Free While the World Is Still Asleep (The Century Trilogy Book 1) by Petra Durst-Benning Page A

Lilo.”
    Lilo’s handshake was so hard that Josephine grimaced in pain.
    “You’re the daughter of Joachim Roth, our caretaker? I didn’t even know he had any children. And Frieda never mentioned you, either . . .”
    Lilo snorted in disgust. “Terrific. Just goes to show what they think of me. My father doesn’t surprise me—he doesn’t want me coming into contact with the sanatorium’s sick guests.” Lilo grabbed her bicycle and began pushing it down the hill. “And he doesn’t know anything about this—so don’t breathe a word of it!”
    Josephine had to hurry to keep up with her. “I’m no snitch. But hold on a second. What is that thing? I’ve never seen anything like it. And what were you doing with it before you fell off? You were faster than lightning!”
    Lilo stopped abruptly. “Are you kidding me? You come from Berlin, right? There must be tons of bicycles there. I just read in the newspaper about some women who were supposedly riding velocipedes in your city park. It seems the other people in the park pelted them with stones, and the man who wrote the article talked about a ‘scandal for the female sex.’ You didn’t hear about that?”
    “No, really, not a word. I . . . We don’t read any newspapers at home. It’s the first time I’ve seen such a . . . velo.”
    Lilo frowned, still skeptical. Then, in a more forgiving tone, she presented her vehicle. “This is a velocipede, also known as a pedal bicycle. You sit here on this saddle, then put one foot on each side, on these pedals. With your hands, you hold onto the handlebars, which you use to steer in whatever direction you want to ride. Pressing on the pedals sets the bicycle rolling. I believe it’s faster than a horse. And awfully expensive, too,” said Lilo, her eyes glowing with pride.
    Josephine shook her head in disbelief. “But it’s so narrow! Don’t you fall over as soon as you’re on the saddle?”
    Lilo grinned. “Well, it takes a bit of skill and practice, of course. You have to keep both feet on the ground until you’re ready to pedal, and then you have to get going very quickly. Come on, I’ll show you!” She turned the contraption onto a level path that led into the forest.
    Josephine watched in fascination as the strange girl lifted her skirt and stuffed as much material as possible beneath her rear end, which did not look very becoming at all . . .
    Then the caretaker’s daughter swung both feet up onto the pedals and began to turn them. With a labored and not very elegant motion, the bicycle started to move, and Josephine realized why Lilo had gone to such trouble with her skirt. She did not want to imagine what would happen if the material caught between the spokes of the wheel. The bicycle’s wheels turned faster and faster, and before Josephine knew it, Lilo was out of sight around a curve.
    She set off after her at a trot, but Lilo had already turned and was pedaling back. She was grinning from ear to ear, her blond hair billowing in the slipstream. She laughed and called out to Josephine, “Get out of the way, or I’ll run into you after all!”
    Lilo pedaled back and forth along the path another three or four times while Josephine watched, her heart pounding with excitement. She wanted to try it herself. She had to try it herself! But when she asked Lilo if she could, the other girl shook her head.
    “It isn’t that easy. Riding a velo takes practice. Besides, I’ve never let anyone else try it, because it doesn’t belong to me. What if something happened?”
    “Nothing’s going to happen. I’ll be careful,” Josephine replied. The longer she looked at the shining velocipede, the greater her desire to sit on its saddle grew.
    “But I hardly even know you. You’re probably one of those chatty girls who can’t keep a secret. Then there’ll be hell to pay. For me.”
    Josephine looked Lilo in the eye. “I swear by God above that I won’t breathe a single word to a soul about