“Oh.” The cook waved him off. “This skinny bag of bones of a girl has nothing in reserve,” she bleated. “I have to get back to my work now. And you”—she tapped a gnarled finger against the guard’s chest—“you make sure that they disappear from here as soon as possible.”
“Of course,” he said sulkily. Then the old woman disappeared.
“So.” He knelt down to make eye contact with Reni. “Are you feeling better?”
“A little.” She smiled at him. “This must all seem quite silly to you. Please forgive me; it was not my intention to cause you any trouble.”
“But it’s no trouble at all,” he said amiably.
“May I ask what your name is, kind sir?”
“Ditz. People call me Ditz.”
“Ditz?” Reni took her legs off the chair and sat straight up. “What a fine-sounding name. And you’re the guard here in this house?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Who else do you work for? A man of your imposing stature must be in great demand as a guard.”
He smiled, somewhat embarrassed. “Oh, well. There are many people like me.”
“What? Surely you jest. I can’t think of anyone who is as tall as you are.”
“Really?”
“No. The men in Worms are so . . .” She realized that she had just told him the name of her city; she gazed at him wide-eyed, hoping he would think nothing of the blunder.
“Worms? You say you’re from Worms?”
“Yes,” Agathe added, as casually as possible. “A wonderful town, situated directly on the Rhine. Have you ever been there?”
“If you’re from Worms, you’re here because of the trial,” the guard realized. “When you were in front of the door earlier, you acted as if you knew nothing about the trial.” He gazed quickly at each of the women. “What kind of game are you playing?”
Before the women could say anything, he grabbed Reni roughly by the arm. “Out with you! Immediately! Out, I say!” He pulled the writhing woman over to the door. Elsbeth, Agathe, and Otilia followed quickly.
“Let her go immediately, or you’ll be sorry!” Otilia roared at him.
“You’ll be sorry if you don’t get out of this house right now.” He opened the door and shoved Reni out. The other three followed and turned around to face him.
“I never want to see you here again,” he roared before slamming and locking the door with a loud bang.
“That was my fault. I’m so sorry,” Reni said.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s going to be all right,” Agathe said, trying to calm her down. She looked at the Trauenstein house, her heart pounding. Kilian and Irma were now locked in there by themselves.
The four women stayed close, but neither Kilian nor Irma came out.
“We have to do something,” Elsbeth said, when she couldn’t bear it any longer. “They’ve already been in there much too long.”
“You’re right,” Agathe agreed. “But we have to be clever about this.”
“What should we do?” Otilia asked.
“Get the constables,” Elsbeth decided.
“The constables? And deliver Kilian and Irma to them, after they illegally gained entry to Matthias Trauenstein’s house?” Agathe’s eyes lit up.
“No. We’re all witnesses. We all heard it, didn’t we?”
“What?”
“The screams. The desperate cries of a woman. Certainly, there must be a woman being held there against her will. It’s our duty to report this.”
Agathe smiled and Reni’s face brightened.
“I’ll go get the constables,” Reni stated as she pointed to her still-untied bodice.
“A good idea,” Otilia agreed. “Go alone, but say your piece very quickly.”
Agathe didn’t like the idea. “No. I’m going with her. I don’t trust anyone, especially around an open bodice like that. I’ll accompany you. Come on.”
For a brief moment, memories long suppressed burst forth into Agathe’s mind. There was no way she would allow a young, innocent woman to fall into the hands of unscrupulous men. She knew all too well the suffering that such an experience could bring.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“How much longer must this go on?” Matthias Trauenstein shook his head. “We’ve heard the same story over and over again from different mouths. Law or no law, it makes no sense to continue this way in a respectable trial.”
“Are you exhausted?” Andreas asked with seeming concern. “Do you need a break? We can do that any time—”