The Golden Braid Page 2

  Finally, her mother answered softly, “I saw someone in Keiterhafen this morning, someone who . . . needs my help with . . . something.”

  Rapunzel stopped in the middle of folding her clothes, waiting for Mother to clarify the strange comment.

  “And now we will be going to meet him in Hagenheim.”

  Her heart leapt. Hagenheim was a great town, the largest around.

  She tried not to sound eager as she asked, “Isn’t that where you lived a long time ago, when Great-Grandmother was still alive?”

  “Yes, my darling. Your great-grandmother was the most renowned midwife in the town of Hagenheim—in the entire region.” She paused. “Someone I once knew will soon be back in Hagenheim after a long stay in England.”

  “I don’t remember you saying you knew anyone who went to England. Is it a family member?”

  Her mother turned to Rapunzel with a brittle smile. “No, not a family member. And I have never mentioned this person before. I do not wish to talk about it now.”

  The look on Mother’s face kept Rapunzel from asking any more questions. Mother had never had friends, and she had never shown any interest in marrying. Although she could marry if she wished. She was still slim and beautiful, with her long, dark hair, which had very little gray.

  Later, as Rapunzel finished getting her things ready to tie onto their ox in the morning, she hummed a little song she’d made up. Mother enjoyed hearing her songs, but only when no one else was around.

  When night fell, Rapunzel sang her song as Mother finished braiding Rapunzel’s long blond hair. Mother smiled in her slow, secretive way. “My precious, talented girl.”

  Rapunzel embraced her and crawled under the coverlet of their little straw bed.

  The next day Rapunzel trudged beside her mother down the road, which was nothing more than two ruts that the ox carts had worn deep in the mud that had then dried and become as hard as stone. She led their ox, Moll, down the center between the ruts, careful to avoid stepping in the horse and ox dung. Their laying hens clucked nervously from the baskets that were strapped to Moll’s back.

  Night began to fall. Rapunzel lifted her hand to her face and rubbed the scar on her palm against her cheek absentmindedly. She’d had the scar, which ran from the base of her thumb to the other side of her hand, for as long as she could remember. The skin over it was smooth and pale, like a long crescent moon.

  “How much farther to Hagenheim, Mother?”

  “At least two more days.”

  Rapunzel didn’t mention what she was thinking: that a band of robbers could easily be hiding in the trees at the side of the road. It was not safe for two women to be traveling alone, although they had never been attacked in all the times they had moved from one village to the next.

  They had also never traveled so far. They normally only journeyed a few hours.

  When the moon was up and shining brightly, and they had not encountered any other travelers for at least an hour, Mother said, “We will stop here for the night.”

  Rapunzel guided the ox off the road and among the dark trees.

  They made a small fire and prepared a dinner of toasted bread, cheese, and fried eggs.

  After making sure the ox and hens had food, and after putting out their fire, Rapunzel and Mother lay close together, wrapped in their blankets. Rapunzel sang softly until Mother began to snore.

  The next day was uneventful and the unusually warm weather continued. The sun shone down on Rapunzel’s head and shoulders as she plodded along at the speed of the ox and to the sound of the chickens’ clucking and squawking. Occasionally she amused herself and Mother with her songs, but she always stopped singing when someone came within listening distance. Her mother had warned her not to let strangers hear her beautiful voice or see her golden, ankle-length hair, which Rapunzel kept covered with a scarf and sometimes a stiff wimple. But Mother had never explained why. Perhaps she just didn’t want Rapunzel attracting attention to herself for the same reason she didn’t want her singing or speaking to men, young, old, or in-between.

  On the second day of their journey, two travelers caught up with them, leading two donkeys that pulled a cart loaded and covered by burlap, with one of the men riding on the tallest lump on the back of the cart. As they passed by to Rapunzel’s right, the man leading the donkeys smiled. “Pardon me, but would you know how close we are to Hagenheim town?”

  “We should reach it by tomorrow night.” Rapunzel noticed a big scar on the side of his face. “You may reach it sooner since you are moving faster.”

  “Thank you, kind maiden.” He nodded.

  Mother turned to stare hard at something just behind them. The second man stared pointedly at their bundles and baskets tied to Moll’s back. When the man’s eyes darted to hers, the hair on the back of her neck stood up at the look in his eyes and the strange smile on his face.

  “A good day to you.” He spoke politely, and they moved ahead until they rounded a shady bend in the road and disappeared.

  She sighed in relief, until her mother said in her irritable tone, “Don’t speak to strangers, Rapunzel. You know it is dangerous.”

  “He only asked a simple question. Besides, he didn’t look dangerous.”

  “Dangerous men are the ones who take care not to look dangerous.”

  Clouds encroached on the sun, sending a shadow creeping over her shoulder. As they entered the double shadow of the trees that hung over the curve in the road, the cart that had passed them a few moments before sat idle several feet ahead. Its two owners were nowhere in sight.

  Rapunzel felt a sensation like bugs crawling over her skin. She put her hand on her belt, where she usually kept her knife, but it was not there. She must have left it in their food bag when she put everything away after their midday meal. Should she stop? Or speed up?

  Before she could decide, she heard footsteps running up behind her. She spun around just as the man who had smiled at her earlier reached his hands toward her. And he was still smiling.

  Chapter Two

  Mother screamed. The scarred man clamped his hand over Mother’s face.

  “Get away!” Rapunzel yelled. While her head was turned, the smiling man closed the gap between them and grabbed her hands. She screamed, and the man with the scar on his face yelled, “Shut her up!”

  He grabbed her face, his fingers biting into her cheek, smothering her screams.

  She had to get free, had to help her mother. She yanked a hand up and slammed her fist into the grinning man’s throat. Next she brought her knee up and struck him between his legs.

  He released her, let out a strangled cry, and sank to the ground.

  She ran to her mother. The scarred man was choking her. “No!” Rapunzel screamed.

  He looked down at his partner, who lay on the ground, coughing weakly and moaning.

  Rapunzel stepped forward and slammed her fist into the scarred man’s throat. She tried to knee him between the legs, but he shifted Mother in front of him.

  Rapunzel clawed at his hands with her fingernails. But instead of letting Mother go, he grabbed Rapunzel’s wrist with one hand and squeezed so hard she cried out.

  She used her other hand to claw at the hand that held Mother’s throat. Mother was struggling against him, but her lips were turning blue and her movements were slow and weak.

  The scarred man was breathing out curses and threats, but Rapunzel renewed her efforts, slamming her fist into his face until he finally let go.

  Mother coughed and sputtered, leaning forward as she gasped for breath.

  The scarred man grabbed both Rapunzel’s hands and twisted her arms behind her. He hissed in her ear, “I will kill you.”

  The smiling man got to his feet and caught hold of her mother. Rapunzel yelled and lunged at him, but the scarred man held her fast.

  The smiling man continued to grin. “You put up quite a fight. What have you got on that ox besides those chickens? Any gold or silver?”

  Mother ras
ped out, “I’ve a Saracen charm that will cause your extremities to turn black and shrivel up.” She began chanting as though in a foreign tongue.

  “Shut up, old woman.” The scarred man behind her jerked Rapunzel’s arms, making her shoulders burn more. “Get some rope and tie her up,” he growled.

  “O Father God, send your angels,” Rapunzel whispered under her breath. “Send your archangel with his flaming sword.” Her heart pounded. What would these men do to her and her mother? Would they steal their chickens and few household belongings and then leave them alone? Would they do something even more dastardly than robbing them of their possessions once they realized they had no gold or silver?

  The smiley one was still breathing strangely after her attack, and the scarred one had bloody scratches on his hands from her fingernails, a sight that sent a thrill of satisfaction through her.

  A sound broke through her consciousness. Horse’s hooves!

  “Help!” Rapunzel yelled until the scarred man covered her mouth again.

  The two men exchanged a look.

  Suddenly, he let go of her, then shoved her so the ground rushed up to meet her.

  Rapunzel hit the dirt so fast she didn’t have time to get her hands underneath her. She landed on her left shoulder and the side of her head. A sharp pain pulsed through her eye, then everything went dark.

  Gerek urged his horse into a full gallop in the direction of the scream. Another scream, this time louder, sent a chill through him. Donner, always ready for a full-out gallop, seemed to revel in the wind whipping through his mane as his hooves flew over the ground, eating up the road with his powerful legs.

  When they rounded a bend, two women were lying in the dirt. He pulled back on the reins. “Whoa!”

  Donner slowed before halting beside them. The older woman sat between the ruts holding the head and shoulders of a young woman in her lap.

  “What has happened here?” Gerek dismounted and came toward them.

  His breath stuck in his throat at how beautiful the young woman was. Her eyes were closed. Dirt and a small trickle of blood marred her temple, but he couldn’t imagine she was dead, as her cheek glowed with color and her lips were unusually pink.

  “What happened?” He knelt beside her.

  “She struck her head on the ground,” the older woman said. “You have frightened away our attackers, but if you hurry, you might catch them.” The older woman hooked her thumb over her shoulder to the north, the direction of Hagenheim.

  There was nothing he could do for the girl, so he leapt onto Donner’s back and gave the horse his head again.

  After racing around another slight curve in the road, he caught a glimpse of a cart before it disappeared into the trees.

  Gerek guided his horse off the road, drawing his sword as he entered the woods.

  Two men ambushed him with knives. Their eyes flicked to his drawn sword and they halted. One man turned and ran left, the other right.

  The first one looked the most dangerous, so Gerek went after him. Donner had to wind around trees and step over bushes and limbs, while Gerek kept his head low to prevent being knocked off his horse’s back.

  Had he lost the man? He halted his horse and listened. He heard heavy breathing but was uncertain of the direction from which it came. He guided Donner forward and found the man hiding behind a tree trunk.

  “In the name of Duke Wilhelm of Hagenheim, I order you to give yourself up to me.”

  The man’s shrewd eyes trained themselves on Gerek as he dismounted.

  “I have done nothing wrong.”

  “You and your companion attacked those two women in the road.”

  The man was silent. His expression was quite strange, as if he couldn’t stop smiling.

  “Down on your knees, lout, or I shall knock you unconscious the way you did that poor maiden.”

  The man complied.

  “Now put your hands on your head.” Gerek quickly grabbed the rope in his saddlebag and tied the man’s wrists together. Then he tethered him to Donner’s saddle.

  The man’s eyes were defiant and sullen, but he was smiling.

  Gerek remounted his horse and made his way back to the road where he had left the two women, his prisoner forced to follow behind on foot.

  He found the women where he had left them. The pretty one was sitting up and her eyes were open.

  Even with dirt on her face and dress, she took his breath away. Her eyes were a dark blue, her hair a golden blond, although it was tightly braided and mostly covered by a cloth that had fallen askew.

  The older woman was dabbing at the blood and dirt on the girl’s forehead. “Cover your hair,” she hissed.

  The maiden started stuffing her braid back inside her head covering. She looked up and her gaze immediately fell on the man whose hands were tied to the back of Gerek’s saddle. She drew back.

  Gerek dismounted and bowed before the two women. “My name is Sir Gerek. I am a knight in the service of Duke Wilhelm of Hagenheim. Can you tell me if this man is one of your attackers?”

  “Yes,” the young one said. “The one who shoved me has a scar on his face, like this.” She drew a line down her cheek.

  “I am sorry I was not able to capture both of them,” Gerek said, “but I shall warn the other knights and guards in Hagenheim to be looking for a man with a scar. Did he have any other distinguishing marks?”

  She bit her lower lip. “He had a gap between his front teeth. Mother, do you remember what he looked like?”

  “He looked like a fiend. They grabbed us and choked us and talked of stealing our chickens and doing us harm. Look what they did to my daughter!”

  The beauty said, “He had brown hair and was only a little taller than me, but his scar was very evident.”

  “He was ugly,” the woman added.

  “Please allow me to thank you,” the young one said, “for saving us from those two evil men. If you had not come when you did, they surely would have stolen everything we have.”

  Gerek nodded. “It is my duty, as a knight pledged to Duke Wilhelm, to protect all the people of the region of Hagenheim. I shall take this cur to see justice done.” He stepped closer to her. “May I help you up?”

  Her mother quickly moved between him and the girl. “No. She doesn’t need your help.” And she proceeded to haul the young woman to her feet.

  Gerek took a step back at her rudeness. Most mothers, when they discovered he was one of Duke Wilhelm’s knights, smiled and simpered and nearly threw their daughters at his feet.

  The woman began brushing the dust from the girl’s clothing. The girl swayed.

  “Are you well?” Gerek tried to get a better look at the girl’s eyes. Sometimes one could see by a person’s eyes if the head injury was serious or not.

  “I am well.” She didn’t look at him, but she placed a hand on her mother’s shoulder to steady herself.

  He could not leave them until he made sure the maiden would not fall over as soon as she started to walk. “Where do you live? Were you traveling someplace?”

  “We are on our way to Hagenheim,” the girl supplied, as the mother was quite tight-lipped. “How much farther is it?”

  “It is at least another day’s walk, and you do not look able to walk.” He sensed her mother would never allow her to ride on Donner’s back with him.

  “We do not need your help,” the mother barked. “We wish to travel at our own pace.”

  “The two robbers left a cart and two donkeys near the side of the road when I was chasing them. The donkeys and cart might still be there. Your daughter could ride in the cart the rest of the way to Hagenheim.”

  “My daughter is not your concern.”

  He stared at her with his mouth open. “Are you not concerned for her? She has suffered an attack and a blow to the head and should not be walking.”

  She scrunched her face and raised her nose in the air, turning away. “She is not your concern,” she repeated.

  He was
getting quite tired of this woman’s refusal of his help. Before she could protest, he took the young maiden’s arm, led her to Donner’s side, and lifted her onto the horse’s back so that she was sitting sidesaddle.

  The girl’s mother sputtered. “What are you doing? Get away from her!”

  He held on to her long enough for her to get her balance and grab hold of the pommel. “Are you secure?” he asked, still holding on to her elbow. “You will not fall if I release you?”

  “No.” She finally met his eye. Her lips pursed in a tight line, she did not smile, and she did not thank him.

  He pulled on Donner’s reins and they started down the road.

  His prisoner followed behind the horse, remaining silent. The mother’s expression was surly as she urged her ox forward.

  They moved slowly and no one spoke. Gerek couldn’t help thinking about the girl. In all his travels around the Continent—in Burgundy, Normandy, Silesia, Aquitaine, Castile, and Bavaria—he couldn’t recall a more beautiful maiden. But it was quite strange to see one her age—at least eighteen or nineteen—unmarried. Especially one so beautiful. Possibly she was widowed.

  But he shouldn’t be wondering about her. He was still stinging from them rejecting his help.

  When they reached the cart, they found it as it had been left by the robbers, except that one of the donkeys was missing. The other culprit must have returned long enough to untie the donkey and ride away on it.

  Before the mother could object, Gerek quickly helped the maiden down from the horse.

  “Feeling better?” he asked.

  “Ja, I am well. Only a slight headache.”

  He should not be staring into her eyes, as he was aware of her mother scowling at them.

  He closed his eyes for a moment. She was only a peasant, after all. “I shall accompany you the rest of the way to Hagenheim. That is my destination anyway.”

  She started to say something, but her mother cut her off.