The Golden Braid (15 page)

“My brother is at the monastery. He has not yet taken his vows. I go to visit him sometimes.”

Rapunzel nodded as the girl fell in beside her and they continued walking.

“What is your name?”

“Rapunzel.” She must seem very rustic to the talkative girl.

“I like that name. I've never heard it before—as a name, that is. But it has a very pleasant sound.”

“Thank you. I like yours . . . Cristobel.”

“Thank you. My father wanted me to be a boy and wanted me to be named Cristof. So my little brother is Cristof and I am Cristobel. Are you going to visit someone at the monastery?”

Rapunzel hesitated. It went against her instincts to tell the girl exactly why she was going to the monastery. Mother certainly never told anyone anything when they asked. But Mother was not here.

“I am going for a reading lesson.”

“A reading lesson?”

“Actually, a lesson in Latin.”

“You are learning to read Latin?”

“Yes.”

“My brother knows how to read. He told me I should go to the town school and learn, but Mother said I was better off staying home and learning to cook and sew and help her with the little ones. And now I am a maid at Hagenheim Castle.” By the look on her face, she thought Rapunzel would be impressed.

“Do you like working there? I long to know what the castle looks like inside.”

“It is hard work, but they treat me well and pay me with real coins every month.”

Rapunzel made sure to look impressed. “Is it difficult to get a job working at the castle?”

“Ja, I should say so. You have to know someone who works there, someone who will say that you are honest and trustworthy.”

“Oh.” Who would do that for Rapunzel? She had been here such a short time and no one knew her. Not that Mother would allow her to work there anyway.

“We are almost to the monastery. My brother is usually in the garden or the vineyard working.”

They came out of the forest and into the clearing where most of the monastery buildings were visible.

“Which building are you going to?”

“That one over there.” Rapunzel pointed to the dormitory.

“I shall see you later. Shall I walk home with you?”

Suddenly, Rapunzel wanted that very much. “Yes. I will either be at that door there, or just behind the building, in the sheep pasture.”

“I shall see you in an hour or two. Fare well!” Cristobel waved and hurried toward the vegetable garden.

Rapunzel knocked on the door, but when she didn't hear Sir Gerek's familiar call to enter, she walked around the building and found him where he had been sitting the last time, in the sun with his leg propped up.

“How much longer before you get the splints off?” She sat down beside him without waiting to be invited.

“Two weeks,” he said, glancing up at her.

“Will you shave your beard then?”

“Perhaps not.” He stroked the lengthening hair on his cheeks and chin. “It makes me look more ferocious, don't you think?”

“Frightening, as I told you before. But I thought you wanted to marry a wealthy lady. You aren't likely to attract any with that weasel fur on your face.”

He scowled and mumbled, “Weasel fur,” then humphed.

“Will you leave the monastery when your leg and arm are healed?”

“Of course. I'll go back to Hagenheim Castle and to my duties.”

He would no longer be able to teach her Latin. Why hadn't she thought of this before?

He raised his brows at her. “I'm sure there will be a monk who will be willing to teach you when I'm gone,” he said, as if reading her mind. “Only be careful. Not all monks are as safe and righteous as Brother Andrew.”

Rapunzel wasn't sure she would trust anyone as much as she had trusted Sir Gerek. And it was only because of his injuries that she had trusted him; she could run away and he couldn't chase her down.

They began their Latin lesson, and later, when Rapunzel was staring hard at the page in front of them, sitting quite close by Sir Gerek's side, Cristobel's voice rang out.

“There you are! Are you done with your reading lesson yet?”

Rapunzel looked up at the girl. “Almost.”

“There are some wildflowers in the next meadow I want to pick. I shall return in a little while.”

“Who is that?” Sir Gerek asked as soon as she had walked away.

“A girl I met today. She came to visit her brother who lives here.”

“She isn't wearing anything on her head.” Sir Gerek was looking askance at her.

“Mother says it's not decent for a woman to go around bareheaded. And she doesn't wish for me to show my hair.”

“That's ridiculous.”

“What did you say?” She already knew, but she wanted him to elaborate. Perhaps she could use his argument with Mother.

“Your mother . . .,” he said with a thoughtful squint. He paused. “Is your mother unkind to you? Does she beat you?”

Rapunzel drew back. “Whatever made you think that?”

“I am only asking. She doesn't seem to realize that you are a grown woman, it seems to me, and not a child of ten. She doesn't want you to talk to men, doesn't want you to learn to read, and has you frightened to even show your hair. Does that not seem a bit strange to you?”

Was he right? Was Rapunzel addled to allow her mother to control her so much? But she had no choice. She and Mother had been taking care of each other all of Rapunzel's life. What would she do without Mother? What would Mother do without her?

“Does she beat you?” he asked again.

“No, she doesn't beat me.”

“Then why do you not uncover your hair?”

“It feels . . . immodest.”

“Do you think Cristobel looks immodest?”

“No.” So if it was acceptable for others, why not for her? But still, she was not about to take off her wimple.

“A man might marry you if he could see a bit of your hair.”

“And of course, all I could possibly want is to marry.” Mother would have thought of something much more biting to say.

“Well, do you not want to marry? What else would you do?”

“Why would I want to marry a man who would probably tell me reading was foolishness? How would I ever read the rest of the Bible if I were married? Besides, I could work in a shop, or even work at Hagenheim Castle, instead of getting married.”

“Would you prefer working for money to being married and having children?”

“Perhaps I would. Yes, I certainly would.” She stared defiantly at him, daring him to argue with her.

He shrugged. “If you wish to work in Hagenheim Castle, you would have to wear a certain type of dress and wear your hair partially uncovered. All the maids must dress the same.”

She did not know that. But . . . “I could do that. It would not be a problem.” She smiled at him and lifted her chin.

“Perhaps we shall see each other there, then.”

“You are in and out of the castle very often?”

“Yes. The knights often eat in the Great Hall with the family.” His familiar arrogance showed in the tilt of his head and the informal tone of his voice.

Cristobel was walking toward them.

“I should go. Thank you for the lesson today.”

He nodded.

Once the girls reconvened, Cristobel linked her arm through Rapunzel's. “Who is that man?”

“Sir Gerek. He's teaching me Latin.”

“Are you and he . . .”

Rapunzel's cheeks heated. “No, no. He is one of Duke Wilhelm's knights and very virtuous.” Or so she hoped. “He is only teaching me to read because the monks are forcing him to while he waits for his broken leg and broken arm to heal.”

Cristobel tilted her head and scrunched her brows. Then she shook her head and smiled. “Whatever the reason, I envy you. He is very handsome.”

“How can you tell with all that hair covering his face?”

“He is a knight, isn't he? Besides, I can see he is well-looking. If I were being tutored by a handsome young knight, I would uncover my hair and wear a more revealing dress.” She looked pointedly at Rapunzel's chest, which was covered nearly to her chin in her modest kirtle and underdress.

“It is too cold to wear something revealing.”

“Pfft.”
Cristobel expelled air through her teeth and rolled her eyes.

“Besides, he doesn't want to marry me. He means to marry a wealthy heiress, a lady of noble birth.”

Cristobel laughed. “He doesn't have to marry you. If you have his baby and he claims it, you could get money out of him, or a nice house, or a position in the church for your child, if it turns out to be a son.”

Rapunzel's face was burning. “I don't wish to . . . have children.” Not in
that
way, at least. “I was thinking I want to work, like you.”

“Ach, but yes, it is much better to work for coin than to have babies. My sister has two babies and is married to a farmer, and every time I go to visit her, she is crying. But I told her she should not marry a farmer who has so little land.” Cristobel shook her head. “I plan to save my coin and marry a burgher—a butcher or blacksmith or tailor. Then I can live in Hagenheim and buy my bread every day instead of making it, and be rich enough to hire a nurse and a cook and other servants.”

That did sound like a good plan.

“Perhaps I can help you get a position at the castle. And with Sir Gerek to put in a good word for you, I'm sure you will get hired.”

“Truly?” But Mother would be so furious . . . and hurt.

Rapunzel parted from her new friend at the door of her house, with a promise from Cristobel to come for a visit.

As she quickly got out her paints and a brush, she pondered all that her new friend had told her. Could she defy Mother, leave her, and get a job at the castle? It was hard to imagine. But was she foolish, as Sir Gerek seemed to think she was, for allowing Mother to make her believe she should always cover her hair?

Rapunzel sighed. Her simple life suddenly seemed complicated.

Chapter Fifteen

The next day, Mother set out for Hagenheim to check
up on her pregnant women.

Rapunzel also set out, in the opposite direction, after watching her mother disappear into the forest.

The smell of spring infused the tiny breeze that brushed her face, and spring was in the songs of the twittering birds around her. It was good to hear birds again after the long winter.

She pictured the words Sir Gerek had taught her the day before, the new Latin words. She was saying them to herself when she thought she heard something behind her. She glanced over her shoulder but didn't see anything. A few minutes later, she was sure she heard someone walking, with the crackling of twigs and leaves not far away. She stopped and listened, but all she heard was the birds.

She kept walking, her heart beating faster, but when she heard the sound again, she called, “Cristobel, is that you?” Her heart was beating in her throat as she tried to hold her breath to listen.

Then she saw a tiny movement, a flash of gray cloth. “Who is there?”

A figure emerged from the bushes, but it was not Cristobel. It was the man who had attacked her and her mother on the road.

His smile sent a bolt of lightning through her stomach. She turned and ran toward the monastery.

He crashed through the undergrowth behind her, running after her.

O God, help me. Jesus.
A sob caught in her throat as she ran as fast as her legs would go. Would she make it to the monastery before he reached her?

She could see the clearing ahead, but it seemed so far. If she could reach the open pasture and get someone's attention, she might be saved.

Her lungs burned as she forced herself to run faster. He was getting closer. She heard him laugh—he was so close! Suddenly, her wimple was wrenched off her head. She kept running as her hair was loosed down her back.

The clearing was just ahead. She could see the monastery dormitory. “Gerek!” she screamed. The man grabbed her hair and jerked so hard, her feet left the ground and she landed on her back.

She screamed until he clamped his hand over her mouth. Then he sat on her stomach.

He leaned over her, still smiling. “Now you will be sorry for throwing that knife at me.” He struggled to get something off his hip, then held up a knife—her knife. “Remember this?”

Rapunzel could barely breathe with him sitting on her stomach and his hand over her mouth. She clawed and slapped at his hand. He removed it, but when she took a breath to scream, he placed the knife to her throat.

“If you scream, I'll slit your throat from one side to the other.”

With every breath, the cold blade of the knife pressed against her throat. She gulped the air anyway, until her vision became less fuzzy. He was still talking.

“I shall cut you and watch you bleed. Now tell me how sorry you are.”

She must be dreaming. It looked as if Sir Gerek was standing just behind him with his sword. Was it the angel of the Lord?

“You rancid piece of dog meat,” he said.

The smiling man pulled the knife away from Rapunzel's throat and started to turn his head to see who was behind him.

Sir Gerek slammed the butt of his sword into the man's temple and he fell over. The knife fell from his loosened grip and Rapunzel grabbed it. She scrambled to pull her legs out from under the dead weight of her attacker and stood to her feet, still clutching the knife.

Sir Gerek's face was a dark mask as he stared down at the man. But when he turned and looked at her, the mask disappeared and his entire face went slack.

“Are you hurt?”

She shook her head. Then her arms and legs began to tremble. She took another step away from her attacker, whose eyes were still closed. Glancing at Sir Gerek, she mumbled, “You shouldn't be walking. You will injure your leg.”