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Mama continued to potter about the hearth, pursing his lips, but his breathing became quieter, and it was clear that he was interested.
“Well then, listen. Only don’t tell anyone. I cannot say my real name, Poliksenes Ernst Theodore Amadeus, in full until I have avenged myself; so, I’ve revealed enough. I was born into a very rich and noble family. I grew up a happy child. Everyone spoiled and loved me, until my mother was taken ill and went to be treated in a private hospital somewhere high up in the mountains. My father loved her very much and soon went after her, leaving me in the care of numerous relatives.
Now my aunt, who had been trying to do so unsuccessfully her whole adult life, suddenly became pregnant and gave birth to a son. It began to eat at her that her scion would come into nothing, since I was to inherit the entire fortune. So she paid the vicar to erase all information about me from the church register, as if I had never been born. The old scoundrel sold me out, without batting an eyelid. Luckily for me, there were honorable people among my kinsmen too. My older cousin had also dedicated himself to the church. Thus it was that he chanced to overhear their whole conversation. He seized the book and ran off with it, following his nose. He wandered around the world for a long time, before coming upon the church here. At that time it was pleasant to look at. He hid the book and then drew this map. He put it, together with a note, in my favorite book, which I carried with me day night.”
Ghost fell silent, staring into the fire, as if absorbed in memories. In the courtyard the goat bleated.
“I didn’t suspect anything, since I was just a lad. The vicar confessed that the book had disappeared. Then my aunt decided not to take any more chances and to arrange an unfortunate incident. Something is running out of your pot. Aha, that’s better. Where was I?”
“An unfortunate incident” prompted the fat boy in a deathly-scared voice.
“Well now, why are you so agitated? I’m here with you, which means I’m still alive. Anyway, I was having riding lessons. So my aunt crept into the stable and shredded some kind of trash under the saddle of my poor horse. I learned about all of this later, but on that day Esmeralda bolted and so severely that they couldn’t find me anywhere. She threw me into a thicket in a thick forest. The forest around the estate was impassable, same as the one here. I fell and after that remembered nothing, evidently due to fear. You know how it is, the wind whistling in your ears, everything around you is spinning, and you can’t do a thing about it.
An old lady picked me up. I was such a fine child that she thought she’d keep me herself. At first, I believed that she was my own grandmother, and we lived together for several years, but then by chance I came across the book, which she had concealed beneath a floorboard in the storeroom. I was thunderstruck. In an instant all the memories came flooding back. Without stopping to say goodbye to grandma, I set off for the estate. Once I got there, I was faced with the bitter disappointment and pain of loss. No one recognized me, and they wouldn’t let me into the house; but then the servants told me that my parents were no longer alive, and that the heir to my fortune was a pimply freak who was clearly weak in the head. I swore then and there to restore justice, to find the book at any price and to reclaim all that belonged to me by virtue of my birth.”
Mama was crying, burying his face in his apron.
“Poor boy! I will help you, I will not leave you. Would you like a biscuit, or a dried apple?”
Ghost’s eyes were shining. He embraced Mama and took the proffered biscuit.
“Only, I can’t go there myself; I’m too heavily built for those passages. You need someone to help you; there’s no way you can do it on your own. Ask Nort to go with you. Explain everything to him; he seems like a good lad.
Ghost chewed the biscuit intently.
“I don’t know him at all. I’ll size him up for a week or so, and then we’ll see. Is there any cider left?”
