Maria’s eyes twinkled. She whispered to Pieter and Heinrich, and when she was done, what little color had remained in their cheeks was drained away. The men took deep breaths and faced the crowd. Pieter raised his staff with feigned confidence. “Hear me, men of Meiringen. First, we’ve need of your priest as witness and guarantor. Second, we need your magistrate to pledge our fair treatment and safe escort away.”
“What’s the wager?” demanded several voices.
Heinrich looked anxiously at the little girl, then turned to the sea of encircling faces. “See the stack of cheeses? She is to be blindfolded whilst you make three new stacks of any size. She will then be allowed to touch only the bottom rows of each, and before the priest can say three ‘Aves,’ she will tell you exactly how many cheeses are in each stack.”
The crowd roared. “Not possible!” chortled one.
“How much to wager?” chimed another.
Pieter quickly took control. “Tell us, Herr Hartman, tell us the price of cheese enough to feed eleven for a fortnight. Add the price of six fresh loaves of spelt bread, a hogshead of dried pork, three gallons of beer, a quarter of vegetables, and a ring of ground grain. Oh, and four gills of honey.”
Otto shifted uneasily as the man calculated his price. “A penny for the beer, three for the honey, hmm, then the bread … the vegetables, grain … and a shilling for the pork … comes to two shillings, ten.”
Pieter looked astonished. “Do not cheat us, man! I am a priest, and thou shalt have suffering aplenty!”
At that moment the village priest emerged from the crowd. “I am Father Mattias, and I say it is a fair price.”
Pieter looked at the black-robed cleric and grunted. “You ask too much.”
“Enough of this!” boomed Hartman. “Take my price or leave it be.”
Pieter looked at Maria. “Are you sure, my dear?”
“Papa Pieter! What do you think?”
The old man grunted in wry amusement. He bent over and kissed the girl on the cheek. He turned to the priest. “Then we offer this: we wager seventeen pennies against the food.”
A loud chorus of objections rang out.
“What? You ought wager twice my price, not half!” The merchant was ranting.
Pieter lifted his nose high in the air. “You fear this girl so?”
“Is she a witch?” cried a voice.
Pieter chilled. He hadn’t counted on that. He suddenly realized they might have trapped themselves. If she fails, we lose the wager; if she reckons rightly, she’ll be taken as a witchling. Masking his fear, he laughed loudly. “No, good sir. She is no witch. On that you’ve my word as a priest of the Holy Church.
“But now I fear you’ll hide behind such a foolish accusation when you lose. So without a guarantee, we’ll not wager a penny.”
The village priest stepped forward and stared at Maria. The little girl was suddenly frightened. “Recite the ‘Ave.’”
Maria swallowed and began. “Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu…”
When she finished, Father Mattias nodded. “Now, the Lord’s Prayer.”
The little girl cleared her throat and spoke with confidence. “Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctifïcetur nomen tuum…”
The priest laid his hands on her head and closed his eyes. Satisfied, he pronounced her clean of both demons and witchcraft, “though beset by the shame of unbelief and a disgrace to the name of Christ as are all these pitiful child crusaders.”
Pieter snorted and spat. “You have offended us with your charge. We’ll have no part in this.”
The crowd protested loudly.
“Nay!” shouted Pieter. “I’ll not let this precious child suffer the vile thoughts of wags like you.”
“Two to one, then!” shouted a voice. “Take his offer, Hartman, two to one!”
“Eh?” Pieter looked at Heinrich with a mischievous smirk. He stroked his beard slowly. “Hmm. I think not. But perhaps three to one for Hartman’s goods, and we’ll take wagers for silver with the rest of you.”
The men of Meiringen fell quiet for a few moments. They whispered among themselves until a number of “ayes” could be heard among the crowd. Soon, a long line of penny-bearing palms was passing by the magistrate and the priest who kept record of each wager. Within the half hour, the guarantor was holding a basket filled with ninety silver pennies—the equivalent of nearly four months’ labor by a commoner. Heinrich handed the man one gold coin and six silver pennies. He then handed him eleven pennies against the foodstuffs wagered by Hartman. “A lot to lose,” mumbled Heinrich to Pieter.