Read Online The Journey: Illustrated Edition (An Anna Kronberg Thriller) by Annelie Wendeberg - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Annelie Wendeberg
Ads: Link
with him for any extended period of time. Half a year at the most, I believe. Then they take to the road again. There are some rules they have to adhere to, but most of them are secrets of the trade. All I know is that they are allowed only a certain amount of money while they travel, a maximum time with each master, and a minimum time of apprenticeship. They have their own secret language, even. They live the life of nomads for three years or longer. During his apprenticeship, my father met Matthias, a Swiss carpenter’s apprentice. They took to each other like a fly to shit.’
Upon his low chuckle, I added, ‘Not my words. It was their own joke, but they never told me who was the fly and who the shit. As it happened, Matthias was not only charming and intelligent, he was quite handsome, too. Tall, fair hair, blue eyes, broad shoulders. Almost every woman craned her neck when he walked past. At least that’s what my father kept saying. He and Matthias were offered work by a wealthy man in Bavaria. He had a beautiful daughter who, upon seeing Matthias’s shapely figure every summer day, did not even dream of rejecting his advances. Naturally, her father had several screaming attacks. He wanted her married to a well-bred gentleman. She, however, had her own mind, and the two became husband and wife after only three months of courtship. Her father threatened to disown her, but in the end, he didn’t. Before he could change his will, he died.’
Sherlock’s breath stalled for a moment.
‘Are you suspecting a murder, Mr Holmes?’ I teased him.
‘Always. Pray continue, although it is clear now who your benefactors were.’
‘The two friends parted but kept writing, and once in a while they visited one another. Matthias was the one who stood by my father’s side after my mother’s death. He paid a wet nurse; otherwise, I would have died, too. When I was older, I spent several summers at their house. He and his wife never had children, so they took to me and, I believe, both loved me dearly. Before I turned ten, I told everyone with a pair of ears that I would be a physician. This wish made me rather unhappy, because fulfilment would never come. As a girl, I would never be admitted to university, nor could I afford the tuition. One fine summer day, however, Matthias asked me whether I’d like to dress up. I laughed at him, believing I was supposed to wear pretty dresses, which I never liked. They were just plain uncomfortable! He brought me a shirt, a waistcoat, and a pair of trousers in my size. You cannot imagine how delighted I was!’
‘On the contrary, I can very well imagine,’ he said in calm amusement.
‘Well, it turned out I looked quite boyish and if I were to cut my hair, I could certainly make people believe I was a boy. He taught me how to walk like a man, how to burp like a man, how to laugh and talk like a man. I found it utterly amusing until the day I enrolled at university. I was so scared, I must have trembled the first semester without interruption.’
‘Did they ever ask you to return the money you owed?’
‘They did. But they didn’t want me to pay it back to them. I was to return the favour to people in need,’ I answered.
‘Is that why you chose to live in the slums?’
‘Hmm… yes and no.’ I pressed my palms against my tired back. ‘It’s a bit more complicated. I guess I would have ended up there, anyway. I needed a safe place to be me. Besides, I wasn’t the only medical doctor who provided free treatment to the poor.’
He waved his hand. ‘In all my years in London, I have heard of only three physicians who would offer their services for free. You are one of them.’
‘Well, yes. But there were a lot of nurses who did that. Besides, the slums were a good place to hide my short hair and my big mouth. Nothing outrageous about that among all those criminals, prostitutes, and beggars,’ I supplied.
‘Your mouth is not big. I measured it two years ago,’ he
Upon his low chuckle, I added, ‘Not my words. It was their own joke, but they never told me who was the fly and who the shit. As it happened, Matthias was not only charming and intelligent, he was quite handsome, too. Tall, fair hair, blue eyes, broad shoulders. Almost every woman craned her neck when he walked past. At least that’s what my father kept saying. He and Matthias were offered work by a wealthy man in Bavaria. He had a beautiful daughter who, upon seeing Matthias’s shapely figure every summer day, did not even dream of rejecting his advances. Naturally, her father had several screaming attacks. He wanted her married to a well-bred gentleman. She, however, had her own mind, and the two became husband and wife after only three months of courtship. Her father threatened to disown her, but in the end, he didn’t. Before he could change his will, he died.’
Sherlock’s breath stalled for a moment.
‘Are you suspecting a murder, Mr Holmes?’ I teased him.
‘Always. Pray continue, although it is clear now who your benefactors were.’
‘The two friends parted but kept writing, and once in a while they visited one another. Matthias was the one who stood by my father’s side after my mother’s death. He paid a wet nurse; otherwise, I would have died, too. When I was older, I spent several summers at their house. He and his wife never had children, so they took to me and, I believe, both loved me dearly. Before I turned ten, I told everyone with a pair of ears that I would be a physician. This wish made me rather unhappy, because fulfilment would never come. As a girl, I would never be admitted to university, nor could I afford the tuition. One fine summer day, however, Matthias asked me whether I’d like to dress up. I laughed at him, believing I was supposed to wear pretty dresses, which I never liked. They were just plain uncomfortable! He brought me a shirt, a waistcoat, and a pair of trousers in my size. You cannot imagine how delighted I was!’
‘On the contrary, I can very well imagine,’ he said in calm amusement.
‘Well, it turned out I looked quite boyish and if I were to cut my hair, I could certainly make people believe I was a boy. He taught me how to walk like a man, how to burp like a man, how to laugh and talk like a man. I found it utterly amusing until the day I enrolled at university. I was so scared, I must have trembled the first semester without interruption.’
‘Did they ever ask you to return the money you owed?’
‘They did. But they didn’t want me to pay it back to them. I was to return the favour to people in need,’ I answered.
‘Is that why you chose to live in the slums?’
‘Hmm… yes and no.’ I pressed my palms against my tired back. ‘It’s a bit more complicated. I guess I would have ended up there, anyway. I needed a safe place to be me. Besides, I wasn’t the only medical doctor who provided free treatment to the poor.’
He waved his hand. ‘In all my years in London, I have heard of only three physicians who would offer their services for free. You are one of them.’
‘Well, yes. But there were a lot of nurses who did that. Besides, the slums were a good place to hide my short hair and my big mouth. Nothing outrageous about that among all those criminals, prostitutes, and beggars,’ I supplied.
‘Your mouth is not big. I measured it two years ago,’ he
Similar Books
