Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
by
John Tansey
1984
All rights reserved by the author
And so it was that in the warming spring of 1748 I sat on a bench atop
the vessel length cabin of the packet, enchanted by the beautiful day and
sun drenched countryside. With my portfolio resting on my lap as a desk I
penned a missive to my mother and sister about my adventure and of my
fellow passengers. There was a tall thin man, no longer young, his fat wife,
and their fat daughter. Inside a round wicker cage at their feet sat a goose.
Their other parcels were packed beneath and around them. Next to me sat
a merchant nattily dressed in waist and overcoat and tri-cornered hat. We
occasionally spoke and shared my beer and his cognac. The other passengers
were not notable – mainly country folk going to the first fair of the season.
It was a restful and restorative voyage after the long winter months
in stacks and files in my capacity as a law firm clerk. That I was able to be
free from responsibilities was due to the liberal nature of my uncle who
owned the practice. He believed employment had its place, but that life’s
purpose was family and honor.
While penning my third letter to home (the first two were in my
portfolio waiting to the posted on the first packet or coach going south) I
thought over the last letter from my friend, Gregory D’Forte. It was not
clear if he was hoping for legal service or friendly support. The matter he
had written of involved inheritance of family property and to whom in the
family it would devolve.
It was as though the family members were crystal bells rung by the
clapper of the passing patriarch, and that one which rang clearest and truest
would become the new patriarch of the family. It was Gregory’s cousin
(whose father, Signor Rufo D’Forte, had become deceased) who rang truest
– until of late. For some reason the tone of that chosen bell had become
atonal, and the remainder of the crystalline chorus clamored for a new
harmony to be established.
A provincial girl took passage on our packet and its slow progress
allowed us to engage in conversation. She knew the gossip of the district,
and, too, her fresh pretty face and swelling bodice drew my attention.
“Oh, yes, Signor. The north district is so beautiful. How lucky you
are to have a friend who lives there, and such an important gentleman he is.”
“Oh, yes. The families of the two brothers both live on the same
estate, though both brothers are dead, the one recently. And sad, so sad,
they are touched by tragedy. “
As she mentioned the name she made the sign of the cross and the
sign against evil. I wondered at the different family name and what it could
mean.
“A boy, the child of a field hand saw it. He said it was a great wolf.
It chased her over a footbridge and across a meadow. He said it reared up,
caught her as she ran trying to reach safety. Her screams were cut off as
its huge jaws crushed her throat.”
“Aye. The boy said the wolf that chased and caught up that girl ran
on its hind legs, not like people do, but not like an animal either!”
Her breath was a shallow pant, and her lips parted so I could just see
her teeth.
“The boy was crazed. The terror of that horrible moment will be with
him forever.”
“What else, though?”
“Well, old country tales. Not that we down her pay any attention to
them, but of supernatural things, Signor.”
“Supernatural?”
“Vampires?”
“Not that I believe in such, Signor, but there are tales you know. My
own uncle claims to have seen werewolves. At least one. He says that if you
prick one with a pin it changes back to human form, and next day seeks you
out to beg your silence. It’s a humiliation to be found out a werewolf. The
church excommunicates you! People want to kill you!”
“I don’t know. They say the children of the one uncle want the
property of the children of the other. They even say that Emmanual, the
elder uncle’s son, is a werewolf. I couldn’t tell you, Signor. All know that
they are a wonderful family. But that is the story. The cousins of one
family want what the other cousin has, and the other cousin is a werewolf
bent on destroying the others to preserve his fortune, though condemning
himself to eternity in Hell!”
I made the sign of the cross and wondered anew how Gregory hoped I
could be of service to him.
Dust rose from the clopping hooves of the oxen that drew our barge.
The long tow line dipped down from the barge’s beak to below the canal’s
murky surface then rose again beyond stretching to the oxen’s yoke where it
pulled on the tow path.
The nib of my short quill was cut at a shallow angle. I dipped it into a
small ink well that resided on the bench beside me and continued scratching
away at my adventures to my mother and sister.
II
I saw some folk threshing winter grain under an arbor not far away.
They could direct me to my friend and tell me what to do with the mail pouch
left in my custody. I picked up my satchel and stepped up to the bridge
when I heard my name called.
“Gianni!”
“It has. And here I am afoot. Come, it’s not far to the villa. It’s
fortunate I was out in the south fields today. Our work you can see there –
the smoke.”
“My horse is over there,” he said. “Give me the mail bag. I’ll have a
man take care of it. There’s no hurry with what’s not important.”
He smiled.
“It’s so good to see you,” I said. “We haven’t needed a reason to
reunite, but tell me, since your letters don’t make it clear to me, what is the
urgent business I am to apply myself to?”
“Later, Gianni. It’s been a long trip and you need time to refresh
yourself before employing your skills.”
How good it was to see him. Any explanation would have been
sufficient, but now I knew he needed me for legal counsel. His quiet manner
and sophistication were not constrained by the less than fine cloths and
boots he wore for the field. He was still a person of quiet potency.
Through the warm spring afternoon and over gently rolling meadows
we walked slowly in quiet conversation, our feet stirring clouds of pollen that
tickled my nose and made me sneeze. Flights of doves and songbirds flew
overhead, and Gregory alluded to the good fowling we could expect and the
delicate morsels we could anticipate on our supper plates.
The elms that bordered the grounds began to close in at the villa’s
patio, their fragrance laying heavy in the still air. The branches of one great
old tree overhung the entrance in the balustrade and made a leafy canopy
over the patio. The great glass doors to the villa were open, and a matronly
woman waited, watching our approach. It was Gregory’s mother.
“Yes, Momma.”
“Please come in,” she said, taking my arm and guiding me to a place in
the sitting room overlooking the patio. We were seated in delicate chairs at
a kind of side table. A servant brought a tall carafe of a sweetened liquid
fragrant of citron and crystal goblets. I sipped at the liquid discovering an
unexpected treat. Gregory’s mother smiled.
“Certainly not. Now that I’ve experience this nectar I doubt I’ll ever
be satisfied by wine again.”
“Rosa will bring some cold fowl from the pantry so you may eat. I
must attend to your accommodations.”
“Madam D’Forte smiled, but her eyes became sad and she turned to
her son.
“Gregory will show you to your bed. I must leave now to see it made
up. You two must have much to talk over.”
We rose as she got up from her chair and left. Rosa, a servant girl,
brought a serving tray with cold chicken and fruit, and we settled down to a
quiet meal.
“Yes, I will tell you of that, but after you’re in your cottage and
comfortable with your surroundings.”
A man come in from the fields entered the room and whispered
something to Gregory, and Gregory apologetically took his leave. I was alone
with only distant footsteps in the villa to keep my company. Then one set of
footsteps became louder, and I brightened expectantly hoping for Gregory’s
return. Instead a casually dressed man, one of the household staff,
entered.
“Signor, Master D’Forte requests that I show you to the cottage and
to assure you that he will come for you there before supper.”
III
The man requested that at dark I close and latch the door and windows.
Coming from the city I thought nothing of this. He then struck a flame and
lit the lamp.
Passing a shirt sleeve over the bridge of my nose and brow I noticed
my fingers were stained with ink and the shirt beneath my arms wet with
perspiration. It was dark outside and the rolling grounds from the villa to
beyond the stream could just be made out in the glow of the rising moon. At
that moment came a sound that gripped my stomach – a piercing howl that
seemed far away yet uncannily near.
I unlatched the door. It swung open upon me, and I had to take a
rearward step to keep from being knocked over. Gregory stepped in, closed
the door fast and latched it. The howl came again, rattling the windows,
rattling within my breast. Gregory went to each of the cottage’s windows
drawing the shutters closed and latched. There was an odor I could discern
– a strong herb.
“I had hoped the matter for which I asked you here would remain in
confidence,” he said at last.
“This matter I think you will find outside the realm of your usual
experience.”
“All the better for a man whose experience have been all too usual.”
“Of course.”
“Then let us enjoy supper, and the secret I will share over a cordial
afterward.”
“Come.”
“Quite a noise that creature makes,” I observed. “I think I saw it a
while ago – gave me quite a start.”
“Oh, did you see it? We hear it all the time. Quite a nuisance, you
know. We’ve set out against it on occasion with pike and musket, but without
luck. Yes, a great wolf it is. Did you see it, really?”
“No, nor would I want to. It’s voice is fierce enough. I might not
survive witnessing its countenance up close.”
“So it is in the country where folk tails erode the intellect of the
urbane.”
From the distance came the noise of a crash and the air was pierced
by yowling. It was unearthly and crazily other-human-like, but I took
courage from very earthly sounds – human voices, cries and shouts. Gregory
smiled and opened the door. Across the stream and moving west was a band
of torches, and on this side of the stream heading for the bridge several
men ran. I could see they carried pikes and guns.
“Wolf hunters?”
“Yes, and good luck to them and to you, Gianni. May your long journey
here have as its reward an enjoyable holiday.”
His festive mood was contagious and his enigmatic reply passed me by.
All at table were festive: Gregory’s mother, his younger and pretty sister
Roberta, and another visitor, a Signor Felloni.
I ate slowly and by late evening I had eaten more than my fill. I
leaned back in my chair, accepted gratefully a long thin cigar and a small
glass of potent spirits. I blew opaque smoke toward the candelabrum.
Two musicians appeared at the far end of the dining room and played
nocturnes on mandolin and viola. Signora Bartolli picked from a platter of
fruit. Gregory and Signor Felloni were engaged in conversation, and I found
myself paired with Gregory’s shy sister, Roberta. She must have been 15 or
16 years of age, had long colorful brown hair, and her face was heart shaped.
Her brown eyes were deep, and when she looked at me I felt she was looking
inside me.
“It has been wonderful so far. This is the best table I have ever sat
at.”
“You’re kind. I hope I can have an adventure like yours some day.”
“Wolf hunts are not so unusual, and the wolf you speak of met its end
tonight, God willing.”
Her eyes swiveled away from me, and I saw by her breasts that she
held her breath. I followed her gaze. The table became silent. A field hand
whose face was glistened by sweat and framed by matted hair, hat in hand,
stood just inside the dining room doors. Gregroy was there talking to him.
With hurried steps, Signor Folloni followed.
“Now we know how long the night lasts,” Roberta pronounced beneath
her breath.
The field hand seemed grim. He half bowed to Gregory and left the
room replacing hat to head. Gregory and Signor Felloni exchanged a few
words. Felloni made an apologetic gesture with his hands and then the two
returned to the table quietly. The others seemed to know the news without
being told. Signor Bartolli made the sign of the cross. A faint whisper
escaped Roberta’s lips.
The evening ended, the musicians left, the table was cleared. Signora
Bartolli and Roberta retired for the evening, though not before I extracted
a promise from Roberta to continue our conversation on the morrow.
Gregory and two men with torches escorted me out of the villa. On looking
back to catch one more glimpse of Roberta I noticed servants going from
window to window hanging garlands of small white objects. I said nothing.
When we arrived at the cottage Gregory took a torch from one of the
men, and I waited while he and they walked around the structure.
“Gianni, whatever you do don’t open the door or a window until the sun
rises, not unless you hear a knock three times. By that sign you will know it
is I.”
“I’ll explain all tomorrow. Rest well tonight.” Then my friend’s face
broke into a smile. “It’s good to have you here. Please forgive us our foibles
and excuse our whims. Tomorrow you will know all. For now, good night.”
IV
As I lay beneath the sheet in the comfortable bed trying not to let
the mystery of events trespass on my thoughts of Roberta, I couldn’t help
but wonder about the evening’s abrupt end and Roberta’s silent words. My
mind drifted back to the rich cream color of her shoulders and arms and the
low cut of her bodice. I wondered what she felt about me, her brother’s
friend.
And then as though in the very room with me came a jarring howl that
scraped every thought from my mind and stole the breath from my lips. The
wolf was prowling the grounds of the villa, his screams rattling doors and
windows. A new noise drove terror into my limbs – a dry rasping scratch at
the shutters.
Cool air blew on my face. The eastern sky lightened with the pre-
dawn. I closed and latched the shutter. Sleep came quickly, but not before
I began regretting my being here and not before a lone mournful howl came
distantly like a warning.
It was close to noon before I slipped off the edge of the bed to stand
before a wash basin. From a large heavy pitcher that shook in my hands I
poured water and, for lack of anything else soaked my neck cloth and wiped
off my body. I felt refreshed and dressed myself in a fresh change of
clothes. I arranged my hair with an ivory comb and then went to the villa.
Only the house staff were there. Madam Bartolli and Roberta were
out of the house and Gregory had gone to the fields. Hard sweet rolls and
fruit had been left for my breakfast, along with a citrus beverage.
A horse had been left for my use, a large gentle beast suitable for
myself who had little experience as a horseman, and after inquiry I learned
the nearest village was only two kilometers away.
It was a warm sunny day and the road was wide, lined by trees and
interrupted frequently by streams. I rounded a bend in the road and there,
in a suddenly deep valley, lay the village. I slowly walked my horse down its
single street of two and three story structures – shops, warehouses,
residences and a public house. It was a busy place and people hurried up and
down and across its street. A man hailed me and several others stopped to
watch and listen.
“No news but that the trouble in the east is a boon for some and a
bane to others.”
“If I might ask, what business brings a man from the coast here?”
“I’m a law clerk,” I finally admitted and saw relieved smiles respond to
my answer. “I stay at the manor of my good friend, Signor Gregory Bartolli.”
“Aye!” the man cried twisting away, a repellant look on his face.
Like a school of fish with a single mind all turned and fled away from
me, some making the sign against evil.
“Yes, Signor. I can help you. If you plan to hunt in the foothills and
woods hereabout, I recommend a fowler. It will throw a ball of good weight
a short distance, just what you need for deer and wild goat. As for fowl, it
will throw a cloud of small shot.”
“I want a pistol.”
“Yes, yes. Much recommended for anyone who must travel the roads
often. This way, Signor.”
From beneath a glass case he brought out several long flat boxes and
opened them.
“I think you will agree, Signor, these pistols are fine examples of the
gun maker’s craft.” The box contained a short barrel and a long barrel
pistol. He lifted out the shorter. “I purchased these from travelers in
greater need of money than protection. This one will fit well in the pocket
of a coat. The barrel is extra heavy. The gun, once discharged, also serves
are a cudgel. It’s best to discharge it with the muzzle pressed against the
stomach or back of your assailant.”
“It is better.”
“Yes. This one is an antique – a cavalry pistol from the time when
mounted men fought in armor. A later owner decided to rejuvenate it by
replacing the old wheel lock mechanism with a flintlock. The conversion was
excellent as you can see. It’s a heavy pistol, designed to be hung from a
saddle pommel. The barrel at the breech is thicker than at the muzzle,
allowing it to take an larger charge of powder. Back then it was necessary to
shoot through the enemy’s cuirass to pierce his breast. It is made of brass.
It takes some strength to hold it steady on target, but it will shoot straight
over a good distance.”
“How distant?”
“Twenty-five meters, maybe more.”
“Just pull the cock full back when you need to discharge the pistol.
Until then leave it at half cock so you do not accidentally pull the trigger.”
He put all in a wooden box, along with extra flints, accepted my money
and bid me good day.
I crossed the fields back to the villa. The day had warmed even more.
I passed farmers and field hands, young women and children, working the
fields and gathering flowers and herbs for dyes and cooking.
“Signor!”
The cry came from a man running across the field, one of Gregory’s
field hands. I reined the horse toward him.
“Yes I did.”
Felloni appeared ill pleased by the compliment. I peered into the pit.
“And was your trap sprung, cousin?” asked a lithe well dressed young
man with a wide slit of a mouth and a rounded stub of a nose.
A tension came over the scene. Emmanual and I nodded to each other.
Felloni left us. A worker climbed out of the pit and raised a hand to be
helped up.
“You hope for much, cousin,” Emmanual said. “Your traps, your hunts.
Face it, your quarry is smarter than you. You can’t take from it what belongs
to it.” He turned to me. “I’ll address you later, Signor. I’m acquainted with
your purpose here.”
Emmanual’s smile was a leer that spread hungrily from ear to ear.
“You can never tell when I will dine amongst you,” said Emmanual.
“YOU!” he shouted at the man coming out of the pit who started and fell
back.
The man cried pitifully, a stake piercing his upper arm. Others rushed
to help him out. Emmanual quietly left.
“Take him to the house and bind his arm!” Gregory ordered. “Come
this way, Gianni.”
He mounted his horse and led the way along the path Emmanual had
taken, over the stream and toward the villa. The color was high in his cheeks
and he seemed much disturbed. We came to the patio and handlers took our
mounts. Gregory had a table and chairs brought out to the patio, and a cold
dinner was brought to us. We were quiet, the sun well down from its zenith.
Gregory looked to it repeatedly. He had not achieved much outward calm,
but became comfortable enough to talk.
“I must tell you why I invited you here. This is not an easy thing for
me to do, for what I must tell you has brought great shame on my family,” he
began.
I was stunned. This sort of thing was not uncommon and sometimes
the conflict became one of arms – what lawyers cannot contrive to effect
steel sometimes does. It was that Gregory wanted me to be part of a
conspiracy to take what rightfully belonged to another that shocked me.
“What?”
“That thing you saw running across the fields last night – that thing
that howled and robbed you of your sleep – that was my cousin as the wolf.”
“I don’t understand.”
“All know. Now tell me, Gianni, can a werewolf legally inherit property
and wealth? Perhaps it is not actually necessary to change the terms of the
will, just lengthen the term of our guardianship into perpetuity. What do
you think?”
“Why not destroy him during the day before he affects his
transformation?”
Gregory laughed.
“Perhaps.”
“He seems to know much, and you are in danger. Leave the garlic on
your shutters and doors where it belongs. After hours don’t open you door
unless you hear me knock three times and call your name. Be on your guard
and trust no one after dark.”
Werewolves? Folk stories, witches, vampires – not too many years ago
such an accusation could have led one to hanging or burning. The church’s
excommunication was merely prelude to seizure of property and wealth.
Many were the fat clerics who fed off the roasted bodies of people so
accused.
Supper that night was a tense affair. Emmanual deigned to dine with
us, and his conversation seemed so much non-sensical chatter issuing from
his blood thin lips. He did not eat, saying he would dine later, but sipped
from a goblet of red wine. I sat uncomfortably beneath his gaze. Whenever
I looked up, his eyes were on me. Before long he grew agitated, upset his
wine, and left the table.
She was a stately woman, and although she affected weariness in her
slow rise for the table, I could see that a quiet strength inhabited her
frame. Roberta’s dark eyes followed her mother out of the dining room.
Servants then cleaned the table, brought us coffee, and, for myself,
cigars. Michael and Alphonse played light strains on viol and mandolin. I
exhaled thick clouds of smoke. Roberta smiled at me. We left the table for
two upholstered chairs by the glass doors to the patio.
The corners of her mouth drew back impatiently. I had been sitting
well back in the chair, drawing on my cigar. I sat up and took the cigar from
my lips.
“Pardon me for using my age to patronize you. I am not so old and you
are not a little girl.”
“For a man of the city the manure is thick beneath your heels.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You worry too much, Signor D’talia.”
“Forget details for a while. Pay attention to me. The summer will take
care of itself. I look to you to make this evening interesting.”
Our hands brushed together as I moved her coffee cup closer to her.
I felt my blood rising. Gently I took her fingertips in my hand. Her eyes
rose to hold me, yet she did not smile.
“I don’t know what you think of me, Roberta, but I like you very much.”
I watched her breasts rise, also the color in her cheeks. I took more
of her hand into mine, but then she pulled away, startled. A servant had
come to within paces of us and was hanging garlands of garlic on the now
fastened patio doors. He left and Roberta allowed me to again take her
hand. The space between us narrowed. Next our shoulders touched, then
our cheeks. As I began to taste her lips her mouth became frigid. In the
distance a piercing yowl rattled the panes in the patio doors. She pulled
away, her brown eyes chilled.
“This is what you are here for! Can you not put an end to it?”
“I’m asked only to see to legal matters, things which have to do with
wills and estates.”
“If you prove my cousin a lunatic he can be secured during the day
when he is easier to lay hands on, and a place found for him nights where
he’ll disturb no one. Can you not do this?”
“I hope you can do it, Signor D’talia. I’ll see you tomorrow.
Goodnight.”
“Rest well tonight. Tomorrow we’ll go over the will and begin work on
our petition. “We’ll walk you to the cottage – Michael, Alphonse and myself.
Remember, while it is dark out don’t unbolt your door unless you hear a knock
three times. Remember!”
I entered the cottage and bolted the door and shutters as bidden by
Gregory. The dry rattle of the garlic garlands came from each one. I drew
the chair up to the writing desk and sat to a fresh sheet of paper, uncorked
my small ink tin and selected a quill. With a penknife I squared the point and
deepened the slit, then shaved the squared point narrow. The line it drew
narrowed and thickened with each stroke.
It was then that the scratching at the door became distinct. I was
about to call out to whoever was there. Then came a bump, three times.
“Who’s there?”
But no one came in. I waited, annoyed, and then opened the door wide.
A hurried dark form rushed inside. I stepped back. My heart stopped,
frozen in disbelief.
“Do you think with the muggy weather your priming will ignite?”
“My God, what manner of evil are you? What fiendish bargain did you
strike with hell to affect this unholy transformation?”
“None. I strike no bargain except the one I seek you out for now.”
His snout seemed longer and narrower, the ears longer and higher on
the head.
“Even should I not assist them, they will likely prove successful. And
why not? How can you hope to inherit valuable properties and wealth when
you are… like this?”
“Can you deny it? Werewolf myths are the fodder of folk tales, but in
the flesh? As your real self you are cruel and find pleasure in another’s pain,
but as this monster your cruelty is amplified.”
“I want nothing! I have it all. I only wish to keep it and be left alone.”
“I can’t tell you. I don’t know.” His now lower pitched voice rattled
and barked spasmodically. “It’s in my family. My father was the wolf, but he
feared it and chose not to emerge except for the rarest occasion – times of
stress or celebration. I welcome it. You might, too, if it were possible for
you to experience it. How bright I see, how far I hear, and how free my
mind is to race with wind and moon. How can I explain to you what it is like
to be without limits?”
“Travelers disappear.”
“Where? Show me. They disappear down the road, not from life. My
aunt terrifies the servants who chance to see me on the grounds – I seldom
go further afield. Our estate is large. The servants in turn spread tales in
the village. Can you blame me for hating those who encourage others to hate
me? What right have they? By what privilege other than that which they
hope to gain from me?
He became agitated and glared at me, baring his teeth and growling. I
had relaxed during our conversation, but now I raised the pistol to his
breast once more. He attempted to talk, huffing and constricting his chest,
blowing out horribly garbled words.
I was not certain what he meant by that. He left by the still open
door, the transformation complete, the piercing howl beginning at once. It
rattled the shutters. I had not doubt it rattled the windows at the villa. It
rattled even my senses. How illogical. I had discussed legal matters with a
werewolf, the prospective defendant of a lawsuit I had been requested to
prepare.
VI
Howling filled the night from all directions as Emmanual crisscrossed
the estate more rapidly than a sparrow could have covered the distance in
flight. I kept the shutters and door latched fast and sat at the writing desk
as tingling chills ascended and descended my spine. The howling became an
almost human scream. No wonder all hated him.
A rap at the door came three times. I took the pistol, opened the
frizzen and blew out the priming. With a wire I made certain the touch hole
to the main charge was clear, then I poured a fresh charge of priming in the
flash pan and closed the frizzen. I noted that my hands were steady.
“Not even the hunters will go afield tonight. His cacophony has never
been more horrible! I was in the west wing when it started. It seemed right
here. Did he try to get at you?”
“No, however I did see him. He was here in this very room.”
“As Emmanual?”
“Mostly as the wolf. I watched the transformation. In all honesty, I
wish I hadn’t come here.”
“Many did, but he didn’t haunt the countryside as the wolf. I suspect
strongly that my father was the wolf as well. Before he died, when I was
young, in the predawn when I awoke from a nightmare I heard hurried
footsteps in the hallway outside my door, my mother was crying
imprecations, and a distant tapping noise – the noise a dog makes when
walking across a wooden floor – but there was no dog.
“But it was hidden. I never asked, and my mother never spoke of it.
To this day she can’t speak directly of Emmanual’s affliction, and when I look
into her eyes she looks away ashamed, frightened that I might ask about my
father – that I might ask about myself. Am I one too? Will I awake some
night to find myself a beast? Are the anxious urgings I sometimes feel this
thing impatient for me to give it release?”
“Gianni, while you’re here, keep that pistol ready. When you leave,
leave it with me.”
“Another boat comes tomorrow. I’ll take passage on it. I’d like very
much to see your mother and Roberta before I go.”
When I awoke the next morning, I didn’t know if I should join the
family for breakfast and act as though nothing had happened, or be honest,
bid my farewell, and hope the boatman would spare me some bread and fruit
until I could purchase my own victuals. I was hungry, however, and the
thought of sweet rolls and chocolate made my mouth water and, if it wasn’t
too gauche, a long dark cigar would finish the morning’s parting just right.
I had already guarded against the likelihood that cigars would not be
offered at breakfast’s end. At dinner the previous night I had sauntered by
the open chest of drawers where the silver tray that held the cigars was
replaced after making the rounds at table. When none looked my way, and
none of the many polished surfaces in that room reflected my deed, I took
half a dozen of the delicious cigars and hid them in my coat pocket.
I hoped the servants didn’t suffer much for my indiscretion once the
theft was noticed. I could picture myself reclining on the boat on that long
journey back home, enjoying the passing view and blowing smoke onto the
breeze.
The hard sweet rolls were deliciously sweet, the chocolate hot and
slightly bitter. There was no conversation, and the longer the silence
endured the more difficult it became for me to inform signora Bartolli and
Roberta that I planned to leave that very morning. It had been my hope
Gregory would break the news, but he remained morosely silent.
“Signora, Roberta. It is my difficult duty to inform you that I will be
leaving here for my home today.”
She got up from the table and left. Gregory turned baleful eyes on
me.
“Yes, it will be hard to see you leave, especially when we have asked
for your help… But I understand. This is not an ordinary problem. I can
understand your apprehension.”
“How many people have actually seen your cousin as the wolf? No one
outside your family, I’m sure. No one has witnessed the actual
transformation. Few have even seen him as more than a fleeting shadow
amongst shadows. But he knew you pursued him, baited traps for him. He
knew you waited until he was vulnerable – that you could never face him man
to man. He knew that strangers laughed, scorned, and feared him at your
instigation.
“Gradually his human behavior reflected the strain that was burdened
on him. All saw that, and none would question your attempt to preempt
Emmanual from his inheritance. I do, however, and I question it not so much
for the reasons I’ve just stated, but from what you yourself told me
yesterday – that there’s little difference between you and Emmanual.
Perhaps the difference is that some have the courage to be what they are --
and some do not. YOU!” I shouted to a servant. “Bring me a cigar!”
Gregory’s face was deep red. Roberta had sat motionless throughout
my tirade. The tray of cigars was brought to me. I took two, lit one from
the proffered taper, and placed the other in my vest pocket. I then left the
villa.
Just before I reached the cottage I heard hurried steps behind me.
She leaned on my shoulder. Her face was pale, her lips intensely red.
I lifted her chin and our eyes engaged warmly. She pressed into me.
“Over here!”
I could see the man waving to the villa from the stream. Gregory and
some servants were on the run there. Roberta and I pressed close together
once more, but the man’s insistent crying started us on the run for the
stream as well.
There, lying prone on the ground, was Emmanual in altered form, his
wolfish mouth gaping horribly.
“The wolf is dead!” cried a field hand joyously.
“It seems, Gianni, that your leaving does not matter,” Gregory said.
“It seems that God has decided the matter. Look! The glutton choked to
death on a bone. Our object is accomplished. Ha!”
I could see the human in the crooked malformed wolf. It was sad.
The fur seemed matted and sparse, as though the creature had mange.
Deep in its mouth I could just glimpse the knobby end of a large bone, the
object on which Emmanual had choked. Perhaps it was all that remained of
the unfortunate Angela D’lucca, the only person in these parts known to be
missing in years. Had Emmanual stumbled upon her dead body, or had he, as
related by the peasant boy, chased her down, killed her, and feasted upon
her? Whichever, he was no longer part of creation. Now at last he was at
peace.
Post Script
I look back on the events of those days and smile. I left the home of
my friend feeling justice had become a contrived thing. I later learned
though that in the case of the cousins justice served well the side of
righteousness.
The End