Käthe, I tried again.
“Your father was beside himself; I thought he had gone mad! I never want to see him that drunk again.”
How long had I been gone? It couldn’t have been more than an hour—two at most—that I had spent in the grove with the Goblin King.
“How—how long—” My throat was hoarse, my voice creaky with disuse.
“Three days.” The calmness of Hans’s tone did not disguise the very real fear and panic in his voice. “You were gone for three days. Josef’s audition with Master Antonius was three days ago.”
Three days? How could that be possible? Hans must be exaggerating.
No tricks. No cheating. No taking away my memories. No playing with time. The Goblin King had broken his promises already.
But he had not made me any. I shall promise you one thing, and one thing only. Your eyes will remain open. My eyes were open. I remembered it all.
“Käthe,” I said again, but Hans shushed me with a finger against my lips.
“No talking now, Liesl. I’m here. I shall take care of you,” he said. “I shall take care of all of you, never you fear.”
* * *
Back at the inn, everyone was in a tizzy. Mother embraced me and wept, an untoward display of emotion. The age-old tracks of beery tears stained the grooves in Papa’s cheeks, and Josef, dear Sepperl, said nothing and clenched my hand with white-knuckled ferocity. Only Constanze stood apart, her dark eyes boring into mine.
My sister was gone.
I was responsible.
Mother coddled and fussed over me as though I were a babe, wrapping me in woolen blankets, demanding that Papa place me in his favorite chair by the hearth, bringing me soup and even tea with just a dash of rum.
“Oh, Liesl!” she said tearfully. “Oh, Liesl!”
Her intense outpouring of affection discomfited me. Mother and I had never been particularly close; we were each too preoccupied with holding our lives together—Mother the business, me the family. I found it hard to express my love for my mother; we shared an understanding, but we did not share hugs.
Seeing my discomfort, Mother wiped at her eyes and nodded. “It’s good to see you safe, Liesl.” She was once again practical, no-nonsense Frau Vogler, innkeeper’s wife. All hints and signs of her previous breakdown had vanished, save for her reddened eyes.
“Mother was worried you had run away from home,” Josef whispered.
I was incredulous. “Why would I run away from home?”
Josef gave a sidelong glance to Papa, who was hunched in the corner. He looked years older, suddenly haggard and worn and sad. He had always been blithe and gay, a shambling semblance of the bright, vivacious, promising young man he had been. His cheeks, reddened by years of drink, lent him a childish air, and his convivial nature disguised his graver shortcomings to all but those who knew him best.
“Because … because you had nothing left to live for,” Josef said.
“What?” I struggled to sit up, but the myriad of blankets draped around me trapped me in a cocoon of knitted wool. “Don’t be ridiculous, Sepperl.”
Hans’s hand stayed me in my seat. “Liesl.” His voice was kind. “We know how hard you worked to keep this family together. We know what you did for Josef, how you worked your entire life to further his career. We know you neglected your own hopes and dreams for his future. We know your own parents often passed you over in favor of him.”
A prickling sensation overcame me. Hans was echoing all my selfish and unkind thoughts, validating my every frustration. Yet I felt no relief, no triumph, only a vague sense of dread.
“That still doesn’t explain why you all thought I would run away,” I said crossly.
Hans and Josef exchanged looks. I distrusted this new sympathy between them.
“You haven’t been well lately, Liesl,” Hans said. “You’ve taken to spending long periods of time alone and in the woods.”
“That’s not so unusual,” I said.
“Of course not,” Josef said. “Only … you keep telling us you’re searching for someone, someone who needs your help desperately.”
I stiffened. “Käthe.”
The boys exchanged another look. “Yes, Liesl,” Hans said carefully.
The thought of my sister sharpened all my senses and mental faculties. “Käthe!” I said again, and this time I managed to disentangle myself from my nest of cloaks and blankets. “I must find her.”
“Hush,” Hans soothed. “There is no danger. Everything is all right.”
I shook my head. “If I’ve been gone for three days, then Käthe must be in even greater trouble. Have you sent any search parties after her? Have you had any luck in finding her?”
Josef worried his lower lip. His blue eyes shone with tears as he took my hand. “Oh, Liesl.”
The cold hand of fear gripped my heart. I misliked what I saw in my brother’s face. “What is it?” I asked. “What have you to tell me?”
Over my brother’s shoulder, Constanze hovered over us like a bird of prey. Her face was dark, her expression both smug and grave.
“Oh, Liesl,” Josef said again. “I’m so very glad you’re safe. But I must ask you: who have you been searching for? None of us understand what you’ve been talking about. Who, my dear, is Käthe?”
INTERMEZZO
THE IDEAL IMAGINARY
No promises, the Goblin King had said. Your eyes will remain open, but you cannot deny me the power to cloud the minds of others as it suits my purposes.