From Nemesis Island

by Christine Mustchin

  The priest looked across at Juditta and then shook his head.

  ‘I was hoping we could start tonight but I think we’ll have to defer it.’

  Juditta looked strained and her face reflected a green tinged pallor as she turned toward the light.

  ‘You don’t look well, my dear,’ said Father Piontius.

  ‘I’m …..’ She slipped to the floor and lay unconscious. Richard rushed over to her and attempted to make use of a very basic and rusty knowledge of first aid. She had just fainted and she soon revived.

  ‘I think we’ll have to talk about the island another time,’ said Father Piontius. ‘I’m sorry but Juditta is obviously not well enough tonight. You will have to be patient.’

  Richard nodded.

  ‘I think I’ll lie down if you don’t mind.’

  ‘Of course not, Juditta. I’ll show you to your room.’

  The priest and Juditta went upstairs, leaving Richard to mull over what was hopefully not to be a lost opportunity. The priest looked weary when he returned. Richard stood up to leave.

  ‘I’ll be going then. You look exhausted.’

  ‘There is just one thing, my son.’

  ‘You want my answer.’

  ‘Please.’

  ‘I’d like to stay and see things through.’

  ‘You understand that there may be risks. I’ll protect you as best as I can but I am only a simple priest.’

  ‘I understand.’

  ‘Very well. If you come here tomorrow at noon I have arranged for someone to take you and Juditta away to a farmhouse where Kia is waiting. I shall join you there in a few days.’

  ‘What about my hire car?’

  ‘Do you have the keys on you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘If you give them to me, I’ll take care of it.’

  Richard hesitated and then handed over the keys with a shrug. Alone with the remnants of the meal, Father Piontius allowed himself to finish the wine. He drummed his fingers anxiously on the table, unable to get Jalbis Zachion from his thoughts. He went over to the wooden box and took out the plate and chalice. The documents still lay safely at the bottom of the box. The lawyer was to come tomorrow morning to collect the will, but he could not trust the other documents to be left in the house. He put everything back in the box and closed the lid. He would need Juditta’s help. He turned round to find her standing in the doorway.

  ‘Juditta.’ He was surprised to see her. ‘Are you feeling better?’

  ‘I came to get a glass of water.’

  ‘Of course. Sit down. I’ll get it for you.’

  She drank slowly and he sat down beside her.

  ‘Juditta. I have a favour to ask. Tomorrow morning the lawyer is coming to collect the will. If I have not yet returned from the morning mass I would like you to give him the will. I’ve put it in the bottom of that box over there, underneath the plate and chalice.’

  She nodded her agreement.

  ‘Afterwards I have made arrangements for you to go to the farmhouse where you should be safe. You’ll be collected at noon. Richard has agreed to go too.’

  ‘I’m not going,’ she said bluntly.

  Father Piontius did not speak for a few moments. When he did speak it was gently.

  ‘Why’s that, Juditta?’

  ‘ She’s there. Kia. If he hadn’t fallen for her, none of this would be necessary. She’s a witch casting her spell over men and then talking of moral virtue and God.’

  ‘Juditta. You’re upset. You’ve just lost your brother. You’ll see things differently in a few days.’

  ‘No, Father. She’s nothing but a hypocrite. She’s a common prostitute, despite her pretences.’

  ‘The love of God is open to all who repent Juditta.’

  She said nothing for a while.

  ‘I’m sorry, Father, I can’t go.’

  7

  It was almost dark. The leaden rain clouds infected the daylight with a uniform gloom. Father Piontius unlocked the church door and welcomed the few regulars to his morning mass. Jalbis Zachion watched from a distance, flanked by two men. They turned and walked towards the priest’s house. The sourness of the funeral still brought acid into his mouth and the terms of Joseph’s will bit hard into his memory. He told the men to wait and walked down the narrow side alley to the rear of the building. A rapid surveillance and he had noted a window open on the first floor. Satisfied that he had found an alternative mode of entry, he knocked on the door of Father Piontius’s house and waited. He was about to turn away and use the alternative that he had found when the door opened and Juditta appeared on the threshold. One of the men jumped forward and seized her, holding her tightly, his hand clamped across her mouth.

  ‘Hallo Juditta. Expecting someone else?’ Jalbis stepped inside, leaving one man on guard outside. He nodded to the other man who released Juditta.

  ‘Now let’s talk.’

  They entered the shabby living room.

  ‘Sit down.’ She obeyed.

  ‘No more playing around, Juditta. I need to know where the will is.’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘You’re lying.’

  He went over to her and slapped her twice across the face.

  ‘Now tell.’

  She said nothing. He slapped her again with more force. This time she started to cry.

  ‘Stop that.’

  He nodded to the man who stood her up roughly, bending her right arm behind her in a tight lock.

  ‘You’re hurting me.’

  ‘That’s the idea. And it can get worse.’

  The man yanked on her arm.

  ‘You’ll break my arm.’

  Jalbis laughed.

  ‘Well, you know what to do to stop it.’

  ‘Please, Jalbis. Can’t we talk about this?’

  ‘There’s nothing to discuss.’

  ‘You don’t need the island. You’ve got a good career as a surgeon.’

  ‘But I already have a business interest in the island, as you well know.’

  ‘It’s something I’d rather forget. I can’t even talk about it. Why not give it up?’

  ‘I rather think not, sister dear. Expansion and diversification is what I need and what I shall get from the island. Now tell me where the will is.’

  ‘Let me come with you then, Jalbis. I could still be useful on the island. I’d not get in your way.’

  ‘If I agree, you’ll tell me where the will is?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Very well.’ He nodded to the man who was holding Juditta. He relaxed his grip a little.

  ‘Now tell me where it is.’

  ‘Over there.’

  She pointed in the direction of the wooden box. Jalbis went and opened it. He took a brief look inside and then turned to his sister and took out his handgun, pointing it directly at her.

  ‘Don’t lie to me. There’s only a chalice and plate in there.’

  ‘Underneath. Look underneath them.’

  He lowered the gun and removed the silver religious utensils. A single document was clearly visible at the bottom of the box. He took it out and broke the seal, reading it hurriedly.’

  His face contorted into a smirk.

  ‘Well done. Not a very secure place though.’

  ‘Priests don’t have personal safes. I was expecting the lawyer to collect it today.’

  ‘I arrived just in time then.’

  He paused and raised the gun again to Juditta’s head.

  ‘No need for you now.’

  ‘Wait, Jalbis. You said I could come with you. I’m your sister.’

  ‘So what. We’ve never seen eye to eye and now you’re a witness.’

  ‘I’ll not tell anyone. Please don’t shoot me.’

  ‘And what guarantees would I have?’

  ‘I’ve got information that you need to know about the island. It could spoil everything for you, even if you destroy the will. If you let me live I’ll tell you.’

  Jalbi
s lowered the gun.

  ‘And what might that be then?’

  ‘You promise you’ll let me live?’

  ‘That depends on what you tell me.’

  ‘Joseph got the priest to write out his confession: all the things that had happened on the island. It’s going to be made public.’

  Jalbis sat down, a preoccupied look on his face.

  ‘Does he mention any names?’

  ‘I don’t know exactly what’s in it but there’s also a sealed codicil to the will that’s to be opened if the terms of the will are not fulfilled.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘It concerns you and your part in the DVD business, enough to indict you and make you spend the rest of your life in prison.’

  ‘And where is this confession and codicil now?’

  ‘I don’t know. Father Piontius didn’t tell me. Isn’t it with the will?’

  ‘There’s nothing else in the box.’

  ‘I don’t know where it is. Please, Jalbis, that’s the truth. You’ll have to ask Father Piontius.’

  ‘Indeed I shall.’

  ‘He should be back from mass soon.’

  ‘We shall wait then.’

  But Father Piontius did not return from mass and, after an hour passed, Jalbis Zachion’s nerves would take the inactivity no longer.

  ‘You’ll stay here,’ he said threateningly to Juditta. ‘I have some more questions to ask you later. If you try and hide I’ll find you, and there’ll be no more talking.’

  The three men made their way quickly back to the church. It was locked. There was no way to enter it. Jalbis led his men to the harbour side and they separated, scouring the streets and alleys of the port to no avail. People passed them by but everyone shook their head. No one had seen the priest that day and no one knew where he could be.

  8

  ‘Amen.’ The word seemed to fill the small room like a desperate cry for help. It concluded Kia’s silent prayer for the soul of the man that she had loved and she rested her thoughts now on the secular memory of Joseph. Sadness and pain filled her body. She had followed his wishes and gone again to the house that had once before given her shelter. Fear had dented her other emotions at the recollection of that earlier time. She had been bundled off to the island then and it was a memory that she could not simply erase with the reassurances that Joseph had given her. She had placed her trust in him but it had not lessened her fear.

  That first night, fleeing from his death to procure her own safety, she had followed Juditta’s instructions and piloted the boat across the sea, undisturbed except by the fish which rose to the surface as she beached the boat on the mainland. Hiding the boat had taken some time and when she reached the house it was almost dawn. Exhaustion told her she had no option but to do as she had been instructed. Her knock on the door had been speedily answered, as if he had known she was coming at that precise hour. He had invited her in and led the way into the drabness of a living that she knew well. And so Father Piontius had smiled and welcomed her into his home again.

  ‘Sit down, my child, you must be tired. I am so glad you have come to me safely. I knew it would be today.’

  ‘Who told you?’

  ‘No one, but God can communicate with us sometimes when we least expect it.’

  She stood in the middle of the room and set down her rucksack.

  ‘Won’t you sit down and rest?’

  ‘I’m all right really.’ There was a nervous edge to her words.

  He took a step towards her and she quickly backed away.

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘How can you say that after last time?’

  ‘Do not judge me, child. There are many things I have to confess but wrongdoing against you is not among them. You are one girl I tried to save. It has been my only consolation. If you will hear my story you will understand.’

  ‘How do I know you will tell me the truth?’

  ‘Just as you chose to trust Joseph, now you have to trust me. Joseph himself put his trust in me when he gave me the documents for safekeeping.’

  They sat down opposite each other.

  ‘I was tricked, Kia, as were you. That day, when you were taken to the island, I was visited early in the morning by a man who asked me to come and see someone who was dying in a nearby village. I didn’t recognise the man who called, but he told me he was a distant relative and had come to the village to pay his last respects. I immediately went with him. We went on foot into the nearby hills and he took me along a narrow path, which I knew led to the village. We never got there. The last thing I remember was the path entering a thick wood. I recovered consciousness some time later. I had been left on the ground beneath an oak tree. I did go on to the village where they let me stay the night to recover. No one was dying in the village and no stranger had visited the village. When I returned you were gone. I never knew where until I saw you again on the island but I should have suspected. I never intended you to go there. I had already made contact with the convent. I had your trust and I did not abuse it.’

  ‘But how did the men from the island come to know I was living in your house?’

  ‘The island has eyes where it needs them, my child, but it is my task now to ensure that there is an end to this evil.’

  ‘The will?’

  ‘Just so. But you don’t have to concern yourself with that. For now I need to ensure your safety. Your relationship with Joseph puts you in danger. I fear Jalbis will want to question you and he is not likely to be gentle in his method of interrogation. My house is the obvious place to look for you. You must go now to a safer place.’

  And so it had been. He had taken her to a farmhouse in the foothills where she was welcomed by the family and given her own small room. It was basic and comfortable and she was well-fed and warm. She stood at the window of the room as she had done for an age now, puncturing her solitude with prayers and thoughts, and watching the sky as though it were there that she could find Joseph. Her face was still wet from the crying she had allowed herself, alone and unable to witness Joseph’s final journey into the earth. She looked out at the farmland and countryside beyond – forbidden territory for her. All she had done so far was to exchange one prison for another.

  9

  Father Piontius allowed himself a smile of congratulation as he settled himself into the seat of Richard’s hire car. He thought his plan would work if he could just master the machine. It was many years since he had obtained his licence and there had been few occasions when it had been necessary to use his driving skills. He was more used to travelling on foot now. The car proved to be more powerful than any he had driven before. He proceeded cautiously, concentrating hard on the controls and the road ahead, thankful to be familiar with the route from previous bus journeys. He drove steadily along the straight road that led out of the town. By the time he had reached the narrow roads that wound up the mountain, he had found enough confidence to tackle the twists and hairpin bends. As he took the turning off the main road, another car turned off too, keeping its distance. Father Piontius only had eyes for the road ahead and was oblivious to the black four by four vehicle that followed him. In any case, he was going where other men could only follow with difficulty or by force, and he had considered neither option. He entered a small village and saw the local bus waiting to make the return journey to the port. He knew the driver well but now was not the time to stop and exchange news. He headed on up an even narrower road, forcing the large car round the bends and grating the gears when he misjudged the angle or degree of ascent. It was with relief that he saw the convent come into view.

  The shutter on the heavy wooden entrance door slid back moments after his ring on the old fashioned bell. A kindly face of mature years beamed through the small aperture. The priest removed the large hat and sunglasses that formed a part of his unusual outfit that day.

  ‘Father, welcome. Just a moment and I’ll open the door.’

  ‘Wait please, Sister. I have driven here
and I need to leave the car in your courtyard. Are you able to grant me this favour?’

  ‘You’re in a car. Well, well. I’ll open the back gate for you.’

  ‘Thank you, Sister. I’m grateful.’

  Father Piontius drove around the convent to a large wooden gate and waited while the many bolts that secured the entrance were released. Two men in dark suits watched from the black four by four which had been parked a short distance away. One pulled out a mobile phone and spoke briefly into it. The vehicle moved a few yards away and parked at a spot from which both front and back access to the convent were visible. The men sat still in the front seats patiently watching and waiting.

  As Father Piontius entered the courtyard he found another car already there.

  Mother Superior was already walking towards him holding out a hand in greeting. ‘I see you’ve also come by car today.’

  ‘Yes. It belongs to a friend who has no use for it for a while. I would like to leave it in your safe keeping, if you have no objections.’

  ‘None at all. I’m pleased we’re able to be of service.’

  ‘You’ve already been of great service to me and I’m grateful.’

  ‘Enough, Father. We are brothers and sisters in faith and must help each other. We received your letters and forwarded them as you requested. It’s all arranged. As you can see he’s already arrived. Would you like me to take you to him now?’

  ‘I think that would be best, but, if I could ask one final favour, I should like to talk to you afterwards.’