The Confines of the Shadow by Alessandro Spina

Author:Alessandro Spina
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781850772804
Publisher: Darf Publishers
Published: 2015-05-25T00:00:00+00:00

IV

Olghina crossed the square while the soldiers were still disassembling the gallows where that monster had been executed the previous day, and entered the covered market. Abdelkarim spotted her and dashed to the back of the warehouse to alert the master. Olghina was almost running as she entered.

‘Forgive me Émile, I was alone in the house, and Semereth Effendi’s ghost is roaming the city and frightening people.’

‘Come in, come in.’

‘It’s the only thing people are talking about in Benghazi,’ said Armand, who’d returned to the city after being forced to close the branch in Tocra due to a dip in trade.

‘Will he be the last victim of the colonial conquest? It’s as though people actually want to celebrate the occasion in some way …’

‘Don’t mind Armand, Signora. He only looks on these events as mere setbacks.’

‘I’m leaving: didn’t you know that? Now that war has broken out, I’m going to Italy. If I enlist as a volunteer, I’ll have the right to citizenship. Thus, I’ll bid goodbye to the Middle East once and for all.’

‘Goodbye, goodbye,’ Émile parroted, clearly annoyed. ‘Since your problems are now over, let’s not rehash them – so shut your mouth. Were you really afraid? It was an evil act, and I’m also afraid, but not of Semereth’s ghost, whose apparition would console me: no, I’m frightened of God’s retribution.’

‘Just what do the two of you find so extraordinary about that tow-haired monster? The past few years have seen so many victims interred and then quickly forgotten. Instead, Semereth is granted all this fanfare. Captain Martello says that my magnanimous brother even bent his knee in front of the general to implore his clemency.’

‘I also heard that, which is why I came here, Armand. Semereth Effendi’s ghost will respectfully leave this shop alone. Émile, did you see Semereth before he was executed?’

‘I asked to see him, and he sent the jailer back with a note: Tell him to forgive my mistakes, just as I have forgiven his. It’s the most drastic form of goodbye used in this country.’

‘It’s all over now, there’s no need to frighten the lady.’

‘Armand, one of your brother’s finest traits is that one feels safe next to him’

‘Indeed. My brother’s like a church: he consoles and pontificates. But I’m a heretic.’

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