Escape from the Past

by Oppenlander, Annette

  “You think you can help me?” I couldn’t keep the irritation from my voice.

  “In a moment.”

  I fought for control, wanting to yank Bero to his feet and slap him. But then I remembered the time I’d been hung over when I’d gotten into my parents’ liquor cabinet after my father told me he’d move out. I’d wanted to die the next day.

  I resumed my walk. Maybe if we talked to the servant who delivered the food we’d find out where we were.

  Bero struggled to his feet. “Need to piss.”

  “Use the corner,” I said. I’d gone earlier and piled up straw to mop up.

  At last, Bero joined me. “What is it?”

  I pointed at the roof. “You think you can pull apart the reed if I give you a lift?” Bero had followed my lead.

  “To get away?”

  I nodded. “You’ll have to stand on my shoulder.”

  “I’ll try.”

  After stepping into my folded hands, Bero reached up and got hold of the beams. He placed his feet on my shoulder while I held his calves. For a moment, Bero did nothing.

  “Why aren’t you working?” I said from below.

  “I’m dizzy.”

  Biting back another comment, I said, “Just reach up with one hand and start pulling. Keep your head still.”

  Bero stuck his hand through the beam and yanked. Pieces of reed drizzled while my shoulders began to burn.

  “Can’t you hurry?” I didn’t feel too hot myself and the extra weight didn’t help. “I need a break,” I finally said. Bero slid down and sagged into the straw where he immediately rolled into a ball.

  I inspected the hole. No more than fist-size, we had barely made a dent. The reed was bound tightly and layered in thick rolls.

  The headache was back with a vengeance and my mouth felt like sandpaper. I thought of the water bucket but dismissed the idea. If I got one of these intestinal diseases I’d die. It was hard to imagine life without antibiotics and Imodium A-D. I’d have to wait.

  Bero seemed to have the same idea and crawled toward the bucket.

  “You’ll get sick.”

  Bero nodded and sat down holding his head. “I’ll never drink again.”

  “At least not as much.” I slumped next to my friend. “We have to find a way out. The roof takes too long. We’ll die of thirst before we ever make it out of this place. The door is locked and the walls are solid. You got any ideas?”

  Bero looked up and shook his head. His brown eyes looked nearly black in the gloom. “It’s all my fault. I should’ve been there to help.”

  “Nonsense,” I said. “They would’ve hit you over the head just the same.”

  “Wonder who did it?”

  I remained silent. I had no idea.

  As the day progressed, I became more and more hopeless. We’d die of thirst or if we drank we’d get the runs or some other disgusting illness. Now Bero paced while I sat motionless. The same rough-looking servant had reappeared and switched out our rations. He’d left another bucket. For your shit, he’d said. When I asked him where we were, he refused to answer. We were forced to do our business in front of each other.

  Unbelievable how low I’d sunk. After my initial success with Juliana’s leg, nothing had worked right. The light outside was fading. The water bucket stood waiting, calling to me to quench my thirst. I shook my head as if I were answering. I was losing my marbles.

  “I missed the contest,” Bero said into the silence. Without another word he curled into a ball. “Next year, I’ll be too old.”

  Bero would never be a squire now. I bit my lip. How I hated this place. I dozed off.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello?” I was instantly awake and sat up. Rushing to the door, I pressed my ear against the narrow gap.

  “Bero? Max?” Juliana’s voice was unmistakable.

  “It’s us,” I said while Bero dashed to join me.

  “Can you speak up, I can barely hear you.” I wanted to reach through the wall to hold onto her voice.

  “They may catch me,” Juliana said, slightly louder. “I think Ott did it.”

  “Where is he?”

  “At the festival.”

  “Can you unlock the chain?” I said. They heard clinking outside.

  “I don’t have a key for the lock.”

  “We must get away,” Bero said. “We have nothing to drink. Can you help?”

  “I don’t know.” Juliana’s voice was full of despair. “I’m not allowed to be outside.”

  “Listen to me,” I whispered through the opening. “You must find a way before Ott returns. This is our only chance.”

  “I’ll try,” Juliana said, her voice quivering with uncertainty. Silence resumed.

  “You think she’ll help us?” Bero said.

  “She has to.” I leaned against the door to listen. Nothing. Not the faintest sound could be heard. Not even farm animals. He wondered where the chicken coop stood. It was dark now and I only heard Bero’s breathing next to me.

  The waiting was worse. Soon, Ott would be back. He’d be drunk and find his way to Juliana. And who knew what he’d do with us? We’d be liable to waste away in here. Nobody knew our whereabouts.

  Something moved outside. The faint sound of footsteps grew louder. I groped for Bero in the dark. “Someone’s coming.” The steps stopped, chains clinked. Then the ugly helper’s face appeared in the dancing shadow of a torch.

  “Bucket,” he snarled.

  I grabbed the bucket that stunk of our waste. I considered yanking open the door even if the guy looked twice my size. In the dark, we may be able to run and hide. It was a risk I was ready to take.

  “Could you help me for a minute?” Juliana’s voice came closer. She sounded sweet and innocent.

  “Go inside,” the servant grunted, attempting to close the coop’s door. I stuck my foot in the opening, suppressing a groan as the wooden edge cut into my skin. The peasant had turned toward an obviously smitten Juliana.

  “You’re so strong,” she said. “Look at your muscles.” She had lowered her shirt to bare her shoulders and bent down.

  The peasant mumbled something and stared at the girl’s chest. I shoved open the door, forcing myself to look away from Juliana’s cleavage. She’d leaned against the doorframe, smiling up at the ruffian. He obviously lacked willpower and kept staring at her half-exposed breast. I saw something shiny behind her back and grabbed it. It was a dagger.

  Without another thought, I jumped at the peasant who lost his balance and slammed to the ground. Bero followed suit. We rolled on top, then pushed the guy sideways and onto his stomach.

  “Don’t move,” I panted, pressing the tip of the dagger at the peasant’s neck. “I’ll slit your throat. Juliana, get the rope. In my pants.”

  Juliana crawled toward me and fumbled in my pocket. Bero had thrown himself on the peasant’s legs and pinned him down while I kept pushing his face into the dirt. Juliana kneeled to bind the guy’s arms and legs. She ripped a piece of fabric from her dress and stuck it into his mouth. Together we shoved him into the hut and locked the door, Bero smacking him over the head for good measure.

  Chapter 16

  I scanned the grounds, but except for a couple of faint lights in a massive structure to my left and the glow of Juliana’s torch I saw nothing. The sky was hidden under a layer of clouds and it smelled of rain. My elation faded. Ott undoubtedly had guards. We, on the other hand, had no clue about this place. It was pitch-black and I had no shoes.

  “This way,” Juliana whispered, her voice shaky with fear. She led the way toward the bulky structure. “We’ll have to pass through the gate. There are sentries.”

  “Wait,” I said. My feet already felt as if I’d walked across a field of thorns and I’d only gone a few yards. “I need shoes or I’ll slow you down.”

  Juliana waved her light, illuminating my pale toes. “I don’t know what they did with your boots.”

  “Doesn’t matter, get me something
.”

  She slowly nodded and handed the torch to Bero. “Hold this, I’ll be right back.” She vanished into the darkness.

  “Let’s put out the fire. We’re drawing attention,” I said. Bero threw the light to the ground and kicked up dust. It became completely dark. We slowly made our way toward the side of the building.

  “Try these,” whispered Juliana, appearing out of nowhere and throwing something at my feet. I wondered how she could see. I felt blind and out of my element. Bending low I groped around until I touched two splintery chunks of wood. With a sigh, I stuck my feet inside. The clogs were too wide and hard as granite.

  “Come along,” Juliana whispered.

  I followed Bero and Juliana along a rough path. Feeling clumsy and loud in my new shoes I decided to take them off while we crept around the manor. The ground fell slightly and we left the main building behind. Fifty feet ahead, a low light shone.

  “The gate,” Juliana murmured. “I’ll distract the guard as before.” She walked faster. I had trouble keeping up. Stubbing my toes I swallowed a curse.

  Judging by the low murmurs Juliana had reached the gate. The glow intensified as the guard, carrying a torch, stepped into her way. She’d bared her shoulders and I heard her speak in the sultry voice again. How was she doing this?

  “One of the maids had an accident.” Juliana sounded breathless and scared. “We need a strong man to help carry her. With everyone at the festival, I thought… You have to help me.” Her voice trembled with a mix of helplessness and temptation.

  We stood squeezed against the wall, partially hidden behind the guardhouse. The sentry ogled at Juliana’s breast. “You need a strong man, hmmm,” he said. “I’ll show you strong, deary.”

  “If you help me, I’ll be very thankful,” Juliana breathed. She stepped back a couple paces to stay out of reach of the grabbing hands. “She fell in the barn.” Juliana nodded toward the shadows behind her. “Hurry, please, she’s in pain. I’ll follow you.”

  As soon as the man ran off, Juliana turned toward the gate. “Hurry,” she whispered.

  I had put my shoes back on and now I felt like a peasant. We pushed open the heavy wooden door and disappeared into the darkness. Juliana seemed to know the way and Bero, light and nimble, had no trouble keeping up. I wasn’t so lucky. Every few feet, I worried about losing my clogs and I couldn’t see a thing. I had no idea whether we were on a path or in a field. I could tell we weren’t in any woods because I’d have felt branches whip my face or run into a tree trunk.

  The constant void was hard to take as I stumbled along, my ears perked to maximum attention, trying to catch every sound, brother and sister made in front of me.

  “You coming?” Bero said.

  I didn’t answer. With every step I got angrier—about Ott, about stealing my shoes, about my throat that felt like parchment, but most of all about this brainless game I’d insisted on playing. Cause I was a stupid idiot without the least bit of discipline who’d been unable to wait for the game to be released. There were obviously huge problems with it. Jimmy’s dad had not wanted it shared for a reason.

  “Wait,” I finally said, trying to buy time. Every step was agony. The skin on my toes had probably disintegrated. “Slow down. Where are we going?”

  “Home,” Juliana said. “I’m not staying in this place another minute.”

  I wanted to ask her about Ott, if he’d attacked her, but we had more important matters to deal with right now.

  “We can’t go home,” Bero said. “He’ll look for you there like last time.”

  “I agree. Miranda will force you to return or you’ll be arrested,” I said. “And you helped us escape. That bonehead we locked up will tell them.”

  “I don’t care,” Juliana said. She sounded close to tears.

  “I only know one safe place.” I slumped to the ground. “We have to get to Castle Hanstein and seek asylum with the Lord.”

  “Why should he take us in?” Juliana said. “He doesn’t even know me.”

  “We told him about you,” said Bero. This time there was pride in his voice.

  “You saw him?”

  “We had dinner at Hanstein yesterday,” I added. “And he’ll help you…us.”

  “My brother feasts with the Lord?” said Juliana. I imagined her shaking her head in disbelief. It was pitch black, something I’d never experienced with all the street lanterns, headlights and houses in modern day. I wanted to see her, look into her eyes again. Without distraction, without Bero…

  “How far is Hanstein?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady and ignore my aching toes.

  “During the day, maybe an hour’s walk,” Bero said. “Right now…with you…more like two or three.”

  Thanks a lot, I thought, but I swallowed the insult I was going to toss at him. Maybe we could wait until dawn. Then I’d be able to see and walk without shoes. I wanted to suggest it when I felt Bero’s hand on my arm.

  “Shsh.”

  Then I saw it, too. A low shine straight ahead, then horse clatter. That had to be Ott and Miranda. I stood staring until Bero pulled me down. We crouched and crawled into a thicket. Chances were minimal we’d be seen, but the alarm would be raised as soon as Ott arrived home. And we hadn’t gone very far. I wondered if they’d use dogs to track us down like hunted animals.

  The lights grew brighter and I was amazed that I could make out Ott’s rat face and his mother’s dark hair. They were quiet and the two guards alongside looked like they hadn’t spoken in years. As soon as the group passed, we ran into the direction Ott and Miranda had come from. It was the closest route to town, Juliana explained and we’d get ahead on the more even path as far as possible. I thought of my Nikes. I’d taken them for granted, even wished I hadn’t worn them. Until now when I had no decent shoes and felt like an invalid.

  We kept going, always listening for the sounds of horses or worse, barking dogs. I heard nothing except for an occasional scattering in the brush. I couldn’t tell where it was coming from and I didn’t care any longer. All I wanted was to arrive at Hanstein and take these clogs off.

  An eerie howl pierced the stillness. Then another to our left.

  “Wolves,” Bero whispered. “Make haste.”

  I had lost track of time, trying to concentrate on the ground instead of my toes. “Will they attack?”

  “Sometimes,” Bero said. “We may have to climb a tree.”

  Easy for Bero to say—he’d be up in the tree like a squirrel, I thought angrily. The wolves would make a convenient meal of me. I listened harder. Several times I suppressed a shriek when something rustled in the undergrowth, imagining glowing eyes circling us before going in for the kill. Wolves lived in zoos or humungous national parks in the States where I came from.

  We had no weapons, not even a knife. Nobody spoke as we rushed along. After a while, I felt a hand in each of mine. Bero and Juliana were guiding me. Hers was small and soft, Bero’s not much larger but hard and crusty.

  “Almost there,” Bero finally said.

  The ground rose rapidly and above us, the shine of torches brightened the sky. We were approaching the castle from the other side and had to circle back to the main path. I felt like a blind man stumbling along, my throat a metal grate while my feet had gone up in flames.

  Before the guard had a chance to notice us, I yelled, “Sirs, it is me, Max Nerds. I seek shelter with Lord Hanstein along with my friends, Bero and Juliana, the tanner’s children.”

  The guard stumbled into our way. He rubbed his eyes, trying to look alert at the same time.

  “Max Nerds?” He shook his torch to wave us closer. “Your Lordship is away on urgent business. I’ll send someone to alert the squires. You may wait inside the gate.”

  Turning around he yelled into the guardhouse. “Make haste. Tell them, Max Nerds has returned.” The other sentry, no less sleepy, pulled up his grimy pants and hurried through the gate and up the hill. We dropped to the ground, but no sooner had we sat
down, a light came dancing toward them.

  “Enders will put you up in the stables tonight…until Your Lordship returns.”

  I wondered if Werner was still in town. According to Bero, the festival ended after the competition when the winning boy would be escorted to his new home at Hanstein. That would’ve been hours ago. “Thank you, sirs, that is mighty kind.”

  “I wish you a pleasant night,” the first guard shouted after us. Near the main entrance waited Enders, looking grumpy as usual. Without a word he turned and led us to the stables.

  “Enders, we need something to drink,” I said, “and food. Can you get it for us?” I remembered the few coins from the night before, but my jeans pockets were empty. Ott or his imbecile of a servant had stolen them too. “I’ll pay you for your troubles tomorrow.”

  Enders grumbled something, but left and returned with blankets, a basket and a large clay flask. “Is that all?” he managed.

  “That’s all, thank you.”

  Enders turned and disappeared into the back of the building while we collapsed into the straw. It smelled like horses, better than peasant huts and chicken coops. As Juliana handed each of us a cup of weak beer and a piece of some meat-filled pastry, I was ready to laugh out loud. We’d made it safely. Juliana was with us. I looked at her, the light from the torch above us softening her features, but I could’ve drawn them with my hand from memory.

  Every so often she looked up and smiled at me. In the background, horses snorted and scraped their hooves across the ground. It was a soothing sound and Bero soon assumed his customary fetal position, his back to us. I emptied my mug, leaving the last drops in my mouth to wet down my throat and tongue. I laid down, Juliana, in the middle next to me.

  Despite my heavy legs and throbbing feet, I couldn’t sleep. After a while, I sat up and listened to her even breathing. I wanted to move closer, hug her to me until the end of time. I was such a fool. It was early morning before I fell asleep.