Sophie wasn’t sure if she had dreamed the vision of her standing in the sunny meadow, or if it was a vision from God. All her life, as far back as she could remember, she had lived on the hill of Hohendorf, at Hohendorf Castle, where the dense forest surrounded the stone castle and blocked out the sun. Sophie had never experienced an open field. Each day was dominated by the gloom and shadow of the forest. In fact, when Sophie felt oppressed by her surroundings, she recalled the time she had been allowed into an upper tower to help clean. There, through one of the windows, she had seen the village below, at the base of the castle hill, and had gotten a far-off glimpse of a sun-soaked meadow. For a moment, in front of the window, she had felt the sun flooding her from head to toe. It had seemed like heaven, and she had wanted to experience that again.
Of course, as a servant, it was a sin to run away from one’s mistress. But would Sophie not actually be saving the duchess by escaping? By leaving the duchess’s service, she was keeping the duchess from further sin — the mistreatment of an innocent person. And Sophie was innocent, for she had always tried to be a good servant to the duchess. No, that wasn’t true. She had sometimes done things she knew the duchess wouldn’t like. Things that had led to her standing in this cell now — saving the drowning puppies and sneaking food to Roslind when she was in the dungeon.
When Sophie was younger, she’d thought if she were good enough and behaved well enough, the duchess would come to love her, or at least treat her better. But she had eventually come to realize that her efforts were wasted on the duchess.
Still, because of what the Bible said and what the priest had told her, Sophie stopped herself from taking petty revenge on the duchess like some of the servants did when they spit in her food or spoke hate-filled curses against her under their breath. The priest had once told her — this she remembered clearly — that God loved the merciful and pure of heart. The priest had also said that she must never hate anyone. Hate was of the devil, and love was of God. So even though the duchess had locked Sophie in this horrid dungeon with the rats and the filth — all because she had saved some puppies — and punished her for every perceived slight, Sophie must not hate her. And, Sophie reasoned, since she was the servant the duchess hated the most, leaving the duchess’s service was the greatest gift of mercy she could bestow on her mistress.
“Jesus,” she whispered. Just saying his name comforted her as she came to accept that she was going to be locked in for two days and nights. Two days was a long time to go without food or water, so daunting a thought Sophie had to clutch the cross to her chest and pray more fervently.
“Sophie.”
She looked up, squinting at the window. A hand was there, holding an apple. She hurried over and found Roslind kneeling on the ground outside, which was level with the window.
“You shouldn’t be here!” Sophie grabbed the apple through the bars. “Make haste! Get away before the guards see you. I couldn’t bear for you to get in trouble.”
“No one is around.” Roslind peered in through the bars. “Your lip looks swollen. Did someone hit you?”
“It is nothing. It barely hurts.” Further evidence of the duchess’s sins. “I’m glad you came and am thankful for the apple, but you really must go unless you want to join me in here.”
“All right, Sophie. I’ll be praying for you.”
Sophie smiled at her and waved at her to go.
Roslind smiled back and called, “Good-bye, sister!” as she ran off.
Both Sophie and Roslind were orphans and had no siblings that they knew of, but they and the other servants were their own family.
Sophie bit into the apple, hoping to eat it before the rats smelled food.
The apple tasted sweet, though it was a trifle shriveled, left over from the previous autumn. Sophie wrapped her arm around herself while she ate the entire thing, then threw the stem and core out the window.
She stared out at the trees that shielded the setting sun, and a chill that had little to do with the cool air nipped at her heart. Her constant prayer was that God would provide a way of escape. Somehow, some way, she would have to flee, and she sensed it would be soon. She was old enough, a grown woman at seventeen years old. It was time she attempted what no one as yet had ever accomplished — escape from Duchess Ermengard and Hohendorf Castle.
She hated to leave behind her “family,” the other servants she loved. Sophie often daydreamed ways to save them all. Sometimes she thought of ideas that seemed almost possible, and other times her ideas were farfetched — finding a magic pond that granted wishes, or encountering a brave knight who offered to save her and her friends from the duchess.
But daydreaming would do her no good. She must start planning.
If she were to marry a free man, her husband could take her away. But the duchess would never allow that. Could she hide amidst the traveling merchants’ wares? No, guards searched each cart as it left the Hohendorf gates.
As she pondered each potential mode of escape, the rats became bolder, skittering out of the dark corners of the dungeon and watching her, their beady eyes shining in the dark room. Sophie forced herself to ignore them.
As the sun began to set, she noticed someone else approaching her window. “Mama Petra!”
The cook, Petra, lifted her skirt and ran the rest of the way, falling to her knees by the window.
“Here, Sophie. Some bread and cheese for you. Eat it quickly. And a stick to keep the rats away.”