Sang
Chapter 9 - The Story
"Dear people of Hameln, we are the Brothers Grimm," Wilhelm announced to the growing crowd of townspeople with a flourish and bow, "Whether your plague hath been born in earth, hell or places unknown; your salvation is at hand."
Thankful that Will had bothered to tone down their entrance somewhat to reflect the seriousness of the situation, Jake took his cue and mirrored his brother's bow. 'Although,' Jacob thought to himself as he inspected the crowd, 'They look desperate enough to listen to whatever nonsense he spews out.'
The townspeople as a whole looked exhausted and distraught, not that Jacob could particularly blame them. As the Mayor stepped out of the crowd and introduced himself with an unnaturally calm smile, Jacob couldn't help but dislike the man's arrogant air. Even though most of the townspeople looked as if they hadn't slept in days, the Mayor was immaculately dressed and didn't appear to have lost any sleep over the disappearances. Suppressing a glare as he shook hands with the clean cut dark-haired man, Jake was relieved when he took his leave and tasked someone else with escorting them.
Jake's relief was rather short-lived, as a curvy blonde woman made her way towards them through the crowd and curtsied in front of the brothers with a cheeky wink. 'Not another fan,' He thought to himself, giving the woman a polite nod of acknowledgment.
As the woman swooned over Wilhelm and wrapped an arm through the crook of his elbow, Jacob rolled his eyes and turned back towards their two mares. Noticing a short figure leading them Jake made a mental note to tip the boy, feeling sympathy towards him as Fee snorted in his hair playfully and Kastanie graciously sneezed on him.
Focusing his attention on their new surroundings, instead of Wilhelm and the woman flirting shamelessly in front of him, Jake noticed how empty and quiet the large town felt. The only sounds he could hear came from the clattering of their horses' hooves against the cobble streets, punctuated by the young boy's yelps as Jake's white mare nipped at him mischievously.
'Of course, this town might as well be empty, nothing brings life to a place like children do,' Jacob thought to himself sadly, gazing down the empty streets.
Breaking the silence, a carelessly exclaimed curse followed the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. Jacob turned back towards the horses just in time to see the young boy pick himself up off the cobblestones and gently tap the white mare on her muzzle with his pointer finger in a wordless warning.
"You stop that, lass!" the youth implored the mare, who retorted with a playful snort. Brushing the dust off of his trousers, the teen looked up just in time to catch the grin spreading across Jake's face. Seeing him return the smile with a glare, Jacob took pity on the young man and slowed to match his pace.
"Absolutely wonderful creatures, aren't they?" Jacob joked, turning back towards the youth and falling into step beside him. "She's in a finicky mood because I haven't given her any treats lately," he added apologetically. Wondering how to address the youth who hadn't given his name, Jacob let the sound of hooves against cobble fill the air between them.
"Stille!" The woman called back to them, stopping alongside Wilhelm in front of the town's inn. "What an idiot," Jacob heard her mutter to Wilhelm as the boy had yet to notice her.
"Stille!" She repeated, raising her voice sharply. Jake personally thought that her shrill shriek was an excellent imitation of a harpy, and felt pity towards the young man. Gently tapping him on the shoulder, Jacob nodded towards the woman with an exaggerated grimace.
"Scheiße," The youth cursed again quietly, "Yes, sister?" he added tensely.
"Honestly, what am I supposed to do with you? Help them unload their baggage, and take their horses to the stables!" His sister commanded, steering Will towards the large inn.
"Of course," Stille grated as he passed their baggage to Jacob, before moving to lead the pair of horses away.
"Here…" Jake began, balancing the luggage precariously as he felt around in his pocket for loose coin. "Consider it reimbursement for dealing with these rascals," The younger Grimm added with a wink as he placed the money in Stille's hand.
"Thank you, Mein Herr," Stille mumbled as he led Fee and Kastanie towards the low wooden stables.
Watching the youth lead their horses away with an amused smile, Jacob realized there was something that he was missing, and his amusement faded to mild irritation as it alluded him.
"Jacob!" Wilhelm yelled from the inn's door, "Can you hurry up?"
"What? Yes, I'm coming," Jacob answered, thoroughly aggravated as his brother's voice interrupted his thoughts. Carefully balancing the heavy luggage, he headed towards the door.
"Give me those," Will ordered in exasperation, yanking the bags from his brother's hands. "Thank you, young lass," He added with a smile, turning to the woman who Jacob assumed was Stille's older sister. "We'll be back downstairs in a minute. Jake?" Wilhelm questioned over his shoulder as he headed up the staircase. In shock over the fact that his brother had helped with the bags, Jacob slowly followed.
"Third door on the left," Will mumbled to himself, abruptly stopping in front of their room, "Jacob, would you please open the door for me?" He asked expectantly, turning to his brother and raising an eyebrow.
Having difficulty processing the fact that his brother had actually said please, Jacob eyed the other man suspiciously. "Isn't it locked?" He asked after a moment's pause.
"Of course," Wilhelm replied, "The key's in my pocket. Can you get it so I don't have to put the bags down?" He asked hopefully, attempting to dazzle Jacob with one of his most charming smiles.
With a hopeless sigh, Jake complied, "Also, that disarmingly charming smile of yours only works on maidens, sorry brother." Jake said with a snort, feeling around Wilhelm's jacket pocket for the key. "I'm not dazzled enough to keep from calling you lazy," Jake added with a grin. "Are you sure it's in there?" Jacob continued, feeling that his jacket pockets were indeed empty and looking up at his brother in exasperation.
"Well, then," Will wondered aloud, "Maybe it's in one of my pant pockets." Looking down at Jake, he smiled sheepishly.
"Pant pockets?" Jacob echoed as his breath hitched, "Give me the bags and you can get it yourself."
Snatching the luggage out of his brother's hands, Jake turned his attention elsewhere as he felt a prickly heat spread across his cheeks. Glancing around the bland, narrow hallway in desperation, the younger brother's eyes fell on a small painting beside the door. "Interesting craftsmanship on this piece here," he exclaimed forcibly, "Likely painted in the late 1600's, quaint subject matter and lovely brushstrokes."
Gluing his eyes to the painting until he heard the jingle of keys soon followed by the sound of their door swinging open and Will stepping into their room, Jacob took a moment to compose himself in the hallway.
'What kind of joke is that?' the younger man thought to himself with the shake of his head, struggling to wrap his mind around Wilhelm's unfathomable sense of humour. Even more annoying than his brother's incomprehensible jokes was the fact that Jacob had nearly taken him seriously.
"Jake?" Will questioned from inside the room, "How interesting can a painting of a bluebird be, are you coming?" When he heard no response from his brother, Wilhelm stepped back to the doorway. Noting the distracted expression on the younger man's face, Will waved a hand at him. "Jacob… are you in there?" He asked, gently taking the bags from his brother's slack hands and looking at him in concern.
"Sorry?" Jake flinched, as his brother brought him back to the present, "Were you saying something?"
"Come on, the painting couldn't have been that impressive!" Will teased, as he unceremoniously tossed their luggage into a corner. Although he would not admit it aloud, the memory of Jacob losing consciousness and falling from his horse was still fresh in his mind.
"Painting? Oh, right, I was just… thinking, lovely brushstrokes," Jacob replied slowly, looking carefully at his brother before noticing the careless way Will had deposited their baggage and grimacing.
"Looked painful," Will joked with a grin, as he gently pushed his brother back into the hallway and locked the door behind them.
"How'd you…" Jacob began, just as Stille's sister appeared at the top of the stairs with a giggle.
"I'd begun to wonder whether you two got lost," She exclaimed with a laugh that seemed far too high-pitched and coquettish to be genuine. "Onward to the town hall then, Wilhelm," She cooed, linking her arm around Will's possessively.
Sighing to himself in resignation, Jacob followed the pair out of the inn and into the street.
"Before we get started, would someone be kind enough to tell us the story from the beginning?" Will questioned the townspeople with a smile, easing smoothly into his performance. On cue, Jake took out his journal and balanced it carefully on his lap, pen poised and ready to record.
"You know," a brunette exclaimed as she stood up and batted her eyelashes at the brothers, "I saw the whole thing happen. It was terrible!" She added with a cry, and dramatically threw a hand to her forehead.
"Please go on, my dear," Will urged her gently with a heart-warming smile as Jacob tried not to roll his eyes.
"I'll do my best," she replied with a smile and a toss of her hair, "It happened on the twenty-sixth. At the time I was taking care of Frau Rikka's little ones. We were in the kitchen and I was reading them a story, goodness knows I can't remember which one, but all of a sudden, I heard a commotion outside, in fact it sounded like a song of sorts. I went outside to see what was going on and it was horrible!" The witness said with a sob. "All of our children, they were flocking down the main road, all of them bewitched and dancing! I tried to call out to them but none of 'em listened to me. They kept on dancing, right past the town gate. I ran to get help, but by the time I returned, even Frau Rikka's children were gone," She finished with a moan, reaching for her stained kerchief.
Sighing at the unhelpfully vague description, Jacob sat up and cleared his throat. "Were you able to see who or what it was that kidnapped the children?" he questioned intently.
"What? Oh, no, no, no I didn't. Absolutely did not," She replied sharply as she dabbed at her eyes and sniffed theatrically. At this, the whole crowd stilled into an uncomfortable silence.
"Then," Jacob continued, "Who saw the kidnapper?" The already uncomfortable silence blanketed the hall.
"Well someone must have seen something," the younger Grimm insisted, "The letter said-" He started again, but was quickly cut off by the Mayor.
"I saw him," The Mayor interjected loudly, "It was a tall man about your brother's height, with long hair and gaudy bright clothing," He added, pausing, "The man had a pipe." Shooting an unfriendly look at Jacob, the Mayor continued, "Any more questions?"
Wondering what he'd done to offend the other man, Jake continued his line of questioning. "Yes, two more things. First, which direction did the children go, and second, how many do you estimate are missing?" At his words, the crowd broke into loud and frantic discussion.
"They went into the woods!" Someone yelled.
"They're all gone, into a cave!" Another argued.
Clearing his throat, Wilhelm waited for everyone to quiet down and shot Jake an exasperated look. Jacob returned the sentiment, and the brothers waited patiently for silence. As the noise began to die down, an old man who introduced himself as the town's historian stood up.
"I've counted, and in total we've lost one hundred and eleven children," He stated, "And the children, by all accounts, went into the forest that separates Hameln and Aalen."
'A forest,' Jake thought darkly, 'Of course.' Noticing a similar expression on Will's face, he realized they were both recalling the horrifying events that had occurred in Marbaden.
"Alright," Will started again, "Does anyone know why this… pied piper would have wanted to kidnap your children?" The ominous silence that followed his question suggested that Wilhelm should have kept it to himself.
"Who knows with demons?" One man yelled from the back of the hall, stirring a wave of agreements.
"This town's cursed, I tell you!" An old woman croaked loudly from the other side of the hall.
'There's one in every town,' Jake thought to himself dryly.
"Alright. Okay," Will interjected before the noise of the crowd became unmanageable, "We'll be setting off to the forest tomorrow to find your children and bring them all back safely."
At Wilhelm's words, the hall instantly filled with deafening cheers and applause.
Not nearly as optimistic as his brother, Jacob wondered exactly how they'd manage to pull this miracle off.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading. This is the updated version of Chapter 9, uploaded on 02/2023.