Chapter 15
“Come in!” I answer the knock on the shop door.
With an over-door bell ring, two men enter. One I don’t recognise, but the second I place in an instant. My heart skips a beat as I stand up from the counter.
“Pardon me, are you Miss Walder?” says the first.
“Yes.”
“We need your help. I am Theodor Moser, and my friend here, Johann Jäger, had a bit of an accident while doing schwingen.”
“It wasn’t an accident. It was a fair fight.” Johann nods at his buddy, then turns his gaze in my direction. “I won.”
“Congratulations on winning your wrestling match, Master Jäger,” I say, taking in his injuries, “but you still seem to need medical assistance.”
I point to a round chair, but Johann stands still. Then Theodor nudges him in the right direction, and the chair, being on three legs, tips when Johann sits off balance.
Johann laughs while Theodor steadies him.
“I’m fine! I ’m fine,” Johann says through the laugh, looking at the back wall of the shop.
“He hit his head,” Theodor says.
The bruising is starting to form on his left jaw, and across his eyebrow and cheek he has a thin cut. However, the main injury is the dirt-covered gash at the back of his head. And it’s still bleeding. “Why didn’t you go to Dr Steiner, our physician?”
“We did, but he sent us here, saying he needs to handle the opponent first.”
“And let me tell you,” Johann jumps in, “that guy is much worse off.”
I shake my head again. Boys.
“Give me a moment, Master Jäger. I need to clean this up to see how deep the cut goes. ”I walk to the back room and take the bottle with a tincture comprised of 70% alcohol, a few cotton pads that I boiled and dried yesterday, and a bottle of water. Placing the items on the counter, I loop around Johann again to check the injury.
His light shoulder-length hair is almost black from dried blood and soil, and when I move a few strands away from the cut, he hisses in pain.
“I’m sorry,” I say, narrowing my eyes, trying to assess the damage better. This might need stitches. “I don’t think Dr Steiner realised how deep this is. All right, I need to clean the wound first. It might hurt. A bit.”
“It’s fine, I can handle a—ow!” Johann pulls his head away. “How is this a bit?”
“I thought you could handle it.”
“Yes, but not like this. What are you using?”
“Alcohol.”
“Grappa?”
“Grappa is 40%, and although it would work if I had nothing else, the best is a solution comprised of 70% alcohol.”
“Why would 70% be bett—ouch!” He tries to move away again, but I place a palm on his forehead so he stays still.
Then, my fingers tingle.
I pause for a heartbeat. Is this the cut I am sensing?
I leave my fingers on his forehead, but when nothing else comes, I dismiss it. I clean the wound, trying to be gentle, but every now and then, I graze the open skin with a cloth and Johann tenses. I spend several minutes cleaning carefully until the gravel and specks of dirt are gone and I can assess it better. The cut is at least three centimetres long, and several millimetres deep.
“I will need to stitch this, Master Jäger. Wait here.” I return to the back room to fetch the surgical equipment.
“Did you say, stitch it?” calls Theodor from the shop.
“Shouldn’t, erm, physicians do that? Surgeons?” adds Johann.
“Yes, precisely.” Holding the scissors, thread and a needle on a metal platter, I walk back into the room. “But do you see a surgeon here anywhere?No. And lucky for you, Master Jäger, I know how to do stitches.”
“Really? You do?”
“Yes. My father taught me. And he was taught by a professor at the Medical University of Basel. So there is no need for you to worry.” I pull up another chair and sit behind Johann.
“Master Jäger, I will first put a tincture on your wound that will slightly dull the pain, all right? So you won’t feel the needle. Much.”
I can hear him grinning. “If your much is the same as your previous bit, then I know what to expect.”
I smile as I tip the tincture onto the cotton pad, making the fabric moist. Johann tenses his back muscles as I apply it, making the thin stream of blood increase.
“Steady, Master Jäger,” I say softly, trying to calm him with my voice, and he exhales slowly, relaxing his shoulders.
Good.
Holding the piece of parted skin together with a pincer, I push the needle through it, but the skin is resilient; elastic and stretchy, it peaks over the tip of the needle for a second and then gives way. As soon as the skin is pierced, I stop, expecting a reaction.
But there is none.
“Are you all right, Master Jäger?”
“Did you start already?”
Theodor and I look at each other and smile. The tincture is already working. “Just about…” I reply while I drive the needle through the other side of the wound, before pulling the two edges together and tying the first knot.
With five stitches, I seal the cut closed, the stream of blood subsiding completely.
“All right, Master Jäger. I think we are nearly done. I still need to put on a bandage.”
I place the clean, dry cotton pad on the back of his head and am about to wrap it up when my fingers tingle again. I look at them, rubbing them with my thumb.
“Is there something wrong, Miss Walder?” Theodor asks.
Instead of answering, I move around Johann and stand in front of him. I hadn’t noticed before, but he has the most beautiful hazel eyes, with shards of deep green, like broken jade crystals, dispersed around his pupils. I can see why Claudia and Isabel were so swept away at the market the other day.
Inadvertently, I blush, because he is quite a sight. And then I blush even more, because he can see it.
“How do you feel?” I try to distract myself.
“Much better,” he says, a smile playing on his lips.
He is beautiful but—something is wrong.
I narrow my eyes, trying to see more, trying to see within. “Are you sure, Master Jäger?”
“Of course. I can’t even feel the pain. That much.” He grins.
I am about to smile when I notice it. The very faint grey haze around his eyes, different from the yellow glow around most of his body. And then it dawns on me: his eyes are focused on the back of the room, roughly to where I am standing, but just not quite focused on me.
I pull up a hand and make a fist. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
He frowns. “I think that is quite irrelevant.”
“Master Jäger, please, how many?”
“All right, two!” he blurts out and is about to stand, but I touch his shoulder lightly, making him stop, feeling the tingle in the tips of my fingers again.
Theodor and I exchange glances.
After a moment’s silence, Johann sighs. “It wasn’t two, was it?”
“No, it wasn’t two.”
He closes his eyes, his shoulders slumping.
“For God’s sake, Johann, why didn’t you say anything?” says Theodor.
“Because I want to go to the hunt tomorrow. We came all this way. I don’t want to miss it.”
“That’s really dumb! How will you hunt if you can’t see?”
“I’m sure this is only temporary. It must be the shock or something. I mean, I fell on the back of my head, not the front.” He laughs, but when neither of us reacts, he turns his head in my direction. “I mean, this is temporary, Miss Walder, right?”
I look at my fingers again, remembering the tingle. I understand now what it meant. And I also know this means that I can help him. I can help him my way.
But my father told me not to use my way while he is gone.
Don’t show anyone what you can do.
I close my fist, capturing the tingle.
But how can I not help him?
I look at Johann, his hazel eyes looking straight at me, but not seeing me. “Maybe. I think I have the medication that might help.”
“See, Theo, no problem.” He nudges with his elbow but misses Theodor, who is just out of reach.
I open both doors of the glass-front cupboard, wondering what I can give him. Then I take the jar with dark green powder from the top right.
“So what is the herb?” Johann asks.
“Urtica dioica,” I say.
“Stinging nettle? Really?”
Oh, no! He knows Latin. “Yes, it has, erm… many healing properties.” I scoop a small spoonful and lean toward Johann. “Master Jäger, please open your mouth.”
With some hesitation, he does, and while I spoon-feed him, I place one palm gently at the back of his head, and let it work. The tingling in my palm intensifies, my skin warming up.
Soon, the soles of my feet tingle too, while the whole of my body feels as if there is a steady stream of water rushing through me.
Johann mumbles something, powder spurting out of his mouth in a burst of green cloud.
“Keep your mouth closed! You are wasting medication,” warns Theodor.
Johann’s face distorts while he tries to shift the powder around this mouth. “This tastes horrible,” he splutters once he is done. “I hope only one portion?”
“Actually,” I glance at Theodor, “I think you should keep taking it, one spoon a day, until your sight comes back.”
“Bah!”
“Do you want your sight back or not?” Theodor sounds irritated.
“I do. I do.”
“Good.” He crosses his arms on his chest. “Now, Miss Walder, how much we owe you?”
“Erm…” They could pay now, or… “Why don’t you come back again in a few days—”I glance at Johann “—just to see how it’s going. We can include all of it together then. Is that all right?” Because I would not mind seeing him again.
“Yes. Thank you, Miss Walder,” Theodor says and steps toward the door.
Johann reaches out to shake my hand, and as soon as I place my palm in his, the subtle but unmistakable current rushes though. He pauses for an instant, glancing in the direction of our joined hands. Did he sense it, too?
Then, he pulls me closer, and kisses the back of my hand. “You have very warm hands, Miss Walder.”
“Oh, Johann! For crying out loud, not now! You don’t even know what she looks like.”
Johann straightens up, still holding my hand, while I feel the blush reaching my cheeks.
“Theo, what are you talking about?” he says calmly. “I am just stating the obvious.”
Theodor rolls his eyes and shakes his head at me. “He is hopeless. Come, before you ruin it completely.” Theodor pushes him through the door, while still keeping one hand on his elbow to guide him.
“Miss Walder, I am looking forward to the next time, when I will hopefully be able to see your face.”
“Go, Johann!”
“Goodbye, Master Jäger. Get better soon.”
They descend the few stairs and step onto the cobblestones of Hintergasse.
“Oh, Master Jäger?”
They both turn.
“You did see me before. At the meadow, on the hill behind Rose City, when your hawk decided to land on my arm.”
“Ah! That was you.” He bows again. “Well, you were too far away, I don’t think I could have recognised you even if my eyes were healthy.” He starts to turn but stops. “Except the hair. Yes. I would recognise your hair. Quite exceptional!”
“Just stop it, Johann, before you embarrass us both.” Theodor pulls him along.
I smile, touching the curls falling down my shoulders. Yes, a flirt, but—I close the door—a charming one.