has that bastard done to her? What has he done?
She screams. And screams. Screaming is all that’s left to her, the only thing she can do. She screams, lying there on the ground behind the kiosk. She’s screaming for her life. Because of the pain. In spite of the pain. Screaming as long as she can. Screaming and screaming.
The cyclists, the family – the mother, father and child – someone must hear her. Oh, surely they must hear her.
The man won’t let her go. She feels his body lying on hers.
Feels it heavy as a hundredweight. Can’t push him away. Can’t shake him off. Can’t move. Can’t move any more.
Bastard, bastard, bastard!
He has something in his hand. A piece of fabric. She recognizes it.
It’s the white fabric of her knickers.
That bastard has taken her knickers off.
He holds the fabric, he stuffs it far into her mouth with his hands.
She can’t defend herself any more. She just lies there, unable to fight back. He stuffs the knickers deep between her jaws. The screaming dies away.
She wants to retch. Feels the pain in her jaws. Realizes she can’t breathe any more. Desperately, she tries to get some air. Air, air! There’s less and less of it. She is fighting desperately for air. Air!
She can’t scream. Can’t scream. Can’t breathe. Nothing. No air. None.
Thursday and Friday
T he driver comes into Soller’s at eight-thirty. Half an hour before they arranged to meet. He’s keen to see the girl again. Hasn’t been able to settle to anything all day. If he began work on something he stopped again and put it off until later. Just after six he sets off from home. He goes all the way to Soller’s in the valley on foot. He doesn’t take the tram, doesn’t want to be even earlier.
Once he’s reached the inn he soon finds her. She’s sitting at the same table again. They’re all there, just like the day before, Hans sitting between Kathie and Mitzi. Even the blond man is in the same place, as if they had never left Soller’s at all.
He’s still in the doorway of the bar at Soller’s when she sees him. She jumps up at once and goes over to him.
‘Hello, why are you so early? I wasn’t expecting you yet. Come and join us.’ She doesn’t let him get a word in edgeways. She looks radiant, her eyes shining with delight. He feels her take his hand. Her hand is soft and warm in his. The driver hesitates just for a moment, slightly withdrawshis hand, but then he lets her lead him over to the others at the table. He sits down beside her.
Once again she talks to him all evening. The words spill out of her. She went to the Wiesn again today. Has he ever been out there himself? She rode on the roller coaster. It was lovely, she screamed out loud because you get such a funny feeling inside you when the car goes rushing down. Such a tingling feeling, she can hardly describe it. And then she went on the swingboats too. ‘I swung and swung. I swung right up to the sky. A little higher, I thought, and I’ll be flying into the clouds like a bird, I felt so light. Of course I know that wouldn’t happen, but when you swing up so high you feel you don’t weigh anything, you really think for a moment, just for the fraction of a second, just for the blink of an eyelid, that you could fly. It makes you feel so good!’
She gets quite heated with all this talking. Her cheeks are red, and her eyes are shining more than ever. She’d been on the swingboats before, at a fair when she went on a pilgrimage with her godmother. As a little girl. She tells the driver about it.
She and her mother had gone to see her godmother. She wasn’t yet ten. And then they went on from where her godmother lived to Eichelberg. ‘That’s quite a long way. We started early in the morning while it was still dark. We walked to the church through the night, and when we got there it was still dark.’ They’d gone into the church with all the other pilgrims. Out of the dark night right into thechurch, which
She screams. And screams. Screaming is all that’s left to her, the only thing she can do. She screams, lying there on the ground behind the kiosk. She’s screaming for her life. Because of the pain. In spite of the pain. Screaming as long as she can. Screaming and screaming.
The cyclists, the family – the mother, father and child – someone must hear her. Oh, surely they must hear her.
The man won’t let her go. She feels his body lying on hers.
Feels it heavy as a hundredweight. Can’t push him away. Can’t shake him off. Can’t move. Can’t move any more.
Bastard, bastard, bastard!
He has something in his hand. A piece of fabric. She recognizes it.
It’s the white fabric of her knickers.
That bastard has taken her knickers off.
He holds the fabric, he stuffs it far into her mouth with his hands.
She can’t defend herself any more. She just lies there, unable to fight back. He stuffs the knickers deep between her jaws. The screaming dies away.
She wants to retch. Feels the pain in her jaws. Realizes she can’t breathe any more. Desperately, she tries to get some air. Air, air! There’s less and less of it. She is fighting desperately for air. Air!
She can’t scream. Can’t scream. Can’t breathe. Nothing. No air. None.
Thursday and Friday
T he driver comes into Soller’s at eight-thirty. Half an hour before they arranged to meet. He’s keen to see the girl again. Hasn’t been able to settle to anything all day. If he began work on something he stopped again and put it off until later. Just after six he sets off from home. He goes all the way to Soller’s in the valley on foot. He doesn’t take the tram, doesn’t want to be even earlier.
Once he’s reached the inn he soon finds her. She’s sitting at the same table again. They’re all there, just like the day before, Hans sitting between Kathie and Mitzi. Even the blond man is in the same place, as if they had never left Soller’s at all.
He’s still in the doorway of the bar at Soller’s when she sees him. She jumps up at once and goes over to him.
‘Hello, why are you so early? I wasn’t expecting you yet. Come and join us.’ She doesn’t let him get a word in edgeways. She looks radiant, her eyes shining with delight. He feels her take his hand. Her hand is soft and warm in his. The driver hesitates just for a moment, slightly withdrawshis hand, but then he lets her lead him over to the others at the table. He sits down beside her.
Once again she talks to him all evening. The words spill out of her. She went to the Wiesn again today. Has he ever been out there himself? She rode on the roller coaster. It was lovely, she screamed out loud because you get such a funny feeling inside you when the car goes rushing down. Such a tingling feeling, she can hardly describe it. And then she went on the swingboats too. ‘I swung and swung. I swung right up to the sky. A little higher, I thought, and I’ll be flying into the clouds like a bird, I felt so light. Of course I know that wouldn’t happen, but when you swing up so high you feel you don’t weigh anything, you really think for a moment, just for the fraction of a second, just for the blink of an eyelid, that you could fly. It makes you feel so good!’
She gets quite heated with all this talking. Her cheeks are red, and her eyes are shining more than ever. She’d been on the swingboats before, at a fair when she went on a pilgrimage with her godmother. As a little girl. She tells the driver about it.
She and her mother had gone to see her godmother. She wasn’t yet ten. And then they went on from where her godmother lived to Eichelberg. ‘That’s quite a long way. We started early in the morning while it was still dark. We walked to the church through the night, and when we got there it was still dark.’ They’d gone into the church with all the other pilgrims. Out of the dark night right into thechurch, which
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