Witch-Hunt

by Margit Sandemo

  Sol laughed aloud, full of contempt and set off for home across the meadow. On the small rise where it was possible to stand and look out across the countryside, she stopped and watched the verger jump over a ditch and carry on down the road in the direction of the church. What a wretched figure, she thought.

  ‘Sol!’

  The sound of her name broke her reverie and she turned to see Tengel hurrying towards her. ‘Where have you been all the day, girl? Silje has been fretting after you.’

  Sol couldn’t help thinking that he also looked worried but she smiled. ‘Oh, I’ve been walking out and about. I thought to collect herbs, but not much came out of it. I took food and had a good day – a wonderful day.’

  ‘But you must tell us when you go so far, little friend. We knew nothing.’

  ‘You know that I enjoy being by myself – doing what pleases me. But forgive me, for I was thoughtless.’

  Tengel regarded her pensively. ‘What has happened, Sol? You look so strange. Disturbed, yet at the same time pleased with yourself! And I do not like that gleam in your eye either. Who was that man I saw run along the edge of the forest a little while ago?’

  Sol turned her attention back to the surrounding farms and took a few steps down from the rise, so they could not be seen from the house. Tengel followed her. ‘He was an evil man, Tengel. He said he wanted to seize you and me and imprison us for being in league with the Devil.’

  Tengel’s face lost all colour. ‘Good God! Is that really true, Sol? Well, I am not surprised – what with my healing powers and your carelessness. But who would want us so badly? Who was it? Master Johan?’

  ‘No, the verger from the church.’

  ‘Oh, him. He is a repulsive man, consumed with double morals. For that reason alone he will surely be dangerous.’

  Sol looked every bit the innocent, as she added. ‘He said something very strange. Tengel. Something I didn’t understand. I should be nice to him and co-operate? Then he would let me go free. Then he grabbed at me with his nasty, bony hands. Why did he do that, Tengel?’

  Her foster father had taken a deep breath that he now let out explosively.

  ‘Whaaaat?’ he yelled, barely managing to form the word. ‘What did he do? Did he do anything more?’

  ‘No,’ replied Sol, unconcerned. ‘I told him he was ugly and stupid and went on my way.’

  It took a while for Tengel to gather his thoughts. ‘Dear God, what are we to do?’ he whispered. ‘What are we to do, Sol? We are in trouble, you and I. Will we have to move on again – leave Lindenallée, that we have all grown to love so dearly?’

  ‘Do not worry,’ Sol said lightly. ‘He will not get far.’

  Tengel’s face slowly changed colour again – to a grey pallor. ‘Sol!’ he whispered. ‘What have you done?’

  She shrugged her shoulders. ‘I was thinking of Silje, my siblings and you – all of us.’

  He took hold of her and shook her violently. ‘What have you done, Sol?’ he shouted, almost choking on the words. ‘Answer me! Was it – one of Hanna’s thorns of death? Do you have one of them?’

  ‘Ouch! You’re hurting me!’

  He released his hold on her and she straightened her blouse around her shoulders. ‘Yes, I do have one.’

  Tengel drew breath, a great rasping sound. ‘Run after him! Now, at once! Run, and curse you to hell!’

  Never before had he spoken so harshly to her, but he was out of his mind with fear and despair. Sol looked calmly down across the open countryside to where the verger could be seen far away, approaching the tree-lined path leading up to the church.

  ‘It’s too late.’ Her speech was slightly slurred, as though she was in a trance.

  Tengel followed her gaze. The verger could be seen swaying strangely, grasping first one of the birch trees and then the next as he strove to reach the churchyard wall. Then he fell heavily – and lay still.

  ‘Oh, Jesus Christ!’

  As he uttered those words, Tengel buried his face in his hands and sank to the ground, his legs unable any longer to support him.

  ‘He might have killed us.’ said Sol innocently. ‘Then what would have happened to Silje? And Liv – and Are? He was an evil man, Tengel.’

  His only reply was a moaning sound. Sol waited. Finally he asked, ‘Was that why you looked so … pleased?’

  ‘No, no. It was simply an idle thought that crossed my mind.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Don’t worry. It was nothing.’

  Tengel was unable to move. He felt defeated, crushed by an invisible force.

  ‘Nobody saw him come from over here,’ she said as though she was talking about some childish mischief ‘We will be quite safe. Come on, let’s go home!’

  It was then that Tengel woke from his stupor. At long last, after years of suppressing the power of his extraordinary craft, he allowed it to feed on the anger and sorrow that had overwhelmed him. He rose slowly to his feet.

  ‘Sol!’

  The word was uttered fiercely, a single threatening monotone and she turned immediately to look at him. The sight that met her eyes sapped all her willpower. It was Tengel who stood before her, but not the Tengel she knew.

  What she saw was a spirit from the depths with its lips drawn back exposing its fangs. Its nose flared and its eyes dazzled her.

  ‘Give me the basket.’ His voice was no more than a whisper.

  She hugged it closer to her, determined to resist him to the last. ‘No! These are my own special things. Hanna willed them to me alone and she taught me which herbs to harvest and how I should use them. She would be displeased if … ’

  Sol stopped talking. A strange feeling was stealing over her and a grey mist engulfed them, making everything invisible except Tengel’s frightful face and those eyes. His hand reached out, compelling her to release the basket. This was a force greater than anything Sol had ever experienced. She had always believed that her powers were superior to Tengel’s – now she realized she had been mistaken. Her body was swaying to and fro and, feeling herself gripped by this unfamiliar terror, she meekly handed over the basket.

  ‘This is not everything.’ said Tengel without even glancing at its contents. Even his voice was different – it was harsh and unpleasant – the sound of an inhuman creature. ‘You will surely have a hoard of things, most probably the greater part, at home. I am to have it all – you will not be allowed to hide anything from me.’

  Sol nodded timidly, her will broken.

  ‘I know what you are thinking,’ said Tengel as he thrust his almost unrecognisable face still closer to her. ‘You think that you will be able to gather new substances. If you do then I shall kill you – as you know that I can. You are a dangerous person, Sol. and I must protect the world from you. You also know that you do not have the power to take my life, because I can sense your innermost thoughts.’

  She could tell this was true. All her self-confidence and rebelliousness had begun to drain away and tears filled her eyes.

  ‘I did it for the best, father,’ she sobbed. ‘I thought only to save you all from a wicked person.’

  Tengel’s fury abated and his face regained its human features. He placed the basket on the ground and stretched out his arms to her. Sol threw herself into his embrace sobbing passionately ‘Don’t do that any more, father,’ she begged. ‘Please don’t do that again! I could not endure it. It was so horrible!’

  Tengel was also close to tears as he held her and slowly stroked her hair. ‘Sol, Sol, my beloved but star-crossed child, what are we to do with you? I want so badly that Silje shall be proud of you and take you to her heart. Do not forget that you are my niece and I feel about you as I do for any close family You have always been like my own child. But Silje had no need to care for you. She did that out of kindness and love. I do not want you to disappoint her.’

  Sol was still sobbing violently. Over and over again she called him ‘father’, something she always did when she was very upset. ‘I tr
ied hard to be good, father. Really I did. I wanted so much to do those things that are right and proper. But it is more fun – more satisfying – to be nasty.’

  ‘I know, my little one. It is the curse of our bloodline.’

  ‘If you take Hanna’s treasures from me then you have taken my life as well.’

  ‘Your life? No, far from it. But …’ Tengel fell silent. At long last he realised what he ought to have done so many years before. He held her at arm’s length and looked into the illusory innocence of her tear-filled eyes. ‘Sol. I have been a fool! Of course there is an answer here!’

  ‘What are you thinking?’

  He felt inspired and the warm glow returned to his eyes. ‘You know that I am tired, almost worn out from the work I do to help those unfortunates who come to me every day seeking solace. There are times when I worry how long I can go on. Yet you have too little to occupy you, is that not true? We have maids to help in the house and Charlotte has no more she can teach you – so now you have too much time to spend engrossed in your own dangerous pastimes.’

  ‘Yes, that is true,’ she conceded.

  ‘Sol, would you like to help me? There is no doubt that you are young, but I know that you can – even though you may not have the same gift of healing in the hands that I do.

  But there is much that you can do better than I – for you are able to mix powders and potions as well as any witch.’

  Sol had begun to smile. ‘May I? Really?’

  ‘And use your power in the service of good? Nothing would mean more to me!’

  Her exuberance was making her dizzy. ‘Oh, there is so much I can do! I shall use my herbs. And if it is better for anyone to leave this life, then I’ll see to that as well.’

  ‘No!’ shouted Tengel desperately. ‘You are to save life, not snuff it out.’

  ‘I do not understand why that should be,’ she said intolerantly. ‘If people become a burden to themselves and others then surely it is best they should die?’

  He turned and walked away from her. ‘Forget everything, Sol! Forget it! It will not work.’

  She ran after him, hands pressed together in supplication. ‘No, Tengel, please! I promise, I swear! By all that I hold dear. I swear I shall not end a life, I promise! I shall do everything I can to save them – but please let me work in my own fashion.’

  Tengel sighed. ‘I see no other way. I cannot hand you over to the authorities, even though that would be the proper thing to do. I could never do that. But you must give me all your deadly medicaments!’

  She hesitated, obviously struggling with her deepest and most powerful instincts. He waited, but she still did not indicate her assent.

  ‘All of them, Sol! You are still only a child and cannot yet measure the strength of your powers. I shall return them when you are – let us say – twenty years.’

  ‘But that is more than five years away!’

  ‘It must be this way. It is the only way I can protect you.’

  With a sigh so deep that it might have come from the depths of the earth itself, she capitulated. ‘Very well – as you wish.’

  They began to walk toward the house and suddenly Tengel gave a chuckle. ‘Besides you can assist in another way if you are to be my little helper. It can be awkward sometimes when some of the more noble ladies seek my help.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘Well, a patient looks up to her physician – and often, very often, women find they have undesirable feelings for him – a mix of admiration and passion. Perhaps it is a need to be dominated. It can be quite irksome.’

  Sol burst into a fit of sniggering. ‘Do you mean that they fall in love with you?’

  ‘Something like that,’ he answered wavering. ‘So it would very helpful if you could be with me to attend them in their bed-chambers and boudoirs. That would allay their interest.’

  The girl was outrageously amused by this – Tengel less so. He used to dread going to visit some patients, remembering the searching glances from a sickbed, the night-gowns that ‘accidentally’ slid down and small delicate hands that inched their way up his arms.

  ‘Do they arouse you?’ wondered Sol.

  Tengel frowned. ‘Arouse? That is not a word I had thought to hear from you, Sol!’ he reprimanded her. ‘I most certainly do not get aroused. I simply feel embarrassed on their behalf and angry because they make my work harder. I have to be very tactful to get out of the situations without hurting their feelings. I just do not have the time or the energy to waste on them.’

  ‘My poor father,’ said Sol, her voice soothing as she took hold of his hand. ‘I shall protect you from these persistent women. But I can well understand! You probably look quite attractive to them, despite your ugly features.’

  Only Sol would ever have spoken to him in such a fashion. But he knew she was right. One of these women who had too little to do and who filled her days with dreams had told him plainly, ‘Mister Tengel, you exude the sensuality of a wild animal searching for a mate. And the demonic quality that you have makes you very dangerous! Forbidden, therefore, on two counts – and as you know, forbidden fruit ...’

  On that occasion Tengel had felt only disgust and revulsion. It had been difficult for him to carry on being polite. ‘Does Silje know about this?’ asked Sol thoughtfully. ‘No. I would not want her to worry – and besides, it would never cross my mind to be unfaithful. However, it will be good to have you with me – it gladdens my heart.’

  ‘And mine,’ she replied.

  ‘Sol, I know that you have been engrossed in something else today. I could sense just then – as soon as we met – a feeling so strong that you could barely contain it.’

  She grinned. ‘Yes, but it was nothing bad. Tengel. It was a feeling of happiness. I don’t wish to say anything more about it.’

  Tengel gave her a sidelong glance, but Sol’s smile remained inscrutable. He shook his head in bafflement and walked on, still conjecturing about the mystery. After a while he gave up. Never in his wildest dreams would he have guessed what she had really been up to. In his eyes Sol was still just a child.

  Chapter 13

  By taking an extreme course of action, Sol had freed them from the threat posed by the verger. But the real danger, in the form of Master Johan, still remained. His presence in the house had prompted differing reactions among members of the family, but no general consensus on him had been reached.

  Silje and the children were far too good-natured to believe that anyone whose only intent was evil could worm his way into their home. Despite seeing evidence to the contrary on so many occasions, they continued to believe that folk were good-hearted. Tengel and Silje had taught their children to show consideration to others – it was their most important message. Also they should always be guided and bound together by love.

  Tengel, and to a lesser degree Sol, however, had grave reservations about the guest living under their roof. In their own ways they remained watchful and took note of his movements and moods. They were still ready to help him, but nevertheless both remained wary and on their guard.

  Master Johan, for his part, was accustomed to sitting in vast halls and consigning his victims, innocent and guilty alike, to perish on the rack. be burnt at the stake and suffer the most terrible instruments of torture. He was definitely not accustomed to walking back and forth all through the forest as he found himself doing one day. In fact Master Johan felt really ill this time.

  He was almost certain he was going to die and as he returned from his forest meanderings, having spent half the day searching for Sol, young Are looked at him inquisitively.

  ‘Did you really walk across the mountains from Sogn?’ the boy asked in his clear youthful voice. ‘You’ve only walked up the little slope beyond the house and your breathing already sounds like an old bellows.’

  Master Johan could not think what to say. He was deeply offended that anybody should cast doubt on the integrity of a man of justice in this way. He considered himself to be an instrumen
t of God – His angel of wrath.

  As it happened, Silje came to his rescue. ‘You should show respect to your elders, Are! When will you learn? And you have to understand that Master Johan is so exhausted from his long trek without food that it will be many days before he is well again. Was it beautiful in the forest today, Master Johan?’

  ‘What? Oh, yes, of course!’

  If the truth be known, he had not seen anything of the forest. He had been searching constantly for Sol and had become more and more incensed as the day wore on. As soon as he had discovered that she was not in her usual place by the stream, he had begun wandering aimlessly back and forth across the open farmland, before suddenly rushing headlong into the trees again, searching wildly and charging hither and thither like an enraged bull. She would soon see who was master! The little strumpet would tremble and suffer. He would order one of his most exquisite and ingenious tortures and she would regret ever hiding from him.

  ‘There they are,’ shouted a happy Silje suddenly, interrupting his thoughts. ‘Tengel and Sol are together!’

  Master Johan had felt his tense shoulders relax. He had suddenly realised how bright and wonderful the day was – he hadn’t really noticed it until that moment!

  ****

  Some time later he lay in bed once more – this time with a serious illness on his chest. His shrill hoarse coughing echoed again and again through the attic yet, in spite of his misfortune, he had to concede that he was very comfortable.

  The main reason for his agreeable state was the attention he was receiving from a reformed, kind-hearted Sol, who was now providing the best of all care. She served him reinvigorating broths – almost certain to be witches’ brews and he would report them as such – and made sure his bedding was kept neat and cool. When her small nimble fingers plumped up his pillows or slid under his back to straighten the sheets, they warmed his worn, contrite, abstemious body.