Nemesis

by Margit Sandemo

“Something strange is going on at Askinge,” began Tancred.

  “What’s Askinge?” asked Alexander sternly. “Explain yourself properly!”

  Having listened to the whole story about the Holzensterns and the disappearance of Jessica Cross, Alexander was anything but pleased.

  “That doesn’t seem to be a full explanation,” he said. “What is it you’re holding back, Molly?”

  Molly bowed her head. “I’m sorry. I can’t say.”

  Alexander looked searchingly at her for a while. Then he said, “Why haven’t you asked for help? This is something the bailiff should be taking care of.”

  “I’ve got no confidence in bailiffs,” said Tancred.

  “No, I think you’re right,” agreed Alexander.

  Cecilie spoke warmly: “So you tried to get in touch with us because you couldn’t make sense of it all yourselves?”

  “There’s more to it, Mum,” said Tancred so eagerly that he forgot that he’d had no intention of telling them about it. “I had a terrible experience the first night I was here. Something completely unfathomable! I was frightened to death afterwards!”

  “Please explain!”

  Tancred spoke of his first encounter with the frightened Molly, and those who had spoken about her and Jessica Cross at the party; and how he had gone out to search for the two girls at night. He had ended up in a spooky ghost forest – and seen a ruined castle. He had met an incredible witch, he said, but skilfully skipped the bit about her nakedness and obvious intentions. Then he told them about the frightening visions in the dream and waking up in the edge of the forest. His friend young Dieter had said that no such ruined castle existed but that it had to be Old Askinge and the witch he had seen was Salina. He told them how he’d visited New Askinge where Holzenstern had confirmed that nothing was left of the old castle. And the Count described Salina, the witch, just as a historian had portrayed her ...

  Everything just poured out of Tancred in a continuous stream of words.

  Molly stared at him all the time, her eyes wide. Now and again she would try to get a word in edgeways, which proved impossible.

  Alexander was cross. “Surely you could have gone about this in a better way, my boy. The first thing one would do in a situation like this is send for a historian.”

  “Sorry,” said Molly with a trembling voice. “But there are no historians around here. I can swear on that. Just ordinary peasants and the priest, but he doesn’t care for such matters.”

  “What?” exclaimed Tancred. “But Holzenstern said, didn’t he, that ...”

  “That’s interesting,” said Alexander, leaning back. “Why didn’t you tell me about all this, Tancred?”

  He looked down. “I thought it sounded stupid, and I suppose I also felt somewhat ashamed.”

  “But don’t you understand? If only he’d asked me, I could have told him that the ruined castle of Old Askinge really does exist!”

  “It does?” gasped Tancred.

  “Certainly. In a very old forest right behind New Askinge. I’ve been there a few times. But I didn’t like the place. So I can well understand that Tancred was frightened seeing it at night.”

  “Why did they lie to me then?”

  Alexander said gently, “Because you were only supposed to stay here for a few days. Ursula had left and the servants were new. Deceiving you was easy, and you had nobody you could ask.”

  “But why? And what about the witch I met?”

  “I must admit that I don’t understand any of this,” said Molly, baffled.

  Tancred thought that she was so captivating, sitting there with the blanket right up to her ears. He felt a strong urge to walk over to her and give her a hug and tell her not to be afraid of anything so long as he was close by. Only he felt that he had given the impression of being a pathetic person, if not outright ridiculous. So he remained seated.

  Alexander got up suddenly. “How sick are you children? Would it be all right to take you into the forest? What do you think, Cecilie?”

  His wife hesitated: “I think they’re beginning to recover. So if they put some warm clothes on ...”

  “Of course, we can manage,” said Tancred as he jumped up so that the blanket fell off him and he appeared in his underwear. He had got up so quickly that the room darkened before his eyes and Alexander had to place him resolutely on the sofa once more. Tancred did not dare look at Molly. Everything seemed to be going wrong for him today. At Court, he was known as a polite and bright young man – here he was nothing but a clown. And just when all he wanted was to be elegant and make as good an impression as possible. Maybe it was because he was making too much of an effort that everything seemed to go wrong.

  Alexander pulled the bell wire. When the servant appeared, he was given the following orders:

  “Send a man to the bailiff immediately and ask him to come at once! And get the horses ready for us all!”

  “Very well, Your Lordship.”

  Molly’s eyes turned dark from sadness and disappointment. She knew perfectly well that an ordinary nobleman or a baron was addressed as Your Honour. Somebody addressed as Your Lordship was of nobler birth.

  Tancred smiled at her with a mixture of pride and embarrassment. He knew that she hadn’t expected him to be so high-ranking.

  Alexander asked Molly, “What’s the local bailiff like?”

  She thought for a moment. “I don’t think he’s the worst of his kind. But then, he’s not ... I’ve never met him but ...”

  She did not finish the sentence but the others had a rough idea of what she meant. Not particularly nice? The bailiff arrived immediately afterwards and he was given a brief introduction to the case. Tancred and Molly had put some warm clothes on by then and they all mounted their horses.

  “Molly, you lead the way to Old Askinge,” said Alexander.

  He asked the bailiff if he knew the ruined castle.

  “I’ve never been there,” answered the bailiff gruffly. “It’s in a private area behind the new farm. But I’ve heard about it.”

  Molly hesitated. “The easiest route is, of course, by way of New Askinge. Only I don’t think ...”

  “No, we must avoid that,” said Cecilie quickly. “Can’t we try to find the place where Tancred entered the forest?”’

  “I’d like to see the moonlight path in daylight,” Tancred said. “That way some of the terrible memories might disappear.”

  “But the forest is mystical,” said Molly in a hoarse voice. She had not recovered completely from her bad cold. “I’ll try to show you. But Tancred walked about quite a lot.”

  “Quite a lot?” said Tancred. “I ran about like a confused hare in endless, deep forests.”

  If he was to be a clown, he might just as well act like one. Molly must have lost all respect for him by now.

  Molly found a trail which they rode onto. Tancred had not seen any paths that night but he had probably not been at the right spot.

  They rode in silence. Tancred thought about the whole matter, but he was still weak and unable to collect his thoughts.

  Nevertheless, one thought kept buzzing in his head: Why had Holzenstern and Dieter lied to him about Old Askinge?

  Alexander had agreed with the bailiff to solve this problem first. They would have to think of Jessica Cross afterwards.

  Now and then, Molly was uncertain about the route, which was not surprising. Tancred didn’t understand how she could find her way at all in this endless forest.

  But then he shouted:

  “This is where the ancient trees begin. Look at the moss, just as I told you!”

  “You’re right,” said Molly. “We’re getting closer.”“Tancred,” said Cecilie, “Surely this must be your bewitched path?”

  They stopped.

  “It is!”

  Alexander shuddered. “Now
I understand how you must have felt!”

  The others nodded. The path was there, frightening even in daylight, with the old trees close to each other and bending over the trail, the trailing moss hanging ghostlike down over them. The path disappeared into threatening darkness among the tree trunks.

  “Nice place,” mumbled the bailiff.

  Then they moved on again.

  They were completely silent now, but they were all thinking the same thing: it’s dangerous to be here. They heard the sound of branches falling to the ground.

  Tancred was extremely grateful that they were so many. He was also grateful that he was not the last one in the crowd ... How had he had the courage on that night? All on his own ... here!

  Then the trail turned and Old Askinge lay in front of them in all its horror.

  “Good heavens,” mumbled Alexander. “My poor little boy!”

  ‘It’s nice of Dad to say such words’, thought Tancred, ‘but did he have to say them while Molly was there to hear them as well?’

  “Which window was lit?” asked Cecilie.

  Tancred glanced along the second floor. There was only one whole window.

  “There,” he pointed.

  They nodded.

  “Come along, please” said the bailiff. The eerie atmosphere made him talk in a low and secretive voice.

  They reached the drawbridge and got off their horses.

  “We’ll have to cross one at a time,” said Alexander, casting a glance at the rickety drawbridge across the murky, stinking water. “Maybe the ladies should wait here?”

  “No thank you,” said Cecilie quickly. “I’ll keep close to you!”

  Molly also nodded. She was obviously feeling ill at ease.

  “Tancred! Now you’re the one that must show us the way,” said Alexander coldly.

  They all crossed the drawbridge and Tancred pushed the door open. It creaked loudly.

  “And this is where you walked in?” asked Cecilie incredulously.

  “I saw the light. I thought it would be Molly and Jessica who were here.”

  Cecilie stroked her son’s cheek. “You’re so sweet!”

  Tancred, who usually appreciated his parents’ tenderness, wriggled disapprovingly. He avoided looking at Molly. Now they were better able to see the hall. Alexander walked along the wall while he looked closely at the disintegrating flags and the shields bearing coats-of-arms.

  “Galle, Puke, Krummedige ... I say! It’s not just anybody who’s been here ... And this clan died out at least two centuries ago!”

  “Shall we go upstairs?” asked the bailiff.

  Somewhat nervously, they walked upstairs to the hall on the first floor. Without uttering a word, Tancred led them into the corridor and stopped at an undamaged door.

  “Here,” he said wryly.

  He dreaded walking in – he insisted that the others do so first.

  His curiosity took over and he followed them.

  “Was this where you were?” asked Alexander flatly.

  Tancred looked around, surprised. The room was empty except for a few worn pieces of furniture. A thick layer of dust covered the floor and the dark surfaces. There was no trace of the huge bed or of the hides and the opulent interior. A very old room that had not been used for several centuries.

  “I don’t understand ... It can’t have been this room,” he said helplessly.

  They looked in the rooms next door, but it was bare, with naked stone floors. “It must have been that room,” he said helplessly.

  They went into another room. Alexander gazed at the walls and ceiling.

  “Perhaps you do have the blood of the Ice People in your veins after all, Tancred.” Tancred felt exhausted. “So you believe ... that it was Salina I saw, after all? That it was her ghost? And that’s why I had those bewitched visions?”

  “It seems so,” said Cecilie, sounding quite pathetic.

  Molly stood in the middle of the floor, looking at the ceiling.

  “There are no cobwebs here,” she explained calmly.

  “What do you mean by that?” said the bailiff.

  “There are cobwebs in all the other rooms but not here.”

  “But there must be dust!”

  Molly squatted down and touched the dust. Cecilie did the same.

  “Ashes,” said Cecilie.

  “What does that mean?” asked Tancred sheepishly. “That the witch and everything that was here is charred and ended up in smoke?”

  Cecilie got up again. “No. It means that you can have something look like dust by strewing ashes. Cobwebs, on the other hand, are impossible to make.” Tancred smiled. “So you think ...?”

  “I think we ought to search the whole castle for the furniture which Tancred saw here.”

  The others agreed. So they started searching the old hovel of a ruined castle. They came across all sorts of things ... Skeletons of owls; remains of the machinery for the drawbridge; old iron that was so rusty that it was impossible to see what it had been used for; nooks which were clearly used to relieve oneself in...

  Down below in the vaulted basement they found the big bed pulled apart into small pieces. There were candelabras, tapestries and hides. There was food and the clothes that belonged to a distinguished lady.

  “Somebody has been living in that room for some time,” said Alexander. “And now everything’s been thrown down here. Why? And by whom?”

  “Salina,” blurted Tancred, making them all look at him.

  Alexander moved slowly and went over to the pile of hides. He carefully lifted one away.

  The others moved closer. The bailiff moved several hides. Molly gasped. Tancred felt that he was getting dizzy.

  There she lay, dead. A terrible sight. Apart from the dark-blue cape, she was naked. The face was stiffened in a grimace, a terrible smile, and the glazed eyes stared at the ceiling.

  “That’s her,” said Tancred hoarsely. “That’s Salina.”

  Molly had grabbed his arm for protection.

  “No,” she whined. “This then is no witch.”

  They looked at her. She stared at the deceased who had a lesion on the chest where blood had clotted forever.

  “This is Count Holzenstern’s sister – the Duchess! They threw her out because she became too difficult. Everybody thought that she’d left.”

  “Not everybody,” said Alexander. “Somebody clearly knew better.”

  The bailiff had sat bent over the deceased. “She’s been dead for two or three days,” he said. “What was it you said, young Mr. Paladin? Was she alive when you left the castle?”

  Tancred stared at him. What was the bailiff implying?

  Cecilie instinctively took hold of her son to protect him.

  Chapter 5

  Tancred laughed a nervous, pleading laughter.

  “Surely you don’t believe that I could have committed this?”

  “Please tell us once again how you left this place?” asked the bailiff.

  “But that- that’s what I don’t know,” stuttered Tancred. “As I just said, she asked me whether I’d join her for a glass of wine, and I didn’t dare to refuse. That’s when I began to feel very strange. Completely dizzy. There was a buzzing in my ears. Then I saw that she was coming towards me and let her cape drop to the floor ...”

  “You didn’t mention anything about that earlier,” said Alexander sternly.

  “No, because it was too embarrassing to talk about. I don’t remember anything from then on. I experienced some horrendous nightmares – and woke up far away from here.”

  “And you want us to believe you?” snarled the bailiff.

  Tancred became agitated. “Surely I’m not supposed to think up something that will suit you better? This is the truth no matter how pathetic it sounds.”

 
“Would you please give a polite answer to a royal civil servant?” asked the bailiff sharply. Then he cast a treacherous look at Tancred. “Those dreams ... Were they about a knife? Or maybe about killing somebody?”

  “No, quite the opposite! I was the one who was dead. I was to be sent to the land of the dead. There was no knife.”

  “But it was about death?”

  “Yes, my death.”

  “Hmm,” mumbled the bailiff. “We must take a closer look at that. So you’ve no idea what happened after you were ... how shall we say it? Intoxicated? Poisoned? Or just plain drunk?”

  Tancred felt a horrible lump in his throat. He had difficulties clearing this voice. “I know nothing! That’s what I’m telling you!”

  “I see,” said the bailiff.

  “Not my son,” moaned Cecilie. “Tancred wouldn’t hurt anybody.”

  She thought with horror of the carefree Trond, who suddenly turned into one of the evil figures of the Ice People. She remembered Kolgrim, who was born stigmatised.

  She shuddered violently. Alexander noticed it and knew what she was thinking.

  “Who was the Duchess anyway?” asked Alexander. He also had difficulties clearing his throat. “You said her husband had thrown her out of their home and the Holzensterns threw her out of the estate. Why?”

  “She ... wasn’t a good person,” said Molly, looking down.

  “In what way?”

  The bailiff answered hesitatingly: “We received a number of reports regarding her. From furious wives in the surrounding area. It would seem, that she ... to put it mildly ... couldn’t stay away from men.”

  “Oh, well, I suppose there are many women who ...”

  “Not like her. She had to have them all the time.”

  “Oh, I see,” mumbled Alexander. “Well, what a pity.”

  “Maybe. But she wasn’t a nice person at all. She liked to order people about. Pester them. Provoke them. She only thought of herself.”

  Cecilie looked at the pathetic figure that was only barely covered by the fur blankets. “She must have been very charming.”

  “She certainly was. Very much so,” admitted the bailiff.

  Tancred nodded. “And intimidating. I was very scared of her.”