Anna held her breath when she heard a scratching sound coming from outside. Light suddenly appeared through the gap under the door. She felt her way back to the door and quickly pulled it open.
The villagers were standing in a wide semicircle around the house, with five or six armed soldiers among them. Nobody said a word, and everybody was just staring at her as if she was an envoy of Lucifer which, after all, was no wonder given the way she looked. When she took a step outside, the crowd moved back. People held torches in their hands that were shining so brightly that Anna had to blink. When he saw her, a smile that was unmistakable crept over the face of the foremost man: it was Gero von Hochstaden. Anna recognised her father and mother in the background, held by the two men who had accompanied Gero to the monastery. From the distraught expression on her parents’ faces Anna could guess their fate. But they remained silent and did not give any indication that they knew who Anna was.
Gero, obviously in charge, stepped forward and spoke breaking the oppressive silence.
‘Isn’t it amazing how soon we meet again, Brother Marian!’
From under her hood Anna surveyed the other soldiers and the villagers who were standing in the twilight. How did Gero and his men know that she would come here? Her mind was racing until she remembered bitterly that it was she herself who had told the archbishop during the interrogation in the reception hall that she came from Ahrweiler. The archbishop had sent his henchmen here, assuming that, in her misery, she had only one refuge, her parents’ village. He had therefore dispatched his nephew along with a few soldiers to finish her off.
Had Father Sixtus watched as she discovered the letters POISON in the palm of dead Father Urban? Did Konrad von Hochstaden not want any living witness who knew that the infirmarius had been poisoned?
She answered in a steady voice: ‘Yes, sir, I am Brother Marian from Heisterbach.’
‘What were you looking for in this house?’
‘I was hungry. I was looking for something to eat.’
‘Why in this house?’
‘I do not know. I just took a chance.’
Gero grinned broadly, ‘A chance. Is that so? And who are these, then?’ said he, pointing to Anna’s parents.
For three or four heartbeats Anna said nothing. Then she cleared her throat and said: ‘I do not know these people.’
Gero shook his head feigning great sadness. ‘Well, it makes no difference one way or the other. Having entered their house you have infected it with your disease and you know what we have to do now.’
‘No!’ Anna cried. ‘No!’
But Gero checked her, aiming the point of his sword directly at her eyes. ‘This is what the law demands, whether you like it or not.’
Then, turning to the villagers, he said loudly and clearly so that everybody could hear, ‘Brother Marian, you have broken the law. As a leper, you were forbidden on pain of death to enter a human dwelling. In the name of the archbishop I sentence you to be stoned. Villagers, should you fail to carry out this judgement, your houses will be burnt to the ground to protect people from this evil, by order of the archbishop.’
Only now did Anna see that the villagers were holding stones in their hands and had already taken up threatening poses and were taking aim at her.
Gero lifted his hand, desiring to say something more to Anna.
‘But the archbishop has asked me to show you leniency as God has punished you with leprosy. Therefore you will be granted a merciful death by drowning. The judgement will be executed immediately. Go straight to the river. If you attempt to flee, I shall kill you with my sword.’
Anna gave her parents a last desperate look. She wanted to say something, to implore Gero for mercy, but it was better to say nothing. Perhaps her parents might get away with a lesser punishment. Her own fate no longer mattered to Anna and she would follow every one of Gero’s commands if she could thus protect her parents. ‘Is there anything you want to say?’ Gero asked sternly.
Anna shook her head. ‘No, sir.’
‘Then let us go!’ Gero said.
Anna started to move, the little bells on her cape jingling loudly as she pulled the hood to cover her face. The villagers followed behind Anna, Gero and his soldiers. Apparently the whole village was on the move, even two mothers with babies in their arms. Nobody wanted to miss seeing how the young leper would behave as he entered the next world. Only Anna’s parents stayed behind, guarded by two minions. Her mother had collapsed and was crying, and her husband was trying to comfort her.
Quietly the procession marched towards the river. Nobody said a word.
Anna cast a quick glance over her shoulder when she noticed a bright light behind. What she saw made her blood freeze. With their torches Gero’s minions had set the straw roof of her parents’ miserable house on fire. Where were her parents? Were they in the house? She could just see how a soldier had barricaded the door, and she thought she heard screams. The flames spread rapidly and soon the whole house was ablaze. Her parents had been pushed into it and burnt to death. That was the punishment for her, a leper, having entered her parents’ house. Anna’s world had shattered. Furious with despair, she wanted to turn back, maybe attempt to save her parents . . .
But Gero, perhaps anticipating her impulse, stopped her, putting the sharp sword-blade to her neck. He grinned at her and shook his head. Then, pushing her forward with the sword, they moved on again. Now that she had lost everything, her will to resist was broken. She was as good as dead: no one could survive being pushed into the river. This last act was the final part of the archbishop’s command.
She stopped at the edge of the vertical cliff. The moon shone over the forest and a black abyss yawned below. The surface of the water could not be seen. Only the dull, mossy smell and the ominous gurgling and rushing of the water far below allowed one to guess the fate of whoever was pushed off that ledge into the raging river.
Anna turned around and looked at the crowd. Everybody was waiting for Gero von Hochstaden’s order. She could tell by looking at the young knight that this was his moment of revenge for the humiliation he suffered at the monastery. He was only waiting for her to hesitate so as to have a reason to push his sword into her body. With a sneer he took a step towards her and looked into her eyes. Then he lunged for the final blow.
With a surging impulse to deny the gaping onlookers and von Hochstaden’s minions their ultimate satisfaction, Anna stepped back over the ledge and into the void.
The crowd, cheated of the spectacle, cried out and rushed to the cliff-edge. The soldiers tried to illumine the darkness below with their torches and one in frustration even hurtled a flaming brand after her. Gero von Hochstaden was swearing. For a brief moment they saw a black body plunge into the deep water and go under, then the torch hit the water and was extinguished.
Chapter VII
When Anna plunged feet first into the grey-black water, she had decided not to do anything but await death, but the shock of the sudden cold and the icy grip that seized her rekindled her desire to live. The water was so deep that she could not feel the ground with her feet. Swallowing water and gasping for air, she struggled to the surface.
The current was too strong for Anna to fight it and she knew that if she didn’t manage to reach the shore in a very short time, her strength would leave her and she would be lost for good. Then she remembered that she had one tiny chance left. If she could somehow manage to grab one of the two ferry ropes that lay around the next bend of the river, she just might drag herself to the shore.
The mass of water pushed her rapidly to the point where the ferry was moored. She almost missed it, but at the last moment her right hand found the rope that stretched diagonally across the river. She grabbed it and hung on for dear life.
Summoning the last of her strength, she clambered along the rope towards the shore. When her strength failed, she let go, but already she was close enough to be pushed by the current onto a shallow embankment. She lay there in the
knee-deep water, exhausted.
When she had regained her breath she crawled to the bank, spitting up water. Then she looked up. Were the soldiers already coming to look for her? No, nobody would suspect that she had survived the fall from that steep cliff.
Though Anna was exhausted her thoughts were suddenly crystal clear. God had given her a second chance! Nobody knew that she was still alive. She would have to get away as fast as possible and before Gero von Hochstaden might have the idea to have the shores downriver searched for her washed-up body.
Soaking wet, trembling all over and with teeth chattering, Anna stood in front of the ferryman’s abandoned hut. For the second time she went inside. She looked around till she found an old blanket which she pulled over her shoulders and then headed off.
The moon was setting when she noticed the glow of a fire near the edge of the forest. She decided to approach in the hope of finding a human being who might not meet her with immediate hostility.
As she came nearer, she could make out cries and the sounds of combat. She hesitated and wrapped the blanket more tightly around herself to stop the little bells jingling. Silently she sneaked on and hid behind some bushes. She could see in a small clearing by the light of a campfire a life or death struggle taking place. Two men with heavy cudgels were beating a third who was trying to defend himself with his sword. At the edge of the clearing a four-wheeled covered wagon was parked, with its two draught horses grazing. Next to the wagon an older man lay motionless.
For the moment, Anna’s attention was drawn to the fight between the three men. Two of them, wild desperate characters with unshorn beards and ragged clothes, circled the third, a giant of a man who, though bleeding from several wounds, cleverly dodged them again and again, now and then managing to strike a blow. Like wolves the two robbers waited for their battered opponent to slip up.
Anna didn’t know what to do.
Then the swordsman took an unexpected sidestep and with a powerful chop cut down the smaller man whereupon the taller one launched a furious attack. The swordsman could now only parry the blows with great difficulty. His attacker shouted loudly: ‘Damn it, Otto, come and help me! The filthy pig has slain Klaus!’
Just then a third highwayman appeared on the driver’s box of the covered wagon. He had obviously checked to see whether there was anything valuable in the wagon and he now jumped down armed with a cudgel to help his companion. He stormed towards the tall man from the side.
‘You will pay for this with your life!’ he shouted as he made for the swordsman who slowly retreated defending himself fiercely against his assailants.
But two men were too much for him. While parrying a blow his side was unprotected for a moment and the taller of the two attackers immediately seized the advantage and cudgelled him on the head with all his strength. The swordsman slumped screaming to the ground and his enemies mercilessly rained blows on his prone body as if insane. Finally, panting and exhausted, they stood over their victim like hunters over a slain wild boar.
The taller of the two touched him with his foot.
‘He won’t talk again. Go pull off his boots.’
Then he knelt down and started to search the pockets of the dead man as the other pulled off his boots.
Anna squirmed in her hiding place. She had to do something to help the injured. Carefully she sneaked up to the campfire to rub ash into her face and enhance her reckless appearance. The little bells on her cape promptly began to jingle. The highwaymen left the dead man and turned around bewildered.
Seeing Anna, the taller one jumped up as if stung by a tarantula and shouted in a cracked voice: ‘Leprosy! The fellow is a leper! Quick! Let’s get out of here!’
And off he ran. His accomplice, obviously a bit slow on the uptake, was still hesitating but finally got going and ran after his companion. He looked back once but his partner pulled him forward and together they disappeared into the darkness.
Anna looked after them, then bent down. She saw by the light of the firebrand she had taken from the campfire that the tall swordsman was beyond help. She heard a moan behind her and turned to the older man who lay by the covered wagon. Holding his head which was bleeding he tried with difficulty to get up. ‘Who are you?’ he asked. ‘What happened to my servant?’
‘I am Brother Marian,’ Anna said, helping him to his feet. ‘If that is your servant – he is dead. Are you injured?’
‘No, no, nothing serious. Only a blow to the head.’
‘Let me see – do you have a clean cloth anywhere?’ she asked when she discovered a wound on his scalp that was bleeding. The man was about sixty and wore expensive clothes, his white hair was cut short and he had a silvery beard. Swaying a little, he pulled a white cloth from his pocket and pushed it into Anna’s hand.
‘Sit down,’ she said. ‘It is only a surface wound. Here, hold the torch . . .’
The man sat down on the ground with a groan, and Anna put the torch into his hand. Then she dabbed the wound carefully with the cloth before tying it tightly around his head.
She realised suddenly what she had done. She had touched the man. And thus, inevitably, infected him with her deadly disease!
Anna stood up abruptly, the shock written all over her face. She moved back slowly.
‘I am . . . so sorry. I should not have touched you. Oh God, I only wanted to help you . . .’
The little bells jingled audibly as she took two steps back. The man shook his head, got up with a groan and approached her torch in hand.
‘I am a medicus. My name is Aaron. Now let me see!’
He raised the torch and shone it into Anna’s face. With his free hand he gently wiped off the ash, then, without fear or the slightest sign of disgust, he took her right hand and pushed up her sleeve so as to examine the ulcers on her lower arm more closely.
‘Leprosy, um . . . is it?’ he said and pulled a small knife from his pocket. ‘Have no fear, I won’t do you any harm. You saved my life. Is this sore?’ he asked as, totally unexpectedly, he lightly cut into her palm with the point of his knife.
Anna screamed and recoiled. In a mixture of confusion, amazement and fear she looked at the small cut from which oozed a small drop of blood. Slowly and uncertainly she looked into the face of the medicus who smiled at her surprise as he put his knife away.
‘Aha. That’s what I thought. What you have is not leprosy. If you were a leper, you would have felt no pain.’
Anna looked at him, perplexed, a knot in her stomach.
‘Please, sir, do not joke with me,’ she said, her voice shaking.
‘I never joke when it is a matter of illness. What you have is a nasty rash. I will give you an ointment. You will be well again in a week’s time.’
Anna was still speechless. Then she looked at the ulcers on her hands. So she was not a leper after all? Only very gradually did her tension ease, and the wonderful new realisation seeped into her consciousness.
But the medicus left Anna no time to think. He took her by the sleeve and pulled her after him. ‘We had better get away from here. Who knows whether these highwaymen haven’t gone off to fetch reinforcements before coming back again.’
He began to hitch the horses to the wagon.
‘And what about your servant?’ she asked.
‘Well, we cannot just leave him lying there,’ he replied. ‘He lost his life defending me. But we do not have time to bury him now. Will you help me put him in the wagon?’
That was easier said than done but eventually they managed it together.
A silvery pink sun was rising in the east as the covered wagon drove off, with Anna and the medicus side by side on the coach box.
PART II
Chapter I
The track along which the four-wheeled covered wagon jolted with Anna and Aaron on the coach box led through a seemingly endless dark forest, but as far as Anna was concerned, they might as well have travelled halfway around the world so joyful was her heart. Her sudden
twist of fate strengthened her desire to learn more about the origin, diagnosis and curing of illnesses. In her youthful arrogance she had thought that she had acquired a vast knowledge of such matters in the monastery. Still, she was extremely annoyed that Father Sixtus, the archbishop’s assistant, had managed to intimidate her with his simple statement that she had contracted leprosy and even more so because she had only been subjected to a superficial inspection rather than a proper examination. That morning, upon waking, she had felt indescribably miserable, and the word leprosy from the mouth of an infirmarius had horrified her so completely that she could not think clearly and had given up instead of trying to diagnose her own condition. Of course, the priest’s hasty pronouncement may also have had to do with the fact that he knew exactly what was wrong with her. Might he himself be somehow responsible for the evil-looking rash? Anna knew a good few herbs and medicinal plants which could cause diarrhoea, nausea or worse. . .
How did she come by her sudden illness anyway?
Certainly it did not come out of the blue.
One did not pick up leprosy out of nowhere; one had to be infected by another afflicted human being.
Anna continued to ponder. What had happened did not seem to add up. Did they want to get rid of her? Was she given the rash to make her leave the monastery? Did somebody want her out of the way, perhaps even his grace the archbishop himself? But if so, why did he not simply have her killed – with poison, for example? That would not have been a difficult feat for his right-hand man, Father Sixtus. Or would that perhaps have caused too much suspicion, so soon after the unexpected death of Father Urban?
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