Page 14 of Enchanted in Time
Frieda, meanwhile, had steered her back to the chair, and as Hannah closed her eyes to let her do her makeup, she relaxed in a way that she hadn’t in a very long time. How good it felt to havesomebody taking care of her, to not just be the one organizing and dressing others for once.
She sensed a little warmth in her breast, which of late had been feeling more and more frozen and cold. For weeks, if not months, she had felt a deep trembling inside, and it had grown stronger and stronger. Sometimes she thought she felt lifeless, as if she were merely going through the motions and nothing else mattered anymore. It had worried her in those few instants when she’d found the time to even notice it. But at the moment, under Frieda’s loving hands, it felt as if she still had a little warmth inside. A little bit of life.
What sort of evening was in store for her? What would be waiting for her at Lichtenberg Castle—or rather, at the Lichtenberg ruins? A real ball? Or someone? Did she have a secret admirer?
In reality, she didn’t care all that much. The simple act of getting dressed up a bit, of wearing a gown like this and having her hair done so beautifully—that was more than she expected of her life these days.
Not that she had any regrets. She loved her children, and she loved her life with them. It was just a hell of a lot of work to take care of her three sweet peas all by herself and to shoulder the entire burden without support. Still, she wasn’t yearning for a man at all. She had no time to yearn for one—let alone for a relationship! When was she supposed to meet someone? And where? And what if her children didn’t like him? Marco, above all, certainly wouldn’t accept another man by her side. It wasn’t worth the trouble.
She liked her routine, her rut, her chaos. But sometimes, something inside her would tug at her. And she would wonder... although she still loved Andrew and still saw him as the love of her life, sometimes she would wonder if that was all there would ever be...
“Oh, Mrs. Meyer, if I may say so, I have certainly outdone myself this time. Although you do make it easy with your delicate complexion and almond eyes. Quite enchanting. Have a look at yourself!”
As Hannah was opening her eyes, her children came bursting in. “Just like a princess!” Emi and Leon cried in unison.
Hannah laughed sheepishly. “What about you, big guy?”
“Not bad, Mom!”
“Now you listen to me, young man,” Frieda said as she settled her hands on her ample hips. “You can do better than that!”
“Pretty!” Marco added weakly.
Hannah winked at him. Then she turned toward the full-length mirror one more time, and right at that moment she got a faint inkling of the reasons why some women could spend hours looking at themselves in the mirror. She liked what she saw so much that she had to force herself to finally look away so she could focus on what was important.
“Kids, I know that we had a deal and I made you a promise.” She took Leon and Emi by the hand and pulled them close while looking at Marco. “But if I go out tonight, you’ll be all alone, and I won’t be here to put you to bed.”
“Frieda can do it!” Leon cried, as though he didn’t call for his mother five times a night under the pretext of not being able to fall asleep without her.
“How long till the coach comes?” Emi asked, hopping up and down. She also seemed to have no problem with the notion of falling asleep later on without her mother. Why couldn’t it be this easy on the nights when Frieda wasn’t around?
As the children kept stressing again and again that they wouldn’t miss Hannah at all, the doorbell rang. Hannah and the children froze.
“The coach?” Marco raised his eyebrows in astonishment. He apparently hadn’t believed it any more than Hannah had. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“They’re picking Mama up!” cried Leon.
Hannah’s heart sank, only to immediately start pounding like mad. Slowly, she walked into the living room and out onto the tiny balcony. With the children standing behind her, she looked out at the narrow street, which was flanked on either side by one apartment building after another. A car was trying to park in a space that was much too small. As she leaned over the railing and saw what was down on the road below, her jaw dropped.
There on the street—full of honking cars and modern people staring at their smartphones or holding them up to their ears and rushing by without looking up—there on this same street was a coach. It was shaped like an oversized pumpkin, though it was noble in appearance and its color a shimmering bluish white. The crest she had seen on the invitation was depicted on the door, and even the large wheels were a shimmering bluish white.
This magnificent coach was pulled by six horses. They were so white they shone like lights glowing against the gray of the street and the grimy building façades. The old-fashioned vehicle was driven by an elderly gentleman who was sitting on the coach box and looking up at them. When he spotted Hannah, a smile appeared on his wizened face, and he waved at her to come down.
Hannah stepped back into the apartment. What if she was falling for some madman’s game? What if it was a trap someone had devised so he could assault her? She didn’t want to say it out loud so as not to frighten the children.
Frieda seemed to read her mind. “Mrs. Meyer, do have a little faith.” Her smile was so friendly and kind that Hannahsimply had to smile back. She felt a little lighter and regarded her elderly neighbor thankfully. Whatever this evening might bring, the past few hours had shown her that suddenly someone was there who would help her, after all—someone with good intentions toward her and her children, someone who would stand by her side.
“Where did you come from all of a sudden, dear Frieda?” Hannah’s smile was full of gratitude. Why had she always reacted in such an annoyed and not particularly friendly way whenever she had encountered her neighbor over the past weeks and months? Why hadn’t she seen before that she was lonely and simply wanted to help in order to bring a little warmth into her own life?
Since Frieda had moved in next door nearly six months before, not once had Hannah seen anyone visit her—no friends or family. She was lonely, though seemingly not bitter about it. Instead, she had always approached Hannah and the kids in a friendly though admittedly somewhat meddlesome way and had tried to bring her and the children a bit of joy through small gestures.
“And you really will take good care of my sweet peas?” It was a rhetorical question. Hannah trusted her neighbor. The children liked her, and when Hannah listened to her inner voice, she felt she was doing the right thing.
“Of course, dear Mrs. Meyer!”
“Please call me Hannah.”
Frieda beamed, and her large front teeth peeked out. “And do please feel free to call me by my first name, Hannah.”
