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Show 68 Chapter 10 Master Hermann was shaking my shoulder. "Disgusting!" he barked. "Drunken excess in one so young. Get up, soak your head in cold water, then clean yourself. You are a disgrace!" Master Hermann didn't seem to be in very good condition himself. His eyes were red, his cheeks splotchy and stubbled, and his breath smelled so foul it made my already queasy stomach rise in my throat. I grabbed a bucket and stumbled to the public well a few doors from the bakery, where I poured water over my head and cleaned my clothes the best I could. When I went back to the shop to return the bucket, I picked up a loaf of bread left unsold the day before and tore off chunks of it to stuff in my mouth. I was surprisingly hungry. The door to the Meinersing living quarters was shut fast, so I wandered out into the gray daylight. A few drops of rain fell on me but they soon stopped and I stood uncertain, wondering whether I was brave enough to go down to the bridge and face Gast. As it turned out I didn't have to decide, because I saw him coming toward me. "How do you feel?" he asked. I grimaced. "Today you and I will go out into the countryside. I have a need to get away from these city walls." "It's Sunday," I said. "I should go to mass before I leave the town." |