The Justice of a Body Snatcher
– a love story by renan goksin –
Episode Nineteen: “He did not die in vain”
Augustus returned, and this time thoroughly satisfied with Alphonsina’s stable condition, proceeded to induce her to vomit, forcing a jug of warm salted milk down her throat. Alphonsina convulsed; first suffocating and then with a determined effort to throw up and live. Augustus continued; carefully, checking her pulse and waiting for her to calm down before pouring the rest of the milk. The more she threw up, the more pleased was Augustus. Herman watched them intensely. Whenever Alphonsina bent forward, Herman felt she was trying to reach him to say, ‘I love you Herman.’
At last, a taint of colour broke through her skin. The blisters around her lips became more prominent like blooming red roses. Herman remembered that he had told Gabriel he would return to hear his story of the rose. Perhaps this was the miracle he was referring to unknowingly. ‘Everything in the universe is connected,’ mused Herman, everything is for a reason.’
“You really should go home,” said Augustus. “Alphonsina will stay here for some time.”
Herman shook his head adamantly.
“What happened last night?”
Herman did not respond. Once more, he saw the body tumble down from the horse’s back. The detached head rolling slowly as if in search of its rightful resting place. He wanted to confess to Dr. Augustus, but that would have been too easy, sharing it with his friend and asking for his compassion. It was Herman’s deed; only he was responsible, and its burden was to be his alone. ‘It will be a secret of the heavens and I, and not even Alphonsina will know,’ he said to himself. ‘I will vindicate his life. I will prove to everyone that he did not die in vain. What I owe I will return with my devotion to Alphonsina.’
“You need to go away for some time,” Dr. Augustus said calmly. “Imagine the scandal that will sweep this town if ever it is found out that Alphonsina is alive.” Augustus paused and reflected: “But then she is not supposed to be dead in the first place, so it might all turn out well,” he added with a mischievous glint.
Herman did not respond. He was feeling exhausted and unwell. His mouth was dry like an ant’s nest; he felt nauseous. He could smell the rabbit stew simmering in the kitchen. He knew he needed a drink, but he had quietly promised he never would again. He wished he could now speak to Gabriel, hear one more of his unlikely tales and discover one more truth, one more hidden message in his rambling stories. He needed him more than ever now and felt Gabriel would soon appear, as he had always done in the past whenever Herman had needed guidance. ‘I will definitely inquire about the rose when I see him next,’ he promised himself.
He held Alphonsina’s hand. The whole universe was contained in that one touch.
“Can she hear us?” asked Herman.
“There is no way to know what is happening in her mind,” replied Augustus. “Perhaps yes, perhaps no. Perhaps sometimes, and sometimes not. Consciousness is never one thing, Herman. There are many kinds of it. It is like a noise in the background. Sometimes hardly audible, sometimes piercingly loud. But Alphonsina is alive, and maybe she is talking to us in her own way.”
Little did Augustus know, Herman and Alponsina were already talking; they were deeply immersed in a sweet rhapsody, pouring into each other like mountain streams joyously skipping along white pebbled paths. In the faraway distance, Herman heard Augustus’s voice:
“Can I get you a glass of chartreuse?”
to be continued…
next episode: 20- The man from Willsburg