Oliver Potzsch: The Dark Monk

They set out early the next morning. The sun was shining brightly in a clear blue sky, and even though it was still mid-January, everything had begun to thaw. Water dripped from farmhouse roofs along the way, and they could hear finches and robins chirping in the forests. Simon knew that this taste of spring would probably last only a day, but for that reason he enjoyed holding his face up to the warm sunshine all the more.

In Schongau people were just coming from Sunday morning mass. They looked suspiciously at the three figures strolling through the market square and whispered among themselves. The son of the town physician together with the Kuisls! The old village women were certain the hangman’s daughter would be the downfall of young Fronwieser. Such a handsome fellow, but the Kuisls had cast their spell on him-that much was clear.

The three paid no attention to the piercing glances but continued up the Munzgasse to the castle. Jakob Kuisl had insisted that Simon come along with him to pay a visit to the clerk, but he didn’t say why.

“Don’t always ask. You’ll send me to an early grave with all your questions” was all he said. Then he winked and left Simon to ponder on his own.

In the clerk’s office on the top floor of the castle, Johann Lechner was sitting, as usual, at his worn, massive, wood table, leafing through some old papers. He looked up in surprise as the three entered the room.

“If you’re coming to excuse yourself for the botched execution, Kuisl, I’ll have to disappoint you.” He turned back to his documents. “There will be consequences. I’ve heard that the Memming executioner’s second son is looking for a job. Just because your family has been here for generations doesn’t mean that will always be the case.”

Ignoring the threat, Jakob Kuisl settled comfortably into the easy chair opposite the desk. “There’s no longer a second gang of robbers.”

“What?” The clerk looked up again.

“I said there’s no longer a second gang of robbers. I got rid of them all in Steingaden. Only the leader could flee, but I’m sure she won’t show her face around here anytime soon.”

“But you were alone,” the clerk replied.

Jakob Kuisl shrugged. “There were only four of them-trained mercenaries, to be sure-but I dispatched them one after the other. The merchants can get back on the road again. There’s no one spying on their routes anymore.”

“Kuisl, Kuisl…” Johann Lechner grinned and shook his head. “You always have some surprise up your sleeve. Now don’t torment me any longer! What happened? How did the gang go about it?”

The hangman told him about the woman posing as Benedikta Koppmeyer and how she’d spied on the merchants and wagon drivers. He recounted his fight with the robbers in the Steingaden forest but avoided saying exactly how many robbers there were or what had happened in the playhouse. The clerk listened, spellbound.

“Indeed,” Lechner said finally. “This woman often sat together with the merchants over there in Semer’s tavern and would sometimes ask about the best routes to take. Who would have believed she was working with the robbers?”

“And that’s not all,” Jakob Kuisl continued. “That shameless woman and her gang were also trying to steal the sacred remains of two saints in Rottenbuch. First they snooped around the monastery and then started a fight with the monks. One of the bandits almost looked like our young Fronwieser…”

Simon looked at the hangman in astonishment. What was Jakob Kuisl doing?

“Like young Fronwieser?” Lechner asked, bewildered.

“I can swear to it,” Kuisl said. “I almost thought it was Simon myself. The problem is that the Rottenbuchers believe our medicus had something to do with it, and they want to draw, quarter, and burn him-the sooner, the better.”

Johann Lechner laughed. “Simon Fronwieser a defiler of holy relics? The only thing he defiles are the young maidens in town.” He laughed and shook his head. “What a crazy idea. I’ll send the Rottenbuch superintendent a letter telling him there must be some mistake. That should take care of the matter.”

Reaching for some parchment and his quill, he began to write a short note. Simon smiled furtively at the hangman. Once more, Jakob Kuisl had gotten him out of a jam.

“Thank you, Your Excellency,” Simon said, bowing slightly in the clerk’s direction. “Such a regrettable misunderstanding. I don’t know myself how-”

“All right, all right,” the clerk interrupted. “Express your thanks in deeds. We need our physician, after all, to take care of this dreadful fever, don’t we? Since you left, three more people have died. You’re not on very good terms with your father, to put it mildly.”

Simon blushed, remembering that he’d visited neither his father nor little Clara since his arrival.

“You’re right,” he replied in a subdued tone. “I really ought to get right back to work.” He said a hasty good-bye and rushed back to the Schreevogl house on the market square. In this miserable search for the Templars’ treasure, he had completely forgotten about the terrible illness still raging in Schongau. So many people had died while he was out chasing a fantasy. For a while, he’d even forgotten Clara!

After he had knocked a few times at the patrician’s house, Maria Schreevogl opened the door. Her face was pale and she held a rosary in her scrawny fingers. “It’s good you’re here again,” she whispered. “Our Clara is worse again. She hasn’t awakened since yesterday, drinks nothing, and is coughing up red mucus. May God have mercy on her! My husband is upstairs with her now. Ave Maria, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women…”

Without paying any further heed to her prayers, Simon hurried up the stairs and knelt alongside the bed, where Jakob Schreevogl was holding the feverish hand of his stepdaughter. The alderman looked up briefly, then continued wiping the perspiration from Clara’s forehead. The girl’s breathing was shallow and irregular, like a little bird’s, and interrupted occasionally by a dry rattling sound from her mouth.

The physician realized at once that Clara didn’t have long to live if her condition didn’t quickly improve. In recent days, he’d seen the same symptoms in Schongau over and over. Once the patient started spitting blood, it wasn’t long till the trumpets of heaven would be sounding.

“I hope your trip was successful,” Jakob Schreevogl said softly, without turning his eyes from Clara, “even though all the gold in the world means nothing to me now. Clara is so precious to us, and if she dies, a part of me goes with her…”

Simon shook his head. “Our search was a failure. But that’s of no importance anymore. The only important thing is that your daughter gets better. No Templars’ treasure can restore her health, and it appears that I can’t, either. Only God can do that.”

“God!” The patrician closed his eyes. “You sound like my wife! We always depend on God, and then God abandons us! Is there no medicine-perhaps something that hasn’t been tried yet-that can save my Clara?”

“I don’t know of any.” Simon stood up. “Jesuit’s powder might help, but I don’t have any left, and it will be April before the merchant makes his way over the mountain passes from Venice. Perhaps there’s something in Augsburg…” Suddenly, a thought came to him, and he hesitated.

Jesuit’s powder.

Didn’t the hangman say that Magdalena had gone to Augsburg to get herbs and medicine? How could he have forgotten? Perhaps some of the medicines she brought back could help him now!

“Excuse me,” Simon said, standing up from Clara’s bedside. “But I have to check. Perhaps there’s something that can help your daughter, after all.”