Free Escape from the Past by Annette Oppenlander Page B

and her rat mount their horses, I suppressed the urge to kick him in his velvety butt. By the time I rushed back inside, Juliana was crying.
    “I knew she’d made an arrangement.
Mutter
never told me she received money.”
    I fumed. Gaming was supposed to be fun. Jimmy’s game was a nightmare, neither entertaining nor enjoyable. Helplessly I sat down next to Juliana and patted her hand.
    She threw up her arms and pulled me close. “Don’t let them get me,” she sobbed. “He’s lusty and…”
    Fighting to keep my breath under control, I clasped on to her. “When is the festival?” I whispered, sticking my nose into her hair.
    “It starts Friday night and ends Sunday morning.”
    “This Friday?” I felt the little puffs of her breath on my bare shoulder—exquisite.
    Her head moved up and down.
    “So, we have four days to figure this out.”
    “She’ll want me the morn of Friday.”
    I patted her back. “We’ll find a way.”
    She sighed and the room turned quiet. I should get up, I thought, but my body refused.
    “Caught you,” Bero announced into the stillness.
    I drew back. Nothing had happened, not even a kiss. But I felt guilty nonetheless. It had to look suspicious, me without a shirt, hovering over the girl.
    “Juliana cried,” I said, searching to steady my voice while jumping up and yanking my shirt from the fireplace. “LadyMiranda and her son, Ott, came to claim her. I sent them away, but they want her Friday.”
    “Likely story.”
    “It’s true,” Juliana said. “
Mutter
sold me to her.” Her eyes looked dark with anger as Bero’s mother entered the hut.
    “We needed to eat,” their mother said. “It was shortly after your father…I never expected this…” Her arms dropped as tears spilled across her cheeks and she slumped on the bench.
    Tired of crying women, I pulled Bero by the sleeve to follow me. “We need to talk.”
    We walked into the yard next to the stall. The pigs were lolling in a mud puddle, grunting with anticipation of another excursion. I took a seat on the cutting block used for wood splitting.
    “I saw that rat, Miranda’s son,” I said. “Juliana cannot return to them. They’ll kill her or Ott will rape her and get her pregnant.”
    “What can we do? Miranda is a lady. We do what they tell us.”
    “We must find another place for Juliana—somewhere safe.”
    Bero shook his head. “I don’t know how.”
    “What about town?”
    “
Heiligenstadt
? Nay!” Bero said. “I visited once. It’s dirty. Rats the size of my sows. People get sick.” Bero picked up a chunk of wood and hurled it in the dust. “You don’t understand. A lass has no choices. She does what she’s told until she gets married. Then her husband tells her what to do.”
    “Listen to yourself.” I jumped away from the block, nearly stepping on one of the pigs. It squealed and took cover behind its friends. “She’s your sister, for goodness sake. Don’t you want to protect her?”
    Bero shrugged. “We’re serfs. It’s life.”
    I stared at my friend. “How can you give up this easily? We have to find a way. I’ll help her even if you don’t.”
    “How?”
    “Don’t know yet, what concern is it of yours? She’s just a
lass
and doesn’t have a choice,” I jeered. I wanted to punch Bero. Why was he such a dickhead? I sat back down. It was useless. Who was I anyway? It’d take hundreds more years till they had decent laws.
    Bero stared at me. “I’ll help you if I can,” he said in a small voice. “It’s just—you show up and do all these feats. You know things… It messes with my head.” Suspicion had crept back into his eyes.
    When I didn’t answer, Bero turned and walked toward the hut.
    “Bero, wait.” I climbed across the barrier to catch up. “Sorry. I need your help. I think if we work together we can find a solution. She’s too good for them and…” I ran out of words as I thought of the rat.
    Bero nodded. “Let’s get a piece of bread. Sows