Eva's Sins.

XXIX

"Even enemies have from time-to-time consciousness"

  "Where's Eva?" Brian asked Alfred Stonebridge who was staring at him as if he saw a ghost.

  "Eva? Which Eva?"

  "What's wrong with him?" Brian wondered while looking at his rival, who was watching him with a cockeyed look. "Don't tell me, is he drunk so early in the morning?" but when he looked closely, he understood that Alfred was almost out of reality, slowly shaking because of the fever.

  "She left," finally talked Alfred to him. "She left 17 years ago, to not ever return to me and it's so cold inside me right now, when I'm looking around and I see nobody by my side. It's so cold."

  The one who left 17 years ago was Helen Walker and not Eva, but Alfred wasn't able to distinguish what was real and what was fake at that moment. The only one who understood instead had been Brian, who turned his back to Alfred and approached Bardain. "Go for the doctor," he ordered to the teamster, who left the property in a rush, without asking additional questions.

  "Wait! Wait!" Alfred yelled after the leaving carriage and started to run after it, ignoring Brian, who was trying to make him stay in place, but Alfred didn't want to listen and this disobedience was closely related to his seeing things: Helen was in that carriage and he must stop her. Yes, he must stop her from going away again and apologize in front of her for everything he did to her.

  "The curses of others finally reached him," Brian whizzed through his teeth while looking with disgust at the madman, running after an empty carriage and calling the name of the woman, who he hurt the most, and Brian also can't believe that Alfred Stonebridge is about to go crazy and this without any effort made by him.

  "Mister Stonebridge, let's move better inside. She will come back," but instead of agreeing, Alfred exited the property and continued to run after the carriage, till it disappeared in the distance. Then, Alfred stopped in front of the field, where once he cultivated jasmine flowers, but it was now heath and he slowly let himself fall into knees.

  "It still smells," he mumbled and right away he laid on the ground as if he was listening to the refreshing breath of the soil. "I still can feel it, but it's so far away from me."

  Brian finally caught the man up and stopping next to him, he started to breathe loudly to recover forces, but when he saw Alfred staring at him with kind eyes, Briand didn't know what to think: "Is this man pretending or is he really mad?"

  "I know what you are thinking, mister Beneath! You are asking yourself till where will reach my ravings, but to be honest, I keep myself in the same thoughts from time to time."

  "So, he recognizes me. It's a good sign. I think," Brian thought and approached Alfred one more step, but he didn't dare to initiate a conversation, because he didn't want to give explanations about his relationship with Eva, even if Alfred seemed to have no idea about it.

  The spring gusts of wind are still carrying in their current body a small part of the winter harshness, but even so, outside, while watching the surroundings of the fields that once were full with jasmine flowers, make you think about the impossible: about past loves, about times that never return and more important - you start to tell stories that you wanted to keep them deep inside you, but now is the time to let others know them too.

  "It started about 20 years ago, isn't it?" Alfred asked Brian, without watching him.

  "Yes. 17 to be more precise, but ... I don't think that's the proper time to discuss such things. Not here."