The Great Plague of Vienna

Colonel Joseph's Wooden Leg

The following days went past much too slowly for my own liking as we waited for our summoning to the hospital. Madame Perridone and I were picking apples in the orchard behind the schloss when we were approached by our neighbour, a chubby man who lived very privately in the cottage down the road. He approached us with a grin, sweat dripped from his almost bald brow. Never before had I seen him smiling. He waved a stumpy arm as he grew nearer with a spring in his slightly crooked step. His wooden stump of a leg clobbered awkwardly, he had lost his leg in the war, a terrible mine accident my father had presumed.

"What a beautiful orchard!" he proclaimed, turning himself on his able leg to face the expanse of the apple trees. "No softer, sweeter scene could be imagined" he added.

I did not think his grin could widen but at this moment it almost doubled in size. Madame Perridone and I shared a bewildered look.

"My dear sir, are you not feeling your usual self?" the maid asked in a worried tone.

"I have never felt better for I have just returned from the hospital" Before I could ask about his treatment he interjected. "Although it puzzles me as to why I have a wooden leg, to much of my own amusement I can not remember." I turned, expecting to receive another confused look from Madame Perridone, instead her gaze laid frozen on the man, her face expressed both terror and incredulity. I reverted my attention back to the man, only to witness him clobbering away with the same cheery manner as he came. I decided to brush the peculiar circumstance aside as the maid continued with her duties. We shared the rest of the afternoon in silence, this suited me as I could not fathom the earlier event and preferred not to speak of it. I leant to retrieve a fallen apple and felt a familiar hand grab my wrist. Madame Perridone ushered me closer, her cheek pressed against mine as she whispered briskly into my ear with a hurried tone and a shaking hand.

"JOY is not to be trusted, you are witness to the strange happens around town; people who oppose the injections are going missing, those who receive them come back dazed and absent-minded, Colonel Joseph could not even remember losing his own leg, pray be careful" she landed a chaste kiss on my cheek before picking up the apple and continuing up the trail towards the Schloss, leaving me stunned.