Visitor in Lunacy Read Online Free PDF Page A

fascinated by the way she held herself, her unguarded expressions. She was the only girl I knew.
    “I'm tired of this,” she said, startling me with one of the sudden shifts in mood which were becoming characteristic of her. “Let's go into the woods.”
    I glanced over to where Oscar was lying. From our position all I could see of him were the tips of his shoes poking out above the grass: “Are you sure that's a good idea?”
    We had never crossed the bridge before and I was uncertain whether it would be permitted. Looking back at my friend I saw her face had undergone a swift transformation: her teeth were gritted, her brow furrowed. Down by her side her hands were tightly clenched.
    “If you don't come with me,” she said with some intensity, “I will go on my own.”
    We stepped out of the water and dried our feet on the grass at the top of the slope. Half way over the river I looked behind me again, fascinated to see such a familiar scene from an unfamiliar angle. Oscar was still fast asleep, his hands resting on his chest and his rib cage moving slowly up and down.
    As we passed through the line of trees on the other side of the bridge the temperature dropped, encouraging in me a feeling of portentousness. To our right an overgrown and ill-defined path wound away and was lost to slight amid the thickening trees. Clouds of midgets hung in the air. An unwelcome memory came to me of a story I heard in Ceylon, concerning a man who had met the devil in a forest and been tricked into surrendering his soul. Above us a canopy of branches cast a steady shadow, unmoved by any breeze.
    Magdalene's anger dissipated as quickly as it appeared. Setting off down the track she smiled to herself and removed her hat: a relaxed attitude that helped to assuage my fears. Idly she asked if I knew the species of the trees around us and I jumped on the chance to show off my knowledge.
    “The ones along the river bank are Common Alders,” I said, trying to conceal my excitement by controlling my breathing. “These are Fraxinus excelsior, although you probably know them as Ash trees. Those plants by your feet are Hosta, I think. I'm fairly sure that's correct.”
    “How do you know? Do they teach that at your school?”
    I was delighted at what I took to be an acknowledgement of my expertise: “No, I read a few books.”
    Reaching a deep ravine we stopped at a tree with a broad trunk, against which Magdalene rested. At the bottom of the sharp drop ran a path of jagged rocks, glistening with water. One of my trouser legs, I noticed, had become snagged on a thorn. I removed it carefully to avoid tearing the material. A cloud had passed over the sun, causing my irrational worries to resurface.
    “We should go soon. In case Oscar wakes up and wonders where we are.”
    In response to my caution Magdalene merely shrugged then, with renewed energy, sprang forward and ran deeper into the wood, skipping to avoid a nettle patch. To my relief she came to a halt after only a few seconds: it seemed she had spotted something on the ground a few feet ahead: “I wonder how it died?”
    On the lip of a shallow ditch a recently deceased animal lay on a damp patch of soil: a hare, flopped on its back, half eaten with its eyes missing and its guts exposed.
    “Poke it.”
    “No!”
    “Go on!” She picked up a stick and offered it to me. Reluctantly I accepted it and stepped forward. Pressing the tip against the hare's hind leg made me nauseated, although I tried my best not to show it. Something in the way the creature's body was splayed struck me as obscene.
    “What's been eating it, do you think?”
    “A fox, maybe?” I said. “Or a wild dog?”
    “You don't really think wild dogs live around here, do you?”
    Seeing a chance to encourage her to leave I said that yes, I thought they probably did. My effort made little difference.
    “See if you can pick it up.”
    “It's too heavy.”
    “At least try!”
    Blocking my nose for fear of any