Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (10 page)

“What is happening to me?” she asked in a tremulous voice.

He who had been convulsed with pain rose and took the girl in his arms.

“I am afraid,” she said.

Bearing her in his arms, he bent over her virginal body and inhaled its fragrance.

Just as he was about to defile his own child there was a voice in the vault:

“Where are you, Richard? Richard? I’ve brought you some wine.”

The old man stood erect and wiped the sweat from his beastly brow.

And Valerie, who was suddenly seized with mortal anguish, swallowed the magical pellet given her by Orlík.

Chapter XXV
BURIAL

“Richard!” the woman approaching said once more.

Then Valerie heard two screams and fell lifeless to the ground. Her limbs went rigid. She felt stiff. She wanted to move her eyelids, but could not. Only her hearing remained unaffected.

“Where did she come from?”

“Don’t ask about anything!” exclaimed the constable.

“But she’s dying.”

“It happened suddenly, in a flash.”

“Look, she’s dead.”

“Yes, she’s dead,” said the Polecat, touching her.

But Valerie could hear every word exchanged between these two people who had caused her so much pain over just a few days.

“It’s all over,” said the Polecat.

“But what has happened to you, Richard? You were at death’s door, and suddenly you’re full of vitality.”

“I’ve been rejuvenated for the last time!”

“How many times have you said that before, my dear.”

“She who might have helped me is dead.”

“And what will become of me?”

“You must reconcile yourself to your fate.”

“How? Will you not preserve my youth?”

“I cannot.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Now there is no one who can save us.”

“I’m quite aware you are to blame for her death.”

“This time I doubt I am guilty.”

“What will you do?”

“I can no longer think of being saved.”

“Richard, you are a miracle of a man.”

“If only I were!”

“You’ve got that same look now as when you bewitched me all those years back.”

“That was a long time ago, Elsa.”

“But am I not also young?”

“You are beautiful.”

“Keep paying me those old compliments of yours.”

“You well know your beauty is just a veneer. I love women who are genuinely young and beautiful.”

“Forget that half a century has passed, Richard, and treat me the way you used to.”

“On one condition.”

“I am ready to meet your every wish.”

“Just over there is a coop with two hens. Bite their necks.”

“Where did the chickens come from?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Valerie heard the frenzied wails of the poor Plymouth Rocks.

“What you’ve asked is an abomination! The blood has fouled my whole face.”

“More, more ...”

“I can’t go on.”

“Come to me.”

“I wish I’d never met you, Richard!”

“Come, now I like you.”

“You are an animal.”

“Say it again!”

“You’re an animal, a loathsome animal!”

“And what else?”

“I love you.”

“You are magnificent. Follow me!”

“I’m afraid of you, Richard!”

“A woman’s fear gives me pleasure.”

“Why are you so cruel?”

“Undress.”

“Your eyes are driving me crazy.”

“You are beautiful.”

“I can hardly breathe.”

“I love your teeth.”

“I will burn up!”

“I am going to hurt you.”

“Ah yes, that awful thing strikes fear in me.”

There was a cry. Then Valerie heard the moaning of the woman whom she pitied as well as envied.

“I hope you never leave me!”

“I will have to go.”

“Never go away from me.”

“I cannot remain here!”

“Will you promise me that you’ll return?”

“I will return.”

These and similarly meaningless words interrupted the moans of the lovers, who were meeting again after half an age. Valerie tried to open her eyes, but her rigidity was so complete that at moments she thought herself dead. When the protracted groaning of the two monsters had come to an end, she heard:

“No one has satisfied me in fifty years. Now I’m overcome with such fatigue I’d like to sleep. Come upstairs with me, this vault of yours frightens me.”

“First we have to bury that poor creature.”

“Of course, Richard.”

“Will you help me carry her?”

“I haven’t got the strength. I’m completely exhausted. I want to sleep.”

“I’ll carry her on my own then. Say farewell to her.”

“I haven’t the strength.”

In spite of everything, Valerie felt a cross being inscribed on her forehead by a hand she thought familiar. She wanted to cry out that she was alive, but her tongue would not move. She felt two strong arms pick her up and carry her away.

“Please help me, Elsa. Take the lid off the coffin.”

“If only I didn’t have to witness this burial!”

Suddenly there was a shout and the sound of a heavy object falling, then the grandmother’s voice said:

“Look, Richard, there’s someone sleeping here.”

The man carrying Valerie placed her on the floor of the vault.

“You must be seeing things, Elsa.”

“No, look, there’s a man asleep in the coffin.”

“You’re right,” said the Polecat. “I can’t understand how he got here.”

“The missionary. I’d quite forgotten about him. Gratian ...”

“That’s strange.”

“Let’s wake him. Look, he’s breathing. He isn’t dead. Gratian!”

“He’s sleeping like a log. Let’s let him sleep.”

“Please, Richard, help me get him up above ground to his cell.”

“First we have to bury the girl.”

“How awful!”

“Don’t start crying, Elsa, and take the lid off the next coffin.”

“You take it off.”

“Fine help you are!”

Valerie was picked up again by the same two arms and placed in a narrow coffin. Then she clearly heard the coffin lid fall into place.

“What are you going to do with Gratian?”

“Let him have a good sleep.”

“You’re cruel, Richard.”

“We don’t need him getting in our way.”

“Do you have any plans he might foil?”

“I do have a plan. I want to make a last attempt to regain my youth.”

“You said it was too late.”

“Yes. But if I succeed at one small operation, I’ll be able to accomplish all sorts of things in this world.”

“What operation?”

“I am attended by a young boy I thought was my son. His name is Orlík. Thus far I have felt compassion for him, but now I am resolved to try an experiment on him.”

“How? Do you want to operate on him?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not a surgeon, my dear.”

“Rare is the surgeon who can match my skill. I’ve already operated on many people.”

“What does this operation you want to perform on the boy entail?”

“I will need to open up his chest and remove his heart.”

“You want to kill him?”

“He will continue to live.”

“How is that possible?”

“I’ll give him the missionary’s heart as a replacement.”

“You want to kill Gratian?”

“With your indulgence.”

“No, I won’t permit it.”

“You cannot stop me from executing my plan! You are powerless.”

“Sadly!”

“You will assist me during the operation.”

“What do you want to do with his heart?”

“I want to bring my daughter back to life.”

“You old sorcerer!”

“I am merely a bit more versed in the arts than other charlatans.”

“No, I will not help you perform this act of butchery.”

“The operation will only take a few minutes.”

“Do you think you can revive Valerie?”

“That is my firm belief. Otherwise I wouldn’t have put her in the coffin so lightly.”

“Poor Gratian. I hope he wakes up.”

“Have no pity on him!”

“Richard ...”

“What now?”

“Suppose you tried the same experiment on me?”

“What experiment?”

“I know you’ll be cross with me.”

“You’re always whining about something.”

“Richard, I want to live. Suppose you transplanted the boy’s heart into my bosom.”

“You’re being selfish.”

“I want to live, Richard, I want to stay young. We could be happy together. After all, I do love you.”

“We’re running out of time. I must go and find Orlík.”

“He’s here, in the house. I’m sure he’ll be asleep in the little room next to the loft that I tried to burn down. He must be there.”

“Are you going to help me, Elsa?”

“But you promised to restore my youth.”

“Valerie wasn’t dead then.”

“And if you manage to bring her back to life, will you be able to save me, too?”

“Yes, but you and Valerie would have to split your age.”

“I don’t understand.”

“As much as you grow young she will age.”

“But we’d both be quite young. Promise me you’ll do it, Richard.”

“With a bleeding heart. I’ll be sorry for the girl.”

“And won’t Orlík age if you give him Gratian’s heart instead of his own?”

“Of course, he’ll stop being a boy.”

“That settles it, Richard, I shall help you.”

“Now we must quickly find Orlík. If we’re too late, I won’t be able to revive the girl.”

“You go on ahead. And what about the bottle of wine?”

“I don’t need it any longer.”

Straining every sinew, Valerie tried to cry out. What she had heard seemed so cruel, so terrible, it was driving her out of her mind. But no matter how she tried to move within the coffin, all her efforts were in vain.

“Poor boy, I should never have left him!”

At that moment a dull thud echoed in the vault, followed quickly by a shout.

Chapter XXVI
THE PELLET

As if it had been a thump in the back, the shock dislodged the blockage in her throat, and Valerie felt a small smooth object on her tongue. It was the pellet that she had swallowed without removing its hard glassy coating, and it had stuck in her throat. Everything changed. The spasm slowly began to depart from her rigid limbs. Her breast now swelled back into its regular rhythm. She moved her lips.

The noise continued.

There was another shout.

“Help, help ...”

The girl recognized the missionary’s voice.

“Where in the name of all that’s holy am I?” he asked himself.

Valerie tried to move her arms and raise the lid of the coffin.

“Can I really be in Hell already?” the reviving priest muttered.

The girl heaved at the coffin lid for all she was worth until it fell with a crash to the ground.

“For the love of Christ,” the missionary wailed, “I must be in the next world already.”

Valerie took the magic pellet out of her mouth and sat up in the coffin.

“Help, help!” cried the terrified old man.

“Calm yourself,” said Valerie.

“God have mercy on me,” he screamed and fell on his knees, his teeth chattering.

“You’ve nothing to fear.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Valerie.”

“Why are you appearing to me?”

“Quiet now. I’m alive, I didn’t die.”

The missionary began to mumble a prayer.

“There’s no need for you to invoke your guardian angel against me. I tell you, I didn’t die and I mean you no harm. Stand up.”

“Where am I?”

“In a crypt.”

“How did I get here?”

“You tried to commit suicide and they buried you. Luckily, you’ve come back to life, just like me.”

“Can I trust you?”

“There’s no reason why you shouldn’t.”

“How can I return to the good Lord’s light of day? I despair at the thought of being condemned to remain in this house of torture.”

“You shall escape, never fear.”

“Are you a woman, or a shade?”

“Do pull yourself together.”

“How long have I been asleep?”

“When did you enter this house?”

“Saturday evening.”

“Now it’s Monday.”

“Day or night?”

“Most likely night. Time flies. It seems it was morning just a moment ago.”

“On Tuesday evening I’m supposed to deliver a sermon to some widows.”

“I don’t think you’ve missed anything.”

“How did you get here?” he asked timidly.

“Also through a misunderstanding.”

“I’m hungry.”

“I suggest you go to the rectory. Everything’s so confused in this house.”

“How do you mean? Aren’t we in a cemetery?”

“We’re in the vault under my grandmother’s house. It has a crypt.”

“So I would have slept my eternal sleep in unconsecrated ground?”

“Undoubtedly.”

“I would much rather be at the rectory.”

“Help me out of this coffin and I’ll show you the way out of here.”

“I’m still not certain you really are a woman.”

“If you’re afraid, I’ll help myself.”

Valerie carefully stood up in the coffin and jumped to the ground.

“Follow me.”

“I shall really be able to boast to the brethren that I have been to Hell,” said the missionary, surveying the strange subterranean room where the candle had begun to gutter.

Valerie noticed that beneath the opening giving on to the room above lay a piece of paper. She bent down and picked it up.

“So what became of the young black girl you saved and then lost sight of in Marseilles?” the girl asked calmly, seeking to distract this poltroon from the underworld where he felt so ill at ease.

“A pretty shameless hussy she turned out to be. She favored sailors over the ministers of God who had instructed her in scripture and the true faith.”

“Do you condemn her for that?”

“I bet she came to a wretched end somewhere, though she could have had an ideal life in a convent.”

“I expect she yearned for freedom.”

“Her savage’s blood asserted itself, that’s all.”

Valerie laughed.

“I keep tripping. It’s as dark down here as the gateway to Hell. Where are you taking me?”