Legacy of Evil (A Jonathan Harker Mystery) by Evans Tony

Author:Evans, Tony [Evans, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Published: 2014-06-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

At first Mina and I had feared the worst. We summoned the young man’s parents, and between us we carried Nicolaus into the farmhouse and upstairs to his bedroom.

Like many country women of the province, Maria Polgar had some traditional medical knowledge, inherited from the time – not long ago – when qualified doctors were both hard to find and too expensive for most of the population to afford. She examined her son carefully and could find no broken bones or obvious evidence of internal injuries. We waited an hour or so, by which time Nicolaus had regained his senses, sat up in bed and drunk a herbal remedy which his mother had prepared. It seemed that he had been very fortunate, and had escaped with nothing worse that severe bruising and mild concussion. We offered to bring a doctor from Bistritz, but the Polgars declined. No opportunity offered itself for a conversation with Nicolaus, and even if it had I doubt that Mina or I would have wished to impose further upon his confidence.

When Mina and I took our leave, Lajos Polgar walked with us from the house to where our horses were tethered. He looked across the farmyard towards the cow byre, where his herd were patiently cropping the grass outside the ruined doors. On impulse I reached inside the inner pocket of my coat, where I kept a roll of banknotes, and offered them to Lajos.

I pointed to the splintered planks. ‘For repairs,’ I said. ‘For the farm. Please take it.’

The thickset farmer shook his head, and spoke in hesitant German. ‘Thank you, no. It is kind, but I cannot. I fix doors myself.’ He held out his hand to us. ‘You must not come again,’ he said. ‘Not safe for us – or you.’

*

When our horses had carried us out of sight of the farmhouse I slowed my mount to a halt and Mina stopped beside me.

‘What do you make of it?’ I asked. ‘Normally I am a great believer in coincidence. If a blasphemer is struck by lightning I would prefer to blame the vagaries of the storm rather than the wrath of the Almighty. Nevertheless it does seem remarkable that Nicolaus was knocked down the instant before he was about to reveal to us – to use his phrase, if memory serves me right – “the instigator of this evil”.’

‘I would agree with you. And it is not as if the young man had been felled by a falling branch, or thrown by his horse. The manner of his accident was quite bizarre. I lived in the countryside as a young girl, and have never heard of cattle behaving in such a way.’

I urged my horse to continue along the trail. Mina followed me, and I turned my head to speak to her. ‘I suggest we say nothing of this matter when we reach Urmuz. There is little more that can be done today. I pray to God that Father Filimon will be able to help us further when we speak to him on Monday.

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