Trustful: Day 1

Word Count: 6,011

Summary of Events:

Wolfgang was woken in the night by his former nursemaid, who told him that his aunt had given birth to a son and he needed to flee; which he proceeded to do. Rosemarie got up and had breakfast with Hulda before setting about to do her chores. Wolfgang stopped to let his horses drink before continuing on with no end destination in mind. Rosemarie saw Hulda appear out of seemingly nowhere, which led her to suspect Hulda had hidden the door out of the fortress in the wall . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Rosemarie felt desperately, even using her feet to press against the lower bricks to see if it was made to be opened by foot so as to be usable when Hulda's hands were laden down with various materials.

She reached up high even, but paused in thought. Hulda was shorter than she was, the trigger to get out wasn't likely up high because Hulda wouldn't be able to reach it then, and her cane would likely be ineffective unless she pressed it up against the roof overhead . . .

Rosemarie looked up. She couldn't reach up there, but it was a distinct possibility that the trigger was up there somewhere.

How was she going to reach it, though? Rosemarie looked around for a stick, but there was none close at hand — and unsurprisingly, too, considering the fact that there were no trees in the courtyard.

Rosemarie scurried over to the room where Hulda kept all the tools she used for working the gardens. There were plenty of long-handled tools in there that would assuredly work to try opening the door with.

She selected the first one she found, a hoe, and hurried back over to the spot where Hulda's footprints disappeared. She pressed randomly at the stones overhead, but none of them would move.

Looking up at the overhead stones, Rosemarie was ready to despair. She had no idea where the trigger was. Hulda had obviously done a good job in hiding it. Rosemarie didn't know that she was ever going to find the way out.

With a sigh, Rosemarie looked toward Hulda's footprints before she realised that the footprints only left the place where Hulda had emerged from. They didn't go in.

It hadn't snowed or blown over the course of the day, therefore Hulda's footprints going into the place on the other side ought to still have been visible, but Rosemarie didn't see them anywhere.

She looked all around the snow by the place where Hulda had emerged from, but found that there was only the footprints leading away. Wherever the way in was, it appeared to not be here.

Rosemarie quickly started searching along the wall, but to no more avail than she'd had searching around the door.

In fact, the only footprints in the courtyard that belonged to Hulda were the set that left the door and headed into the door that Rosemarie herself had fled to. The only other logical place a door into the place could be was inside.

But where inside? Rosemarie had a feeling she was going to have some exploring to do, not that she was sure how she was going to find the way in. She might have to bring the hoe with her and hope that Hulda wouldn't notice. Good thing it wasn't spring anytime soon."