Free The Brixen Witch by Stacy DeKeyser Page B

“No, mistress. You heard me well.”
    Mistress Tanner turned pale, and another commotion erupted in the hall.
    “You must come from the moon, then,” said Marco, his face growing red. “In these parts, one golden guilder is worth upwards of ten thousand florins.”
    “May as well ask for the crown jewels,” declared Otto the baker. “Because we haven’t got them, neither.”
    The mayor banged the head of his broken gavel until he could be heard. “Such an amount is quite impossible, sir! Even if we piled every coin, every scrap of gold, every ring from every finger, it would not add up to one golden guilder.”
    “Nevertheless,” said the stranger, “that is my price.” He settled his hat upon his head. “You may contemplate my offer. I’ll be back tomorrow.” Thestranger tucked his walking stick under his arm and strode toward the door.
    “Wait!” called Rudi from the platform. “We’ll pay your price. We’ll pay you one golden guilder.”

THE STRANGER turned. He cocked an eyebrow at Rudi, but still his face betrayed no recognition. Then he bowed. “Smart lad. I like you.”
    “But you must give us three days.”
    The stranger considered for a moment. “Very well,” he said finally. “You can pay me after three days.” And he left the hall.
    The villagers stood in stunned silence for a heartbeat. Then they erupted into shouts of anger and distress.
    “You fool of a boy!” said Marco. “What were you thinking?”
    “I’d say he’s a clever boy,” said Otto the baker. “He’s given the stranger three days to understand how preposterous his request is. Now when he comes back we can have a real discussion.”
    Rudi shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I know where—”
    “What’s there to discuss?” said Mistress Tanner. “How many different ways we can’t pay that man?”
    Marco scowled. “A golden guilder! What does that rogue take us for? We could pay Herbert Wenzel to catch rats every day until the freeze comes, and it would not cost a fraction of that amount.”
    Rudi tried again. “But I can get—”
    “There’s something disquieting about that man,” said Mistress Tanner with a shudder. “Did you notice how cold the room became when he was here?”
    “That’s because he is the witch’s true servant.”
    No one moved. No one breathed. Rudi himself could scarcely believe the words he’d just uttered.
    Marco pushed forward. “How do you know this?”
    Rudi wished Mama and Papa were there. He wished Oma would come back. But he was on his own. “I’ve seen him before. He wore the same shirt of motley patches.”
    The crowd grew restless. “I saw only a drab cloak,” muttered one man, but Rudi saw fear in his eyes.
    “And the room grew cold. Did you not say so just now?” said Rudi.
    “It might have been only a draft,” said Mistress Tanner, but she could not meet Rudi’s gaze.
    “The boy speaks truth,” said Otto the baker, stepping onto the platform and placing a hand on Rudi’s shoulder. “We all know the old stories. I’ve heard the witch’s servant described just that way, by my own grandmother when I was a boy. He’s menaced us before, and he’s doing it again.”
    “But why would the witch send her servant to Brixen now?” said another voice. “Haven’t we been cursed enough?”
    Only Rudi could answer such questions. And so, with a mixture of trepidation and relief, he finally confessed his sin.
    “There truly is a golden guilder. An enchanted coin. The witch’s coin.” He told them everything, leaving out no detail—how he stumbled upon the coin that day in October, when he was on the mountain. How he tried to return it the very next morning but lost it in the avalanche. And how, as a result, he had brought this torment upon his good and decent neighbors.
    Rudi held his breath and waited for the response he knew must come.
    “You?” said Mistress Tanner in disbelief. “ You are the cause of all our grief?”
    Rudi gulped and