The Secret Healer(84)
“You’re lucky that you found a new job. Or did Agathe take care of that?”
Roswitha looked up, gazing first at Johannes then at Elsbeth. It was obvious that she hadn’t expected this question.
“Well, don’t you want to answer?” Johannes asked.
“Yes, it was Agathe who arranged it,” Roswitha admitted.
“How nice of her,” Johannes replied sarcastically. “And Otilia just so happened to have an open position?”
“She was looking for a maid, yes, at least until Agathe comes back.”
“Wait a minute.” Johannes lifted his eyebrows. “Agathe’s coming back?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“And do you know when?”
“No, my lord.”
“But you are sure that she’s coming back?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“And how you can be so sure?”
“She told me. As soon as . . .” She chewed on her lower lip, looking for the right words. “As soon as she’s taken care of business, she will come back with your wife.”
Johannes laughed. “How nice to hear that from the mouth of a maid.” He banged his fist on the table. Elsbeth and Roswitha yelped.
“I’ve had enough. Where did they go? Tell me right now!”
Roswitha’s eyes were wide with terror. “I . . . I . . . please.”
“Please what?” Johannes put his hands on the table and moved his face right up to hers.
“I, really, I really don’t know. I swear to you. I don’t know,” the maid stammered.
She gulped as she tried to look past him to Elsbeth, but he wouldn’t let her.
“You seem to have less concern for Sander than I thought.”
Roswitha broke down in tears. “Please, Sander hasn’t done anything.”
“He let the secret healer fix him, and we both know who that is, don’t we?”
Roswitha felt her whole body pulsate. “You know?” she asked in disbelief.
“Yes, I know everything. So you can stop lying.” He banged on the table again, then folded his hands behind his back and paced the room. “What I don’t know is where my faithful wife went. You will tell me, if you value Sander’s life at all.”
“But you’re not . . . Sander has nothing to do with this.”
“It’s up to you. I’m going to find Maria, with or without your help. Tomorrow, I leave Worms.” Johannes felt Elsbeth’s eyes sticking to him like glue. He’d just made the decision, but he was confident that it was the right one. He lifted his head. “No one, except me, knows where Sander is. Think about that. If I leave tomorrow and you haven’t told me where I can find these women, Sander will stay where he is and rot. No one will find him. It’s your decision. Tell me where they went, and I’ll set Sander free. If not, I’ll present you with his decomposed remains when I return in a few months.”
Terrified, Roswitha blurted out, “A skipper named Hugo took them. He sailed with them on the Rhine.”
“Where did they go exactly?”
“I heard Maria and Agathe talk about a merchant who buys her dresses whenever he moors in Worms.”
“And where does this merchant live?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
Johannes took a deep, exasperated breath as the maid struggled to remember.
“I know it’s a city close to the Netherlands. I just can’t recall the name.” Tears welled up in her eyes. Suddenly, she lit up. “Emmerich! That’s it. The place is called Emmerich.” Her heart beat wildly in her chest. Whether it was due to relief or because she’d betrayed her mistress, she couldn’t say.
“Emmerich, you say?”
“Yes, my lord. I’m sure of it. That’s all I know, I swear.” She looked at him expectantly. “Can I get Sander back now?”
Johannes hired a skipper the very next morning to take him north on the Rhine, although he would not reveal his exact destination until they arrived. The pouch filled with money was all the skipper needed to sail out.
“I have to pick up some goods first. It’ll only take an hour.”
“I’ll be waiting here.” Johannes took back the money pouch.
“Hey, wait a minute. You need to pay me.”
“I’ll pay you half as soon as we make sail and the other when we arrive.”
The skipper mumbled something, but he left it at that. Some people were simply distrustful these days.
Chapter Twenty-Five
They had to ask half the population of Emmerich before they found out where Ruppert lived. Agathe fervently hoped he was home. She knocked, and a toothless woman opened the door; she was a good twenty years older than Agathe.