the air was rich with the delicious smells of fried and boiled food.

Many musicians and jugglers who weren’t Schembart runners had also joined the procession. Troupes from all over the region used this day to show off their tricks or to roam the streets playing flutes or bagpipes. Johann looked around searchingly.

Where is the hell? he thought. Where is it?

A hand tapped his shoulder. It was Karl, who had pushed his way through to Johann. “You have a fever,” he urged. “You must go back to bed!”

Johann said nothing and continued to watch the procession. He struggled to focus. He was trembling and sometimes thought he was still dreaming. A huge, strong man wearing a costume made of dead leaves and moss was just walking past him. His face was hidden beneath a fake bushy beard, and he was swinging a tree trunk that had something tied to it that was impossible to make out in the jostle. Johann’s hood covered most of his face, but still he thought the giant looked at him.

The large man slowed down.

“Any one of those masked men could be one of the lunatics from the crypt,” whispered Karl, tugging at Johann’s robe. “If they spot us, we’re done. We must get away from here!”

Johann still wasn’t reacting, staring instead at some artificial horses that came after the dancers. He could tell by the feet under the furs that inside each costume were two men. The wild man had vanished behind the next corner, and the parade was proceeding. Noise and laughter rose and fell like water on a mill.

“The elephant,” uttered Johann all of a sudden, more to himself. Then he finally turned to Karl. “Where is the elephant?”

“The elephant? It was standing right next to the portal when we left the church. Why?”

“Damn, don’t you get it?” Johann was almost shouting now. “The elephant is the hell! That’s what the Schembart runners call their big parade wagon. Remember? Valentin told us last night. It’s the hell!”

“You . . . you’re saying . . .”

“By Christ, that’s the hell Tonio was talking about. No inferno or Last Judgment, but the parade wagon!” Johann grabbed Karl by the sleeve, his one eye glaring angrily. “Take her up to the church and then straight to hell—isn’t that what he said? That’s where they are hiding her. Every street in town is busy because of the Schembartlauf, so they couldn’t drag her away unnoticed. But it’s no problem inside the parade wagon—they can smuggle her right through Nuremberg and no one will ever know.” Johann’s sweaty face was right up close to Karl’s now. “Where is this elephant now? Where is the hell?”

“The . . . the tavern keeper said the parade would end on the main square at noon,” Karl said, trying to free himself from Johann’s grasp. “There’ll be a huge spectacle with dancing and fireworks, and at the end