The Hunger Countess: based on a true story by Spratte Annette

Author:Spratte, Annette
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Annette Spratte
Published: 2023-12-02T00:00:00+00:00

I HAD NO IDEA HOW SHE did it, but one evening, when there was only this one guard with us, he suddenly nodded at us and turned off in another direction at a street corner. Catharina, who had her arm hooked through mine, pulled me on towards the market square where a puppet show was to be performed that evening. We’d dressed simply, because the market square was the realm of the commoners in the evening and we didn’t want to attract unnecessary attention.

My heart was pounding in my throat. It was utter madness to be alone out here in the crowd. For a brief moment, I was inclined to turn on my heel and run home. Only Catharina’s proximity and the irrepressible energy she exuded held me back. She seemed to absorb everything and beamed with enthusiasm. Unabashedly, she pushed her way through the throng until we found a good spot in front of the stage wagons, which were lined up in a semicircle. A different scenery was set up on each wagon. As soon as the puppeteers with their masks and puppets appeared on the first wagon, all my worries were forgotten.

It was a very different kind of spectacle from what was offered in the theatres, but no less splendid and fascinating. The onset of dusk, the flickering lights of the torches illuminating the stages, the masked people suddenly leaping out of the shadows created an unreal, intoxicating atmosphere, as if I were in the midst of a magical dream. We moved with the crowd as the puppeteers went from one stage to the next, cheering, laughing, and shouting along, and I felt freer than I had ever felt in my life.

The church clock striking midnight jolted me out of my reverie. “Midnight? For God’s sake, Catharina! We have to go home!”

“Go ahead, I’ll stay,” she said, laughing boisterously.

“No, come with me! I can’t leave you here alone!” Panic rose in me. I grabbed her arm and pulled with all my strength.

“All right, all right! Don’t tear my arm off, I’m coming,” she replied. “We’d better collect our guard before he’s too drunk to walk.”

Unlike her, I could not laugh at this statement. “How are we going to explain all this?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”

Soon we’d left the crowds of the market square behind us and reached the corner where the guard had turned off.

“Wait here,” Catharina said curtly and left me behind.

I pulled my shawl tighter around me and looked nervously in all directions. What if a stranger approached me? What should I do? My freedom, which had seemed so precious to me a moment ago, now made my throat tighten with fear. Thank God Catharina returned shortly afterwards with the staggering guard, who wore a beatific grin on his face. His arm rested confidentially around Catharina’s waist.

At my horrified look, she waved it off. “Don’t fret, he won’t harm me.”

In that instant, he leaned down and tried to kiss her, which she prevented with a spirited blow against his chest.

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