“And the other person?”
“A woman who beat it off with a broken tree limb.” Katerina spoke around the food in her mouth. Let him think her uncouth and unmannerly. She certainly had no wish to impress him.
“And where were these two people attacked?”
“You will have to excuse me, Lord Steffan.” Katerina glanced at him as she neared the front door of Bridda’s home. “I have business here. Fare well.”
She turned her back on him, stuffed the remainder of her breakfast in her shoulder bag, and knocked on the wooden door that was fancifully painted and carved with a unicorn and a lion facing each other, vines and leaves surrounding them.
A woman answered the door looking distracted. “Yes?”
“I am Katerina, the mayor’s daughter.” She cringed inwardly at the words that so disgusted her, but the people actually looked up to her stepfather as sort of a savior of the town, more because that was how he portrayed himself than because of anything he had done. And she would use the fact that the mayor was her stepfather if it helped her discover the truth about the disappearances of Hamlin’s children. “May I come in?”
“Oh.” The woman covered her mouth, her eyes filling with tears. She quickly stepped back and opened the door wide. “I am so grateful to you for finding my little girl.”
As Katerina stepped inside, she felt something brush against her back. She looked over her shoulder and there was Steffan, hovering right behind her.
“What are you doing?” she whispered up at him. “Get out.”
He shook his head, a slight movement, then whispered back, “Let me stay. I can help.”
Katerina barely had time to whisper, “No!” when Bridda’s mother lifted her red eyes to Katerina’s and grabbed her hand. “Thank you, Fräulein Katerina. I cannot tell you how grateful we are.”
Bridda’s mother’s sincere emotion drove away Kat’s fury at Steffan. But if he betrayed her or Bridda’s family in any way, she would make him rue it.
“I only found her wandering out of the woods. Has she told you what happened and where she had been staying?”
The woman sniffed and shook her head as she led them through the corridor.
Kat turned to glare at Steffan, and her nose nearly touched his chest, so close was he following her. But he only shuffled his feet as if anxious to catch up with Bridda’s mother.
They both followed the mother into a room with a trestle table, two benches, and some large wooden chairs against the wall filled with pillows and blankets. In one of those chairs sat Johannes holding Bridda in his lap.
All the black dust had been cleaned from her face and hair. She wore clean clothes and was eating a small apple while resting her head and shoulder against her father’s chest.
When she saw Katerina walk in, Bridda’s eyes grew slightly wider as they fixed on Kat, following her, never even blinking.
“Fräulein Katerina!” Johannes’s eyes were misty as he sat up, still holding Bridda close to his chest. “Please come and sit down.” He indicated the chair beside him.
“And I am Steffan.” The duke’s son still hovered just behind her.
She could explain who he was to make it less awkward, but she had not invited him, nor did she even want him here.
“I am a friend of Fräulein Katerina and her father, Herr Hennek.”
“Steffan?” Johannes studied his face. “We heard the son of the Duke of Hagenheim was in Hamlin. Are you he?”
“I am.”
“It is an honor, my lord.” Johannes nodded and indicated a chair. “Please sit and be comfortable. My house is yours.”
Katerina forced herself not to glare at Steffan. Could she trust him not to tell Hennek anything of their conversation? If anyone should be disinterested and unable to be bribed by Hennek, wouldn’t it be the son of the powerful and wealthy Duke of Hagenheim? But what if the rumors were true and Steffan hated his father? What if his character was so corrupt that he could be persuaded to join with Hennek in some way?
Trustworthy or not, she’d deal with him later.
Katerina smiled at Bridda. “Good morning, Schätzchen. Do you remember me?”
Bridda shrank a little closer to her father’s chest.
She addressed Johannes. “May I ask your daughter a few questions?”
“Of course, but she has hardly spoken.”
“I only want to ask you what you remember about where you have been.”
The girl only stared back at her with large blue eyes. Her expression didn’t change, and her lips stayed closed.
“How did you get lost from your mama?”
Still she didn’t speak.
Johannes squeezed his daughter’s arm. “It is well, Bridda. You may tell her what happened. She is Katerina, the mayor’s daughter.”
The little girl’s gaze moved from Katerina to the man behind her and her eyes locked on to him. Still, she neither moved nor made a sound.
Katerina turned slightly and spoke to Steffan. “Lord Steffan, I think she might be more likely to talk to me if you were not here. Your presence seems to disturb her.”
“I do not think she is disturbed by me.” Steffan’s gaze flitted from her to little Bridda, to Johannes, and back to her. “But if you think it best, I shall wait outside.” He stood and bowed.
“Please, take some food and drink, my lord,” Johannes said. “My wife makes very good cherry pasties and nut bread.”
Bridda’s mother stood in the doorway and urged Steffan to go with her.
Good. He was gone.
“Bridda, did someone take you away from your home?”
Still she didn’t speak.
“She was playing,” Johannes said softly. “In the alley beside the Rathous. She was with Verena, our neighbor’s daughter. They were waiting for my wife to finish her business in the Rathous—she was paying the land tax. Verena is twelve years old, so my wife thought she could watch over her and they would be safe for a few minutes, but when my wife came out of the Rathous, the children were gone.”
Bridda’s eyes seemed to get droopy while her father talked. Kat had hoped his words might awaken a memory, but Bridda seemed more likely to fall asleep than to reveal anything.
“The guards speculated that the beast must have attacked one of the children, the other tried to stop him, then the beast dragged them both away.” Johannes shook his head and stared thoughtfully at the floor for a moment. “I just couldn’t understand how two children could go missing at once, especially with no trace of blood or ripped clothing, and no one having seen the animal that took them. It was daylight and in the middle of town.” He stared into Kat’s eyes. “Does that make any sense to you?”
“No.” Kat shook her head. “No, it doesn’t.” Indeed, it was very strange. Nothing about the missing children made sense. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember a single incident where a child’s body had been found with teeth marks or any sign of an animal having attacked it. Only adults had been found obviously marred by an animal.
Perhaps the Beast of Hamlin was not responsible for the missing children at all.
Bridda’s eyes had closed.
“Were there any injuries or marks on her body? Did she appear to have been harmed?”
“No.”
Whispering now, Kat said, “Can you turn her hand over so that I can see her palm?”
Johannes gently turned the child’s tiny hand over. Kat found herself staring at the pink palm. Several callouses and scrapes marred the otherwise childlike hand. Hardened callouses on what should have been perfectly smooth, plump skin.
“I had not noticed . . .” Johannes’s brows drew together. “It looks as if she’s been working with her hands. What could she have been doing?”
Katerina shook her head. “Johannes, I know you and your wife are overjoyed to have your precious daughter home, but how many people have you told of her return?”
“I haven’t told anyone. My wife may have told a few people.”
; “I told a few of my friends,” the mother answered from the doorway.
“I’d like to ask you not to talk to anyone else about Bridda being found, and ask your friends to keep it a secret for now, though I know news has a way of traveling quickly. I think it is possible that someone may be responsible for taking her—a person and not the beast.”
“Do you think she’s in danger? That someone will try to take her again?” Johannes’s face was tense and hard.
Kat hesitated, then said, “I don’t know, but it’s hard to believe that a wild animal would take her but leave her unharmed.”
“You must allow me to help you search for this wicked person.”
“I don’t think that would be wise. I need you to stay quiet for now, keep Bridda in the house, and ask anyone who knows of her being found not to speak of it. And if Bridda tells you anything about where she’s been, anything that might be helpful, please let me know.”
Johannes and his wife exchanged a look. Then he nodded. “We trust you, Fräulein Katerina. I am sure Herr Hennek will be able to discover what is happening.”
Kat’s stomach sank at the mention of Hennek, at the way these people seemed to think their mayor was a good and well-meaning person. But was it worth warning them? They probably would only become suspicious of her, not Hennek.
“Please give our best wishes to your mother and Mayor Hennek. And after what you have done for us, finding Bridda . . . we will do any task you bid us. You only need to send us word.”
“Thank you.” She looked at the precious little face, relaxed in sleep, safe in her father’s arms.
Katerina knew how it felt to be alone in an unsafe place. Were there other children in the forest somewhere? Children who were away from their parents’ loving arms, alone and afraid? If they were out there, Katerina would find them, no matter what she had to do.
She excused herself from Johannes, and Bridda’s mother walked her to the front corridor. Kat said, “I’ll let you know of any new information.”
A man stepped out of the shadowy doorway. Katerina startled and turned.
“Thank you for the pasties.” Steffan bowed to their hostess.
The man was like a louse, clinging to her. And how much could he eat? Three breakfasts in one morning?
Kat smiled at Bridda’s mother and said, “Fare well,” ignoring Steffan.
On the street she opened her mouth to tell him he was not welcome to follow her any longer, but he placed a hand on her shoulder.
“There is a man—”
“Get your hand off me.” Kat jerked away from him.
Steffan quickly removed his hand. “I’m trying to tell you, there is a man following us. He trailed us from your stepfather’s house.”
Kat looked over her shoulder.
“Don’t look!” Steffan’s whisper was loud and urgent.
The large man—as wide as two regular men and a head taller—stood staring at them from beneath droopy eyelids, his bald head shining in the morning light. He glanced away when she met his eye.
“That’s just Otto. Are you afraid of him? He is bigger than you.” Her lips twitched.
“Afraid? Of course not.” He blew out an audible breath between pursed lips. “He would be no match for me. I’ve been training for battle my whole life.” But there was a look about his mouth and eyes that told her he wasn’t convinced that he could defeat Otto, and he wasn’t even trying very hard to convince her. He had the same expression as a jongleur she had seen performing once, trying to make everyone laugh.
“Don’t worry.” She made sure to infuse her tone with irony. “He follows me all the time.”
“Why?”
Kat shrugged and kept walking. Truthfully, it infuriated her that Hennek sent his men to spy on her, and now Otto had seen her leaving Bridda’s house. But it was too late to try to evade him now.
She had an unsettled feeling in her stomach. Kat had noticed the way Hennek looked whenever he learned of another child going missing or of someone being attacked by the beast—shrewd and unsurprised. She wondered what he knew, or if he somehow had something to do with the beast or the disappearances.
“What is going on here?” Steffan asked in a slightly louder tone. “If that child was missing, then where was she? You have to admit it’s very suspi—”
“Would you be quiet?” She walked faster, then ducked into a bakery. Glancing around, she saw there was only one customer in the shop besides the woman behind the counter reaching for a loaf of bread.
Stepping into a corner, she spun on her heel to face him.
“You may be the son of a duke,” she said in a quiet voice, “but I don’t have to tell you anything. I am a free woman and I do not answer to you. You are not welcome here. Go back to Hagenheim and your comfortable home and leave me to protect the people. These are my people.”
Her voice was shaking by the end of her outburst, and she was already regretting her harsh words. His expression was stunned, then guarded. His throat bobbed as he swallowed.
Did he expect her to ask for forgiveness? Well, she wouldn’t. Mother might cower before a man, but she would not, not even if he was the son of a duke.
Five
Steffan took a step back.
He couldn’t remember anyone talking to him the way Katerina did—at least no one outside of his family. And his sisters only spoke to him this way when he’d been teasing them mercilessly and they were fed up. But he was not teasing Katerina. He just wanted to help.
“Some kind of treachery is afoot. I came here to kill the beast, but it appears something else is going on. I could help if you—”
“We don’t need your help. I don’t need your help.”
“Do you hate everyone? Or is it only me? You know, I may be a duke’s son but—”
“I don’t have time to stand here talking to you.”
Katerina slid past him, careful not to brush against his arm, and rushed out the doorway.
What was the matter with her? Her anger was unfounded and unfair. But nothing, not even that giant of a man who was following them, could keep him from going after her. He had to know what was going on for his own curiosity’s sake, but it was more than that. His father needed to know what was happening in Hamlin, and if Steffan was able to discover what it was, perhaps his father would cease to see him as the son who never did anything right.
He burst out the door behind Katerina. He pursued her down the cobblestone street, but not before he noted the hulking man pushing himself off the shop front he was leaning against and coming after them.
She was walking fast. He stayed just behind her. Perhaps he could wait until she was less angry before trying to convince her to trust him.
He knew a lot about anger. He’d spent the last year realizing how foolish his own anger had been. Now, when that anger rose up, instead of drinking too much to make it go away, he asked himself where it was coming from. Oftentimes he realized he was blaming someone else for something that was mostly his own fault. The person he was most angry at was himself.
What was behind Katerina’s anger? Steffan was fairly certain he hadn’t done anything worse than be persistent.
A group of rats were chittering as they ran across the cobblestones. The people on the street gave the rodents a wide berth and a wary eye but continued on their way, obviously accustomed to seeing them.
After he killed the beast he’d have to figure out a way to get rid of those rats.
He matched his pace to Katerina’s and watched the way her crossbow bounced ever so slightly against her back. She was dressed as she had been when he first saw her, with a peasant’s rough linen skirt that came just above her ankles to allow for extra movement and thin hose encasing her legs. She was a most unusual girl. Her stepfather was the mayor of a large town, appointed and well-paid by Steffan’s father, and yet she dressed defiantly and went out hunting against her stepfather’s wishes.
Again, she reminded Steffan of himself. The difference was that
Katerina had a good reason for defying convention and her annoying stepfather. She wanted to find out what was happening to the children who were going missing, and she wanted to protect her people by killing the beast. He couldn’t help but feel a swell of admiration for this girl. Even if she did seem to hate him.
They were heading out of town, toward one of the town gates. He glanced over his shoulder. The giant was still there, still following after them.
Katerina reached the gate. The guards standing there gave her a slight smile and a quiet greeting. She returned their greeting.
So she wasn’t rude to everyone, or even all men.
She passed through the gate and began to walk faster. Steffan jogged to catch up to her.
“Good day, Fräulein,” he said in his most jovial tone.
She tossed over her shoulder, “I need you to be quiet or go away. I’m going to hunt the beast.”
“As am I.”
“Where are your weapons?”
“I have my longbow here. See?” He tried to get her to look at where he was pointing to his bow and arrows slung over his shoulder, but she barely glanced at him. “And I have my short sword strapped to my belt. I don’t like to go hunting without my weapons.”
She frowned, acknowledging his weak jest whether she wanted to or not.
“Do we not want to attract the animal’s attention? After all, it’s hunting too, and if it hears us, it’ll come in our direction.” Not entirely a wise plan, but he couldn’t resist trying to goad her into speaking.
She ignored him, heading toward the forest.
“Is this where you found the little girl?” He spoke softly enough that the man following them could not overhear.
She turned toward him and whispered, “No one is supposed to know about that.”
“I cannot imagine you could keep something like that a secret for long.”
She didn’t reply as they continued walking. Soon they entered the brush, ferns, and beech trees of a thick forest at the foot of a large hill, and they started climbing the gradual incline.
“Otto is still following us. Shall I dispatch him for you?”
She made a contemptuous sound of breath rushing through her pursed lips. “I can’t imagine you could.”
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