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Show 112 "Oh Pappa, a stone is inside my shoe and it's hurting my foot. It must be a coal from the oven - surely a coal must have burst out of the oven and fallen into my shoe." Master Hermann tried to kneel down to reach Hilde's foot, but his belly was so ponderous that he gave up the effort and made her raise it instead. He took off the shoe, examined her foot, and shook his head. "There is nothing inside your shoe, and there is no mark on your skin." "But it hurts, Pappa, and now my whole foot burns!" "Come inside and soak the foot in a tub of water- Why is she out here?" he barked at me. "You no longer need her help in the shop, you lazy lout. Or has your head swelled so much that you are too high and mighty to do an honest day's work? See that Hilde stays away from you from now on. If you bother her again, I will tear off your hide, do you hear?" To make certain I heard him he slammed his fist against my ear. Anger at Master Hermann flared inside me. He acted as though I were forcing Hilde to do my work when in truth she was the one who insisted on helping me. If only Gast could find a way to get me out of that wretched bake shop, I would never set foot in Hamelin again unless I was dragged back in chains. Poor Hilde would have to stay behind with her swinish father, but there was nothing I could do about that. Late that afternoon I was allowed to leave the shop to deliver bread to the mayor's house. Gerhardt's mother had fallen and broken |