Hansella and Gretel (Part 1)

Dear Reader,

            I have a story that might interest you. I think that it is soon going to become a local legend in Germany. It is the story of Hansella and Gretel.

Tate and I went on a Picnic in the Barn

            Once upon a time there were two sisters named Hansella and Gretel. Hansella was a writer and Gretel was genealogist, and though they were young they were very clever. Since they were children these sisters had dreamed of traveling the world together and when they were adults they finally were able to make their dream come true. They decided to move to a small village outside of a town in central Germany and were very excited about the adventures they would have there.

            Gretel went ahead of her sister to make the arrangements for them to start their lives there. She found a kind old woman who was willing to let the sisters live with her for a few months. The woman told them that there were carriages in the village that would take them everywhere they needed to go. When Hansella arrived Gretel and her waited for the old woman to take them to her home. From that day forward they called the woman the Hostess.

            They followed this woman through a large field out of town, past an old abandoned barn and into the deep dark forest where she lived. At first Hansella was worried that the woman might be a witch who would eat them, but the Hostess assured Hansella that they were safe in her home. At first she seemed very kind and loving. She was sometimes a bit doting but the sisters didn’t mind.

            After a few days Hansella and Gretel started to notice odd things about the Hostess. Gretel noticed that she was sort of a hoarder. She had thousands of postcards, none of which were from places she had ever been or from any of her friend. Hansella noticed that she would obsessively iron her clothing for hours on end. Sometimes she would iron the same item of clothing again and again, even after it looked perfect, muttering to herself all the while. But the Hostess was kind enough to be sharing her home with them so they didn’t let her odd habits bother them.

Until one day, when the Hostess suddenly became cruel and cold toward the sisters. She forced Gretel to clean for her, answer the phone for her, open the door for her. She would hover over the younger woman like a vulture, while she cooked and demand that she wait on her hand and foot. She made Hansella clean the kitchen and bathroom over and over again. Even after they were clean, Hansella’s fingers would be raw from scrubbing the sinks clean so often. She was obsessed with how often the windows were opened and closed and would make the sisters go around the house to open the windows five times a day and then go around and close them all again.

They were quickly becoming servants in her house, despite the fact that they were paying her to live there. But they tried to just do as she asked and be as polite as possible. They needed a break from it all. So they decided to go into town, but the carriages to take them into town never came into the village. They realized they were trapped.

When they returned to the house the Hostess was angry with them. She forced Gretel to sleep on the floor and she tried to shut Hansella alone in the cold attic. The sisters tried to fight back but she threatened to force them out into the cold, if they didn’t obey her. They new if they were forced out of the house they would surely freeze to death. So they continued to comply.

Finally Gretel had enough. “We have to get out of here,” she told her sister. They quickly contacted their brothers who were living in town and their Bulgarian friend. Their brothers helped them make an escape plan and their Bulgarian friend had agreed to take them safely away from the Hostess. But the Hostess heard of their escape plans and trapped them in her house, while she went away to decide what to do with them.

The girls were desperate to escape before the woman returned so they contacted their brothers again. Their brothers had a friend who was a Russian spy. They gave their younger sisters this spies contact information so that they could come up with a professional extraction plan. The Russian Spy used his network of safe houses to help the girls a safe and secure place to hide once they managed to escape the Hostess’s house, but now it was up to Hansella and Gretel to escape quickly…

To Be Continued…

     Love Always,

            The Wanderess