by Pedro Urvi
“Astrid, sir,” Ingrid explained. “She’s been taken ill. She’s with the Mother Specialist and the other Elders.”
“We’ve been told to wait out here so that Elder Annika can work,” Viggo added.
“Astrid...” Lasgol muttered in shock,
“Stay here,” Gisli said to them.
“I have to see her,” Lasgol said, and made his way to the entrance.
Gisli held him by the shoulders. “If they’ve told you to wait outside, you have to wait here.”
“Master... I’ve got to see her... I’ve got to know she’s all right.”
“Wait here for a moment. I’ll go and see how she is and then come back.”
“Master...”
“I know. Hold on.”
Gisli went down to the cave of Autumn, and Lasgol turned to Ingrid and Viggo. “They haven’t told you how she is?”
Viggo shook his head.
“She’ll be all right, don’t worry,” Ingrid assured him.
“What happened to her?”
“She fainted while we were practicing,” Viggo explained. “She’s got a fever.”
“Fainted? Astrid?”
Viggo nodded.
“Then she’s really bad... she’s as tough as they come,” Lasgol said, deeply troubled.
A moment later Sigrid came to their side. Her face was serious.
Lasgol’s legs shook. “No, please. No...” he stammered.
The Mother Specialist spoke with no preamble. “Astrid’s condition is serious.”
Lasgol gasped. She was alive. “Serious? Why? What is it?” he asked desperately.
“She’s poisoned.”
Chapter 24
“Poisoned? What by?” Lasgol asked. He was in a state of shock.
“It seems she’s ingested Dementia Bell.”
Petrified, he was unable to react to Sigrid’s words.
“The poisonous mushroom?” Frida asked in surprise.
“It looks like it.”
Lasgol reacted. “Will she be all right?” he asked, although he was still stunned. It seemed to him that he was in a nightmare.
“We’re hoping so. Annika’s doing everything she can. She’s prepared an antidote and given it to her. It should help.”
“It should?” He did not like the sound of this at all.
“It’s a very poisonous mushroom, and there are no guarantees in cases like this. But we’ll do everything in our power to help her.”
He was overwhelmed by the situation, unable to believe they were talking about Astrid, that she might die. He was trapped in a horrible nightmare. It was impossible! Not Astrid!
“Did she ingest a large quantity?” Ingrid asked. “If I remember Annika’s explanation correctly, it produces prolonged madness.”
“And death,” Sigrid added. “If it’s consumed in a large enough quantity, or it’s a concentrated preparation, the subject may suffer a prolonged period of dementia lasting months, and there’s no guarantee that they’ll recover.”
Lasgol’s heart skipped a beat. He could not lose Astrid. His stomach clamped. “She’s not going to die... she can’t die...” he said, completely distraught.
Sigrid sighed. “The amount ingested is troubling. She might survive, but we’ll have to see whether she develops dementia. Whatever the case, it’s too soon to tell. We’ll have to wait until Annika treats her, and that’ll take time.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Viggo said suddenly, with his arms folded.
Sigrid turned to look at him. “What doesn’t?”
“Astrid would never consume Dementia Bell.”
“Mistakes and accidents do happen. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last.”
“Perhaps with other people... but Astrid doesn’t make that kind of mistake.”
“We’re all human and make mistakes.”
Viggo shook his head. “Not like this one. Not Astrid.”
“Whatever the case, the first thing is to get her better,” Sigrid said. “There’ll be time to investigate what’s happened once she recovers. Go back to your tasks, because you’re only getting in the way here.”
“I need to see her,” Lasgol pleaded in a broken voice.
Sigrid shook her head. “I’ll let you know when she’s better, and then you can see her. Now we must let Annika deal with her. She’s in the best of hands, I can assure you.”
Lasgol insisted. He needed to see her, to know that she was still alive, fighting. “Just for a moment, please, Mother Specialist.”
“You want her to get well, don’t you? Then you must let her be treated without interfering in the process.”
He wanted to protest, but Sigrid’s firm gesture told him that she would not accept any more pleas or requests. She turned and went into the Cave of Summer, and the others withdrew. Ingrid and Viggo stayed with Lasgol.
Ingrid put her hand on his shoulder. “Come on,” she said gently. “Let’s go.”
Lasgol shook his head and did not move. “I need to see her.”
“Well then, see her,” Viggo said.
The look in Ingrid’s eyes said: what the hell are you doing?
“You heard Sigrid. She won’t let me go in.”
“Well then, you can sneak in and see her, even if it’s from a distance.”
Lasgol stared at him hesitantly.
“They’re in the Nature quadrant. We can look from one of the others.”
“We can?” Ingrid repeated. “You’re not going in.”
“How are we going to look if the area’s got a high reinforced wall around it?”
Viggo smiled. “I know how. Trust me.”
“Don’t go with him,” Ingrid said in a voice of authority. “You’ll get into trouble. Sigrid told us not to go in.”
Viggo turned to Lasgol. “Don’t pay attention to Blondie here. Come on, I’ll help you.” He beckoned him to follow.
Lasgol nodded. “All right.”
“You’re hopeless,” Ingrid protested with her hands on her hips.
Viggo crouched down and approached the entrance stealthily, with Lasgol following. Ingrid was left grumbling, with folded arms.
Viggo went down the stairs and then into the Cave with the absolute stealth and agility of a shadow. Lasgol was doing what he could to follow his example, but he was aware that his footsteps and movements were loud in comparison with those of his friend, however carefully he tried to keep them silent. The cave was lit by oil lamps, which Viggo avoided, seeking the shadows to move through.
The place was divided into four large workspaces. A long corridor crossed the cave from the entrance stairs to the wall of rock at the opposite end. Four doors in the corridor gave access to the areas belonging to each specialty. The Nature area was at the far end, on the right. Hundreds of thoughts assailed Lasgol’s mind as they made their way carefully along the corridor. Was Astrid still alive? Would she manage to recover or would she lose her mind? Would she recognize him? Would she attack him? Would the dementia make her take her own life? Or kill someone else? And other even more horrendous thoughts.
Viggo gestured sharply at him. He had lagged, trapped in the nightmare of his thoughts. Anxiety was clutching at his chest so tightly that he could barely breathe. There was a pain in his heart, a sharp pang that grew with every step. He swallowed hard repeatedly to try to lessen it.
They heard Sigrid’s voice at the far end, talking to Annika. They were inside the Nature area. Viggo went towards the Expertise area, which was immediately below, on the right. They went in to find the area deserted, as they had expected. Lasgol looked closely at the high wooden wall which separated this area from that of Nature.
Viggo went up to the wall and put his ear against it to listen, making a sign to Lasgol to do the same. Lasgol obeyed.
“This incident is deeply disconcerting,” they heard Sigrid say. The sound reached them from a distance, muffled.
“It certainly is,” said Engla.
“It’s my fault,
” Annika said
“How can it be your fault?” Engla asked. “She’s my pupil, she’s my responsibility. The fault is entirely mine.”
“But I showed her the mushroom the first day I presented my specialty. I shouldn’t have done it.”
Gisli backed her up. “It’s important that they should be familiar with the poisonous mushrooms. It’s not your fault.”
“And it’s not your fault either, Engla,” Ivar added. “It’s an accident. They do happen, you all know that.”
“Yes, but this one’s rather strange,” Sigrid said.
“Why?” Annika asked. “It’s not the first time a pupil’s got poisoned, stabbed himself or set half the cave on fire.”
Viggo bent down and touched the wall a couple of hand-spans above the floor until he found something. He signaled to Lasgol to get down and look, and when Lasgol did so he found a hole in the wall. He put his right eye to it and was able to see the five Elders, between two sets of shelves on the other side. But they were blocking Astrid’s head, so that he could only see the lower half of her body where it was lying on the bed.
“That’s true,” Sigrid admitted. “But even so, I don’t know why, I don’t feel easy about it.”
“Do you think there’s been foul play in all this?” Engla asked.
“Do you have this mushroom here?” Ivar wanted to know.
“Yes, in the glass jar, on the shelf, but it’s well-marked and with a red stopper. They all know they mustn’t open the phials and jars with red stoppers.” Annika pointed out several more jars marked in the same way.
“Then what probably happened is that her curiosity got the better of her,” Ivar said.
“Or else she found it where you showed it to her,” Gisli said.
“We won’t know for sure until she wakes up,” Engla said. She had moved away from the group to go to the head of the bed where Astrid was lying.
“I’m going to prepare a fortifying potion,” said Annika, and went to get the ingredients she needed, moving away from the group in the process.
At last Lasgol was able to see Astrid. She was unconscious, her face profoundly white, her eyes marked by terrible purple circles. All the bad omens came back into his mind. Anguish squeezed his heart to the point of bursting. Please don’t die. Don’t leave me. I need you. I want to be with you. We have so much to experience, so much love to share, a future to make... He felt air was not reaching his lungs and had to force himself to breathe deeply. Then he realized that Astrid’s chest was moving, with rhythmic movements, up and down: she was breathing! She’s alive! There’s hope! Please get well, recover. Fight, the way you know how to, with that indomitable spirit of yours. Fight, my love.
“We need to carry on with the teaching,” said Sigrid.
“Yes, that’ll be the best thing,” Engla agreed, “because they’re all affected by what’s happened.”
“Do you need anything?” Gisli asked Annika.
“Yes, I’ll make a list for you. I have everything I need here, but we’d better be prepared in case of complications.”
“I’ll help you,” said Ivar.
“Good, let’s go.”
Ivar and Gisli left by the door into the corridor.
Lasgol looked at Viggo, who put his finger to his lips. The two Elder Specialists came out and went toward the stairs on their way out of the cave. Both friends stayed there still, in absolute silence. Then Viggo gestured to Lasgol that they ought to be on their way, but Lasgol did not want to. He looked through the hole again to see Annika giving Astrid a potion, with Engla watching them. Her face was very serious.
“Come on...” Viggo whispered in his ear.
Engla turned as if she had heard the whisper. But she could not have, since they were on the other side of the wall and she was several paces away. Or could she have? She went up to the wall, and Lasgol knew it was the moment to leave. He looked at Astrid for one last time. Fight, with all your being. Fight and come back to me. I’m waiting for you.
They left the area, then very carefully and in silence, went up the stairs. The Elders were nowhere to be seen. They made their way to the Cave of Spring, where all the pupils were waiting for them.
“Any news? Is she better?” Ingrid asked at once.
Lasgol shook his head. “She’s still unconscious. Annika’s treating her.”
Everybody had come to find out what news there was. All except Isgord, Aren and Jorgen, who were talking in a corner and watching what went on from a distance.
“She’s in good hands,” Molak said. “If anybody can treat a case of poisoning skillfully, it’s Annika.”
“She’ll get well and recover, just like that,” Luca assured Lasgol. “She’s very strong, you just wait and see.”
“Everything’ll be all right,” Erika said, and gave him a hug to encourage him.
“Thanks. Yes, she’ll get over it” – and tears appeared in Lasgol’s eyes.
“All right,” Ingrid said, “get back to your work, there’s nothing else to see here.”
The ‘weirdos’ stayed with Lasgol. The others withdrew and let him breathe. Ingrid patted the bunk beside them.
“Sit down and rest,” she said.
He sat down, lost in thought.
Molak was shaking his head. “How could this have happened?”
“It’s very odd,” Luca said. “Astrid knew this mushroom was poisonous. I remember we joked about making an omelet with it and giving it to the ‘best’ group.”
“Really?” Ingrid asked, looking around abruptly.
“Yeah, now I feel terrible about the joke, but we talked about it after Annika showed it to us in the forest.”
“If Astrid knew about the mushroom, and we know how smart she is,” Ingrid wondered, “how come she poisoned herself?”
“Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing,” said Erika. “She isn’t even in Nature, so I don’t think she’d have taken it by mistake from one of Annika’s jars.”
Ingrid shook her head and folded her arms. “This is really strange. Astrid would never make a mistake like that, not with something so dangerous.”
“It must have been an accident,” said Molak. “There must be a logical explanation. Let’s not think negatively.”
“Captain Fantastic,” Viggo put in, “always so credulous, straightforward and honorable, incapable of seeing the truth for what it is.”
“It’s not the moment...” Ingrid began.
“Somebody poisoned her,” Viggo said bluntly, with complete conviction.
Chapter 25
They all looked at Viggo, surprised by the conviction in his voice.
“What on earth are you talking about?” Ingrid said accusingly.
He was unwavering. “I’m just saying what happened. The fact that you’re so goody-goody and dimwitted to see it for what it is, isn’t my fault.”
“That’s a rather hasty judgment, don’t you think?” Luca objected.
“It’s not hasty at all.”
“There are all sorts of things that might have happened,” Molak argued. “We don’t have the facts. We shouldn’t jump to negative conclusions like that.”
“I’ll jump to any conclusions I want.”
“You’ve got no evidence,” Ingrid pointed out.
“I’ve got logic, knowledge and a sixth sense for these things. Astrid would never poison herself by accident, she’s too smart and too careful. Besides, she knew about the mushroom, as Luca said, and knew how dangerous it is. And my instinct tells me that there’s foul play here. Which means she was poisoned deliberately.”
“You shouldn’t sound so convinced about that,” Erika said. She pointed unobtrusively at Lasgol.
“He knows it already, and if not, then he soon will.”
“Don’t be a smartass,” said Ingrid.
“I already know,” Lasgol said suddenly.
“Look what you’ve done,” Erika said, looking disgusted.
“The sooner he reacts, the better.
We’ll run less risk.”
Ingrid was looking frustrated. “Risk? What are you talking about?”
Viggo tapped his temple with his finger a couple times. “Use your heads. Astrid’s been poisoned. Someone here tried to kill her and didn’t succeed. Therefore, she’s still in danger. And if she’s in danger, so are we.”
There followed a long moment of silence as they all considered his words.
Lasgol stood up. “He’s right, you know.”
Molak held out his hands, palms outwards, in a calming gesture. “Stop right there, let’s not get involved in crazy theories.”
“Let’s calm down and think about this carefully,” Ingrid said.
Erika did not sound entirely convinced. “It sounds a bit hasty, that conclusion...”
“I’m with Erika in this,” Luca said. “I agree, I think it’s very strange that Astrid could have poisoned herself by accident, but anybody can make a mistake, even the most intelligent and well-prepared. Who knows what could have happened? Perhaps it was a mistake. I’d rather think it was that than the alternative.”
“Whether you prefer accident to poisoning won’t change the truth about what happened,” Viggo pointed out.
“But you don’t know what happened,” Molak argued. “You’re assuming that there was an attack against her life. That’s too much to assume.”
“Why don’t we go with ‘accident’, for now?” Erika said. “Until we find more evidence...”
“Because that’s not what happened,” Lasgol said with conviction. He was seeing it more and more clearly. It was strange in the extreme that Astrid should have poisoned herself. It made no sense. He still had a trace of doubt that it might just have been an extremely strange accident, but the more he thought about it – and he could not stop thinking about it – the more remote that possibility became.
“Lasgol.” Ingrid said, “don’t come to any hasty conclusions... don’t listen to this dumbass.”
“Let’s wait and see what Sigrid and the Elder Specialists think,” said Molak.
“So says Mr. Straight. We’ve got to find out who did it. The bigwigs will think it was an accident.”
“All the more reason to think that ourselves,” said Ingrid.