The Master's Apprentice - Oliver Potzsch Page 0,29

know it. Maybe he had some good inside him, but if he did, he never showed us. To him, I was a possession, not a sister.”

They sat in silence as little Martin balanced along the edge of the fountain like the tightrope walkers performing in the square. It was afternoon by now, and the first drunken figures staggered through the lanes. Soon the musicians would play dancing tunes—much to the dislike of the church, which considered dancing to be the devil’s wanton temptation. The air smelled of wine and rotten pomace, reminding Johann of Ludwig lying in the press basket like a squashed grape.

“Do you feel like going down to the Weissach River with me?” suggested Margarethe abruptly. “We can go back to the fair later.”

Johann frowned. It was typical of Margarethe to come out with such a spontaneous idea; she was like a leaf in the wind, moved by her whims. Maybe she just wanted to get away for a while because Knittlingen and the fair reminded her of her brother and his horrible death.

“Didn’t your father forbid you to leave the city?” he asked cautiously.

Margarethe waved her hand dismissively. “I’m nothing but thin air to him since Ludwig’s death. He spends his days staring at the ceiling, just like Mother. Ludwig was the apple of their eyes. I’m just a girl who’ll be married soon and out of the house.”

“B . . . but what about the m . . . missing children?” stammered Martin, squeezing Johann’s hand. “Our father also said not to l . . . leave town.”

Indeed, just before the fair, Jörg Gerlach had told Johann explicitly not to go out into the fields with Martin. It had almost sounded as if the old farmer remembered his fatherly duties for once, but Johann suspected he was just trying to prevent him from meeting up with Margarethe.

“Do you know what I think?” said Margarethe. “I think those children have just gotten lost. Schillingswald Forest is huge—they could be in Pforzheim by now for all anyone knows.”

“And what if it was the k . . . kobolds or the b . . . boogeyman?” asked Martin anxiously.

“Oh, Martin, you’re such a scaredy-cat!” Margarethe laughed. “They only exist in your imagination!” She stood up. “I tell you what. We’re going to Schillingswald Forest to look for the children. Imagine if we find them! They’d celebrate us in the whole of the Kraichgau!”

“You’re not serious, are you?” asked Johann.

But Margarethe crossed her arms on her chest defiantly. “You’re just shitting your pants like everyone else here! If you don’t come, I’ll go by myself.”

Johann gave a sigh. He knew that when Margarethe made up her mind to do something, nothing would stop her. And of course he wouldn’t let her go into the woods by herself. At least it was a way to be alone with her.

“All right,” he said with a shrug. “But only until it starts to get dark. We must be back before the city gates close.” He turned to Martin. “You better go home now. This isn’t for little children.”

“B . . . but I want to come!” said Martin in protest. “If you d . . . don’t take me, I’ll tell F . . . Father where you’ve gone and w . . . with whom,” he added angrily.

Johann was about to make a harsh reply, but Margarethe cut him off: “Let him come. At least this way people can’t gossip if anyone sees us.”

Johann nodded reluctantly. “All right, then.” He turned to Martin again. “But don’t wet your pants if we do see a kobold after all.”

Cursing under his breath, Johann walked ahead. He’d been thrilled at the thought of being alone with Margarethe, and now he’d have to put up with Martin! Would it never end?

Together they left the church and the fair behind and hurried toward the lower city gate. The shouts of the drunks and the noise of the fair faded away. All of Knittlingen seemed to be on Market Street and in the square, and the lanes on the far side of the church lay deserted. Finally they arrived at the gate, which was still open at this time of day. The only remaining guard had dozed off over a jug of wine presumably brought to him by a sympathetic colleague. The three explorers sneaked past him without problems.

Beyond the moat lay a few fields with a meandering stream, and behind the fields the forest began.

Even though the