The Secret Healer(106)
The physician started to speak, but Elsbeth held up her hand and looked at him angrily. “But now I ask you politely to hold your tongue or leave the church, my lord.”
He gasped. The crowd craned their necks to look at him. “This is blasphemy,” he spewed out.
Elsbeth laughed aloud. “Blasphemy? Just who do you think you are? God?”
“Be gone, Doctor,” a voice bellowed. “We want to hear what she has to say.”
“Yes, you couldn’t help anybody,” a woman roared.
“You’ll be sorry for this,” the doctor threatened as he pushed his way toward the exit. Brother Simon readily opened the large wooden door for him so he could leave once and for all. As the door closed, all eyes were once again upon Elsbeth.
“Now, let me tell you dear people why I’ve asked you here today. Some of you know the secret healer as Maria, but in reality her name is Madlen. She is being brought to trial in Heidelberg. She will soon be convicted for helping so many of us.”
“But why?” a woman cried out.
“Why?” Elsbeth repeated. The question had surprised her. “You’ve heard the doctor. No one is allowed to heal for the welfare of the people alone. Especially a woman.” She spit out the last few words contemptuously. “You all know that the healer was able to accomplish what the doctor, with all his knowledge, couldn’t.”
“My Georg died anyway,” called one woman. “She couldn’t help him.”
“She’s just a human being,” Elsbeth shot back. “A person, with no magical powers.”
“What should we do?”
“I need you. If any of you has been cured by the secret healer, I beseech you to go to Heidelberg and testify on her behalf in front of the court.”
“In front of the court? So that they can lock us up because we put ourselves in her hands?” The crowd murmured uneasily.
“No one will be punished!” she assured them, though she didn’t sound terribly convincing. No wonder, as she wasn’t even sure of that herself; much depended on who presided over the court proceedings.
“She saved your lives!” Elsbeth called out as loudly as possible.
A few people stood to leave.
“Stop! I offer five guilders to the first ten to come with me to testify.”
The crowd considered this.
“Stop!” Otilia suddenly roared; she’d been sitting to the side and following the events closely. She walked to the front and stood next to Elsbeth. Otilia glanced up at her before speaking.
“If this woman pays you to appear in front of the court, your testimony will be worthless.” She lifted her head proudly. “Fellow citizens of Worms, you should be ashamed to accept money to save the life of a woman who has already saved yours or the life of a loved one.” She let her gaze wander over the crowd. “Do you really have so little honor? Is that how we think in this city?” She turned to Elsbeth. “My daughter, Reni, had the cough. She was so terribly ill that I had no hope for her survival. But I went to the healer. She didn’t want to risk it, but her compassion for others was stronger than her own instinct for self-preservation, and she came with me.” Otilia’s eyes welled up with tears. “She came and helped my Reni. She gave her back her life, which had almost slipped through my fingers. I’ll never be able to thank her enough, and as I live and breathe, I will head out first thing tomorrow morning to Heidelberg.” She turned again to the crowd, holding up her head. “I will not allow this woman to be punished. She helped my Reni as though she were merely doing her duty as a humble servant of the Lord.” Otilia’s voice grew louder. “She cares nothing for social standing or class. She never thinks about her own advantage or about money.”
The people started cheering. “You’re right!” a man’s deep voice resonated above the crowd. “We’ll help her!” a woman called from the other side.
“We will stand together as one people, one voice, one city, and one soul and revolt against the injustice of the authorities who want to hang our healer!” Otilia cried out as loud as she could. “She is our healer, and we will save her.”
“She’s a saint with the most merciful of hearts!” a voice echoed across the church.
“Tomorrow morning, let us all stand together as one and go to Heidelberg!” Elsbeth called out. “We will save my daughter-in-law! We will save our secret healer!”
The crowd roared as people embraced each other. They called out Madlen’s name, and it echoed against the church walls. The atmosphere was electric with emotion. Elsbeth and Otilia held each other happily. She had succeeded. Would this incredible feeling hold out through the long night? She hoped desperately that it wasn’t just a straw fire that burned bright for a moment and died out just as quickly.