At the cable car ticket booth, the attendant apologized as she charged us extra.
“This is a special event day. The castle grounds are hosting an enormous market.”
Dani nudged me.
“A market.”
~
The cable car climbed slowly over the Rhine.
The wind pushed at the cabin, swaying it gently and making the wires bounce.
The kids watched out the window.
Dani looked at her feet.
At the top, the doors opened, and the cold hit all at once.
I pulled my flannel shirt tight.
Dani shivered under her hood.
The kids buried their faces into us.
“What have we gotten ourselves into?”
Then we followed the path into the fortress. The market sat between stone walls and earth embankments, rows of stalls stretching ahead.
Apples.
Wool.
Wood carvings
Metalwork.
Dani moved stall to stall, scanning, noticing, collecting small intentions: a carved owl for her grandma, a metal bug for the kids.
“Just looking now. I’ll be back.”
Then she hurried to the next stall.
Corbin showed me his toys.
“Lizard and Spider are cold.”
“Okay. Let’s go back to town and find somewhere warm.”
Dani agreed, then amended.
“One more loop first.”
~
I found a hollow in the wall and sat with the kids.
We ate snacks, and we waited.
When the next wet gust of wind howled by, they began crying.
“Where’s Mama?”
“I want Mama.”
I texted Dani in quick succession.
“Where are you?”
“Kids are crying”
“I need you. Now!”
Minutes passed.
It felt like thirty, though it was probably less.
The kids’ crying got louder.
Heads began turning.
A man approached, speaking German.
I didn’t understand.
He got louder.
Another man stepped in.
“Are these your kids?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are they crying for their mother?”
We began to move.
The snow started as I walked, carrying both kids through the same loop of stalls.
No plan, just movement.
Anything.
A vendor setting up gas fireplaces waved us over.
He turned one on.
Warmth radiated from the glass.
“Don’t touch. It’s very hot.”
We held our hands near it, close enough for the life to return.
The kids quieted under its orange glow.
Then, behind me, Dani appeared.
~
“Come with me. I found somewhere inside.”
We walked back to the hollow where I’d been waiting.
It became a tunnel.
Through it, the market opened into a larger courtyard with more tents, food, and space.
Topiaries shaped like dinosaurs.
Wine stalls.
Food.
Past it all, we came to an indoor hall built into the stone walls.
Warmth followed.
We sat, and we breathed.
In the distance a few workers in black shirts set up chairs and sound equipment for a future event.
They glanced at us, then turned back to their work.
The kids climbed into my lap.
Dani put on a movie for them. Then she went back into the snow.
This time, they didn’t cry.