The Magician's Vow: A Retelling of The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Part II - Chapter XVII: Lifting & Landings

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Montgomery said after a minute of silence, her voice small.

"No. He is not breathing, but every time I try and listen for his heartbeat, it is irregular and faint; I might simply be hearing things. His skin is warm, though. If he is dead, it has not been long since he was once living."

"What will you do? Call the police?"

"No." He grunted and pushed himself up onto his feet. "Not right away, in any case. This man, dead or alive, needs to be brought inside; there seems to be a storm on its way."

Mrs. Montgomery looked up at the sky to find that her husband's words were true. Angry dark clouds swirled overhead and the wind had picked up considerably, pulling at her blouse and whipping her silver hair out of its prim bun.

"Shouldn't you inspect him first? You don't want to risk additional damage if he is indeed still alive."

"I already have. The harm seems to be exclusively aesthetic. No bones are broken, his limbs move with considerable ease, and his head does not appear to have sustained any trauma whatsoever, even with the fall to the ground. I believe it will be safe to move him...besides, leaving him out in the impending downpour would not be good for his health."

"Do you need help?"

"Probably not. But even if I did, I could accept any aid from the likes of you. You would most likely get crushed under him."

"That big, is he?"

"No, he is barely more than skin and bones... But he is tall and solid. Most likely weighs as much as I do."

"Are you certain you can lift him?"

"Of course."

Mrs. Montgomery lowered her head to get a better look at her husband. She pursed her lips. "If it gets to be too much for you, I will go fetch Charles Morstan just around the corner."

"Are you doubting my physical abilities?"

"No, just your ability to examine a situation properly."

Arthur chuckled. He leaned down over the body and grabbed it around the waist. With one giant grunt, he hoisted the man into his arms. He stumbled for a moment, but managed to lean against the wall of his home and steady himself. 

The man was much heavier than he had seemed laying innocently on the ground. And the weight was not even simple, physical mass. It was as if the body's gravity was twice as much as an ordinary man's and was doing everything in its power to pull itself to the ground.

"Are you all right, dear?" Mrs. Montgomery called from the bottom of the outdoor stair case. She grasped the iron railing and leaned out to look into the alley way.

"Yes, yes, I am fine. Just need to get accustomed to the weight."

"Oh my, he is quite the large lad."

"Not really... You are simply used to my own short stature."

"Are you jesting, dear? One would think that as a physician, you would have been accustomed to --and encouraged-- solemnity and somberness when surrounded by the dead, especially those that are recently deceased."

"Actually, I believe that this man might not be as dead as I previously thought. I think I heard him groan a moment ago."

"Is that so? You are a physician. Should you not know if a man is dead or not?"

"I never said I was any good."

"I believe your patients would happily disagree. In any case, do you think you are ready to try and give the wall it's privacy? You are nearly embracing it."