The Scribe(143)
While the physician pressed the cloth against her head, a necklace of gems that Theresa had seen before flashed in front of her eyes. She waited for Zeno to move away before she tried to confirm what she had seen, but the man was fidgeting and she was unable to get a clear view of the jewelry. Finally, bending down to pick up his instruments, the rubies were revealed again. Theresa’s heart missed a beat: It was her father’s necklace.
After Zeno had finished and was walking away, Theresa waited for Hoos to be distracted before running after him. She reached Zeno in the corridor that connected the storehouse to the fortress. In the underground passage, the light flickered intermittently from torch to torch. The physician was distractedly ambling along with his usual air of drunkenness and apathy. When Theresa approached him, Zeno turned in surprise, but his surprise turned into astonishment when Theresa grabbed him by the front of his shirt.
“Where did you get it?” she blurted out.
“What in the Devil’s name?” He shoved her away, making her fall to the ground.
The young woman stood up and threatened him once more.
“Damned madwoman! Has that stone to your head unhinged you?”
“Where did you get that necklace?” she repeated.
“It’s mine. Now get out of the way or you’ll be picking up your teeth off the floor.”
Theresa fixed her eyes on him. “You know Hoos Larsson, right? He’s there, right at the other end of the tunnel.” Then she tore violently at her dress until one of her breasts was exposed. “Answer me now or I’ll scream until he comes and kills you.”
“For God’s sake! Cover yourself. You’ll have us both burnt at the stake.”
Theresa tried to scream, but Zeno covered her mouth. However, the physician was trembling like a beaten dog and he looked the young woman in the eyes, begging her to be quiet. He did not let go until she had signaled she wouldn’t scream.
Removing his hand cautiously he admitted, “Your father gave it to me. Now leave me in peace, wretched girl.”
But, before he could leave, Theresa made him explain the circumstances of his meeting with her father. Reluctantly, Zeno told her that, at the request of Genseric, he had attended to Gorgias at an abandoned granary. He added that he merely wished to help, and he promised Theresa that her father had given him the necklace as payment for his services. He refrained from mentioning the amputated arm, however. When Theresa asked where her father was, he didn’t have an answer. So she demanded that he take her to the place where he had tended to him. Zeno tried to wriggle out of it, but the young woman wouldn’t let him.
Suddenly the physician’s expression changed. “Nice tits,” he said with a silly little laugh.
Theresa stepped back, covering up her chest. She would have slapped him if she could. “Listen to me carefully, you filthy goat turd! You will take me to that place now, and if you dare touch me, I swear to God I will have you burned alive.”
Theresa doubted the weight of her threats, but when she added that she would accuse him of having robbed her father, the physician stood up straight as if someone had just impaled him. The stupid smile was quickly wiped off his face and he agreed to escort her.
After tidying up her habit, the young woman snatched Zeno’s bag from him so she could pretend to be his assistant. She followed the physician and they left the fortress through a side door without any more trouble.
She walked along behind Zeno in a state of anxiety, as if she only wanted to return to the granary and put an end to the whole pantomime once and for all. When they were in the vicinity of the abandoned stables the physician stopped. He waved his arm at it and made as if to go back, but Theresa made him wait.
The young woman approached the shelter that was half-devoured by the undergrowth and looking as if it would collapse at any moment. When she pushed the door open, a swarm of flies accompanied the stench that wafted out from inside. She entered slowly, waving her arm at the cloud of insects buzzing around her. Her stomach turned and she retched. Feeling unable to contain her nausea, she vomited, yet continued into the darkness in search of a clue that would lead her to her father.
Suddenly she stumbled on something. She looked down and her heart pounded. Among the fallen leaves, a putrefying arm, peppered with insects, was propped upright as though baying for vengeance.
Theresa left the building in horror and vomited again. Hatred and pain overcame her. “You killed him, you bastard.” She thumped against Zeno’s chest with her fists. “You killed and robbed him,” she said, crying inconsolably.
Zeno tried to calm her down. He had forgotten that they had left the amputated arm on the ground, so he was left with no choice but to tell her the truth. While he recounted the events, Theresa listened in bewilderment.
“I don’t know what might have happened afterward,” he said apologetically, “but Gorgias was still alive. Genseric asked me to take them somewhere else. I obeyed and then went back to town.”
“Where did you take him?”
Zeno spat and looked fixedly at Theresa.
“I’ll take you, then I’m off.”
They skirted the walls of the fortress until they reached the point where the defenses adjusted to the quirks of a rocky outcrop. Zeno pointed to the place where the thick ivy obscured an entrance. On the other side of the wall, the outline of a building could be seen and Theresa guessed that it must be part of the fortress. At that moment the physician turned, leaving her alone in front of the door.