“Don’t worry, lass, you did well… two of the bastards,” he repeated.
He scratched his head and looked at Satan with sorrow in his eyes. Removing his cloak, he wrapped it around him carefully. “He was a good dog. I’ll stuff him so he’s with me always.”
They spent the afternoon skinning the first bear. When they had finished, it occurred to Althar that they could recover the skin from the second one, too. “At the end of the day, all we have to do is climb down into the ravine.”
“Won’t it be dangerous?”
“You wait here,” he said.
He set down his load and started along the path on the hillside that seemed to descend to the bottom of the precipice. After a while he returned along the same route, with something loaded onto his shoulders.
“The skin was no use, eaten away by the mange,” he explained. “But it had nice eyes, so I brought them back with me. Along with the rest of the head.”
When they arrived home, Leonora welcomed them with good tidings: Hoos had risen and was waiting for them at the table.
As they ate their dinner, Theresa thought Hoos seemed more interested in his pottage than their story of the hunt. However, when he had wolfed down the last spoonful, he thanked Althar for saving his life.
“Thank the lass. She’s the one who insisted I put you on the cart.”
Hoos looked at Theresa and his expression hardened. Leonora sensed that something was amiss. “I am grateful,” he said drily. “But after I saved her life, it’s the least I would expect.”
“That’s right,” Althar conceded. “It’s clear the girl can be relied upon.” He laughed and gave Theresa a shove.
Hoos changed the subject. “Your wife tells me you’ve lived here a long time.”
“Verily. I can assure you we don’t miss the filth of the city: the scandalmongers, the false accusations, the gossip—bah! We’re happy here. Just the two of us, doing and eating what we please.” He took a slug on his wine. “Tell me, how are you feeling?”
“Not good, to be honest, but I couldn’t remain lying down any longer.”
“Then you should rest. Until those ribs heal, at least. Otherwise any movement could ruin your lungs.”
Hoos nodded. Every time he swallowed he felt as if barbs were tearing at his insides. He downed his wine, excused himself, and went back to bed. While the women cleared up, Althar spread out the bear skin, placing the two heads on top of some buckets. When he ushered the animals into the cave for the evening, he realized that he missed the scurrying of Satan, who would always help him with the task.
The next day started gloomily, with a blustery wind. A bad day for venturing out, Althar thought to himself, but not so bad for stuffing trophies. Before breakfast he took the animals outside to water them and took the opportunity to empty his bladder. On his return, Theresa and Leonora were up and about. They ate breakfast in silence so as not to wake Hoos. Then Althar picked up the pelt and the bear heads and asked Theresa to accompany him.
“I still need to wash,” said the girl.
Althar assumed she still had her period, so he didn’t insist.
“When you’ve finished, come to the other cave. I’ll need your help.”
Althar swung the skin over his shoulder and walked out with her. Theresa went to the stream to wash with the cloths that Leonora had given her. When she returned she saw that Hoos had woken and was glaring at her.
Leonora seemed to notice this, too, and said, “I’m off to feed the animals. Just call if you need anything.”
They both nodded. When she had gone, Hoos made as if to get up, but he felt a stabbing in his chest and lay back down again. Theresa sat down beside him.
“Do you feel better?” she asked timidly. They were the first words she had said to him. Hoos hesitated before answering.
“You weren’t so concerned when you took off with my dagger,” he said.
Theresa didn’t know what to say. She went to her bag and returned red-faced. “I don’t know how I could have done it,” she said, tears in her eyes.
Hoos’s expression changed. He took the dagger and stuffed it under the blanket. Then he closed his eyes and turned away.
Theresa understood that nothing she could say or do would change his mind. After all, if it had been the other way round, she would have reacted the same. She wiped away her tears and with a trembling voice asked him to forgive her. Finally, faced with the young man’s indifference, she left the cave with her head bowed.
On the way to the second cave she came across Leonora, who noticed the young woman’s reddened eyes. But Theresa walked past, not giving her a chance to say anything. Leonora went back to the bear cave. When she questioned Hoos about what had happened, he replied with a terse, “It’s none of your business.”
Leonora was affronted by his response. “Listen to me, young man: I don’t care where you come from or what titles you have. You should know that you are only alive because that girl, who you’ve just made cry, made sure of it, so you had better start behaving like a prince toward her or it’ll be me who breaks your ribs.”
Hoos didn’t answer. He thought to himself that nobody would know or care about the impulse he had to follow the girl in the first place.
DECEMBER
9
First it was just a slight tingling. Then the wound stabbed at him. Gorgias threw the wax tablet that Genseric had given him onto the old bed and approached the light that sifted through the little window high up in the cell. He undid the bandage around his arm, taking care not to pull off the scab. When he looked at his flesh underneath he noticed that his entire arm was violet and a cluster of pustules was starting to appear between the stitches. If it had been possible he would have had the physician Zeno take a look at it, though the absence of a foul smell was reassuring. With the point of his stylus, he flicked off the driest scabs and cleaned out the yellowish pus underneath. Then he tightened the bandage and prayed that his arm would scar without further complications.
For the first hour of his confinement, he merely waited, examining the little window that not even a small child could have squeezed through. Try as he might, he could not see anything through the alabaster. He thought about breaking it, but controlled his urge. When he heard the bells signaling Sext, he knew his wife would have probably come to the chapter by now, worried about his absence.