by Ellin Carsta
“Thank you,” Katherina said when they had finished. She turned to Madlen. “May I say that I would love to be like you?”
“I believe most women would like to be like her,” Magdalena said.
Madlen felt flattered but a little embarrassed, too. “Be brave! I knew a woman who lost everything she loved. Her name was Clara. She once told me that a person who loses her courage abandons all hope. We must never quit, because the Lord will hold our hands and lead us through our darkest hours. We have to endure and hold our ground, and in the end, we’ll reign victorious.”
“I wish that you weren’t going,” Katherina said.
“You’re going?” Magdalena asked.
“Yes, I have to go back to Cologne.”
“But how will I go on without you?” Magdalena asked, a trace of desperation in her voice.
“Katherina will be here for you. And you’ll soon come to realize that you do indeed have power.” Madlen grasped Magdalena’s upper arms, but when she saw her wince—her arms were still tender and bruised—Madlen reduced the pressure and let her hands rest softly on them. “Look me in the eyes, Magdalena, and let me repeat what I just said: the Lord holds our hands as He leads us through our darkest hours. I, too, have experienced dark hours. And those dark hours made me stronger than I would have ever been without them. Now, it’s up to you—you have the power. A single word from you would be enough to have your husband arrested. All I ask of you is that you do not abuse this power. You have a big task ahead of you.”
“Me? What task?”
“There are many women like you in Heidelberg, women who need help. The sheriff and the brave men of the city council are on your side. They’ll support you. You must have faith. You must have courage! Be an inspiration to those who suffer the same violence that you have. Lead them!”
Magdalena gasped. “I can’t do that.”
“Oh, yes, you can.” Madlen let her arms drop. “Both of you can help these women. They have no one but you. And once freed from the clutches of abuse, they will join you to protect and help others. Soon, no husband will dare lift a hand against his wife.” Madlen took a deep breath. “I’ve said everything I wanted to say, so I’ll go. But let my words rings in your ears, let them become a song that carries you through your darkest days.” She embraced Katherina then Magdalena. “May God protect you!” With that, Madlen left the bedchamber. As she went downstairs and headed out the front door, she heard both of the women call down, “May God protect you!” But she didn’t turn around. In that instant, she felt that she’d accomplished something truly extraordinary.
Johannes took the fastest horse he could find in Cologne. Linhardt and Georg accompanied him, particularly since Johannes hadn’t fully recovered his health, and they insisted on stopping to rest frequently. Johannes wouldn’t have stopped had he ridden alone, and he appreciated the good it did him.
He thought about Madlen and the children, his parents, his father’s business. Who might he find when he arrived in Worms? Probably Leopold would be the only one there, with his wife, children, and parents still in Heidelberg. Had Madlen received the message he’d sent? Presumably not. He regretted the harsh tone of his dispatch. He knew how passionate Madlen was about helping and healing. It wasn’t easy for him, but he’d finally admitted to himself that he’d written the letter out of jealousy. But he couldn’t do anything about it now. He just hoped his wife wouldn’t be too angry.
He longed for her with a burning desire. To hold her again in his arms at long last would be divine. He missed her sweet smell, the touch of her skin, their tender affections. Since they’d received the news of his father’s illness from Agathe, they’d shared only one passionate night together. And he missed that. In all the years since their marriage, he’d never once betrayed her, or even thought about another woman. He hadn’t been a ladies’ man before they’d met, though he had been involved with a few women here and there, without ever getting close to making any promises. But when he met Madlen, he instantly realized that this was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. And he’d felt the same way every day since.
He jabbed his heels into his horse’s flanks, and Linhardt and Georg urged on their own mounts to keep up. They galloped until their horses began to lather, then stopped for a rest. They decided to find a place at the nearest inn. The next day, they left before dawn for Worms.
“Come here.” The sheriff of Heidelberg held out his arms. Madlen took a step forward and embraced him warmly.
“I’ll miss you, Sheriff.”
“I’ll miss you and so will all of Heidelberg. Let’s not let years go by until we see each other again.”
Madlen was sad at the thought that it would probably turn out exactly like that. “Of course not,” she fibbed. She walked over to her horse. “May God protect you and allow your courageous undertaking to flourish!”
“Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without your help.” He sighed. “In few days, the doctor will be buried.”
“His spirit goes on. The doctor will be forever in our hearts.”
“Let me go now before I break down completely.” The great man’s eyes welled up with tears. He helped Madlen mount her horse. “May God protect you and your loved ones, Madlen Goldmann!”
She looked at him one last time with deep affection and admiration. Then she rode off, and the others followed.
After they crossed over the Neckar Bridge, Agathe, with little Cecilia sitting in front of her, rode her horse up to Madlen’s. “Kilian didn’t come to see you off.”
“No. And I didn’t expect him to.”
“Sad, isn’t it?”
“A little. But he leads his life and I lead mine, exactly like Father and you.”
“But that’s different.”
“What do you mean? Did Father and you have a falling-out?”
Agathe thought about it, choosing her words carefully. “The women you helped in Heidelberg . . .”
“Yes?”
“I know how they feel.”
Madlen turned her head, eyes wide. “Don’t tell me that my father . . .”
“No. Not him. Five of his friends. And he didn’t lift a finger to help me,” Agathe said dispassionately, as though she was simply telling a tale.
“I had no idea, Agathe. I’m so sorry.”
“Nobody knew, not even my husband. I wonder why now I can speak so easily about this tragic incident that happened thirty-five years ago. But I’ll never forget it, you know? You can never forget something like that.”
“I don’t understand something,” Cecilia said, who had been following the conversation. “Why didn’t your brother help you?”
“It is a heavy burden to carry, little one,” Agathe answered as she snuggled up to the little girl.
“What kind of burden?”
“An albatross. Like wearing a giant dead seabird around his neck, day in and day out, an eternal reminder of his transgressions.”
“Oh, that wasn’t nice of him. But you should forgive him because, after all, he is your brother.”
Agathe kissed Cecilia’s head, and the women rode on side by side. Madlen would never have guessed that the cause of the rift between the siblings had been so terrible. Five men, their father’s friends . . . how Agathe must have suffered! Cecilia’s eyelids were fluttering; Madlen waited to pick up the conversation until her daughter was asleep. “Is that why you didn’t have any children?”
Agathe pressed her lips together and nodded. “There was too much damage.” She looked down at Cecilia.
“She’s asleep,” Madlen said.
“I wasn’t even fifteen years old. They were drunk, and they set a trap for me. I should have known. They’d always stared lustfully at me when they picked up Jerg to go on one of their drinking binges. They were all a bunch of brutes, just like Jerg. They treated me like an animal, and I kept on turning around and kicking them away.”
“And my father?”
“He was in the
barn. I called out to him but he stayed away, tossing back one beer after another. Shortly before one of them threw me to the ground, our eyes met. At that instant, I knew my brother wasn’t going to help me. I also knew that no one would rescue me.”
Madlen did her best to choke back her tears. “I’m so sorry for all that you suffered.”
Agathe’s lip twitched.
“What is it? Why on earth are you smiling?”
“Now this same man has a daughter who has declared war against these vile men, a daughter who helps women fight back.” She laughed, just a little at first, then bitterly, then loudly.
Madlen felt sick. Had Agathe lost her mind? She waited until her aunt calmed down.
“Don’t you think that’s incredible?” Agathe said finally. “You know, I left all of that behind me years ago. And now I can witness what a strong, brave woman his daughter, my niece, has become. I now have the honor to watch her bring these dogs down. The Lord is good to let me live long enough to bear witness.”
“Even so, I wish you hadn’t suffered so.”
“Me, too. But we can’t change the past. Madlen, your activities in Heidelberg got me thinking.”
“What do you mean?”
“Would it be all right with you if I accompany you to Cologne to discuss something with your husband? He’s legal counsel for the archbishop. And who would be more suitable to support such an endeavor?”
“But there are already penalties for rape and other kinds of violence in the home.”
“But punishment virtually never comes to pass, because women are too afraid to report the abuse. You’ve shown me that a woman has to be strong in order to make other women strong. And because of you, I would like to be one of those women.”
Madlen looked at her with gratitude. “No one has ever said anything so wonderful to me.”
They rode on together without another word. They took only a short break at noon in order to reach Worms before dusk. They had barely entered the city when its gates were closed behind them. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Agathe handed Cecilia over to Elsbeth, and the little girl snuggled up to her grandmother on her horse. Then Agathe bade the group farewell and rode off to her house, and the rest of them rode on to the Goldmann residence. Helene was overjoyed to see her mistress and the others again.
“Is my husband here?” Elsbeth immediately asked when Leopold stepped out of the office.
“You’re back. A hearty welcome home. And to answer your question: no. He’s not with you?”
Elsbeth shook her head.
“You look rather pleased, Leopold,” Madlen said in an attempt to change the subject. She looked between Leopold and Helene.
“You’ll undoubtedly be, too,” Helene announced. “Would you like to see the office? Leopold has worked wonders.”
Madlen noticed that Helene addressed Leopold by his first name. When she noticed the lovesick look on the maid’s face, Madlen put it all together.
“I would love to see the office,” Elsbeth said. “Please, show me everything.” She pushed her fear of what may have happened to her husband aside. Then her fear turned into anger. He’d probably squandered what little money he had left on alcohol or whores.
“I’m going to put the children to bed. They are utterly exhausted,” Madlen announced. She picked up Cecilia and took Veit’s hand. He padded next to her, half-asleep, up the stairs. She was relieved to be back at her in-laws’ house and felt as though a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
When she came down later, she found Leopold and Elsbeth in the office. Helene was in the kitchen preparing the evening meal.
“I’m never going to let you go back to Cologne,” Elsbeth declared. “You are a genius in the art of business administration.”
“I’m happy you are satisfied with the numbers. It will of course be my pleasure to stay a while longer to further advance your family’s financial conditions. But that’s not for me to decide.”
“I would like to be quite frank with you. I don’t know when or even if my husband will return to Worms. If my son could obtain the archbishop’s approval, would you remain here?”
Leopold lifted his hands helplessly. “When the archbishop so orders, I will obey.” He smiled. “I say this from the bottom of my heart: I would be delighted to stay.”
Madlen smiled; Helene, she theorized, was an important part of Leopold’s desire to call Worms his home.
They all ate together that evening. In an unusual gesture, Elsbeth asked Helene, Ursel, Gerald, and the rest of the servants to join them. They accepted the invitation with pleasure, though Ursel and Gerald were the first to excuse themselves from the table. Madlen wondered how long it would be before they revealed their relationship to her. But this didn’t really bother her. She was just thankful they’d made it to Worms without incident and hoped their trip two days hence to Cologne would be as uneventful.
Johannes was thrilled to set his feet on solid ground. He and the guards had ridden their horses like madmen, and Johannes was bone-tired. Not only did his head feel as if it would explode any second, every single bone in his body ached.
“Excuse me, my lord.” A young man rode up. “Is this the Goldmann residence? I have a message from Cologne for a certain Lady Madlen Goldmann.”
“Yes, you’re in the right place.”
“I’ve come from Heidelberg,” the messenger explained. “Someone there told me that I just missed her and that she was on her way to Worms.”
“Give me the message. I’m going in right now. I’ll make sure my wife gets it.”
“Thank you, my lord.” The messenger handed him a leather cylinder, which Johannes immediately recognized as the one he’d sent earlier. He smiled in spite of himself.
“Here. This is for you.” He pulled out a coin.
“Thank you, my lord! That’s quite generous of you.”
“You fulfilled your duty well,” Johannes said, tucking the leather cylinder into his coat.
“A good day to you, my lord.” The messenger bowed, adjusted his saddle, then set off.
“I’ll send for the servant,” Johannes said to his companions.
Linhardt and Georg nodded. They had withstood the rigors of the hard ride much better than Johannes had, and they didn’t seem the least bit tired. The attorney climbed up the front stairs and knocked on the door.
“I’m coming!”
Johannes’s heart beat faster upon hearing his wife’s voice. Madlen opened the door, and her eyes went wide with surprise. “Johannes!” she cried and lunged at him with such vigor that he almost lost his balance.
“Father!” Veit and Cecilia, who’d come downstairs with their mother, charged toward him and fell into his embrace. Johannes picked up Veit, and Madlen did the same with Cecilia. The little family hugged each other tight.
“At long last, we’re together again!” Johannes choked back tears of joy as he held his loved ones close. He kissed Veit and Cecilia on the cheek then gave Madlen a longer kiss on the lips. “Never leave me for such a long time ever again!”
“Never again,” Madlen assured him with all her heart, tears of joy running down her face. “Never again.”
About the Author
Born in 1970, Ellin Carsta is a successful German author who publishes under various pseudonyms. She is married with three children, ages twenty, eighteen, and sixteen. Although writing books is her passion, she also enjoys sports, especially jogging and cross-training. The Master of Medicine is the second book in her Secret Healer series.
About the Translator
Terry Laster is the mother of four grown sons. She’s also a musician, singer, and former music teacher who sang, studied, and worked in Germany for many years. Terry is also a writer, currently working on her long-overdue historical novel. She currently lives in Soda Springs, California, with her tiny Chihuahua named Angel, who during the winter season can be seen running alongside Terry as she skis on the dog-friendly trails of t
he Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort.
