Morbus Dei: The Sign of Aries. Matthias Bauer

Чтение книги онлайн.

      Johann looked around. To call the physician’s shack a farm was like calling a foxhole a cathedral! Its walls were made of battered timber, the joints roughly plastered with loam, and the rotting reeds on the roof smelt as if a whole company of soldiers had relieved themselves on top of it.

      Johann took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.

      The man is offering to help. Show some gratitude.

      The Prussian was lying on a wooden table in the middle of the room. The physician had laid out his silver instruments on a clean linen cloth beside him, whilst behind him the tips of several branding irons could be seen sticking out of an open fire. Two oil lamps hanging from a heavy ceiling beam gave off sufficient light for their purposes.

      ‘I shall have to cut out the bullet,’ explained the barber surgeon. ‘I hope he won’t lose too much–‘ he broke off and looked at Hans. ‘You! Get me a lamb from one of the neighbour’s farms! Tell them Leonardus sent you and he’ll pay later.’

      Hans was puzzled as to why he should be sent to get food in the middle of an emergency but he nodded nonetheless and raced out of the door.

      Then Leonardus fetched several very long straps, of a hand’s width, and strapped the Prussian as tightly as he could to the table top.

      ‘Need any help?’ asked Johann.

      The physician shook his head. ‘But stay here with the Count. If the fellow wakes up, you’ll have to hold him down, the straps won’t be sufficient.’ With that, he picked up a dark, earthenware pitcher and gulped down so much wine that it dribbled out of the corners of his mouth and over his belly. Then he belched, wiped his face on his sleeve and assumed an air of bravery. ‘Now then!’

      Johann gave von Binden a worried look but the latter did not respond.

      The physician cut open the wound on the Prussian’s thigh to half a hand’s width, licked his thumb and forefinger and began to poke around inside it. The Prussian groaned and his limbs began to jerk. ‘Bear up, old pal,’ said Johann softly, holding his comrade’s head.

      Leonardus pulled a face. ‘Where are you, you goddamned–’

      More blood began to gush from the wound and von Binden went to grab a cloth.

      ‘Leave it, milord Count, that way the wound stays cleaner,’ said the physician matter-of-factly, continuing to poke his finger into the incision. The Prussian groaned more loudly and Johann wiped the sweat from his comrade’s brow.

      Bear up, old pal, bear up for my sake!

      ‘Ah–got you!’ shouted the physician, jerking his finger out. He held the lead bullet to the light and squinted at it. ‘You seem to be intact, you nasty, little–’

      ‘Mr Leonardus!’ interjected Johann, pointing to the bleeding wound.

      The physician gestured reassuringly, placed the bullet to one side and picked up one of the glowing irons from the fire. ‘He’s not going to like this,’ he said and he pressed the iron onto the wound.

      The Prussian tried to rear up but the straps held him fast. Instantly, the room was filled with the sickly smell of burnt flesh and memories of the field hospital after battle flashed through Johann’s mind. The physician laid aside the iron and picked up a wooden spatula, removed a glob of a brownish, gooey substance from a ceramic receptacle behind him and spread it onto a linen cloth. Then he pressed the cloth against the wound.

      ‘You’ll need to change the cloth four times a day and put fresh turpentine ointment on it,’ he ordered Johann sternly. ‘And always use a fresh rag, understood?’

      Johann nodded and felt the Prussian’s pulse. ‘His heart is racing. No, wait–it’s getting slower and slower!’

      Leonardus had not failed to notice it too, along with the sweat on his patient’s brow and his increasing pallor. ‘He’s lost too much blood.’

      At that moment Hans came in, carrying a sleepy-eyed lamb in his arms.

      ‘Not a moment too soon!’ cried the barber surgeon, seizing the lamb. He placed it beside the Prussian’s arm and strapped it swiftly to the table top. The animal began to bleat and writhe about under the straps.

      ‘What in God’s name are you up to?’ cried Johann, grabbing hold of Leonardus’ arm.

      ‘If you want your friend to have even a ghost of a chance of surviving then let me get on with what I have to do,’ replied the physician, glaring at Johann. He stank of booze and his eyes were bloodshot but there was determination in them.

      The man is helping. Probably.

      Johann let the physician go, stepped backwards and took hold of his friend’s head again.

      Leonardus gave a slight nod, snatched up his knife and with a few flicks of the wrist sheared a section of the lamb’s neck. Then he bound the head of the struggling animal tightly to the underarm of the Prussian with a rope, and skilfully cut away the flesh from around the lamb’s carotid artery without puncturing it. The bleating of the poor lamb rose now to a wail, which pierced the hearts of all those present.

      Except the heart of the physician, it seemed, who was behaving as calmly as if he were enjoying a symphony. Carefully, he pulled out a wooden casket, ornately decorated with inlaid patterns, and opened it.

      Johann leaned to one side and peeped inside. The casket was lined with red velvet and contained a pair of silver scissors as well as several cannulas made of brass and glass, and some another instruments, which Johann had never seen before.

      He felt decidedly uneasy. Should he intervene again and stop the man, who was probably a charlatan, from carrying out any more wondrous practices on his friend? Or should he let him carry on?

      Your feelings tell you what your head can’t yet understand.

      One of Abbot Bernardin’s well-intentioned maxims. He closed his eyes for a moment and listened inside himself. What would the Prussian do in his place?

      Anything to keep you alive.

      Johann opened his eyes. He had made up his mind.

      The physician had in the meantime taken the utensils out of the casket and laid them on the table in an order that seemed to make sense to him alone. Then he hesitated.

      Don’t СКАЧАТЬ