Note-It's been too long! I'm so sorry! Hopefully this will pacify?
"Martha! Martha!"
Martha turned around, slowly, to see a blur of red and gold charging down the road towards her. She frowned, squinting against the dying sunlight, a posy of roses clutched tightly in her fist. She shielded her hand, but by this time it was too late and she only had time to hear the slap of footsteps on the ground before Anna crashed into her, knocking her off balance. She cried out, swaying on her heels.
"Martha, oh my Lord you will not believe it oh Martha it was horrendous and what are we going to do you will never believe me…" Anna said, speaking at a thousand miles a minute, very Thea-style. Martha frowned, and held up her hand.
"Anna, I cannot understand a word you are saying. Start from the beginning"
Anna sucked in a deep breath of air, and it was then that Martha saw her friend's face; her cheeks blotchy red from nerves and excitement, but she was pale and shaking.
"Anna, what happened to you?"
"Oh, Martha" Anna wailed, and hugged the smaller girl tightly. "I am so sorry; my nerves are in such a terrible state…"
"Its fine" the dark-haired girl soothed, patting Anna's back awkwardly, unused to so much physical contact. "I was just going to Ilse's, but if you need me I'm sure she'll understand my absence…"
There was a suddenly sharp gleam in Anna's woeful eyes that made her stop.
"Ilse…" Anna muttered. "Yes. Of course. She'll know what to do!"
"Anna, what in the world-"
"I've no time to clarify" said the blonde girl, grabbing onto Martha's arm. "But we have to get to Ilse's, right away. I'll explain as soon as we get there"
And with that, she slid her arm around Martha's, and dragged her off along the pathway that led through the woods and to Priapia.
Still clutching onto Martha's wrist, Anna pounded on the door of the ramshackle house in Priapia, hoping to God that Ilse wouldn't kill her if she punched a hole in the rotten door. Martha squeaked in barely subdued indignation and pain as Anna's fingers tightened on her pale skin in frustration.
"Ilse! Ilse, open up! It's an emergency!" Anna yelled. From behind the pair, a pair of shuttered windows opened, and a man called out to them: "Oi! Keep it calm out there; some of us are trying to paint!"
Anna ignored the man as he retreated into his home, again hitting the door with her clenched fist.
"Ilse! Ilse, please!"
Suddenly, the door swung open to reveal a cross-looking young woman. She looked less ragged than she had done a few days before, clad in a green blouse and men's trousers of the same shade. She took one look at the guests before her, drinking in Anna's unusually rumpled appearance and Martha's slightly petrified one.
"Oh, God…" she muttered, her eyes widening, fearing the worst. It was, after all, a cool spring night. "What happened? Quickly, come inside"
She ushered the girls in, and quickly shut the door. Anna immediately clasped her arms around her friend's skinny neck, and sobbed into her red hair. Ilse stiffened, and looked at Martha with a questioning expression.
"What's going on?" she asked. Martha shrugged helplessly, and rubbed at the red bruising on her wrist from Anna's grip.
"Anna…?" Ilse tried warily. Anna gasped, not loosening her hold.
"Ilse, I'm so sorry but it was awful it really was and I need your help, I am in such a quiver I know it's so unlike me but I am in a state from everything I saw which I shouldn't have seen and I'm sorry to come a-knocking at such a late hour for it is so un-ladylike but I need your help, Ilse, I really do!"
"Alright, Anna. Calm down now…" Ilse soothed, ushering the distraught and wild girl into a chair, Martha following meekly behind. Ilse hurriedly disappeared into her kitchen, and brought back a steaming kettle of tea and three cups, which she placed on the table. She poured one and pressed it into Anna's hands. Anna gratefully accepted, and took a great gulp. Slowly, her breathing steadied, and some colour returned to her cheeks. Smiling kindly, Ilse laid a hand over hers.
"Now, Anina" she said, using a childhood nickname as if she were speaking to one. "What's going on? You know we can't sort it out if you don't tell us, alright?"
Anna took a deep breath. "Well, I was down in the forest about an hour ago. I was picking bluebells, because they look so nice this time of year in a nice glass vase. I was picking near to the hedge – you know, the one that surrounds the vineyard on the hill – near to that oak tree where we used to play. And I heard these people, talking. So I stopped to listen to their conversation because it sounded ever so funny; they kept talking about how one – it was two men, by the way – was jealous of the other's romance. And then one of them said: I love you, Ernst!"
"As in, Ernst Robel?" Martha asked. Anna nodded.
"Yes, yes, exactly! And so I was curious, and I looked…and I saw Ernst Robel kissing H-Hanschen Rilow. On the mouth! Oh, it was so awful, and so I ran away and…oh. I dropped the flowers" her look of fear and disgust quickly became one of sorrow. "And I came across Martha and we ran straight here"
"Oh…" Ilse looked a little pained, but still regained her sympathetic smile. "I see what's happened here"
"But Ilse, they were both boys!" Anna cried, even if her statement was a little obvious. "I mean, we have to, we have to tell someone!"
"No we don't, Anna" Ilse murmured, hauling herself on the arm of the chair and snaking her arms around Anna's broader shoulders. Anna made a noise of protestation, but Ilse quickly quieted her with: "Hush. No, we don't. Now, I need you to listen to me, Anina, and I need you to take everything I say very seriously. What Hanschen and Ernst are doing is not wrong, alright? No matter what everybody says"
Anna looked up at them, confused. Why were they not crying out like she was? "But…but…it's obscene!"
"No, Anna, no it isn't" Ilse sighed patiently. "Think about it like this. If Ernst was called, say…Ernestine, would it be wrong?"
Anna snuffled. "Well, no, but-"
"And if Hanschen was called Hannelora, would that be wrong?"
"No, but-"
Ilse interrupted her again. "Do you see? The only difference was that their names became feminine. The people don't change. The love certainly doesn't change. The only thing that really changes is society's interpretation of them"
Anna was silenced. Ilse continued: "So it's not obscene. Boys loving boys and girls loving girls are not obscene in any way. Trust me – there are much, much worse things in the world than that" She glanced over at Martha, and an unspoken agreement was shared between them. What Anna didn't know wouldn't harm her, and she definitely didn't need to know about any of that business just yet.
"And that's why you absolutely mustn't tell anybody about this. Because otherwise good and innocent people could end up getting hurt and that just wouldn't do. Do you understand me, Anna?"
There was a pause. Then, slowly, Anna nodded. Ilse smiled; her posture relaxing.
"You knew…" Martha said softly. Ilse nodded.
"Yes. I discovered them together not long after Wendla died, in the forest. I must say, it caught me by surprise, but if you think about it, it sort of…fits"
"Oh, God!" Anna wailed suddenly. The other girls jumped to attention.
"What? What is it?" Martha asked.
Anna looked up at them. "What about Thea?" she asked.
The girls were shocked into a stunned silence, and then they all groaned as the realisation dawned.
"We have to tell her" Anna offered. Ilse shook her head vehemently.
"No, no, we can't do that" she firmly replied. "I promised them that I would never tell anybody about this. You finding out was just chance"
"Well, we can't not tell her" Anna said. "She kissed him earlier; when she finds out she'll be distraught. What if she tells someone? Oh, what a mess!"
"Damn that silly girl to Hell!" Ilse muttered in irritation.
"There must be another way, surely" Martha murmured. "If we can't tell her, and we can't keep it a secret, what if she were to find out on her own?"
There was a moment of pause as Martha's words rang true. Ilse turned her head slowly, and their eyes met. "You know, Martha, you may be right. If we were to push her, just a little, then we could stop her from telling everybody"
"How would we do that?" Anna enquired.
"Easily" Ilse said, her elfin grin returning. "In fact, I think I have an idea…"
My dear Thea,
I was surprised by your actions this morning, but I cannot say I was shocked beyond repair. You see, I have thought long and hard about you, and I have come to the conclusion that is something you may need to know if our relationship is to continue. I would like to request that you make an appearance at the vineyard, at around, say, five tomorrow evening under the oak tree. I shall wait your arrival there. Tell nobody of our meeting – I feel it may not be as appreciated to them as it is to us.
Yours fondly,
Ernst x
Thea grinned, and hugged the letter to her chest, barely containing the excitement which was spilling from her heart. She could not wait for tomorrow at five, and she would make sure that she looked her absolute best. She would make sure that she made him happy.
