Morbus Dei: The Sign of Aries. Matthias Bauer

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      Elisabeth was jolted out of her doze. The prison waggon gave her no peace. The other prisoners were lying higgledy-piggledy, trying to snatch some sleep too if only to stop their minds from running upon the same questions.

      Where are they taking us? What are they going to do with us?

      Suddenly they heard commands being shouted outside, muffled by the heavy tarpaulin, and the waggon slowed to a standstill.

      The prisoners woke each other up and there was general disquiet. They waited in the darkness, dreading that the end had finally come.

      Footsteps came towards the door and then stopped. Elisabeth held her breath.

      The tarpaulin was loosened from outside and pulled back. Light glared into the waggon, making the prisoners flinch. A few of them crawled frantically back into the dark corners to hide their sensitive skin from the daylight.

      Although it was painful, Elisabeth opened her eyes slightly. She had to know whether it wasn’t perhaps–

      The silhouettes of several men were standing in front of the door. No chance of escape then.

      A key turned in the lock and the door was wrenched open. Four mercenaries had formed a guard of honour, and a fifth stuck his head into the carriage. ‘Outside all of you!’ he barked. ‘You can take a leak over there and have a drink from that well. Then you can spend the night in that farmstead. Anyone who tries to escape will be shot, and anyone who causes any trouble, likewise. And anyone who gets on my nerves too! Any questions? No, that’s good!’

      Trembling, Elisabeth climbed first out of the carriage, aching all over from having been sitting for so long. She glanced about her in the wan evening light, which she had at first mistaken for the glaring midday sun. The horizon was brighter to her right, so they must be heading southwards. There was a burnt-out farmstead nearby with large, white St Andrew’s crosses painted on its gates, somewhat weather-beaten. Elisabeth recognized the warning signs only too well: the farm had been hit by the plague.

      The first of the prisoners bolted towards the well and greedily scooped up some water, and mothers vanished behind the bushes with their children whilst the mercenaries watched them like hawks. Others chose to remain in the protective darkness of the waggons until nightfall.

      The black carriage had come to a standstill outside a Gasthaus further along the wayside.

      Elisabeth took big breaths of the cool evening air and it helped to clear her head.

      Of all the questions that were bothering her, only two were of any real importance: where was Johann now? And how in the world would he ever be able to find her?

      She had no answers to these questions at present. There was only one thing she could do–stay alive and try to escape if she got the chance. She owed Johann that much, she owed her child that much.

      She stroked the almost imperceptible bulge of her belly. Then she heard crying, looked up and saw one of the mercenaries driving a mother with two small children out of the bushes. ’Get on with it, we haven’t got all evening!’

      There were tears streaming down the children’s little cheeks, which were criss-crossed with black veins.

      Elisabeth took her hand away from her stomach and felt her tears welling up. Hastily she wiped them away and went to the well.