Voodoo Holmes Stories

am sure it is, Lady Bracknell.
    „ You must come and see us some time, Mr. Holmes.“
    „ How are you feeling?“
    „ Well, I am a little bit under the weather ...“
    „ Indeed you have been“, I injected.
    She smiled: „But I am sure it will all pass very quickly, thank you.“
    „ I agree. You seem to be recovering remarkably well. How long have you been ill?“
    Her face clouded: „I am not sure.“
    There was a pause while she was thinking. Then, haltingly, she continued: „I've been having the strangest dreams, Mr. Holmes. I am not sure how long I have been unconscious, but it seems like years. I was poisoned, you know?“
    „ You have?“
    „ Yes. Harold, the oldest. The boy has hated me ever since he was born.“ She chuckled. „We've had our troubles. I can see why he chose to do away with me. He has suffered so much, poor Harold. No need getting into it, I am sure he is sorry already. What I wanted to tell you about was the dream I had, even though it was very dull. When I died, I stepped down into a cave where I met the souls of people who had died before me. The cave was big, bigger than any cave I had ever seen, and there were thousands, millions of people there, all naked of in rags, with pale faces and their eyes closed. I walked among them until eventually I came unto a human who was big, maybe five times bigger than a normal person who said to me: I am your master. You will remain here until a loved one comes looking for you. So I sat down and rested and a long time passed, and interminably long time, during which my only thoughts were about who would come and get me. There was no one who had ever loved me. And it was unlikely that somebody should fall in love with me now that I was old and pale and dead. I was hopeless like all the others who had died before me and were waiting like me for a miracle. Then, one day, there was a commotion and Death appeared. Next to him, I saw a young man who was breathing, with a healthy glow to his cheeks and with open eyes. Death said: This is Orpheus coming to demand you. Is this the man who has loved you? Is he in his right demanding your hand. He says he is. I looked upon Orpheus whom I had never seen before and said: Yes, this is the man I love. I love him dearly and he does love me. He has told my so many times, as I have told him. And that he has dared cross the threshold and entered the realm of Death coming to seek me makes me love him even more.“
    The old lady with the full hair paused and smiled. „Is that why you are here, Mr. Holmes?“
    „ I may be.“
    „ It is strange, you know. I feel that I have to tell you my dream and then I will be able to continue on. Go back to where I came from, which is not as dreadful as might be assumed. You know that being alive is not a bed of roses either. On the other hand, considering that we are dead so very long, you know I think it is a good idea extending our life period if we can.“
    „ Indeed.“
    She looked at me strangely: „Do you know where my clothes are? I would like to get dressed.“
    „ I ...“
    „ Go ask the nurse. They ought to know where they put it.“
    I turned and went to the night desk but found no one. There was light in one of the rooms and a person retching there while the nurse stood there, watching. I rummaged around a store room and found a fur coat, an evening dress and a pair of lady's shoes of approximately the size of Lady Bracknell's, but when I returned, I found her all dressed. She winked at me, took my hands and I dropped the clothes on the floor as we went out of the sick ward and the hospital into the dawn of the morning.
     
    ¥
     
    We brought each other up to date over a cup of tea in a shop at Paddington Station were she intended to depart on the early morning train to Swindon. I told her about the morse code of the dying which now had turned into a morse code for reviving a dying person. Why it was her of the five women who had responded to it?
    „ I can only suppose, Mr. Holmes. I think it may have to do with my son having poisoned me. Me time wasn't up yet. And then it was because of my dream. I haven't finished telling you all of it. You know that the man called Orpheus had a close resemblance to you?“
    I shook my head.
    „ Well, he did. But he had not come alone. There was woman next to him. She was dressed in black and was fanning herself like one of those Flamenco dancers.“
    „ A Lady with a Fan? That could be the one calling herself