The Boy In White Linen

by Jon Jacks

  ‘Harry?’ She said it in such a way that it was obvious she was demanding more of an answer.

  ‘Hmn? Oh, sorry, sorry; it’s crazy, I mean really crazy!’

  ‘What’s crazy, Harry? Try me – please.’

  ‘It must be the heat; and they’re all under a lot of strain, what with all these tensions building throughout the city.’

  ‘Harry!’ Now she managed to say it with tone that implied she was becoming ever more frustrated by the way he was avoiding answering her question.

  ‘They saw a unicorn.’ Harry blurted it out, like he was embarrassed even mentioning it. ‘There, I told you it was crazy, isn’t it?’

  ‘A unicorn?’

  She bit her tongue, controlling her temptation to admit that she had also seen a unicorn. But what had Harry said? That it was crazy?

  ‘That is…strange, isn’t it,’ she said instead. ‘What… what did they do?’

  ‘They tried to chase it; but it wasn’t easy, because not every one of them saw it. Just one of them, actually. That’s why they were arguing, the ones who didn’t see it claiming that the one who did had been fooling around with them, pointing at nothing, telling them to keep chasing nothing but empty air. Yet they met another group of policemen chasing it. Same thing though – only one of the group saw it.’

  ‘So, they didn’t catch it?’

  ‘They’d get close, but as soon as they’d turned a corner…’

  He paused, like he was thinking deeply once more, his face creasing all the more in puzzlement.

  ‘Yes, as soon as they’d turned a corner…?’ Lil probed.

  ‘Well, it sounds crazy, I know – I don’t know why I’m telling you this, it seems like we’re all suffering some form of collective madness – but the unicorn was far ahead of them; almost as if it had flown over the crowds.’

  He gave her a troubled smile.

  ‘That’s ridiculous, don’t you think?’

  Lil slipped her arm through his, clasping his hand tightly once more.

  ‘I…I don’t know what to think,’ she admitted, returning his smile.

  She wasn’t to know that Harry was as disturbed by the sighting of the unicorn as she was.

  Naturally, he had recognised the similarity to the sighting of the unicorn to his own sighting of the white hind.

  Had everyone, somehow, really seen the hind, but, somehow, bizarrely, mistaken it for a unicorn?

  Or was he suffering his own form of madness?

  *

  Chapter 10

  Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?

  Job 39; 9

  Lil was already bored with the tennis match.

  Mary was far from being a competent opponent. She returned very few volleys, and only those that Lil deliberately lobbed her way. She’d giggle triumphantly even if she did little more than reach the ball in time.

  What’s more, the house’s lawn was hardly an ideal court, with bared, dried patches that made the ball skip oddly, or simply fall dead upon the floor with hardly a bounce.

  Still, Lil had to admit that, so far, this morning had passed quicker than yesterday afternoon, which had seemed to drag endlessly once Harry had dropped her and Mary off at the house. Mary had had to immediately return to work, leaving Lil with nothing much to do but make a quick and ultimately uninteresting exploration of the house before settling down with a book in her room.

  How could she concentrate on a book after all that had happened to her the previous day?

  Harry was the most amazing man she had ever met.

  All right, so he wasn’t as strongly authoritative as she always imagined her ideal man would be; but he still commanded some respect among his men, as she’d seen when he’d taken control of the arguing policemen.

  And what was all that with the unicorn?

  How was it possible to see a unicorn?

  They were mythical animals, weren’t they?

  What did Frazer say about them in the book he’d written about legends?

  Did it actually mention unicorns? She couldn’t remember.

  She’d seen copies of mediaeval illustrations or tapestries of them; beautiful works of art, portraying gorgeous, almost angelic creatures.

  Didn’t one show them hunting the unicorn? Why would they hunt such a beautiful, innocent creature?

  And wasn’t there another that showed the unicorn calm and resting, lying its head in the lap of a young girl?

  Had the hunters used the girl to trick the unicorn, to make it easier to trap?

  There was a bloody scene, she remembered that; and yet, afterwards, the unicorn was shown whole again, only held within a small, fenced enclosure.

  At the time, when she had seen a book’s coloured plates of the tapestries, she thought they must have placed them in the wrong order. It didn’t make any sense, the way they were displayed.

  Thinking once again of the puzzle of the unicorn, Lil let a shot of Mary’s whistle past her without the slightest attempt to stop it.

  ‘At last!’ Mary yelled out excitedly, ‘A point to me, Miss!’

  Grinning, Mary raised an arm to wipe the sweat off her brow in an attempt to stop it running down and across her eyes.

  Lil grinned back. Whereas she was bored with this tiresome match, Mary was obviously enjoying it all immensely. Going by Mary’s inept way of playing, Lil assumed that the maid either didn’t really get much time to practise or wasn’t usually allowed to use the court. Probably the latter, seeing as how Miss Debussy had only grudgingly allowed Mary to join Lil on the court.

  Did Miss Debussy presume that Lil should be able to knock the ball around on the court without anyone being there to return it? It seemed so, because Lil had had to more or less beg Miss Debussy to allow Mary time off.

  ‘Mary? Could we stop for a minute?’ Lil asked as she rose from picking up the ball.

  ‘Yes, yes, of course, Miss. Do you need a drink?’

  Mary was already making her way over towards the tray holding the jug of water and glasses that Jacques had brought out earlier, placing it on top of a small sheet he had laid out across the grass.

  ‘Yes, that would be nice,’ Lil agreed, jauntily swinging her racket as she made her way towards the edges of the court.

  ‘Mary,’ she said uneasily as the maid poured out a drink for her, ‘what do you know about unicorns?’

  ‘Unicorns?’ Mary said it as if it were an incredibly strange question.

  With a delicate flick of her white dress, Lil sat down on the sheet, inviting Mary to join her with a wave of her arm. Mary glanced down at Lil as, with a bending of her knees, she sat down beside her.

  ‘I think, Miss, that there is something about a…an untouched girl calming them.’

  ‘Untouched girl? Oh, virgin, you mean?’

  Lil giggled, blushed, trying to hide her embarrassment behind a raised hand. Mary laughed too, but more openly and with less shame.

  ‘But…why a virgin, Mary?’ Lil asked innocently once she’d calmed her giggling.

  An equally mystified Mary pouted as she considered this.

  ‘Could it be that…that she’s seen as being pure – untouched, as I said at first? Sort of like Paradise before we sinned – that sort of thing, perhaps?’

  ‘When the animals were all innocent too, you mean? Yes, yes; that would make sense, wouldn’t it?’

  Lil took a drink of the water, flicked her hair away from her face. There was something else that she’d remembered, something, though, that she was plucking up the courage to say. Back in the school dorm, with her friends gathered around, she might have said it with undisguised, scandalous relish – but here, with Mary, a girl she hardly knew and a maid at that?

  ‘Mary, wasn’t there also something about the horn being sought after?’ she said finally, deciding that she would only hint at what she knew rather than saying it in full.

  ‘Oh yes, yes, that’s right,’ Mary said gleefully. ‘To grind down and use as
a love potion, so that – ohh, Miss! I’m sorry! I’ve only just realised!’

  Lil was a little bewildered by Mary’s embarrassment and her apologies. She knew Mary meant that it was used as an aphrodisiac (come to think of it, were they confusing the unicorn horn with a rhino horn?), and yes, it was a little shameful to be discussing such a thing; but Mary appeared completely mortified.

  ‘Oh Mary, there’s nothing wrong with an aphrodisiac, you know.’ Lil said it as nonchalantly as she could, in an attempt to sound incredibly worldly and grown up.

  ‘I mean the horn’s shape – and what it’s supposed to do, Miss!’

  Lil frowned in puzzlement once more; and then, thinking of the horn, it abruptly dawned on her.

  ‘Mary!’

  ‘Miss!’

  Neither could suppress their laughter anymore.

  They rolled around the sheet, almost knocking over the tray and its water jug.

  ‘Well, where today then, girls?’

  Lil looked up. Harry was leaning over them, grinning hugely like he was close to laughing.

  Lil was aghast. How stupid she must look, tumbling around on the ground like some little girl!

  She leapt to her feet, hiding her blushing face as she quickly brushed her dress clear of a few blades of dried grass that had stuck to it.

  ‘Harry,’ she mumbled irately, ‘you’re supposed to announce your arrival! Not catch a young lady by surprise!’

  Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed that Mary wasn’t the slightest bit embarrassed. Rather, having slowly risen from the floor, she was simply beaming stupidly at Harry, as if she were entranced by his presence.

  ‘Mary,’ Lil snapped. ‘We should let Miss Debussy know we are leaving.’

  ‘Oh, yes, yes; of course Miss, I’ll let her know straight away.’

  She scampered across the grass, heading back to the house.

  And so, while Mary had her back to them, while no one else (she hoped!) was looking their way, Lil reached for and grabbed Harry’s hands – then jerked him towards her as, lifting herself up on her tiptoes, she leant forward and kissed him.

  *

  Chapter 11

  And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with their bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood.

  Isaiah 34; 7

  Harry was quiet, thoughtful, as they made their way around the market.

  His brow became increasingly furrowed, as if his anxiety was growing with every step.

  Lil couldn’t stand it anymore. Just about the only conversation so far had been between her and Mary, and Lil was not only finding it increasingly tiresome – Mary was hardly the type you could gossip or share secrets with, or even reveal your most mundane thoughts to, really – but she was also positively dying for the opportunity to talk to Harry on her own to see what was troubling him.

  Was he really so upset that she had stolen a kiss?

  Did he really dislike her that much? (Or did he think she was too young?)

  When Mary at last dropped back a little from them to look over a necklace hanging from a stall’s awning, Lil couldn’t hold back from blurting out an apology while she had the chance.

  ‘Harry, please, I’m so sorry,’ she said, tenderly placing a hand on his while looking directly into his eyes with a pleading gaze.

  Harry appeared either dumbfounded or remarkably distracted.

  ‘About earlier I mean; I’m so sorry.’ Lil was ashamed. ‘I know I shouldn’t have done it, but…but…’

  She couldn’t explain why she had kissed him like that, unasked for and so impetuously.

  It had just seemed the right thing to do at the time.

  ‘Earlier?’ Harry now seemed distant, genuinely mystified. Then his eyes lit up with understanding. ‘Oh, the kiss!’

  He managed to grin while also frowning, leaving Lil puzzled as to what he had thought about her stolen kiss.

  ‘I suppose I quite enjoyed it!’ he winked. ‘Rather unexpected, though; not quite sure why I deserved it! Oh, and it had better be our secret, eh? Something Miss D should never ever know of!’

  Lil almost jumped for joy – but that would be so so wrong, so so so childish!

  ‘As if I would, Harry!’ she said. ‘But, if it wasn’t my kiss that was bothering you – what is? I can see you’re worried.’

  ‘Its things I’m picking up being said around here, all these complaints that the Jews are changing everything. That they’re wanting to introduce a more European way of life.’

  ‘That’s a good thing, surely?’

  Harry shook his head.

  ‘Not for the Moslems; that isn’t what they want. It goes against their way of life, their religion. They feel their wishes are being driven into the background; feel it can only end up in their destruction.’

  As they’d talked, they hadn’t realised Mary had drawn up alongside them until she spoke out in agreement with Harry.

  ‘The Captain’s right Miss; everyone seems edgy, or angry, or both.’

  Lil noticed that Mary hadn’t purchased the necklace she had spent so long admiring; probably because the poor girl couldn’t afford it, Lil reasoned. Should she offer to buy it for her? She might have done if she hadn’t felt a little irritated that Mary had obviously listened into at least the very last part of her conversation with Harry. Worse still, Mary was more or less implying that, like Harry, she was more observant and sensitive to her surroundings than Lil was.

  ‘You probably don’t notice as much as we do, Lil, because you’re not used to how it normally is in the market,’ Harry said, as if aware of her irritation with Mary. ‘There’s an incredible tension in the air; and I wonder if it’s that that’s leading to these strange…hallucinations we talked of yesterday.’

  He looked towards Lil, locking his eyes with hers as if trying to drop her a hint of what ‘hallucinations’ referred to without letting Mary understand its meaning.

  Mary fleetingly glanced at them both curiously.

  ‘Hallucinations?’ she said. ‘Do you mean – unicorns?’

  ‘Mary!’ Lil gasped with both surprise and relief. ‘You saw one as well? Then I’m not going crazy after all!’

  ‘You saw a unicorn too Lil?’ Harry’s brow creased in concern.

  ‘Well yes, yes! I thought it was chasing me at first. But Mary saw it too!’

  Mary shook her head sorrowfully.

  ‘Sorry Miss! I didn’t mean I’d seen it. I just guessed that the Captain meant a unicorn; because of the way you were looking at each other, and the way you wanted to talk about unicorns this morning.’

  ‘Mary!’ Lil stomped her foot in fury. ‘You’ve just made me look a complete fool in front of Harry! Was that delibe–’

  ‘Lil, Lil!’ stepping forward, Harry embraced Lil around the shoulders, holding her to him reassuringly. ‘Mary hasn’t made you look a fool! Other people saw the unicorn too! I’ve been asking around; there were other groups of policemen that saw it – or, rather, one or at most two people in each group saw it. They saw odd people amongst the crowd pointing to it as well.’

  ‘Then what does it mean, Harry? Why do some people see it, but not others?’

  Harry shrugged as he stepped back away from her.

  ‘I don’t know; it makes even less sense to me now that I know you saw it too.’

  ‘Why? Why does me seeing it make it even more of a puzzle?’

  ‘Because before I’d put the sightings down to some sort of growing, mass hysteria–’

  ‘Harry!’

  ‘No, no; sorry! I’m not saying you’re suffering from hysteria. It’s the fact that you’ve seen it too that makes me begin to wonder – well, does it actually exist? Have we really got a unicorn running around Jerusalem?’

  ‘But isn’t that wonderful, Harry?’ She drew closer to him, tenderly placing a hand on his arm. ‘A magical creature like a unicorn – surely it’s a good sign?’

  Harry shook his head, the anxiety having returned
to his face.

  ‘To the Jews, a unicorn signifies that their suffering has finally resulted in the coming of their Messiah. To Muslims, it’s the karkadann, a terrifying beast born in blood that brings terror to everyone unless it’s calmed by the song of the ring dove.’

  ‘Really?’ Lil chuckled. ‘All that nonsense read into such a beautiful animal?’

  Harry’s laugh was low and bitter.

  ‘I take it you don’t know what a unicorn represents to Christians?’

  ‘Yes, yes, I do know,’ Lil said hurriedly, embarrassedly, even though she wasn’t really sure if Harry meant some meanings other than those she and Mary had discussed earlier. She didn’t want to run the risk, however, that he did mean those shameful meanings they’d giggled at. It had been uncomfortable enough talking about them with Mary without going through them again with Harry present.

  She blushed, turned her face away from him in the hope that he wouldn’t notice.

  ‘So,’ Harry said, ‘in the present circumstances, where we’ve already got signs of trouble brewing, I think the very last thing we need is a sign that everyone’s going to read as proof that major changes are about to take place.’

  ‘Yes, yes, you’re right Harry,’ Lil agreed distractedly, thinking once again of the unicorn, of its horn, of the virgin.

  What kind of sign was the unicorn for her? she wondered nervously.

  *

  Chapter 12

  When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

  John 13; 21-23

  ‘Ah, the two Marys and Lilly can take the chairs, I think, yes Captain?’ Azar declared happily as he pointed out the simple wooden chairs he had brought out into the small garden towards the house’s rear. ‘We can take the larger stones as our seats, unless you don’t think you’ll be comfortable?’

  ‘The stones will be fine, thank you Azar,’ Harry replied, moving over towards a line of boulders edging the plant border that Azar had covered with cloth and cushions.

  The garden might have been incredibly tiny, cramped between three high walls and the house, but it was well appointed with brightly coloured and sweetly scented flowers and bushes. An olive tree had also been carefully trained to subserviently bend and offer shade from the sun.