"Please take this bow and violin," said Tram. "It is all I have. Just leave this poor man alone." The old lady put the pocket watch and the notepad back into the coffin. She took the violin, laughed at Tram's good nature, and left the church. Hans saw this, and was moved and impressed by Tram's kind nature. He felt remorse for stealing Tram's money, so he decided to make amends for his actions. He tried following Tram, hoping to talk to her, but she disappeared from sight. Maybe it was because Tram noticed him following her, or maybe it was because the footpath was too crowded. Hans was not sure which. The truth was that Tram had noticed Hans following her. That is why she disappeared from sight. She wanted to outrun Hans. Even though she wanted to outrun Hans, she still followed a road that led straight to the town of Bremen. Hans, too, walked along that road that lead to Bremen, and right now Tram was not far away.
He then saw another girl playing with a boomerang. When he saw her, he came up with a devious plan. He ran up to that other girl and handed her a silver penny. He whispered something to her. It was something like, "How good are your acting skills? I need you to play a certain role. I need you to follow that Asian girl over there, and block her path." He then said to her, "So we have a deal. Do it quickly!" The girl nodded and ran towards Tram. She scrapped dust off the footpath and threw it at Tram. "You don't belong here, yellow person!" shouted the girl. "Go back to China!" "I am from Vietnam," corrected Tram, who was very annoyed that everyone kept on mistaking her for being Chinese. Hans ran over to the girl and waved his frying pan at her. "I have a frying pan and I'm not afraid to use it," shouted Hans, who was feigning anger in his voice. "What did you say to her?" "I...I…" was all the girl could say. The girl wasn't really acting. She was genuinely terrified of Hans because his performance was so realistic. "Apologize to this Asian girl, before I start smacking you," ordered Hans.
She turned to Tram and knelt on the ground. "I am so sorry," said the girl. "I did not mean what I said." What the girl had said was totally true. She did not mean what she said because she was acting. Hans frowned at the girl. "Go away and never show your face to us again!" shouted Hans. She ran away quickly until she was out of sight. Hans smiled at Tram. "Are you alright?" he asked her. "A little dirt never killed anybody, but why did you defend me?" asked Tram. Hans now had a look of shame written on his face, and that look of shame was totally genuine.
"I'm such a terrible man!" said Hans, who was struggling to look Tram in the eye because he felt so guilty. "You did not deserve to have your money stolen from you. Especially after you protected the corpse of my good friend Andrew. I stood by and did nothing to protect my friend's corpse, but you were willing to do anything." Hans may have believed that he was a terrible person, but that didn't mean that he was going to change anytime soon. It was true that Hans mourned his friend, but that didn't stop Hans from contemplating whether to steal his friends literary works when his friend was still alive.
"So you know that dead man?" questioned Tram. "Yep," replied Hans. "His name is Andrew Patterson. I knew him for a year. He was a good man who was forced to enter into crime due to bad financial decisions." "So now that you've apologized for stealing my money, can I have my money back now?" asked Tram. "I'm sorry Tram, but I've lost the gold in a river that happened to be inhabited by a crocodile," said Hans, who shuddered at the thought of the crocodile. "Your money's gone! I can't give you your money back but I can get you a new violin. Come with me and see!" Hans and Tram walked along the streets of a small village. While they were walking Tram noticed Hans making interesting sounds with his frying pan. These were sounds that she didn't think she would ever hear. He was also able to make authentic sounding drum sounds with his mouth. The man clearly had some talent.
Hans led Tram to a music store. The two of them browsed the items in the store. Tram found a violin that she liked so she walked over to the cashier. Hans himself placed silver coins on the counter. "I'm sorry but your money is not enough to pay for this violin." said the cashier. "But it should be enough," argued Tram. "The price tag hanging on the violin says so." "The price tag also says that Asians have to pay 25% more," said the cashier meanly. Hans was furious! He winked at Tram. "Look there's a spider behind you!" said Hans, who raised his hand and pointed at something. The cashier turned around but she saw nothing because there was nothing behind her. "Sikes!" laughed Hans. Hans, who was very pleased with himself, grabbed the violin and ran. Tram followed him. The cashier was mad now! She grabbed a fire poker from the fireplace and chased after them.
Tram and Hans ran straight into the forest hoping to hide there. The two of them stopped running when they heard the sound of a shotgun being fired. They turned around and saw the cashier pointing a shotgun at them. "Hello old lady!" said Hans, nervously plotting what to do. "I know that we haven't got off to the best start but-"
Before Hans could finish his sentence, Tram quickly looked at him and shouted, "Don't be a fool, Mr. Hans! I don't think she wants to be your friend." Hans placed the violin on the ground and pointed at it. "Just take it and leave us alone." he reluctantly said. The woman sneered at him. "You're a convict, aren't you?" asked the woman. "I'm sorry to say so, but I am," answered Hans. "Convicts like you deserve death, and I'm going to give it to you," said the woman. Hans knew what she was going to do when she pointed the gun right at him.
Hans closed his eyes and said his prayers, despite having few spiritual beliefs. Suddenly a boomerang hit the cashiers face and knocked her out. Hans thought an aboriginal had saved them, but he then heard a familiar voice that said, "Well done, Swan Lady, you're truly a fast learner." It was not an aboriginal that saved them. It was a non-aboriginal woman who threw the boomerang. "I know that voice," Hans exclaimed to himself. "That is the voice of Banjo! What is he doing here?" Banjo, a young woman, and a black swan leapt out from behind a tree. Hans recognized the young woman, but he decided to keep that information to himself. That young woman frowned and crept up close to him until her nose was merely inches away from his face. She definitely knew who Hans was.
"It's good to see you again, Hans!" exclaimed Banjo, who was very happy to see his good friend. Hans ran up to Banjo and hugged him. He even lifted Banjo off the ground and spun him around. "I don't know what your connection with this dwarf is, but I know that we cannot stay here," said Tram to Hans. "You're right we should go, but what about your violin?" said Hans, pointing at the unconscious woman. "It is not my violin!" explained a frustrated Tram. "You stole it for me, remember! We should place the violin by the old lady's side." "If you say so," shrugged Hans, who was a bit saddened that Tram would not allow him to steal the violin.
The four people and the swan walked along the roads that lead to Bremen. Banjo and Hans talked about many things including the death of Andrew Patterson. Banjo grew deeply troubled and distressed when Hans told him about the death of Andrew Patterson. Banjo began weeping because he had always looked up to Patterson. "I should have been at his funeral," cried Banjo to Hans.
"Don't be too hard on yourself. You had no idea he was dead. How could you know that he was dead?"
"I could have known if I'd wanted to know," said a guilty Banjo. "I could have asked people."
"You could have, but why?" said Hans, who tried to assure his friend that he had done nothing wrong. "Ignorance is bliss." "Patterson was so kind to me, even though I never thanked him enough for being kind," said a sorrowful Banjo. Later on, our friends began talking about the town of Bremen. "Wait!" said Hans, to Banjo in surprise and disbelief. "So you're going to Bremen too?" "I'm going with Swan Lady here," said Banjo, pointing at Elisa. "Why do you call her that?" complained Hans. "I'm sure she has a name."
"I believe she has a name but she hasn't told me it," answered Banjo. "What is your name?" Hans asked Elisa. Elisa wanted to speak but she couldn't, so she didn't. She responded to Hans' question by pointing to the black swan. "She doesn't speak." said Banjo. "Is she mute?" asked Hans. "Or is she playing some sort of trick on us?" "I don't know." answered Banjo. They walked on-wards until they noticed a large house located beside the footpath. There were a lot of holes in the house. There were even holes on the roof. Hans stopped and turned to look into one of the windows of the house. "What are you doing, Mr. Hans?" shouted Tram. "This isn't your house." Hans put a finger to his lips. "Shhh!" replied Hans quietly. "Do not make a sound. I'm certain I recognize the people sitting inside that house. I recognize most of them. Mad Dog is in there!"
There was a blanket laid out on the floor of the dining room. There was bread, wine, and cheese on the blanket. Five people were sitting on the around the blanket. They were sitting on the floor because they had not prepared any chairs. One of them was Mad Dog Morgan. Three of them were members of his bushranger gang. One of the people in the room was Judith, the daughter of Elisa's godfather. Two guards, from the kingdom of Galiz, were standing next to Judith. Elisa saw Judith from outside the window. When she saw her, she collapsed onto the ground and her face turned pale. It couldn't have been Judith that she saw. Yet it was her. The very same Judith who betrayed her family. The people sitting around the blanket were having a conversation. "Word on the street is that you know something about a woman with a swan," said Judith to Mad Dog.
"Of course. You see, I've been telling everyone that I've seen a woman that kept an unusual swan in a basket. Judith, I stole the basket, you see, but I didn't take the swan. The appearance of the swan was a bit strange. There was something strange about the swan's eyes. The eyes were human. I'd say that the eyes looked somewhat human, but not fully human. The swan also had a wounded wing."
"Did the woman have olive skin and dark brown hair?" asked Judith. "Did she speak?"
"She looked a bit like you," replied Mad Dog. "I think she was Hispanic. I asked her to hand over her basket, but she didn't hand it over. She wouldn't even say anything to me." "I think this is the girl I'm looking for," smiled Judith. "What's in it for us if we bring her over to you?" asked Mad Dog. "35 silver coins for each member of your gang," answered Judith. "It is a tempting offer," said Mad Dog. Judith stood up and wrote directions on a piece of paper. She gave the paper to Mad Dog. "If you have any news of the Swan Girl, you know where to find me," said Judith, who began to walk towards the doorway.