OCR Text |
Show 3^ on Saint Boniface Day had brought an end to the rains which had plagued us for so long. If the sun continued to beat down so brightly, all the puddles would dry up before noon. The clear sky seemed to promise that this would happen. Then, wearing his fur-trimmed cloak even on that hot June morning, Mayor Heinrich Gruelhot tramped into view. His heavy gold chain hung around his thick neck - Mayor Gruelhot believed, too, that appearance was important, even if it made him uncomfortable. As he passed me, I could see fat drops of sweat rolling down his cheeks. All of them were in the council hall talking together, so I left my post to run to the church to tell Gast that it was time for him to meet them. Gast was standing in the cool darkness of the nave, as calm and fresh as though he had nothing more important to do than watch the shadows grow shorter. "They're all together," I told him. "Thank you, Geist." He strolled the short distance from the church to the council hall, and I followed just behind him. When he reached the door, he stopped and said to me, "I want you to wait here." "I thought I was supposed to go with you," I protested. "You said we were going to work together, like a knight and his squire, don't you remember?" "Look at you, Geist," he said not unkindly, although his words were like daggers pricking my skin. "Your clothes are rags, and none too clean. If you stood beside me, the men would feel scorn for both of us. You must remain here." With that, he turned his back and walked away from me, opening the door and not quite shutting it behind him. |