Page 24 of The Piper's Pursuit

Steffan followed Katerina, who kept up a brisk pace. She turned right down a side street and then left and then right again. Then they went down a street that smelled of freshly slaughtered meat. Past two butchers’ shops, Katerina pointed to a doorway.

“You will come inside with me, won’t you?”

Katerina opened her mouth and hesitated. Then she stepped forward and knocked on the door.

An older woman answered and invited them in.

“Frau Windmoeller, this is Lord Steffan. He was bitten by the Beast of Hamlin.”

The old woman’s face was wrinkled and leathery, but her pale, wizened eyes fixed on his arm and she turned and said, “Come in.”

They followed her to a room with shelves full of glass vials, leather flasks, brass bowls, and lidded pots.

“Sit.”

Steffan lowered himself onto the edge of a narrow bed while Frau Windmoeller sat on a stool in front of him.

She grabbed his wrist, squeezing hard with her bony fingers. “Is this your only wound?”

“Yes.” Thanks to Katerina. If she hadn’t stabbed the beast with her crossbow bolt, the animal probably would have torn out his throat.

Frau Windmoeller asked Katerina to fetch some things while the old woman unwrapped the bandage. Then Katerina poured water over the wound, which burned and stung even more when Frau Windmoeller used her fingers to rub the blood off. But he would rather bite his tongue off than let Katerina hear him cry out.

The woman peered so close to his arm that he was sure the tip of her nose would touch his skin. Then she fixed her eyes on his face. “We don’t want to lose you to a putrid infection like Herr Otfried a few months ago. That beast has poison in its fangs.” Suddenly she turned to Katerina.

“Did you kill it?”

“We did,” Katerina answered.

“Glory to God. What was it? A dog? A wolf?”

“It was a wolf, but tall and more muscular.”

Would Katerina tell her that they’d seen a second wolf just like it? Such a thing would be almost unbelievable. He wouldn’t believe it if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes. Katerina opened her mouth as if to speak, but then looked at him and said nothing.

The healer turned back to Steffan. “I shall clean it.”

Hadn’t she already cleaned it? She uncorked a flask and he smelled strong spirits. She poured the brown liquid over the puncture wounds.

Burning pain seared his arm. He sucked in a breath through his teeth, then coughed in an attempt to mask his reaction. Finally, she started rewrapping the wound.

When the healer had finished with his arm and Katerina had answered her questions about killing the wolf, his arm was hurting worse than ever.

“Take some wine for the pain,” the healer said as she put her bandages away. “That will be five silver pfennigs.” She stared him in the eye without blinking.

Steffan’s stomach sank. He had not one single coin on him. What did he have that was equal the value of five pfennigs? He couldn’t give her his knife, as he needed it. He possessed very little else besides his horse.

“I shall bring you—”

He was about to say “a pheasant,” but Katerina handed Frau Windmoeller five silver pfennigs before he could get the words out.

Katerina turned and started walking to the door.

“Thank you, Frau Windmoeller.” Steffan hurried after Katerina.

“Thank you for paying the healer,” Steffan said as he caught up with her. “I owe you five pfennigs.”

“You owe me nothing.”