The River Maid Read Online Free Page B

hadn’t slept at all. Woven through her dream had been the song she’d heard by the river, the same song her mother had heard Jutta singing before she disappeared. In her dream she had known the words so clearly, but now they eluded her. There was something about a maid …
    Drawing the curtains, she threw open the wooden shutters. Dawn had threaded its fingers through the sky streaking it red and amber. The town was stirring, the men already up and heading out to the fishing boats. She spotted Peter amongst them with his pale blonde hair. He glanced up at her window as he passed, but she drew back before he could see her. She waited a moment for him to pass and then lifted the corner of the curtain and peered out at his retreating back. She wished she felt something for him. He was not unattractive, but she looked at him and felt nothing.
    With a sigh, she straightened the blankets on her bed. She was fortunate to have a room to herself. Most of the girls in the town had to share a bed with their sisters. Wanting to get down to the fire, she tried to dress quickly, but her fingers were cold and stiff and she struggled with the buttons at the back of her brown dress. She finally managed to do up the last one and then she began unbraiding her long hair. She brushed out the knots and tangles and then went to work rebraiding it into a heavy rope that reached down her back. That was one thing she would have liked a sister for; to help her with her hair. Her mother didn’t have time to do it for her; she was too busy with the chores. She wrapped the thick braid around her head and secured it with pins and then carefully carried her chamber pot downstairs and took it outside to empty. She shouldn’t care how her hair looked anyway, she thought. There was only Peter to admire it and she didn’t want him to think she was making an effort to please him.
    In the kitchen, her mother was already hard at work, kneading dough with her capable hands. Flour covered her cheek and dusted her hair. She said nothing to Adrianna as she came in.
    Adrianna ladled some porridge into a bowl and sat down at the table. An awkward silence stretched out between them. After supper last night, her mother had tried again to point out all the benefits of marrying Peter, and they had gone to bed on bad terms.
    Her mother sighed and wiped her hands on her apron. She took the chair across from Adrianna at the table. “I’m sorry for what I said last night.” Adrianna looked down at her porridge, unable to meet her mother’s gaze. Her mother reached out and raised her chin so that she was facing her. “I just want to make sure that you will be taken care of if something happened to me.”
    “ I know,” Adrianna said in a small voice. They seemed to argue more and more lately. It had been just the two of them for so long, but now not a day passed without some disagreement between them. “I’m sorry I can’t be like the other girls and just marry Peter.”
    “ I wouldn’t want you to be.” Her mother pulled her up and hugged her tight. Adrianna closed her eyes. She could feel how thin her mother was. If she squeezed too hard it felt like her bones would break and crumble. Her mother would say she wasn’t hungry and went without when their food ran short and Adrianna often heard her coughing in the night from a cough that wouldn’t go away. It was up to her to take care of her mother now. Her mother laughed as she pulled away. “I’ve covered you in flour.” She brushed the powder from Adrianna’s cheek. “I need to go and check on Frau Luft. The younger ones will need to be washed and fed.”
    “ I’ll get started on the washing,” Adrianna said.
    Since her father had died six years ago, they had taken in washing to make a living. They had little money, but they didn’t starve. They had done well since the prince had come to stay at the castle. The servants couldn ’t cope with all the washing, so they sent it down to the town, but it